Tag: flowers

ARTfarm Open, Ag Fair Weekend: Sat. 10 AM to 12 noon

We will be open at our usual location on the farm this morning. But, we strongly urge you to also visit the Ag Fair this weekend! Happy President’s Day, and Happy Valentine’s Day, folks!

These flowers are YUGE. Some orange like The Donald! Wage a campaign of love this weekend!
We grew it for you, stop by and pick up: Sweet salad mix, loads of cherry tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, lettuce heads, a few yellow and green squash, carrots, radishes, a few bunches of kale, loads of pumpkin, beautiful onions, scallions, a few leeks, a few cucumbers, beautiful green and red bell peppers;

ARTfarm pumpkin…at the peak of flavor right now, these are crazy sweet steamed or roasted, or even sliced thin raw!

Trinidad seasoning peppers are incredibly pungent and smoky like a hot pepper, but with none of the heat. We like to chop them coarsely into all kinds of dishes to give them a specific ‘Caribbean’ aromatic profile. They must be tasted to be believed, and once you’re hooked you’ll always look for these little gems! If you’re not a big fan of spicy food, these are a great way to get a pungent peppery flavor without the pain!
Red serranos and Indian chilies, Trinidad Perfume seasoning peppers, baby ginger root, cilantro, dill, Italian basil, lemon basil, holy basil, loads of fresh cut zinnia flowers, yellow marigolds, and a few bags of figs.

From our partners we have locally made treats: vegan ice cream, raw honey, and goat cheese!

11:09AM update: Still have loads of stuff left! Lots of tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, cooking greens, herbs, peppers, honey, ice creams, pumpkin… Come on by!

Don’t miss the 45th annual St. Croix AgriFest this weekend, on the grounds of the Department of Agriculture on Queen Mary Highway just west of UVI’s campus. Open 9-6 Saturday, Sunday and Monday. $6 adults, $4 seniors, $3 children. A good portion of the island shuts down for several weeks to prepare for this major public event: Tons of exhibitors, from farmers competing for best display with great piles of fruits and vegetables, value-added goods and fruit trees; to great local cooks selling plates of food, hot sauces, drinks and spices from this and other islands; Armstrong’s ice cream truck with special local flavors made just for the fair; to vendors of art, jewelry, clothing and local crafts with great bargains; to elementary student science projects, alternative energy providers and University scientists showing a glimpse of the future; to animal judging exhibits and petting zoos with chicks and puppies and baby animals for sale; to carnival and pony rides for the kids and live music and dance performances! The old time history house is a wonderful favorite. People watching as you ride the tractor-pulled trolley tour, stroll through the throngs or sit at a picnic table with your plate of local food, quelbe music wafting through the air, is a must! This is a local annual event that uniquely expresses our island culture that is not to be missed!

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Happy President’s Day Weekend!
Although ARTfarm will not have a booth this year, we will have lettuce heads, onions and serrano peppers on display at Sejah Farm’s booth inside the large tractor barn on the west end of the fairgrounds.

We’ll see you there!!

ARTfarm Abundance 10am – 12noon Saturday 

The drought conditions drastically reduced our beneficial insect population; we planted wildflower mixes in the gardens to try and boost their numbers. A side effect of this farming technique is the beautiful flowers.
The drought conditions drastically reduced our beneficial insect population; we planted wildflower mixes in the gardens to try and boost their numbers. A side effect of this farming technique is the beautiful flowers.

We are a small, highly diversified family farm. We grow smallish amounts of many things, of the highest possible quality. This is an intensive and time consuming way to farm but it is also highly biodiverse and, we feel, sustainable.

Because we often have limited quantities of certain items, we encourage customers looking for specific items to try and come near the beginning of our farmstand hours. Additionally, due to reduced rainfall over the last year and reduced growing capacity, we are only open two instead of three days a week this year. This often results in a line of customers at the entrance prior to opening. We appreciate your dedication to good food.

Let’s all try to maintain a sense of abundance as we go through our day. There is enough good food for everyone. We are all more fulfilled when we can share what we have with our neighbors around us. Let’s all take a breath and appreciate all the blessings we can be grateful for.

Today’s abundance: Sweet salad mix, arugula, spicy salad mix, and lettuce heads;

Cherry tomatoes, sturdy slicing and delicate please-handle-gently heirloom tomatoes, summer squash, pumpkins in all different shapes and types, green bell peppers, kale, scallions, onions, carrots, radishes, a handful of wild cucumbers;

The Seminole and other small pumpkins are finally ready! The plump seeds are delicious roasted with olive oil and a generous pinch of sea salt, don't forget them!
The Seminole and other small pumpkins are finally ready! The plump seeds are delicious roasted with olive oil and a generous pinch of sea salt, don’t forget them!

Red and green serrano peppers, red and green Indian chilies, cilantro, dill, garlic chives, parsley, Italian basil, lemon basil, holy basil, rosemary, ginger root, a few passionfruit, loads of zinnia flowers, loads of edible marigold flowers, wildflowers, and a few bags of figs​.

The drought has pushed us to do a lot of experimentation on the farm this year. Our rain catchment ponds are suffering from algae overgrowth and increased evaporation. We are trialing different floating aquatic plants to serve as an eco-friendly and economic pond cover. This fuzzy friend is called Salvinia.
The drought has pushed us to do a lot of experimentation on the farm this year. Our rain catchment ponds are suffering from algae overgrowth and increased evaporation. We are trialing different floating aquatic plants to serve as an eco-friendly and economic pond cover. This fuzzy friend is called Salvinia.

Jurassic Fruit, Fresh Sweet Salad!

Two hot pink dragonfruits ripen on a green, succulent spiny vine during the dry season.
The strange and wonderful pitaya, or dragonfruit, grows at the end of a primitive, spiny climbing vine. Early summer is typically the season for the dragonfruits to flower and ripen.

Pitaya, also known as dragonfruit, has one of the most strange and dramatic presentations of all the crops we can think of.

Today’s haul: Loads of tender sweet salad mix, Ethiopian kale, bunched arugula, mint, lemongrass, Italian basil, rosemary, zinnia flowers, a few pineapples, a few passionfruit, and red fleshed dragonfruit!

A trug full of ripe hot pink dragonfruit is photobombed by a pineapple and a magenta T-rex puppet.
Dragon photo-bombing the dragonfruit. We also have pineapples and passionfruit today for your inner fruit monster! OM NOM NOM NOM

From our partners we have raw local honey from Errol and vegan ice cream from I-Sha.

That’s 10 AM to 12 noon today, folks! ARTfarm is currently open just once a week during this drought.

Saturday Farmstand, Pineapples, Schedule Change, Dance!

More pineapples today! ARTfarm pineapples are ridiculously sweet this year, maybe because of all the dry weather. June seems to be our pineapple month!
More pineapples today! ARTfarm pineapples are ridiculously sweet this year, maybe because of all the dry weather. June seems to be our pineapple month!

Open 10 AM – 12 noon on South Shore Rd. this morning, ARTfarm has, organically grown for you: Salad mix, microgreens, small quantities of pineapples, tomatoes, and cucumbers. We have beets, scallions, mature bunched arugula, Ethiopian kale, Italian basil, mint, zinnia flowers, local honey from Errol Chichester, and admission/raffle tickets for the Caribbean Dance show next weekend! No Wednesday stand this coming week, so come out to the farm today…

Our adopted border collies, Ginger and Spice, vigilantly patrol the pineapple gardens at this time of year to discourage rats. We've seen these athletic dogs leap all the way over the row of spiny plants during the hunt. This is a viable and much more entertaining alternative to poisons for controlling crop pests on an organic farm. During dry times there is increased pressure from all pests on farm crops and resources.
Our adopted border collies, Ginger and Spice, vigilantly patrol the pineapple gardens at this time of year to discourage rats. We’ve seen these athletic dogs leap all the way over the row of spiny plants during the hunt. This is a viable and much more entertaining alternative to poisons for controlling crop pests on an organic farm. During dry times there is increased pressure from all pests on farm crops and resources.

We are changing our schedule to reflect the weather patterns. The drought is really affecting our ability to grow crops at this point. It also seems like a natural pause to tackle some big farm projects we’ve been wanting to get to. So, we have decided to curtail our Wednesday farmstands until we get some rain or production picks up again. We will be open today and next Saturday as well, and we will play it by ear after that. Mango season is coming, but it also may be a bit delayed by the dry spell we are all in.

Young dancers preparing for the annual show in the Caribbean Dance studio in Christiansted. Support the arts on St. Croix!
Young dancers preparing for the annual show in the Caribbean Dance studio in Christiansted. Support the arts on St. Croix!

The Caribbean Dance School‘s 38th annual performance is Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30 at Complex (the high school across from the UVI campus). We have tickets ($15 donation, includes entry into raffle for plane tickets and more) available at the farmstand or you can purchase them at the door! Show time is 7:30 PM. There are adorable tiny ballerinas in the show but also a number of accomplished student and professional dancers — the show is family-friendly and highly entertaining! The closing number in the show features rousing carnival music and traditional calypso dancers, and includes over 30% of the ARTfarm workforce! So come see your farmers in action and support all our local talent in the arts! The Caribbean Dance School and Company is an important cultural institution in the Virgin Islands, founded in 1977 to tour the world and share our island culture, and is still operated by the original artistic directors! It is also an enduring nonprofit organization engaging thousands of students over the years, promoting health, self-esteem, and self discipline. The arts are an important and vibrant part of Virgin Islands culture, help improve our communities in countless ways, and are woefully underfunded. Please come out and show the students you care.

Plus, you’ll get great inspiration for choreographing your own rain dance! 😉