Tag: ginger

Big Story: Heirloom Melons

Hunting melons by flashlight. A late harvest of young ginger and pungent Punjabi mini honeydew melons.

Farmer Luca’s latest obsession and favorite treat after a hot day in the fields is watermelon. He has been on a quest to find new or rare heirloom  varieties of melon that are drought tolerant. He has planted a lot of interesting stuff and is learning a lot about cultivating the vines. It’s a challenging crop to grow but he is highly motivated. We truly hope there will be some left for our customers. 😉

Lots of fresh greens from all the rain. Come out for 10 AM tomorrow morning and you’ll find: Sweet salad mix, baby arugula, teen arugula, baby spicy salad mix, teen spicy salad mix, escarole, several kale varieties including tender Ethiopian kale, dandelion greens, onions, scallions, baby carrots, radishes, sweet potatoes, new baby ginger so tender you don’t have to peel it. Loads of watermelons (multiple red and yellow fleshed varieties to choose from), Japanese sweet crunchy green mini melons, beautiful Indian honeydew melons, papayas, passionfruit, and loads of Mediterranean figs, beautiful cut flowers, lemongrass, garlic chives, recao, dill, cilantro, rosemary, the basils. Local honey from Errol. Early birds will find a few cucumbers and the first of our cherry tomatoes (just a few pints).

Wednesday Watermelon Wonderment 3-6pm 

Water for watermelons! One of our ponds. This one replenishes the water table.
Water for watermelons! One of our ponds. This one replenishes the water table.

Compared to this time last year, things are blessedly moist right now. The 6+ inches of rain we got at the beginning of the month of May <insert happy dance> has continued to promote explosive growth all over the farm.

So here’s what it brought you for today at ARTfarm, 3–6 p.m.: Sweet salad mix, baby arugula, bunched arugula, a few pints of cherry tomatoes, a few slicer tomatoes, dandelion greens, Italian basil, garlic chives, parsley, freshly dug ginger root, French breakfast radishes, sweet bell peppers, serrano peppers, Indian chili peppers, yellow seasoning peppers, fresh cut zinnia flowers, good quantities of yellow and red fleshed WATERMELONS, loads of sweet and yummy papaya, passionfruit, a few dragonfruit, a few pineapples, and very fresh, delicate and very mild local goat cheese from Dr. Bethany’s Fiddlewood Farm alpine goats!

Cray-cray...this watermelon is sweeeeeet! You can save the seeds for roasting like pumpkin seeds.
Cray-cray…this watermelon is sweeeeeet! You can save the seeds for roasting like pumpkin seeds.

Saturday ARTfarm Stand 10 AM – 12 noon!

Happy Saturday everyone! We are open regular hours today, 10 AM – 12 noon. Today’s harvest: Lots of salad greens! Sweet salad mix, lots of microgreens, arugula, teen arugula, spicy salad mix, cucumbers, onions, beets, carrots, watermelon radishes, the beginning of the end of the cherry tomatoes, medium sized tomatoes, a few pounds of baby sweet potatoes, radicchio, escarole, dandelion greens, sweet potato greens, ginger, Serrano chili peppers, Italian basil, Thai basil, cilantro, parsley, thyme,  zinnia flowers, and from our partners:  limes and sour oranges from Spring Gut Gardens, and I-Sha’s vegan fruit ice creams to cool you down during these hot, dry days before the rainy season.

"South Shore Dragon", 9 x 12" watercolor (c)2015 Luca Gasperi
“South Shore Dragon”, 9 x 12″ watercolor (c)2015 Luca Gasperi

Last night was the opening reception for “Men Of Industry”, a new art collection from Mike Walsh and Luca Gasperi at Walsh Metal Works Gallery here in St. Croix. So many of our wonderful farmstand customers and fellow artists came out to support Luca and Mike’s creative efforts, and we appreciate all of you who were able to make it last night! It was really packed!

If you missed it, or you’d like to go back and enjoy it without quite so many people there, the exhibition will run through May 9, 2015. Call the numbers listed below for exhibition open hours, or to make an appointment. For those of you off island who cannot attend in person you may view each piece through the link below! And if so inspired, purchase artwork by phone. The link is through the WalshMetalWorksVI.com website. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the information about the art exhibition and pieces for sale.

http://www.walshmetalworksvi.com/#!art

The phone numbers to call are:
Office: 340-773-8169
Barbara: 340-332-2504
Mike: 340-332-2682

Please note, all credit card purchases will have a 4% service fee added to the price listed with the work. Shipping arrangements can also be made with The Walsh Metal Works Gallery.

The muse for the painting. An outlier early-season dragonfruit ripens on the vine at ARTfarm.
The muse for the painting. An outlier early-season dragonfruit ripens on the vine at ARTfarm.

 

Saturday ARTfarm goods! 10am – 12 noon

ARTfarm Saturday of Relative Solitude: Between the rainy weather, the holiday camping weekend, and the general time of year, you can enjoy a summer-like meditative quiet as you shop at ARTfarm on a Saturday morning. Talk to yourself! No one will even notice.

Sweet salad mix, microgreens, baby arugula, baby spicy salad mix, a few cucumbers, cherry, slicer and heirloom tomatoes, dandelion greens, long beans, ginger, cilantro, a few bunches of beets, onions, scallions, basil, dill, parsley, carrots, a few radishes, and zinnia flowers.

And from our partner I-Sha we have vegan ice cream.

Watercolor (c)2015 by Luca Gasperi, exhibiting at the "Men Of Industry" show with opening reception Friday, April 10th, 2015 5-8pm at Walsh Metal Works Gallery.
Watercolor (c)2015 by Luca Gasperi, exhibiting at the “Men Of Industry” show with opening reception Friday, April 10th, 2015 5-8pm at Walsh Metal Works Gallery.

Save this coming Friday April 10th for Farmer Luca’s art exhibition with Mike Walsh (“Men Of Industry”) in Peters Rest at the Walsh Metal Works Gallery. The reception is from 5-8pm, and the show will hang for several weeks. Luca has been working on a collection of new watercolors, this time a number of paintings in smaller sizes. Mike is working on some new sculptures. Join us for this free art event!