Farm Photos!

Hey guys, I brought my camera with me this afternoon to the CSA pick-up and wanted to share some of my favorite photos!
Thanks to all the parents who let me take pictures of their children!

Did you know there are 3 sets of twins in the CSA?

Anybody wanna work today?

We're hoping a few people might have time to pitch in with today's harvest, pickup and general chores. It'll be a soggy day, so company would be welcome. The forecast calls for rain in the morning and then kind of cloudy foggy afternoon. We could use people from 1:00 pm and later to do some picking, washing, and table setup. If all that goes smoothly, we'd then probably be doing a little transplanting and weeding.
We're looking forward to a getting a fire going in our "stove" to keep things toasty.
If you're coming out to work in the garden, wear stuff you wouldn't mind getting muddy. Rain pants and waterproof shoes really keep you comfortable, if you have them. It probably won't be crazy wet today, but I'm just covering the bases...
Well, see you all today.

There is ,of course, a CSA pickup tomorrow (Wednesday) from 4-7ish on our farm at 544 Greenville Ave, Johnston RI USA. Since we're all getting in the swing of this thing, I figure reminders are important until we all get into a routine. Reminders prevent Remainders.
We had a few rather minor issues come up last week, all of which should be easily resoluble:

• Parking. We didn't anticipate this one very well. Basically it didn't work out well to park the cars in a line in front of the barn. When you arrive, you can hook a right at the barn and just park down alongside the barn, OR you can park on the shoulder of Greenville Ave. in front of the farmhouse, OR my favorite: park on quiet and tree-lined Carpenter St. in front of the big white garage or on the shoulder; from there it's a 30 yard nature walk to the back of the barn where your food is.
  
• Ah, directions. I'm a map person, as in obsessively poring over them in my spare time, but I realize not everyone is. There are many ways to get to Mathewson Farm but the simplest is this: Route 6 West out to the 2nd exit for Rte 6A/Hartford Ave., the one just past Killingly. Bear right off this exit, which means West, toward Johnston. You will come to the intersection of Hartford and Atwood Ave. It's real built up and ugly. The Town Hall is on your right, BONO PLAZA is in front of you, Shell Station to left. GO RIGHT on Atwood and get the Hell out of there, going uphill through more strip stuff. Once you've passed all the architectural gems, you will pass a huge barn on left, HEYWOOD FARM. Go left just after this on Carpenter St., which will deliver you, at it's end, to Our Farm, and the good parking I referenced above.
  

• And finally, please communicate. If you can't get your share at the pickup venue for whatever reason, let us know. We hate to waste food, and the work it takes to pick it and wash it. There are many ways to reach us. Phone: 481-6115, Blog, or email marsfarmer@yahoo.com.

I hope I'm not missing any vital issues in this here post. I hope to write about more fun things in the coming weeks, like that some folks think we should have a garden party soon, and others have asked about recipes. These are two subjects that I like to discuss a lot more than parking.
I have to go, but I will close with a recipe for your mixed cooking greens, which are so tasty this time of year:
Olive Oil
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
A little liquid (water, stock, wine, beer...)
simmer garlic in oil for a few seconds, throw down a mess of those greens, add liquid, toss and cover for like 3 minutes. uncover, stir, add salt/pepper, cover again for 5-10 minutes, depending on how cooked down you like them.
These greens go great with shellfish, sausages, goat cheese, pasta, flatbread, on a pizza, in a quesadilla, over rice...

Congratulations to Beatrice and Eric!

Two of our shareholders had a baby on the day of the first pickup, so they couldn't make it out to Mathewson Farm. Congratulations! I can't wait to meet the new girl in our CSA! I hope the whole family is doing great. And please tell us her name!

Mathewson Farm Wikipedia entry

See you all this afternoon at Mathewson Farm! Perhaps we should add some info here!

First Pick up tomorrow, May 20, at Mathewson Farm!

Don't forget to come out to the farm tomorrow and get your spring greens & herbs (I guess the radishes need one more week) I'll be picking at our city gardens in the morning, and shouldn't need help. On the other hand, if someone wants to show up a half hour early and help us set up that'd be great. Or show up a couple or a few hours early and work in the garden with us. Just make sure you come by before 7, or get in touch with us if you can't!

Act Now! Don't Delay! Call 1-800-HELP ME PLANT ALL THIS STUFF.

This week will be busy. We've got tons of things to plant, our first CSA pickup, the weeds have woken up, and then there's everything else. You could probably just make up a job using random
words and it's probably something we need done.

Let me try. I'm opening the dictionary...to the word... neutral. Hey that's pretty good, because one of the jobs for this week is spreading lime, which is of course limestone powder used to neutralize acidic soil. Most plants prefer a pH of 6-6.5, but our soil before cultivation comes in at around 5.5. Applying lime at a rate of 170 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft. gives us the pH range we need to grow all these tasty vegetables. Without this very important rock we'd have some sickly plants. Most New England soils are acidic because our bedrock, granite, is acidic. Putting lime in your soil basically imitates the effects of limestone bedrock. What's great for us is that our lime is locally quarried right down Limerock Road at Conklin Limestone, the oldest working quarry in the USA. (right)

So if anybody has free hours this week, don't hesitate. We need hands, even if you can only spare an hour. I, Matt, will be working at Mathewson Farm most dry days. When it's wet, I'll most likely be potting plants or doing maintenance. Catherine will be harvesting on Monday and Wednesday. If you're unsure where we are on a given day, just call our cell: 481-6115