It’s been a tough time the past couple months. Like any good farmer, I’ll blame it all on the weather. I’ll spare you the gory details, but basically we got hit with a combo of premature bolting due to cold temps, and bad infestations of slugs and earwigs which wiped out, or severely diminished, many of our early season crops. We have had a few nice things come in here and there, but overall it’s been dismal.
OK, the whining is over. Though about a month late, our summertime crops are starting to come in, and they are looking good! The tomatoes in particular are looking very nice. That means it’s time to open our stand.
Jonathan and the RuralCraft apprentice crew have been busy cleaning up, setting up, and gearing up for the farmstand season. I think you’ll enjoy the energy these folks have brought to the farm. The fields are looking beautiful, and the crops are getting better tended than ever before.
This year we plan to be open for more convenient hours. We also are setting up a homemade evaporative cooling system which will keep the stand comfortable even when the afternoon sun beats down. This will also help keep the veggies in prime plump condition much longer.
Our approach this season is to offer more great deals for volume purchases and for “field run” grade veggies. Any farm has lots of veggies that are not up to top-notch appearance grade, but are otherwise perfectly good. Along with the primo stuff, we intend to offer great deals on things like greens with some chew holes in the leaves, or tomatoes with blemishes. The local growers markets discourage such sales out of fear it will tarnish their high-class image.
We’re less concerned about image, and more into getting good food to the people, whether they are rich or not. For those on a tight budget, we will be the best place to get wholesome, nutritious, fresh local veggies at affordable prices. For those with money to spare, we will have the best quality produce around without the crowds and parking issues of the growers markets.
We will be open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays from noon to 6pm, and Saturdays from 8am to 4pm. Come check us out!
This week we expect to have a variety of heirloom and standard tomatoes, summer squash, cucumbers, chard, kale, onions, garlic, beets, several kinds of basil, and maybe a few peppers and eggplants, plus edible flowers and other things that I’m forgetting at the moment.
We will not be setting up at the Growers Market for the time being. We want to focus on our own scene and be the best we can for those who make the trip out to the farm.
Of course, we honor all Farm Bucks and HappyBucks! See you soon…
Matt
Hi Matt, Glad to hear your stand is now open.
Good Luck. See you soon. Sally