Field Trip

Now that we have downsized we have been enjoying a couple of Saturdays meandering the back roads.  Today, we explored the Brattleboro Area Farmer’s Market in Vermont.  They have been around for 45 years, have lots of vendors and they bought the land.  It was a weedy, overgrown area along the river and they cleaned it up and called it home.  They jury their vendors.  What a fabulous place.  Spent lots of money too.

So apparently we parked in the wrong parking lot as there was no bridge to cross this stream.

I crossed it with my sandals and let me tell you – 90 degrees outside and that was very refreshing.  Keith found a bridge and used that as he had boots on.

Our first stop was this small little booth where this young lady did a lot of wildcraft harvesting.  This beautiful collection of harvested flower petals makes a great cold tea which we sampled.  We currently have some brewing in the sun.

Next up, wine tasting at 10:30 in the morning.

We bought two kinds pictures above.  Actually, we went back and bought two more bottles of the ginger liqueur.  Boy was that one good.  I will be enjoying this over ice tonight.  Keith tasted their blueberry wine and said his tasted better!

Over 50 vendors and lots of neat things to see.  Some vendors had harvested their early garlic and we bought some huge bulbs.  We picked up 4 honker ones.  They had wood fired bread bakers there and some nice looking focaccia.  Oops there goods the paleo diet, grabbed some basil, pesto and red pepper.  Sorry, forgot to take a picture.  It’s gone!

Another awesome vendor, High Goose Farm.  They have 1,000 black currant plants!!  They were selling shaved ice flavored with black currant concentrate and some black currant soda which was made with seltzer water and black currant concentrate flavored with maple syrup.  We have 2 mature plants and just purchased 12 more this spring for our wine making.  Lots of powerful goodness in these berries.  Research it.

 

 

It took us 1 3/4 hours to get there but worth it.

 

 

Should stop here but after we left there we headed up Route 5 north and stopped at Walker Farm.  Pretty impressive farm right off busy Route 5.  Nice farm store with lots of things to purchase.  Lots of greenhouses and lots of things growing in the fields.  They had one huge greenhouse strictly full of tomatoes which had been growing for a while.

After our stroll, we continued on Route 5 until we came across Harlow Farmstand and Cafe.  We enjoyed a light lunch made out of fresh greens.

 

We continued driving around in our air conditioned Jeep.  Thought it was a great way to spend the day as we certainly were not working outside in the fields or in the greenhouse on this day.

Our final stop on our field trip was in Bradford, NH at The Sweet Beet Market.  They are doing something very similar to what we are doing at Gilmanton’s Own.  We had a nice chat with Bea there and it was a great place to visit and very successful as that.

Well, we hope you enjoyed reading about our day.  We certainly enjoyed living it.  Stay cool everyone.  Michelle and Keith

 

CSA Sign Ups Ending Soon…

OK folks, if you’ve procrastinated and put it off, now is the time to pick a CSA.  Yep there are tons out there.  How do you decide?  Our CSA is a bit different from the standard ones out there.  A little bit about ours:

• We are stewards of the soil.  We feed the soil what it is lacking:  calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, rock dust, fish.  We do not use chemicals.  We call ourselves a step above organic because we are.  We are better than organic.
• Our CSA is free choice.  You pick what you want each week.
• Your upfront payment acts as a credit card.  You have this money to spend on the products you decide you want each week.
• We split our CSA into 4 – five week sessions.  You can just do 1 session, 2, 3 or all of them.  You can skip a week or two.
• We have a large size and a small size.  You can mix and match.  Again, you decide what you get and you control your spending.  When you run out of money, you are done, or you can continue by paying each week.

For more information about us.  Check out our website here.  To order your CSA, go here.  Sign ups end May 1, 2018.

We look forward to providing you and your family with great nutritious vegetables throughout the summer.  Michelle and Keith

 

CSA DAY FEBRUARY 23, 2018

CSA Day Offers Second Chance for New Year’s Resolutions

Celebrate Community-Supported Agriculture on Feb. 23 with Still Seeking Farm

Are your New Year’s resolutions already in the rearview mirror? If so, you’re not alone, but you still have time to make good on those resolutions. We are pleased to join other farms from around the country for the third annual CSA Day on February 23, when you can join other like-minded people around the country who are committed to:

• eating healthful foods and preparing them for their families;
• supporting their local farmer;
• being kind to our planet;
• learning something new; and
• being adventurous in the kitchen.

CSA (community-supported agriculture) is a subscription to a season’s worth of sustainable, locally grown produce that is distributed to members throughout the harvesting season. It is a form of investment that allows small farmers to continue growing on a scale that may not be sustainable without the CSA model. CSA members enjoy the quality of fresh fruits and vegetables for their family, while supporting their local farmer.

According to Small Farm Central’s CSA Farming Annual Report, the most popular time to join a CSA each year is at the end of February. To promote this important time for farmers, CSA Day was coined, and each year it falls on the last Friday in February. It’s an entire day dedicated to the celebration of community-supported agriculture, and CSA farmers enjoy an influx of sign-ups from members, which gives them revenue when they need it most for the growing season.
Getting food from a CSA is different from going to a farmers market or using a grocery delivery service. As a CSA member, you make a seasonal commitment to a small farmer in your area, and the produce is either delivered to your door or you pick it up at a local distribution point. CSA members take pleasure in knowing where and how their food is grown, and typically have an open line of communication with their farmer.

“Community-supported agriculture is all about relationships and feeding families,” said Simon Huntley, CEO of Small Farm Central, a company that provides marketing support for small farms and started CSA Day. “CSA farmers typically teach members what’s in season throughout the year, and help them appreciate and cook food to which they may not otherwise be exposed.”

How to Get Involved with CSA Day

If you would like to celebrate CSA Day and support Still Seeking Farm, sign up for a share on February 23, and use the hashtag #CSAday to join the online conversation.

Sign-up is easy. To learn more and to join us for the 2018 season, you can sign up here:

https://csa.farmigo.com/join/stillseekingfarmscsa/csa

 As an added incentive and to pass along our appreciation, anyone who purchases a CSA share on February 23, 2018 will receive an additional 10% purchasing power and a half-pint of maple syrup.  And to those of you who have already signed up, you too, will receive a half-pint of maple syrup.

Thank you for your support!  Keith and Michelle

Maple Syrup Sale-up to 15% off

We are offering a sweat heart of a deal good through Valentine’s Day.  Ten Percent (10%) off all of our maple syrup.  Heck, if you order at least $100’s worth, we will even deliver it (limited to a 20 miles radius from our farm).  Otherwise, you will pick it up at the farm.

Some of you may know that we are associated with Gilmanton’s Own.  So if you order anything through any of the farmers/vendors associated with Gilmanton’s Own, we will even take 15% of any maple syrup you order through us.  Same deal applies.  If you order over $100’s worth we will deliver it (limited to the 20 mile radius of our farm).

To order your maple syrup go  here and apply the code “Yum!” at checkout (don’t use the quotation marks).

To see a list of Gilmanton’s Own farmers/vendors go here.

Thank you for supporting local!  Michelle and Keith