We will also have more fennel this week, remember the entire plant is edible. You can eat the bulb and leaves raw in a salad or juice, saute it with some oil, stir-fry or bake it. This plant is a very good digestive aid, the leaves can be made into a tasty tea to help with belly aches.

There is still much to do in the fields in order to get everything harvested and get the fields prepared for the summer. Come out and join us Wednesday through Sunday the rest of the month to help ensure that we harvest everything that’s available. If you can’t come early just let us know when to expect you. Thank you for supporting this community project. Peace

We only have a small amount of lettuce left that has been standing up to the warm weather, hopefully enough for the remainder of the season. The summer squash have slowed down a bit but the green beans are starting to produce very plentiful, so enjoy.

We have still been pretty busy in the fields harvesting and prepping everything for the summer and next season – so come out and help us Wednesday through Sunday!

Peace, and Happy Mother’s Day!

This year is our big two-O.  TWENTY years of PestoFesto!  It’s a wonderful tradition.  Volunteers and farmers come together the morning before to harvest basil and get it in the cooler.  That evening more volunteers come to the farm to pluck the basil leaves from the stems and prepare it to be made into pesto the next day.  The pasta gets par-boiled and a “test” batch of our soon-to-be-famous Pesto Pasta is prepared and tasted to make sure it is going to be just right.

Saturday morning starts with setting up tables and chairs, cleaning the barn and the kitchen, and getting the grounds ready.  By afternoon volunteers are washing and chopping veggies for the big farm-fresh salad.  Dressings are being prepared using herbs from our garden.  Our “Pesto Crew” shows up and gets busy making batch after batch of pesto and pasta.  Signs and more tables are set up as beer, wine, and coffee folks arrive.  The Urban Gypsies roll in and set up their equipment and say “hi’ to old friends.  Another round of volunteers come in to make the last minute preparations such as decorating tables with table covers and flowers.  Other volunteers get the serving tables ready to go and others head to their volunteer posts to help folks with parking, greeting folks at the entrance, or selling raffle tickets.

Before we know it, 6:00 is near and the first smiling members, visitors, and guests arrive to the farm.  The tables are set, the beer is cold, and the smell of pesto is in the evening air.

Once again our community comes together to work toward the simple, common goal of sharing a meal and supporting this local farm that provides us with fresh and healthy food and a place to learn and to be.  We think that’s reason enough to have a Festo, don’t you?

Hope you will join us, tickets are available online through Friday for $20 or pay $25 at the door.

Our community organization is a non-profit farm with a Mission.  As one of the few paid staff members here at the farm, I must consider my specific role and the role of other staff members in fulfilling this Mission.  Specific duties and responsibilities aside, our Mission is the reason we are all here.  So when I read our Mission Statement I know that my job is to “provide an experience”, “serve as a model”, “provide opportunities to participate”, and “foster a sense of community”.

While these may be our big picture goals, they tend to serve as somewhat of a backdrop to the every day busy work of growing healthy food, coordinating people and events, funding and managing an educational program, and serving as a volunteer hub and learning center.

And so we receive Mission reminders and much needed help from our “Village”.  As you must know by now, we rely heavily on our community members for our daily shot in the arm of volunteer enthusiasm, positive vibes, and encouragement to continue this good work.

Most interns and staffers at the Farm will tell you the work is rewarding, but some of the hardest they will do in their lifetime.  The work is fulfilling, but the Village is what they will miss when they take their knowledge and experiences to new places.

And hidden away on a dark Wednesday night, sitting with barely an inch between them at a small wood table, sits a small group of extremely dedicated people eating a potluck of community-grown veggies and talking.  A handful of people that have promised to serve their community on our Board of Directors.  We’d like to take a moment to thank them for all of the work they put into this community, for which they receive no pay… not even a discount on their PestoFesto ticket.  These are just good folks that have taken our Mission to heart and spend hours away from their own work and families to help generate the strategy, planning, know-how, and energy required to run this beautiful, sustainable organization.

In the last couple of years the following folks have really dug deep to make things happen.

Thank you to Board Members; Dan Behrens, Jamie Blessinger, Shawn Landry, Andrew Rock, Tonya Slaton, Cheryl Smith, Christian Wells, and Jamie Wright.

Join the farm community as we enjoy Earth Day with the kids this Sunday.  Rain or shine, we will be here to celebrate Mother Earth.

Even though we are still transitioning into spring harvest, we are still working hard on preparing for next fall and next season. We are already planting cover crop or green manure crop on half of the new Children’s Home farm field. This extra work is to ensure a lot of organic matter and nutrients for next fall’s planting which will help us achieve a balance in the soil. We are always working ahead several months to guarantee a successful next season. The covercrop will also protect our delicate soil from the harsh summer sun, emerging weeds, wind erosion and rain erosion.

Please be sure to mark your calendars for two of our upcoming events, Earth Day for Kids on April 22nd and PestoFesto on May 5th. Tickets for Pesto are available on our website for the first time. This is an important fundraiser for the farm and a great opportunity to spend time with our community in a volunteer capacity or just enjoying the event!

And of course we are still accepting applications for our CSA membership from renewing and new members.  We are fast approaching 50% sold already!

Hope everyone is enjoying the season, peace, love, respect and gratitude.

(Please remember the farm will be closed Sunday the 8th for the holiday. Sunday CSA pick-up will take place the day before, on Saturday the 7th from 12:00-4:00.)

The growing season continues with some bounty and some learning experiences. The new Children’s Home field has given us much bounty in its first months of production, but at the same time we are facing challenges that come with growing in a new field. Many challenges come up when growing in a soil which is not yet fertile and balanced in biodiversity. We will achieve this goal after several applications of good organic matter and several incorporations of green cover crops into the soil. One of these challenges is plant viruses which have already devastated our spring tomato and eggplant production. We are already working to resolve this for next season, and this new lesson will only make us better farmers. In the mean time many crops are growing better then expected and we should all enjoy great harvest the remainder of the season. We are almost ready to start harvesting the spring vegetables like cucumber, summer squash, potatoes, basil, peppers and more.

This week we’ll continue with some of the winter crops that will feed us for a little longer this season, like cabbage, carrots and broccoli.

We will have baby Mizuna, this is an Asian green related to Arugula but with less bite. Enjoy in salads, stir-fried or steamed.

The beets have been growing very slow at the new field but are finally ready to harvest. They are delicious and don’t forget to use the greens.

And I can never say enough about Kohlrabi. Never heard of it before I learned to grow it here at Sweetwater but is now one of my favorite farm veggies. Don’t be intimidated, just cut up the bulb and use as raw veggie chips and don’t forget to thinnly slice the leaves and add to your salad for a fresh crunchy texture. Want to get more creative then just “google it” and you will find many recipes, it is a favorite in European cooking. The white and purple varieties have very similar qualities and can be used interchangeably.

I can never thank you all enough for supporting such an environmental, sustainable and community focused form of agriculture. Remember food is medicine and medicine is food.

Happy and healthy eating and living!

Please mark your calendars for some upcoming important dates:

The CSA share pick-up and our Sunday Market will be closed on Sunday, April 8th for Easter. We are rescheduling the Sunday pick-up for Saturday, April 7th, 12:00-4:00.

Sunday, April 22nd we are having a special kid’s Earth Day event. More details to come very soon.

Saturday, May 5th is our annual PestoFesto event! Don’t miss it, tickets on sale online or buy at the farm.

See you all at the Farm!

It’s also a time for planning ahead for the summer months and possibly vacations or projects.  Sweetwater Farm will be planning too.  We’re gearing up for the last couple of months of our season and planning fun Earth Day and end of season fun.  Mark your calendars for Earth Day on April 22nd and PestoFesto on May 5th!  Be sure to join us for food, fun, and community.

We’re also planning our upcoming season and setting our budget and looking to our future.  We hope that our current Members are also planning ahead for next season and will be renewing their CSA memberships during this special renewal pricing period (happening now until the end of May).  Remember that all renewal applications need to be in and paid in full by May 31 in order to receive the lower rate.

Please let us know if we can answer any questions or concerns.  And Happy Spring!

Try this “Irish” favorite with your carrots this week… Irish Carrot & Parsnip Mash

Not sure what to do with the Kohlrabi? Try making mashed kohlrabi, just peel and boil and use as you would potatoes. Another great idea is to shred the bulb to use in coleslaw.

Here is a Romaine salad with Cilantro dressing that’s yummy…

See you at the farm.