Harvest Week 9 A

We're back again after a very hot week from the Annual Montgomery Farm Tour. Thanks to all those who braved the heat and came out.

This week in your share:
Eggplant
Sweet Bell Peppers
Hot Peppers
Potatoes
Onions
Zucchini
Cucumber
Cherry Tomatoes
Red Tomatoes
Heirloom Tomatoes

That's some good eatin'!

It's Cooler in the Country

This past Saturday was the Annual Montgomery County Farm Tour & Harvest Sale. By most reports the temperature was above 100 Fahrenheit throughout the county but our temperatures did not go above 98- so it is in fact "cooler in the country"! Attendance was a fraction of past years numbers yet over 300 people were "clicked" in by our official crowd estimators (thanks to Wiggins et al.)

Here is a short slide show of photos from the day:


We are grateful to Janet at Le Soleil Catering who was on hand with Gazpacho, trail mix, lemon cake and water. Our bee keeper, Chet from Banner Bee Company, was also selling honey and showing off his "observation hive". And thanks to Matthew Pennington for organizing the music- The Rookery Project. There were also more than 15 volunteers who staffed the Farm Tour and we are grateful to them as well. Hoola hooping in the shade was the hit of the day!

Annual Farm Tour This Week End

2010
Annual Farm Tour
Saturday July 24th 10am-3pm
Live Music : Rookery Sessions (same great musicians as last year with a few guests)

Come out and join us for a day of music, hay rides, and educational activities! This free event is a great way to learn more about life our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm and how green farming can be when we work with an eye to environmental stewardship and utilize sustainable farming practices. Take a tour and visit the vegetables growing in Red Wiggler’s fields. See the plant based treatments that a rural physician might have used to care for patients in Montgomery County in the 1850s. Watch honeybees in their hive and learn how they participate in the life of the farm. Enjoy a family friendly hayride and learn to hoola hoop!. We will have seasonal Red Wiggler produce and flowers for sale along with honey and bee based products from The Naked Bee. Hope to see you here next year. Directions

Spring and Summer Slide Show

Here is a slide show of photos from the 2010 growing season

Harvest Week 8B

In the share this week:

Garlic
Potatoes
Onions
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Eggplant
Summer Squash
Cucumbers

Farm to Food Bank program highlighted

Click here to donate now
Channel 7 in DC did a story about our Farm to Food Bank partnership with Manna Food Center, Kaiser Permanente and Whole Foods.

here is the blurb from Channel 7's web site:
GAITHERSBURG, Md. - A new program in Montgomery County is bringing some of the highest quality foods to those who can least afford it. The Farm to Food Bank initiative, organized by the Manna Food Center in Gaithersburg, is bringing fruits and vegetables to the masses.

"It helps people that don't have enough money to go and buy groceries," said Janet Rugh-Williams, who says she cannot afford fresh produce.To make matters worse, her 9-year-old daughter suffers from a severe health condition. "She does have a health problem," Rugh-Williams. "So when I couldn't help her, you guys help."

The food will come from twelve local farms and orchards, including Red Wiggler in Clarksburg.

The program, which runs through the fall, including everything from garlic and eggplant to peppers and potatoes. Every single vegetable is certified organic.

"The basis of a healthy society is its food system. And I believe we have one example, in a small way, that demonstrates that," said Woody Woodroof, the founder and executive director of Red Wiggler, which employs individuals with disabilities.

After its harvested, the produce goes to Manna Food Center in Gaitherburg. The hope, says the center's executive director, Kim Damion, is that healthier food will lead to healthier lifestyles.

"We can also make them healthier, and ultimately get them on the road to self-sufficiency," Damion said.

The program will harvest 3,500 of fruits and vegetables each week, enough to feed eight hundred families through January.

Chickens on the Move

The chickens have moved! After determining that it is time for them to start earning their keep around here, we found a nice spot in the retired spring greens for our mobile chicken tractor. Last week we rolled our friends up to the field, set out the fencing to keep them happily contained, then turned them loose!

They seem to be thoroughly enjoying the chance to hunt and peck through their little corner of the field for seed heads and can be seen darting back and forth erratically, which looks a little odd from a distance, but up close reveals that they are hard at work chasing down insects. In addition to reducing the pest population, they will fertilize the soil with their droppings, then incorporate them into the soil as they scratch and do their chicken thing. All of this activity is excellent for the fields, which will get a nice rest while they are groomed.


update: after 27 days with only 3/8ths of an inch of rain- today we recieved 1/2 inch under cloudy skies- a good day to get some chix pix. Last week the chickens spent the hot "code orange" days in the shade of the chicken tractor- all of us are grateful for the break.

Harvest Week 7-A

In the share this week...

Zucchini & Summer Squash
Cucumbers
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Spring Onions
Green Garlic
Eggplant

And new this week...
Red Norland Potatoes!