This blog has moved to our Farm Notes Page

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New Building and Green House Update

Last week we held our Pre Construction meeting here on the farm with our General Contractor, Architect, Engineers and the Project Management team. The new building with green house will allow us to run programs year round! We expect to move in next winter and begin utilizing the green house for the 2012 season.
We are still raising money to pay for the last 22% of construction and move in costs. Please consider making an on line contribution to help us meet our goal. Thanks to all who have already given to make Red Wiggler possible.


Once complete, this new building will enable Red Wiggler to finally reach toward our fullest potential. Within one year of completion our programs will finally be able to run year round. Red Wiggler has grown in size, productivity and programs since its inception in 1996. This critical step in our growth will enable a 25% increase in our multi-dimensional inclusive farm programs.

March 2011 Slide Show!

Join us for a Field Walk!

Join us for a Field Walk!
Red Wiggler Community Farm Founder and Executive Director Woody Woodroof will show you around our beautiful 14 acre campus. Depending on the interests of the group, we will discuss the basics of our multi-dimensional mission, horticultural programs, organic farming methods, successes and challenges. You will learn about our solar home, mobile chicken tractor, relationship to the wetlands, with time set aside to address your questions. This is a great way to gain an understanding of how Red Wiggler Community Farm began and how the farm is sustaining itself as it grows.


Option One:
Best for individuals and small groups, we will offer scheduled field walks throughout the season. Field Walks are open to all at a rate of $10 per person, and we will limit group size to 20 people per walk to ensure the best possible experience. Have a look at the schedule, then contact us to reserve your spot. **Current CSA members can join us at no charge , just be sure to reserve your spot**


Dates for Spring and Early Summer 2011:

Thursday, April 7th, 10 am
Friday, April 29th, 10 am
Friday, May 13th, 10 am
Friday, June 10th, 10 am
Saturday, June 11th, Noon
Friday, July 15th, 10 am
Saturday, July 16th, Noon

Additional dates may be added based on interest, so please contact us at liz@redwiggler.org for more information and to reserve your spot.


Option Two:
We now offer Farm Consultations, an opportunity to meet with Woody to address the specific needsind interests of your group. Often this option works for Universities, Non- Profits and individuals interested in setting up similar projects in their own communities. The content is similar to the Field Walks above, and also includes a pre visit phone conversation and the delivery of any support materials via email after the meetings. If you would like to visit for a one on one tour and consultation with Woody at a mutually determined time, the fee is $200 and the size of the group is up to you.

Contact woody@redwiggler.org to schedule a Farm Consultation.

Final note:
Over the past few years, interest in small scale, local food production has been explosive. In an effort to meet the demand created by this growing interest while holding the needs of our Farm Based Programs as our highest priority, we have created the system above. We hope this pricing structure will keep informational tours accessible while also meeting the needs of those seeking more in-depth consulting. We are sure the system will evolve as we gain experience this season and ask that if you do come for a tour or consultation that you share your feedback so we can develop these activities as an important educational aspect of our Mission.

Calling all volunteers!

It’s that time of year again! We have hit the ground running here at Red Wiggler and we are excited to invite volunteers back to the farm! We have a few new volunteer positions both in and out of the fields, so check the website in early April to find out more about new opportunities. The first orientation sessions for new volunteers are on March 24th at 10am and 4pm. For new volunteers, or those who need a refresher, we ask that you email volunteer@redwiggler.org to sign up for an orientation session. If you attended orientation last year, but never made it out to the farm to volunteer please sign up for an orientation and we will be sure to get you scheduled! Seasoned volunteers returning this season can email to sign up for volunteer opportunities. The first day to volunteer this season is April 1st and our greatest need for volunteers is Tuesday through Friday from 9am to 2pm. We like to be prepared for our volunteers, so please note that all volunteer opportunities on the farm, including volunteer orientations, need to be scheduled and confirmed with the volunteer coordinator.


We will also be having orientation sessions on the first Thursday at 10am and the third Thursday at 4pm each month.


We look forward to having you on the farm!

Red Wiggler Community Farm Short Video

Thanks to Sally Kidd for producing this short introductory video last fall- we just got around to posting it...better late than never.

CSA 2011 Membership is Complete

We want to thank both our new and renewing CSA members for their early membership in our program. We are the longest running CSA in Montgomery County MD and one of the largest in the area. And we are looking forward to a productive year in 2011!

If you are interested in joining our CSA in 2012 please visit our web site for more information about our Community Supported Agriculture program.

One more day to sign up for CSA lottery

Due to school closures and icy conditions we are extending the deadline for the CSA lottery one day. Applications are due by COB Wednesday Jan 19. see http://redwiggler.org/csa for details.

2011 CSA Openings!

Seeds and starts are ordered, plantings and rotations have been planned, and tractors are being tuned up!

We're on our way to another productive year here at Red Wiggler, and are happy to be able to offer 25 CSA memberships to new folks in 2011!

Memberships will be awarded via a lottery system, and applications for the lottery are due no later than C.O.B. Tuesday, January 18th. If you are interested, please read our CSA page where you will find a FAQ page and more info.

Thanks, and Good Luck!

-Red Wiggler Community Farm Staff and Growers

New 2010 Slide Show and Year End Request

Red Wiggler Community Farm Programs made a difference in 2010:

◦ 400+ people with developmental disabilities were served by our farm programs
◦ 735 youth and adults participated in our Educational Service Learning program activities
◦ 28% of Red Wiggler’s total yield of fresh produce was distributed to low-income residents through our Farm to Group Home and Farm to Food Bank programs

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our programs for 2011. Thank you and Happy Holidays.

Lottery Applicantions for the 2011 CSA Season

Hi All,

Our 2011 CSA season shares are open to the public via the Jan 18 lottery!

We have about 25 spots open to new members for the 2011 CSA Season. Our lottery for the available shares will be held the week of January 17th with all submitted applications and $50 checks. If you are interested please read our CSA page where you will find a FAQ page and more info. Then open/download the application here.


The Application and $50 check must be received by COB Jan 18.

Please read the entire document/web page before calling or emailing-thanks.

-Red Wiggler Community Farm Staff and Growers

Extended 2010 #2

We're back again for the second week of extended season. We had a light frost Saturday morning, and we harvested the majority of the peppers on Thursday and Friday, so this week brings more peppers to you.
All in all, it's a continuation of all things good and delightful that autumn brings to the kitchen. Enjoy!

Peppers
Hot Peppers
Radishes
Turnips (Hakurei)
Carrots (Danvers--shorter)
Garlic (2)
Tat soi or Pac Choi
Kale (lacinato & red russian) or collards
Beets (and their greens)
Winter Squash (acorns)
Arugula

Extended season 2010 week #1

Oh, we've been mighty delinquent on our blog postings. Please excuse, sometimes it's hard to get outta the fields and behind a desk!

This week for extended share:
peppers
eggplant
hot peppers
kale
turnips
radishes
tatsoi
winter squash

There may be something I'm missing there but otherwise . . .enjoy and eat well!
-RWCF

A late summer day at Red Wiggler

Ten-year-old Sebastian is one of our regular volunteers. Assisted by photographer Tobias, 7, here is his recap of a recent morning on the farm.

When we got there, we harvested beans (it ain't easy:-)).





And while were doing that we saw two pairs of mating (I think) grasshoppers. At one point a grasshopper jumped on my shoulder!



The chickens are fine. :-)





Then we got carrots (also not easy). First, we had to use pitchforks to loosen up the soil. Then we pulled out the carrots and as if that wasn't enough, we had to shake off the dirt, and tie them into bunches. Phew!



After our work was finished, we had a delicious lunch, and some great watermelon for dessert!

NO CSA THIS WEEK--HARVEST SUPPER!

Just a quick reminder, NO CSA PICK UP this week. We're getting ready for the Annual Supper and Silent Auction. See you next week, if not at the dinner!

Week 13 A

It feels like a rough summer on this end but loads of goodness is still coming your way. We planted more fall greens this week--soon, soon enough they'll be back.

Beans--all 3 varities are coming in so: purple, yellow wax or green may be options
Carrots--Danvers variety, previous carrots were the Yaya variety
Sweet Potato greens--a fun addition last year
tomatoes-in some form or another
garlic
bunched herbs--we're trying to push summer savory and basil on you....
summer squash
sweet peppers
hot peppers
eggplant

Eat 'em up, YUM!

Scouts Build Bird Houses

By Liam Fox

Recently I and many of my friends worked to improve the availability of real estate for Red Wiggler, bird real estate that is. My name is Liam Fox, I have been volunteering at Red Wiggler for several years. I am also a Boy Scout and wanted to do something for the farm for my Eagle Scout project.

Working with Liz and Woody, we came up with the idea of building more eastern blue bird homes and installing them. They also wanted me to install a purple martin house. Both of these species bring a lot of benefits to the farm. They eat a tremendous amount of insects, providing a natural means of protecting the crops. The birds are also beautiful neighbors, enhancing the variety of fauna on the farm and in the community.

Many people made donations to help me purchase the materials, including my family, neighbors, and the Knights of Columbus at St.Elizabeth's Parish in Rockville . Steve James at Barrons Lumber on West Diamondback Road in Gaithersburg sold me the material at cost, which helped a great deal.

On Sunday the 15th, 15 friends and fellow Scouts gathered at my house to build 10 eastern blue bird houses. Without mortal injury we completed the houses and ate a lot of cookies.

On Thursday the 19th, 10 friends and Scouts including Woody met at Red Wiggler and installed the houses we built as well as an eight gourd purple martin house.

Next spring we look forward to welcoming the new residents of Red Wiggler.

I got educational material form

Blue Bird

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Bluebird/id

http://www.nabluebirdsociety.org/

Purple Martin

http://birding.about.com/od/birdprofiles/a/purplemartinfacts.htm

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Purple_Martin/id

http://purplemartin.org/main/mgt.html

Split Tomato Overload

We have a large amount of tomatoes with splits after last weeks hard rains. They'll go fast but they'll make great sauce or salsa.

CSA Harvest for This Week (12B)

Heirloom
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Beans
Summer Squash
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Baby Carrots
Eggplant


In the PYO:

Zinnias
Basil
Marjoram
Oregano
Thyme
Sage
Lovage
Mint
Chives
Calendula
Feverfew
Bachelor Buttons
Snapdragons
Statice
Strawflowers
Anise Hyssop

Harvest 10-B

Over halfway through the season, and still churning out the veggies.

This week:
Baby Carrots
Heirloom Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Sweet Bell Peppers
Hot Peppers
Summer Squash/Zucchini
Potatoes
Beans

Remembering Hallie Wells Birthday Today

Red Wiggler Community Farm remembers Hallie Ausmus Wells birthday today August 1, 1893- she would be 117. Below is a re-posting of an archived blog entry describing how she came to donate her 290 acre farm to the Park system in 1981- we are very grateful for this special woman and her contribution to our community.
Originally posted: Friday, August 15, 2008 by Susan Skeith, valued Red Wiggler Volunteer 2008

They had no children, and this fact led, in 1956, to Ovid Hazen Wells and Hallie Ausmus Wells making a momentous decision which affects us all today.

They clearly loved the State of Maryland, the open landscapes of Montgomery County and the charm of farming life. They both seemed to be visionaries of their time desiring to protect the land that they valued so dearly. In 1956 they made their decision to deed the 290 acres of farmland which they owned to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission so that it might remain as open space and be used for recreation. In l981, when Hallie officially made the donation, their vision had become reality.

Ovid Hazen Wells was born in Claiborne County, Tennessee in 1894, as was Hallie, in1893. They moved to the District of Columbia in 1918 when they were in their twenties. Ovid worked on the White House Police Force (now known as the Secret Service) and Hallie worked first for War Risk Insurance (a Federal department for WW1 veterans) and later for the IRS.

In 1940, Ovid retired and the Wellses bought 94 acres on Skylark Road in Clarksburg and later they acquired more adjoining land, including a dairy farm, bringing their total acreage to 290. They continued to live in DC but Ovid worked on the farm with the help of farmhands. Hallie described her husband as a ‘handshaker’, one who was prone to bringing people over on Saturdays and Sundays to show off his farm. She once told the Gazette in a l989 interview that “my husband informed me, one day back in 1952, that he planned to move to Cedar Grove and if I didn’t want to come, he would leave me a bed!” She promptly retired and they moved to the farm permanently.

It was on a Spring morning, four years later, when they had their discussion about who should benefit from their good fortune when they were gone. Between them they had more than 20 brothers and sisters and, as Hallie so eloquently put it, “bequeathing it to all those heirs would have meant a nickel piece of it each time lawyers and everybody got their part”. Besides, the Wellses were more than a little concerned that development was intruding ever closer and they wanted to make sure that their piece of open space was left for the community to learn about their agricultural heritage and to have a recreational park for generations to come; not merely development into houses on one-acre lots.

They also wanted it to benefit children.

Later that same year, Ovid sadly died at the age of 62, having been denied his senior years working the land as he had hoped. One wonders if he knew his life was coming to an end and he needed to have a plan for Hallie.

Hallie made the donation of their farm in 1981, despite the fact that the land had appreciated in value to over 1 million dollars. She continued to live there until her death, at the ripe-old age of 98 and she is buried with her husband in the Salem United Methodist Cemetery on Ridge Road.
Because of the generosity and astounding vision that this couple exuded we are still able to work the farm, as Red Wiggler; providing job opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities; growing and selling high quality produce and continuing to expand the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program which, by its nature, creates and nurtures a healthy and inclusive community.

What a superb legacy Ovid and Hallie have left for this community and, like them, we must continue to protect and preserve the land around us as our responsibility for this generation and generations to come.


by Susan Skeith, Red Wiggler Volunteer 2008