6th CSA harvest, a wedding and "Artfarm"

We all took a long week end to celebrate the 4th as well as Shannon Varleys marriage to BJ Miller on Monday July 3rd in Pittsburg PA! It was a beutiful, loving wedding set on an idealic farm complete with lots of kids and pleanty of dancing in a restored bank barn from the mid 1800s. Congratulations Shannon, BJ and Mave!

We just harvested fresh garlic and early potatos for you and you can expect plenty of summer squash as well. The early basil from transplant is ready for picking in the PYO. You can also count on getting some cooking greens as well.
I'll update this later on with a more complete list after we finish up the harvest but I thought you'd want to know about the new arrivals listed above.
Later today....here is the rest of the harvest:
Radishes
spring onions
chard
turnips
peppers
cucumbers
kohlrabi.

And in the PYO (pick your own) - dill, statice, cilantro, thyme, oregano, batchelor's buttons, snap dragons, daisies, sweet peas, gomphrena,basil and straw flowers.
And in the planter boxes - Sage, mint, majoram, lemon balm, nasturshims, chives, marigolds, lovage.

Please note that during the week of July 17th we will be preparing for our annual farm tour known as "Artfarm". We will not be harvesting for the CSA that week. We hope you will be able to come enjoy the free event here on the farm Jul;y 22nd from 10 am til 3pm. There will be music, site specific performance art and who knows what else. stay tuned for more info- Woody

5th CSA week & the spotted Baltimore Checkerspot

We are honored to be able to report that on June 9th the 11th known Baltimore Checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton) colony in the state of Maryland was spoted by Pat Durkin at Red Wiggler. When this orange-and-black checkered butterfly was named the official Maryland State insect in 1973, the species was common throughout the region within its wet meadow habitat. In 1980 there were 14 Maryland counties with 30–plus known colonies – By 2005 the population had dwindled to only nine colonies in five counties. Researchers had believed the butterfly disappeared from Montgomery County years ago. Over the past year our site and another only one mile from our gardens have been identified. – Now with 11 colonies there is budding hope that the Baltimore Checkerspot will find what it needs to survive. It needs one specific host plant to feed from, the White Turtlehead (Chelone glabra) which is found in open wetlands and along the banks of slow moving streams.
The Washinton Post reported the sighting on June 13, see the article.

This week we are harvesting:
Summer Squash
Carrots
Turnips
Arugula
Kale
Collards
Chard
Radishes
Onions
And Blueberries (from Butlers Orchard)
In the pick your own there will be a limited amount of basil for the first time this season!

-Woody

4th CSA harvest and travel report

This week we will be harvesting:
Salad Mix
Arugula
Kale
Chard
Kohlrabi (see photo above)
Turnips
Garlic Scapes
Spring Onions
and Blueberries (from Butlers Orchard)

The Horticulture Therapy conference in Portland OR was highly informative. In short, there is clear documented evidence that access to plants and interacting with the natural world through gardening is beneficial to our health. This research informs how we at Red Wiggler run our farm. We hope that each of our CSA participants will venture forth into the Pick Your Own (PYO) garden to harvest your own flowers and herbs. Take your time, enjoy the experience and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

I also traveled up to Olympia WA where I visited Left Foot Organics. Ann Vandeman, Left Foots Director volunteered at Red Wiggler back in 1998 for an entire year. She then moved to Olympia and duplicated Red Wiggler’s farm program- she employees adults with developmental disabilities, runs a CSA and attends local farmers markets. See www.leftfootorganics.org for more info.

Finally, everywhere I went out there was by public transportation. The people who live throughout the Pacific Northwest take their public transportation seriously and are proud of the fact that they make time to use the busses, light rail and ferries. I hope that we here in Montgomery County will take the time to participate in our RideOn bus transportation system. It will only become as good as we want it to. So, for any CSA member who rides the bus to pick up your vegetables we at Red Wiggler will throw in a little something extra for your share. (for a limited time) Please be sure to let us know you came to the farm by bus. Here is the link for the number 90 bus route.
-Woody

3rd CSA Harvest and a request

This week in your Share you will find:
Salad Mix
Swiss Chard (photo above is of our growers, staff and volunteers harvesting chard)
Kale
Turnips
Kohlrabi
Spinich
Spring Onions
Garlic Scapes

Sorry for the short posting but I am off to Portland OR for the 2006 American Horticultural Therapy Associations Annual Conference. The conference will be here in Montgomery County next year and Red Wiggler will be a featured agency in the 2007 conference. I hope to learn a lot and get inspired! Woody

Pick-up partner(s) wanted to take turns on a regular or occasional basis bringing shares back from the farm on Saturdays. I live in the Rockville/Aspen Hill area. I'm willing to pick up any week I am in town and hold your share temporarilly at my place. Looking for folks willing to do the same for me when I am away or have another conflict on Saturday mornings. Please call me at (301)460-8468 or e-mail me with "Red Wiggler" in the subject line at djayson05@comcast.net

2nd CSA Harvest/s

This week CSA participants can expect the following:
1 bunch Red Russian Kale - jagged leafs with redish hue-
1 bunch of Collards- rounded green leafs
1 bag of baby Salad Mix- about a half pound
1 bag of Arugula -about a half pound-this can be eaten raw as a spicy salad by itself or you can combine it with the salad mix.
1 bunch of Turnips
1 bunch of Radishes
1 bunch of Spring Onions
Garlic Scapes
1 box of "conventional" Strawberries (from Butlers Orchard). If you would like more strawberries we suggest that you add some time to your trip and go over to Butlers and pick as many as you like. This may very well be the end of the strawberry season. We can give you directions when you pick your vegetables up.

In the Pick Your Own (PYO) garden we will have dill, snapdragon and straw flowers. We will need to give the oregano and thyme a rest this week.

We will have recipes again this week in the printed newsletter and an update on whats happening in the fields. Its been a busy week as we harvest, plant and try to keep ahead of the weeds. The growers were laying out tomatoe stakes today and we will begin stringing those plants on Wednesday- weather permitting.

If you wish to make a comment- please click on the light blue “comments” link just below this post. A window will open and you can see a text box in the upper right corner- the curser should already be there. Your comments are very helpful to us.
Thank you and enjoy- WW

ps
Pick up times:
Wednesday 2pm-6pm
Saturday 9am-noon
*If you can not make it for the pick up you may ask a friend to pick up for you but please ask them to be sure to check your name off the "check off list" which is in the barn right next to your weekly newsletter.*
**Please remember to always WASH your vegetables.**

1st CSA Harvest/s

This week is the beginning of our regular 20 week harvest season.
Community Supported Agriculture participants will pick up the following vegetables here on the farm.
Members come on:
Wednesdays between 2pm and 6pm
or
Saturdays between 9am and noon.
Here is what is in this week's harvest:

1 bunch of Hakurei Turnips- these are great chopped and added raw to a salad or lightly braised and added to greens. And the Turnip greens are great treated just like any other cooking greens. We suggest a very lightly wilting of the greens- they are FRESH and harvested on Wednesday and need only a few moments in a pan with olive oil to be ready to eat.

1 bunch of Red Russian Kale- again freshly harvested- just wash chop and wilt on low heat in olive oil for no more than a few minutes.

1 bunch of Collards for braising

1 bag of mixed Braising Greens (komatsuna, mibuna, green wave mustard, osaka purple to name a few varieties in the mix) This mix of greens is for cooking down lightly- same as above.

1 bag of Spinach to be eaten raw or cooked down

1 bunch of Spring Onions

1 handful of Garlic Scapes- sautee'd with greens

1 quart of fresh Strawberries (early glo) harvested across the street at Butlers Orchard. Butlers grows these conventionally.

Please remember to ALWAYS wash ALL of your vegetables. And if you wash them right when you get home from the farm, they will freshen up and keep longer in your ice box. Plus, washing your vegetables ensures healthy food.

WW

Volunteering at Red Wiggler

What a spring we have had at the Red Wiggler Community Farm in 2006!
Plantings abound - from seedlings in flats under lights to direct seeding in the fields. There has been a lot of prep work to develop soil fertility for higher yields. Heavy cover crop seed bags have been emptied - one by one, and generous amounts of organic matter laid in rows to enhance balanced soil fertility from within the soil.
The farm has had many volunteers this spring helping out in the fields. Independent students from local schools have volunteered on their days off school to help plant & straw asparagus, plant kohlrabi, shovel Leafgro on rows, and weeding. The farm has also been open for volunteers one Saturday a month in March & April. We had several CSA families help with the garlic patch, laying drip tape for irrigation, working on our deer fence, and lots of weeding.
The Red Wiggler has had several schools volunteer. Both students with and without disabilities have worked hard filling pots for transplants, shoveling Leafgro, planting potatoes, and accomplishing feats like worker bees to complete jobs that would have taken 1 or 2 people an entire afternoon.
We have also had the honor of working with engineering students from the University of Maryland who have volunteered at Red Wiggler to help us with permitting/construction efforts with the "People's Choice" Solar House that was donated to the farm after the Solar Decathlon on the Mall (DC) last October.
It is great to see enthusiastic folk on the farm! There's something really invigorating and rewarding about being outside on a sunny day and working as a team to accomplish a goal that benefits so many!
There are many different reasons why people volunteer on the Red Wiggler Community Farm: interest in sustainable farming methods; interest in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture); interest in working with adults with developmental disabilities; interest in alternative energy - Whatever the reason, the farm is Thankful to all of our volunteers who help us reach our vision of creating fertile ground to nourish a healthy & inclusive community.
Beth McCormack/Volunteer Coordinator