For most of the deep winter, our vegetable fields look a little something like this:
Underneath, the fields are resting.
So, for the remainder of the winter, we will be increasing our offerings of fresh produce. Andrew uses the following guidelines: #1 is it Local? # is it Organic/Sustainable? #3 is it fairly priced? Says Andrew: “we will never offer a fruit or veggie grown in Mexico or California if a farmer closer by is selling the same crop.”
Despite the cold, when I went over to snap some photos today, there seemed to be some real activity. Here are Charlton and Clint unloading 100lbs of ginger to be planted for this years’ harvest.
And Andrew showed me the spinach rows growing in the high tunnels. Our own fresh spinach has been growing all winter in a structure heated only by the sun! According to Andrew, this produces less of a carbon footprint than a ‘flea fart’. Not sure how that is measured, but I’ll take his word for it.
Truly local, this spinach is grown just a 1/2 mile from the market.
Back to the sourced fresh fruits and vegetables you can to expect to see at the market to carry us through: (from NJ and PA) Apples (IPM), Asian Pears (IPM), Tomatoes (Hydroponic), Yellow and Red Onions (Organic), Green and Red Cabbage (Organic), Baby Mixed Color Carrots (Conventional), Large Mixed Color Carrots (Organic), Parsnips (Organic), Mesclun Mix-Think spring mix with herbs (Hydroponic), Beets (Conventional), Potatoes (IPM), Rutabaga (Organic), Butternut Squash (Conventional), Garlic (Organic), Shallots (Organic). **IPM stands for ‘Integrated Pest Management’ which is a program supervised by the Rutgers Extension Service ensuring that farmers are spraying the minimum amount of pesticides required to do the job. This program is accepted nationwide as the best option for produce that meets the high quality standards of today’s consumer.
From farms farther away we have found these Certified Organic options: Kale (FL), Zucchini (FL), Navel Oranges (FL), Bosc pears (WA), D’Anjou Pear (WA).
As the weather warms up, we will start adding more and more of our own produce to the list. Above is the garlic poking through the snow and below are trays of onion sprouts. There are about 1,000 sprouts per tray which will be transplanted at the right time into the soil.
They look so beautiful close up…and GREEN.
We are all ready for the warmer weather, but maybe none more so than Roxy…