Spring is sprung! The time for green markets, farmers’ markets, art festivals and boat shows is upon us! Hurrah! The Chestertown Farmers’ Market opens for the season this Saturday, and I know there will be lots of activity there. Read this and salivate from Kathy Redman of Redman Farms: “I will be bringing veggie plants. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, collards and lettuce – maybe tomato plants if the weather permits. Assorted annuals, perennials, pansies and herbs, also !!! All grown in my greenhouses!”
Those are the words of an inspired woman. She has done all the hard work, bending over the seeds and encouraging them to sprout, weeding and thinning so no one gets round shoulders. Now you can just sail into Fountain Park bright and early on Saturday morning and wrest control of your summer vegetable garden away from Kathy and the other phenoms of the farming world.
Bon Apétit has half a dozen ideas of what to do with kale, so you are not like me, staring at it in the market or grocery store, wondering what on earth to prepare. https://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/badaily/2012/03/10-quick-kale-recipe-ideas.html
But this recipe called to mind one that Mimi prepared one morning when she was visiting: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/04/parsley-kale-and-berry-smoothie Sorry again about the lack of blender, Meems.
Here is a partial list of the farms that will be participating Saturday; next weekend the artisans will set up, too:
Redman Farms – Tim & Kathy Redman- Produce
Mervin Lapp – Baked Goods
Lisa Redman – Soap & Lotions
Helen Merenda – Plants
Joseph Towner – Organic Produce
Jim & Alice Breger – Plants
Sarah Arnold – produce
Owen McCoy – Plants and Seasonal Items
Galena Blooms – Don & Lisa Biggar – Plants
Dolly Baker – Certified Organic Plants and Produce
Colchester Farms – Produce
Lockbriar Farms – Fruit
Orange Cat Farm – Plants
Village Gardener – Plants
Cedar Run – Beef
Springfield Farms – Lamb
Eve’s Cheese – Cheeses
Calico Fields Lavender – Lavender Products
Against the Grain Breads and Pastries
Highfield Bread Oven
Yvette Armbruster – Cakes
Food52, one of my favorite resources for fab ideas, weighs in with some great community gardening ideas: https://www.food52.com/blog/3092_community_garden_dynamics Maybe you and your neighbors can rustle up a little community garden. Otherwise, who is going to eat ALL of that zucchini later this summer? And what if you don’t have a deft hand with cucumbers, but your neighbor, Miss Morning Glory does? Share and share alike.
I confess that my vegetable gardening skills are negligible, but I do maintain a rather humble little jardin potager. Right now I have pots with basil, thyme, rosemary and chives. We have plans for the annual tomato crop with some peppers and beans. We are not exactly living off the land, but what we do grow will be fresh and organic and will have a tiny little carbon footprint, unlike the blueberries I bought earlier this week that came from Chile!
Here are some smart phone apps recommended by The New York Times, if you are prone to needing your companion phone at your side every minute of every day, even when you are supposed to be outside, getting dirt under your fingernails: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/22/technology/personaltech/a-review-of-apps-for-gardeners-and-landscapers.html?_r=1&nl=technology&emc=edit_ct_20120322
“So plant a carrot,
Get a carrot,
Not a Brussels sprout.
That’s why I love vegetables,
You know what you’re about!”
– The Fantasticks Music: Harvey Schmidt, Lyrics: Tom Jones
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