Archive for the 'Gardening' Category
Pick Your Own Berries
Memorial Day weekend some of my clients were kind enough to bring me a quart of freshly picked strawberries. It was a really thoughtful act. And the strawberries were delicious. We talked about our favorite places to pick strawberries in the area.
In previous years I had always gone to Rose’s Berry Farm in Glastonbury. I’d stick to the Hebron Avenue field because it was closest on my trip over from Hartford. These folks were raving about Carini’s Berry Farm in Glastonbury. I had been to the Carini’s farm stand on Chestnut Hill Road before, but never ventured into their fields to do any picking.
Until this afternoon. Kyle refused to go with me, as he always does, claiming that the strawberries are so far for him. He’s 6′3″ and says he has bad knees. I think it’s just a lame excuse to get out of manual labor. Our daughter is too small this year, so I was on my own. Next year she’ll be my helper.
The weather was perfect for picking. Sunny, but cool with a breeze. I spent about an hour in the fields with the retired folks that apparently have a flexible schedule like me. The berries were still plentiful and I appreciated that Carini’s lets you roam around and pick within several rows, rather than confining you to just one. I ended up picking 11 pounds of berries for a grand total of $22. Not bad. Just make sure you have cash, as they don’t take credit cards.
As I was leaving I admired the blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry bushes that were filled with unripened berries. Looks like I’ll have to make a few more trips back here later in the season. If you’re looking to pick strawberries, you might want to get on it in the next week before the season passes, it was a little early this year.
Our 2010 Vegetable Experiment
Kyle and I try to be do-it-yourselfers where we can. Lawn care, painting, small carpentry projects. You know, easy stuff that our schedule allows us to do and ones where if we screwed up we wouldn’t electrocute ourselves or flood the house.
We’re getting into the warmer weather now, so it should be time for us to start planning and planting our vegetable garden. Maybe you followed our Tomato Experiment last year. It was the fifth year of lukewarm results. Disappointing to say the least. This year we needed a better solution.
Back in February someone mentioned to me that they were going to be signing up for their CSA share again and asked if I was interested. What’s a CSA, you ask? Community Supported Agriculture. Essentially it’s a farm where local residents “join” and their membership fees help to cover the cost of running the farm. In return, members receive a weekly distribution of fresh produce grown without the use of toxic chemicals.
I had heard good things about the Holcomb Farm CSA in West Granby before, but never really thought about joining. We had been trying to grow our own vegetables and if I wanted something specific I could just go to the West End Farmers Market right around the corner from where I lived. But after thinking more about our cruddy results in the last 5 years, this year we decided to take the leap.
Kyle and I signed up for a full CSA share with Grow Hartford, which is a project within the Hartford Food System. Grow Hartford promotes a sustainable and equitable food system in Hartford by cultivating youth leadership and civic participation through agriculture. They operate three sites in Hartford’s inner city that serve as outdoor classrooms for hundreds of Hartford young people and families. Sounds like a good thing, doesn’t it?
On Friday we received an update email letting us know that we’ll be picking up our vegetables on a weekly basis at their Laurel Street garden, which is just a mile and a half from our house, starting in mid-July. They’re growing garlic, beets, red cabbage, fava beans, onions, cauliflower, potatoes sweet potatoes, carrots, peppers, tomatillos, chard, basil flowers, all sorts of heirloom tomatoes and more.
Can I just tell you that I’m extremely excited about this? I believe we’re helping a good cause, we’re getting a variety of fresh, organic vegetables throughout the summer, and it’s close to our home. Yay! My primary concern is going to be figuring out how exactly to prepare and consume the massive amounts of vegetables that we’ll be getting on a weekly basis. But we already have some friends lining up to take the extras off our hands when we need help. Phew!
Stay tuned in the upcoming months for updates on our CSA adventure. I can’t wait!
Growing Fish
Here’s an interesting article about a company in Milwaukee that has set up an indoor farm to grow fish and vegetables organically and sustainably. Sweet Water Organics has put together an aquaculture system that recirculates water between the fish and veggies, with each providing nutrients for the others. They are currently raising perch, tilapia, lettuce, basil, watercress, tomatoes, peppers, chard, and spinach. The system has been built in a formerly vacant factory.
We’d love to get one of these in some of our vacant factory space … another business leasing space, more jobs, and fresh food. The building in the picture isn’t ready for prime time, but there are large spaces in Hartford that are much further along in the rehab process that would make excellent locations. Surely there is some space in the Colt complex that could be adapted quickly and easily.