July 23rd Market

Matt takes his farming seriously. He works at least 12 hours a days every day except Sunday. Sunday is his family day and he walks us around the farm and shares his vision with us and the ideas he has. We “shop the field” and decide what amazing Sunday dinner we will create from his blessed bounty. Farming is our lifestyle. It is how we eat, how we raise our child, how we live our lives. To keep up with our farm, like us on Facebook.

Matt grows his food for his family, and only wants us to eat the very best. His focus is on sustainable farming, farming that protects the environment and leaves the land fertile for next year’s crops. He uses crop rotations and cover crops to boost the fertility of the soil. These crops rest the soil, naturally controls weeds, and breaks pesky bug cycles without using harmful sprays. He also keeps bees to boost pollination. If you walk the field in the early morning, it is amazing to watch the bees working our crops, especially our buckwheat cover crops.

Bees on the buckwheat cover crops. Matt standing in rows of radishes.

In the second picture, Matt is standing in rows of radishes. Notice the nice mulching which reduces weeds naturally. But there is more than meets the eye! It appears to be almost flat ground but they are actually in raised beds that are almost a foot tall ! This is his take on the permaculture idea of “Hugelkultur” where plants are grown in soil but on top of piles of rotting wood. Normally a very small scale ideal, Matt has attempted to scale it up. The sunken walkways between the raised beds that normally fill with weeds and channel rain water out of our field are filled with wood chips almost a foot deep and then topped with fine mulch to cap it and hold moisture. This allows our field to capture and store rain with out erosion. Eventually they will completely decompose and be shoveled back into our growing beds to boost the organic matter and provide a natural source of nutrients to our plants. Yes, Matt is is always studying and is always becoming a bit more well versed in farming. I am very proud of him.

Matt loves to grow the food, and I love to prepare it for our family. I always give recipes, so here are two of my very favorites that impresses everyone!

Watermelon Salad Sun Peach Tomato Salad

The watermelon salad impresses EVERYONE! The secret ingredient is our honey and basil mirco greens. I just chop up a watermelon and toss some feta and blueberries in with the mix. I then make an easy dressing by mixing two tablespoons of honey with a tablespoon of water and then grate some ginger to taste and mix it up. This dish is fresh, tasty, and easy!

I love cherry tomatoes, and Sun Peaches are my favorite! I simply half the tomatoes and mozzarella balls and make an easy dressing. I follow the same rule as they honey dressing, about 2 tablespoons of good olive oil and a table spoon of good balsamic vinegar. I add salt and pepper to taste and a bit of crushed garlic. Give it a shake and pour it over the tomatoes and mozzarella. When it is time to eat, I toss some basil micro greens in it and enjoy. Basil micro greens are my true secret weapon to insure everything tastes like summer!

So, what are we bringing to market?