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Hours
Open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 8am - 6pm |
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Available Produce:
Apples*
Artichokes *
Avocadoes
Bananas
Beets
Blueberries*
Broccoli
Cabbage*
Carrots *
Cauliflower
Celeriac
Celerey *
Chard (our own)*
Cilantro
Garlic
Garnet yams
Grapefruit (red) *
Kale
Lemons
Lettuce *
Limes
Mandarins
Mangos*
Mushrooms*
Onions*
Oranges
Parsley
Parsnips
Pea Shoots
Pears
Potato*
Rutabagas*
Shallots
Spinach (our own)*
Sprouts
Turnips
Winter Squash
* inclulded in this week's Winter Share, subject to availability |
Events
Hamilton-Wenham
Green Living
Clean Air, Water,
Homes & Food
Hamilton-Wenham Library
Lectures, Workshops, Exhibit Hall, Family Activities
Featuring: Safe Baby Products, Non-Toxic Cleaning, Sustainable Food, Renewable Resources, Healthy Home Renovations, Organic Lawn Care, Home Vegetable Gardens, Outdoor Adventures. Andrew will be speaking about vegetable gardening and Diana will be speaking about how to improve your diet and reduce processed foods.
Hamilton Wenham Green is looking for volunteers for the day of this event, if interested, please email Barbara Lawrence barbaralawrence@comcast.net
Farm Events
Saturday, May 8th
9am - 10am Chickens in Your Backyard with Farmer Andrew $10 per person, $20 for families, sign up in the farmstand
Saturday, May 8th
10:30 - Noon
Home Vegetable Gardening with Farmer Andrew. $15 per person, sign up in the farmstand.
June 11th, 12th or 13th 2pm - 4pm
CSA Orientations
Learn what's new at the farm, for returning and for new members
Thursday, June 17th
3pm - 7pm
Salem Farmers Market
Come visit us on Thursdays at Old Town Hall in Salem
Saturday, June 26th
Tour of Green Meadows
with Farmer Andrew and
the Essex County Greenbelt
Saturday, June 26, 3 - 4:30
Wild Edibles Walk
with John Root
Learn what wild plants are edible and how to forage for your own dinner
Sunday, August 1
11am - 3pm
Summer Festival at Green Meadows
Great food, music and activities for kids, free!
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| Farmer Andrew's Update
 The greenhouses are up and running with leeks, scallions, herbs and tomatoes. The fall sown spinach and chard is yielding very well, too. To control aphids, which love to eat our spinach, we have contracted the job to thousands of ladybugs, shown in the photo. Instead of spraying chemicals on the plants, we can simply put the ladybugs to work.
Speaking of spinach, I recently had an amazing meal with Diana and some friends at Duckworth's Bistrot in Gloucester. They are using our spinach and eggs in their restaurant, plus other excellent locally sourced ingredients. If you haven't yet been to Duckworth's Bistrot, I highly recommend it! I feel like each time I go there, it's like a Green Meadows Farm member reunion, because of so many people I run into there.
Three more weeks until the first lamb is born!
Session Two of the Winter Share has begun, but there is still space if you are interested in signing up. This 15-week winter share will take you right up to the first week of CSA distributions. For $40 per week, session two Winter Share members receive approximately $50 worth of fruit, salad greens, braising greens and vegetables. Pick ups are on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Come in to learn more.
A few spaces in the 2010 Summer CSA are still available. If you are a past member who has not yet signed up, you must do so now. Once we're full, we will need to start another wait list. Full payment is due with the form.
 We have been starting to get questions already about spring chickens. If you are looking to purchase egg layers for your backyard, we do have extras. The breed we currently have is called "Golden Comet". They are an excellent brown egg laying breed, and hearty enough to withstand New England weather. If you would like to buy some, they cost $6 this week. For each week they stay at the farm, their price goes up $1, so the week of 3/15, the chicks will cost $7 and so on. Chicks are available on Saturday mornings. A great book for beginning chicken owners is "Chickens in Your Backyard". I will also be offering a Chicken workshop on May 8th from 9am - 10am. The cost is $10 per person or $20 for families. Please sign up in the farmstand.
For those of you already thinking about your summer vegetable gardens, I will be giving talks this Spring on raised beds and growing vegetables at home. We already have seeds, fertilizer, peat pots and potting soil in the farmstand. I am offering a talk on "Home Vegetable Gardening" on Saturday, May 8th from 10:30 - Noon where I will go over the easiest plants to grow at home, how to set up raised beds, when to plant and how to fertilize your home garden. The cost is $15 per person, sign up in the farmstand. |
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Cape Ann Fresh Catch
 Green Meadows Farm is hoping to be a pick up location for Cape Ann Fresh Catch, the Community Supported Fishery (CSF). They are changing their program a bit, and offering a fillet service which should make the experience much easier for those not comfortable with filleting their own fish. The program begins May 1st, and the pick up day will be on Saturdays from 10am - 6pm at the farmstand. We need everyone who is interested to fill out their form, and indicate you'd like to pick up at Green Meadows Farm on Saturdays. For more information about Cape Ann Fresh Catch, visit their website. We're really excited about this program and sincerely hope there is enough interest for us to become a pick up site!
Whole fish share 5 # for 13 weeks 260.00 (4.00lb)
Fillet share 2# for 13 weeks 312.00 ( 12.00 lb)
Alternating whole fish and fillet 286.00 for 13 weeks.
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Crew Spotlight: Otis
 Meet the newest member of the Green Meadows Farm crew. Otis is a Lab and Australian Shepherd mix that we rescued from Tennessee. He is proving to be a sweetheart, and very easy to train! His jobs will be to catch/chase away creatures that can damage crops or hurt the chickens. He may even get some sheep duty, helping to keep them safe from coyotes during the night. Feel free to say hi to this very friendly and completely adorable addition to the crew.
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April Vacation Farm School
 Some spaces are still left for our April Vacation Farm School
Come to Vacation Farm School at Green Meadows and see what animals do all winter (and what farmers do, too). We will check out the greenhouses, gather eggs and learn what farmers do to keep fresh, unfrozen drinking water for all our livestock. You will need warm clothes and boots, of course.
Little Farmers (3-5 year-olds): Thursday, April 22 from 9-10 am
Farmers Helpers (6-11 year-olds): Friday, April 23 from 9-10 am
Now is the time to plan your school group at the farm. We are currently booking for April, May and June groups. Please call our office at 978-468-3720 for more information. |
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St. Patrick's Day
 According to History.com, the real St. Patrick was born in Great Britain. He was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a teenager by Irish raiders. He worked enslaved as a shepherd for six years before escaping back to Britain. There, he later experienced a religious dream telling him to go back to Ireland to teach the Christian faith. He returned after first finishing 15 years in religious training. The original St. Patrick's Day was a religious day in Ireland to honor him for bringing Christianity to the country. March 17 was chosen, because it is the date of St. Patrick's death in the fifth century and a religious feast day.
A common myth associated with St. Patrick's Day is the driving out of the snakes of Ireland. The legend is that St. Patrick drove the snakes into the sea. In reality, Ireland never had any snakes. History.com explains that the story is based on the fact that St. Patrick banished pagan beliefs to convert the country to Christianity. The snakes were the pagans, but in passing the story down, the meaning was accidentally changed to real snakes.
Some traditional Irish recipes:
In the farmstand, we'll be serving Guinness Stew with grass-fed beef (while supplies last) plus Irish Soda Bread, Triple Decker Bars and Traditional Irish Shortbread Cookies all weekend. We will also have all the traditional vegetables needed to prepare these dishes. We have limited supplies of all natural, nitrate free corned beef in the refrigerated section, ready for your St. Patrick's Day meal. |
 T-Shirt Contest
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New in the Farmstand:
Maple's Organic Gelato and MOOMilk
 We've already had amazing reviews from customers about Maple's Organic Gelato. Gelato is Italian-style ice cream, and features a base made from whole milk and egg yolks cooked into a custard, with less cream added than American-style ice cream and less air whipped in during the freezing process. At Maples, located in Portland, Maine, each batch starts out as beautiful, farm-fresh organic dairy, eggs, and produce, and is lovingly crafted from stovetop to batch freezer (the machine that churns and freezes the custard base) to the table where they hand-pack each pint. Their best selling flavor is Sea Salt Caramel Almond, and we also have the following other flavors: Vanilla Bean, Turtle, Turkish Fig Orange, Cardamom Ginger, Cookies and Cream, and Raspberries and Cream.
 Another new item coming to the farmstand next week is MOOMilk. Maple's Gelato is actually made from MOOMilk, an organic dairy coop in Maine. The coop started when H.P. Hood notified the farmers that they would cancel its contracts for the certified organic milk. Hood, one of the nation's largest dairy producers in the country, cited the poor economy for its decision to cease organic milk production.
This news came as a shock to not just the farmers, but to the businesses that supplied the farmers with specialized organic grain. That initial shock soon gave way to thoughts of moving forward in the organic milk industry.
"We were all surprised," said Chase, who owns a 600-acre farm - Chase's Organic Dairy Farm in Mapleton, Maine. "We had all made big [financial] commitments to switch over to organic farming. We were told by Hood that they were in the County to stay."
We hope Green Meadows Farm customers will consider trying MOOMilk. It's pasteurized, but not ultra-pasteurized like most other organic milk you find in the grocery store. This means is has a shorter shelf life, but has more natural enzymes to promote health. Right now, we will be carrying MOOMilk in "whole" only. Many of you have heard from Diana in the farmstand why you should consider drinking whole milk instead of skim or 1%. For reasons why you should consider switching from low-fat to whole milk, click here. Look for MOOMilk in the farmstand the week of March 19th. |
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Ask Robin Column
 Dear Robin,
I noticed that you moved the ducks to a larger area. Do they get along with chickens? Why are they so noisy? Don't they need somewhere to swim?
Mrs. L'Orange
Dear Mrs. L.,
Actually, ducks and chickens can live together comfortably if they have lots of room to move around. They don't fly much, need a quiet ,dark place to sleep at night and sunshine for 10 hours a day if possible. They are all "flock" friendly fowls even though they usually prefer to stay together with the group they knew as babies. Neither chickens or ducks like disturbances - loud noises, dogs, intruders or the addition of flock toddlers that upset the established pecking order.
The breed of ducks we are raising, the Khaki Campbells, is not noted for being calm as youngsters but they grow up to be hardy and lay lots of eggs. They eat the same food as the chickens and will stay healthy as long as they also find plenty of fresh bugs, greens and worms.
As to their noisiness, the females start to quack at one month and just get louder and louder after they begin laying. The drakes (males) just sort of chirp!
We are anxiously waiting for eggs RIGHT NOW. If they are not all drakes (it could happen!) we should find some beauties pretty soon. We wanted to set up a little swimming pool until we found out that standing water is loaded with algae that can kill adults.Babies have no protective oil glands so they would just drown if they got in over their heads.
If you want to laugh just watch them circling the fence as a "unit". They give new meaning to "birds of a feather..."
Thanks for asking.
Robin | |
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