Welcome to the Mill River Valley Gardens weblog. This site provides a forum for farmers and members to communicate about what’s going on at the farm, food and recipe ideas, and other topics related to food, agriculture, or sustainable living. We welcome input from all members of the farm. Thank you to member Steven Dellinger-Pate for creating this site. Take a few minutes to explore it. We will post the anticipated harvest on the page called “Weekly Distribution”. Weather postponements will be posted on the page of that name.
Monday April 21
Happy Earth Day!
Monday October 15, 2007
Here are a few announcements to the group:
Hello All
I want to add another subcommittee to our list. Walter would like to explore options for reorganizing MRVG (probably into an LLC) and the ownership structure of the land we farm. I would like to organize a meeting in the late fall to discuss the possibilities. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate. People with legal and real estate experience would be especially helpful. Please respond to me by email. Once we have a group of interested folks I’ll organize a time and place.
Thanks,
Jane Grossman
Thursday Oct 11, 2007
There WILL be a distribution today. The harvesters will just get a little wet, we hope.
October 3, 2007
Well, we’re starting to come to the end of our regular season. It’s been a wonderful and very fast harvest season for us. Final share outs are on Oct 15 and Oct 18. As members you are entitled to come to the farm after the regular season and “pick your own” or “glean” many of the vegetables that are still growing. I’m sure that we will have a great selection of greens (tat soi, collards, kale, Swiss chard, mustard, komatsuna, maybe even some arugula) growing for many weeks. Speaking of greens…
“Hey, why so many greens?” you may ask. For one thing greens grow incredibly well in this weather. While beets and carrots and the more everyday veggies are slow growing and subject to insect or vole damage, the greens almost jump out of the ground. They are gorgeous in the gardens. We encourage you to take a walk down there to see. You’ll appreciate their beauty and diversity if you see them growing. Greens are also extremely nutritious and are easy to use in soups, stir fries, quiches, casseroles and salads. Try different combinations, pairing a mild (chard, kale, collards, tatsoi, yam greens) with a more pungent (mustard, komatsuna) in an Indian dish for example. Try chopping raw kale fine and putting it in a potato salad with dill, parsley and chopped egg. Toss the whole thing with mayo and some lemon juice. Walter strongly believes that greens are an undervalued food and that people should be offered a variety to work with.
Look forward to parsnips, carrots, more leeks, storage onions, yams along with the other veggies you’ve been getting.
Potluck and work party on Saturday, October 21st. Sign up at the veggie shed when you pick up your produce. Member Kim Bennett is organizing this event. We need folks to help set up the potluck and prep some food, create a new raised bed herb garden, maybe build a compost bin. Check out the sign up sheets for more opportunities. Thank you Kim!
By the way, second payments were due August 1st. There are a few members who still need to pay up. Please mail a check for $223 (Mill River Valley Gardens, 3600 Ridge Road, North Haven CT 06473) or hand it in at your pick-up.
See you at the farm,
Brenda and Walter
