Farm It Forward with Ben's Produce and Partners!

Farm It Forward Benefit at Mother’s Day Brunch at Market Restaurant

Enjoy local farm-fresh foods for Mother’s Day Brunch at Market Restaurant to benefit the Farm It Forward program, a new partnership among AHA and local Wake County farmers. Farm It Forward is a community supported agriculture (CSA) program for Wake County citizens who are working to improve their nutrition due to health concerns and who could use extra help financially to make these changes. Through Farm It Forward, they can receive free shares of healthy, local produce for 10 weeks from local farmers.

Market will host brunch on May 8, Mother’s Day, from 10 am-3 pm, and feature the Farm It Forward Frittata and Strawberry Mint Julep, made with all local ingredients donated by local farms Ben’s Produce and New Grass Gardens. All proceeds from the frittata and the drink will be donated to support Farm It Forward shares for community members in need. Ben’s Produce also will sell flowers and bedding plants at Market on May 8 to raise funds for the program.

 

Farm It Forward was conceived by farmers Ben Shields and Patricia Parker of Ben’s Produce. “Farm It Forward is about helping food insecure people in our area have access to locally grown healthy foods,” Shields said. “Community is very important to us; our mission is to strive for healthier people, community and agriculture by growing and sharing the best food we can. Working with AHA on this project has enabled us to connect with people who are food insecure but not necessarily receiving benefits for food.”

 

AHA is coordinating with Energize!, a WakeMed Children’s Diabetes & Endocrinology Programto identify Farm It Forward shares recipients. Energize! is dedicated to helping kids aged 6 to 18 reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and the program teaches young people and their families how to build lifelong healthy attitudes about food and fitness. Sixty percent of Energize participants are low-income.

 

“Connecting Farm It Forward with Energize! is a great way to increase access to healthy foods for people in Wake County who have a real need,” commented Laura Aiken, director of AHA and community outreach for WakeMed. “Plus this engages farmers and provides an additional way to support them. CSAs help farmers as community members invest financially in local farms and help defray the significant costs of planting for a season by purchasing shares,” Aiken added.

 

Farm It Forward launches this spring with support from AHA and financial donations from the community. Donations are welcome; checks payable to WakeMed with Advocates for Health in Action in the subject line may be mailed to WakeMed, 3000 New Bern Ave., Raleigh, NC 27610, ATTN: Laura Aiken.

 

Brunch at Market
A health-focused eatery in downtown Raleigh, Market Restaurant is committed to serving fresh, seasonal dishes made of locally grown ingredients. A variety of child-friendly food options are available, and every attempt is made to accommodate special diets. Call-ahead seating is recommended; call 754-0900. Visit www.EatAtMarket.com for a peek at the menu. Market is located at 938 N. Blount St. in the historic Mordecai neighborhood in downtown Raleigh.

 

Source:  http://advocatesforhealthinaction.com/news/farm-it-forward-benefit-mother%E2%80%99s-day-brunch-market-restaurant

Week 1, April 24-30 CSA Share Contents

Hi again folks! Last year, particularly at the beginning of the CSA season, a lot of the newbies were unfamiliar with some of our CSA share items. So, this year, we're going to try our best to post pictures of all of the items in the shares each week. We'll see how long that lasts! With all of the other happenings on the farm, photographs are definitely a low priority. But, we will do our best, because I think they are helpful.

And, just to reiterate one more time, it is not too late to sign up for the Summer 2011 CSA with us. We will pro-rate your share if you come on board late.

So, you will notice one MAJOR thing missing from these pictures - strawberries! They're in the shares, but we forgot to take the pictures in time. We'll be sure to include them in the photos next week.

Here's a shot of the regular share box.

And here's another.

Tat Soi

Arugula

(for large shares only - large shares will also receive twice as many berries, spinach and lettuce, compared with regular and small shares)

Dill and Cilantro (just a little for now, but much more to come!)

Red Russian Kale

Swiss Chard

Bok Choy

Spinach

Red Salad Bowl (an Oak Leaf Lettuce)

And here's Bocephus. He's not included but he wanted to say, "Hi!"

Strawberries and Summer Crops

Last weekend we participated in the Western Wake Farmer's Market Strawberry Festival. We made a creamy strawberry vinaigrette with a tossed salad, topped with fresh-picked, sustainably grown strawberries. Sadly, we didn't have any strawberries to sell at market last week, but hopefully we will have enough for market this Saturday. We shall see. We are giving first priority to our CSA members, but any left overs will be available for market customers.

Since we ran out of vinaigrette recipe cards last Saturday, we told folks we'd post the recipe on the blog. So, here it is:

Spring Greens Salad with Creamy Strawberry Vinaigrette 

For Vinaigrette ·         1 cup chopped strawberries ·         ½ cup walnut oil ·         ¼ cup balsamic vinegar ·         2-3 Tbsp heavy cream 1. Puree or smash strawberries with a potato masher. 2. Add oil, vinegar, and heavy cream. 3. Mix well. Taste. Adjust to taste. You can add salt and pepper or you can add sugar if you like. We just keep it simple.

Salad Ingredients  ·         Use your favorite salad greens ·         We use mesclun mix, mizuna, frisée, spinach and arugula – but we adjust according to what’s available ·         ¼ to ½ cup chopped walnuts ·         1-2 cups (depends on how much strawberry you want in your salad) chopped strawberries 1. Wash and spin salad greens. 2. Chop salad greens. 3. Add vinaigrette, chopped walnuts and strawberries. 4. Toss ingredients (or you can place strawberries separately on your plate after you’ve tossed the other ingredients to highlight the strawberries in your dish). 5. Enjoy!

As usual, we've been keeping fairly busy on the farm. We've been planting a lot of our summer crops, including cucumbers, squash, zucchini, watermelon, corn, peanuts (our first time doing this, so it may just be a personal crop), and green beans. We'll be transplanting tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplant and peppers soon - likely later this week.

We've also been busily cultivating. Above is a wheel hoe. I went through the potato plants with it to keep them good and free of weeds.We also planted some flowers, which of course, are not yet ready - but here are some pretty flowers that are currently in bloom.

A gorgeous iris (not sure which variety - if anyone knows, please comment below).

This is crimson clover. Ben planted it all over the farm to help provide more nutrients for our soil. Clover is particularly helpful for fixing nitrogen in the soil. It's also very pretty.

Well, I suppose that's it for now. This week marks our first week of the Summer CSA. We'll be providing CSA members with strawberries, lettuce, kale, bok choy, tat soi, spinach, arugula, Swiss chard, frisee, mizuna and dried rosemary. We'll also include a weekly (hopefully!) newsletter with CSA shares for the first time this season. Members last year liked the blog, but wanted something a little extra. Our weekly newsletter will be an effort to meet that particular need.


If you're interested in joining our CSA, it's not too late! Please print out a copy of the CSA brochure (linked to the right of the screen) and mail us your first payment to Ben's Produce;1000 McLemore Road; Clayton, NC 27520. If you miss the first week or two, we'll prorate you, so no worries there. And, of course, if you have any questions, please email us at BensProduceNC@gmail.com or give us a call at 919.800.8898.

Have a fantastic week and thanks for stopping by!

Seedlings Galore!

Howdy do, folks?! It's been busy as can be out here at the farm. Ben and I have been making soil blocks, seeding flats, planting seedlings and direct seeding root veggies. Of course, that also means Ben's been prepping a whole heck of a lot of ground to get it ready so we can plant. I also finally tried my hand at the tiller to till up soil for our newest edition - the flower garden (so pumped!!!).

We've had lots of folks stop by since our last planting party to help us out on the farm in one way or another. Beth and the kids have been keeping up with the chickens (the kids LOVE gathering the eggs each morning), our neighbors Andy, Amanda and Duffie have been by to give us furniture (they got a new set) and keep us company, our friend Craig has been dropping off quite a lot of flower bulbs from his garden, Kevin came out to help Ben pot up some of the summer seedlings, and David came out to help Ben and I plant more potatoes (they're all in!!!) and weed and mulch some. Whew! I think that's everyone, but please don't be mad at me if I forgot to mention you.

As you know from our previous post, we're having a planting party this Sunday the 10th from 1-5pm. We've had a few folks email us to let us know they'll be stopping by to pitch in a hand and have a picnic with us too. Please come out if you're interested! Many hands make light work! It's true!

Alrighty. I just wanted to let y'all know we're gearing up (and have been for quite a while) for a fantastic season and I thought I'd show you some of the seedlings that we'll be planting in the next couple of weeks or so. Just to warn you, these pictures aren't very diverse. They're mostly pictures of a number of different varieties of the same veggies (e.g., multiple varieties of tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, eggplant, squash, brassicas more generally, etc.) - but I thought it might help to demonstrate what we're doing out here if I bombard y'all with some pictures of everything. Plus, you'll be able to see the crazy awesome varieties we're planting this year (and these pictures are not really representative - there's even more to come!).

Okay. I guess I'll get to it then. We hope to see you Sunday. And we hope you enjoy the pictures!