A little braggin on my darlin

Hi ya'll. Here's a post that may be a little gushy, so stop reading if that's not your thing :).

As many of you already know, I think that there man to the left is pretty freakin amazing. There's no way I can go into all the ways he amazes me - and I'm sure most of you don't want to read that much anyway. So, what I want to do with this blog is explain how "Ben the Farmer" is amazing (and not "Ben my partner"). In effect, I'll be sparing you from even more gushiness :).

First, let me tell you a little bit about Ben's work ethic. He gets up between 5 and 6 am, drives to the farm (it's about a 30 minute commute), works all day, gets home sometime between 7 and 9 pm, we eat dinner together, then it's time for him to get in front of the computer and do research, purchase supplies, return e-mails, re-stock the online store and a number of other things. Then it's time for bed only to wake up and do it all over again. Everyday. EVERYDAY. Well, except for the brief break he took when we went to Tennessee to see my folks and other family during NC State's spring break.

I have to admit, that I can be a little selfish and get to harping on Ben that I don't see him nearly enough and try to get him away from the infernal computer at night. So I guess I'm not especially helpful in letting him get his work done. But I like to think of it as helping him relax ;). It wasn't until our first day at market last Saturday that I was able to actually SEE what he's been doing all that time behind the computer. When Ben and I set up the stand, I was amazed at how much thought and effort he'd put into the presentation of Ben's Produce. 


Doesn't it look BEAUTIFUL?! The price cards, the white cloths, the checkered table cloth, the baskets, the beautiful banner (thanks to our friend, April), and there's also an awesome sandwich chalk board (constructed by Ben) that's not in the picture. He even got fruit and veggie stickers to give to the kiddos (thanks to Tom). Our friends Tarah and Emily volunteered to help us at the stand - and given the huge crowd we had that first day, we certainly needed their help!

We first moved to Raleigh almost two years ago. I don't think we even knew how far we'd come until we got there. Ben quit his job at the Smithsonian Magazine in NYC to move to Raleigh with me and to begin farming. I quit my full-time teaching job at Middle Tennessee State University to come here to work on my PhD in Sociology at NC State. We both hit a number of rocky patches in that first year. But we got through it. And I know we got through it because of each other. I couldn't ask for a more supportive, caring, kind, and beautiful partner. Now I'm almost finished with classes (although there's a whole lot of other work ahead of me: 2 preliminary exams, defending my dissertation proposal, conducting research and writing my dissertation and then successfully defending it) and Ben and I (mostly Ben) have successfully started our first CSA (with a TON of help from Tom and Theresa of Double-T Farm). And of course, we couldn't do any of this without the support of all of you. Thank you so much!

Thanks for stopping by. And if you get a chance, please stop by to see us at market this Saturday.

Sincerely,
Patricia

First Day at Market

Hello all,

We had a phenomenal first day at Western Wake Farmers Market. We couldn't have asked for better weather or a better crowd of farm supporters. We sold out of nearly everything! We met some new friends, all wonderful people. Some old friends come out to see market to say hello or lend a hand (special thanks to Tarah, Emily, April and Tom and Theresa of Double-T Farm). Overall, it was a beautiful and wonderful day. We are elated to be there and thankful for it all.

The availability of vegetables is in a lull for a few weeks while we wait for our main spring crops to mature. Stay tuned for upcoming crops.

We have scaled back Tuesday online produce order pick up time at our house for the next few weeks. The Tuesday  pickup time is now from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. We will also change the Tuesday online produce order pick up location to our CSA pick up in 5-Points later in April when our CSA starts. That is across from High Point Village off Whitaker Mill Rd. The address is 1911 Bernard St, Raleigh NC. 27608.

This coming Tuesday, April  6th, we plan to have produce pickup at our house, 604 Sasser St., between 5:30 to 7:30 pm. The next NCSU delivery will be Wednesday, April 7th. Remember to have your orders placed by Monday evening.

A few of you occasionally may have trouble placing orders. Please make sure you receive an automated confirmation email a few minutes after you place your order. If you do not receive this email your order was not placed and we will not receive it. Please try again or email us your order to shields.ben@gmail.com or call Ben @ 919-800-8898. Also, we do not accept online payments, e.g. PayPal. We only accept payment of cash or checks at pickup.

Purchase of vegetables is made through our online store-
www.vendio.com/stores/bensproduce.

Current vegetable availability includes:
Arugula
Kale
Mizuna
Lettuce
Mesclun Lettuce
Scallions
Tatsoi

 Be Well and Eat Well,
Ben & Patricia

All Smiles

Last week I received an e-mail from a friend, colleague, and (new) Ben's Produce customer, Sarah. So many of you have shown us so many kindnesses and I thought I'd share this one with all of you. We are truly blessed to have so many beautiful people in our lives. We are so very grateful!

With Sarah's permission, here's her e-mail:
I want to let you know that I had a sort of transformative experience last night with the delicious produce I got from you and Ben. I just made a simple salad with lettuce mix, carrots, radishes and an onion I already had. It was fabulous. While I was tearing the lettuce I just felt different about it. I was more aware that this came to me from PEOPLE's WORK and even the way the bags were tied reminded me of this. At the grocery store where there are product labels and manufactured tags and bags, etc. it is easy to forget the labor that goes into getting that stuff in mass quantity so that consumers can be choosy. It is too easy to forget the farmers and the laborers, even for me who's sensitive to that sort of thing.  I almost felt like I was working with a gift someone gave me and I found myself appreciating the farming process a lot more. It was weird, and cool.  I'm so glad I took the plunge and I'll be ordering more stuff from you regularly. Please pass this on to Ben, and I thank you both for all your hard work! :)
______________________________________________________________________________

 Aw shucks! Thank you Sarah. And...

Patricia & Ben

Opening Day - Western Wake Farmer's Market

Hey y'all,

We're preparing for our first farmers market next Saturday, April 3rd. We'll be at the Western Wake Farmer's Market in Cary, NC. The market opens at 8 am and ends at noon. There will also be bakers, fish, meat, cheese, eggs, crafted farm products, musical entertainment, a chef's demonstration, an educational tent and face painting. It's all located at 1225 Morrisville Carpenter Rd, Cary, NC. between Davis Drive and Hwy. 55. Get directions here... We are very excited and looking forward to meeting new and old friends. Our table will have lettuce, mesclun, arugula, tatsoi, radishes, baby turnips, broccoli rabe and green onions plus some other possibilities. Come see us there!


We're still going strong and working every day to stay on top of things. Patricia is busy with school and teaching. Just today, I planted our second succession of peas and carrots and seeded cucumbers, summer squash and melons for transplant. We have flowers growing, the potatoes have started to peek above the ground and the cabbage and broccoli are taking off like gang busters! The strawberries have started to flower and the plants are growing larger. The tomatoes, peppers and eggplant have had their first transplant to a larger "container" ( actually into soil blocks, which are container-less pots of soil) and are happily growing in our greenhouse. I put up pea trellis yesterday because they are about 6 to 8 inches tall and ready to climb.

This coming Tuesday, March 30th, we plan to have produce pickup at our house, 604 Sasser St., between 4:00 to 7:30 pm. The next NCSU delivery will be Wednesday, March 31th. Remember to have your orders placed by Monday evening.

A few of you occasionally may have trouble placing orders. Please make sure you receive an automated confirmation email a few minutes after you place your order. If you do not receive this email your order was not placed and we will not receive it. Please try again or email us your order to shields.ben@gmail.com or call Ben @ 919-800-8898. Also, we do not accept online payments, e.g. PayPal. We only accept payment of cash or checks at pickup.

Purchase of vegetables is made through our online store-
www.vendio.com/stores/bensproduce.

Current vegetable availability includes:
Arugula
Easter Egg Radish
Carrots
Mizuna
Lettuce
Mesclun Lettuce
Scallions
Sweet potatoes
Tatsoi


OUT THINKING IN THE FIELD, by Ben

Spring time is the winter thaw that fills the river of life with rushing water, bubbling and swirling to the sea. Farming is like jumping in that river for a good swim though not quite as cold. Fight the current and you'll wear yourself out, possibly to your detriment. Ride the current with wisdom, skills and knowledge and it's a beautiful day on the river. The swell will subside in a while when summer gets hotter and the river calms some.  I'm trying to ride that current though I'll admit it's not easy and is full of hazards. Well, this may be somewhat of a northern analogy because rivers don't freeze here and rise with snow melt but I think it works...



Be good and eat well,
Ben & Patricia

Hello Pigeon Roost, Hello Spring!

Hello All,

We have returned from visiting Patricia's parents in Middle Tennessee this past weekend. They purchased 25 acres of land this winter and we went to see it and camp out on it. Most of it is woods but some is suitable to farming someday. There is a creek, a duck pond with not only ducks but also geese, swans, chickens, a rhea (a large flightless bird native to South America) and a flock of wild peacocks!

I worked like a dog before we went to TN to get stuff in the ground and now its back to working like a dog again. Springtime is a time of immense work. Whatever needs to be done needed to be done yesterday. The BIG PUSH to get everything up and growing occurs between March and the end of May generally and then it slows down slightly until August when we start the fall/winter season planting. Anyhow, we're glad to be back in NC and on the farm.


For all you CSA members and those interested, we will start CSA pickup in late April. We will let you know a week ahead of the first pick up. Please sign up for the 5 Points CSA Yahoo Group here for information on the other farms who are attending. There will be naturally raised chicken, beef, eggs and honey available and possibly raw milk.

This coming Tuesday, March 23rd, we plan to have produce pickup at our house, 604 Sasser St., between 4:00 to 7:30 pm. The next NCSU delivery will be Wednesday, March 24th. Remember to have your orders placed by Monday evening.

A few of you occasionally may have trouble placing orders. Please make sure you receive an automated confirmation email a few minutes after you place your order. If you do not receive this email your order was not placed and we will not receive it. Please try again or email us your order to shields.ben@gmail.com or call Ben @ 919-800-8898. Also, we do not accept online payments, e.g. PayPal. We only accept payment of cash or checks at pickup.

Purchase of vegetables is made through our online store-
www.vendio.com/stores/bensproduce.


Newly available vegetables:
Easter Egg Radish
Tatsoi
Arugula
Mizuna
Lettuce Mesclun
Mixed Mesclun (all the above except radish)

Current vegetable availability includes:
baby beets
brussels sprouts
carrots
collards
scallions
lettuce
spinach
sweet potatoes


Late winter /early spring vegetables will include:
broccoli raab
swiss chard
turnips

Photo descriptions from Patricia:

Ben and I helping my dad post signs in the woods

Haha. Dad and Ben. Ben's leanin with the tree.

Ah - more lovely blue skies.

Charlie Parker roaming the woods. He ran non-stop - poor guy is a farm dog living in the city.

Check out the slant behind me. This "little" valley is one heck of a climb.

Charlie and I checking out the creek. He's on a leash here because there were other dogs around, but once he was off the leash, he jumped right in fetching sticks.

Well, that's it for now. We had a great time in TN, but we're happy to be back home in Raleigh (well, except for maybe Charlie). Thanks for stopping by.

Blue Skies

Spring is surely here and ol' man winter has gone away! Sure, we may get a few more frosty nights but spring is here. Daffodils and flowering trees are blooming, the cover crops are shooting up and the earth is coming to life! Spiders and bees are out too...as are the weeds.Our first crops in the greenhouse are ready to harvest. We have new arugula, tatsoi, mizuna, lettuce and radishes. Look for them on our store. Coming soon are broccoli rabe and turnips.

Sign up for our CSA if you haven't yet...thank you if you have! See our CSA through our links on the right and down some.

Patricia and I spent the afternoon working. We went to the greenhouse to check on our plants and bring seedlings to the farm. Here's some of our afternoon...

Us...

me and our first spring radish...

chard, lettuce and broccoli seedlings in soil blocks...

the house...

Patricia peeking through rosemary...

strawberry flowers growing into strawberries...

Seen here, common vetch (the plant) and mycorrhiza (white nodes on the tiny roots), symbiotically related. Vetch supplies nutrients to the mycorrhizae which fixes nitrogen from atmospheric nitrogen which in turn is released into the soil when the plant dies and decomposes. A positive feedback cycle...

Lettuce mesclun growing in the greenhouse...

Scallion seedlings crowned with their dyed seed hulls...

preparing a bed for radishes, turnips and flowers...

Blue skies...

Winter harvest is nearly done and the spring harvest is starting to roll in...We'll have carrots for another week or two and that will be it until May. No more Chinese cabbage, vitamin green, collards and brussels sprouts. See our store for availability.

This coming Tuesday, March 16th, we plan to have produce pickup at our house, 604 Sasser St., between 4:00 to 7:30 pm. No NCSU delivery this week, spring break. Remember to have your orders placed by Monday evening.

A few of you occasionally may have trouble placing orders. Please make sure you receive an automated confirmation email a few minutes after you place your order. If you do not receive this email your order was not placed and we will not receive it. Please try again or email us your order to shields.ben@gmail.com or call Ben @ 919-800-8898. Also, we do not accept online payments, e.g. PayPal. We only accept payment of cash or checks at pickup.

Purchase of vegetables is made through our online store-
www.vendio.com/stores/bensproduce.


Newly available vegetables:
Easter Egg Radish
Tatsoi
Arugula
Mizuna
Lettuce Mesclun
Mixed Mesclun (all the above except radish)

Current vegetable availability includes:
baby beets
brussels sprouts
carrots
collards
scallions
lettuce
spinach
sweet potatoes


Late winter /early spring vegetables will include:
broccoli raab
lettuce
swiss chard
turnips

Be good and eat well,
Ben & Patricia

Spring planting time is upon us...

Hello all,

The season is shifting into a higher gear! Patricia and I took our dog Charlie to the farm today to plant potatoes and spring onions. What a beautiful spring day it was today. The sun was out, it was warm and blue birds were fluttering about and looking for grubs to eat in the freshly tilled soil. I felt the swell of spring and the upward energy that spring brings...Always inspiring and full of hope of the coming growing season. Here are some photos of our day on the farm today...Enjoy!

My car full of cut seed potatoes.

Marking a bed for potatoes with markers on a rake.

  

Patricia & Ben, happy together in the sun...

  

 Freshly transplanted beets. Can you find Ben in the photo?

  

Patrica's lucky 30 year old German sneakers - they have a long history of wear and tear but still going strong!

and Ben's bare feet...

 Baby leeks waiting to be planted

  

Ben holding up a row cover (veggie blanket)...

We on the front page of the Western Wake Farmers Market website this week! We're famous! 

We're ramping down the winter harvest now. We harvested all the winter carrots Friday and they are in storage. This is most likely the last week we will have collards, brussels sprouts, chinese cabbage and vitamin green. Carrots will be available for a couple more weeks and won't be available again until May. We will have fewer crops available until the spring crops start rolling in, so expect less variety for the next 4 weeks or so.  We will certainly keep y'all updated on what's available.

This coming Tuesday, March 9th, we plan to have produce pickup at our house, 604 Sasser St., between 4:00 to 7:30 pm. The next NCSU delivery will be Wednesday, March 10th. Remember to have your orders placed by Monday evening.

A few of you occasionally may have trouble placing orders. Please make sure you receive an automated confirmation email a few minutes after you place your order. If you do not receive this email your order was not placed and we will not receive it. Please try again or email us your order to shields.ben@gmail.com or call Ben @ 919-800-8898. Also, we do not accept online payments, e.g. PayPal. We only accept payment of cash or checks at pickup.

Purchase of vegetables is made through our online store-
www.vendio.com/stores/bensproduce.


Available new vegetables:
SPINACH

Current vegetable availability includes:
baby beets
brussels sprouts
carrots
Chinese cabbage
collards
scallions
lettuce
sweet potatoes
Vitamin Green (a mild Asian leafy green)


Late winter /early spring vegetables will include:
arugula
broccoli raab
mixed baby lettuce & greens
mizuna
radishes
swiss chard
tatsoi
turnips

Be good and eat well,
Ben & Patricia