Happy Spring!

We're hosting two more planting parties this Sunday (4/10) and next Sunday (4/17). Please come out and join us for some fun times planting and picnicking!  If you think you might be coming for either (or both!) parties, please email us at BensProduceNC@gmail.com (so we can be sure we have more than enough food for folks). 

The planting party on the first day of Spring was a success!!! Fourteen folks came out Sunday. We planted onions, kale, and cabbage. We also cut potatoes for seed. We spent two hours as a group to plant 14 beds of produce. It would have taken Ben and I days to do the same amount of work. True to the phrase, many hands make light work.

And this was truly a planting party.Throughout the day, we not only worked together to plant seedlings, folks were learning about each other, talking to each other. Some of the people here already knew each other, but for the most part folks didn't really know much about each other, or hadn't  previously met. In just a couple hours, I learned SO much about what people do with their time, their connections to food, agriculture, health, and we also talked about dogs and life and our jobs.

After we finished planting, we sat together outside for a yummy spread. Candy and Steve brought homemade focaccia, Kim and Andy brought hors devours(collard sushi rolls and spring rolls), and Bradford brought homemade kombucha with raspberries. We made a vegetarian minestrone soup. The tradition of minestrone soup is to use seasonal and available vegetables and other items on hand. That means there's no set recipe, which you know, makes me happy. We used our vegetables including carrots, kale, turnips (roots and greens) and collards. We also threw in portabella mushrooms, Roman beans, pink beans, tomatoes and onions.

We also had a nice big salad full of various lettuces, arugula, mizuna, and spinach. We used our nutty vinaigrette recipe for the dressing.

  Here's our friend Liese holding Luella Mae. Liese has been one of our amazing chicken caretakers. She and her partner, Eric, watched Charlie (our farm dog) and the chickens when went out of town for the SSAWG in Chattanooga. Liese and Luella Mae are good friends, as you can see here :0).

We've been steadily working to get more seeds in the soil and more plants in the ground since Sunday. Ben and I won't be going to market this Saturday so we can get more things ready out on the farm. We'll be tilling the soil for my new flower garden by the barn. I can't wait to expand and experiment with flowers this Summer season!!!

Here's a picture of Ben with hen's bit (the chickens love it - it's the purple flower bouquet in his arm) and tasting what we think is wild lettuce. I tried some too. It was bitter. The chickens liked it though.

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Here's Ben making soil blocks. This week Ben made tons of soil blocks and I planted tons of seeds. The rest of the pictures are the seedlings from our first round of brassicas. We also have tomato, cucumber, and pepper seedlings (not pictured). 

Well, that's all folks! Have a fantastic weekend! We'll see you at market next week. 

Planting Party This Sunday, the First Day of SPRING!

Hello all! We are having folks out to the farm this Sunday. We'll be getting started around 1pm. We'll be planting onions, scallions, and lettuce. Since our taters didn't get in until a couple of days ago, the seed isn't ready. However, if we have enough folks out here, we'll also be cutting our seed potatoes to get them started and ready for next week. Please come out and join us. The more folks we have out here to work, the less it will feel like work and the sooner we'll be finished and ready to socialize - and most importantly, eat yummy food! We'll likely be making a vegetarian chili and salad.

If you do plan on coming out, there are a few things you might (but don't have to) bring with you:
- chairs (for hanging out and eating)
- water bottle/container
- sunscreen
- hat
- good comfy shoes (and wear work clothes)

For directions, click here.

Here are a couple pictures of our friends helping us plant onions last week.

Spring is in the air. Time to get out there!

Hello folks! The time has come for Ben and I to get out there and work our booties off getting all of the seeds and plants in the soil. We would absolutely love it if any of y'all in the area would like to stop by and help us get some planting and transplanting work done. Planting and transplanting is much more fun in groups. The more folks that come out, the less work we all need to do. While we would be ecstatic if you wanted to dedicate a lot of your day to helping us get our produce in the ground, even just 30 minutes of your time would be extremely helpful. Right now it's time for us to get onions in the ground. Absolutely as soon as possible! We will be planting onions Monday, March 7th through Saturday, the 12th (we have market on Saturday, so we'll be starting late that day). We'll also be seeding tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and slicing cucumbers.

The next thing we'll need to do is get our seed potatoes in the ground (they haven't shipped yet, but they will be here before we know it). We'll be planting a crazy variety of taters, including French fingerlings, blue, red, yellow, and white varieties. Many of you have told us you would like more onions and potatoes this year. Well, we're on it! We'll begin planting potatoes the first day of Spring (Sunday, March 20th) and we plan to be wrapping it up on Wednesday, the 23rd). 

If you plan on coming out, you may certainly just drop by (1000 McLemore Road Clayton, NC 27520), but we do sometimes leave the farm, so it's probably best to call us or email us first. Ben's phone number is 919-800-8898.Our email address is BensProduceNC@gmail.com. If you give us enough notice, we'll feed you. Heck, even if you don't give us notice, we can probably find something tasty for you to nosh on. I mean, we're growing food, right?

So, just in case you're not sold on this whole coming out to the farm to help us do manual labor thing, I'm going to try to pitch this thing.

1. Spring is in the air! It feels great to be outside after a whole winter long of being inside. It's time to get outside in the spring sunshine and get to moving. 
2. We'll get to hang out. Learn some things from each other, exercising our brains and our bodies. It's win-win. 
3. I sincerely think working together with people has an intrinsic value that I can't explain - but it's mutually beneficial and it's pretty great. And we are obviously invested in the idea of getting help to put our produce in the soil. And so many of you help already...

Come out if you want  to and can. We appreciate the support systems we are a part of. If you're reading this, you're probably one of so many people in whose lives we now share in some way or another. Thank you for everything you do (and we hope you feel the same about us too). If you can't make it out to the farm for the beginning of Spring, we hope to see you at market or in April out at the farm. Enjoy the renewal and rejuvenation of Spring! And thanks for stopping by.   

The brief version:

• March 7th through March 12th we'll be planting onions. We'll also be seeding tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and slicing cukes. 
• March 20th (the first day of Spring!) through March 23rd we'll be planting potatoes.
• Call us or email us if you know when you might stop by. 
• We'll feed you. 
• We appreciate you. 

Chicken Sitting 101

We have so many things to share with you, but time is short right now. Until we get a chance to give you all a farm update, I thought I'd share the chicken care taking instructions I made for Beth and the kids - and our neighbors, Andy, Amanda and Duffie.

Chicken Sitting 101

1.      In the morning, open the little door inside the barn to let the chick-a-dees out. There is a little hook and latch to hold open the little door. NOTE: When you first open the barn door, those chickens will be standing right at the door looking at you. Shoo them away and step through them to get to the little door. Even though they’re looking at you in the big door, what they really want is to go through the little one.

2.     Once most of them go outside, check the water buckets. Be sure the water is clean and accessible. If there is straw in the water, clean it out and dump out a little water until the trough is clean.

3.     If there are any eggs in the nest boxes, take them out (take them home, scrub them clean with a brush or a scrubby sponge and put them in your fridge – then eat and enjoy!).

4.      Toss a few heads and leaves of cabbage into the pen outside (open the door to the pen – it’s a latch to toss them in).  

--- They’ll be fine through the day. They’ll lay eggs throughout the day too. At some point, either in the morning when you let the chickens out – or sometime in the afternoon – or later in the evening when you close them up for the night – their water needs to be changed out. You don’t need to change out all the waterers everyday. We usually rotate them and do one or two – depending on how they’re looking/doing. ---

5.        Sometime around dusk, or even after dark (but with a flashlight), go back to the chickens to give them their pellets and to shut the little door up for the night. Be sure you turn the little wooden slat so the door is secure and some critter can just push the door open to get in.

6.       Gather more eggs if they’re in there. Good night! 

Oh, and one more thing! Spring is almost here! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Middle Winter Farmer Musings...

It has been a dogs age since I (Ben) have posted and it is about time! I made a resolution to post on a regular basis, which will be a challenge along with all the other tasks I attend to. But if Patricia can do it, so can I! I have a tendency to write and re-write and make multiple drafts before I post. It's my old academic process showing itself, evidence I am not much an off the cuff writer. It takes a few rounds of writing for me to develop and clarify what it is I want to communicate, which naturally takes a bit of time. Time is of the essence in farming and budgeting it is very important. So off come the proverbial gloves! I'm getting down and dirty!

I have been busy planning this years crops over the past few weeks and I am already behind schedule! I should have started back in December but didn't get started until January because I wanted to wait for a book in the mail, Crop Planning for Organic Vegetable Growers by Frederic Theriault and Daniel Brisebois. It is published by the Canadian Organic Growers Association and is a wonderful book. Come to find out, I have been re-inventing the wheel! I have gone about the process of planning for the year in a slightly different way  but arrive at essentially the same place! I also learned I still have a few things to learn! Imagine that! Anyhow, I am finally catching up and creating schedules for all the major tasks to be done this year with the hope it will help us stay on schedule. Last year, one of our major challenges was getting veggies planted in the proper time frame and our poor planning created gaps in our vegetable availability, such as an inconsistent tomato supply and no winter squash.

I must admit, fleshing out our 2011 crop plan has got me worried. I am apprehensive that we will be behind schedule because we have not ordered seeds yet. The seed order I put together is over $1800! That is just for the spring and summer, not including fall and winter! Nor does it include the $500 we spent on seed potatoes! This year we will be growing over 40 crops and 100 different varieties of veggies, some for fun and experimentation but most for a very diverse and strong selection. Most of the seeds are needed soon for late February  to mid-March planting and it is mid-February already! I have faith that everything will come together as the universe intends and I try to be patient and hopeful. If there is any virtue that farming teaches, it is patience! You can't make the weather change nor make plants grow faster! I am also comforted by the fact that this is our second year and it will be better than last year. We will take the lessons of last year and make this year better. This thought gives me hope and comfort that this year will be okay, possibly the best yet!

I seeded spring lettuce and scallions into seedling trays last week and brought those down to Sharon Funderburks' greenhouse in Meadow for growing on. She has been very generous in her assistance to us! Show her some love if you come out to market. I also direct seeded snow peas, radishes, spinach, mesclun and various salad greens into our low tunnels. I also direct seeded 3 beds of carrots and 2 beds of beets and put them under row cover. Here are some pics for you...

This is my desk in the office, planning for the year. As you can see, I like to use some paper and pencil. Call me old fashioned, it works better for me than spreadsheets only. I like to use a combination of the two.

 This is the Planet Jr. seeder I borrow from Tom at Double-T Farm. It is 100 year old technology but works like a charm every time! Originally from NC!

 These are the 5 beds I had just prepped for planting carrots & beets. You can see the low tunnels on the right and how I have ventilated it with a forked stick.

 This is stir-fry I made last night with tatsoi, carrots, turnips and purple cabbage. Yummy!

 Okay, got to get back to work. Check you later! Farmer Ben

Announcing Summer 2011 CSA!

Ben's Produce offers vegetables, strawberries & flowers of the highest quality and taste in the Triangle. Our mission is to strive for healthier people, community, agriculture and planet by growing and sharing the best tasting food we can. Our farming practices may surpass organic guidelines but we choose not to be certified because we are confident the quality and taste of our produce, as well as our direct relationship with you, speak to our commitment to healthy food and holistic agriculture. 2011 will be our second year farming as Ben's Produce, though we have been farming with family and friends for many years.

Community Supported Agriculture

CSA is a mutually beneficial relationship between us. By making a seasonal investment in our farm with a CSA share, you become a seasonal farm member who shares the rewards and risks of the harvest season with us, your farmers. Your investment allows us to afford annual start-up costs, to pay ourselves fair wages, and to share the many risks in growing food. In return, we provide you and your family with abundant, fresh, healthy and local food. Our food not only tastes better and lasts longer, it's also helps us all nourish local agriculture, economy and environment.  Taste the difference!

Is CSA right for your family?

It is good to be aware of the rewards and challenges involved in CSA. If you and your family want to explore the wonderful tastes of our farm-fresh food by eating it straight from your CSA pickup bag or transformed in a wonder dish you cooked, CSA is for you! If you want to expand your taste-bud horizons and strengthen your skills at cooking and preparing fresh food, CSA is for you! If you want to be surprised with new vegetables, CSA is for you! If you want to eat healthily and enjoy eating, CSA is for you!

Please understand that nature's abundance varies. What you receive is based on our harvest schedule which is subject to the weather, pests, disease and a large myriad of influences. Some weeks your CSA share may be less than the retail farmers market value we try to maintain. However, we usually provide more bounty than you could buy at market value. If you find yourself with too many items, do not despair, share the bounty with others! .

How It Works

Join Ben’s Produce CSA by purchasing a CSA share at the beginning of the season. You then visit the weekly pickup site to pack your own vegetables from the harvest table. We will post a guide at the stand explaining what each share contains that week. The CSA harvest season runs for 20 weeks from late-April through September.

We shortened the length of our Summer 2011 CSA to 20 weeks because we found 23 weeks too long and fatiguing, for both you and us. We are also experiencing higher fuel prices as well as the need for livable salaries. Last year, we worked for minimal wages (in the case of Ben) to no wages (in the case of Patricia). Shortening the length of our CSA is our best solution to these challenges we faced in 2010.

Pickup Sites & Times: We have two weekly CSA pickup sites. Our main pickup is Tuesday evenings from 4pm to 7pm at the Raleigh Five Points CSA site, 1911 Bernard St., Raleigh 27608.  We also offer limited pickup every Saturday morning from 8am to 12pm at the Western Wake Farmers Market, 1225 Morrisville Carpenter Rd, Cary 27519. Please consider signing up with the Raleigh Five Points CSA Yahoo Group through the link above, to access information regarding the pickup site and opportunities to support the other farmers who attend as well as local food events and information.

Sharing with others: Some members find it enjoyable to split CSA shares with other families and friends. We also like to share food and enjoy such arrangements. If you choose to split a share, please let us know on your registration so we may avoid confusion.  

Flexibility: We know you may miss pickup for many reasons. We prefer 24 hours notice, if possible. You may send friends or family in your place to pickup if you wish. Missed pickup is forfeit of that weeks share but we will try to make other accommodations if possible.

Communication: Our main mode of communication is email. We will send all members weekly emails usually a day or two before pickup. Our emails are meant as pickup reminders and usually include farm updates, a list of that weeks veggies, a link to our latest blog entry and any notifications regarding pickup. Our blog functions as our farm newsletter that includes farm news, anecdotes, reflections, recipes, photographs and more.

Feedback: Your satisfaction is very important to us and our business. Please give us your feedback! Please give us your suggestions and tell us your concerns. We want our CSA to be fulfilling and pleasing for everybody!

Refunds: We will make no refunds after shares are paid in full. Shareholders are welcome to sell or give away their shares to others. We can provide assistance in transferring shares to others.

Weekly Share Contents

The available produce will change as the season progresses. Regular Shares will contain about 5 to 8 items each week and Full Shares will contain about 8 to 12 items each week.  Ben’s Produce determines the contents of each weeks share. We will try to include all the veggies listed to the best of our abilities.

Vegetable Availability

April:  Arugula, Asian Greens, Green Onions, Kale, Kohlrabi, Lettuce, Peas, Radish, Rutabaga, Salad Greens, Spinach, Strawberries, Swiss chard, Turnips.

May/June: Arugula, Asian Greens, Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cherry Tomatoes, Sweet Corn, Flowers, Green Onions, Herbs, Kale, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Lettuce, Peas, Radish, Rutabaga, Salad Greens, Spinach, Strawberries, Summer Squash, Swiss Chard, Turnips.

July/August: Beans, Cherry Tomatoes, Sweet Corn, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Flowers, Herbs, Okra, Onions, Potatoes,  Summer Squash, Tomatoes, Tomatillo, Assorted Melons, Hot Peppers, Sweet Peppers, Special Hot Weather Greens.

September: Arugula, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Flowers, Green Onions, Herbs, Lettuce, Okra, Potatoes, Summer Squash, Tomatoes, Tomatillo, Assorted Melons, Hot Peppers, Sweet Peppers, Radish, Salad Greens, Sweet Potatoes, Winter Squash.

  

Pricing

Regular Share - $400

 Our Regular Share is a suitable amount of produce for a small household of 1 to 3 people, or one well eating vegetarian to eat for one week. 

Large Share - $600

Our Large Share is a suitable amount of produce for a large household of 4+ people, or a couple of well-eating vegetarians to eat for one week.

Payment Options

Our CSA is first come, first serve. You must send payment to secure a share. We prefer you send us Full Payment but our Payment Plan of a deposit and consecutive payments are accepted for your flexibility.

Full Payment - Enclose a check for the total due.

Payment Plan - Enclose a deposit to secure your share. Please send the amounts listed below 30 days and 60 days after the date of your deposit.

 

Due Date	Regular Share	Large Share
Deposit	$160	$240
30 days	$160	$240
60 days	$80	$120

You can find our Summer 2011 CSA Brochure here. Please use the brochure to sign up with us. Please enclose a copy with your information and payment. We hope you will afford us the honor of being your farmers in 2011 and we are looking forward to a great year. We wouldn’t be able to be farmers without you and your support!

Sincerely,

Benjamin Shields & Patricia Parker

2011: Year of Inspiration, Motivation, and, most importantly, FUN!

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011! 

Well, howdy do! We're caught up in the spirit of the new year around these parts. Saturday we'll begin having more than 10 hours of daylight (10 hours and one minute, to be exact) and that means things will begin growing again. Most of our produce has been slumbering beautifully and cozily under our low tunnels and row covers. 

Yesterday we were rewarded for all of our care and attention and love for our hens and roosters with our first little brown egg. Th e chickadees are 5 months old and it's about the right time for them to slowly begin laying eggs, although the lack of daylight also slows down their production. We got our second little brown egg this morning. Ben and I are planning on making a little ornament out of our very first egg by hollowing it out with two holes on each end. We're so proud of them, you'd think we layed them ourselves!! 

 

Since all of the plants in the ground are currently hibernating, we've been spending most of our working time planning. Ben is planning Spring and Summer crops so we can order seeds. We went through the seed catalogs over the holidays and we're pretty pumped about all the awesome veggies we're growing. We're going to have a few trial-run half rows this time around too. Ben has also been looking around and talking to folks for and about tractors. At the moment, we have the walk behind. We'd like to expand our production a bit more this year and we'd also like to have the efficiency the tractor affords. We're hoping to get implements that are potentially capable for use for horse or mule farming someday in the future - maybe when we "retire" :). By the way, if you're interested in that type of thing, definitely check out the Small Farmer's Journal. It's hard to make a decision one way or the other, because the system you choose is often difficult to get out of...In addition to the farm planning, I've been doing some academic planning as well. This semester I'm studying for the preliminary exam for my main area, globalization and social change. At the end of the semester, I'm taking a 24 hour written exam, answering three comprehensive questions in 10-12 pages each. That means I'll be prepping for that feat for the next 16 weeks. Today, with a friend and colleague, we wrote up a plan of action and a study schedule. It feels pretty awesome to know what we're doing in the next few weeks - all around. In addition to all of this planning, Ben and I have also decided to designate Sundays aa FUNdays, and we're vowing to keep working throughout the rest of the days of the week so that we can reward ourselves with a full day of leisure one day of the week. As farmers and students (and also as a distance education instructor), it's particularly difficult to separate work and home and to ensure work isn't being done all of the time. We need our FUN time! We've also taken to taking walks on the acreage (350 acres). There are plenty of woods, a creek, and a beaver pond. It's vast and gorgeous out here - even in the dead of winter. This Monday, Ben, Charlie (the dog), and I went for a stroll and pine cone collection walk. I brewed us some tea and put it in our nifty new large size and portable tea/coffee mugs, we bundled up, and we went to gather. On our walk, it began to snow. It was quite nice indeed. The snow did get a bit harsh at the end and we were a ways from home, so we decided eventually to cut through the woods and make our way through the bramble. It was quite the adventure! 

We also went on a Boxing Day Blizzard adventure when we went to visit Ben's family for the holidays. We spent time all around the state and I even got to go ice skating on a frozen pond! Apparently that's old news for New Englanders, but for a girl who has spent most of her time in the South, that was quite the scary and exciting fun day...actually night.It was a combo skate party, ice skating, Christmas Eve eve celebration. 

Here's Ben with his parents at the dairy farm in Middleboro.

And here are a couple of Ben and I in the snow on the farm. 

The farm house. 

Charlie having fun with all the snow. 

Ben's mom with her grandson (and Ben's nephew). Isn't he adorable?!

When we came back from Massachusetts, Ben and I were happy to attend market. We hadn't been to market for almost three weeks!!! Here are some pictures from last weekend's market and some from the farm. 

 Everything is grown with love!

Here's a close of the said "magical" mesclun mix:

baby arugula, mizuna, baby tat soi, flat leaf parsley and curly parsley - YUM!

The winter spread :)

With Ben.

With me.

Assorted lettuces up close and personal.

Purple top turnips, real baby carrots and Hakurei turnips.

Kohlrabi and watermelon radishes.

We sold out by 10:30! 

We would love to bring more, but since things are slowly moving along here, given the hibernation of winter, it's going to be a little while before we'll have two tables full again - but it'll be here before we know it!

Well, this is the sunset. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Good bye for now and good night.

Happy New Year to you!

From: Patricia Parker and Ben Shields