TOMATOES IN THE SNOW

GROWER’S LOG, 11.12.13 The addition of a high tunnel to an organic farming operation has innumerable financial benefits ranging from season extension of marketable crops to ease of production and labor costs. Here at The Dahlia Farm however, what we find most exciting is the complete juxtaposition of the normal farming curve. This year’s addition of our passive solar temporary building has enabled us to have summer bouquets of May peonies (hydra-cooled) and August dahlias side by side – a first in 50 years for us! It has also given us spring gladiolas, near-winter lettuce and Halloween dahlias. The coup-de-grâce however is this morning’s harvest: tomatoes in the snow! It is indeed financially beneficial to add at least one of these greenhouse structures to nearly any farming operation, but it is a spiritual trompe to any seasoned grower to finally have a laugh at nature… even if for just an hour.

CSA Week #7

CSA Week #7 Share includes: Fennel, Curly Kale, Zephry Summer Squash, White-Gold Mini Cucumber, Belgian Endive, D’Avignon Radish, Herb: Basil, & Cut-flower Bouquet (glad, echinops, sunflower)

Nomato

Here's a chuckle from our friend and neighbor Michael over at Red Tomato

CSA pick-ups begin this Wednesday, June 12

CSA pick-ups will begin this Wednesday, June 12. Pick-up at the flower shop 1pm-6pm. Ocean Spray deliveries will be mid-afternoon to the front desk. If you have not signed-up yet for your CSA, now is the last week to subscribe. Be sure to drop us a line with any questions you might have. Thanks for being with us.We look forward to seeing you soon!

Quick Peek, May 21

Just a quick peek at what's coming up tonight, May 21. From upper left, clockwise is red leaf lettuce, green lettuce, mustard, snap pea tendrils, baby spinach and baby kale. It won't be long now!

2013 Season

Greetings everyone! We are fast approaching another new season here at The Dahlia Farm, and again this year we’re excited to offer CSA membership. We will have both the Half-Share and the Full-Share sizes, so that you can choose the quantity of vegetables, fruits, herbs, eggs and flowers that best fit your family’s lifestyle. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support over the last 5 years and let you know we look forward to seeing you again this season! If you have not yet signed-up for this season, now’s the time! Simply visit our website TheDahliaFarm.com and print out the ‘CSA sign-up sheet.’ We can usually accept memberships throughout May, but don’t delay as openings are filling up quickly. Here’s to a wonderful season for all. We look forward to seeing you soon!

MASSACHUSETTS MUSHROOMS

To be candid, I was initially leary about growing and eating mushrooms. Let's face it, in today's fear-based society we have so many precautions and supersticions we're scarcely able to make a decision at times. And complicating our daily habits with "risky" ventures like eating mushrooms from the backyard is just not a high on most folks to-do lists. I mean what could be more scarey and dangerous than being completely responsible for one's own food...? And therein the teetering scales in my mind weighed in. Time to try something new - and growing shittake from mycelium spours was just the ticket. I have to thank my friend Tim over at the USDA in Wareham for turning me on to this "underground" delicacy. The entire process is actually quite precise and I can whole-heartedly recommend it to any avid gardener who feels they've exhausted the lot of the seasonal challenges, or who yawns at the thought of growing some new variety of zucchini. Shittake culture, and any myceliuum for that, requires a bit more attention, skill, patience and determination than most Massachusetts crops. You will need fresh oak logs - white or red - that are 4" to 10" in diameter, and have been cut live 6 weeks to 4 months prior. You will need to drill 3/8" holes 1" to 1-1/2" deep in a crisscross patern, plug them with mycelium-impregnated plugs and cover each plug with melted parafin, as well as the log ends. This will keep parasites out of the logs. The logs will then need to be stacked garrison-like in a shady, dark, relatively windless, damp area of your yard (think wooded wetland - not TOO wet). If you can place them on clean oak pallets on top of an old tarp or sheet of plastic - even better. Shittakes in particular can be purchased from many online sources. The one I used is www.fungiperfecti.com up in Nirvanarama Puget Sound. They've been at it for a while, offer a free catalog if you're interested and have a great info resource on their website, as well as kid-friendly projects. The Puget Sound Mycological Society up in Seattle is also a good source of info: http://www.psms.org/index.php There is also a central-Mass area website at http://mushroomhunter.net/ if you're more daring and care to venture out into the woods to hunt the wild varieties. Caveat: I'm not there yet and don't endorse it. To get back to the locally-sourced (150 feet from where I type this) shittakes, they are deliciously earthy and richly flavored. They are magnificent reduced in butter at a low temperature with a pinch of kosher salt. Any French chef would be proud to serve them as an appetizer. Enough of them would make a meal, if paired with a petite syrah or bolder red. If you have the space, time, and appreciate a gardening challenge, I would highly recommend attempting to grow mushrooms. April, with its rains, is a perfect time to begin. The autumn is good also. If you are a greenhouse, farm or other agricultural professional, Tim will be speaking in Dartmouth on May 11 through the USDA. Drop me a line and I will forward the details.

Farm-to-Door, Your Door That Is!

This year we're going to offer something new in our CSA program -- FREE BULK DELIVERY! If you work for a company or with a community group in the area (that's Southcoast to South Shore) and can organize at least 10 subscriptions in our CSA, we will deliver to you weekly at no charge. That's right, if you've been bragging to your friends about what you've been eating these last 4 summers and they're chomping at the bit to join you, NOW'S THE TIME TO ORGANIZE! And what could be easier than having your weekly share of pure, farm-fresh garden vegetables delivered right to your door? (Or to the door of your church, office, community group or neighbor.)

For more information and sign-up sheets please visit our website: TheDahliaFarm.com, or drop us an email at: TheDahliaFarm@yahoo.com