This Week at the Farm: Keeping it local

Can you believe there are only two weeks left of the season? It’s been rather quiet around here lately; year-round staff are now all working indoors, focusing on office work and laying the groundwork for 2019 planning.

The farmstand is open Friday (12-6), Saturday (10-3), and Sunday (10-3), this weekend and next.

We hope you’ll stop by! It would be wonderful to see you at least once more before the farmstand closes.

Eat Local

Warm, hearty meals are just what we need this time of the year as our bodies are adjusting to the cold. Our farm kitchen has you covered! They’re making delicious creamy tomato soup (made with our organic, roasted romas) and macaroni and cheese, which we’ll have in the farmstand this weekend.

On the sweeter side, we’ll have a variety of options for you throughout the weekend:

• Snowmen
  
• Gingerbread cookies
  
• Cinnamon rolls
  
• Rugelah
  

Bread puddings, muffins, and pastries will be available on Saturday and Sunday.

Cook local

The variety of fresh local produce is a bit limited this time of the year – eating hearty, starchy vegetables can start to feel monotonous. We see it as another opportunity to get creative!

Raw beet* salad is a healthy option (we’ll have a tasty variation, with a dijon dressing, in the farmstand this weekend!).

We also recommend branching out and trying the black radish (it’s the vegetable of the week and 10% off in the farmstand all weekend). With its spicy and pungent flavor, it can be a bit intimidating. To offset some of that bitterness, we suggest halving and roasting them, mixing them with dairy like sour cream or cream cheese, or soaking slices in water. You can also mix them, roasted, into your mashed potatoes – yum! Read more about how to love “one tough radish” here.

*If you’re up for a challenge (and have ample storage space), stop by the farmstand and stock up! Carrots, onions, beets, potatoes, or winter squash are 20% off when you buy 25 pounds or more.

Support Local Businesses

Whether you’re shopping for the holidays or just picking up a few things you need, we encourage you to do what you can to support local businesses this time of year, and all year! Shopping local is one of the best things we can all do to help create a vibrant community and support the local economy. The Local First Alliance has some helpful principles to keep in mind when shopping as well as a list of 15 things you can do to think Local First. According to Vital Communities, when you spend money at a local business, 45% of that money is reinvested locally as opposed to 15% when you spend at a corporate chain. That’s pretty impressive! You can read more about the Local Multiplier Effect here.

In the farmstand, houseplants (cacti, amaryllis, rosemary, etc.), dried bouquets and wreaths, evergreen wreaths and swags make great gifts as well as holiday decorations. All are made and/or cared for by our lovely greenhouse staff!

In addition to what we produce here at the farm, we make a conscious effort to bring in local food to sell in addition to our produce and value-added products. Meats cheeses, maple syrup, and many of the other grocery items come from local Vermont farms.

Looking ahead to next year… signups for our 2019 CSA open the first of the year (summer camp registration opens the same day!). CSA or Community Supported Agriculture is a way to invest in a farm and support a local business by making a financial commitment early in the season, when production costs are high and income is low.

After our farmstand closes for the season, remember there are other ways to continue eating local all winter. Local produce and other goods are available at winter markets in the area, like the Norwich Farmers Market (select Saturdays from 9am-1pm at Tracy Hall).

We’re hiring!

We’re currently looking for an Education Programs Manager to run our education programs and a Retail Manager to manage the farmstand and Hello Café. To learn more about the positions and apply, click here.

Stay tuned for information about seasonal jobs – we’ll start hiring in the New Year!

Upcoming

• Friday, Dec. 7 – Farmstand open (12-6), weekly
  
• Saturday, Dec. 8 – Farmstand open (10-3), weekly
  
• Sunday, Dec. 9 – Farmstand open (10-3), Knife Sharpening (10–2), weekly
  
• Sunday, Dec. 16 – Last day of the season, farmstand open 10-3