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Marlborough Farmer's Market
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Discussion Forum
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Aug 25 2008, 11:28 AM EDT by
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Thread started: Aug 20 2008, 12:02 PM EDT
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I've just found out that the CDA (Community Development Authority) started a Marlborough Farmer's Market last Friday. It is to be held every Friday from 1 to 5PM until October.
I don't have an more info than that. But you can bet I'll be there this Friday. I'll take pictures and find out who's there. And I'll update the Marlborough Farmer's Market page with everything I find out.
If you know more, or if you went to the first one last week, post! What'd you think?
Shawn
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Last Reply:
RE: Marlborough Farmer's Market
By: ,
Aug 25 2008, 11:28 AM EDT
OK, so I went on Friday and it's small. It was 4 booths on a tiny strip of grass next to the senior center downtown. The four booths were:
1 Some kind of pet supplies
2 Aromatherapy oils and such
3 Peaches, plums, and corn. When I asked the guy what farm they were from, he had to think for about 3 minutes and eventually said they were from Davidian Brothers in Northborough.
4 Heirloom tomatoes and cucumbers from Houde Farm. I've never actually heard of that farm, and can't find them on the web (unless they also seell Christmas Trees). And I've never even seen the cucumbers they sold ).
So, 75% disappointing, but 25% super cool. That's actually not a bad place to start. With luck, enough customers will go that more farmers will go, which will bring more customers, and so on.
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Shawn Gets Interviewed (July 25, 2008)
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Discussion Forum
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Jul 30 2008, 3:23 PM EDT by
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Thread started: Jul 30 2008, 3:23 PM EDT
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The Community Advocate interviews Shawn again! Check it out: http://www.communityadvocate.com/news/2008/0725/front_page/053.html.
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15 July visit
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Balance Rock Farm
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Jul 15 2008, 1:26 PM EDT by
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Thread started: Jul 15 2008, 1:26 PM EDT
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So, I've been going just about every week for milk - lots of milk. And cheese (from Smith's), eggs (from Balance Rock Farm's chickens), butter (Cabot, usually), and some meat. It's nice - I now spend about 20-30% of my weekly grocery bill here.
This week, I actually spent some time talking to the farmer. In previous visits, I was really all business, or he was busy talking to someone else. But today, the stars aligned and we ended up talking for 15-20 minutes. If you've never talked to a farmer-owner, you really should consider it. In this day and age, you have to be insanely passionate, or obnoxiously stubborn (or both), to be a small farmer. He is the passionate type. Like most American farmers, he's on the north side of 50, and has a lot of experience in farming, and dairy farming and is quite willing to talk about it, and the business of farming and pretty much anything. If I didn't have milk and frozen meat sitting on the counter, I think I could have talked to him for another hour.
That's another thing you get from buying local - try having a conversation with an employee at your grocery store.
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Blueberries!
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Indianhead Farm
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Jul 15 2008, 1:16 PM EDT by
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Thread started: Jul 15 2008, 1:16 PM EDT
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It's blueberry season here in Massachusetts. As a matter of fact, Indianhead started picking yesterday. So I went at lunch today to pick some.
Oh, man, do I love blueberries. Not just because they taste good and are chock full of antioxidants and all that. But picking them is *so* easy. This year, I've been picking strawberries (bend over painfully) and raspberries (stick your arms into human-hating thorns). But blueberries? 15 minutes of comfortably standing in one spot and flicking gorgeous ripe fruit in a bucket hung around my neck. I can handle that.
The result:
1 1 pound 13 ounces of yummy blueberries
2 $4.60 (that's about $1.88 a pint)
3 I'll be my daughter's hero for the 10 minutes it takes her to gobble them down.
Plus, I talked to the very old guy who was watching the bushes and handing out the picking buckets. I think he's the farmer's father. He was telling me that the blueberry season is going to last 6 weeks (huzzah!), partly because they planted 7 different varieties that ripes at different times. And, a ripe blueberry can stay on the bush for a week before it goes bad. I gotta say, Blueberries have a shot at the Best Fruit in the World title as far as I'm concerned.
If you want to convince me you're psychic then you'll start telling me you see lots of jelly making in my future...
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farmers markets
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Web Links
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Jun 27 2008, 6:18 PM EDT by
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Thread started: Jun 17 2008, 8:23 PM EDT
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Here is a link for local farmers markets:
http://www.mass.gov/agr/massgrown/farmers_markets.htm
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Last Reply:
RE: farmers markets
By: ,
Jun 27 2008, 6:18 PM EDT
Also have a relevant link:
http://www.massfarmstands.com/
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Visit on 21 June 2008
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Codman Farm
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Jun 25 2008, 9:00 AM EDT by
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Thread started: Jun 25 2008, 9:00 AM EDT
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Tara passes near this farm on the way to work every day, so we decided to check it out. We were pleasantly surprised to see a little farmer's market there. One produce vendor, and a homemade cheese vendor. Annaliese fell asleep on the ride over (and we've learned you Don't Ever Wake a Sleeping Child), so Tara took Jonah to check things out for a couple minutes. Then I took Jonah over to the Farmer's Market. We grabbed some organic strawberries, and a chocolate croissant for Jonah and then looked around.
There are a LOT of animals here. There were a ton of baby chickens, right next to a bunch of big turkeys. The big male kept waling up to the fence and ruffling his feathers at us. There was a family of pigs sleeping in the shade. We went into a barn to look at some goats, and only after we were inside did I notice that a bunch of geese had a nest right near the door. And they had a couple of fat eggs that they were guarding vigorously.
Then we went to check out the Farm Store. Neat. It's in an old barn. There is a fridge and two big freezer. The fridge has tons of eggs and also some bottled water and juice boxes. The freezers are full of all kinds of meat. When you want to buy something, you add up the cost of everything and then put that amount of money into a little envelope. How refreshingly trusting!
After that we strolled through the community gardens. Really nice. Each plot looks to be exactly the right size for a little victory garden type enterprise.
All in all a fun way to spend the day. The kids had a great time.
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It's hurting my head!
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Discussion Forum
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Jun 25 2008, 8:08 AM EDT by
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Thread started: Jun 25 2008, 8:08 AM EDT
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So, trying to buy local as much as possible is really changing my head. Here's an example:
On Friday, we're going on vacation to Pennsylvania for a week. We've just eaten the last fruit in our home - we had a ton of blueberries and my daughter did her best vacuum cleaner impression with them. In the past, I would have said: "Ah. Two days without fruit? No big deal." But now, I'm thinking about the fact that the strawberry season is already over in Pennsylvania, and it will be over here in Massachusetts when we get back from vacation. So, this is my last chance at fresh strawberries for an entire year. I can't handle that - I have to go and buy some more.
Part of me wants to go back to the way it was - not caring about where food comes from and not having seasons and eating anything whenever. But most of me just wants to taste a fresh strawberry again. Just. One. More. Time!
Beware of eating locally! It's addictive!
Shawn
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Codman Hill Farm
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Discussion Forum
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Jun 20 2008, 11:19 AM EDT by
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Thread started: Jun 20 2008, 11:16 AM EDT
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Hi, the Zimmermans (us) will be at Codman Hill Farm on Saturday, June 21st if you want to meet up with us there. I hear they have their own eggs as well as animals for the kids to see. Not sure what else is for sale as far as veggies and fruit.
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Last Reply:
RE: Codman Hill Farm
By: ,
Jun 20 2008, 11:19 AM EDT
Sorry it's actually CODMAN FARM located at 58 Codman Road in Lincoln
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Shawn Gives Two Interviews on Marlborough Local Food
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Discussion Forum
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Jun 20 2008, 11:14 AM EDT by
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Thread started: Jun 20 2008, 11:14 AM EDT
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On Thursday, June 19th, Shawn gave two interviews regarding the Marlborough Local Food "project". He gave an interview to Marlborough cable news as well as a phone interview to the Community Advocate.
More details to come.
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Cousin's CSA
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Discussion Forum
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Jun 18 2008, 11:52 AM EDT by
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Thread started: Jun 18 2008, 11:52 AM EDT
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Hi, my 2nd cousin once removed (or something to that effect), Mike Gagnon, has a CSA in Tyngsborough that I want to plug - Bear Hill CSA. Here is the link - http://www.bearhillfarmcsa.com/. I've actually never met him, but the farm has in his branch of the Gagnon family since 1917.
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CSA bounty for 6/13
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Discussion Forum
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Jun 17 2008, 11:53 AM EDT by
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Thread started: Jun 14 2008, 6:36 PM EDT
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We had our CSA pickup yesterday and in it were three lonely stalks of rhubarb. I've never eaten rhubarb before, just taken it for granted that I wouldn't like the bitter stalks. To make my grandfather (of the strawberry-rhubarb pie) proud, I hunted down a recipe for strawberry-rhubarb crisp. I used strawberries from Tougas Farms in Northboro, Rhubarb from Stearns Farm CSA in Framingham, and butter, brown sugar, and oatmeal from god-knows-where.
Mmmm, delish. Though 3 stalks of rhubarb is only a cup chopped, so I had to third the recipe and it only made two bowlfuls, we enjoyed our first CSA bounty. Also had a huge salad for lunch today of arugala and spinach from SF CSA.
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Last Reply:
RE: CSA bounty for 6/13
By: ,
Jun 17 2008, 11:53 AM EDT
We didn't get pea vines - we're splitting our share with Sarah and she took those. :)
-k
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Irises
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Your own garden
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Jun 9 2008, 9:34 AM EDT by
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Thread started: Jun 4 2008, 10:40 AM EDT
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I bought an iris plant at Stearns Farm CSA last weekend. I can't wait to see it bloom! I'll try to post some pictures if I catch it blooming! Irises are really easy to grow if you remember that they like the rhizome (root) partially exposed so it gets sun. They don't need a lot of water and they come back year after year. It's also a good idea to split the rhizome after a few years and then replanting the other rhizome separately, so you now have multiple plants.
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Last Reply:
RE: Irises
By: ,
Jun 9 2008, 9:34 AM EDT
The irises bloomed over the week and are lovely - delicate white blooms!
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Berries
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Your own garden
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May 12 2008, 2:49 PM EDT by
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Thread started: May 12 2008, 2:49 PM EDT
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Shawn and I planted a couple of raspberry bushes a few years ago. They have the teensiest buds right now, but the size of the bushes has greatly increased since last year. We also planted a small blueberry bush we got from Trombettas Farm in Marlborough (www.trombettasfarm.com). And I nearly forgot, we got some strawberry runners from Price Chopper grocery store in Marlborough. I'll have to check on those this coming weekend and see how they are doing.
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Visit on 6 May, 2008
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Balance Rock Farm
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May 12 2008, 2:25 PM EDT by
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Thread started: May 6 2008, 3:50 PM EDT
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I visited Balance Rock Farm today to buy some milk and meat. Last summer, we started buying their milk and meat at the Maynard Farmer's Market, and even visited the Balance Rock Farm site once. But I haven't been there since September at least.
Sad news: they no longer sell their own milk.
Sadder news: they never did - it was milk from Whittier farms that was bottled in Balance Rock Farm glass bottles.
Really sad news: they stopped selling this milk in December when a few people died of listeria from Whittier farm milk.
Slightly more upbeat news: they now sell Oakhurst brand milk, which is from Maine.
Mrs Balance Rock Farm (I never did ask her name) said that the switch really hurt their business - a lot of people apparently really liked having their milk in the glass bottles.
But on the plus side, they still sell their own meat. They still sell a lot of other local food. And both of the people I talked to were friendly but not pushy. A good place to shop.
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Last Reply:
RE: Visit on 6 May, 2008
By: ,
May 12 2008, 2:25 PM EDT
Yeah, I signed up for that too! Your name is right in front of mine on the list...
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Price Comparison Analysis
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Balance Rock Farm
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May 6 2008, 4:01 PM EDT by
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Thread started: May 6 2008, 4:01 PM EDT
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Yeah, I'm kind've a geek. I wrote down how much my purchase cost at Balance Rock. Then I went on line and looked up the lowest sale prices I could find for Price Chopper (which is where I shop). Here's what it came out to:
Item PC Cost BRF Cost Difference
Honey $8.00 $8.00 $0.00
Milk $9.98 $10.80 $0.82
Sausage links $4.25 $4.84 $0.59
Hamburger $8.74 $8.38 -$0.36
Bacon $4.84 $4.93 $0.09
Total $35.82 $36.95 $1.14
So, it cost an extra 3% of my purchase to buy it from Balance Rock instead of Price Chopper. And this is comparing Price Chopper's best prices - if I compared the milk to Organic Valley instead of Price Chopper's Organic brand, then it would be about $4 cheaper to buy from Balance Rock.
Hey, I warned you I was a geek...
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Hannaford for local foods
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Where can I find local food?
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May 6 2008, 10:38 AM EDT by
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Thread started: May 6 2008, 10:38 AM EDT
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I recently found some local honey at Hannaford, with the regular honey. It's called "Golden Meadow Raw Wildflower Honey" and it's out of Holliston, MA. Their website is http://www.goldenmeadowhoney.com, and it's yummy!
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