New Member Meeting on January 22 at the Brentwood Library

The Willow Pond Community Farm community supported agriculture (CSA) has been providing organic vegetables to community members for the past eight years. They start this year off with a new farmer, Glenn Preston. Glenn is from Maine and has worked on Dari Farm in South Freeport.
New members, old members and anyone interested in joining the farm is invited to an informational meeting on January 22, at 2:00 pm at the Brentwood Library. Come meet the farmer and other members.

This year, members have a choice of either a full share or a part-share and can pick up their harvest starting June through October. There is also a very large “Pick Your Own” Section which includes endless tomatoes, herbs, green beans, flowers, peppers, chard and more.

Full shares are $550 and part shares are $325 part (about 60% of the full share.) Some of the vegetables include salad greens, scallions, squashes, cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, peppers, eggplant, garlic, carrots and pumpkins.

If you’re interested in joining Willow Pond Community Farm, please contact Joanie Pratt at willowpondfarmer@gmail.com.

Weekly Update: Last Pick Up for the Season!! PYO Still Available

Photo by Sarah Illingworth

Hi everyone,

This is the 20th, and last, week of pick up for the year. It’s hard to believe another season is already ending, but for those of you who aren’t quite ready to let it go, don’t worry, there will still be crops available as “pick your own” starting this Saturday. I will put stakes with green tags at the head of all the PYO beds (i.e. kale, arugula, salad mix, turnips, asian greens and celeriac).

There’s still time to do your volunteer hours! We are having one final work day this Sunday from 9am-12pm. Even though there will be no more CSA pick ups after this week, you can still do your hours by helping me peel and plant next year’s garlic. Peeling garlic will begin this week and continue until its done. I’ll also need help cleaning up the farm and pulling up the eggplant and pepper plants.
We will be sending out an anonymous online survey for everyone to fill out. Your feedback is very important, so please send this in and help make the farm better next year.

In the share this week:
Parsnips
Kale
Turnips
Arugula/Salad Mix/Asian Greens
Winter squash
Garlic
Onions
Eggplant
Radishes

It’s been a great season. Thank you all for being members and supporting Willow Pond Community Farm.

See you at the farm!
Maggie

Weekly Update: Fall Crops, Garlic Planting

Hi everyone,

It’s hard to believe this is October! It’s been perfect growing weather and the end of the season crops are doing great! The salad mix, which looked like it would be done after last week’s torrential rains, seems to have totally revived. We did get a light frost last week, but not enough to kill the peppers and eggplant. The turnips are just the right size now, and the spring kale, which looks like 4ft tall palm trees, is miraculously still producing. There are some cleanup projects that need to get done before the end of the season, as well as garlic planting. So if anyone wants to get in some volunteer hours, there’s still work to be done – just call me or ask me during pick up. You can always show up Tuesday mornings, even if you’re not signed up, and I’ll put you to work.

In the shares this week:

Salad Mix
Arugula
Asian Greens
Turnips
Carrots
Eggplant
Peppers
Onions
Garlic
Winter Squash
Celeriac
Radishes
Kale

Maggie

Weekly Update: Enjoy the Fall Harvest!

Hi everyone,

Thanks to all the people who showed up on Saturday for the work day. Members pulled up old tomato plants and plastic mulch, they also took down the deer fencing, and put away irrigation and tomato stakes. All this rain we’ve had is causing mildew to grow in the salad mix. There will definitely be salad mix in the shares this week, although I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get a second harvest out of it for next week. Fortunately, the temperatures have been warm enough that the eggplant and peppers are still alive. I plan on harvesting everything off those plants this week in anticipation of a possible frost. If anyone would like to do some work hours, please give me a call in advance so we can figure out the best time and task for you to do. Separating and planting garlic will be a big job coming up in another week or two. There is also more cleanup work and organizing in the hoophouse.

Thanks again to everyone who came out to the potluck and to everyone who donated a prize. And, thanks so member Sarah Illingworth for taking such nice pictures!
In the share this week:

Salad mix
Arugula and Asian greens
Carrots
Peppers
Eggplant
Winter squash
Onions
Garlic

See you at the farm!
Maggie

Weekly Update: Potluck on Tuesday, September 27, Raffle Items, October 1 Work Day

Last year's harvest dinner was a real "pumpkin" smash!

Hi everyone,

This Tuesday is our annual fall harvest potluck! We’ll be starting at 5pm (eating by 5:30 or 6pm) and it looks like we’ll have perfect weather so come on out and enjoy the sunset at the farm with your fellow members and good food. Please bring a dish or drink to share, your own plates and utensils. Parking in front of the farm is limited so park across the street whenever possible. Prizes for the raffle tickets will be drawn at the party. The raffle items are listed below. Please buy your raffle tickets when you pick up your share tomorrow or at the party.

It hasn’t felt like fall lately with all this warm weather, but it’s starting to look like it at the farm. The oats, vetch, peas and winter rye I’ve been planting as cover crop is coming in nicely and making the fields very green. The fall greens are doing well and it looks like they’ll be in share for the next several weeks – barring very cold weather. We’ve begun the slow process of cleaning up the tomatoes. This is a big project which I need your help with. We are having an all member work day at the farm this Saturday from 9am-12pm. Come prepared to get dirty.

In this week’s share:

Kale
Arugula and Salad Greens
Radishes
Carrots
Peppers
Winter Squash
Garlic
Eggplant
Tomatoes

See you at the farm!

Maggie

Harvest Potluck Raffle Items

Aerial flight member Justin Lyons for three people (weight dependant) along the coast or over the farm.

Artwork: two framed 14 x 20 giclee prints on archival paper with 8 archival inks. One is a great Horned Owl and the other is a Red Tailed Hawk by Revelle Taillon, Value: $200

An evening sail for 4 aboard the Potter family 28′ sailboat, including wine and cheese tray.

A “coupon” for 1/2 bushel (20 lbs) of Pick your Own Apples at Apple Annie. (Value $30.00)

2 Guitar Lessons from Judd Ryan ($70)

A Family “Photo Shoot” by photographer, Sarah Illingworth

A $25 gift card to The Meat House with a Meat House cooler bag.
A $25 gift card to The Meat House with a “I <3 Beef" apron, Meat House pens and stickers.

Handmade Pottery (2) by Leslie Haslam

"Sunrise over Willow Pond Garden” earrings

$25 Barnes and Nobles gift card

$50 Outback Steakhouse gift card

A coupon for a family ice cream treat from Screamers Cafe

Grab Bag from Hallmark store in Stratham including 2 picture frames, 3 shopping purses, 3keycains, 4 kitchen towel sets.

2 $10 gift certificates from Exeter Chamber of Commerce

5 free volunteer work hours for Willow Pond

1 jar of Willow Pond Farm honey

Weekly Update: Potluck, Potatoes and Raffle

Hi Everyone,

The Fall Harvest Potluck is Tuesday evening at the farm starting at 5pm. We’re hoping you will all try and make it, even if you haven’t RSVPd. If you’re coming, make sure to bring an entree, salad or dessert to share along with your own plate, silverware and something to drink. Make sure to buy a few raffle tickets and you may win one of our awesome prizes and help us raise money for some much needed equipment at the farm

Harvest Potluck Raffle Items

Aerial flight member Justin Lyons for three people (weight dependant) along the coast or over the farm.

Artwork: two framed 14 x 20 giclee prints on archival paper with 8 archival inks. One is a great Horned Owl and the other is a Red Tailed Hawk by Revelle Taillon, Value: $200

An evening sail for 4, The Potter Family Crew

A “coupon” for 1/2 bushel (20 lbs) of Pick your Own Apples at Apple Annie. (Value $30.00)

2 Guitar Lessons from Judd Ryan ($70)

A $25 gift card to The Meat House with a Meat House cooler bag.

A $25 gift card to The Meat House with a “I <3 Beef" apron, Meat House pens and stickers.

Handmade Pottery (2) by Leslie Haslam

"Sunrise over Willow Pond Garden” earrings

$25 Barnes and Nobles gift card

$50 Outback Steakhouse gift card

A coupon for a family ice cream treat from Screamers Cafe

Grab Bag from Hallmark store in Stratham including 2 picture frames, 3 shopping purses, 3keycains, 4 kitchen towel sets.

2 $10 gift certificates from Exeter Chamber of Commerce

5 free volunteer work hours for Willow Pond

1 jar of Willow Pond Farm honey

It's really feeling like fall these days, and the cool weather has slowed down the growth of the eggplant and peppers significantly. The kale and salad greens are doing great though. Joanie and Charlie harvested the final three beds of I've been working on cleaning up the field and tilling for fall seeding of winter rye. We had a good winter squash harvest crew last Tuesday and I'm very pleased with the amount of squash we have this year (despite some damage from the wood chuck). Several members came out in the past week to help pull up old cucumber vines and tomato stakes, and clean onions. I will be needing help cleaning up the farm for the next couple of weeks. Please call me in advance if you would like to work so I can make sure to be at the farm. Now that it's apple season, I've been working over at Apple Annie's some days during the week.

If anyone has seen a digital camera in a black case please let me know.

In the share this week:

Potatoes
eggplant
kale
arugula
tomatoes
garlic
cukes
winter squash
leeks
See you at the farm.
Maggie

Weekly Update: Fall Harvest, Potluck, Bees,Potatoes & the Raffle

Hi All,

As fall approaches, it’s nice to have some new crops coming in as the summer crops wind down. We will be harvesting all of the winter squash this Tuesday from 4-5:30pm, so come and help if you have a little extra time during share pick up. There will be at least 7 different types of squash: delicata, acorn, carnival, butternut, red kuri, spaghetti, blue hubbard and some pumpkins and gourds too. Other crops which should be coming in this fall are: arugula, Asian greens (next week), turnips, salad mix, head lettuce, radishes, celeriac, more potatoes, leeks, kale, onions and garlic.

The field tomatoes are on their way out so I encourage everyone to pick their own sauce tomatoes (I can direct you where to go). Hoop house tomatoes, peppers and eggplant should continue to produce for another couple of weeks but the cooler weather slows down their production.

I’ve been busy tilling old beds and seeding winter rye and oats as cover crop. Cleaning and sorting garlic and onions has been a time consuming job which I would love help with. There is also a lot of clean up work that can be done anytime. This past Sunday I extracted honey from one of the hives at the farm. I didn’t get as much honey as I had hoped from that hive and I suspect the bees may have suffered from mite infestation because their honey production dropped off dramatically. The queen in the other hive never laid eggs, which is very bad because the life span of a worker bee is only 6 weeks. I attempted to “re-queen” the hive but was evidently unsuccessful because I never found much brood or honey.

In the shares:
Carrots
Winter Squash
Onions
Garlic
TOmatoes
Peppers
Eggplant
Kale
Cucumbers

For those who still need to put in volunteer hours at the farm, the Pratts could use help digging potatoes Monday afternoon Sept 19 from 9:00 – 11:00 am and weighing potatoes for distribution Tuesday morning Sept. 20 from 9-11 AM. Please contact them by email (cpratt@exeter.edu) if you can help.

You can RSVP for the Harvest Potluck which will take place on Tuesday, September 20th starting at 5:00 pm tomorrow at pick up. Please also contact Tracey at tosbornemiller@yahoo.com if you have raffle items. Swap two volunteer hours for a raffle item!

So far the donations include: Two framed 14 x 20 giclee prints on archival paper with 8 archival inks. One is a great Horned Owl and the other is a Red Tailed Hawk, by Revell Taillon. (Value $200); An evening sail for 4 hosted by Nancy and John Potter; A “coupon” for 1/2 bushel (20 lbs) of Pick your Own Apples at Apple Annie.(Value $30.00); Handmade Pottery by artist Leslie Haslam; Fish Tile, By artist Bob Osborne; Free Oil Change

Weekly Update: Carrots, Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant, Garlic & Purple Cabbage

Onions are drying in the hoop house.

Hi Everyone,

We’ve had gorgeous weather and great growing conditions lately. It was nice to get a sunny week for the onions to cure in the field. I brought all of them into the hoophouse today to keep them drying and protect them from the rain we’ll hopefully be getting soon. The field tomatoes are going downhill fast so take advantage of them now! Let me know if you’d like some extra canning tomatoes. I can’t promise you they’ll be pretty but they’ll taste good in the dead of winter.

The salad mix, arugula, asian greens, radishes and turnips are growing well. We’ll be harvesting from a new bed of carrots this week and picking purple the cabbage. The cucumbers are still producing but the summer squash and zucchini is just about ready to get tilled under for the year. A number of pepper plants got knocked over by the hurricane but they still seem to be going strong, as does the eggplant. It looks like we’ve got a pretty awesome winter squash crop this year – although I know the resident groundhog has been nibbling on some acorn and delicata. Let me know if you’d like to help harvesting winter squash (probably the end of next week) or cleaning onions (ongoing).

In the shares this week:
Carrots
Tomatoes
Peppers
Eggplant
Onions
Garlic
Purple Cabbage
Cucumbers
Kale

Maggie

Hurricane Update!!

Hi everyone,

Well I’m extremely thankful that hurricane Irene didn’t do too much damage at the farm. On Friday, we harvested every tomato that was even semi-ripe, thinking that they could all get bruised or rotten in the storm. Then on Saturday we took all the garlic out of the hoophouse, fearing that the plastic could get blown off. We also harvested all the onions that we dying back in the field and got them under the cover of the shed. Today, I surveyed the damaged and found that most of the cherry tomatoes which were over 6ft tall were knocked down. A lot of pepper plants, sunflowers, and some of the kale also suffered from the high winds. The good news is the plastic on both hoophouses miraculously made it through the storm. This was a huge relief because we need the close hoophouse for drying and storing onions and garlic. The far hoophouse has some of the best looking, least diseased tomato plants on the farm, so I’m counting on getting tomatoes out of there until late September or early October. I’m also happy that the four beds of fall greens I just seeded last week didn’t get flooded out and are looking happily watered and ready to grow this week.

Joanie and Charlie began harvesting the Kenebec potatoes for tomorrow’s shares. They’re looking big! I was glad to see some of you stop by the shed today to get extra tomatoes. There will be a lot of tomatoes in your shares this week so I suggest you start making a plan to can and/or freeze them asap because they may not be as prolific after this week. Salsa would be another good thing to make now that we’re getting some more red peppers and hot peppers.

In the shares this week:
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Leeks
Onions
Garlic
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Eggplant
Cucumbers
Summer Squash and Zucchini
Kale

See you at the farm!
Maggie

Weekly Update: Pickles and Ice Cream!

Hi Everyone,

We’ve had some beautiful weather lately with plenty of rain and sun! The winter squash crop is looking great and the onions are bigger than we’ve had in years thanks to all the weeding we got done earlier in the season. All the garlic stalks have been cut off and the garlic is spread out and drying in the hoophouse. I’ll need some help organizing the soil trays in the hoophouse and making room for the onions as soon as they’re ready to be brought in to dry in a week or so. The tomatoes and eggplant are continuing to ripen, although the cooler nights slow production some. I’m starting to see more red sweet peppers and hot peppers but there will be more coming in the next few weeks. Also coming next week is more potatoes! Make sure to check the PYO for tons of cherry tomatoes, paste tomatoes, hot peppers, tomatillos, purple beans, basil, parsley, oregano, sage and thyme.

And don’t forget the annual Willow Pond ice cream social will be this Tuesday from 4-5:30 and lots of weeds to pick in the Children’s Garden if you’d like to help out during pick up. There will also be peaches available for purchase from Apple Annie. Get there before they’re all gone!

Also, it’s not to late to sign up for the Food Preservation class – come learn how to pickle all those cukes!!

In the share:

Tomatoes
Onions
Garlic
Summer squash and zucchini
Slicing and pickling cucumbers
Eggplant
Carrots
Peppers

See you at the farm!

Maggie