New Farm Market At Tuckahoe Plantation Starting This Sunday April 3!

This just in.... There is a new Farm Market starting up this Sunday April 3 at Tuckahoe Plantation. It will run every Sunday from Noon till 4:00pm. The backbone of this new market is the newly formed Tuckahoe Plantation Livestock, the result of Simply Abundant ( where we always get our heritage turkey for thanksgiving), and Daniel of Tuckahoe Plantation combining their livestock operations. They will be offering grass fed beef, pasture raised lamb, free range eggs, pasture raised rabbit, pasture raised chicken, wool and yarn. The Farm market will offer fresh produce and other items in addition to the Tuckahoe Plantation products as the growing season gets underway. Live music, and a tour will help mark this opening day. Check out their beautiful website for more information on their products, internship opportunities and special events.

Chesterfield Towne Center Farmer's Market Opens Today at 9am

Just a reminder... the Chesterfield Farmer's Market starts today, Friday April 1! Among others, Steve and Chris Ault will be there with "pork, stewing hens and lots of eggs." This new market is located at Chesterfield Towne Center. Use the Huegenot Rd. entrance near Macys.

UPDATE- Free 'Grow Biointensive' Workshop NEXT Saturday April 9th

Reporting Error!! The 'Grow Biointensive' Workshop is not this Saturday! It is next Saturday April 9th. Thanks to Suzanne for reading our blog, and discovering my mistake. I hope to be there NEXT week. Thanks Suzanne! Suzanne also adds..."Come for the workshop, stay for the event—there will be rain barrels and composters for sale, plus many eco-activities for kids and adults. John Tyler teams with Chesterfield County; last year we had 5,000 attend!" This From the John Tyler Community College site... (As part of their Fool for Art event) "Cindy Connor, Keynote Speaker at 11:00 a.m. (A113-115) Feed your family with your own mini-farm! Organic produce from your own backyard! In the GROW BIOINTENSIVE workshop, nationally known speaker Cindy Conner shares techniques for the backyard food gardener. Conner founded the Sustainable Agriculture Program at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, and produced two DVDs (Develop a Sustainable Garden Plan and Cover Crops and Compost Crops in your Garden.) No tractor required! " At John Tyler Community College, Saturday April 2.

Byrd House Renegade Market Tonight

The Byrd House Renegade Market is tonight and by the looks of it they should have beef, chicken, mushrooms, spring greens and more. Tonight they are also hosting a seed swap, just in time. 224 South Cherry St. Also tonight is the Tricycle Gardens Farm Stand!

Robyn O'Brien at Tedx Austin

My brother got to attend Tedx Austin a couple of months ago, and was really impressed by Robyn O'Brien's analyst mind and her work on improving the food system. Great talk- Check it out!

Tricycle Gardens' New Farm Stand

This Thursday I checked out the re-opened farm stand for Tricycle Gardens. A white tented table was well stocked with beautiful crates full of kale, collard greens, radishes, turnips, watercress, and swiss chard. Surrounding the table were flats of healthy looking cool season crops, and raspberries to plant at home. The new location at the Tricycle Gardens headquarters on Jefferson Ave. in Church Hill is opening up opportunities for all sorts of great additions. In the near future they hope to augment their great produce with items like Lamplighter coffee, fresh baked goods, eggs, and goats milk shares. Nice!
Tuesdays and Thursdays 4pm-7pm. (Hours will extend as the days do.)

Happy spring!

Just wanted to take a second to celebrate the beginning of the most beautiful spring in my recent memory. The reprieve from the chill and dark of winter was certainly means for some kind of commemoration, so we brought out the last bottle from our ill fated wine club membership with Kluge- a rose champagne which was a perfect match for our brunch. It also might have been the reason I forgot to take photos of the food table. You'll just have to trust me that the quiche, and fruit and cheeses and jams and breads were all just beautiful. Casey even brought some gorgeous lettuce from her garden, which she grew under a hoop all winter long! Very inspiring.

We got to tour Shannon's garden, which because she is a horticulturist at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, is incredibly beautiful. It doesn't hurt that her husband is a fantastic carpenter, and made envy- inducing cold frames for their early season crops. Here we are, peering in:

Shannon and Matt also have an asparagus patch, which is now three years old. That means this is the first year the asparagus can be harvested! We ate the mini crop right there- fresh asparagus is a lovely, lovely thing.

I got so inspired, I went home and weeded the median garden, finding that the onions and garlic I planted in the fall had sprouted! I even found some rogue carrots, lettuce, and sunflower sprouts which had re-seeded from last year's garden. I threw in some cilantro seed, peas and some arugula, and planted some blue pansies for fun. Now Clyde and I will just have to see what comes up.

Happy spring, and happy gardening all!