Farm Fresh Rhode Island blog

Ever find yourself with an empty afternoon and an empty fridge, craving wholesome fruits and vegetables and wholesome good times?

Or, maybe you want to escape into the countryside for an afternoon with your friends or family. Maybe you need massive amounts of apples, peaches, or raspberries for your own personal reasons.

Whatever your particular circumstances, visiting one of the many local farms with pick-your-own (PYO) fruits, veggies and flowers is sure to satisfy. Rhode Island is dotted with PYO farms which offer you not just a way to visit their fields but truly the freshest produce you can get. It’s a kid- and parent-approved way to spend the day. By searching the Pick Your Own list on our website, you can easily locate the farm nearest to you with the particular crop or experience you want. Here are some tips:

• In August, you can pick juicy peaches.
• In September, you can pick crisp apples, juicy peaches and plump raspberries, though not every farm grows the fall raspberry variety.
• In October, you can pick crisp apples (and pumpkins, but we’re focusing on food).
• Since varieties ripen at different times and each farm feels the weather in a slightly different way, availability will vary. A call to the farm will provide the info you need if you’re craving White Peaches or Macouns and want to know if they’re in season. Many farms now grow 10+ varieties – each with unique flavors and textures – and so you may surprise yourself with new favorites. Some of these are also early varieties, and so you may find certain apples ready in late August for picking.
• Here’s something you can plan for: since trees get picked a lot on weekends, there tend to be slimmer pickings on Monday, though some orchards plan around this by roping off certain sections. Either way, by Wednesday and Thursday, there’s bound to be another bounty of fruit waiting to fall into your basket.
• Check the forecast and be prepared with sunscreen, rain gear, and appropriate clothes.
• If you want to bring your dog, double check with the farm first.
• Bring a reusable bag for your treasure haul.

Fun times, good food, gorgeous surrounds. It’s late summer in Rhode Island and no matter which corner of our state you’re in, you can escape and enjoy a delicious day in the fields!

It’s a clear and sunny day in mid-July, and John Harkins of Heritage Farm is teaching half a dozen high schoolers how to use a hoe. Others are nearby weeding long rows of ever-lasting strawberries, delighting in the taste of the ripe juicy berries as they pull up various grasses between the rows. The students are part of the Brown Environmental Leadership Lab (BELL) Sustainable Development course, a two-week long summer course for 30 high school students from around the U.S. and the world. The field trip to Heritage Farm, an ecological farm in Portsmouth, is part of their unit on Sustainable Agriculture. For this unit, BELL teamed up with Farm Fresh RI to teach students about environmental and social issues unaddressed by the mainstream food system, and about how alternative models such as organic farming and locally produced foods can benefit the health of our land, economies, and communities.

Heritage Farm is an ideal site for students to explore sustainable agriculture. From seed saving, raising heritage animal breeds, and promoting regenerative ecosystems, this farm is integrating ecological concepts into its everyday farm operation. As he takes students on a tour of his 50-acre farm, John’s enthusiasm and commitment to principals of biodiveristy and conservation is clear. He talks to students about water conservation, biodiversity, soil erosion, and nitrogen fixers. Harkins points out over a dozen different types of vegetables in the one-acre biointensive market garden that sits in the middle of the farm. As we stop by the his mobile chicken and duck coops, he passes around the blue and brown eggs that are sold at farmers markets in Providence, Newport, Portsmouth and Tiverton.

For many students this is their first visit to a working farm. For others, it’s a reminder of their own backyard gardens. For all, the issues that Harkins brings up, such as water, energy, and conservation, relate to the way we experience our world and our quality of life. These themes are also core concepts students have been discussing during the course. The farm trip provides an opportunity for students to see sustainability in action, and learn about the real life challenges and successes of such an operation. It’s also a lesson in the power of food and agriculture as a teaching tool, and the opportunity to engage young people in meaningful change.

Ahhh, August. Actually, it’s been anything but a slow month. After all, we’re getting into the heart of the harvest season. Here’s a look at 7 days in the life of Farm Fresh:

TUESDAY 8/4 - LOCAL FOOD FEST RAISES $25K
Tickets sold out again in our third year, with 450 guests enjoying the Local Food Fest at Castle Hill. We raised a record $25,000 for Farm Fresh’s efforts to connect more Rhode Islanders with fresh, locally grown food. So many thanks to the 12 incredibly generous chefs, 22 farmers and 9 producers whose gift of time and food, made the Local Food Fest a delicious way for guests to give back to Farm Fresh.

Guests were able to enjoy the bounty that is local agriculture, including the first RI artisan goat cheese, honey bees on location and a tour of the Castle Hill kitchen garden. It was also nice to see that, in addition to the sneak peak for guests, the Preview Hour provided a quiet time for farmers and chefs to meet and chat.

See photos and stories: RI Monthy recap, Jennifer’s photos and  recap, Mike’s photos, David’s recap & photos

THURSDAY 8/6 - MARKET MOBILE DELIVERY
Knowing we had the Local Food Fest on Tuesday, we purposely made no Market Mobile sales calls on Monday and were joking that we hoped for a small $4,000 order. But despite our efforts, 24 of our favorite chefs and grocers ordered $6,300 of produce, meat, dairy and seafood. No matter, with the incredible Market Mobile team at FFRI, it was our smoothest delivery day yet. We implemented a new system that cut our sorting and delivery time down dramatically. And that was with a stop at the Boathouse in Tiverton, on top of Newport, Providence and Narragansett.

Market Mobile is offering restaurants and schools that already buy local an easy way to buy more, and it’s now attracting new customers that are buying local for the first time. The pooled delivery system is also working out well for farmers, many of whom previously didn’t have the means to sell food to chefs, grocers and schools. The harvest season is just getting started, and this week Market Mobile promises plenty of tomatoes, plums and corn. We are looking into selling to more schools, hospitals and cornerstores as a priority for later this year.

SATURDAY 8/8 - DOUBLE VALUE EBT AT FARMERS MARKETS
Press conference at the Broad St. Farmers’ Market in South Providence. Wholesome Wave gave Farm Fresh $10,000 to double the buying power of Food Stamps customers at our markets. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care gave an additional mini-grant of $500 for the program. As a result of the program, we’ve already seen a 10x year-over-year increase in Food Stamps usage at our markets in 2009. Wholesome Wave runs this program in cities across the country but was thoroughly impressed today by just how successful our Food Stamps program is and the many organizational partnerships Farm Fresh has formed to get more low-income customers to the farmers’ markets.

We were joined by Mayor David Cicilline, former Undersecretary at the USDA Gus Schumacher, Wholesome Wave Foundation’s chef Michel Nischan, Harvard Pilgrim’s Sarah O’Neil, and Southside Community Land Trust’s Katherine Brown.

Watch ABC 6 News coverage, listen to an earlier WRNI story on markets.

MONDAY 8/10 - MARKET MOBILE ORDER ALMOST $10K
Tomatoes and peaches have definitely arrived! Other big sellers were blueberries, onions, cheese, rib roast, oysters and scallops. This week’s Market Mobile order was $9,828 from 18 farms to 30 chefs, grocers, schools and farmstands. See who’s buying local. There’s going to be a lot of sorting this Thursday! If you ever want to volunteer, contact Christie.