Plant Sale!

Last week we started the season off with our first plant sale! It was held at the same location in Downtown Westminster as our regular Saturday market. In spite of the dreary, rainy day, we had a really great turn out of both vendors and customers. It was great to get back out there - we missed the market so much over the winter!
We brought a ton of plants and a little bit of produce. Our stand felt really full - which is a nice feeling.







We brought some colorful radishes. We are trying out a new mix this year. We bought 6 or 7 different colors and mixed the seeds just before planting. In addition to the yellow, purple, red and pink we also have black and white!

We brought cut herbs: dill, chives, garlic chives, peppermint, thyme, bronze fennel, and sage. We sell a ton of herb plants, but some people just want some ready to use.

We also brought lettuce heads and lettuce mix, a Downtown Westminster market favorite!



Almost all the regular vendors were there with not just plants, but meat, cheese, baked goods, jams and more.



Its so exciting to be back into the season, although this year is FLYING by! I can't believe its the end of May already! We still have a ton of plants to sell (email if you are interested :) ) Here we go!

Field Trip: Sattva Place (Scott's Farm!)

Since we began our farming adventure last year, we have made so many new friends. Some frequent the farmers' markets, some work on local farms, some joined us at one of the several conferences we attended last winter, and some are farmers. Our friend Scott is a farmer and happens to have the stand right next to us at the Westminster Farmers' Market. We had met him a few times at friends' get-togethers, but it wasn't until market started up this year that we really got to know him.
His farm, Sattva Place ('Sattva' is Sanskrit for 'purity'), is located in Frederick County between Frederick and Thurmont. Farming, however, is only one of his many skills. He teaches yoga classes, trims horse hooves, substitute teaches middle school math and is currently taking classes to receive a master's degree in education. And if that doesn't seem like a lot, you should see everything he has going on his farm!
Scott raises cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys for meat. He also has horses and goats. He rotationally grazes all of his animals, moving the cows and birds daily. We spent a day at the farm last weekend and as a part of our look around his 100 acres, we got to see him move the cows and chickens. What an amazing place!

Here is Scott in front of one of the barns with his affectionate little puppy (well, not so little anymore!).

She is killer, right? Soooo cute!

An old bee hive that pretty much takes care of itself.

The horses.

The goats.

I particularly like this one...

The boar.

The pigs.

The turkeys.

The chickens. These chickens, and the turkeys above, are in "chicken tractors". These are movable chicken coops that allow the birds to remain protected while out on open pasture. They are usually moved daily to allow the birds to eat fresh grass and bugs while distributing their manure evenly over the pasture. The chickens have shade tarps over their tractors to help with the heat.

This is the permanent chicken coop Scott built. It's perfect for winter with a south facing glass wall. The chickens seemed to love it!

For dinner, we ate a delicious salad with some of our cucumbers and peppers, some of Jackie's (De La Tierra Gardens) tomatoes and a hard-boiled turkey egg. Neither of us had ever eaten a turkey egg before and we were really excited to try it. It is shaped just like a chicken egg but is about twice the size.

It was delicious! Really, it tasted like a chicken egg, but boy was it good. We had such a fun day at Scott's, we are going to have to take field trips more often!

First Westminster Market

Saturday was opening day at the Downtown Westminster Farmers' Market, as well as the debut of our market stand. First times tend to be memorable occasions, and this was certainly the case for us. We spent the day before market picking and washing produce, putting together trays of potted plants, and generally preparing for the big day ahead. That night we went to sleep feeling relaxed and ready.

The next morning we awoke to a find that our truck would not start. We tried every last trick we could think of to get it running, but to no avail. And so, with a bed full of plants and produce and a market about to start, we did the only think that we could think of: we gather up all of the cars on the property, filled them up as full as we could with our goods, and caravanned to market. We arrived just in time, and in high style no less - thanks to the grandparents, our convoy included a Chrysler 300, (a luxury sedan once endorsed by gangsta rapper Snoop Dog), and a Lincoln LS (another luxury sedan).

Despite the rough start to the day, it all worked out. There was a good turnout at the market, we saw lots of old friends and made many new ones as well. And, to top it all off, we sold out of all of the produce that we brought! A big thank you to everyone who stopped by our stand, as well as to everyone at the farm who helped us to get to market!