Late August is sublime in Center Sandwich, not only because the crowds are thinning, the nights are cooling, and the lake water is silky, but also because the organic gardens next door at Booty Family Farm are booming!
As soon as the “tomatoes” and “corn” signs are hung, traffic at the stand (AKA the sugar house) picks up considerably. We have sweet, crispy corn every night, grill squash, and our salad bowl runneth over.
This summer, new products from the farm include lovely “Rachel Bartlett Pottery” and “Elsa’s Flowers.” Talk about one-stop shopping!
Elsa’s flowers and Rachel’s mugs
The tomato greenhouse, corn field, and Mount Israel keeping watch
But let’s be clear, farming is a lot of work. Many an afternoon I pop out of the woods on my way to Grandmother’s House (actually, my Mom’s) for tea, and there’s Stephen Bartlett pulling weeds in the upper garden. (At this time of year I have to take care to hop over the electric fence that keeps the bears from the corn!)
Todd and I have been known to carry sap buckets, and Todd helps Steve pass the time in the sugar house, but when people blithely ask me if I “help out” on the farm, I must confess that while Todd and I are among the farm’s best customers, we don’t weed. Wimps. Thank goodness for Kirsten and Matt who are happy to work hard and get dirty, helping Steve keep the farm humming.
A work of art!
Where do these gorgeous tomatoes come from? Soil that has been curated as expertly as a collection of priceless Rembrandt paintings. Perfectly cooked compost added, rocks and weeds picked, water applied, then veggies picked at the peak of perfection. And never, ever even a hint of chemical fertilizers or weed killers. It’s a certified organic farm after all; chemicals would not only be an outrage but an insult! (When I know I’ll be walking through the gardens, I apply my DYI tick repellant with “essential oils.” Let’s just say it works… okay?)
Orzo (photo by Kelly!)
Do you remember “The Garden Song”? It starts, “Inch by inch, and row by row, gonna make this garden grow, all it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground…” I think Pete Seeger sang it first way back when, but I love the version John Denver sang to the Muppets. (Did I get you at “Muppets”? My ring tone on my original flip phone was “Rocky Mountain High.” How’s that for a confession?)
Anyway, it’s a sweet song, and it reminds me of my brother Peter, who with his wife (my friend and neighbor) Diane started the farm over 30 years ago, when Rachel was still in diapers. If you’d like to hear the song (John Denver is introduced by Kermit!), click here.
Diane is still very much involved in the operation, specializing in famers markets where she is a multi-tasking magician, chatting and making change simultaneously. She can also suggest a recipe idea for any vegetable. (Toss garlic scapes with oil and a bit of salt, then spread them out on a cookie sheet and roast them in a hot oven — crispy and delicious!) Below are photos from market and around the farm. Feast your eyes!
Steve harvesting flowers
One-bite wonders ~ sweet as candy
Almost ready ~ get the water boiling!
So that’s what fennel looks like!
Garlic mania ~ Vampires beware!
Peter’s garlic sizers (you can see his handwriting <3)
Market
Lovely pictures and story about farm life, Remember, “Life on the farm is kinda laid back.”..well not really this time of year. Thank you for the sweet words, memories and kudos to all our farmers. Loved John Denver singing “Inch by Inch”, written by Dave Mallet. xoxo
Loved John Denver on the Muppets! We read a book in our class based on the Inch by Inch song, and I wish my class could visit the Booty Family Farm! So sad that I missed the corn this year! Trying to just enjoy visually is not the same . . .