Tomatoes, squash, broccoli, eggplant! 

Striking a Pose at the Durham Fair

Despite a fuss over the smell the ruminant barn was a picturesque background for these crazy animals to check out goats, sheep and llamas! And while I could have spent all day watching the beasts of burden pull 1000's of pounds of bricks, The crew spent the most time in the crafts barn and seemed thouroughly impressed by the paintings , dioramas, and knitting of their peers!

Blue Ribbon Bunny

The challenge was to leave the fair with a favorite farm animal..in your head, not under your arm. Almost unanimously was the bunny!

A successful close to our first market season

This past Saturday was our final day of the market. It was beautiful weather, not a rainy day all season. We want to thank all the supports and shoppers who made our market a success. Through 15 markets we saw an average of of 200 shoppers each week buying the freshest tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, greens, garlic, onions, and berries, from farmers all growing within 30 miles of Hartford. At the GROW booth we had the last of our tomatoes for sale including green tomatoes...Here is what to do with them: -Heat to a boil a brine of about 1 cup water to 1/2 cup white vineger and 2 tbs salt (have enough brine to cover tomatoes) -Place tomatoes (about 2 cups worth) in glass jars or corning weara bowl w/lid -Add a few cloves of garlic, chunks of onion, and a a hot pepper, if you like -Add a tsp of dill seed (opitional) -Pour hot brine over tomatoes and other seasoniongs, cover and put in the frinde for a least a week for pickles to sour....Enjoy See you all at the market next season!

The Seed Season

This year we planted over 75 sunflowers in the garden. Aside from feeding the bees and birds we will dry and clean the seeds, eating some and saving some to plant next year.

sunflowers 

Dont let the sweet smile fool ya!

And now Clifford.... The thing that I liked the most about the summer was our first farmers market. I liked it the most because I saw a whole lot of people coming to buy things from our stand and I liked that people were buying things from us. My biggest challenges this summer were trying to be a better friend to the other workers at the program and trying to keep my mouth closed while some one other than me was talking. One of the three things that I learned this summer was how to plant sunflowers where they would grow. The second thing that I learned was how to harvest tomatoes from our garden that are ready. The third thing that I learned this summer is how to be a better friend to the other workers at the program. The funniest thing that happened this summer was Shannon Raider, our boss, trying to cut the grass. She could not turn on the weed whacker.