Buy Local's Blog - iMatthews.com

Fingerling Potatoes

We hope to have a good selection of fingerlings Saturday if we can get them out of the ground. After moving the laying hens Wednesday morning, we went to dig potatoes. I ran the cultivating tractor with the potato plow attached down a row ( our rows are 440' long) of Rose Finn Apple fingerling potatoes. The yield was disappointing compared to the Bintje potatoes we have been digging, only a few 5 gal. buckets off the entire row. But then Jenifer boiled some for supper... They were awesome! We… Continue

Added by Buy Local on August 13, 2009 at 9:29am — No Comments

Trying to simply replace a 4 inch fuel line...

June 25 2009 Limited eggs, no more lettuce, garlic, and Zephyr squash. I will be at Charlotte and Jenifer will be at Matthews. We are also at the Tailgate Market every Tuesday along with other local growers, local food purveyors, and artists and craftspeople. Hoeing Okra Erin and Joe showed up Wednesday. The first thing we did was stick three different types of of hoes in the vise and use the electric hand-held grinder to to sharpen them. In the ideal world, we would of sat… Continue

Added by Buy Local on June 26, 2009 at 9:23am — No Comments

Lightening Bugs (Yankees Call them Fireflies)

June 18, 2009 I will be at Charlotte and Jenifer will not be at Matthews. Ellie got selected to play on her softball league's all-star team from this area and the games begin Friday, hosted in Anson county, and go on Fri., Sat., Sun., and Mon. We are very proud of Ellie but my opinion of youth ball is checked with a frequently bitten tongue. It is madness. Growing up playing Little League, there were few if any parents at the games, just boys playing baseball and having fun. Yeah, we wa… Continue

Added by Buy Local on June 19, 2009 at 12:39pm — No Comments

10% Off All To-go Orders at Santé!

Order something delicious for lunch today and bring it back to the office with you! Santé is having a special on their to-go orders - 10% off! 165 North Trade Street Matthews, NC 28105 (704) 845-1899 Lunch Hours: Tuesday - Friday - 11:00 am - 2:00 pm Dinner Hours: Tuesday - Saturday - 5:00 pm on imatthews profile Website Continue

Added by Buy Local on June 17, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

A day in the life of two 21st Century Agarians

Monday, June 8th, 2009 Monday morning, the first thing I did was spray the few transplants in the greenhouse with pyganic We get these small moths about this time every year that reek havoc on transplants, mostly brassicas. I failed to mention this to Jenifer and she came behind me and watered the greenhouse washing off stuff I had just applied. Totally my fault, I just grunt most days until noon except on Saturdays when I have to talk. Then we went to spot spray the the potatoes with S… Continue

Added by Buy Local on June 11, 2009 at 7:49am — No Comments

Garden Magic

The year is 1973 and I am two and a half years old. It is an early summer day in upstate New York and the world is a big place. It was just me, my Mommy and my Daddy and we rented a room in a two story big white house that had a wrap around porch and a big garden. Upstairs there lived an old old man who would give me windmill cookies and let me listen to his pocket watch tick-tock. Downstairs, the wife/owner of the big house would be in an apron cooking while the husband, whom I remember being n… Continue

Added by Buy Local on June 1, 2009 at 5:49am — No Comments

The Local Food "Fad"

Yea, I know, makes you mad just reading it right? A friend of mine recently relayed to me that someone well known to him had declared the local food movement a fad, and as such, dead. True, this person was speaking about restaurants, I don't know his opinion in terms of families & farmer's markets & CSA's, honestly, I'm not sure I wanna know.............Food, like clothing, is influenced by changing fashion - driven by the availability, popularity, creation & interpretation of fabric… Continue

Added by Buy Local on May 29, 2009 at 2:25pm — 1 Comment

Black Snakes Are Back

Wednesday, we were setting the last Better Boy tomatoes and some hot pepper plants out. Joe and Jenny were mulching them with wheat straw. I was at the end of the garden patch we were working on and turned around and a huge black snake was cruising by heading towards the barn. Joe and Jenny got to hear me yelp like a girly man. After the initial shock, I grabbed it by the tail and held it up to gauge it's length, close to 5 feet.

… Continue

Added by Buy Local on May 22, 2009 at 7:28am — No Comments

In Defense of the Farm

“Mommy, I have a surprise for you!” I look to see what Gregori, my unpredictable – not so well behaved - three year old has hidden for me behind his back. He is looking at me with anticipation. He wants to get my full response. With flourish out from behind his back he will present in open child's hand a rock or a clover flower or a worm or a rolley polley bug. “OH HOW WONDERFUL!” I’ll throw my hands up and exclaim and put the moments treasure is into appropriate storage – usually my front shirt… Continue

Added by Buy Local on May 16, 2009 at 4:17am — 1 Comment

Lettuce Be Proud

A couple of months ago I was sitting at my stand when Mindy, the Lettuce Lady, came up to me and said, “I am so proud of myself!” She is not a boastful person so I bent in closer to hear what she was so happy about. “I gave a talk to a bunch of teachers and told them how to have fun with lettuce!” I grinned. Fun with lettuce sounded like a good blog title. “I told them how eating local had more nutrition than eating aged organic from another country and how having creative fun with their vege

… Continue

Added by Buy Local on May 9, 2009 at 6:26am — No Comments

Ideas for Mother's Day

Looking for some great Mother's Day gift ideas? We've got a few suggestions to inspire you from the Matthews Community Farmer's Market: * If mom has a green thumb, you'll have an especially large selection of plants to choose from since it is Plant & Gardening Day at the market. * Want something decadent? The Secret Chocolatier's chocolate truffles, Bosky Acres Farm goat cheese truffles and HoneyByrd Sweets' toffees and barks fit the bill. * Our expert bakers will have a special selection o… Continue

Added by Buy Local on May 8, 2009 at 3:24pm — No Comments

Rotavator Flys Apart at The Laughing Owl Farm

by Dean Mullis Last Friday, Kevin and Jonathan showed up to work. They were pulling tomato cages and stakes out of last year's weedy tomato patch and placing them on a hay wagon. I was merrily working up a piece of ground to plant beans, squash, cucumbers, etc. into. Whom! Big noise, slip clutch is cooking and smoking, and I knocked the PTO out of gear as fast as I could. I drove the tractor and tiller up to the barn to examine the damage. The temporary welding job Joe had did on the tiller a… Continue

Added by Buy Local on May 7, 2009 at 6:45am — No Comments

'Farm Fresh' movement a growing food trend

RAPPAHANNOCK COUNTY, Virginia (CNN) -- Michelle Obama is not the only one looking to feed her family freshly picked produce. Just a few blocks away from Pennsylvania Avenue, nestled between the National Archives and the Portrait Gallery, a small farmers market offers city dwellers an abundance of locally grown produce, homemade pastries, jams and other handcrafted goods. Read full article on CNN... . Continue

Added by Buy Local on April 19, 2009 at 1:45pm — No Comments

Quadruple Booked [Fisher Farms]

Today we are quadruple booked. Dane will be at Matthews. He will have - Tops of Pea Shoots, Wild Onions, Snow Peas (not many), Purple Kale, Curly Kale, a few Collards, Many Herbs - freshly cut and of interest, Cooking Celery (very flavorful) and some green Garlic that came back from last year. Maria will be teaching Science Camp - Karyn Sweeney will be at the Yorkmont Stand in Charlotte until 9:30 am with - Tops of Pea Shoots, Wild Onions, Licorice-Mint, And other offerings that I packed and f… Continue

Added by Buy Local on April 18, 2009 at 6:00am — No Comments

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