Herbs

We grow a wide variety of herbs at One Love Farm. We use basil and parsley in our lettuce mix. Rosemary and oregeno are used in our focaccia. Dill, chives and other herbs are used in our seasoning mix. Mint makes a wonderful iced tea. We also use a ton of herbs to make our chili powder every fall. In addition to lots of hot peppers, we use oregeno, parsley, thyme and other herbs in the chili powder mix. You would be amazed at the volume of herbs required to make a tiny jar of chili powder.

In the past, I would fit herbs in anywhere I could. A patch on a hill here, a bunch next to the steps there. I would even mix them in with the lettuce and other veggies where I had room. This year I decided to expand the herbs and give them their own garden. So, I put down a few yards of good soil, added in my organic fertilizer and planted several dozen parsley, sage, thyme, mint and rosemary plants. I added in a bunch of basil for good measure. So far the herbs have done great. In fact, I found a rabbit enjoying some parsley this afternoon.

There is an old saying that herbs thrive on neglect. I think that meams they don't like to be fertilized too much or watered too much. I know that a lot of herbs like to dry out between waterings. No such luck this June as we had rain 24 out of 30 days. However, with the very dry months coming up, I am sure I will be watering the herb garden quite a bit this July and August.

Grape Vines

New Grape Vines

For years we have had a small vineyard at One Love Farm. The grapes were red and white varietals that could stand the winters in Rhode Island. However, a couple of harsh winters killed a third of the vines. Some vines produced a decent harvest, other vines, almost no grapes at all. I tried to make wine from the grapes, but the quality was never good enough for anything more than cooking. For the last few years, I have made jelly out of the grapes.

This spring I ripped out all the vines. I saved four vines and will use them to wind up an arbor I am planning to build this summer or fall

However, I wasn't prepared to give up on growing grapes. Last year I bought some vines with the intention of using them to replace the vines that were killed over the last couple of winters. I put them in pots until I could get them in the ground. Shortly after that I decided I would be ripping out the vines, so they sat in pots until today. I picked what I hope will be a better spot for the vines where they will get more morning sun and may be protected from some of the harsh winter winds that I think contributed to the demise of some of the vines in the old location. These new vines are table grapes. They are for eating and making jelly. We haven't given up on making our own wine. But now we buy the grapes from the professionals in California.

Lettuce

This has been a cool and wet spring at One Love Farm. Seeds have been slow to germinate and seedlings slower to grow. However, cool season crops like this weather. Lettuce is a cool season crop that is doing very well.

We grow several different type of greens at One Love Farm. Romaine and Green Leaf lettuces are fairly well known to most people. Lots of people also know about the peppery green Arugula. We grow all these. But, we also use some lesser known varieties in our lettuce mixes. They include a variety called Nevada, which has a nutty flavor. We also grow a cress called Upland that is several times stronger than the peppery Arugula. We also take basil thinnings and beet greens to add flavor to our mixes. Every week we have a slightly different lettuce mix depending on what is growing that particular day.

Radishes

Radishes are in season at One Love Farm. I was never a big fan of radishes, but Karen got me to like them just like she got me to like Brussel Sprouts and Beets and how I got her to like Mushrooms.

Radishes are an early spring crop that like cool weather. Luckily, this spring has been very cool in Rhode Island. Most people are only familiar with the round red radishes you get at the grocery store. When picked and eaten fresh, they are tasty. We grow and sell them at One Love Farm (see picture above). But, like many vegetables, there are lots of varieties of radishes. You may have seen the white Daikon Radish. It is long and kind of looks like a carrot. At One Love Farm, we are partial to the French Radish. Especially a variety called D'Avignon. It has a slighly milder radish flavor (see picture above) and has a nice red and white color and tapered shape.

Last year, our friends made a dish or roasted veggies. It had all the usual yummy indgredients like potatoes, peppers, carrots and garlic. But we were shocked to learn that they roasted radishes as well! I was skeptical, but trying them, I found that the radishes had taken on an entirely different flavor that was mild and sweet.

We will have both round radishes and french radishes for the next few weeks at the Richmond Farmers' Market, so stop by and get some for your salad or be adventurous and roast some!

Opening Day

Saturday was the first market of the season at the Richmond Farmers' Market. The weather was perfect and turnout was tremendous.

Above is a picture of the Future Farmers' of America tent at the market. The kids at Exeter-West Greenwich High School have been growing plants all spring and they sold the fruits of their labor to many happy customers. You can see the One Love Farm tent right next to the FFA tent. Karen took a picture of the tent with the new One Love Farm banner, but for some reason I had a rotton look on my face, so I'm not posting it!

Since spring has been cool and wet in New England, not many crops are ready for sale. Cedar Edge Farm has lots of veggie and flower transplants, but One Love Farm won't have spring crops like lettuce for a couple of weeks. We do have a limited supply of chili powder and cayenne pepper along with birdhouses I made from gourds we grew last year. The market is also selling Narragansett Creamery
cheeses. This week we sold out of all our cheese, so be sure to get to the market early to get yours! Next week Chariho's signing group Encore will be performing at the market. See you there.

Above is a picture of Cedar Edge Farm selling veggie, herb and flower transplants.

Hyacinth

There are several different varieties of hyacinth. The most common are Grape Hyacinth and the kind pictured above, Hyacinthus orientalis. Hyacinth comes from a bulb and is poisonous. It needs a cold winter to bloom every year which is why it does well in Rhode Island. We planted our hyacinth bulbs near the front door since they have a wonderfully strong perfume aroma.

Magnolia

A couple of years ago Karen bought me a small Star Magnolia tree. We planted it in the front year and it has been doing well. It is still small, but this year was the first year it had a full bloom. Magnolia, I've sometimes heard it called Tulip Tree, blooms in the spring in Rhode Island. This picture really doesn't show off how nice the tree looks, but in a few years this specimen should be a real show stopper every spring.