Tomatoes and late blight

We’ve had many inquiries from customers – both in emails and in person – about the late blight and it’s affect on tomatoes.

The Boston Globe ran a story today (click here) about the effects the blight is having locally. The Lincoln Journal also posted a story about the blight decimating crops at The Food Project.

Mr. Verrill is going to answer some of the questions we’ve fielded lately, and we’ll post some answers here on our blog over the weekend on Monday evening (sorry, got tied up with some things over the weekend).

About late blight

Unfortunately, our area has been hard hit with late blight, a very destructive and infectious disease that kills tomato and potato plants. This is the same disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840’s.

While we have noticed blight on some of our tomato plants, we have been spraying with fungicide and that seems to be slowing the spread of the disease.

There are commercial fungicides available from farm supply stores and Amazon.com (Daconil is one).

Click on the links below for more information on the late blight.

The UMass Extension Late Blight Alert contains lots of information concerning the late blight, and is probably the best resource at this point.

Lots of photos here from Cornell University.

FAQ concerning late blight from Cornell.

Our phones are out

The downpours today have affected our phone lines to our farm stand. Verizon is on the scene and working to correct the problem.

We’re open until 7 p.m. as normal.

Today’s fresh fish

Today’s fresh fish includes:

• Teriyaki Asian Salmon
• Baked Salmon with Scallops and Roasted Red Peppers
• Baked Stuffed Scrod with Ricotta and Basil and Verrill Farm Tomato Sauce

Pick your own flowers

Jess made a beautiful 'pick-your-own' sign for our flower garden.

While Verrill Farm is an awesome place to get the freshest produce and mouth watering food, we’ve also got a beautiful selection of flowers for sale, and have an amazing pick-your-own flower garden as well.

Lauren exhibits perfect zinnia picking posture.

At 25 cents a stem, you can’t go wrong. Come on down to our farm stand with a pail, a little water and a pair of scissors (or we could provide you with a pair for picking) and check in at our temporary stand, and we’ll direct you to the garden.

Watch the slide show below to see a selection of what you’ll find growing in our pick-your-own garden!

Get your BBQ fix fixed

Head over to our farm stand this afternoon and enjoy some HOT Verrill Farm BBQ to go!

Available every Thursday, from 4 to 6 p.m., our pulled pork dinners are sure to satisfy every BBQ lover – and they are packed hot and ready to take home and enjoy!

Each delicious meal consists of a Verrill Farm pulled pork sandwich, served with baked beans and cole slaw – all for $8.50.

Tomatoes are in the house!

Our cherry tomatoes, boxed and ready to take home and enjoy.

The moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived . . . sort of.

We’ve begun harvesting our own Verrill Farm tomatoes, and have limited varieties and quantities available at our stand.

Mother Nature sure has not been cooperating this summer, and our tomatoes have felt the brunt of her lack of cooperation.

With some sun and heat, we should have more tomatoes soon. Keep your fingers crossed!

We’ve got a nice selection of cherry tomatoes and some heirloom variety as well, available for sale under our awning in front of our temporary stand.

We’ve got the blues . . .

. . . . and you can have them too!

Come on down and get some local blueberries. They are truly delicious AND are good for you too!

Some blueberry tips include:

• Don’t wash berries until just before using to prevent berries from becoming mushy.
• Chill berries soon after picking to increase shelf life.  If  refrigerated, fresh-picked blueberries will keep 10 to 14 days.
• Freeze berries in freezer containers without washing to keep the skins from toughening.  Place berries one layer deep. Freeze, then pour the frozen berries into freezer containers. Because unwashed blueberries freeze individually, they can be easily poured from containers in desired amounts. Remember both frozen and fresh berries should be rinsed and drained just before serving. Just before using, wash the berries in cold water.
• Blueberries are ranked No. 1 in antioxidant activity compared with 40 other commercially available fruits and vegetables. That means a serving of blueberries has more of the antioxidant power you need to fight aging, cancer and heart disease.
• Nutrition and miscellaneous facts: 1 cup  (143 grams) of blueberries is 84 calories (technically, kcal).  Blueberries contain no cholesterol or fat and are also low in calories. Blueberries are high in dietary fiber, Vitamin A and niacin. They contain iron and other trace minerals and are a fair source of Vitamin C.  Blueberries have a diverse range of micronutrients, with notably high levels (relative to respective Dietary Reference Intakes) of the essential dietary mineral manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin K and dietary fiber (table below). One serving provides a relatively low glycemic load score of 4 out of 100 per day.

Pulled pork Sunday

Come on down and enjoy a pulled pork BBQ sandwich today (Sunday) , while it lasts.

We’re serving out in front of our stand.

Scones go great with iced coffee or tea

Claire delivers scones from our kitchen to the farm stand.

Come on down to our farm stand and enjoy our baked-from-scratch scones with a refreshing iced coffee or iced tea.

Great way to start any day!

Garden fresh ingredients

Sarah, of our kitchen team, picks chives from our field.

Proof that our kitchen crew uses the freshest available ingredients in our prepared entrees.