Summer Is In Full Bloom

... and so Oasis Community Farm is flush with vegetables but this begs the question; what is our production capacity year round? My estimate is 40 families getting weekly boxes of vegetables 40 weeks of the year.  Just having ended our farmers market and learning a great many lessons, we currently could serve 25 but are starting our “Garden Share” with 12 households by putting some beds into cover crops and slowing production. Our primary focus is on building healthy soil. We can do this with cabbage, carrots and compost or with plow-down cover crops of beans peas buckwheat and oats. Our quarter acre of permanent no-till vegetable beds will remain healthy and vibrant no matter what vegetables are harvested for members. New vegetable crops can be planted and harvested in as little as 25 days, but some 60-90, so strong commitment by families over seasons will help us plan and eliminate waste.

Philosophy and Practice

Modern food production is extractive and unsustainable even as a CSA or organic production model.  What then is our philosophy and practice?  We practice constant rotation instead of applications to control pests and we harvest selectively to fill boxes but waste nothing as we feed animals, compost piles and the stockpot with surplus. We have a long-range plan for the farm based in permaculture principles. We wish to establish tall hedgerows around the property to provide habitat for beneficial insects and birds and protect against the wind.

We will plant evergreen trees and shrubs on the grounds and construct permeable watercourses, ponds and wetlands; a sort of oasis on the edge of the city.   This permaculture plan is counterintuitive to the market CSA model which succeeds when it produces more, yet we plan over time to produce less vegetables, more shade; less peppers, tomatoes and  fruit, more serenity . Over time our family carrying capacity will actually decrease and yet the qualitative experience of the farm will increase as elements such as tree canopies, under story ground covers and watercourses naturalize. 

In as far as a CSA is a business model we are not proposing to be one.  Perhaps what we are really doing is just simpler and closer to home -- community members that agree to support a garden at Oasis, enjoy in exchange a "Garden Share" maintained and cultivated by a single farmer or a group with some help from our friends. Included in you share is the beauty and serenity of the place itself. You can watch Oasis grow as we plant more trees, build the meeting hall, have our first house concert and yoga retreat.  After all life is not all about food, even as it is often at the center

A miracle of old-time varieties

This Red mangle beet is shown in its prime for eating although it will continue to grow to nearly 20 pounds apiece. These were grown in Europe as a fodder crop but have been recently discovered by European chefs as a gourmet food delight see our latest recipe on our cookbook blog.  http://smokenhotcookbook.blogspot.com/

Bumper crop of fava beans with no place to go

This is a wonderfully nutritious vegetable that with a little work will have them calling you a gourmet cook.  See 3 recipes on our blog, Smoke'n Hot CSA Cookbook http://smokenhotcookbook.blogspot.com/
So come on out and you pic to your heart's content

Cob workshop cancelled

It's rained and blew hard yesterday causing us to cancel today's cob workshop. The Sun poked through today but because of our earlier cancellation we won't have enough people to do the workshop anyway. Sorry for the late news. -- Sent from Fast notepad

Time again for the orchard

Every year at this time we go through the orchard clear big areas around the trees fertilize and mulch and then prune.  We started this project today and got a long ways towards completion working with our new friend Zeb from green goose farm .  -- Sent from Fast notepad

also on the agenda this time of year is starting plants much of this work was started over a month ago and we now have over 40 flats many of which will be ready to set out in March

Cob bench workshop

12:30 pm -- Saturday February 7 at Oasis

Project work includes stacking urbanite and a traditional method for mixing cob by hand, forming Cobs to be passed along the line and placed on the bench.    Brief talk on rocket stove design

Pictured below, dry run on rocket stove base and the location below the gardens for the cob bench (retained heat battery.) Attached to the rocket stove bench will be a 100 square foot wood deck and gazebo that can serve as a pleasant meditative retreat in the spring , summer and fall . It transforms into  a tent cabin in the winter that will allow Farm stays in the rough year round. Camping is available in this area all summer, when the area is shrouded by lovely fruit trees . Amenities include running water and a primitive compost toilet seen in the back ground.

Experimental garlic culture

Elizabeth and I cleared  favas out of the kale row leaving the root mass. Next theGarlic and favas.  These were direct seeded at the same ttime, allowing the fava to shade and protect and enrich the soil while the young garlics strengthened got a little bigger and winter over. Now with early spring sunshine the garlic wants to grow so we have removed the tops leaving the root mass which is full of nitrogen fixing nodules.  The stalks will sprout from the cut stems to continue to protect the soil and shade out weeds.  Garlic hate competition, so by cutting back they get more sun and a less aggressive companion.  this method conserves water and although the garlics may develop a wee bit slower the soil will be happier.  a side dressing of compost may be applied later in the spring -- Sent from Fast notepad

How Does Oasis Garden Share Work

Current Menu     What We Grow

Start now by using the email widget to the right!

1. Your first visit will be a walk and talk and pick around the farm. So it's personalized; you may be two people per household or six and you don't need the same "Box". From this first visit we will make a profile from which to fill future boxes with similar although not identical produce. This baseline will be amended by your future choices if you let us know by filling out the cards that are packed in the boxes eat week.
2. You may make a trade of an item among 8 or 9 available items we harvest for this purpose and make available at pick up times. You can also permanently nix an item or category from your profile at the same time.
3. We will spice your box from time to time with new things that you have never tried, often including a recipe. This will mean that it's now on your profile list unless you nix it, but we hope you can be adventurous and give another vegetable a chance.
4. For add ons and special occasions just catch our attention as we can often our you could pick it on the spot
5. If requested, we will include fruit in season at a maximum rate of 30 percent of the value of a weekly box. A $20 box therefore would have 3 pounds of fruit
6. Classic back east CSA's memberships we're prepaid for an entire year and with good reason. However we find it difficult to establish terms and propose we remain weekly, pays you go with a weekly commitment to a box and we have a meeting around pizza in november to decide together how to structure next year
7. We would like to establish two group pick up days per week Wednesdays and Saturdays at 9 am.
8. When plans change please let us know via email and we will do the same. Telephone calls and messages in voicemail often get lost or seen too late

Now let's get started -- we guarantee you will enjoy you visit to the farm

Currently Available

This is a list we will update weekly

Arugula
Basil, Genovese
Beet, Golden
Broccoli,  Amadeus
Butternut Squash, Waltham
Cabbage, Deadon, Savoy
Cabbage, Farao
Cabbage, Red Express
Carrot, Nelson
Cilantro, Slow Bolt
Collard, Vates
Dill
Eggplant, Nadia
Greens, Ovation Mixed
Peppers, Purple Jalapeno
Kohlrabi, Winner
Leek, King Richard
Lettuce, Two Star
Marigolds
Onion, Alise Craig Exhibition
Onion, Candy
Onion, Red
Onion, Red Torpedo
Plum, French Improved, prune
Plum, Satsuma
Pumpin, New England Pie
Spice, Mint
Spice, Oregano
Spice, Rosmary
Swiss Chard, Rhubarb
Tatsoi
Tomato, Amish Paste, Roma
Tomato, Paul Robeson

Zuchinni, Black Beauty


Coming Soon

Peach
Apple
Quince
Baby Lettuce