The Black Refrigerator - Goat's Milk and Cheese, Eggs and Apples . . .

. . .  that little black fridge in our French market is the place where we keep Crow's Dairy goat cheese like chevre' feta, quark, sour cream and gelato and of course qt size and 1/2 gallon size containers of their delicious goat's milk.  All the prices are listed on the outside of the fridge.

The Black Fridge full of Everything Goat. Did you know goat milk products are better for you than cow?
Goat is alkaline and cow is acidic. Acidic foods "feeds" your cancer. 

From time to time we also stock the fridge with extra eggs, caramel and bags of local grown apples.

Our farm eggs from happy hens. 

We do this because we know people need to pick up goat cheese, eggs and milk more than two days a week. It's important to us to be that place where you can come and buy local and buy fresh.

So, we have this HONOR System. 

7 days a week - from 7 am until 7 pm you can come to the farm 

through those vintage gates and can right into the market. 

You take what you want - and then in the Big Black Armoire you fill out a paper - 

put your name, what you purchased and the price.  

Then simply drop paper and cash (only) into the Drop Box inside that armoire and voila you're done. You help us and we help you. It's about trust, honor and building community.

Often - we'll harvest extra produce like eggplant or cucumbers or melons and we'll put them on the table in the market, make a sign for the price per pound or each and make those available for purchase as well.

The best cinnamon raisin bread ever!

For those who order Grano de Vida breads by Monday mornings - you'll pick up your breads at the market on Fridays between noon and 5 pm. 

You're also use the same HONOR System drop box to pay for the bread you ordered.

We like how it is working and are thankful for your support of our little suburban farm.

Food For Thought

Recently we were introduced to a great website that supports local, organic and real food. It's a web site that is challenging consumers of food (fake) to stop and think about what they are buying, where it comes from and how much it cost to get there. As simple farmers in the neighborhood, we appreciate people like this who are bent on informing consumers like you and me.

Organic Consumers has started a campaign called Break The Chains.  There purpose is to "focus the consumers' attention on how each purchasing decision can lead to a safer, greener, and more equitable society by breaking the chains of corporate control in their own lives."  OC believes this is done by supporting organic (all our practices at The Simple Farm are organic), Fair Made, and locally produced products and business.

OC answers the question - Why Buy Local or Regional?  
"Today, much of our food, conventional and organic alike is traveling literally thousands of miles from farm to fork. (Did you know that at some farmers' markets - even here in the Phoenix valley - it's been reported that some of those vendors actually bring in food from Mexico, California and other states and sell it as local?  Read here.)  Along the way, food loses its nutritional value, burns fossil fuels, and contributes to global warming. Local foods provide exceptional taste and freshness, strengthen our local economy, and support endangered family farms (like ours at The Simple Farm).

If you'd like to know more about how you can break the chain and take the pledge - go here.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT 

Before You Pull out Your Wallet

• Who profits from this sale? (you the consumer, because of the relationship we have with you and you with us, you save gas $ and time and because you actually see the food while often still in the ground and also us, the farmers - because when you support us and buy from us - it says you believe in us. It's also the way we are choosing to become self-sustaining.)
• Are you buying this product from a national chain, or buying locally from an independent business, coop, or family farm? (Hopefully you would answer from the farm in your neighborhood - The Simple Farm.)
• Where was this item grown or made? (on our farm and in our farm kitchen)
• How far did it travel? (not too far - we're the farm in your neighborhood)
• Were farmers' or workers' rights protected? (so far, yes)
• Did the producer receive a living wage? (not yet)
• Is it certified organic or Fair Trade? (not certified - that costs tons of $$$ - but total organic practices)
• Is the company making or selling this item socially responsible? (absolutely)
• Is this product genuinely ecological & healthy? (absolutely!)
• What would be an organic, local, and Fair Trade or Fair Made alternative? (Supporting and buying from The Simple Farm.)

Thursday Market

Well, at least almost every Thursday we get up early to harvest the freshest vegetables and gather fresh farm eggs just to fill our market baskets so you can take home the best organic produce for your family table.

We are open Thursdays from 9 until noon and then again at 4 pm until 6 pm.

Getting Ready for Tuesday's Market Day at Our Farm

Mondays are always busy {what day isn't} as we get ready to get ready for Tuesday's Farmers' Market at our farm.

In the early morning we'll begin to harvest:

beautiful chard: gold, bright lights and green

kale:

radishes: an assortment

spinach

bunching onions

beets: an assortment

gourmet lettuces - 

they should taste sweeter now that they've had time to grow out from the freeze

arugula

some mustard greens

AND EGGS!

Hope to see you on Tuesday!

Kickn' It In

Today was a FULL day for Michael and I. We worked from early morning until about 6:45 and it's an understatement to say 'we're tired'....but feel good about our tired.

There's something right about good, honest, hard work knowing that in about 40-50-60 days we'll see the fruit of our labor.

I planted about 30 or so Black Beauty eggplant that have been growing in our green house. Michael worked on the irrigation for those eggplant as well as two new raised beds - which hopefully I'll get to plant bell peppers in tomorrow.

We both pulled a ton of weeds today out on the 'field'...that's what we call the area south of the vintage fence. I might add, that if ever you feel like helping out - weeds are always something we appreciate a hand with. It's never ending with those stinkers and as you can see we've lost the battle with the mallow on the east side of the property....but...not the WAR!  We had some help today pulling some and last week a few young men helped out too. That whole area has to get cleared out for melons and squash and things like that.

I also seeded some more beets, transplanted some kale and little lettuces to an area that might make them stay 'happy' a bit longer. Michael added some fill and dirt to a new area - just outside the fence on the east side of our drive. It seemed to be crying out for a ton of flowers and the desert spring mix of color that I had in my seed stash seemed to join in. For fun I tossed in some lemon balm, arugula and borage. Not sure why that crazy combo, but it'll be fun to see what comes up.

Tomorrow will be another very busy day: okra, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, egg plants are all on the list - we'll see what we get accomplished.

Now, all this to say - Michael and I really really really appreciate the support and encouragement we feel from the community that surrounds our farm. It means a ton to us!

Market at The Farm This Week . .

. . . is closed until NEXT Tuesday, January 4th bright and early at 9:30 am.  You can be sure that we'll have wonderful produce  and beautiful herbs.  If you've yet to have a little tour around our farm, just ask and we're delighted to tell you our story.

In the meantime, Michael and I are enjoying time with family in Portland, Oregon.  

Our Farm Market - Before And After Pictures

I'd wanted to have it a bit more together in posting the before pictures of our market prior to actually opening our market here at the farm - but as life has it - my 'together-ness' just wasn't together.

Oh, well.

But, if you're like me - I LOVE those before and after pictures of rooms, gardens, etc. So, I thought I'd just post all the pictures - not in any kind of sequence - so you could see what we'd been up to the weeks prior to opening the market last Tuesday.

French press makes work more fun.

I'd forgotten to get the French blue paint for the trim on our market door. Michael was at Home Depot and so sweetly picked out a color: Country French Blue by Sherwin Williams.  To be honest, it wasn't exactly what I had in mind, and wasn't still quite sure as it was being applied - but now? I love it. It's perfect.

I was playing around with the idea of that French country canvas as an addition to the market, but just wasn't working for me.

I gathered all our market display 'stuff' and enjoyed watching Anita 'play'.  She's very good at display.

She'd set it up, take it down and then line it out on the market patio to look at it all. Kinda felt like going to a vintage sale or something. . . with my own stuff.

This signage is some of my favorite.  I'd dropped a load of things off to the Goodwill and felt compelled to take a peek in the dumpster. My eye caught three of these door and all I could think about was "chalk board paint."  The guy inside the Goodwill was incredibly kind to snatch all three doors for me.  I'm on the hunt for more doors - a large door with 4 or 6 panels would be nice. Got an idea of two up my sleeve.

This vintage chandelier was something we wanted to work into our market display, but like that canvas print - just wasn't working for me . . . maybe later.

Mirrors have a wonderful way of adding depth to rooms. My darling husband put it up...and then we had him take it down. . . because . . .

. . . I could just picture this vintage headboard and footboard as great signage for the market.

A little Benjamin Moore Linen White paint and more chalk board paint....

The after is here.  And in another upcoming blog post, I've more pictures from our first market day.  More fun vintage is {here}.