Caroling to Support Locally Grown Food

Spread holiday cheer while also spreading the word about locally grown foods! During this holiday season,  let's take a moment to think about where our food comes from and reflect on why it's important to buy locally grown, sustainably produced goods - through song!

TIS THE SEASON FOR THE FEASTIN'
Lyrics by Bob Waldrop (edited for Connecticut)
Tune: Deck the halls with boughs of holly

(1) Tis the season for the feastin',
Connecticut Grown Foods are good to eat!
Taste nutrition can't be beaten,
Connecticut Grown Foods are good to eat!
Nurturing the land and people,
Farm and city joining hands.
Tis the season for the feastin',
Connecticut Grown Foods are good to eat!

(2) Care for people and creation,
Connecticut Grown Foods are good to eat!
Hope throughout the bio-region,
Connecticut Grown Foods are good to eat!
From our farms onto our tables,
we will bless the way we eat!
Care for people and creation,
Connecticut Grown Foods are good to eat!

(3) Healing nature with earth's beauty,
Connecticut Grown Foods are good to eat!
Wisdom, joy fulfilling duty,
Connecticut Grown Foods are good to eat!
Eating with the changing seasons,
Chasing the CAFOs from our land!
Healing nature with earth's beauty,
Connecticut Grown Foods are good to eat!

(4) Social justice, sustainability,
Connecticut Grown Foods are good to eat!
Economic viability,
Connecticut Grown Foods are good to eat!
These our values, govern always,
They will take us forward far!
Three in number the core values,
Connecticut Grown Foods are good to eat!

Happy Holidays!
-Melissa

Our CSA Fair was this Weekend!

This past Sunday was our CSA Fair held in conjunction with the Willimantic Food Coop's Downtown Country Fair.  The Country Fair was really fun, despite some rain (okay, quite a bit of rain) and CT NOFA was at the fair handing out information about CSAs.  We were also joined by our new fall intern, Julia Russi!  Even if you missed the fair, you can read on to meet some of the farmers and get to know their CSAs!

 

Brown Paper Bag Harry's is located in North Franklin but has pick-up locations in Franklin and in Newington. The CSA lasts from July to October. They provide members with a large variety of vegetables, fruit like melon, cantaloupe and blueberries.  If you're interested in joining, contact brownpaperbagharrys@gmail.com.  

 

Raspberry Knoll Farm  is in North Windham, CT and has a CSA season from Mid-June to Late September and provides members with a variety of vegetables, cut flowers and a variety of blueberries and raspberries.  You can visit raspberryknoll.com for more information!

Shundahai Farm is in Storrs and provides shares from Early May until the End of October.  Shundahai Farm also grows an amazing variety of vegetables, and provides members with fruit like watermelon, strawberries and raspberries.  They also employ no-spray agriculture, which doesn't allow for any pesticide use (organic allows a very restricted list of pesticides and fertilizers to be used) For more information about Shundahai Farm, visit their website shundahaifarm.com.

The last farm is Down to Earth CSA in Stafford which has a summer season from June to November and grows a variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers for CSA members.  For more information visit getdowntoearth.org

If you were able to make it, thanks for coming! If you missed it, or you live in a different area of Connecticut, don't worry, we will have more in 2013.  All of our fairs are funded by the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program of the Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA and administered by the Connecticut Department of Agriculture.  Farmers who are interested in participating in one of our regional 2013 CSA fairs should e-mail Kristiane Huber at kristiane@ctnofa.org.

Happy Harvest Everyone!

Kristiane

Tomorrow is the first day of fall!

Fall is upon us in Connecticut - which is one of the greatest times to visit and support Connecticut's farms!  Connecticut's farmers market season continues through the fall, into October, and sometimes November (and at some markets - all winter, check if there's a year round market near you!)  Look at all the crops available in September and October in Connecticut!

Many farms and towns in the state are also celebrating the fall harvest season, check out our (incomplete) list of upcoming agricultural events:

September 21-23 & October 6
51st Chrysanthemum Festival
Bristol

September 21-23
Guilford Fair

Guilford

September 23 12:00pm - 4:00pm 

The Nutmegger Cheese and Wine Festival
Hosted by Jones Family Farms in Shelton
Proceeds support the Working Lands Alliance

September 27-30

93rd Durham Fair
Durham

September 28 - October 7 (2 weekends)
Apple Harvest Festival

Southington

October 5-7
Berlin Fair

Berlin

October 7
Downtown Country Fair
Windham
*Attend the Downtown Country Fair to learn about opportunities to join Community Supported Agriculture at Connecticut NOFA's CSA Fair!

October 12-14
The Portland Fair
Portland

October 13

Photo Credit: Hartford Courant

Fourth Annual Family Fun Day at Massaro Farm

Woodbridge

October 13
Sullivan Farm Fall Festival
Sullivan Farm
New Milford

October 28
Phillips Farm Fun Day
Southbury

Check out ctvisit.com for a list of fall fairs which celebrate Connecticut agriculture, foods, and crafts!
Visit the Department of Agriculture's agritourism page to find fall activities at a farm near you including PYO apples and pumpking. For corn mazes, you can look at this list of Connecticut's corn mazes (also not an exhaustive list).

You can also search for all of this on BuyCTGrown.com. This search site will also give you a thorough list of farms with the produce you need for this fall's apple crisp, pumpkin pie, and jack-o-lanterns!  Just type in your zipcode and which product you're looking for (you can even search for 'corn mazes') and narrow down the results by choosing specific kinds of farms and markets!

Happy Autumn Everyone!
Kristiane