CT NOFA Member Farms Spotted at the Coventry Farmers Market!

Sweet Acre Farm in Mansfield

Running June through October, the Coventry Farmers Market is the largest farmers market in the state of Connecticut, with dozens of vendors, many of whom are members of CT NOFA. Our Board Secretary, Janet Heller, went to visit the market recently and documented many of the CT NOFA member farms that were there to represent local organic farms and food.  Check out the farms' websites listed in the captions below their photos and pay them or the market a visit.  Shopping at a farmers market or visiting a local farm is a great way to spend some time outside on a nice summer's day while getting your grocery shopping done at the same time.  It's also a lot of fun for kids! 

Topmost Herb Farm in Coventry

Grow Hartford CSA

If you want to learn more about our other member farms and the farmers markets they attend, check out our listing online.  You can also download a PDF of our Farm and Food Guide, a listing by county of all our member farms, markets, and supporting businesses, complete with descriptions and maps, here.

Maggie's Farm in Lebanon

The Coventry Market specializes in organic, heirloom, ethnic and gourmet varieties of fruits and vegetables, and offers grass-fed beef, free-range eggs, milk, yogurt, smoked bacon, rustic breads, farmstead cheeses, European pastries, salsa, pesto, fresh herbs, cut flowers, chocolate, fudge, honey, and maple syrup, and also features the work of local artists and artisans including hemp clothing, goat’s milk soaps, beeswax candles, stoneware, herbal tinctures, handcrafted beadwork, vintage cotton tote bags, and handspun yarns.

Terra Firma Farm in Stonington

Provider Farm in Salem

What a wonderful way to support your local farmers and all the hard work they do to produce healthy, nutritious, and delicious food!

Happy Shopping!
-Melissa

Our New Guide to Organic Land Care is in!

This is a view of the lower level of our office building with our new shipment of 2012-2013 Guides to Organic Land Care.  Hopefully it won't get too cold for a while because it looks like we won't be using that stove for a few months.

As you know, last month we received a shipment for the first of our two printed Guides, the 2012-2013 Farm and Food Guide, which provides information by county of our member farms, farmers markets, csa programs, supporting businesses, community farms, and community gardens.  Yesterday, our second Guide developed by the NOFA Organic Land Care Program was completed and brought back to the office!  The 2012-2013 Guide to Organic Land Care provides course information, local pesticide info, and AOLCP listings by state and county, as well as a large number of feature articles and book excerpts about pest control, compost, rain gardens, and much more. The Guide is a great resource to help you find Accredited Organic Land Care Professionals in your area who can help you maintain your property without the use of harmful chemicals.  If you are an Accredited Professional, this is a great way to advertise yourself as part of a large and influential community of sustainable landscapers while also providing helpful tips to homeowners and groundskeepers on how to organically maintain their land.

You can order a copy of the Guide to Organic Land Care for just $2 to cover the cost of shipping, and if you visit us at one of our outreach events, you can pick up a copy for free!  To order larger quantities of the Guide for distribution, contact the CT NOFA office at 203-888-5146 or e-mail ctnofa@ctnofa.org.  A PDF of the Guide will also be available online shortly.  

Have a lovely Thursday,
Melissa

Look out for the NEW 2012-2013 Farm and Food Guide!

Guess what Melissa is so excited about!

Well, she's excited because she has spent countless hours creating the 2012-2013 Farm and Food Guide and it is finally finished, but she's also excited because we have 10,000 copies in the office!  Our guide has grown to 54 pages and lists Connecticut NOFA’s 125 member farms and supporting businesses alphabetically by county.  The Guide also includes listings of farmers markets, community farms and community supported agriculture offerings.

To be listed in the guide, farms must be certified organic or sign CT NOFA’s Farmer’s Pledge agreeing to specific sustainable and ethical farming practices with the general goal of improving the land’s environmental and agricultural quality.  We are happy to welcome twenty-one new farms to our membership for the 2012-2013 Guide! Our supporting businesses sell products of our member farms or offer services for them. 

The guide includes information about food storage, winter food crops, recipes, community farms and gardens, farming and cooking resources and county maps of farm locations!  CT NOFA will be distributing the guide at events where we are tabling, but the guide is available to our partner organizations and businesses around Connecticut for distribution. 

The Guide to Organic Land Care, a publication that lists the NOFA Organic Land Care Professionals and provides articles and tips about organic land care, will be available in a month.  This publication will also be free for distribution by our organizational partners. 

To order guides for distribution, contact the CT NOFA office at 203-888-5146 or e-mail ctnofa@ctnofa.org.  You can also preview a pdf of the guide on our website: http://ctnofa.org/documents/ff_guide2012_web.pdf

Here's to Connecticut's farms and food!

Best,

Kristiane