Massachusetts Organic Food Guide

Description

Silvermine Farm has been owned and operated by our family since the early 1700s. The face of the farm has changed throughout the years, from the days when women pulled the plows to now, when the farm is farmed and managed by a woman. Feeding people has always been Martha's passion and has taken many forms through the years, from working as a "hired hand" for her husband who ran the farm using conventional agricultural methods from 1981 until the late 1990s, to feeding her own five children, and in the farm bakery that she ran in the mid-1990s.

In 2007, Martha re-opened the vegetable production on the farm using organic and sustainable methods of agriculture. She added pasture-raised broilers and turkeys to the farm in 2008, along with pasture-raised chicken and goose eggs. The vegetable and poultry products have been Certified Naturally Grown since 2009.

We actively avoid varieties that are owned by Monsanto and choose as many open-pollinated and heirloom varieties as we can. This year we will begin seed production for some of our crops to increase the vitality of the seeds we use and to develop the traits in these varieties that are best-suited to our microclimate.

Martha is taking advantage of the opportunity provided this year through NOFA/Mass to study biological and nutrient-dense farming, and will be utilizing these techniques to increase the soil health on the farm this year. The goal is to adopt these farming methods to increase the sustainability of farming and increase the nutrition of the food grown on Silvermine Farm.

A quarter-acre of strawberries is produced sustainably for the shareholders of Stone's Throw CSA. This summer a new field of strawberries will be planted utilizing remineralization techniques, will be harvested in the spring of 2011 and will be available through our farm stand, farmers markets booths and on a pick-your-own basis.

Silvermine Farm participates in the multi-grower Stone's Throw CSA, which distributes from our farm. This year will be the third year of Stone's Throw CSA and it includes farmers from Sutton, Douglas and Oxford. The cooperative growers provide produce to their shareholders through the summer months and the shareholders assist in the running of the CSA.

Products

asparagus, beans (dry, shell, snap, lima, soy), beets (red, golden), broccoli, cabbage. carrots (organge, white, yellow, purple), cauliflower, chard, cucumber (slicing, pickling), eggplant, gourds, greens, ground cherries, herbs, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, onions, peas, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, radish, rutagaba, rhubarb, scallion, shallots, spinach, summer squash (zucchini, yellow, patty pan), tomatoes (cherry, slicing, paste), turnip (salad, fall), winter squash, chicken (broilers), eggs (chicken, goose), and turkey (Thanksgiving).

Farmers' Market

• Grafton, Thursdays 2 to 6:30 p.m.

Farm Stand

Open daily 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. during strawberry season. After strawberry season, we have a self-service stand open Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays noon to 6 p.m.

Pick Your Own

Pumpkins