Attack of the locusts!

School has started back up again and third grade is loving their time at the farm.  So far they have prepared a bed for and planted carrots, radishes, and beets, taken over the school composting duty, searched for eggs, moved the chicken tractor as needed and walked the perimeter of the farm to collect trash and see how big the farm really is.  We also sat in the greenhouse and told rainy day stories on our first rainy day.  Pictured below are Misha and Jackson with empty locust shells attached.

Annual Tomato Day at Carrboro Farmer's Market

Cut and pasted from an email sent to me:

Tomato Day is July 12th!

We hope you'll come celebrate with us!  Festivities are 8:30am to noon, and will include:

• fresh samples of a selection of the over 70 varieties of tomatoes available at Market, alongside local bread and fresh cheeses
• tomato-infused beer from Steel String Brewery
• live music
• face painting
• tomato recipes
• the Tomato Day Raffle: get free raffle tickets with your purchases at Market and enter to win one of over 50 prizes from over 35 local businesses!

One day is not enough to celebrate tomatoes!  We are making it a Tomato Week:

• Come to the Wednesday Market (3pm-6pm) on July 9th for a tomato-themed sampling by Chef Marshall Smith of Glasshalfull.
• Visit participating local businesses in the week before Tomato Day (July 7-11) to get free Tomato Day Raffle tickets with your purchase!  See our website for a list of participating businesses.

We hope to see you there!

Margaret Krome-Lukens

-- 

Assistant Manager & Food Outreach Coordinator

Carrboro Farmers' Market

www.carrborofarmersmarket.com

A Beautiful Gift!

For a beautiful new baby and Mama, farm assistant Kristin McGee!

The 3rd Grade worked hard preparing and sewing the surprise in their classroom. . .

 

All the work finally paid off!! She was very happily surprised! 

I-40 is Being Widened!

I-40 is being widened between Durham and Hillsborough.  A wider I-40 likely means a noisier I-40.  It is already difficult to hear each other when we are outdoors at EWS, especially at the farm, because of interstate noise.  

An informal public meeting will be held on June 10 from 4 to 7 pm in the Southern Human Services Center at 2501 Homestead Rd. Chapel Hill, NC.  Please come to the meeting to express concerns about noise interference at the school and to request noise abatement along school property.  Please don't assume that someone else has got this covered.  Please do spread the word!  The more people who show up to express concern, the more likely it is that we will see results.  Please help us take action for a quieter, more soothing campus!

Raising Baby Chicks!

It was really fun to see the 3rd Grade raising baby chicks from the farm in their classroom! You could tell the experience was wonderful for the class too, they hardly ever wanted to put them down. Who could blame them?

 

 Keeping a very real and human connection of farm to classroom has so many benefits to education of the whole child. . .

One of the chicks kept falling asleep standing up! It's exhausting being a growing baby chick!

Free Tomato Seedlings

CARRBOR MARKET FARMERS PROVIDE YOUNG GARDENERS WITH TOMATO SEEDLINGS

 AT THE 9TH ANNUAL KIDS’ SEEDLING GIVEAWAY

SUPPORTED BY FIFTH SEASON GARDENING COMPANY ON APRIL 26TH

Kids start their gardens with a free tomato seedling donated by Carrboro Market farmers with potting soil and growing tips from Fifth Season Gardening Company and kids’ activities by Kidzu Children’s Museum.

April 10, 2013– Carrboro, NC – On Saturday, April 26th, beginning at 8:30 AM, the Carrboro Farmer's Market will give away farmer-grown tomato seedlings to kids.  Kids will get to pick a seedling of their choice and plant it in a cup to take home.  To help the seedlings get well on their way to a life of juicy delicious fruit bearing, Fifth Season Gardening Company will be providing organic potting soil for the pots as well as growing tips and useful information for new gardeners.

Kidzu Children’s Museum and Market volunteers will help kids decorate a label for their seedling and then help them find and thank the farmer that donated it. 

Last year over 400 young gardeners became proud owners of local tomato seedlings at this event, and it has become an annual tradition for many local families. A special thanks to Fifth Season Gardening Company for their generous support in making the Carrboro Farmers’ Market Annual Kids’ Seedling Event possible.

This event is held during the weekend of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association’s Piedmont Farm Tour, which features many Carrboro Market farmers, making it a fun farm-filled weekend for the community.  During the Farm Tour many local farmers open their farms to the public so visitors can see where their food comes from and how it grows.  Some farms also sell farm products or have special activities for children.  For more information, visit www.carolinafarmstewards.org/pft/.

Second and First Grade in March!

It was a gorgeous and sunny March afternoon at Emerson Farm and Second and First grade came for weeding work and dirt throwing fun!

 With hands in the dirt, the second grade was fired up to cover the garden bed!

 The chickens were out in full force scratching for grubs...

   

 

After Second grade asked questions and left, first grade found some interesting finds, and enjoyed weeding, planting, and wheelbarrowing!