Tag: Long Life Farm

It’s always a good thing to join in and help others.

This post will begin a new mini series for us.

Tractor
Heirloom Charlie on his upcyled, recyled tractor getting ready to do some organic farming!

Last year we tried to help out with the use of Heirloom Charlie. He was introduced to you all in May 2013, and with each sale of an Hieloom Charlie product I stated I (as The Botanical Beauties & Beasties) would donate 15% to Long Life Farm. The hope was to help out a family in need to be able to obtain a CSA farm share within the Long Life CSA program. This translates into the ability for a family to eat fresh organically grown vegetables that has been grown locally without the use of chemical pesticides or herbicides. Well, last weekend I am proud to say I did indeed write a check for the intended purpose. I was not able to raise enough to buy a whole share, but Laura (one of the owners and farmers of Long Life Farm) told me that the Botanical Beauties check brought the total up to the needed $ amount to indeed obtain a share for a lucky family. Other shareholders had also donated monies, and this check just happen to be that last part. I find that wonderful in a strange and magical way. I am thrilled to be able to help out in this small fashion.The website for Long Life Farm is http://www.longlifefarm.com. I  find the site engaging and hope you take a minuet to check it out. It is filled with all sorts of good information! 

Another cool piece of this story is that Heirloom Charlie is also a main character of our new book! The book is coming along nicely-I think we may do some test marketing at The Hopkinton Farmers Market this summer. (Sundays 1-5 Hopkinton, MA.) If you are interested, and particularly if you know anyone in publishing, please let me know! Heirloom Charlie now has a new nick name- the (working) title of the book is The Food Dude!

Now, on to one last piece of business for this post.

Our helping this summer will come as blog postings and a new character called Diggerfoot. Diggerfoots purpose is to help a friend of mine who’s name is Kirk. He, his wife (Cindy), and a daughter (Charissa) will start hiking the 2,666 mile Pacific Crest Trail in a few days. Cindy has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. In his own words- from his website http://www.humanityhiker.com … “We will use the hike for a mission to spread Hope for Alzheimer’s.  The first avenue of hope is with Cindy’s journey, demonstrating that people with Alzheimer’s still can pursue their dreams.  The second avenue of hope is through raising awareness for how lifestyle choices can improve Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers.  The most important of these lifestyle choices is physical exercise, the only “treatment” show to halt and even reverse brain decay.  The third avenue of hope is through Exercise for Brain Health Research, for which we are raising funds.” To see, how you can help us spread Hope for Alzheimer’s please visit his website. Kirk will naturally be writing about their hike, my postings will be an additional outlet to let more people follow their path, and raise awareness of Alzheimer’s. Naturally, my post will link to Kirks site which has a plethora of resources and a place where one can donate if you care to help the cause in that way. So get your hiking shoes tied and get ready for a long distance hike from Canada to the Mexico boarder! Next posting on the trip you will get to meet Diggrfoot and see how the trip is going. These post will be peppered into the “normal” Botanical postings, and DIggerfoot will be acting as an interviewer looking to share a bit of the adventure with you all!

Off to a Garden Party

We are off to the races – well ok, it’s a Garden Party really!  About 6 weeks ago I met The Fabulous Beekman Boys… and now I am off to a festival (as a vendor) that they “host.” Life has a funny way of twisting and turning… this could have been a very tough weekend for me, and instead I am excited and off to explore a new place, meet new people, and hopefully open some big doors. I believe it may the largest festival I have taken part of to date.  I think this whole weekend is a bit of a gift – starting with the fact that I met these guys in Vermont (Dave’s beloved home state.)  Now we will have to wait and see what the rest of the weekend brings, but I am hopeful and feel very clear that I am suppose to be there – Why? Don’t know yet… but at the very least I am  giving it my all, created more Mini Arts (aka greeting cards,) created 8 new Lacquered Boxes, and finally got to make some Trays that have come out amazingly fun! … To top it all off I created a NEW Botanical Beauty! He will debut this weekend on the above mentioned products! He is extra close to my heart for a couple of reasons. Read all about him below the pix of “the Boys” and me – a photo from the VT Garden Symposium weekend.

Beekman Boys and me

His name is Heirloom Charlie and you can read his whole story below. Part of why I am especially proud of him is I have been wanting to figure out a way to “give back” a little for all The Botanical Beauties & Beasties have done for me these past 12 months. Donating a percentage from Heirloom Charlie (a sustainable Farmer,)  to help out others feel good. With GMOs and food labels very much a hot topic these days, the timing feels perfect.  I am very pleased to have chosen Long Life Farm as the recipient of 15% of Heirloom Charlie Sales. They are local MA., CSA, organic farm who reaches in to the community in many ways to help out those “in need.”

I am also pleased by Heirloom Charlie for he is very fun to look at, my first vegetable Beauty and so a new branch of the BBB3 tree, he gets to part of marriage equality in our land of  Botaniumaus  (and be a wedding gift to celebrate a ‘real” gay marriage in the land of USA,) and I like all he symbolizes in his story/causes. So it with great pleasure I unveil  Heirloom Charlie (aka Radiator Charlie) to you in full…. on Saturday!

Heirloom Charlie's Story

Nothing is on the online store yet, but there are trays, cards, boxes and prints to celebrate Heirloom Charlie (aka Radiator Charlie) which will become available soon.

A Delight and Surprise!

  • Do you know what these are?
  • Do you think they are edible?
  • Do you think they are beautiful?
  • Have you ever seen them before?
  • Have never heard of the term “sustainable food?”

Comment below and let me know!
My answers are yes, yes, defiantly, not until 2 weeks ago, and yes.

Ground Cheery Whole

As you probably know we set up at Whole Foods Bellingham on Mondays afternoons (4-7) and YES, we WILL BE THERE this Monday – Labor Day! At this market I have had the pleasure of meeting all sorts of wonderful people: farmers,artisans, and shoppers. Among those folks are the lovely Davis family from Long Life Farm.  Laura brought these amazing “things” to the market 2 weeks ago. They are Ground Cherrys. When you tear open the paper-thin shell there is this incredible little cherry tomato like fruit inside!  “Ground cherries (Physalis spp.) are native in many parts of the United States and often grow along roads. The plants have large, deep green leaves and tons of pale yellow flowers that develop into cherry-sized fruits.” (Ground Cherry)  The ones that Long Life Farm grew, and I got the delight to find out about and taste, are Aunt Molly – A Polish heirloom with a captivating citrus flavor. Laura told me she got the seeds from Seed Savers, another delightful discovery to me, and now the wheels of  sustainable food are churning!

Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds. Since 1975, our members have been passing on our garden heritage by collecting and distributing thousands of samples of rare garden seeds to other gardeners. “Our mission is to save North America’s diverse, but endangered, garden heritage for future generations by building a network of people committed to collecting, conserving, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants, while educating people about the value of genetic and cultural diversity.” -http://www.seedsavers.org/ 

If you get a chance to buy these at your local market GO FOR IT! Yum and fun. If you are lucky you may find them at Long Life farm stand on Mondays in Bellingham (the outdoors Farmers Market in front Whole Foods) or the Saturday morning market in Ashland. To find out more: http://www.longlifefarm.com

 

Now don’t forget, let me know if anybody knew about these little delights in the comments!

Ground Cherry
The little yummy fruit is delightful!