Patchwork Gardens

By: Greg Raffio (Nov 14, 2011)
I have purchased produce and eggs from Patchwork Gardens (PWG) for the last four years. I have been a regular at the farmers market and also have purchased the CSA. These hard-working folks provide some of the highest quality products I have ever seen and they have fun doing it!

Their CSA is unique in that you can tell them which weeks you will miss and they will not charge you for those weeks. There are very few other CSAs that offer this feature and it is one of the best selling points.

When you combine quality, price, flexibility, and the fun factor... you have a winner.

Individual Products:

Eggs - Have you ever truly had an organic, free-range egg? One that comes from a chicken that literally does whatever it pleases during the day? Have you ever cracked a PWG egg into a pan next to the most expensive eggs from your local yuppie grocery store? PWGs eggs have a deep orange yolk and an incredible flavor. I've visited the farm and seen these chickens. Its amazing.

Greens - Using greenhouses, PWG grows salad and cooking greens throughout the year. Their greens are consistently higher quality and more reasonably priced. Do I like every green grown on the planet? No. However, PWG provides a seasonally rotating variety that keeps us consumers on our toes and allows us to truly eat with the season. The salad mix continually changes based upon which lettuces grow best in that type of weather. And greens in the winter, you'll never taste anything sweeter.

Beets, Turnips, and other root vegetables - If I make it to the farmers market too late, PWG is sold out of beets. I love to buy their beets and carrots and juice them with greens. Google some juice recipes and try it... you won't be disappointed.

Italian necessities (peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini) - My true bias now comes out. I am Italian. Eggplant parmigiana, peppers & onions, fresh tomatoes, grilled zucchini? Sound foreign to you? I eat this stuff from the moment its available till the first frost.

Berries - Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries. They don't even make it home with me during my drive.

Everything else - As time goes by, the farm has improved. Was everything an A+ the first year? No! Obviously! However as I have watched this group grow, mature, and learn, I have been amazed at the progress.

Here's to next season!

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