Flower at Quail Hill CSA.
The rules.
While we miss our own farm, it is hard to be sad here on the east end of Long Island. We are on some of the best farmland in the world, next to some of the best beaches in the world. And where you don’t have vacation homes, you still see many productive farms. And farm stands selling fresh produce are just about everywhere. The corn, potatoes, zucchini, squash, berries and stone fruit are all great this year. Yum.
Today’s lineup.
Your map.
But there is one very special farm, Quail Hill, that is more than just some tasty produce. It shows the true potential of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) to benefit an entire community. Quail Hill is a CSA on 30 acres of donated land and is supported by over 200 member families. The member families pay for a share of the produce and harvest a few times a week (anyone can visit, you just can’t harvest). The staff run the farm and have an apprentice program to educate future farmers. Farmland is preserved, new farmers are trained, families get access to a “real” farm. Oh, and the produce is awesome. Good land, great weather and hard work get you a good crop.
Garlic for the taking.
Fennel. We caramelized this and served with the steamed clams. Good match.
Lots of squash and zucchini.
While we aren’t members, our friends Chad and Monica are, and we got to visit for a Tuesday harvest. The farm is beautiful and bucolic, but also a place of work. Everything at the farm is there for a reason. While many people (including us) wax poetic about growing food, somebody has to spend some time in the dirt. But it is certainly good dirt. Good dirt makes a good farm. We will let the pictures tell the rest of the story.
Huge herb garden- take what you need.
The herbs for the steamed clams.
- Orchard- mostly stone fruit.
Peaches.
Rows of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and eggplant.
A little of the weekly haul.
Rows and rows of eggplant.
Blackberries are not ready yet. But looking like they will be good.
Off to another field.
Abundant cabbage, squash and zucchini.
Rows of greens.
More greens.
Even more greens.
Okra. We like the flower better than the okra.
Perfect soil. All scraped-off of New England by glaciers. Long Island is one big glacial moraine. Good if you are a farmer.
Related articles
- Farm-share programs growing in the Maritimes (cbc.ca)
- How bountiful is your CSA? (ask.metafilter.com)
- CSA Pics (livefortheseason.com)
- CSAs in CNY: Learn about local farms, farmers and farm fresh produce (eatfirst.typepad.com)
Putney Farm 
This is stunning … but what a lot of hard work there goes into a place like this .. what a passion – same with your farm. Admire you all that can keep places like this going … for the enjoyment of others. Wonderful photos again. No cocktails today ????
Thanks. Quail Hill is special. The farm is in the perfect place- success makes for happy farmers…cocktail just published (sorry, hard to post while on the read..)
When I was a kid growing up in Queens, (L.I.) a produce guy used to come around with his big cart. Those were the days! I haven’t tasted vegetables as good since. The broccoli was out of this world. Thanks for the memories : – )
Thanks for reading….it would be great if the local “produce guy” came back…
Like. Like. Like. I wish I could live there,
So do we! At least in summer…winter, not so much…
Hi there. I have nominated you for some cool blogging awards. They are lovely and inspirational because you are lovely and inspirational. You don’t need to do anything with these nominations if you don’t want to, but it’s a great way to share your favourite blogs and get others to see yours. There are few things you need to do so please check out my blog http://gardeningkiwi.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/and-for-my-second-blog-of-the-day-we-are-going-to-have-a-celebration/ (or for what you are actually supposed to do check out the people who nominated me!) Thanks for sharing your world with the rest of the world. Cheers Sarah the Gardener : o )
Wow- thanks! We will follow-up with a post. We are big fans of you blog (and garden) so this means a lot!
Thank you so much.
Cheers Sarah : o )
really wish I lived in your area! I would def. be doing the CSA!
There are lots of CSA’s out there- worth a look, you never know!
I have inquired on it in my area before, but they’re expensive.
What a beautiful place! I think community gardens are just so special, and this one seems to be incredibly rich. I loved the okra flower…and I do love okra. your comment made me chuckle! Debra
Love the okra flowers, also like fried okra, but don’t have a “go-to” home recipe that deals with the texture…we will get there…
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