Locally grown food finds niche in Brockton area - Brockton, MA - The Enterprise

Locally grown food finds niche in Brockton area - Brockton, MA - The Enterprise: "Locally grown food finds niche in Brockton area
Demand for local produce is sprouting

Tim Correira/The Enterprise
Jim Reynolds feeds his chickens at The Dahlia Farm in Middleboro on Thursday. Reynolds, who runs a successful florist shop, is expanding and will sell eggs and produce from his 6-acre farm.



Related Links We need a diet of “real food,” Michael Pollan tells Bridgewater State audience (03/27/09)
By Kyle Alspach
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
Posted Mar 27, 2009 @ 11:28 PM

MIDDLEBORO — A new organic farm in Middleboro and a farmers market in Bridgewater are set to debut this year, two signs that locally grown food is a growing commodity in the region.The Dahlia Farm on Plymouth Street in Middleboro will offer organic vegetables and herbs, eggs from free-range chickens and cut flowers, said farmer Jim Reynolds.People will be able to buy “shares” of the vegetable crop this summer, entitling them to an assortment of veggies each week starting in June...

Nearly 500 people who crowded into a Bridgewater State College hall on Wednesday to hear a talk from Michael Pollan, local food advocate and author of best-sellers “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food.”Pollan’s emphasis on eating “real food” — with little or no processing — is something that resonates with farmers such as Jim Reynolds.“People are becoming more and more aware of what exactly is in the food they’ve been eating — that just because something has an FDA approval, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for you,” he said.The Dahlia Farm is located on the property of Reynolds Flowers, a business run by Reynolds’ family since the 1950s.Reynolds, 46, and his wife, Michele, will be farming the land together this year. One acre is being devoted this year to vegetables, he said.Another two acres are allotted for the farm’s 50 chickens, which are currently producing organic eggs for the Rockin K Cafe in Bridgewater.Reynolds joins several dozen other farmers in southeastern Massachusetts growing food mainly for local consumption.“There’s very much a movement of people becoming educated in what we’re eating,” he said...

Middleboro Youth Advocates - Prom Fair 2009

See us Sunday, March 22, at Middleboro Youth Advocates 2009 "Prom Fair."

This community outreach group has been active in Middleboro for some time and we are always happy to support their worthy cause. You can visit their site directly for more information at: http://middleboroyouthadvocates.org/Prom_Fair_2009.html

Newport Wedding Gallery

We have been pick-up by The Newport Wedding Gallery blog at: http://newportweddings.blogspot.com/2009/03/avq-nautical-floral-monogram-for-you.html

Thank you, Nancy!

Easter 2009

Easter Sunday celebrations for 2009 fall on April 12 in the western calendar (Catholic and Protestant Churches). The Eastern Orthodox Church has set the date for Easter 2009 to be 19th April.
Easter is a "floating" holiday whose main constant is that it falls 40 days after Ash Wednesday, which is the day after "Fat Tuesday" or in French, "Mardi Gras." The 40 days between Mardi Gras & Easter is called Lent - a period of fasting, sacrifice and prayer in symbolic remembrance of the Christ's sacrifice.
The float has been occurring since the Council of Nicaea in the year 325AD, when Roman Emperor Constantine I ordered the Christian leaders to set doctrine and dates of principal Christian events.
Easter (literally, to the east) is not only the Christian Resurrection, but that of older paganism as well, calling the re-birth of the Earth and spring from the depths and deaths of winter and the solstice. Not coincidentally, Easter's "float" moves around the vernal equinox.

SPRING FLOWER SHOW

Surprizing (and disappointing) as it may be the BOSTON FLOWER SHOW (a/k/a the NEW ENGLAND FLOWER SHOW) has been cancelled! Funding appears to be the main issue and if you would like to help the Mass Horticultural Society out for 2010, you can visit their site at http://www.masshort.org/New-England-Spring-Flower-Show.

The good news to all this is that The 16th Annual Rhode Island Spring Flower & Garden Show will take place THIS WEEKEND, February 19-22, 2009 at the Rhode Island Convention Center. For all information follow this link. http://www.flowershow.com/. These shows are always welcomed by winter-weary New Englanders and are well worth your support.

JORDANS FURNITURE

A big 'Thank You' is in order for Jordans Furniture, for their inclusion of some of our floral work in their 2008 catalog. As always, this company stands above the pack in their support of community (and of course, exemplary taste!). Again, thank you folks!

WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT PEACE, LOVE & CARTHAMUS TINCTORIUS?

Carthamus tinctorius - or safflower - is one the oldest cultivated plants of record. Seeds have been found in pharaohs' tombs dating back at least to 2000 B.C. and safflower has been cultivated by the ancient Chinese as an oil crop and for medicinal use. In more recent centuries the flowers have been used for yellow, orange and red dyes as well as 'saffron-like' food additives. In the U.S. in the first half of the last century saffron oil was used as a high-quality paint medium. Today the oil is a readily-available cosmetic & food additive, including its use as a cooking and salad oil.

But it was not until the recent 1970's that the cut-flower industry began developing safflower as a marketable product. Through the 80', 90's and early 2000's demand has steadily increased for this hardly known, peculiar little flower. Be sure to ask for availability the next time you're looking for something a little different.