Oxford Gardens Boulder

Glad you are here. Please take a few minutes to check out who we are, our team, what we grow, this year’s CSA program, and our gorgeous photo gallery (coming soon).

This is the first blog entry for the 2009 growing season. We will be offering our dear friends and readers weekly blog reports from the field and the market, so keep your eyes peeled. There will be news about what is growing now and what’s coming up, the wonders of our local weather, recipes from renowned local chefs and cooks, news about farm dinners and other events, and whatever else arises in our fertile imaginations!

First things first: the Farmers Market opens for the season on Saturday, April 4th. This is always a joyous day for us. It is like Christmas morning for an 8-year old!

For the first market we will have Swiss chard (green, red, yellow, and mixed bunches), baby lettuce mix, arugula, and baby Red Russian kale.

Oxford Gardens has a new (permanent) location at the market - on the main street, directly in front of the Dushanbe Teahouse, just north of the Farmers Market booth (where they sell t-shirts and Market Bucks). Please come visit us, we will be there for every market throughout the season.

I am always surprised at how many regular market folks don’t know when the market opens, and miss the date by several weeks. So spread the word, invite your friends and come feast on our ever-so-fresh, succulent vegetables.

Wednesday Farmers Markets begin this year on Saturday, May 6th, and will run through September. The hours are 4 PM to 8 PM, and there is often music, beer gardens, and a relaxed, less-hurried atmosphere.

Oxford Gardens’ CSA Program – For the first time, Oxford Gardens is offering a limited number of CSA shares for the 2009 season. Please check out the details on our web site, and contact Peter, at 303.817.9676 / peter.volz@comcast.net, for more information.

Volunteers – please join us in the field this year. We have a good core of volunteers lined up for the season, and are looking for a few more committed people who can offer 4-5 hours a week.

January and February were extremely dry, with less than one inch of precipitation total for the two months. Winter wheat (and millet) farmers on the plains, who depend upon winter snow and early spring precip, were hurting badly. Their crop was in critical condition. The much-needed snow of March 26, with up to 18 inches in some places along the Front Range, was a blessing for all farmers, and everyone else, in the area.

This snow came at just the right time – not so late as to damage newly-leafed tree and bushes and early enough to build up the snow pack. Any vegetables planted before the snow should be fine, as the snow acts as insulation from the cold nights we had on March 26th and 27th (near our field, it was 12F on the 26th).

The snow pack in our two local watersheds (Eldora and Niwot) was well below average prior to the storm, but has now increased considerably. We still need more snow and rain, this one event won’t do it. But it’s a good start.

See you soon!

Many thanks to Toby Hemmerling of The Organic Dish (www.theorganicdish.com) and Monika Edgar from Graphika Design (www.monikaedgar.com) for their very generous and creative assistance in getting our website up and running. Great job, friends!