This week the Press welcomes Good Spirits Farm to this column. Good Spirits, an organic farm at 106 East Bare Hill Road, has been operating for several years. Owners Christiane and René Turnheim sell the fruits of their labor at a self-service stand by the side of the road. Christiane told the Press they are building a 700-square-foot passive solar glass greenhouse where they will grow seedlings in the spring, with at least one hydroponic unit for lettuce. She is a member of the Harvard Agricultural Advisory Commission and has an undergraduate degree in sustainable food and farming from the UMass School of Agriculture in Stockbridge. Welcome Good Spirits Farm!.
Carlson Orchards, 115 Oak Hill Road, 978-456-3916
Pick-your-own peaches and Ginger Gold apples. Check the Facebook page for daily updates. In the store, yellow peaches, nectarines, cherries, and Paula Red, Ginger Gold, and Honeycrisp apples. On the back porch, produce from Idylwilde Farms in Acton, including tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, zucchini, summer squash, and cantaloupe. Massachusetts-grown corn from the Connecticut River Valley is also available. Store is open daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pick-your-own hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
Doe Orchards, 327 Ayer Road, 978-772-4139
Pick-your-own peaches, and Gravenstein, Ginger Gold, and some Honeycrisp apples. Owner Pam Lawson says many more apple varieties are ripening and may be ready earlier than usual. At the stand, all of the PYO items plus Doe’s jam. Sunflowers and cherry tomatoes will be available for a little while longer. Open daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Good Spirits Farm, 106 East Bare Hill Road
At the self-service farmstand: raspberries, blackberries, tomatoes, beans, eggplants, patty pan squashes, peppers, honey, flowers (sunflowers and mixed bouquets with dahlias, zinnias, and asters). A few cucumbers are still available, as well as ground cherries if the chipmunks don’t get to them first. Open daily, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Old Frog Pond Farm, 38 Eldridge Road
Pick-your-own raspberries. At the self-service farmstand on the porch: certified organic fruit and vegetables, including raspberries, tomatoes (cherry, heirloom, and slicers), zucchini, eggplant, cabbage, carrots, celery, peppers, potatoes, Swiss chard, green beans, kale, lettuce, garlic, basil, and raspberry jam. Eggs from Maplebrook Farmstead in Sterling are also available.
Stand is open 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. during the week, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. Pick-your-own is open Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Westward Orchards, 178 Massachusetts Avenue, 978-456-8363
In the store: Honeycrisp, Ginger Gold, and Jersey Mac apples, Red Bartlett pears, yellow and white peaches, mixed variety plums, strawberries, honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, white tiger melon, corn, tomatoes (cherry, heirloom, and slicers), kale, lettuce, collard greens, green beans, leeks, cucumbers, summer squash, zucchini, peppers, eggplant, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, beets, potatoes, and mixed herbs. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
Willard Farm, 218 Still River Road, 978-456-8291
At the self-service farmstand: Lots of tomatoes, including Big Beef, Pink Girl, Carolina Gold, Chef’s Choice, ugly tomatoes, and paste tomatoes. Peppers, summer squash, zucchini, sunflowers, wildflowers, some cucumbers and pickling cucumbers. Sporadic bicolor and white corn due to the drought. Stand is open daily.
All produce listed is Harvard-grown unless otherwise noted.
