busy times upon us
So we have reached the point in the season when everything is happening at once. It seems like everyone got the hint last weekend, when we finally saw some beautiful weather and the crowds that will come in with it. Pretty excited that this weekend is going to bring more of the same. So this is going to be short and sweet, at least by my standards.
From the field: The heavy rains are of course a blessing and a curse. We need the rain and it is bringing early produce in faster than ever, but the mud in the after effects is slowing down progress. But it will be back on track soon.
In the meantime we have had some beautiful spring vegetables available right from our fields this week. 
Radishes in a rainbow of colors, beet greens, bok choi, broccoli raab, and purple scallions have all been gracing the stand this week, and hopefully your tables. Spinach both green and scarlet have started as well. This weekend, we should have all this and maybe more in Homegrown. Turnips, mint, and rhubarb are on the way. When shopping the farmstand keep an eye out for the Homegrown in green on the top of signs, it tells you the produce below was grown and picked by us here at Volantes.
Red Spinach fresh from the field
In the farmstand: Lots of Sampling of local favorites this weekend.
Boar’s Head will be handing out samples at the deli, 10-2 on Friday.
Saturday is for sweets, with Fancypants cookies on hand with their all natural decorated cookies from 11 -3 and Jamaica Plain’s AKA Marvelicious and their vegan and organic cookies from 11:20 -3. Mann Orchards will be in as well on Saturday with tastings of their apple pies and crisps from 12-3.
Sunday you can wash it all down with another visit from High Lawn Farm milk in the afternoon.
From the kitchen: Todd has whipped up a lot of new specials over the last few weeks. Back by popular demand, breakfast sandwiches, served on Saturday and Sunday until 11 with house made bacon and Tasso ham.
For lunch last week’s soft shell crab was such a hit, it’s back again. Served Po Boy style with house pickled ramps remoulade, there are a limited number so get in early. Additionally there is a pulled pork sandwich with cabbage slaw and a smoked chicken sandwich with avocado and jalapeno pickled vegetables.
An entire bay of impatiens bleeding color across the greenhouse
In the Greenhouse: Plants are literally flying off the benches and out the door. You all have the bug. It is great to see all these blooms going to their new homes. The way the forecast looks, we are pretty much almost all the way okay safe to plant almost anything. I’m still going to hedge there a little, but it seems like with a little attention and care you can go ahead and go to it out in the garden. Frost is still a possibility for the next two weeks, but unlikely, just be prepared to cover plants if the weather advises.
Impatiens and tomatoes have been the plant of choice of the week, and geraniums and tropicals have been moving as well. Lovely perennials have been arriving by the truckload everyday as well. If you haven’t felt like doing much in the garden yet, now is the time.
Speaking of time for Gardening, just a reminder that Volante Farms is sponsoring the Needham Women’s Club Garden Tour. Tickets are $30 in advance and available from our cashiers. The tour is June 3 from 11 to 3 and our own Linda Mauro will be at one of the homes on the tour reprising her Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardening talk, so if you want to get an idea how to attract nature’s flying beauties to the garden, and seeing some amazing landscapes in the process, consider joining the tour.
Let’s see, what else?
From the ICE CREAM STAND:
It has been a few weeks since Volantes unveiled a revolutionary new side to ourselves. So next Friday, May 25th we are doing it again. The Ice Cream Stand will be open for business starting Friday. Steve and Jerry are working out the last minutes kinks, like calling in the help, finding space in the freezers, and testing out the frappe machine. My favorite place to be is there when Jerry is fine tuning his frappe mixology, it keeps working in my favor. We will be hand scooping Crescent Ridge Ice Cream, made right around the corner in Sharon. It is the same tasty treat they serve at their two Dairy Barn locations. We will have cones, cups, sundaes and frappes right off the bat. Additionally, Ice Cream will be available its own special hours, from 11 am to 9 pm every night. Even though the farm closes at 7 ice cream will be available from two windows off the front of the building, and plenty of picnic tables to eat it at. As soon as I get a look at flavors, I promise to shoot a list of initial offerings your way.
And an update on our local wildlife. A miracle of nature this week in the rhododendrons in the parking lot, either cute or gross, depending on your particular phobias: 
Well, I guess short isn’t in the cards after all, but still plenty of sweetness. Stop in soon and let us know how your spring is going!
Mother’s Day is this Sunday
It never hurts to be reminded that this is the weekend when one has to remind their mother that they do in fact love her. Is there a better way to show this than with the gift of spring flowers? Especially after a dreary week like this one is promising to be.
Volantes is here to help. We have over 3000 hanging flowering baskets to choose from, and thousands of potted plants from traditional roses and geraniums to unique mixed baskets with this season’s hottest new blooms.
But also consider a gift that keeps on giving. The blossoms below belong to perennial flowering plants, shrubs, and climbing vines of all sorts. As they are blooming now, they will bloom again this time next year to help remind your mom how much you thought of her in years past.
So come down while the selection is still vast and pick up the unique gift that says exactly what you want it to. Or pick up a gift card, and forward this link to your mother so she can start brainstorming her own shopping spree.
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It’s May Day, time for Cannes, not Canning
A not often rainy day.
Well today was another lovely spring day. Seriously, this water is doing wonderful things to your yard and our fields by the minute. We are still quite low for precipitation so far this season. It did mean it wasn’t the best day to traipse around the May Pole though, so in the spirit of the onset of spring, here are some lovely things to focus on.
One aspect of Volante Farms is that it is staffed by classic characters, like myself and so many others, that have been holding down the fort for a decade or two. Simultaneously, the seasonal irregularity of the job has meant there has been a constant swing in and out of workers.
Grey outside but lively colors thriving in the greenhouse.
High school students, college kids, working parents and retirees, you name it, there are many part-time farmers that have called Volantes home for a short time here and maybe again there every few years. The beauty of our part-time lovers is that while they are away, traversing Himalayas, acquiring additional degrees, or herding children, they are bringing their adventure back to us and sharing the experiences they have been lucky enough to have.
We in turn enjoy the stories and the sense of satisfaction that Volantes is always a welcome place to come home to. One such story is upon us now. Ben Crowell, recently found his way back to the East Coast and back to our greenhouses after a few years away. In the meantime, he has developed some striking skills.
While I know that the photos we share here on the website and with our Facebook and twitter followers get a great response, there have been many finer photographers than me to pass through our farm over the years, and we find Ben to be no exception. I was more than a little surprised to find that Ben, a cheerful bird with a song to match while singing to the flowers, was not only an excellent cinematographer, but additionally partially responsible for the winning film at last year’s Boston 2011 48 Hour Film Project. “One Step Forward” stars Ben and was filmed by co-director Joel Marsh in nearby Natick, Brookline, and Sherborn.
screen grab of Ben himself in “One Step Forward” from Ben’s YouTube site, click to watch video.
His team’s use of chronology manipulation created a loving and joyful film that will have you spellbound for its few minutes and likely feeling happier than when you started.
Volantes is thrilled to give Ben a nearly unheard of leave of absence this busy month to celebrate his win. He needs the time , as Cannes Film Festival is no quick affair. Whoops, I buried the lede again. Well, in his words:
“One Step Forward” is what they call an “Official Selection” for the
festival. More specifically, the festival’s Short Film Corner. There will
be a screening and it will be playing on kiosks throughout the festival. We
are up for a Palm d’Or, but …[w]e’re competing against some heavyweights.-Ben Crowell
We couldn’t be happier for him, or prouder to have had some effect on his success.
Oh is that overstepping? Yeah probably, but we would also like you to see another of his short films. One of his early works, it is a combination of time-lapse tests he performed, many of them on flowers grown at Volantes during his last stint here.
Time lapse Tests, from Ben’s Vimeo Site, click to watch there.
So Ben will be leaving us for a few weeks, but if you run into him before he goes, please pat him on the back, and pass along any tips for a nice Riviera cafe he should hobnob in.
9000 Onions transplanted last week.
That’s about it for us this week, we are just preparing for the May planting season to really get under way. We expect to see plenty of you in days to come. You can certainly be getting those cold tolerant annuals and perennials in the ground and some of the cool season veggie crops too. We are planting broccoli and cabbage this week, and we put onion transplants in last week.
Michael Natkin will be signing his book Herbivoracious this Sunday, from 10-12:30. Stop by to pick up your copy.
Have you stopped by the kitchen and deli lately? Todd has been putting some very cool daily specials up. Keep tabs on him @VolanteFarmChef to be in the know. I know I’ve seen a lot of toasty grilled cheeses leaving the kitchen lately, and can’t wait for some summer-time tomatoes to slap on one of those.
And one last bit, with more details to come:
Ice Cream Stand to open May 25!
An In-spear-ed Harvest
Yikes. That’s a bad way to start. But there are many years of poor Homegrown Asparagus puns ahead of us, we might as well get the worst out of our way. Also in the running: anything about us being spearless in our field, a panel of our spears, or with fronds like these... you get the idea. I apologize in advance, I am just thrilled to have something new in the field to talk about.
Asparagus, just picked.
Anyway! We are loaded down with homegrown asparagus, at least for a short while. We can only harvest asparagus this year if it is fairly large and still only for a very limited time, but what we have had so far has been outstanding. Green and purple spears are available in limited supply right now!
Green and Purple Asparagus coming from our Greenway's fields off Charles River Street.
When we can’t provide our own we will have local and Mass grown asparagus for sale when ours is not, so you won’t go home empty-handed. If you just want a taste, check the fresh spring pasta salad coming from the kitchen, Chef Todd has been including homegrown spears in that as well.
Spring Workshop
In event news, we have just one April Workshop left. Dianne Porcello
Dianne leading an engaged workshop last spring. Show up early for the best views.
will host her ever popular Container Gardening Workshop Saturday April 28 at 10 am. It is free and attendees will receive a 10% off coupon to apply to their gardening purchases and even a little sustenance from the deli to get your gardening started right.
Dianne has been designing many of the mixed containers for Volantes for many years, and has a background in horticulture 
and floral design. Her eye and knowledge offer you a great launch pad to your summer containers. Container planting can give you a pop of color where you need it or squeeze a whole garden into tight quarters. Bring your questions and eager ears.
Book Signing
Author Michael Natkin will be at Volantes on May 6, from 10 am to 12:30 pm signing and selling his new book, Herbivoracious. It has 150 of his favorite vegetarian recipes in it. Come down to meet him and pick up a copy, and go home with a new book for your shelves and some new ideas on how to use all these great plants we provide for you.
Needham Garden Tour
Volante Farms is pleased to announce its sponsorship of Needham Women’s Club first annual Needham Garden Tour. The tour of six Needham Gardens with talks and more will be Sunday June 3. For more information stay tuned here and visit NeedhamWomensClub.org, for tickets you can come right to Volantes. We will have tickets available for purchase until May 28 on behalf of the Needham Women’s Club with net proceeds to support the restoration of the Greene’s Field playground, just ask any of our cashiers.
Last but not least, congratulations to Sarah Drappi, winner of our gift basket full of Boston’s Best Coffee and sweets from Mann Orchard. How did she win? Easy: she just signed up for our email list to stay abreast of all these great events and her name was randomly chosen from all of our subscribers. So sign up soon, at info@volantefarms.com and make sure you get all the critical info about Volantes delivered right to your inbox, and maybe even a treat or two along the way!
Earth Day Weekend, treats from our earth, treats for yours.
There is another big weekend underway at Volante’s.
In the Greenhouse
This year for Earth Day, give a little something back to your Earth on a literally local level. Find out what your yard needs to help it thrive in the coming year.
Free Soil Testing Saturday April 21, 10-3
This Saturday from 10-3 we will be offering free soil testing to customers. Please bring in 1 or 2 samples from your lawn or garden and allow our friend, John Howell of the New England Vegetable and Berry Grower’s Association,
to help you whip your soil into something more than just dirt. A cup of dry soil will be enough for him to tell you where you stand and how your plants can stand taller, greener, and stronger.
In the Farmstand
Also thought you might be interested in some Homegrown produce news. We have brought three crates of baby kale into the kitchen this week, destined for ravioli and sandwiches it sounded like. The kale had over-wintered in the fields and thanks to the mild spring gave a good growth spurt before bolting to seed. In the same vein we are chasing many of last year’s scallions around the field, before the plow turns them under or they go to seed. Which means Homegrown Scallions on the stand this weekend, while supplies last.
Have you signed up for our email list yet? You should, one of our lucky email subscribers will be given this lovely prize of goodies from Boston's Best Coffees and Mann Orchards. I've been meaning to give it away for a couple of weeks now, so I am announcing and closing the contest at the same time! Email us at info@volantefarms.com to join up if you aren't part of it already. Winner will know by Monday!
But perhaps the hottest news to hit the farm, and as yet unconfirmed, is the rumor that Homegrown Asparagus will be making an appearance. I know, we told you it would be another year still, but the plants seem well established and are putting up some pretty massive shoots. So, we are going to pick sparingly over the next few weeks and hopefully you will be among the first to try our newest crop.
Asparagus apparently shoots faster than any of us imagined!
In the Field
This week we were able to get corn and beans seeded in the field. Today we were able to cover them and store some of this unseasonable warmth in the soil with them. We also transplanted our first lettuce crop of the year out into the field, and uncovered our strawberries and garlic from their winter mulch beds.
The fields having been so dry, the local wildlife is venturing out more than usual. There are heaps of turtles sunning on logs this spring as the ponds dry up. More noticeable is a rather unafraid coyote that has made a home at our Standish fields. She comes by to say hello almost every time we are over there lately, and well, she could be a little more coy. Neighbors, keep an eye on your little pets! The Blue Herons returned to the pond as well, and the hawks and crows have set up and early residence. Even the salamanders are showing up in the greenhouses, choosing moisture over temperature. Enjoy the gallery of this week’s suburban wildlife below.
To top it off we had to get the irrigation systems going earlier than ever to combat this drought we are in. Weather reports forecast this weekend as having a good chance for some April showers, so get your gardening done early then come back down for a toasty lunch special to enjoy some well deserved rain.
We’re springing up all over
Are you feeling inundated by Volante’s lately? Not enough yet? Ok, well here’s what’s going on this week: we are media darlings, we are educating the masses, and leafing out in the fields.
Food Section, Boston Globe
So, you can get this recipe from the Boston Globe and the ingredients from us, and make it yourself with ease. Or you can do what I did and buy it right out of the Farm Kitchen, ready to heat and eat. Smoked Mozzarella, White Bean, and Sage Nella Pasta Ravioli with Sorpressata and Kale.
Did you pick up a Boston Globe today? There was a fantastic write-up on Volante’s by Andrea Pyenson talking about the farm’s transformation into its new state. Additionally, there was a recipe by @VolanteFarmChef, Todd, to exhibit his cooking style and highlight some of the great dishes you can make with Volante’s offerings or just as easily pick up here and say you did.
If you’d like to read it now, click on over to Boston.com and give it a look: In Needham, an old farm sprouts new premises. And as always, thanks for making us this successful and giving us the confidence to move forward.
Spring Workshops
It is also mid April, which means our Spring Gardening Workshops are underway. We had a great workshop on Pruning last weekend with Mike. If you missed it, much of the information covered is available on our Planting Guides page here.
Celosia and Zinnias attract butterflies in the heat of summer, but what gets them here early in spring? Find out Saturday!
Linda Mauro will give a free workshop on Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardening this Saturday April 14 at 10 am.
She will talk about the types of plants best suited to attracted these fascinating visitors to your garden and show you what we have in stock now for early visitors and tell you what to keep an eye out for later season blooms.
Also workshop attendees will receive a 10% off coupon to use for their garden shopping this weekend, or lunch, or both!
The Field
Spring peas push their way through a dry and dusty earth, looking for a drop of those elusive April Showers. Notice the coyote paw print in the top left? They are looking for a nice spring meal too.
It has been so long, it seems since I have had a chance to even talk about what has been going on out in the field. Remember that place? That’s right new readers, we actually are a farm that grows its own vegetables. So a few weeks ago, right before we opened, we got peas, beets, and carrots in the ground at our Standish fields. Shortly thereafter we followed with scallions, radish, spinach, chard and parsley at the home field. Plus a few new trials, broccoli raab and summer turnips.
We covered the peas with floating row cover to help push them a little, and lo and behold, despite the dryness, they are sprouting and up above ground! The bare-ground, or not-covered, peas are also up, as are some of the radish and turnips. Our asparagus crop is entering its second year and is starting to poke through a little as well. Rhubarb and mint are coming out of hibernation too.
The first asparagus spear of the season pokes up its head.
The best news, we plowed for corn today, and all things timely, will plant first corn tomorrow morning.
Farm Stand Sampling
We had a great week with all of our new and old vendors who stopped by to introduce you to their local products. Just a heads up that this weekend we will continue to bring in friends with free food for you to try. If you want to schedule your snacking more accurately, like us on Facebook, where we update happenings most rapidly. Hint for this weekend: Bacon.
The early corn ground, plowed, fed, and ready for planting tomorrow.
Passover Menu
So just a few days into operation, we are pleased to realize we get to be part of your family traditions in a whole new way. Volantes has often been open around Easter so that those who wanted flowers and lilies could get them. Now, with our year-round Farmstand, fresh and local foods are ready for your spring family table as well. Consider starting a new tradition this year by shopping with us for your Spring holiday.
The Farmstand has brought in some traditional, though new to us, foods to help you set your table this holiday: kohlrabi,
Roasted Herb Chicken Breast bursts with fragrant Thyme and the sweet flavors of slow cooked Parsnip and Apple. It is a great option as part of your Passover meal, or as seen here with steamed Green Beans and Spring Pea Ravioli. All are available ready to heat and serve from the Farm Kitchen.
sunchokes, and fresh horseradish included.
In our new Farm Kitchen, Todd is pleased to present his Passover menu for this year. He has been honing these dishes for years, to exemplify the tastes and traditions you are looking for on your holiday table.
While your holiday table may depend on that certain dish that mom can make just right, consider how helpful it will be if all those side dishes are already taken care of.
The Farm Kitchen is stocked with plenty of prepared, ready to heat and serve entrees, vegetables, and sides to completely outfit your table. Pick them up in the refrigerated case closest to the deli. These dishes are not Kosher, but do try to adhere to the taste and tradition you are looking for. Plus, Todd loves hearing your thoughts so give these a shot and be sure to let him know what you think.
Passover Menu
- Honey Glazed Salmon
- Braised Lamb Shank with Pomegranate & Apricots
- Herb Roasted Chicken with Parsnips & Apples
- Lemon Roasted Chicken Leg
- Smoked Trout Salad
- Roasted Salmon Salad
- Applesauce
- Mashed Yams with Pomegranate
- Roasted Asparagus
- Roasted Carrots with Coriander
- Roasted Beets with Horseradish
- Carrot Pomegranate Soup
- Sweet Potato Pancakes
- Potato Pancakes
- Matzo Ball Soup
The Farmstand, Kitchen, and Greenhouse will be open 8-7 Monday-Friday, 8-6 Saturday, and closed Easter Sunday. Stop in and see the new place, and pick up ingredients for dinner, a meal ready to go, a sweet bakery dessert, and/or a lovely white Easter Lily or potted flowering hostess gift for the meal you head to this weekend.
We have plenty of Easter lilies ready to brighten your holiday get-together.
Now Open!
Welcome to the all new Volante Farms!
The Volante Family welcomes visitors to the New Farmstand. From Left to Right: Katie Volante, David Volante w/ Ryan Volante, Needham Selectman Dan Matthews, State Senator Richard Ross, Al Volante, Steve Volante, Melodie Volante, State Congresswoman Monica Garlik, Teri Volante Boardman, Steve Boardman.
After a very long winter, a long year of adjustments and compromises, and years in the planning, the new farmstand was ready to open on schedule this Saturday! Encompassing a seasonal garden center, produce market, local-centric grocery, bakery, deli and prepared food kitchen, and flanked by a state of the art greenhouse offering home-grown annuals and locally hardy perennials, Volante Farms has transformed into a destination shopping spot for the next era.
Many thanks go to the many customers, local and state officials, employees and their families, and contractors who helped keep us operating through construction and helped ensure that everything stayed on track.
Saturday’s opening was an unqualified success. The enthusiasm that you, our customers, brought pouring through the doors all day was wonderful. Thank you for your kind words of support and helpful suggestions to continue to enhance your experience at the farm.
A brand new space doesn't begin to describe it. Light, airy, open, and easy to shop are all great aspects to the new beautiful space.
The coming days and weeks will continue to bring enhancements and improvements as finishing touches and refinements come together. This is a work in progress and we will adjust to our and your needs as they become apparent.
Customers lined up early to get a first peek at the new space, and they didn't stop pouring in the doors all day.
These first week we will have many of our new and old vendors sampling their wares to help you familiarize yourselves with these exciting local products.
And as gardening season gets under way expect another great series of spring workshops in our greenhouse.
Our new regular hours of 8-6 on weekends and 8-7 during the week will give you even more hours in the day to shop with us, so please take advantage of them.
Violas, pansies, bulbs and blooming perennials are ready to get started on spring, now that temperatures have come back in line. Stop by soon for a greenhouse stroll with a cup of Volante Farms coffee and pastry.
Follow us here on the blog, or on Facebook, or twitter, and of course make sure you are on our email list. send an email to info@volantefarms.com to join, or with any questions or comments.
Only 2 Days Left!
You have been waiting quite patiently, and finally the TIME IS HERE! Well, almost.
Pansy flats and belden hangers are blooming nicely in Bay 1.
On Saturday March 31st we’ll be having a Grand Opening celebration! At roughly 9am a few community leaders and the Volante family will say a few words, followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony. Then, you’ll be able to stroll through our blooming greenhouse and new farmstand to fully capture the start of springtime.
Throughout this first week we will have all sorts of vendors in the farmstand who will be sampling out their products. We will have a great mix of new vendors and our favorite standbys. Sampling will take place from roughly 10am through 4pm with a few breaks and a few exceptions. On opening day we will have coffee samples from our new cafe, Fisher Brook Farm jam (new), and Babycakes sweets (new) all being sampled in the morning starting around 10am. In the afternoon starting around 1pm, we will have To Die For dips, Yorgo Hummus (new), and prosciutto sampling from our specialty Italian meat section of our new deli.
In the perennial "piazza": Pasque Flower is just in time for Easter!
On Sunday the 1st of April we will have another nice lineup for sampling. In the morning you will be able to try samples from High Lawn Farm and Susie’s Challah bread. In the afternoon we have Doves & Figs jam (new), Alex’s “Ugly Sauce” (a tasty new hot sauce), and new olive oils from Ariston Oil Company.
Stop by any time, take in the beautiful rustic feel of the new farmstand, and check out the expanded offerings we have. We have all the best local products and are constantly looking for more.
We are looking forward to seeing you this weekend and for the weeks to come! We want to thank all of our loyal blog followers for your support and continued interest – we promise not to disappoint!
A view of our new sign from across the street!
New @ 95: Volante’s New Farm Kitchen: Grow It, Cook It, Live It!
By Todd:
Todd, in his new kitchen, trying to see where all his new toys will fit. Like Volante's he thinks big!
Hello loyal readers. My name is Todd Heberlein and I am the new Chef at Volante Farms. I’ve been cooking for just over 20 years, with the last 9 at Wilson Farm in Lexington. I have been lucky enough to experience so many great people, kitchens, and meals, from cooking for the Emmys to cooking for my family. And all of this has led me here, to 292 Forest Street.
Since the beginning of my career, I have gravitated towards kitchens that focused on using fresh ingredients. I just don’t think I realized it at the time. Cutting my culinary teeth in some great restaurants in California, I saw menus change daily. If a farmer cut a new crop or the fisherman had a new catch, it was brought to the kitchen with great honor. As time went on, this seemed to be the right way to cook to me: using fresh, local food, seasonally. I even started my own gardens so I could enjoy the freshest ingredients when I cooked at home. I never would have guessed that when I was buying plants at Volante’s for my garden 10 years ago that I would become the chef. Now, as I enter my 10thyear of being a chef on a farm, I know I have found my calling and at Volante’s, a home.
The Farm Kitchen is at the end of the new Farmstand, on the Central Avenue side of the building right under the Flag, for those of you making a beeline for the lunchtime rush.
Prepared Foods
As I sit here over my shiny box (that’s what I call my computer. Hey, I belong behind a stove, not a desk), my mind wanders to the possibilities ahead of me. Every edible crop grown here will pass through the kitchen at one point or another. I’m like a kid in a candy shop! This means that you, o’loyal patron, will have many ways to enjoy some of the best produce in New England. You’ll see dishes like Sweet Pea Ravioli with Spring Vegetables, Southwestern Corn Chowder, Heirloom Tomato Flatbread with Arugula Pesto, and Roasted Squash with Chestnuts and Caramelized onions, just to name a few. Each season will bring new inspiration. And just to tempt your taste buds, I plan on spending time sampling these new dishes so you get familiar with our prepared foods. But I won’t stop there! Down the road we will provide recipes of our new dishes so you can try them out on your own. We want you to enjoy our produce whether you cook it or you let us do it for you.
Sandwich Shop
This is the deli case, soon to be home to tasty meats, cheeses and more of your lunch and dinner time favorites. Just a few days and wires separate us now.
Looking for a great new deli and sandwich shop? Here we are! Not only will we carry everyone’s favorite, Boar’s Head meats and cheeses, but we will have a fantastic variety of Italian meats. We took on the daunting task of finding the best meats we could (ok, we loved every slice of it!) so you have plenty to choose from. This leads us to sandwiches, which are Steve’s real passion. We have come up with our list of sandwiches, our “Farm Standards”, and we think you will easily find your own favorite. Want to make up your own favorite? We will have a condiment list like no one else around. Who else can say they are using their own produce to offer you new ways to enjoy your lunch? And when we start our sandwich specials, be ready. We will dip into the same inspiration well to offer you local Beef Bulgogi with our own Brussel Sprout Kim Chi and Garam Masala Spiced Greens with Pumpkin Hummus on Warm Naan. Just want a simple turkey sandwich? Our pleasure.
Salads
Any one of these dozen types of lettuce might show up in your salad in any given day, it all depends on having the best of the best available as usual, but now ready to eat as well!
“Ok” you say, “But what if I want a salad”? So glad you asked. Tired of the same old packaged salads? Questioning the freshness of the good old salad bar? Have we got a change for you! Introducing our build your own salad bar! We will have a selection of our favorites for you to choose from, but that’s just the beginning. You can come up to the salad bar and ask our salad whiz to make something really exciting from the large list of changing ingredients. Like I learned so many years ago in restaurants, a daily changing menu focusing on what’s best that day will yield the best results. Lettuces and other vegetables could change daily. If Lee brings in some beets one morning, they will be an option for you that day. If Ryan brings in the first-pick of green beans, well, you get the picture. And no processed dressings here with hard-to-pronounce ingredients. We will make them all from scratch. “But what will happen during the lean winter months?” you ask. We are dedicated to bringing you the best of what’s available then too.
Bakery
Are you ready for the bakery? Yeah, me too. Don’t you just love the smell of freshly baked bread? What about the unmistakable sound of breaking off a piece of warm bread? There is nothing like it. We will be bringing in some of the best bakeries around to offer a little something for everyone. Got a sweet tooth (come on, don’t we all)? We have eaten cookie after cookie and pie after pie (at this point, you can tell we love our job) to procure treats to tempt even the finest palette. Gluten-free and vegan goodies will be available as well. Once we have our feet wet, we will be offering our own selection of baked goods to herald in the glorious spring, summer, and fall bounty that New England has to give. Think Rhubarb and Lavender Bread Pudding, Peach and Blueberry Tarts, and Spiced Pear Cakes. I can’t wait!
Sunnycrest Orchard's peaches will hopefully make their way into one of the bakery's treats this summer. We would show you some of the dozens of pastries we have already decided to carry from local bakeries, but unfortunately none lasted long enough to be photographed.
Aside from all of this, we still have a long list of goals to accomplish. To help to get to know you, I will be doing sampling and cooking demos in the store. From there we will start doing cooking classes, to give you some ideas on how to use our great produce. Finally, something near and dear to my heart: dinners in the field. We will create a menu using what is at its peak in the fields while you sit at elegant tables right at the center of it all. This is truly a great way to enjoy local at its core. Stay tuned for more information on all of these events. Who knows, maybe we will even ask some local chefs to have a friendly round of “Iron Chef” using a basket of our produce! Let us know what you think.
Thank you, weary reader, for making it this far. Who would have thought a chef was so full of hot air! Now I must ask of you one favor: please do not compare us to any supermarket or anything else remotely similar. We are truly unique and have so much more to offer. This family is committed to making your visit here a memorable experience, which is why I am proud to be here. Think of me as your personal chef, Needham. Need help with dinner? Head to the prepared food case. Have a cooking question? Come to our open kitchen and ask me. Want to know about upcoming new dishes? Just ask, that’s why I’m here. I’m ready to get cooking!
A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, so let’s get started!
