Welcome to Mary Margaret's Blog

It’s September and your garden is cranking out harvests that taste so delicious that you want to hang onto everything as long as possible.

Or maybe your CSA farm has peppers ripening like crazy this time of year. We certainly have them by the bucketful here on our farm!

They taste soooo good and sweet that maybe you’re like me and looking for an easy way to preserve that amazing pepper flavor for …

Pesto used to be an intimidating word to me.

I didn’t grow up hearing it often, except occasionally at an Italian restaurant. And even then I had no idea what it meant. Just that it sounded fancy.

This week I had some leftover turnip greens, carrot tops, and basil in my fridge that were, well... needing to be used up. And not wanting to waste anything…

I dove in and made my first batch of pesto …

The busy summer can have you constantly running from this to that, right? 

And it is hard to find time to slow down and do something spontaneous.

I understand. I’m a farmer and full-time mama.

But, who doesn’t love slowing down to enjoy the beauty of nature and picking some gorgeous flowers along the way?

I know that I always find joy in picking flowers. Even just a small handful. Something about being outside …

Do you ever have a fridge full of veggies and no idea what to do with all of them?

Well, that happens to me at least a couple of times a week!

I'm incredibly blessed to live on a farm that produces year round organic veggies and because of that there are always veggies (mostly seconds that can't be sold) flowing into my fridge.

It's my job to make something that everyone will eat out …

Eat more veggies that's what it's all about, right?

Or grow more flowers for yourself and the bees?

But what about when the deer haven't gotten that memo?

What about when they come in and take big bites out of everything you've worked hard to plant including your tomato plants, your lettuce, and sunflowers?

That's what I'm here for today. To help you outwit the deer.

Because believe me do we have experience in doing …

Do you know what plant I'm talking about? Or are you skeptical?

Yes, I guarantee you that this spring green can be found in your yard.

In fact, they can be found on every continent in the world, except for Antarctica.

Traditionally they have been valued for their edible and medicinal properties.

But today they are often widely disparaged as incorrigible, tenacious, stubborn. Some even curse them because they invade lawns, fields, and even between …

Some of the most common questions we get are:

How do you deal with pests on your organic farm?

How to deal with the cucumber beetles that come every year and destroy my plants before they can make fruits at all or very many?

Why do my radish leaves always have so many holes in them that they don't do much on the root part?

I don't like getting worms in my cauliflower/broccoli/cabbage. What do …

Do you have eggs coming out of your ears this time of year?

Or do your neighbors?

What about the the farm down the (muddy) road?

Yep, it's that time of year! The sunlight has come back and backyard chickens are in full production.

Our 5 year old daughter is in charge of getting the chicken eggs every day and counting them. She reports up to 17 eggs some days now!

Which is awesome! Because …

As a CSA member, we know you like to try new things and expand your horizons with vegetables.

So do we.

Heck, one of our very favorite things to do as farmers is PICK what we're going to grow in the coming season.  

Yep, the farm crew spent many of the cold, wintry days in early March holed up inside the farmhouse, noses in seed catalogs debating the merits of this variety or that variety.

If you're …

Hi!  It's Mary Margaret here.  I'm so excited to bring you this special guest post by Ripley Farm's Assistant Farmer Hannah Johnson! 

She's our "garden anywhere" girl, and she's about to show you how easy it is to grow the fresh organic veggies and flowers of your dreams even if you don't have garden space.  Read on and let her personal experience, tips, and success growing in containers guide you to your own...

Have …