Grow Local: Salisbury Farm Strawberries
Friday, June 11, 2010
Above all else, June is strawberry season in Rhode Island, and because of the warm, wet spring this year the season actually started a little early. So if you want that once-a-year experience of picking fresh, bursting with sweet-tart flavor strawberries right off the vine, you should be heading to Salisbury Farm in Johnston this weekend. Situated on Plainfield Pike at almost the intersection of Johnston, Cranston and Scituate, Salisbury Farm is run by the fifth generation of the Salisbury family, with members of the sixth and seventh generations actively working too.
Founded around 1840 as a hay farm and supplier of a nearby stagecoach stop, the farm became a dairy farm in the late 19th century. The current owners, Wayne and Lois Salisbury, have been running the farm for more than 25 years and were the first to plant all the produce the farm grows today, beginning with strawberry plants. They’re up to about four acres of strawberries, grown on raised beds, and are the first farm around to use an underground drip system for the strawberries. That all combines to make a very easy experience to walk between the beds and pick your own strawberries.
June shouldn’t be the only time you visit Salisbury Farm though. In September they have pick your own raspberries and October brings their pick your own pumpkins, along with hay rides and their Corn Maze, the very first corn maze in New England. In between now and then there’s sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, lettuces, cauliflower, broccoli - an abundance of great produce from their 34 acres. They sell on the farm and also at the Providence Armory Park Farmers Market (now open) and the West Warwick Arctic Village Farmers Market (beginning Wednesday).
But don’t wait too long or you will miss the strawberries. Wayne told me this was one of the earliest years for the strawberry crop and that many people weren’t ready for it. The season only lasts about 3-5 weeks so get over to Salisbury Farm and stock up. I love fresh strawberries like these just the way they are, maybe with some sugar to cut the tartness. But if you’d really like to dress up your strawberries for dessert, try this week’s recipe. I’ll even spoon up a little bit of the leftover strawberry-sweetened-wine liquor.
Red Wine Strawberries
Ingredients:
375 ml (1/2 bottle) red wine (something with a little spice, maybe a Zinfandel or Malbec)
2 Tbs honey
4 Tbs sugar
½ teaspoon lemon zest
fresh ground black pepper
1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced
Procedure:
In a bowl, place everything but the strawberries, whisk until well combined. Add strawberries and toss to cover. Refrigerate for about two hours to steep.
Salisbury Farm, 11 Peck Hill Rd, Johnston, 942-9741, www.salisburyfarm.com
Photos David Dadekian
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