Mitchell Farm Eggplant

Mitchell Farm Eggplant- 6" x 6", oil on board, Bridget Grady

Short Post as we start hunkering down before the perils of Irene.This weeks Farmers Market find comes by the way of the Mitchell Family Farm.The family uses organic growing methods and distributes most of their produce through the farmers markets and a few local grocery establishments.This lovely specimen was an ivory white when I first picked it up on Saturday, but has evolved into a much more interesting form and color as the days passed. I spent most of the beginning of the week out in the landscape so I didn't get to this until a few days ago. I'll be up at the Farmers Market with another artist friend of mine Ginger Hanrahan  tomorrow looking for inspiration. Ginger will be  one of the invited artists in  the show  based on local, sustainable farming we will be hosting at Blue Horse Arts. More on that later!

Check out Ginger's Site!
www.gingerhanrahan.com

Thank You France!

Thank You France! AND EVERYONE ELSE!!!! We are now over a thousand hits!Thought I'd share the view of Hemingway Pond from the studio today with everyone. It is amazing that this is right here in the middle of town and no one seems to be aware of it.This is a perfect place for a green-way or a board walk that would allow persons of all ages to connect with Nature.Perhaps a connection to the Siemon Company green-way across the street? Next to their parking lot.Hemingway Pond, behind the MRCO building as it called, is home to beaver,numerous ducks and geese, pair of great blue herons,snowy egret,common bittern,mergansers, kingfishers,turkey buzzards,hawk,deer,coyote, racoons,and a mink I caught a of glimpse of this spring. It is perfect for landscape painting year round, for this is all viewed from the window of the  studio.I'll be posting the  new landscape workshops soon on the Classes/Workshop page.

View from Blue Horse Arts Studio August 2011

  I watched our resident heron catch a good size fish before flying of to the other end of the swamp.

 Hemingway Pond Heron Flying August 2011

COURSES FOR FALL

Check out the new schedules and courses for fall on the Workshops/Classes page. A new "Young Naturalist" course has been added!

Dinebergs Farm Cabbage

Dinebergs Farm Cabbage, 8" x 10", Oil on Board, by Bridget Grady

Fresh off the easel!

(Caution Wet Paint ! -please pardon the glare!)

This week’s vegetable was kindly donated to me by Dinebergs Farm.  The Dinebergs Farm is a CSA farm in Canton, Connecticut, run by Karl and Kurt Dineberg. They come down to the Watertown Farmer’s market on Saturdays with their gorgeous produce. CSA’s, or for those of you unfamiliar with the acronym,(Community Supported Agriculture), provide a way for consumers to buy farm produce and products directly from the farmer. They do this by selling memberships or subscriptions to the harvest. Some farms actually deliver! It benefits everyone involved. The small farmers are assured that there is a market for their efforts and the buyers are provided with sustainable, locally produced, nutritious and tasty food products.

The Dineberg’s cater to “Locavores”. “Locavore” is a relatively new term that describes a type of eco-conscious consumer. “Locavores”, according to the Wikipedia definition, are persons “…interested in eating food that is locally produced and not moved long distances to market”. An environmental benefit of food that is locally produced is that it contributes to the reduction of carbon emissions. These emissions are the result of long distance travel of farm products to market. Along with the reduction of transportation emissions, supporting small farmers can help keep our food supplies safe and less dependent on industrialized farming. Industrialized farm practices contribute to climate change and water pollution by way of extensive dependence on fossil fuels for everything from fertilizer to transport. 

The Dineberg’s are also a great example of how one can participate in farming without buying the farm! The brothers run their business off of three leased acres in Windsor. There is a nice article by Sylvia Cancela of the Canton Patch,( see the link below) about the Dinebergs Farm with more extensive history on the origins of the farm.

Dinebergs Farm website - http://www.dinebergsfarm.com/

  

For more information on Community Supported Agriculture Check out these links

http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

In Connecticut - http://www.farmfresh.org/food/csa.php?gclid=CIGotLzP2aoCFcmG5goddF7eRg

Sylvia Cancela Article  - Canton Patch Link - http://canton-ct.patch.com/articles/farmer-chef-karl-dineberg

Gadgety Thingys

"Storkish", watercolor by Bridget Grady

To those of you who are familiar with my technological prowess you will be excited to learn of my recent inclusion of some gadgety thingys.
Over in the right hand column is a email updater thingy and below the posting a reaction button gadget.
This thingy lets me know you are out there with minimal effort on both our parts:).
So press the button!

Danny B's Excellent Vegetable

Danny B's Pear Squash , 6" x 6", oil on board  Bridget Grady

This week's vegetable comes by the way of the mad gardener Danny B. I ate the Strawberry Rhubarb pie from the Palette before I painted it. :) oops. Occupational hazard.

Dan grows heirloom and completely organic vegetables. He is also known for a seriously mean pickle. Dan is not technically selling at the farmer's market but he is part of an elite group of super cool people who just give their extra home-grown produce to their friends, family, and sometimes the soup kitchens. I'm glad we are friends:).Thanks Dan for the vegetables!

Don't forget to Stop and Shop at the Farmer's market today in Watertown!

Support your local Farmers and Artisans.

Percy's Pepper and the Melon Kali Flowers

Percy's White Heirloom Pepper, 6"x 6", oil on board - Bridget Grady

This week’s featured vegetable from the Watertown Farmer’s Market, comes by the way of the Percy Thomson Meadows Farm. It is an heirloom variety of white pepper. The Assard's of Bethlehem, Connecticut are carrying on and expanding of their grandmother, Bernice Assard’s roadside, garden stand. The “Gram’s Stand”, as it was affectionately known, has been reopened in honor of their grandmother at the Percy Thomson Meadows. According to their family farm website, Bernice Assard was well known in the community for her knowledge and skill in gardening and home food production. Luckily for her family (and us!) she has passed down these essential arts to her grandchildren. The Gram’s Stand is now located at their farm on 84 Sunny Ridge Road Bethlehem, CT., providing fresh produce and farm made products.

Additional info on Percy Thomson Meadows can be obtained by visiting their website  http://percythomsonmeadows.com/  or calling 203-266-5785

 Jay Foster

Jay Foster and Alex Alves

For those lucky enough to be in the vicinity of the Saturday farmers market this past weekend, one would have been witness to an uncommon daylight performance of the Melon Kali Flowers. (They usually bloom at night!) The watery trills of Jay Foster’s guitar could be heard interwoven on the breeze with the songs of the birds and the wakening hum of our small town, soothing the organic produce and calling forth the town’s people. An even rarer event was the sighting of the predominately nocturnal creature Alex Alves who entertained the vegetables with his morning gravel voice and lyrical humor.

If you happened to miss this diurnal performance you are still in luck. The Melon Kali Flowers will be performing for the Jayne Family Farm benefit held this Thursday evening from 7pm to 9pmat the First Congregational Church in Watertown. They will be performing with other area musicians who are supporting the event. Come on out!

Guitar and Music Instruction - Jay's Site www.jfostermusic.com     http://www.jfostermusic.com/

Walter's Peppers

Walter's Pepper's 2, 6" x 6", oil on board - Bridget Grady

Reminder that the Melon Kali Flowers will be playing in a few hours at the Farmer's Market.

Here is a  another view of Walter's Peppers. It's still pretty wet, so it's not that great of a photograph. My camera doesn't like thick, wet, juicy paint. It becomes a glare fest.

I'll be "picking" another subject from the farmer's stands today. Hope to see you there!

Melon Kali Flowers at the Farmers Market

Just a reminder to come out and support your local farmers,artists,and musicians at the Watertown Farmer's Market.
The Melon Kali Flowers will be entertaining you from 10AM to 12PM on the main stage:).
So get outta bed and come on down!

Harvey Kimmelman at Battel Stoeckel Gallery,Norfolk

Drawing by Harvey Kimmelman

Fellow Artist Harvey Kimmelman will be having a showing of some of his wonder life drawings, watercolors, and perhaps some fresco in Norfolk  starting next week.

The group show is sponsored by the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Yale School of Music.

It will be held at the Battell Stoeckel Gallery in Norfolk.

The directions state" follow signs on the Stoeckel Estate to the gallery from Route 44 and 272".

The opening is August 12th
5pm- 7:30PM

The show runs
August 12th,13th,&14th
Sat.13: 12PM-6PM
Sun. 14: 11:00AM-4:00PM
 

More info can be found at www.norfolkartistsandfriends.org.

Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Melon Kali Flowers

:) We here at The Blue Horse Arts are all about supporting sustainable endeavors and environmentally responsible actions that everyone can participate in. Food production,something we all are participating in one way or another, has a significant  impact on the environment. Industrialized farming practices are responsible for rapid deforestation, green-house gas emissions, water pollution,and the near extinction of the family farm.

Supporting your local Farmer’s Market can be a major step in promoting sustainable practices in farming, developing local economies, and  for just generally getting to know and support your community members. It’s also a lot of fun! This Saturday the Melon Kali Flowers,( Jay Foster and Alex Alves) will be entertaining a variety of vegetables and other life forms with their songster-ship. The musical event is from 10am -12pm. Come early for a great selection of fresh and organic produce, baked goods, and artisan wares.

 "Walter's Chilies' ", oil on panel, 2011-Bridget Grady

This week’s featured vegetable is from Walter’s vegetable stand.Walter MacDonald is both an artist and a grower and his farm is called Old MacDonald's Farm.Yep. E I E I O!

  

The Farmers market is organized tirelessly by Doreen Breen. For more information on the Watertown Farmer’s Market

Where?      Main street Watertown Connecticut at the Library

When?       Saturday August 6^th, starts at 10am-2pm

To find out more about the Watertown Farmers market and how you can participate  check out this link

 http://www.watertownct.org/content/10298/4225/7195/4232/15233/default.aspx

 To learn more about the effects of corporate agriculture on the environment check out the following links

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/mark_bittman_on_what_s_wrong_with_what_we_eat.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_pollan_gives_a_plant_s_eye_view.html