FARM NEWS ~ May 26, 2026

Hello and welcome back to Fort Hill Farm for 2026.  Spring is wacky in Connecticut, but April and May of this year were really in a class by themselves.  We’ve had nights down in the low 20’s within three days of highs in the 90’s.  Instead of April showers, dry and windy seemed to be the order of most days.  While the rain this past weekend dampened the Memorial Day holiday, we are grateful because on the whole the rains we’ve seen this spring have been pretty stingy, and we were long overdue for a slow soaker.  

Keila and Lydia tally the harvest of delectable cherry tomatoes this morning.

This was the first spring in a long time that we didn’t have a greenhouse building project going on, so we took the time to re-skin some of our older houses.  On bad weather days we were able to duck into greenhouses and plant tomatoes, peppers, carrots, fennel, lettuce, bok choy, sprouting broccoli, and escarole.  We’ve also produced thousands of garden seedlings, and will have a good selection of vegetable, herb, and flower starts through early June.  There is still plenty of time to plant! 

Early days of planting: Matt above, Faye and Lydia below

We’ve also made some new partnerships with farmers and local food producers.  This year we are excited to offer Bantam Bread at the Thursday farm stand.  Our son Luca has increased his flock of extremely well-loved hens, and we will also have eggs (and meat) from Hoadley Hills Farm in Kent and beef from Stuart Farm in Bridgewater.  We’re also happy to have honey from Peter Sadlon in Canaan, maple syrup from Ridgway Farm in Cornwall, yogurt from Cows around the Corner in Bethlehem, cheese from Cato Corners farm in Colchester, and coffee from Sacred Grounds in Sherman. We’re hoping the unique offerings from these hardworking producers’ make the farm stand downright irresistible!

Early tomato planting: Kolade above, Jim below

We did make a tough decision to pause attendance at the New Milford Farmers’ market.  We did this for two reasons.  First, we lost some experienced crew members last year and needed to focus more of our efforts on the farm.   Second, we wanted to create a schedule that allowed our crew to have two days off in a row during the growing season (what a concept!).  Thanks to all of you who have shopped with us on the green, and we hope that you will stop by the farm to see us, it’s just a short hop over the bridge to get to the farm, open on Saturday mornings (see below for full farm stand hours) and open to all!

It’s amazing to think that we started planning this season way back in November, and our crew has been plugging away to make it a reality since March 1 …. and finally, it is here!

Welcome back, we hope you enjoy the harvest,

Paul, Rebecca, and the Fort Hill Farm crew

Featured this week:

Spring Carrots:  one of our most popular veggies. It used to be our first carrot harvest was in July, but with careful planning, we are disappointed if we don't pull them in early May! These are our baby spring bunching carrots, sown in February, and sweetened by old man winter. We grow these early carrots in the greenhouse, which means we have to hand dig them and they are more costly to produce. Our goal is to have carrots throughout the season, as we transition to the field. To store 2 days up to two weeks, tear off the tops and place in a plastic bag in the fridge crisper.

Bunched Spring Spinach: Growing spinach in both the spring and fall seasons in CT has become a veritable minefield of numerous pests and diseases to the extent that germination acrobatics and weather mitigation techniques have become the new norm. Despite our best efforts, it can still be a heartbreaker – but not this week! We hope you enjoy this special treat.

Also available:

asparagus (farmstand only)

bunched carrots

head lettuce

salad mix

arugula

pea shoots

curly and lacinato kale (just coming in)

rainbow chard

red and French Breakfast radish

basil

cilantro

dill

fennel

kohlrabi

escarole

red beets

chioggia beets

baby bok choy

garlic greens

scallions

celery

radicchio (just coming in)

dandelion greens

sprouting broccoli (limited)

red and Sungold cherry tomatoes (limited)

Coming soon:

Chinese cabbage

Pick Your Own:

Stay tuned for the latest information from the Strawberry Patch!

Recipes:

Suggested by Rebecca Batchie

– Not into this particular recipe? For more recipes arranged by crop, check out the Fort Hill Farm Recipe Database.

Simple Spring Spinach Salad

By Lena Abraham

D R E S S I N G

1 garlic clove or 1/2 shallot, minced

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

S A L A D

5 oz. fresh spinach

1 apple, such as Honeycrisp, thinly

sliced

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1/3 cup crumbled feta

1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Directions

D R E S S I N G

Step 1

In a medium bowl, whisk garlic, oil, vinegar,

and mustard until emulsified; season with

salt and pepper.

Step 2

Make Ahead: Dressing can be made 5 days

ahead. Transfer to an airtight container and

refrigerate.

S A L A D

In a large bowl, toss spinach, apple, onion, 

feta, and almonds. Add dressing, toss to

combine, and serve immediately.

You can also find us at the

Westport Farmers' Market

 Thursdays* from 10 AM - 2 PM 

50 Imperial Avenue, Westport, CT

We will not be attending the New Milford this season, but you can come see us at the farm on Saturdays from 8 - 12:30.

FARMSTAND SUMMER SCHEDULE:

Tuesday, Thursday & Friday: 2 - 6:30 PM

Saturday: 8am - 12:30 pm

A few notes about coming to the farm:

• Please do not bring pets to the farm, as there is no shade in the parking lot.
• Please drive slowly and carefully while at the farm; watch for pedestrians, vehicles, and tractors.

See our Visiting page for details.