// BLOG
Secrets of the Farmers’ Market
July 23, 2009
Sara Lipka is an intern for The Farm At Sunnyside and has been contributing to The Atlantic Food Channel on a regular basis about her experience. Previously, Sara was a reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education, in Washington, D.C.
Strolling through the farmers’ market used to be my Sunday ritual. Crops, neighbors, a busker or two; it all felt timeless. Now I like to say that I went one day and never came back–just got on a truck back to a farm. That’s more or less true, but I do go back–to the other side of the market stall. Our farm sells at two weekly markets in Washington, D.C.: Sunday morning in Dupont Circle and Thursday afternoon in Penn Quarter. And let me tell you, going as a grower is a far cry from my old slide-on-the-flip-flops-and-scuff-down-Q-Street…
To read the entire post, please visit The Atlantic Food Channel.
When Rain Falls on Cherry Season
July 14, 2009
Sara Lipka is an intern for The Farm At Sunnyside and has been contributing to The Atlantic Food Channel on a regular basis about her experience. Previously, Sara was a reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education, in Washington, D.C.
In a drought, you can irrigate. But in a deluge, what are you going to do, hold an umbrella over your farm? Like much of the East Coast, Rappahannock County, Virginia, sloshed through the spring. By June we’d pretty much stopped checking the forecast. Six and a half inches of rain fell during the month, about 25 percent more than in each of the last two Junes. According to our closest weather station, last month was a washout; from June 3 till the summer solstice, it rained every day but two. Good thing the cover of our Mid-Atlantic Orchard Monitoring Guide is laminated…
To read the entire post, please visit The Atlantic Food Channel.
The Joy of Farm-Fresh Cooking
July 3, 2009
Sara Lipka is an intern for The Farm At Sunnyside and has been contributing to The Atlantic Food Channel on a regular basis about her experience. Previously, Sara was a reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education, in Washington, D.C.
Food cravings don’t usually involve escarole. At least mine never used to. But so many vegetables springing up all over the place can get in your head. On the way back from a dusky run last week, I had a single thought: escarole. We’d been harvesting dozens of heads of the bitter chicory green, with its stiff, ruffled leaves, and I’d tried them both raw and stuffed with ground lamb. My favorite dish came recommended by a customer at the farmers market, who said he lightly wilted the leaves in olive oil, then drizzled them with honey. Wow….
To read the entire post, please visit The Atlantic Food Channel.
Fresh Food: A New Farmer’s Reward
June 22, 2009
Sara Lipka is an intern for The Farm At Sunnyside and has been contributing to The Atlantic Food Channel on a regular basis about her experience. Previously, Sara was a reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education, in Washington, D.C.
So you do, in fact, reap what you sow. Eventually. The elaborate labors in between make that harvest possible. In my second week on the farm, I learned, for example, to thin beets. Tiny beet seeds tend to cluster, so plants spring up in mini jungles that won’t give anyone room to grow. Thinning means crouching–or, when your back aches, crawling–through baby beet beds to pluck out all but the healthiest plants, four fingers’ width apart…
To read the entire post, please visit The Atlantic Food Channel.
Getting to Know the Farm
June 11, 2009
Sara Lipka is an intern for The Farm At Sunnyside and has been contributing to The Atlantic Food Channel on a regular basis about her experience. Previously, Sara was a reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education, in Washington, D.C.
During her first week on the farm, the author marvels at asparagus, peas, and a plant she meets for the first time: the scape. Despite rain, poison ivy, and ticks, she finds herself relishing farm life for the opportunity it gives her to enjoy fresh food and reflect on the puzzles of agriculture.
To read the entire post, please visit The Atlantic Food Channel.
About The Farm At Sunnyside
Located 70 miles west of Washington, D.C., The Farm At Sunnyside grows certified organic fruits and vegetables for sale locally. Learn moreVisit Us in Washington, DC
Michelle Obama was The Farm at Sunnyside's first customer at the new White House farmers' market she officially opened last September. 
CNN reports on The Farm At Sunnyside's organic practices, environmental stewardship and participation in the local foods movement. 
The Farm at Sunnyside is accepting new members for our on-farm CSA program. For more information, see