Destiny and Vegetables at a Connecticut Farm, July Vol. I

Dear Mad Hatters,

Mad Hatter Farm is located in the beautiful town of Falls Village, Connecticut.  Our town has many good things to recommend it:  an historic library, a terrific breakfast and lunch joint (Toymaker's Cafe), and a big waterfall called The Great Falls.  We moved here by chance.  We had been looking for a property to farm and after 8 months of looking up and down New York and Connecticut, this property had the right combination for us of land and house.

I mention all of this because the other day I was talking to one of our babysitters, and she asked how we ended up in Falls Village.  And I started to tell her all about our property search and yaddah yaddah yaddah.  And then I realized,  maybe we didn't pick Falls Village.  Maybe Falls Village picked us.  This is the kind of small town that for most people only exists in fantasy.  This is the town where you walk into to Town Hall and the town clerk is a member of your CSA and the tax collector wants to compare gardening notes.  This is the town where the librarian lends you her personal copy of the british edition of "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest" (Stieg Larsson) before the US edition has come out.  This is the town when at the exact moment you realize you are desperate for farm help, the kid from down the road shows up and asks for work.  It is almost like magic. Like you've finally arrived in the right place at the right time.

And all of this, of course, made me think of our dog Seve.  Seve was born in Delavan, Wisconsin.  And the day we went to "just look" at the puppies, Seve came over and sat down on my shoe.  And we played with him for a while, and then we went to go see some of the other puppies.  And Seve followed us and sat down on Jeff's shoe.  So we played with him some more, and then tried to leave him to see his brothers and sisters.  And Seve came after us and wedged himself in between Jeff and me, and curled up at our feet.  We always tell people, we didn't pick Seve, Seve picked us - I guess he liked the way our shoes smelled.

Magic is happening at the farm.  This week at the Ridgefield Farmers Market, Mad Hatter Farm will have:

Gourmet Lettuce Mix

Cardinale Head Lettuce

Arugula

Radicchio

Zucchinis:  Green, Goldy's, Scallopini, French Round

Snap Peas (the very last ones)

National Pickling Cucumbers

Purple Kohlrabi

Green Onion

Garlic

Beets

Free-range eggs from Ruwet Farm in Torrington

Hope to see you there!

Alix and Jeff