Frontier Farm

Dog days of summer 🌞

It’s no surprise that July is the busiest month on the farm. Planting, harvesting, weeding, irrigating, pest & disease management, planning for the fall, and of course, selling produce! Every aspect of farming has to be juggled in July. It’s exhausting and sweaty and stressful, but isn’t it all that we dreamed of in January? 🤍

Some scenes from the last several weeks:
1. Milkweed and perennial weeds blooming in the middle field.
2. Cassidy K & Mel absolutely crushing the weeds.
3. Thai basil thriving despite my neglect.
4. Homemade deer and rabbit deterrent: eggs, thyme, garlic powder, and lobster shells. This is our first attempt - fingers crossed.

Our farm stand will be open as usual for the holiday weekend! Swing by to grab your local essentials: farm fresh vegetables, gorgeous flowers, and delicious eggs!

❤️Thursday 2-6pm
🤍Friday 2-6pm
💙Saturday (July 4th) 12-4pm

Reminder that we are an honor system farm stand accepting cash & Venmo only.

Stay cool, stay hydrated, and stay safe! ✌️

The Barlow Farm Stand will be opening for the season this Thursday, June 18th 2-6pm. Located at 449 Westerly Bradford Road, Westerly, RI 02891, home of The Westerly Land Trust.

NEW for this season, we will have slightly expanded hours and be operating as an honor system farm stand.

Our NEW summer hours will be:
Thursday 2-6pm
Friday 2-6pm
Saturday 12-4pm

The NEW methods of payment we accept are:
Exact Cash
Venmo

A note on payment methods:

If you are new to Venmo: it is an app that can be downloaded onto a smartphone. Folks can connect their Venmo account to either a bank account, credit card or debit card. We will have our Venmo account displayed at the farm stand for a smooth checkout.

We are very sad to no longer be able to participate in the RI WIC & Senior Farmers Market Programs. Information for these programs and where to use these funds can be found at the RI Department of Health & RI Department of Environmental Management websites. We will also have printouts of this information available at our farm stand.

Any folks with a Frontier Farm gift card still kicking around should get in touch with us to discuss how to still use those funds even though we are now an honor system farm stand.

As always we plan to have:
Frontier Farm produce
𝙴𝚌𝚑𝚘 𝚁𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜 bouquets
Ever-Breeze Farm eggs
WesterBee honey

Just a reminder that the first few weeks tend to have a smaller variety as we begin harvesting for the season. New things are being harvested each week, so visit us often for a diverse selection.

During the winter, we spend a lot of time reflecting and reviewing to plan for the next year. We take into consideration everything we can to make the necessary changes needed to ensure we not only have a successful growing season, but also a sustainable business model. After 6 seasons of running a “full-service” farm stand, we broke down all the labor involved and found that we could shift 261 man hours from the farm stand to the field for the season. That is a HUGE amount of time that could be spent caring for our crops, the soil, and the surrounding ecosystem. While we absolutely LOVE connecting with our community members each week at the farm stand, we just couldn’t ignore that number and knew we needed to make the change.

As a small business, it’s difficult to make these kinds of decisions because we know they don’t just affect us, they affect those that support us. We greatly appreciate the folks who are able to make the shift with us and completely understand the folks who can’t. We plan to have all the same wonderful offerings with the same high quality and variety you’ve come to know and love. Our hope is to be able to spend the time caring for our crops in a way we haven’t been able to before to produce more consistent, high quality food for our community, all while caring for the land and ecosystem to the best of our ability.

Thank you all for your continued support of our small family farm! It truly means the world to us and we couldn’t do what we do without you!

Here’s to another wonderful season!

Oh, we’re so back!

1. Trialing early snap peas in the unheated portion of the propagation house. So far so good!
2. The seedling tray shuffle begins. We’re seeding every week until late August to keep a steady supply of food coming out of the fields into the winter.
3. Smothering fall covercrop to get our no-till beds ready for planting.

Happy Spring!

Just a reminder that our 2026 CSA program is open for sign-ups. A big thank you to all who have already signed up - we’re about half way full!

The term “CSA” stands for Community Supported Agriculture, also referred to as a farm share. Your upfront monetary investment will be put toward the early-season costs of operating a sustainable, diversified vegetable farm. In return, you will receive a share of locally grown, seasonal vegetables each week for the duration of the summer.

All of the details about the program, including how it works, what to expect, and how to sign up can be found on our website (linked in bio).

Here’s to warmer days ahead!

For the 2026 season, we’re looking for 1 part-time farm hand to work with us on all aspects of the farm. The right candidate will be passionate about sustainable agriculture and the environment, willing to learn, and enjoy working hard outdoors. Farming experience is greatly appreciated, but not required. This position is seasonal and will run from April to late September/early October.

For the full job listing and to apply, please visit our website frontierfarmri.com (linked in bio).

Happy New Year!

As a transplant from Vermont, I think it’s safe to say that we’re having a proper New England winter! I know for some it may be an unwelcome sight, but I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the cold, snowy season. Without the structure of a modern indoor job, farmers rely on nature to create the structure. While we can (and do) work through a lot of unpleasant weather, snow and frozen ground create a physical boundary we simply cannot cross. It’s a nice reminder to stay in where it’s warm, prioritize the other kind of farm work (administrative), and above all, rest.

A large part of our wintertime farm work comes in the form of reflecting on our last growing season and how that will influence the next year. All year long, I keep a detailed notebook filled with what went well, what went wrong, and ideas for the next season, in addition to our regular seeding, transplanting, soil health, and field map spreadsheets. It’s not the most glamorous, photo-worthy part of farming, but it is by far and away the most important.

Before we know it, we’ll turn on the propagation house heater and sow the first seeds of the new year. From late February to early October, we’ll be totally beholden to our plants’ needs. Until then, I’ll be nestled in by the wood stove, planning and dreaming and scheming.

Our 2026 CSA program is now open for sign-ups!

All of the details about the program, including how it works, what to expect, and how to sign up can be found on our website (link in bio).

As always, we are so appreciative and grateful for your support! It’s because of your faith in us as your farmers that we are able to continue doing what we love - THANK YOU!