Thursdays, May 22nd, May 29th, June 5th, and June 12th the Master Gardeners will have representatives on hand at the Farmers’ Market from 2 P.M. to 6 P.M. to answer any gardening questions as well as testing your soil. If you would like to have your soil tested follow the easy steps below.

HOW TO TAKE A SOIL SAMPLE
1.) Select 5 spots from the area to be tested for pH — one from center, one from each corner area.
2.) At each location dig a hole 5-6″ deep using a hand trowel. THROW AWAY this soil.
3.) Using the trowel, make a thin slice along one side of each of these holes.
4.) Mix all 5 of these slices together. You should have about a cup of soil. Put in a clean disposable container.
5.) Label the sample with you name and what you will be growing in that area – lawn, vegetables, flowers, etc.

Thank you Westfield for the great response!
The first Farmers’ Market on May 15th was a huge success!

Farmers who attended included:
Stoney Creek Farm with breads, pies, cookies, other delicious baked goods, and jams and jellies.
Valley View Acres with honey and bee hive products.
White House Farm with perennials, annuals, herbs, accents, hangers, scented geraniums, and vines.
Twin Oak Farms with many tropical and unusual plants.
Zawalick’s Sugar House with maple syrup, maple candy, maple cream and maple nuts.
Chicoine Family Farm with their 100% grass fed beef.
Barnum & Buckley Farm with free range eggs, maple syrup, maple candy, an assortment of gift baskets, and plants.

Make sure to check the website each week to see highlights from the latest Farmers’ Market and find out what produce is being harvested each week.

The WBID and the Westfield Camera Club would like to thank all who submitted photos to our first “Faces and Places of Westfield Photo Contest”. The contest was a collaborative effort between the WBID and the Westfield Camera Club as a component of the “Windows of Westfield Project”.

For the month of May, the 75 entries we received will be displayed in the store fronts at 170, 142, 105, 94, 92, and 46 Elm Street as well as 30 Main Street. Abe Reisman, former president of the NECCC, was in town and selected three of the four winning entries. For the fourth award we are looking to the community to judge the “People’s Choice Award”. The winner will receive a $100 gift certificate to be used in any WBID member business.

            What we would like you to do…Pick up a Ballot Card at the Athenaeum, The Teapot Gallery, or Erin’s Own Irish Imports and then stroll down Main and Elm Street stopping at the gallery store fronts. View the photos and pick the one you like best!  Drop selected ballot card in the box at the Athenaeum, The Tea Pot Gallery or Erin’s Own Irish Imports. Votes will be tallied and winners will be announced at the Farmer’s Market on the Park Square Green, Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 4 pm.

A Farmers’ Market in Westfield…on our beautiful town green!
You are invited to join us every Thursday 2:00 to 6:00pm
on the Park Square Green from May 15th to September 25th.

Our goal is to support our local family owned farms and food producers and provide this wonderful opportunity to our community. Our farmer’s will be selling…plants, perrennials, annuals, tropical and unusual plants, herbs, accents, hangers, vegetables, fruit, organic veggies, honey products, maple products, grass fed beef, and delicious baked goods – assorted breads, sweet breads, fruit pies, cookies, whoppie pies, cinnamon rolls and homemade jams & jellies from Stony Creek Farm!
Be a local hero and join us in supporting local agriculture!