Dik Archer's personality shines through when you stop by his stand and start up a conversation. In his 50's he has decided to do only what he enjoys, and colors everything with a bit of humor.

Even the name of his farm – Groundsel's Westgarden – has a little story to make you smile. Groundsel is a fictional character from an English fairytale who is made out of vegetables. Dik uses Westgarden as the other part of his farm name just to distinguish it from his previous East coast farm, Groundsel's Garden. He also told me I probably know groundsel as one of those very common and invasive weeds in my garden, and I do!

As a transplant from Pennsylvania, Dik now farms in American Canyon, - about 20 miles west from the farmers' markets. Dik tried duplicating his farm stand concept that he set up in Pennsylvania at his new location in American Canyon but it just didn't work out, so the next step was to gain membership into local farmers' markets.
This proved to be very frustrating due to overlapping product with other farmers, but in 2009 he contacted and joined the CCCFM and found a home for selling what he knows best – pumpkins!

Groundsel's Westgarden now participates in the Martinez and Orinda markets where he has several different varieties of pumpkins and gourds for sale including jack-o-lantern pumpkins, large & small, Cannonball and Mystic sugar pie pumpkins, and Tiger striped little pumpkins. He also delves into some of the heirloom varieties such as the vibrant, mahogany-orange skinned, French Princess Pumpkin, Rouge Vif d'etampes – one of 10 varieties he grows that are available throughout the fall season.

Dik has had several different jobs throughout the years including a logger and lumberman, a reporter for a motorcycle magazine, a web designer and photographer, but he has come full circle back to his roots, in farming. Growing up in Kansas, his mother taught him to garden. In the 1980-90's he had a 10 acre farm in Pennsylvania and had a steady stream of customers at his farm stand, and sold fresh culinary herbs to local restaurants in Philadelphia, both developing those good relationships that he treasures.

He's always learning by trial and error, but in the long run he's learned that the pumpkins are the most profitable and least perishable crop for him. One of his most memorable errors was the first time he planted a pumpkin crop. The pumpkin seeds were planted in early April. The problem was, all the beautiful pumpkins were ready for sale in early August, not October …bad timing on that one!

What's in Season this month (weather willing):
Pears, dates, marigolds, apples, winter squash, artichokes, Brussels sprouts, carrots, frisee, lemongrass, walnuts, Valencia oranges, radishes, muscat grapes, strawberries, pumpkins, broccoli, mushrooms, almonds, persimmons, pomegranates, raspberries, romanesco, peppers, onions, lettuces, pastured beef, chicken, pork, tomatoes, potatoes, shelling beans, radicchio, sweet potatoes, root vegetables, celery, kale, cabbage, kohlrabi, wild fish

Winding down: Corn, cucumbers, peas, pluots, plums, figs, quince, okra, eggplant, blackberries, melons, basil

The Presidents Council for Fitness and Sports
President's Challenge

The President's Challenge is a program that encourages all Americans to make being active part of their everyday lives. No matter what your activity and fitness level, the President's Challenge can help motivate you to improve. www.fitness.gov.

Mt. Diablo Worm Farm from Martinez will be at the Sunday Martinez market this weekend.

Doc Merrill has a mission to educate you about the value in reducing garbage waste with composting worms. Red Wiggler composting worms (eisenia foetida) are different than earth worms.

Getting over the ewww factor…

It's garbage day tomorrow and like many of you I will once again haul out my overstuffed garbage and recycling bins to the curbside for pick-up.  Sometime before 8am several large trucks will pummel the road beneath them to pick up my trash and haul it away out of site, but should it really be out of mind?  It's sure not out of Dr. Daniel Merrill's mind, owner of a worm farm here in Martinez at Alhambra Valley Ranch.  Doc Merrill is on a mission to not only educate, but arm us with the tools we need to make 50% of our household trash virtually disappear!

Sure you have heard of composting, but have you heard the term "womery", probably not since Doc Merrill coined the term, as his wife pointed out, think of what a dormitory is to your college student, that is what a womery is to Merrill's red wiggler earthworms, it's where they live and work and boy do they ever work!  The concept is brilliantly simple, instead of throwing your household waste (all but plastics that is) into your curbside trash, deposit your refuse into your compost box and let the worms do the rest.  These miraculous creepy crawlies can digest just about anything and have it come out clean on the other end, not just clean in fact but earthworms will produce some of the richest organic soil you will ever find.  "Worm Castings" as this organic fertilizer is known, is a completely clean product that can be used in a 1/3 ratio to fertilize your flowerpots and indoor greenery.

Unlike traditional composting, wormeries can be housed indoors and compost is created in half the time.  Dr. Merrill produces kits that are suitable even for an apartment environment and can be kept discreetly indoors because space needed is minimal and there is no offensive order.  I think what surprised me the most about visiting the worms is the lack of smell. 

Come see Dr. Merrill at the Contra Costa Certified Sunday Farmers' Market starting October 17th.  A variety of items can be purchased including large and small compost kits with everything you need to get started, minus the trash of course!

It's Fall and Halloween Time

Watch for the release of the documentary
Bag It! the Movie (film trailer)
by filmmaker Suzan Beraza
Is there too much plastic in your life?

See what happens when an everyday guy starts looking into seemingly innocuous single use plastic bags and discovers genetically altering chemicals in his everyday life and ends up changing his whole outlook on plastics and the world. The subject matter is at times very serious, yet the film manages to maintain a light and accessible tone and includes interviews with scientists, business leaders and citizens.