Get Your Greens

Chris Ryan is as enthusiastic about pursuing a career path in vegetable gardening (with wife and partner Kristina DiSanto) as his dog Ruley is about chasing a ball across the grass. Chris and Kristina’s Market Garden is chemical-free, and Ryan is eager to explain other farming methods they’ve chosen, such as aerating the top one to two inches of soil by hand (vs. rototilling) “to keep the biology alive and emulate nature.” Walkways are 18 inches wide, to give sufficient room for harvesting or covering the long, narrow beds.

The one-acre micro farm’s largest crop is baby greens, including lettuces, arugula, mizuna, Napa cabbage and tatsoi. The greens are cut when no taller than three to four inches; the rows are quickly covered with black plastic; they are then re-seeded within a few weeks. That sequence follows Ryan’s belief that since the first cutting has the most nutritional quality and flavor, he wants his customers to always have the first cuttings. Other plantings include eight varieties of hard neck garlic and many other veggies: squashes, peppers, tomatoes, onions, beans, potatoes, beets, carrots and more.

Ryan and DiSanto are pleased to be part of a South Kingstown Land Trust 17-acre parcel that is leased to several kinds of farmers.

Chris and Kristina’s baby greens are available at Belmont Market in Wakefield, and they sell all their seasonal produce options at Goddard Park, Fishermen’s Memorial Park and the South Kingstown Farmers Markets.

Find more at ChrisAndKristinas.com.