Feature Member

Plato’s Harvest

Dave Purpura of Plato’s Harvest Organic Farm in Middleboro is a farmer with an attitude. His attitude is, “do what you like, like what you do and always try something new.” His attitude is paying dividends for his 60 CSA members as well as to the many folks who shop at the farmers’ market who want to feed their families nutritious, field fresh and organically grown vegetables and herbs.

In fact, Dave grows some of the most beautiful vegetables to be found at the Thursday market. His table offers a rainbow of choices each week: deep purple eggplant, bright green zucchini, sun gold tomatoes, rosy red radishes and a round variety of lemon yellow summer squash. His garlic is plump and firm, swiss chard bright and crisp and his tomatoes are rich and red. The fragrant Italian basil , lemon basil, purple opal basil and large lettuce leaf basil are all candidates to pair with the tomatoes as they begin to roll in from the vine. Dave is proud too of his zinnias and gladiolas which stand tall and bright in bouquets or by the stem.

The inspiration for Plato’s Harvest came from Dave’s two goats, Einstein and Plato, who can be heard relentlessly critiquing farm operations every time they are delivered new piles of weeds collected from between the crop rows. For a midday snack they would prefer the spent pea vines to the tough pigweed if you please. The goats do inspire Dave to keep weeding which he considers one of the more challenging tasks at the farm and also one of the most rewarding because in just short order you can see the results of your efforts.

When Farmer Dave was asked recently by a four year old CSA member what he does all day, he responded “I weed and feed, that’s about it.” Indeed Dave has a lot of mouths to feed in addition to the 60 families who signed on in spring for a share of each week’s harvest, including: 60 some odd chickens, 20 turkeys, 7 pigs, 5 lambs, 3 cows and of course Plato and Einstein, the two goats.

Whatever is left over he shares with his new wife Sasha and takes the rest to the Plymouth Farmers’ Market on Thursday’s and to the Harvard Square Farmers’ Market on Tuesday’s.

You can find Dave underneath his signature hat each week arranging gladiolas, piling up tomatoes and weighing garlic, onions and potatoes for happy customers. He may even offer a recipe or two if asked such as this one he rattled off recently: Chop up three baby cabbages after cleaning, sauté in a hot pan of olive oil till beginning to brown, sprinkle with a generous helping of chopped garlic and a grind of salt and pepper, cover the pan, turn off heat and let sit as you prepare the rest of the meal. The cabbage will have caramelized for a sweet and savory side dish.

Remember, Dave appreciates questions and conversation too. Ask him what it means to grow organically and what it involves, ask him what he thinks about rabbits (you may see a flash of Mr. McGregor when he answers.) After a long week with Plato and Einstein as his primary companions, he looks forward to all the friendly and hungry people who want to see what’s fresh from the field on market day. So stop by and say hi, you’ll be gad you did.

Thank you to Plato’s Harvest for all of your hard work and good food!

To reach the farm:
David Purpura
(508) 315-9429
platosharvest@yahoo.com