Saturday morning, I got up at 6:30am, put on a long sleeve shirt to face the first chilly morning (hard to believe it was over 100 degrees last week), and met Alice Miro for a bike ride. We navigated bikes out of the house, found borrowed helmets, and filled up on water, and successfully bypassed the broken elevator to get our bikes on the T. After winding our way through JP, we were thrilled to see a big group of 50 riders gathered close to the Franklin Park Zoo. Anticipation mounted as we signed release waivers and checked out our fellow riders’ t-shirt slogans (from MassBike jerseys to FarmAid concert tees to my favorite shirt urging everyone to “Eat More Kale”). Finally we were off on the Tour de Farms. Not quite as long a ride as the European namesake but still a solid 25 miles through neighborhoods on the south side of Boston.

Our first leg was a short 2 miles and took us to Revision House, where we toured their 2 greenhouses and admired their eggplants, basil and tomatoes. After hearing a bit about the farm’s history, their CSA and their farmers’ market from their farmer, Sarah Schwartz Sax, we tasted their fresh pesto, which was amazing! You can get it at their farmstand at 38 Fabyan St. in Dorchester.

Our second leg was 10 miles and let us all stretch our legs and appreciate the beautiful weather. We hit one big hill but all powered through it and were excited to arrive at Brookwood Community Farm in Milton. Judy Lieberman, the farm manager, told us how she’d started. Brookwood just got this land in March, planted an acre in April, and with just 3 staff and a successful volunteer day has a 10 member CSA, farmstand and stand at the Milton farmers’ market – so they hit the ground running! We tasted and rated 10 different kinds of heirloom tomatoes, from the husk cherry tomatoes that were the sweetest and least tart tomato I’d ever tasted, with a hint of a hazelnut aftertaste, to the juicy dark Black Krim, to the Sungolds that I love to eat by the handful this time of year. After admiring the farm and taking a bit of a break, we jumped back on our bikes and headed back north through Dorchester to The Food Project.

At The Food Project’s West Cottage lot, we were greeted by Sharon Reilly, Jen James, Danielle Andrews and Becky Nemec. We had Joan’s Gazpacho and Danielle’s Lemon Verbena tea while we heard about the history of the West Cottage lot and about the Summer Youth Program. We thanked all the sponsors, FarmAid and Hub on Wheels, and dispersed to enjoy the rest of the day (which several of us started by feasting at nearby Haley House Café).

Check out the pictures of the farm ride at http://www.hubonwheels.org/gallery2/v/FarmRide/. If you want to join another community ride, check out the schedule at www.hubonwheels.org - I’ve got my eye on the restaurant ride!