09.01.10
Posted in Projects at 10:14 pm by Farmer
About a month ago, a few folks here in my little community of Spring Creek, were selected as a “Food Cluster” to represent Slow Food at the Terre Madre event in Turin Italy.
Being a small farmer, there is not much money earned annually to fund a trip abroad, so our little cluster of farms is having a fund raising event to send us all to Terre Madre. About a month ago our Spring Creek Food Cluster met with Slow Food Asheville and they suggested we have an event for 200 – 250 people. That seems like feeding a lot of people too me and I am STRESSING OVER IT!
To make this event a little less stressful, Mark Rosenstein, who has operated the Marketplace Restaurant for over 30 years featuring local food, has agreed to take on the challenge of helping us organize and plan this event. HE IS AMAZING IN AGREEING TO HELP US!
Mark is calling this event “Mountain Fire” and here is his proposed and completely made from scratch menu featuring local ingredients from the farms in our food cluster. PRETTY COOL BUT STRESSFULL promising veggies when mother nature has the final say in what will grow and what will not grow thus what our farm will actually be providing versus what our farm has promised to provide.
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08.31.10
Posted in Projects at 5:49 am by Farmer
Notice the chicks are starting to have wing bars!
The pigs are HUGE and love Cantaloupes. They also love our ferminted corn and can't seem to get enough of it. Too bad the succession we are harvesting today isn't ferminted.
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08.22.10
Posted in Projects at 7:51 am by Farmer
Diane, who makes us feel good each week by helping us to stretch our overworked bodies with yoga, made this beautiful pie with our veggies!
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08.04.10
Posted in Projects at 7:32 pm by Farmer
One thing about being self employed is that you make up your own job title. ‘Healthcare Practitioner’ has been the job title we have given ourselves for the last few months. We think of ourselves as this because for half of the year, we provide folks in our community with a box FULL of veggies, which they should eat in one week, so in our opinion we are helping them with their long term healthcare. We hear so many stories of folks not being able to eat the entire box of veggies in one week which is astounding to us. We can eat a bunch of kale, steamed, perhaps with a little chopped ginger and garlic, just as an appetizer. In addition, we can eat a
Grilled Eggplant Sandwich, requiring each a pound of sweet peppers, onions and eggplant, The peppers and eggplant are grilled with a little olive oil and garlic. All this, plus basil, on a sandwich which is a meal for us. (Perhaps that is why I am not very thin.) I do know that since we live in a remote area we are not apt to eat out much which is probably another reason for us being able to eat more fresh veggies than most people.
I think in particular that the CSA program encourages eating unprocessed food because when folks get a box of produce, that they have already paid for, they feel inclined to eat the entire box so they are not wasteful; thus encouraging the consumption of more unprocessed food in their diet.
I do believe that eating fresh and unprocessed food must start when one is young because by the time you are my age (right around 50) it is a little too late in life to correct all the problems that processed food creates. My belief is a “gut feel” because research doesn’t show what illnesses are caused by regular consumption of processed foods over decades. This is probably in part because research is funded by the big companies that are so kind in bringing and promoting processed foods in our diet.
President Obama and Michelle, if you are reading, how about a portion the Agriculture and Healthcare budget be established for CSA subscriptions so that people who typically can’t afford veggies, will be apt to eat more veggies! Sounds like good use of our farm subsidies.
I love the “Chef to school” program that Michelle is spearheading. That can make all the difference in what one finds “tasty” at young ages. I do think that processed foods, full of salt and sugar, can definitely create a situation where folks after continuously eating these kinds of foods, won’t find the flavor of a raw tomato, raw summer squash, or bok choi tasty.
This weeks CSA Share with the photo complimentary from Sabrina. This is actually the first time we have photographed our CSA Share in the 10 years of delivering shares. We must take more photos in the future!
A family that receives this share will need to eat the following in one week: 1 lb of lettuce, 1/4 lb of basil, 1/4 lb of parsley, 4 rainbell bell peppers (2 red, 1 yellow, 1 orange totaling roughly 2 lbs), 1 green pepper, 1 cantaloupe, 1 - 1/2 lbs of Red Gold Potatoes, 2 lbs of onions (mix yellow, red and white. Some bad spots must be cut out of the white onions), 6 ears of corn, 2 - 1/4 lbs of tomatoes (mix of slicing and cherry tomatoes), 1 - 1/2 bulbs of garlic, eggplant (weighing from 1 - 1/2 lb up to 2 lbs), 1 lb of Yellow Squash and 2 serrano chili peppers.
If one was to eat this box what would the nutrition be? So I thought that with my job title as “Healthcare Practitioner” I would list all the nutrients in the box. I really don’t have the time because it is much more complicated than my time permits so I will priortize growing some greens for fall rather than details of the nutritional value of the box. It seems as though most natural foods contain so many goodies one can’t go wrong eating seasonally! Below is an overview:
Parsley - contains iron, folate (for all those pregnant woman), calcium, protein, potassium, vitamin B6, phosphorus, vitamin C
Basil - contains iron, folate (for all those pregnant woman), calcium, protein, potassium, vitamin B6, phosphorus, vitamin C
Lettuce - Romaine - contains iron, folate (for all those pregnant woman), calcium, potassium, vitamin B6, phosphorus, vitamin C
Tomatoes - vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin K, molybdenum, potassium, manganese, dietary fiber, chromium, vitamin B1, vitamin B6, foliate , copper, vitamin B3, vitamin B2 , magnesium, iron, vitamin B5, phosphorus. vitamin E, tryptophan, protein
Onions - contains iron, folate (for all those pregnant woman), calcium, potassium, manganese, phosphorus, vitamin C, Selenium
Potatoes - contains iron, folate (for all those pregnant woman), calcium, potassium, manganese, phosphorus, vitamin C
Cantaloupe - dietary fiber (so do all the above veggies), niacin, vitamin B6, contains iron, folate (for all those pregnant woman), vitamin C
Rainbow Bells - vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin B6, folate (for all those pregnant woman), vitamin K
Green Bell - vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin B6, folate (for all those pregnant woman), vitamin K
Sweet Corn - vitamin B1, folate (for all those pregnant woman), vitamin C, vitamin B5, phosphorus, manganese
Yellow Summer Squash - manganese. vitamin C, magnesium, vitamin A, dietary fiber, potassium, copper, folate, vitamin K, phosphorus, omega 3 fatty acids, calcium, iron, protein
Eggplant - dietary fiber, potassium, manganese, copper, vitamin B1, vitamin B6, folate, magnesium, tryptophan, vitamin B3
Serrano Peppers - protein, capsaicin
Garlic - calcium, phosphorus, Selenium, vitamin C, vitamin B6
It is amazing… Almost everything contains Vitamin C - if you eat this box no need for vitamin C supplements. It also contains iron which vitamin C helps the body to absorb the iron. It also contains protein. One might need to consume a little eggs or meat each week to add in vitamin B12. Almost all these veggies contain protein! COOL.
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07.18.10
Posted in Projects at 6:48 am by Farmer
Thursday is our favorite farm day of the week all because of Diane! Diane is our yoga instructor who comes to the farm to lead us through an hour long special session geared specifically for farmers. She takes our “season” into consideration so that she can have us stretch those parts of our body that have been overused since her last visit. This past week we have been harvesting beans and onions so she had us do some yoga stretches that would help our thighs and lower backs. (I really can’t remember all the body parts that we stretched, she tells us, but it just doesn’t register in my brain memory.)
After yoga I feel like a new person. Diane is so special, because we are an hour out of town, so it would be nearly impossible for us to drive to town for yoga, which is why it is a blessing to have her come out to the farm. I need to take some initiative and begin doing some yoga on days other than Thursday.
Thursdays Yoga is our favorite farm day! Diane in front and us in the back following her! Photograph compliments from Sabrina.
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07.11.10
Posted in Projects at 7:20 am by Farmer
One thing about the lack of rain is that we think our yield for our onions is the best in a couple years. We didn’t harvest gigantic onions like we have in years gone by but the Candy onions are delicious and they are, for the most part, consistently sized.
On Thursday we harvested around 1500 – 2000 lbs of onions that are now on drying racks and we are hoping for non humid weather like we have had the last couple weeks so they cure out nicely. We won’t know the exact weight until we pull them down because once they have cured they will be a little lighter in weight.
We are also irrigating. It has been hot and dry here in the mountains so we have been running our irrigation every couple days. Our humidity level has been unusually low so our crops aren’t getting any moisture from overnight dews. We try to have lettuce for our CSA each week, and to keep the lettuce from bolting and also so it is a little less bitter flavor in the heat, we like to give it the much needed moisture. In addition, the corn loves water and needs about an inch each week.
Look at our overhead irrigation! It is such an amazing sight to see all the sprinkler heads raining on the crops. My photo does not do it justice.
The question from everyone is when will the corn be ready? Corn, like tomatoes, tastes so much better when eaten just after harvesting! It definitely ranks up there with tomatoes as something that should be eaten seasonally and only when it is fresh from the garden or area farms. We think the corn will be ready in a couple weeks. It has tassels and it is beginning to form ears.
Our first succession of corn. It has tassels and the ears are forming. We are praying that it forms decent ears for our CSA and tailgate market customers.
WATERMELON CROP FAILURE. Our watermelon plants just plain died a week or so ago. We think due to it being too hot in our greenhouse. We only have a single layer of plastic and the only ventilation are the sides which we rolled up. For the past 3 years the crows ate all the watermelons in the fields. We will keep trying because we really want to figure out how to grow watermelons here in Spring Creek. Do we shoot all the crows are learn how to grow them in a greenhouse?
Cute Harmon! We call him "Lover Boy" because he just loves people. He especially loves Sabrina and every time he sees her he gets so EXCITED because he knows he will get some good lovin from her.
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06.24.10
Posted in Production Gap, Projects at 7:21 am by Farmer
Carl is back home (THANK GOODNESS) and last week he was able to connect our drip irrigation, and then after drip irrigating our crops for a few hours (these crops being peppers, basil, eggplant, winter squash and melons), it rained almost an inch that evening! In addition, he figured out why our irrigation was not watering all our runs while he was gone. I left an end cap off one of the irrigation runs so the system wasn’t building up enough pressure. We figured this out because I stayed by the tractor while he walked the lines and it was a big learning lesson for me because I just assumed we had too many lines/sprinkler heads connected to our irrigation system. We are pushing water approximately 75 feet in elevation for a distance of 600 feet in 4 inch pipe for our “mainline”. Then, connected to our mainline, we have 5 runs of 3 inch pipe for our distribution runs - all approximately 300 feet long - with approximately 7 sprinkler heads spitting out water on each run. It is simply a miracle to see the tractor/pump push that much water up into the fields.
Now it has been over a week since we last had rain and thankfully our sweet corn got the much needed precipitation for it to flourish. We are not yet sure if our corn will form tasty ears for our CSA and market customers because it is teaseling a little early. We hope and pray that in a couple weeks we can provide our CSA with sweet corn.
I am thankful that Carl is back because that allowed us to dig our garlic so it can begin curing. Most of our garlic looks pretty good this year and I think we will have plenty of good quality garlic for market sales and for the CSA! In addition we dug our first bed of red potatoes, the variety being “Red Gold”, and they are lovely and delicious.
It is unusually hot here in the mountains and being in our little singlewide trailer is probably similar to being in a sweat lodge. So last night we grilled out rather than heating our house up further with a little oven/stove action and let me tell you we had a fabulous dinner! We grilled bulb fennel, yellow squash, eggplant, zucchini, a foil package of beets and new potatoes, and Italian sausage from Spring House Meats. We marinated the fennel/squash/eggplant in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, white wine, fresh garlic, salt and pepper.
Summer just doesn’t get any better than grilling out!
Our house the "sweat lodge" during the summer. We decided to farm rather than have a nice house. Not sure why. Someday we are gong to build us a nice house.
PRODUCTION NOTE TO SELF: Need some “fluff” in our CSA Boxes for the end of June/July. Our boxes were valued a $29 this past week but they didn’t look full without greens. Ideas are fennel, more beets, swiss chard. Our swiss chard is not growing in this heat. To harvest enough for everyone we would need a “Summer Succession”. Seed beans earlier.
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06.20.10
Posted in Alvin, Projects at 8:47 am by Farmer
Carl went to Maryland to be with his mom because she just went through brain surgery for hemorrhaging in the brain. Over a month ago, she tripped over a chair in her house, and went to the hospital then and they did CAT scan and an mri (I think). They thought she was fine but she must have had an injury in her brain that didn’t heal and kept bleeding. This is the downside to being on coumadin (aka rat poison). THANKFULLY she seems to be recovering from surgery and becoming more cognoscente each day; however, we need to figure out where she will live as she can no longer live on her own. It is a big deal making these type of decisions for someone else. These decisions not only affect Carl’s mom, but also us since we will probably be one of the caretakers.
I’m here on the farm. Thursday night I went out to irrigate discovering that the freak storm last Monday blew a tree down right on our irrigation intake pipe crushing it. Friday I called Alvin to see if he could advise me as to the best way to saw this tree and he went and got his dozer and pulled the tree out of the creek. The pipe is ruined.
A tree blew down crushing our irrigation intake pipe! No irrigating until I solve this problem and our crops need water.
Saturday afternoon Alvin helped me rig up our irrigation using his intake pipe. We have all the irrigation connected and all lines were watering except for a few clogged sprinkler heads. I turned the tractor off to unclog the sprinkler heads with plans on irrigating around 8 PM so that we have less evaporation. Saturday night when I came back out the tractor wouldn’t start.
Now I am in the process of trying to figure out how to pull the tractor that won’t start out of the way so that I can irrigate using our other tractor. I am the only one on the farm today so this may be a little difficult. We have had an entire week without rain that is NOT GOOD for our CROPS!
Alvin with his dozer pulling the tree out of the creek. I want a dozer! Can't afford one.
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06.15.10
Posted in Projects at 6:48 pm by Farmer
Just yesterday, Carl and I had just finished weeding some bulb fennel and flowers, after which we went up to our trailer around 6:45 PM, when the sky suddenly turned very dark. I was outside petting Kaiser (who is our NOT livestock guardian dog) when I said to Carl that the clouds over Bluff Mountain are very dark. So Carl went to his computer and checked weather that had a WARNING for “SEVERE THUNDER STORMS AND HIGH WINDS AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 70 MPH”. So Carl and I literally ran down to our greenhouses (interesting since we are 50 years of age) to close up our greenhouses and gather row cover blowing around in the fields.
Our paper mulch, that we have layed between our beds of winter squash and pepeprs, and the paper mulch being held down by rocks, went flying everywhere! Our paper mulch is approximately 275 feet long covering 8 beds which is around 2200 feet of paper. (Some of the mulch is still down but most of it flew away.) This is the second time this season that the paper mulch, used to prevent the weeds from overtaking our squash and peppers, went flying in the wind. Carl said he is not laying down paper mulch again this year. Paper mulch worked last year. I guess we had less wind.
After rescuing our row cover from being blown into the trees, our greenhouse plastic nearly blew off on the tomato greenhouse because the wind was blowing apart the wiggle wire channel that was holding down the greenhouse plastic. Carl and I were holding down the wiggle wire channel so that it didn’t blow our greenhouse apart. Then Noah came and rescued Carl so that Carl could get his self tapping screws and impact driver. Sabrina then came to help Noah and I hold down the wiggle wire channel while Carl was off finding the tools. We SAVED the TOMATOES! THANKS BE TO GOD. I was praying the entire time that we would not lose our pepper and winter squash plants that have just recently been transplanted so they probably do not yet have strong root systems. I was praying that our tomato house would survive.
Noah offered to feed the pigs. Carl said he had enough of farming for the day and was very appreciative of Noah for feeding the pigs….
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06.10.10
Posted in Projects at 4:36 pm by Farmer
One of the many luxuries here in our valley is that there are not many “Safe Shine” lights, which those lights are provided by the electric company so they can earn money during non peak hours (wasting valuable fossil fuels), so our valley is GEORGOUS at night. On a clear night the sky is filled with a gazillion stars and planets which makes we want to spend more time at night identifying those amazing star formations other than the big and little dipper. From around the beginning of June until mid June the fireflies are out in mass trying to find a partner which to do their thing and procreate. It is an amazing site, one which we have been enjoying as we sit outside each night for the past week, and we look forward to this season each year!
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