Fields of Calendars by Meagan

Living and working on a farm has a way of making the passage of time and the changing of the seasons very, very apparent. For so many years of my life “summer” was undeniably defined by the school year, beginning and ending quite abruptly on some predetermined date. And even after being out of school the rest of the seasons seemed to arrive unnoticeably until the day I suddenly discovered myself standing knee-deep in a pile of leaves or snow. Here on the farm though, we plant seeds, they grow, they feed us, and then they die. These cycles are our livelihood. But for so many months we just plant more seeds and focus our attention on a different part of the land for a while. It is dangerously easy to not care if a certain crop is done for the spring or the season, because nowthis is ready and that is producing and there really is only so much zucchini a person should be expected to eat in a year.

There are days when it is absolutely sweltering, and has been for so long that it is beyond the scope of human capability to truly remember what winter feels like. The thought of January in Chicago is like a foggy dream or remembering a memory that isn't your own. And then the air changes. At first it is a strange and wonderful respite. But as each morning feels a bit more brisk and each evening arrives a little sooner than the last I can't help but find it bittersweet. We are planting the last of the plants and as I was sowing cover crop seed the other day it really hit me: this bed is all done 'til next year. Since we arrived in April the landscape around us has changed from barren earth to verdant green to now the sea of sandy-colored corn drying on the stalks, a sight so quintessentially autumn it tugs at the heartstrings. I know that soon enough tomato sandwiches and salads fresh from the yard will no longer be my lunch. But I also know that processing vegetables in ice-cold water outside in late October really makes a person look forward to spending time indoors for a while. Curled up with a book and a blankie, a winter squash roasting in the oven, these are things I've come to savor as well.

-meagan

Beating the Heat by Joe

Lots of heat lately, and not much rain. In the old days, such a situation might have meant massive crop failure for a farm like ours. But contrary to some folks' opinion that small, pesticide-free farms are trying to revert to some romanticized, primitive form of agriculture, most of your locally focused family farms are in on the cutting edge of vegetable production. We survive this drought because we utilize water conserving, efficient technology, like drip tape, which slowly delivers valuable moisture, drop by drop, right at the base of the plants, where they can best suck it up with their extensive root systems and thrive. Many of our veggie beds are also covered with straw, which helps maintain moist soil so plants need less irrigation. Straw also chokes out weeds, adds organic matter to the soil as it breaks down, and promotes microbial and other life activity at the soil surface. All of which help contribute to long term land health and stronger, more resilient plants here at the Plot.
Hope you all are enjoying your summer squash and tomatoes lately. Those plants are just eating up all this heat and producing fruit like you wouldn't believe. Every week we're pulling hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of these two veggies out of the field, which, as you can imagine, can be back-breaking, especially when it comes to squash. And despite a bit of a tomato horn worm infestation on some of the heirlooms, the tomatoes look like they're gonna keep coming on strong for at least the next couple weeks. Some of the squash plants look beat, but that probably won't upset too many of us.
Elsewhere, we got some beautiful lettuce coming up, including a nice romaine for the first time this year. We direct seeded some spinach, arugula, and radishes for your autumnal enjoyment. And maybe, if we're lucky, we'll get a few different kinds of peppers out of the field before it starts to cool down too much.
joe

Brainstorm by Julia

“I realize that many of you would rather get a mammogram than eat another chard leaf.  Or get a poke in the eye over another squash recipe.”  That’s why this week I passed out notes at market about FREEZING.  I myself am not that great at putting up food for the winter—afterall I’m only really 3 winters into my farm wifery.  Getting pretty good at hanging clothes on the line, but that’s about it.  In ten years I’ll be playing banjo and canning at the same time.
We do have squash coming out of our ears.  So let’s brainstorm.  What can we do with these vegetables that just won’t stop?  Here are some exciting key words and phrases:
PICKLE IN A SPICY BRINE!
DIP IN HUMMUS!
GRATE INTO POTATO HASH!
ADD CURRY SPICES AND COCONUT MILK!
HOW ABOUT THESE OLD AND NEW FAVORITES:
            QUINOA
            LENTILS (try the red ones—they cook quick and are creamy and delicious)
            THAT CHEESE THE CHEESE GUY SELLS THAT YOU CAN GRILL
            GARLIC CHEESE SPREAD (great—from River Valley, the mushroom people)
            BACON….
Don’t forget to try a tomato in your peanut butter sandwich today,
Julia
PS  On the farm, mosquitos are much better.  New additions to the Monday Harvest Team, Tazio and Glen.  Thank you!

The Kids Are All Right

The Kids Are All Right
I (Julia) was appalled to read this story yesterday. Looks like all is well and good now, thankfully. The city took back its cease and desist order.
Seems us CSA farmers have a ways to go before “CSA” is a household word. -Julia
CSA home drop offs nearly plowed under by city rules
Posted by Monica Eng (Chicago Tribune columnist, Stew Blog)
A city investigator swooped into an Andersonville home Wednesday, on a tip that that folks inside were dealers.
 
The merchandise: locally grown organic carrots, cucumbers, green peppers, bulb fennel and garlic chives. Not to mention heirloom tomatoes.

The investigator from the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection mistakenly believed the family was selling the produce from their front porch, as a neighbor had reported in a complaint to 311.

But the family explained that they were just members of a community supported agriculture (CSA) club. Like thousands of Chicago area residents, they buy shares in local farms during the winter and spring as payment for boxes of fresh produce during the summer and fall. Members pick up their boxes during specified hours at homes, churches, farmers markets and even downtown’s Aon building this year.

But the business affairs investigator had never heard of this concept and slapped the Andersonville family with a “cease and desist” order and left.

The family called and e-mailed their alderman, Gene Schulter’s, office whose aides, in turn, e-mailed the business affairs office. An officer there sent a note back Thursday explaining mistakenly that “since food items are being sold, there should be a retail food license holder.”

Deb Hansen, the owner of Simply Wisconsin, the farm that runs this particular CSA, sent back a note explaining that CSA drop off points do not sell food. The officer then responded by citing ordinances that it is illegal to “warehouse” any goods in one’s home.

As late as noon today things were looking really bad for the dozens of Chicago area families who host CSA drop off points and the thousands who pick up from homes.

Then, in response to several Tribune inquiries, the clouds seemed to part and the DBACP issued the following statement:

“Our department responded to a complaint received through 311 that a residence was selling groceries from their front porch. On the 28th, an investigator issued a Cease and Desist order for operating without a wholesale food establishment license. Upon further investigation and in speaking with the supplier we have decided to remove the Cease and Desist order immediately.”

Bees

Our bees got a little too crowded in their hives and decided to move out! 

We still have thousands, though.

Beets In Public

Sometimes I eat in the country.  Sometimes I eat in town.
For those that don’t know, I hold an off-farm job still.  I often find myself doing errands along the shopping strip that defines a nearby town.  In the Target a couple of days ago, I sat in their café and opened up my amazing sandwich of beet spread and basil leaves.
If you’ve ever opened up a beet spread sandwich and tried to eat it in a public space before, then you will relate to the difficulty and near spectacle created by bright fuchsia and deep red blobs pouring out all over face and hands.   The fact that mung bean sprouts were toppling out everywhere, too, didn’t make things less conspicuous.  It felt natural and necessary to apologize to my onlookers while I quickly hid the evidence.
The above maneuver went over a little better yesterday at a different public sitting area.  I began by engaging a few nearby people in small talk and then explained the sandwich prior to unveiling it.
Beet juicing is even more of a bloody mess but worth it.
And, of course:
Equally alarming is the situation in the toilet, which is a perfectly normal bodily response.
-Julia

Meet Kale

Official Introduction:
Meet Kale.  Kale is one of our favorite crops for many reasons including taste, cultivar variety, nutritional value, and hardiness in the field.  This spring we were amazed that some of our kale plants overwintered.   We gave them no special attention last fall.  The first frost in November gave them an extra sweetness. Then after a couple of really hard frosts, the plants appeared to wither and die as the brutal cold crept in. In the early spring new plants miraculously emerged from the old stems.  They were smaller leaves on little mini kale plants, so kind of weird but miraculous still.  Eventually we plowed the bed to replant for this year’s vegetable crop.
We will be presenting 5 different kales to you as the season unfolds.  The green curly stuff is the kale you normally see in the grocery stores.  The same leaf with a purplish red color is “red curly.”  The finger-like leaves are on Russian kales, either white or red.  And, still growing in the field, look forward to the infamous Dinosaur Kale.
Unlike chard (beet family), kale is in the brassica family along with cabbage and broccoli.
The leaves of this plant are sometimes described as “tougher than other cooking greens” so many people use the leaves in soups or dishes that require long simmering.  It is true that the longer you cook kale, the more tender it gets.  Russian kale has a softer, more tender leaf than the standard curly kale.  Russian kale is especially good to sauté. Todd and I are fans of kale cooked all ways:  simmered in a little water or in soup, steamed, sautéed, juiced, raw in salads, and even baked. Baking kale can result in this yummy thing called Kale Chips.  The recipe is on our website along with a variation entitled Revolutionary Kale Recipe.  (You may also have heard its other name, Crispy Kale.)
If you are sautéing kale or eating it raw, consider chopping it into small pieces or strips. We have some customers who sneak kale puree and juice into their kids’ meals without them even knowing. 
Sesame Kale Salad
Remove kale leaves from stems.*
Chop kale into small pieces or strips.
Dressing:  Whisk together 2 parts sesame oil with one part apple cider vinegar or lemon                                     juice.  Add salt to taste (do add salt—it helps soften the leaves).
Drizzle dressing over kale and toss to coat.
Sprinkle salad with sesame seeds
Eat immediately or after chilling. 
*If you don’t like chewing on kale stems, you can always use them for a soup stock:  Boil alone or with other vegetables.  After boiling for a while, remove the stems.  Cool the water and freeze in containers for later use.
Another Introduction:
We often bring beets from Deer Creek, which is the farm that we share our booth with at market.  The beets are organic and grown with care, just like vegetables from Peasants’ Plot.  Jeff Franklin, the farmer of Deer Creek, started his farm the same year we started ours and we enjoy the camaraderie.  Why are the beets so obscenely large?  We wish we had his recipe.  The truth is that each farm’s soil is different and conducive to growing certain crops.  His soil is especially sandy (he is close to the Kankakee river), so his root crops can expand without restriction.
We have beets in the ground at The Plot, too, so do look forward to those.

The back side of veggies and market customers.  

No kale in this photo, just cuteness..

Tomato Freedom

OPERATION: TOMATO FREEDOM
Throughout history third parties have inserted themselves between sparring rivals, often to assist the weaker of the two. This effort on the third party is seldom made altruistically; it is made to attain resources, power, etc. We on the farm have recently been battling all kinds of forces in order to save the tomatoes, not just because we want them to have a long and enjoyable pest-and weed-free life, but because we dream of one day devouring their sweet, juicy goodness.
Right off the bat, tomato plants are pretty labor intensive compared to most crops. With all that trellising and all... My entire childhood my mother grew tomatoes. She would buy some plants, stick 'em in some cages, and pretty much call it good. But on a farm there aren't usually hundreds upon hundreds of tomato cages laying around, so you have to build something. And then affix tomatoes to said something, and then repeatedly make needed adjustments throughout the season as those babies grow bigger. So we built something, kinda. Then we laid some red plastic mulch to keep the beds weed-free, in theory, and planted seedlings into it. And then we kind of forgot about the tomatoes for a while... But hey, cut us some slack, we were focusing on plants that are either making food to be harvested right now or crops that would surely be lost without immediate attention. And gosh darnitt, before we knew it, the tomato hoophouse looked like this:

Specks of red plastic still visible, but a 4-foot solid sea of green. The aisle ways flush with weeds totally digging the Amazonian climate we've had as of late. We had no choice but to rip those gigantic jerks out by hand. Panicked at the thought that this very same thing could happen again if we dared to look away for a minute (or a month) we decided to permanently smother those weeds with a seemingly enormous amount of cardboard. We broke down and tore apart anything close to resembling a box and laid it down in the aisles. It actually looks kinda cool-

albeit unfinished. We were only able to scrounge up enough cardboard to cover 2 and a half of the 5 aisles. Alas, in times of war, some mission details are overlooked prior to engagement. And sure, we left half the aisles totally exposed, but at least we weakened the threat of total weed takeover.
Then as we were tidying up the few weeds that appeared here and there through any and every hole in the plastic mulch I noticed some strange, blackish, pellet-y stuff under one of the plants. I showed it to Todd, who said he wasn't sure, he'd seen it before and every time he panics and thinks its eggs or poop from tobacco hornworms, but he hasn't seen any hornworms so he doesn't think we have them. And then his eyes got real big and he said “YES WE DO! LOOK AT THIS *EXPLETIVE*!” And that was our first hornworm siting, about a week ago. Since then we have found more and more each day, and they are some beasts of destruction. Numerous plants have had much of their leaves stripped off, and many an unripened tomato has been chomped on. Look at the size of these guys-

They can do some serious damage. So they must go. So far, our plan of attack is to hunt them down following trails of poop/eggs or eaten plants, rip them off, and stomp on them.

War ain't pretty.
-meagan

 

Lactuca sativa

Lactuca sativa
I started several trays of lettuce plants today. New Red Fire and Two Star are our tried and true, slow-to-go-to-seed lettuce varieties that have been able to handle the extreme heat of this early summer. Some of you got some small Rossimo lettuces bundled together this week; they were small because if we would have let them go any longer in the field, they would have succumbed to the heat, felt it was their time to reproduce, and shot up a seed stalk (what we call “bolting”), rendering the leaves bitter and tough. But we wanted to share these tasty little red-leaved heirlooms with you before they gave up the ghost. In the weeks to come, expect to see larger heads of the two lettuces I planted today, as well as a nice romaine called Jericho that has been specifically bred to tolerate the heat. No promises, but I've seen Jericho heads hit the six pound mark on the scale (though no lettuce is gonna get that big in the heat of the summer).
We're trying to bring you the best lettuce varieties so you can enjoy beautiful salads and thick, fresh sandwiches throughout the year. During my farm journeys through three states, I've found that not many small farmers have the guts to grow cool-weather loving lettuce during the hot months (for the aforementioned problems of smallness and bolting). But the Peasants won't let a little heat get in the way of a nice head of greens. We hope you're making lots of great meals with your lettuce.  
~joe

Sold Out

I just got back from market. Everything sold, and mostly all by 10:30. I am energized and glad to have a few hours left on the farm before I have to sleep. Today Joe, Meagan and Ryan visited me in Lincoln Square and it was so nice to feel the support of our farm crew on their well-deserved day off. Todd also took the day "off." Not from farm work, just from the market. He is still outside in the field right now in fact. Once the fields dry out and he feels more caught up in the planting, he will be able to relax. And won't look like he's melting into his shoes.
Jeff from Deer Creek is also glad to have some dry days for many reasons. One reason being that he and Todd think less moisture in the soil will help all the carrots reach further down into the soil, searching for water, becoming the long elegant luscious roots we all love.
The photos were taken around sunset a few days ago and include kale beds, onions, broccoli, garlic scapes and potatoes. Notice the flowering potato plant.
  Happy Fourth of July. See you at market!
-Julia

Tired of Rain

Well, we are very tired of this rain. Our plants are not complaining except that they are more crowded with the thriving weeds.  Joe, Meagan and Ryan have been doing a lot of finger-weeding of grass in all of the beds and things are starting to look pretty clean again. Our “paths” between the rows of vegetable beds are planted in cover crop, soaking up a lot of the soil moisture and saving the beds from becoming too saturated and susceptible to fungal problems. All in all the vegetables in the ground are doing well.
The vegetables that are still not yet IN the ground are our main concern since rains have prevented plowing and/or planting for weeks now.   Luckily, just minutes before the last big storm, Todd had decided the soil was just barely able to tolerate a tilling and hopped on the tractor.  He got about halfway done when those dark clouds came and drove him inside. 
It is easy and hypnotizing to see storms coming when there is so much sky, but it is often hard to guess how fast they are coming and how severe.  Which is part of the fascination, I suppose, and the danger.
Enjoy the full moon and stay away from lightning.
-Julia

From Megan

Well, it's been business as usual down on the farm! We've spent the last week or so weeding, harvesting, and a wee bit of seeding. I myself tend to be a fan of random, one-time farm projects like building things, setting up trellising, and even laying down straw mulch with the knowledge that this bed is one that I shan't have to hoe. But there is something to be said for routine. Part of which comes to mind every time we are deeply entrenched in some said one-time project where nothing seems to be going right and we all feel like we have no idea what we are doing. It is not uncommon during these moments that I find myself longing to be mindlessly weeding and getting a job done that I know how to do. Se la vie; pulling weeds is suddenly romanticized when one is trying and failing to square, plumb, and level a greenhouse for the first time.


But I do try to always enjoy the experience. While baking in the sun hand-weeding carrots for countless hours I remind myself how lucky I am to be outside all day, every day, all summer long. My livelihood is what most people consider a retreat, look forward to on their "down time" and savor every fleeting moment of. I am very grateful to be able to live this life, and to be sharing it right now with all the wonderful folks who traipse around these fields.
meagan

Radishes and Weeds

Hope you're enjoying your first week's share of veggies. More is certainly on the way as the weather continues to heat up and we approach the summer solstice.
But the weeds also love the heat and light, so we've been hitting the beds hard with hands and hoes over the past couple of weeks pulling those wild little plants out by their roots so all your tasty, chemical-free veggies can grow without too much competition. Lamb's quarters, pigweed, and purslane are the main soil trespassers at the moment; although they are tasty and nutritious in the their own right, these feral little pains in the ass want the soil nutrients that we've worked hard to naturally give to all those greens you're enjoying at the moment.

Salads are no doubt on everyone's minds and plates right now, but this week we're also focusing on getting some of our heat-loving crops going. Tomatoes are getting trellised and otherwise pampered, and you'll be happy to know that some already have little fruits forming. Summer squash and cucumbers are on the list to go in the ground soon.
Elsewhere around the farm, we seeded another succession of those spicy little French Breakfast radishes. Carrots are growing like mad, the hardneck garlic is shooting out its sinuous scapes, and the potato plants are beginning to flower—which means tubers are gonna start plumping up in short order.
Besides all that, we're harvesting away, savoring the recent food bounty, and relaxing a bit at night while enjoying the recent emergence of lightning bugs.

No Pesticides?

In anticipation of this Sunday’s market, I prepared an answer for a popular question.
“If you don’t use pesticides, how do you keep the bugs off?”


TOP TEN ANSWERS


1.  Organic farms use age-old methods to feed their soil and to provide environments for strong healthy plants that are less susceptible to bug and disease epidemics.  The natural microbial life in soil, often compromised with conventional farming methods, plays a big role in the complex balance between bug and plant life, so organic farmers make a point out of keeping the soil as alive as possible.  We feed our soil with carefully monitored compost created from local and on-farm sources.


2.  Each vegetable sold at our stand really derives from two seed purchases:  the plant seed itself plus the seed planted the prior season as green manure, the organic fertilizer of choice.  Green manure can fixate nitrogen in the soil while building the soil structure.


3.  We plant crops that attract beneficial insects.  These are bugs like lacewings and parasitic wasps.  They eat the eggs of the destructive bugs, so we like them.


4.  We plant crops next to other crops.  Certain pairings discourage certain bugs.


5.  We plant trap crops, which are never meant for market, just a distraction.


6.  We protect crops with row covers.  For example, arugula and mustard greens are very attractive to flea beetles, so as soon as we can in the spring we plant and immediately cover the bed with a thin white fabric only to remove at harvest.


7.  We pick bugs and/or eggs off by hand.


8.  We minimally use organic-approved (OMRI-approved) products such as diamataceous earth for really bad outbreaks of things like cabbage loopers.


9. Organic farmers, especially on small farms, often integrate pasture livestock into their field rotation.  Chickens are great to pasture on next year’s garden because they eat bugs in the ground and fertilize at the same time!


10.  Finally:  The truth is that we sometimes simply CANNOT keep the bugs off.   Organic farmers generally know that the natural world will sometimes win.  To hedge our bets, we make sure to maintain a diversity of crop families.


We do not use chemical fertilizer, chemical pesticides, chemical herbicide, chemical anything.

Welcome Betty Lou

We ended up buying a lovely truck in Kentucky and christened her Betty Lou. (Mary Lou didn’t work out.) Make sure to check her out at the market—only a couple of weeks away!
Keeping all of our greens fresh: Some people say to wrap spinach and chard in paper towels and enclose in plastic wrap. We have found 
that this is not necessary. If we have already bagged your greens, like with the mixed greens, simply put them in your crisper drawer with the bag slightly open. We’ve had them last for up to 10 days in our refrigerator. In the days after harvest, the moisture from our initial washing will leave the bag. As the week goes on and the greens loose this moisture, sealing the bag with a tie is recommended.
Notes on Spinach and Chard: Both spinach and chard are excellent sources of vitamins A and C, potassium, and iron. Green leafy vegetables or “cooking greens” such as spinach and chard are also sources of calcium and magnesium. Chard, an offshoot of the beet family, is especially good for those with sensitivity to oxalic acid. One way to clean chard is to fill a large bowl with cold water and 2 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice. Hold the bunch by the stems and swish the leaves in the water several times. Any grit will sink to the bottom of the bowl. Since all of our greens have been through a wash bin at least once, you may not encounter any “grit” at all. Putting salt in a bowl of water and soaking greens is another tip.
A basic way to cook spinach or chard is to place washed leaves in a shallow saucepan with only the water that is clinging to the leaves. Cook, covered, for about 3 minutes, or until wilted. 
Or steam for about 3 minutes. The stems of Swiss chard should be allowed a longer cooking time than the leaves.
Anyone else have any tips?
Incidentally, I sat next to a genetic engineer for Monsanto at a Denver airport bar and grill this last weekend. We didn’t talk.
-Julia

Meet the Interns

Meet Peasant's Plot 2010 interns Joe & Meagan!
We are originally Chicagoland natives who spent a number of years in Central Wisconsin. We both graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Stevens Point, and while we were in college we became more and more concerned about the food system as a whole: where our food came from, the quality and diversity of ingredients, and what exactly we were putting in our bodies. Some pamphlets for a local CSA caught our eye, and we signed up to be worker shares for the 2007 season. The worker share opportunity was our first introduction to diversified organic farming, and it was a life-changing experience for us. The next season Joe was a part-time intern on the farm, working every weekday for about 4 or 5 hours. I worked 2 jobs at the time, assisting adults with disabilities and as the director of a child care center, but tried to make it out to the farm as much as possible.
By the end of 2008 it became obvious that we wanted to further our education in organic farming, and we applied for full time internships on a CSA in Western North Carolina. In March 2009 we packed up our cars and 2 kitties and went to live in the mountains. Throughout the season we learned most of the ins and outs of farming, as well as the many components of market sales.
The initial plan had been to relocate to North Carolina permanently, but ultimately wanting to live near our friends and family won out over the beauty of Appalachia. We spent the winter working sporadically trimming trees in Connecticut and researching farming opportunities for the upcoming season. We were so excited to have found Peasant's Plot online and are even more thrilled to be here. It feels great to have our hands in the dirt again!
It is definitely our dream to one day have a farm of our own, but for the moment we are focused on just living, learning, and enjoying the adventure.
Thanks for supporting local farmers and their interns!
-Meagan

Mary Lou

Mary Lou is our nickname for a truck we found in Kentucky.   We hope she is as nice in person as in the photos.  Of course we all know how photos over the interweb can be deceiving, but we really think this might be the real thing.  Mary Lou fits most of our specifications, including the fact that she is diesel and ready for biofuel.  Wish us luck on our first date with Mary Lou this Friday!
Our CSA is full and we are optimistic about the season.  It is hard not to sound cheesy when talking about the delights of spring and the sound of chirping birds, so I will leave the poetry to someone else.  It is enough to say that optimism abounds.
In the ground as seedlings: broccoli, lettuce, onions, kale and chard.  In the ground as seeds: spinach (just coming up), carrots, arugula, radishes, beets.  And 950 pounds of potatoes planted.   In a hoophouse (or coldframe) are tomato and pepper seedlings and more broccoli, leeks, chard, basil, more onions.  Under fluorescent lights inside are many more seedlings, mostly tomatoes, awaiting their time in the sun.
It seems like the most difficult part of putting up the new high tunnels is over, but there are several steps left.  The hoops are up on one (thanks to help from workshop participants in April) and purlins just finished.  Todd had to stand on a 12-ft ladder to drill and attach each purlin.
The farm crew is Joe, Meagan, Ryan, and a group of about 15 worker shareholders who will carpool out to us a few at a time twice a month.  Joe and Meagan live on the farm and help us out full time. They have had a huge impact on our rate of production already.  Ryan is a world-traveler who has logically ended up in Manteno on our farm part time.
As storms move across the south, keep us prairie dwellers in your minds and wish us free of tornados, free of hail.
Peasantly yours,
Julia

Food Safety

Take Action: Rescue Local and Organic
Farming in the Food Safety Bill!

The U.S. Senate will vote shortly on a sweeping overhaul of federal food safety law (S. 510).  The House food safety bill passed last year (HR 2749) included several measures that potentially threaten small-scale local farmers and organic producers, including a blanket application of complicated monitoring and traceability standards -- regardless of one's farm size — and a potential $500 fee for any farm engaged in onsite processing (i.e., maple syrup production, sun-dried tomatoes, salad mixes, etc.).
The vast majority of recent food safety scandals in the U.S. — E. coli on fresh spinach, melamine in dairy products, Salmonella in peanut butter — were all linked to industrial agribusiness practices.  There's no doubt that industrial agriculture and its international supply chain need better oversight.  But, family-scale local and organic farms are probably the safest in the nation -- they are part of the solution, not part of the problem -- and need to be protected!
What You Can Do
Now is your chance, as a supporter of sustainable family farming, to help fix these problems. Senator John Tester (D-MT), a certified organic farmer himself, is proposing an amendment to S. 510 that would exempt small-scale farmers and food processors from the most burdensome regulations.
Please contact your Senators today and ask them to support the Tester amendment to S. 510.  Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to find their phone number: 
For the more information on the amendment, go to:
http://www.cornucopia.org/2010/04/action-alert-rescue-localorganic-farming-in-the-food-safety-bill/
Your Voice Makes a Difference.   Thanks for your support of organic, local and sustainable farmers!

Frontera Grant

We are proud to announce that we are 2010 Frontera Farmer Foundation Grant Recipients!


http://www.rickbayless.com/news/index

MW Organic Fest

Todd and I just returned from the Upper Midwest Organic Conference.  I can’t write too lengthy of a report here, because my head is swimming with so many other things.  All of the workshops I went to were highly charged and emotional.  The most heart-palpitating session had to do with the state of organic seed and the slippery slope of allowing genetically modified alfalfa and sugar beets into our food system.  These seeds are already out there, but efforts by organizations such as The Center for Food Safety and others are trying to spread awareness to the public and to our government.  A lawyer spoke at the convention about his involvement with a current battle to reverse the “okay” already given to GM alfalfa.  Please read more about this by the group that seems to know most:  www.centerforfoodsafety.org and stay tuned.  The result of GM alfalfa could lead to the disappearance of this crop as organic, because it is hard to control the spread of pollen.  If an organic alfalfa field is next to a GM alfalfa field, one would contaminate the other.   Since alfalfa is used as pasture for cows, milk that is now certified organic may ultimately lose their label.  This is how I understand it.
We use alfalfa as a perennial green manure crop.
Since GM sugar beets are currently allowed, organic table beets and organic chard are endangered.
If you want to know even more about this topic, you can do what our friends do:  1) rent one of two films:  Food, Inc and/or The Future of Food, 2) inadvertently consume an entire bottle of wine (per person), and then 3) make a hysterical call to us asking us what to do next.  What to do next?  Keep informed by visiting www.centerforfoodsafety.org from time to time and tell your friends about what you learn.  Support organic products whenever you can.

Paraphrased

Lately, there’s been a lot of great press surrounding the small organic farm scene.  In this month’s Mindful Metropolis, there are two stories about two different farms, both started around the time we started.
Anyway, these newspaper articles have us thinking about how our own story might translate to this format.  We have had some time in the media spotlight, since our first year’s NPR story, but we feel that the best story about us hasn’t happened quite yet and that the NPR story may have missed something.
The story that seems almost expected is this, paraphrased:
Just a few years ago, a young urban couple felt disgruntled by the corporate work-a-day grind [The Man], so they shed their city shoes for farm boots and moved to the country to live off the land.  Their new lifestyle involves waking with the crow of a rooster and the physical rhythm and serenity of farm work.
Our story might be more like this:  
Many years ago, when they were young adults, two people separately decided they wanted to commit their lives to something basic and pure.  They met each other and became a young urban couple.  One of them inherited some land and thought the best use of this land was a little thing called food. The couple shed their city shoes, went into sizable debt, kept their other jobs, and stressed about the weather.  Their new lifestyle involves waking with heart palpitations and the physical discomfort and drama of farm work.
Todd and Julia have the same human tendency as everyone to stress about their jobs, off-farm and on-farm.  They sometimes don’t have time to cook.  They sometimes order pizza made with highly-processed ingredients for delivery. Like many new farmers now, they didn’t grow up farming and they don’t have degrees in vegetable growing or business management.  They don’t have a savings account.  The real story is that they jumped right into this world of organic farming with nothing but the conviction that they were headed towards the place they were always meant to be.
We were meant to be here.  And we’re not leaving.
When Todd and I hung out for the first time at a party together, he asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I said that I didn’t have any great ambition. He said the same.  In fact, this is exactly what he said: 
“I don’t have any great ambition either.  I just want to be an organic farmer.”
What could be easier?
(sigh),
Julia

High Tunnel

The National Resources Conservation Services just approved our application for another high tunnel!  It is a cost-share program, but we will be mostly reimbursed.  Our third high tunnel!  Look out!
Todd is having dreams of melon….

Farm in Winter

How’s the farm in the winter?
To the question I frequently get:
The farm is fine.  The farm is cold and windy right now.   If snow is on the ground, it is eerily quiet save for the buzz of our electric lines and the chickens.
Right now, on the sunflower farm north of us, they are harvesting seeds with a gigantic moving machine.
I make lots of lists during every season.  Apart from our off-farm work, here is a list of what is happening in the winter months:


Marketing
Finding interns
Farm workshops
Grant proposal(s)
Setting deadlines for plant starts (started inside on light tables)
Seed shopping
Truck shoppingOngoing:
Manure pickup and composting
Chickens
Tractor repair
Truck repair
Body repair
Mind repair
-Julia

Scary Rooster

The rooster has me scared.
Just minutes ago, Puff Daddy defended his hens with an extra hardy thump and several charges at me in a very small and enclosed space.
Todd is usually the one interacting with the chickens and asserts his calm and masculine energy over Puff by picking him up and moving around and around in a circle to make him dizzy.  In a way Cesar Milan might swing a bird.  But tonight it was I who was assigned to collect eggs and shut the chickens in their coop.  


Let me set the stage:

5:30 pm, cold and snowing with gusting winds  
When I first entered the coop, I did a count to make sure everyone made it inside.  Everything was calm and cool.  The wind howled.  I felt decidedly content.
I checked their food, grabbed some eggs.
sound of feathers rustling
I turn slowly.
His scary eyes!!!!  His scary beak!!!!  His scary prehistoric feet!!!!!

If you were the pizza delivery guy from Mr. Giggles and had arrived only 15 minutes earlier than you actually did, you would have seen a sliver of light coming from the coop as it bounced a little side to side.  You would have heard screaming and kicking and the muffled sound of someone falling down in layers of chicken “bedding” followed by more screaming and thrashing.   Just when you thought it was over, more screaming and thrashing.  And, as the pizza delivery guy, you would have been even less likely the next time to deliver pizza to this lonely looking property in rural Manteno. Puff Daddy didn’t react at all to my air kicking but thankfully I emerged unscathed. I guess I’m embarrassed by the whole spastic incident, but not embarrassed enough to keep me from telling my story.  Let all be witness.
Runny yolks in my pocket,
-Julia