Humans are Amazing and Other Optimistic Thoughts

I thought I'd address this question of The Drought and "how's the farm."

In case you hadn't heard,  Illinois is in drought.
We have not had measurable rain for many many months.  We started to feel this drought last year in August, when our only well failed us.  For those CSA members who were with us in 2011,  you may remember how we had to dig a new well?  A $12000 new well.  The new well is much deeper, 250 ft compared to 60 ft deep, and so far it is giving us the water we need to keep things alive.  We just hope that there's still plenty of water down there.  I'm sure there is!!!!

Our irrigation system consists of driptape aligned along the base of each plant giving the plant a slow drip over many hours.  We have to pump water with an electric pump 24 hours a day.  The water brought up is sufficient for growth and survival but is not as good as a rainfall to really get the crops thriving.

So that's "how's the farm."  Plants are surviving but not thriving.  They are tired, thirsty and f-ing hot.  Todd and Joe are keeping their eyes peeled for the first sign of any plant disease since the plants are so susceptible right now.

Humans are feeling the same challenge.  We have this amazing team of workers this year. They hardly complain and even have smiles for you after 5 hours in 100-degree sun.  They are great and we could not pull any of this off without them.  An organic farm beats to the rhythm of the human heart and we have big hearts on The Plot peppered with only the occasional cursing.

So is this heat situation the result of global warming?  I don't know.  Our friend and farmer Harry Carr from Mint Creek Farm thinks about this subject of climate change a lot.  Please visit his blog for a quick run-through on climate change from a grass farmer's perspective:

http://mintcreekfarm.com/2012/07/backs-against-the-wall/

Harry will attend and speak at our Potluck for the Future on August 9th--Come one , come all!!

http://www.hideoutchicago.com/event/144325/

Beet Kvass is good for you.

The market ladies and I have been sharing ideas for fermentation projects.
My new favorite fermented food item is actually a drink: beet kvass, idea courtesy of Kyla.   It tastes good and has good bacteria to help your guts.  Don't be scared of this drink.  It has a beety flavor, slightly sweet and bubbly.

Beet Kvass

Peel, wash and coarsely chop (do not grate) your beets of the week.

Fill a quart mason jar halfway with beets.

Add 2 teaspoons salt or more if you tend to like things salty.

Fill to an inch from the rim with filtered water.

Screw the lid on your jar and let sit on a countertop for 2 days.  This is the part that frightens the faint of heart. You will begin to see a little effervescence on the second day.  Chill in the fridge and serve in goblets! 

You may choose to save some of the liquid as your “starter” for the next batch and you can use the leftover beets to make beet soup for a little more of a sour taste.

Another variation includes whey.  I haven't tried that yet but will let you know when I do! 

“This drink is valuable for its medicinal qualities and as a digestive aid. Beets are just loaded with nutrients. One 4-ounce glass, morning and night, is an excellent blood tonic, cleanses the liver and is a good treatment for kidney stones and other ailments.”

Coming up in the weeks ahead:

Garlic!!!

The crew harvested garlic today for the CSA share tomorrow.  This is fresh-from-the-ground garlic, not the same creature as your cured garlic.  The garlic you buy in the store has been dried in a controlled setting for several weeks.  Curing garlic allows the outside layers to dry as a protective layer and concentrates the flavor of the bulbs. You may have seen or heard of garlic braids as a way to decorate while curing.  Braiding is done with soft neck garlic varieties;  ours are hard neck.  When you bring cured garlic home from the store, it will keep for a long time before showing signs of mold or decay.   We will be curing many bulbs ourselves in our corn crib, for you and for planting.  

Fresh garlic (or "immature" or "early season" or "wet") on the other hand, will NOT last as long, so eat it up this week.  If you need to store it for longer than a week, keep it in the fridge isolated from everything else.  You will love the juicy, mild flavor of fresh garlic.  It is harder to peel, but worth the work.    

Puffballs!  This is what happens when you let  garlic scapes go!

Meredith!

Everyone is still sweating like crazy at the Plot.  We DID move our chickens to a nice new location yesterday so they are happier, cooler.  We are preparing for more heat this week, more planting, mulching, etc.  It never stops!  Until October, that is. 

More news-- We are hiring a new intern "Ben," to be added to our crew on Friday.  We will only have him for a few months, but he is very enthusiastic, uprooting from North Carolina.  We regret not hiring him earlier, but it is very difficult to accurately predict the manhours involved in organic vegetable farming.  One of the MANY balancing acts in this business.  Heres' another one:

More carrots and beets and potatoes coming your way, too!  See some of you tomorrow!

-Julia

Pushing through!

With so many of our CSA members on vacation, we decided to hold off on harvest and to mark the week for serious planting and weeding.  REMINDER: NO PICK-UP THIS THURSDAY! Unfortunately our serious production week has turned into the hottest week of the year!  Todd and whatever crew members are on the schedule that day have been rising early, siesta-ing midday, and working another 5-hour shift in the afternoon/evening.  We finished handweeding (for now) our cherry tomatoes, planted our peppers, and will do more and more in the next few days.  We are pushing through these temperatures to emerge stronger than ever.  In the meantime, the sweat rolls...
Happy Fourth of July and *thank you* to our heroes, the four worker shareholders scheduled to arrive in minutes.
Check this out: