This Year and Our Year of ReBuilding

2047 W. 10000N Rd., Manteno, IL

Fellow peasants, our year is coming to a close! We will miss sharing our harvests and hope your experience with us was nothing but positive and enriching. 

Remember that as a CSA shareholder you are participating in something Good. It is the most direct way to know your food source and to support local farmers. Remember that you have the actual address of the soil from which your vegetables grow! You have your farmers' phone number. You know where we live. And where we drink beer on Thursday night.*
I am reminding you of these things because I have a request. This fall and winter, pay attention to your produce.  Wonder about the conditions under which it was grown: where, how, and by whom. Where do those farmers drink beer on Thursday night?  Please do this in a light-hearted way, not obsessively. Just a constant, respectful inquiry. 

Share your CSA experience with friends and family and what you discovered about food. 

Share a kale recipe with someone who says they don't like kale.

Remember how great it feels to have ownership over what you eat.  

THANK YOU from our hearts.

*at the Hideout, one of our CSA pick-up locations 

Now.....
let's analyze!

This Season’s Retrospective and Some News:  Our Year of ReBuilding

Well, we had a pretty good year! We were especially happy with our potato crop and got great compliments on our carrots and garlic—thank you again. Chard made a real comeback from last year and flourished. And we have been very happy to discover our favorite crop of all: the “braising mix” recently renamed “Snackable Kale.”

Our main challenge this year, as most of you know by now, was the wet spring that left us about 3 weeks behind in planting. That turned out to be more of a challenge than the drought last year! We also had a crazy amount of cucumber beetles this year. I cannot even tell you. I can tell you that their diet is not necessarily restricted to cucumbers.

We were disappointed in our tomato crop due to the late planting. Great memories of our glut in 2011 have prompted us to develop systems to ensure many more gluts in the future.

In between hours of harvesting and planting, and in light of our challenges, Todd and I undertook a serious analysis of our business. After much hair-pulling (our own, not eachothers), we made the decision to continue our investment in farm infrastructure.  Big time. We decided to Go Big or Go Home (while staying small).

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN????

All this means is that next year--just next year, just 2014-- we will be limiting our planting to late-season crops.  This will permit various construction goals and projects. At minimum, these projects are: 

• High Tunnels!!!!!! (for tomato production in particular)
• Walk-in Cooler
• Mechanized system for bed-making/mulch laying
• Root crop washer
• More cover cropping

Our crop focus for 2014 will be mostly tomatoes, so we are calling it our "Year of the Tomato."  We are selling Royal Tomato Shares for 2014. Take note that this is our only CSA share we are offering for next year. This was not an easy decision since many of you have been with us for 2-5 years and we hate to break the continuity.  Consider buying a tomato share from us and then supplementing with our occasional crops at market (Lincoln Square).  I also recommend finding a CSA that breaks up its season in a way that allows you to stay with us in the fall and experience another farm in the spring/early summer. Or take next season to explore different farmers markets.  Feel free to contact me, Julia, directly with any concerns and questions about next year--I may have more suggestions. Tomato Shares are now on sale and are being sold on a first-come-first-served basis!  We recommend signing up now if you know you want to be a part of it.

Stay with us!  Let’s prove together that this CSA nonsense is the real deal. Please trust that we will be back with our full spectrum of crops in 2015.  

We remain committed to CSA farming and its place in our lives. We hope you feel the same, because it won’t work otherwise. We thank you again for your committment this year. 

Your dedicated peasants,

Todd and Julia

And Merle.

Who Grows Food Around Here?

Illinois is a state of dark, rich, loamy soil. Drive across it in any direction and see farms sprawl for acres.  In fact about 80% of Illinois is farmland.  Illinois has so many farms you would think local fruit and vegetables would be on everyone's plate in abundance.  You would think, but you'd be wrong. Here are some things to consider:

• Almost all of the food consumed in Illinois travels an average of 1500 miles to get here. 
• There is a special task force in Illinois, created in 2007 (I think) and still in existence (I know), working on the goal of increasing local food procurement from a mere 10% to a lofty 20%.  In other words, 80% of food would still come to us as imports.  That is the goal for 2020. 
• The corn and soybeans you DO see growing in Illinois are not even for eating.  They are for cereals, corn syrups, feed for livestock, ethanol and other by-products.
• Our 6 acres of vegetables feed 230 people each week for 5 months.  The farms surrounding us feed cows and automobiles.
• While the corn and soy farmers get subsidized by the government (thanks to corporate influence and "Feed the World" propaganda), farms like ours* do not.  
• Aside from the built-in support of a CSA group, farms like ours don't have a reasonable source for crop insurance.  
• Vegetables, a staple dietary requirement, are considered a "Specialty Crop" by the USDA.  

*When I say "farms like ours" I mean small acreage, vegetable farms.  All of the CSA farms in Illinois are in this category.

Our neighboring farmer will be harvesting soon.
If you were at the Low Down for the Midnight Corn Run,
then this will look disturbingly familiar.

Corn and soy and corn and soy.  Soy and corn and soy and corn.  Our farmer friend Harry Carr from Mint Creek Farm even wrote a poem about it that you can read at the bottom of this page.

Will it ever be possible/viable for big corn-and-soy farmers to switch and start growing organic vegetables or raising animals on grass? I don't know about the future but I know that right now this doesn't happen very often (one shining exception is vegetable ally Deer Creek Organics). One reason why the switch is rare is the generational investment in equipment (big bucks), land and know-how. It would take a totally new infrastructure and new set of skills to switch to organic vegetable farming. A daunting proposition.

While the working lives of the big commodity crop farmers are intense for a few weeks in the spring and a few weeks in the fall, they can be absent from their land in the summer months. On The Plot, for example, we rarely see either of the farmers that share our property line. By contrast, organic farming requires you are in the field almost every day for months. It requires new knowledge, more time, more physical labor, different equipment and someone willing to do the marketing.

SO. We are the new generation of farmers in Illinois. We are like you. Imagine yourself with several years of acquired plant knowledge and a grotesquely optimistic business plan. Add to that a hundred thousand dollars in loans, a tolerance for living on the edge, and an above-average passion for changing the food system and restoring the environment. Now you have Peasants' Plot in its most honest form. Not necessarily pleasant, not necessarily peasants.

We have great plans for sustaining our business and proving the CSA model is a workable alternative to large-scale faraway industrial agriculture.  Stay tuned.


Farm Tour

Corn
Corn on corn
Corn on corn on corn on corn
Corn

Beans
Beans with nitrogen fixing means
Beans for bean counter's dreams
Beans

Wheat, neat
Fine-grained rows
Planted in fall
Next summer ready to eat

Grass, Waves of Grass
Assorted perennial plants
When allowed to thrive
Holds the soil fast

Sheep on grass
A combo made to last
Lambs hip hopping around
Nursing Mama their main task

Goats
Goats love oats
Keep the billie goats from the sheep
Or you might have shoats

Cows
Cattle cows
Mama cows and daddy bulls
Cattle calves

Pigs
Big pigs, little pigs
Pigs with tails, pigs with squeals
Pigs

Chicken with beaks
Ducks with bills
Turkey without gobbles
Corn

-Harry Carr

Kale chips.  My revelation this year is the slower the better.
250 degrees for  15-20 minutes.  Well salted.

Mixed greens a plenty.

Under the row cover is arugula for next week!

Q:  What's the difference between butternuts and deernuts?
A:  Organic butternuts are about a dollar a pound, deernuts are under a buck.

Spaghetti squash!  Some CSA groups have already seen these;
others will see these in shares to come!

Baby kale and baby beet greens take just seconds in the pan.

Ripening tomatoes...

Super Shepherd peppers!  In shares to come!

Our neighbor's corn.
Believe me when I say you do NOT want to eat this. 

I hate when my eye does that.

GMO 101

This is Pierre.

In my last post here, I brought up the fact that genetically-modified zucchini and yellow squash exist.  Most of the GMO concern revolves around a list of commodity crops like corn, soy and canola (see the list of "high risk" crops in my previous post), BUT biotechnology companies do have their eyes on other vegetables, too. Tomatoes. Beets. Potatoes. Alfalfa. The sky is the limit.

How does GMO contamination work?
The worry is that once a crop is approved for genetic modification aka bioengineering, those foreign genes will eventually pervade the seed supply.  For example, in 2004 foreign DNA was detected in 100% of canola seed tested.  In other words,  the canola seed supply has been completely contaminated by foreign genes.
Seed can become contaminated at several places along the production chain: planting, harvesting, processing, storing, transporting, packaging.   A lot of the court cases and documentaries cover contamination out in the field.  This means pollen from GM plants accidentally pollinate non-GM crops and create hybrids that contain the foreign DNA.

Why are GMO's so scary?
In most other developed nations, including the entire European Union, GM crops are banned.  That's right: banned. Illegal.  They don't want them.
The US government, on the other hand, has approved certain GM crops.  This approval is based on studies by the few corporations who create, patent and profit from GM seed.  These same companies also sell the chemical herbicides that accompany most GM crops.
Not only are GMOs a dangerous health experiment, they also set up yet another dependent relationship with chemical companies.

No one knows the effect of GMOs on our bodies, but studies are showing potential for health problems and environmental upset.  Many Americans are petitioning for GMO labeling so that they can make the choice to consume them or not.  Groups like The Non GMO Project are working to lobby to this end.  Activists are advocating for more studies before any other crop is approved for genetic modification.

That's the quick story!  Not really a nice one.  Hopefully you are not reading this right before bed.  I feel like people are really confused about this topic, so I wanted to attempt some clarification.
Todd and I have sorted out this issue because it effects our future as organic farmers.  We want purity in our seed supply and support companies like High Mowing Organic who pledge to oppose GMOs.  We pay quite a bit more for seed than farmers who are not organic, but we feel it is worth it.

Yes We Are Almost Done Harvesting Zucchini

This is why my mom developed this cookbook when I was a kid:

Dad did the caricature.

Blanche.

We sold this cookbook at farmers markets during the zucchini season in Champaign. I remember our booth was by a huge crate of corn.  I remember my first smell of corn husks and eating wax from a honeycomb.

Three ways to get your zucchini out of sight and into your belly: 

1. Grate and Freeze each in its own separate freezer bag.  Thawed, this can be used for making zucchini bread later in the winter.
2. Blanch and Freeze!  FIrst, chop each zucchini or goldy squash coarsely, drop in boiling water for 1 minute, and then transfer to a bowl of cold water with a slotted spoon. THEN freeze in containers or freezer bags.  (Freezing willy nilly without the blanching will result in very weird texture and is only appropriate to thaw for baking as above.) When you are ready, pull out the zucchini, drop into soups or stir fry.
3. Zucchini Fries, recipe here:

•    2 zucchini

•    1 egg white

•    1/4 cup milk

•    1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

•    1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

•    Vegetable cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425°. Cut zucchini into 3-inch sticks. Whisk an egg white in a small bowl, and add milk. Combine Parmesan and seasoned breadcrumbs in a separate bowl. Dip zucchini sticks into egg mixture, and then roll in breadcrumb mixture. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray, and place zucchini on sheet. Bake for 25–30 minutes or until golden brown.

If you buy zucchini or yellow squash at any old grocery store, there is a substantial probability that it is genetically modified.  The questionable GMO. 

GMOs are "genetically modified organisms" and, as defined by The Non GMO Project, are "plants or animals created through the gene splicing techniques of biotechnology aka genetic engineering.  This experimental technology merges DNA from different species, creating unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding."

The Non GMO Project has listed the following as plants in our marketplace that are currently in commercial production:

• Alfalfa (first planting of GMO alfalfa was in 2011)
• Canola (about 90% of US crop)
• Corn (about 88% of US crop)
• Cotton (about 90% of US crop)
• Papaya (most of Hawaiian crop, about 988 acres)
• Soy (about 94% of US crop)
• Sugar Beets (about 95% of US crop)
• Zucchini and Yellow Squash (about 25000 acres)

Thankfully, if you are a Peasants' Plot CSA member, know that our seed comes from a certified organic seed company that pledges to preserve the state of organic seed and oppose GMOs.

Upcoming on the farm:  various winter squash like butternut and buttercup, fall greens like arugula and spinach and possibly the ever-popular mustard mix, more varieties of kale, leeks and tomatoes.

Basil

Butternut

New beds, newly seeded for fall greens.

Red Russian kale, just now recovering from flea beetle damage.

You know what this is.

Field of tomato plants.

Pickled Purple People the Natural Way

Since my last post, I've had several people comment "Pickling is that easy?  Just add vinegar and spices and plop in the fridge?"
Well.....
Pickling CAN be that easy.  You can make it a little harder by deciding to seal your jars with a pressure canner or with the hot water bath method.  Canning so that you can store outside of the fridge involves more specifics in the recipe, depending on what you are canning, to heighten acidity and discourage botulism.
Then there is the natural lacto-fermentated way, which is the oldest method.  It uses the naturally-occuring bacteria called lactobacilli that is already populating the leaves and roots of plants growing in or near the ground.  Organic farms rely on microorganisms like these to keep plants healthy. In the fermentation process, lactobacilli create a natural preservative called lactic acid.  This by-product of fermentation keeps vegetables in a state of preservation while promoting the continued growth of "good bacteria" in the gut.  Whey is a good source of lactobacilli, too, so often recipes call for it.  If you are buying good-quality yogurt, the whey will be the liquid that has separated out on the top.

So let's try it.....

Lacto-fermentated Ginger Carrots
4 c grated carrots, tightly packed
1 T freshly grated ginger
1 T salt
4 T whey or an additional 1 T of salt.

In a bowl, mix all ingredients and pound with a wooden pounder or a meat hammer to release juices .  Place in a quart-sized, wide-mouth mason jar and press down firmly with a pounder or meat a hammer until juices cover the carrots.  The top of the carrots should be at least 1 inch below the top of the jar.  Cover tightly and leave at room temperature about 3 days before transferring to cold storage.

Pickled Purple People

Our share can easily fit on the back of a bike!

Just Pickle It!!
Want an easy way to always have a great salad condiment?  Pickle your purple carrots.  Please.

1 bunch carrots, cut into slices
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
1 1/2 T dill and/or coriander seeds
1 1/2 T salt

Drop carrots into a 4-quart nonreactive saucepan of boiling salted water for 45 seconds no more, then drain in a colander and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking.  You just blanched something, if you didn't realize it.  Transfer carrots to a heatproof bowl.  Bring remaining ingredients to a boil in the saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes.  Pour pickling liquid over carrots and cool, uncovered.  Chill carrots, covered, at least 1 day for flavors to develop.   Then you can put them in a nice mason jar and store refrigerated for....ever.  Or at least for a long time.  It is a colorful, satisfying sight and good to eat.

Amazing Potato Salad from Laura
"As promised, although late, below is the green been & potato recipe that I was raving about. And drooling over every time I think about devouring it. The recipe is from Thomas Keller's (French Laundry) ad hoc at home book. Lots of steps, but so worth it! "  -Laura Cripe of Moss Design

1 1/2 pounds thin green beans
1 pound fingerling potatoes (12-14), about 1 inch in diameter (i used your purple potatoes, beautiful!)
1 sachet (see note below)
Kosher salt
1 cup (about 4 ounces) walnuts, toasted
ground fleur de sel or fine sea salt
3 radishes, about 1 inch in diameter (i used your radishes)
1/2 cup minced shallots
About 1 cup sherry vinaigrette (recipe below)
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced chives
4 black mission figs, halved
splash of fresh lemon juice
16 very thin slices Iberico ham or prosciutto (about 3 ounces) (optional)
extra virgin olive oil
goat cheese (optional)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for blanching the beans. Prepare an ice bath. Set a cooling rack over a baking sheet and line the rack with paper towels. Meanwhile, hold the beans a handful at a time with the ends facing the same direction and, using scissors, cut off the stem ends. Add the beans to the boiling water and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until just tender. Drain and cool in the ice bath, then drain on the paper towels.

Cut the potato into 1/4 inch slices; discard the end slices. Put the potatoes, sachet, and 2 teaspoons salt in a large saucepan, add cold water to cover, bring to a simmer, and cook until the potatoes are just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and spread on a tray to cool; discard the sachet.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, spread the walnuts on the pan, and toast in the oven, for 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Turn the pan around midway through the 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, transfer to a plate, sprinkle with fleur de sel, and let cool.

Fill a small bowl with ice water. Trim the ends from the radishes. Using a mandolin or other vegetable slicer, slice the radishes. Transfer slices to the bowl of water to keep crisp. Drain and dry slices on a paper towel before serving.

To serve, transfer the beans to a large bowl and add the potatoes, shallots, and walnuts. Whisk the dressing and spoon it over the salad. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with about half the chives, and toss well.

Arrange about half the salad on a platter. Place half the figs over the salad. Toss the radishes with the remaining salad, and arrange over the first layer of salad. Add the remaining figs, and sprinkle with the remaining chives and a few drops of fresh lemon juice. If using goat cheese sprinkle on top of the salad.

Arrange the ham on a small plate and drizzle with olive oil. Serve with the salad. Serves 6

Sachet:
1 bay leaf
3 thyme sprigs
10 black peppercorns
1 garlic clove, smashed and peeled

Sachets are used to flavor cooking liquids. A cheesecloth sachet encloses small herbs and spices such as peppercorns and cloves, and works like a tea bag.

Use cloth tea bag or cheesecloth. Put herbs, garlic and peppercorns in a 7-inch square of cheesecloth, roll once, tuck ends and tie at both ends with kitchen twine.

Sherry Vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (or balsamic)
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons honey (optional)
seal salt and fresh ground pepper

Harvest Day on the Plot

Mondays and Wednesdays are long days for our team of workers.  Today we had the help of a cool breeze, three worker shareholders* and our regular staff of six.  Harvesting happens from 7 am to 6 pm.  On Monday and Wednesday night Todd packs up the truck and I finish up the weekly note before trying my best to get to sleep early. Tuesdays are tough because I get up at 4:00 am to assure my parking spot at market in Lincoln Square.  If you see that I am occasionally wearing my shirt backwards on market day, that is why.

*Curious about what a worker shareholder is?   A worker shareholder is a part of the farm team and is expected to come to work on certain days and put in a total of 50 hours of work across the whole season in exchange for an Individual Share.  On Mondays and Wednesdays, those hours are likely spent harvesting or washing and bunching vegetables.  On Saturdays, our other worker share day, people weed, transplant, seed flats or mulch.  Right now, weeding is a big one.  A couple worker shareholders help me at market in the city or at pick-up locations.  Click on this to go to the worker share page on our website.

Baby beet greens for salad this week!

Carrots right before the fork and the pull.

Free at last!
Carrots behave like other roots;
sometimes they send out "feelers" or legs for water.

Looking down a bed of carrots just harvested.

They are bunched in the field, soaked in cold
water and then sprayed clean.

Did you know we have bees, too?  We have bees.

Harvest day is a ten-hour day.  This is lunchtime with Jake.

Goldy!

Ah HAH!  We harvested our first squash for CSA members yesterday for delivery today.  This is summer squash, of course, the category where you will find zucchinis and yellow crooknecks and patty pans.  We grow three types of summer squash.

Costata Romanesco, an HEIRLOOM variety,
passed down from Italy and a taste-test winner.

Midnight Lightning
developed by our favorite organic seed company
High Mowing in Vermont.

The Plot Favorite
Goldy, a great friend and great fried with butter.

We get almost all of our seeds from High Mowing, a certified organic seed company.  Organic seed is much more expensive than non-organic, but as important to us as healthy soil.   High Mowing signs this pledge:

The Safe Seed Pledge:

"Agriculture and seeds provide the basis upon which our lives depend. We must protect this foundation as a safe and genetically stable source for future generations. For the benefit of all farmers, gardeners and consumers who want an alternative, we pledge that we do not knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered seeds or plants. The mechanical transfer of genetic material outside of natural reproductive methods and between genera, families or kingdoms poses great biological risks, as well as economic, political and cultural threats. We feel that genetically engineered varieties have been insufficiently tested prior to public release. More research and testing is necessary to further assess the potential risks of genetically engineered seeds. Further, we wish to support agricultural progress that leads to healthier soils, genetically diverse agricultural ecosystems and ultimately healthy people and communities."

Among the genetically-modified crops in the marketplace is a small amount of zucchini and yellow crook neck.  How to avoid them?  Buy from organic farms like ours that share our concern for the state of organic seed. 

Beets and Chard, Chard and Beets

This is the time of year when I get to talk about the relationship between beets and chard. Beets and chard are close relatives because chard is essentially a vegetable cultivated from the beet. You can think of it as a beet but with much more developed leaves and no bulbous growth underground (usually--once a mutant beet grew and surprised us in the chard bed). Beet greens  and chard leaves can be cooked together or both eaten raw. Like the skin on the beet itself, raw leaves in this family can be a little astringent. This quality is only bothered by some and can be avoided by cooking. To cook your baby beets, boil for around 25 minutes or until easily poked with a fork. Then cool and rub the skins off.  Don't worry, the color will come off your hands eventually. 

Baby Beets are like candy.

2 worker shareholders and 5 grinning staff members
put in loooonnnng hours out here.
We are grateful for their smiles and hard work!

Chard-a-rific.

Chard's long, thick stalks have wide, glossy green leaves that may be smooth or curly, depending on the variety. The stalk comes in many colors, from white to green to brilliant red, yellow, and pink. Not only is chard giving, it's forgiving too. It's much more heat-resistant than spinach, grows well under most weather and soil conditions, and is relatively disease resistant and bug resistant too. After harvesting, the inner leaves come back quickly, so you'll see chard from early June clear through Thanksgiving. 
Chard is as close to perfect as a vegetable can get--a low-calorie, high-nutrition green with a mildly sweet, clean taste. It's also a fast food. Tender young chard leaves can be eaten raw, adding a beet-like flavor to salads and sandwiches. Larger stalks and leaves can be blanched in boiling water, or sauteed up in a matter of minutes, quick and easy. Then toss the cooked chard into pasta with olive oil and garlic, add to omelets and frittatas, or use instead of spinach in your favorite recipe.

Remember even more ideas can be found on our Recipe page.  

Just click on whatever vegetable you need!

http://www.peasantsplot.com/recipe_misc.html

STORING BEETS:  Separate the roots from the greens.  You can save the greens to cook with (like chard) in a plastic bag.  For the beets themselves, once again turn to the plastic bag method, sealing the bag with a twist.  

STORING OUR BUNCHED GREENS LIKE CHARD:  Throw all greens into a reusable bag (can be the same bag) and in the crisper drawer in the fridge.  Avoid the back of the fridge because it can sometimes be too cold.

STORING RADISHES: Separate the roots from the greens.  You can save the greens to cook with in a plastic bag.  For the bright pink radishes themselves, once again turn to the plastic bag method (you can reuse bags specifically for this veggie storing purpose), sealing the bag with a twist.  OR Another method that is easy and encourages more snacking is this:  Wash the radishes, chop to whatever size you like for snacking, and then place in a dish with water and right into the fridge.  

STORING OUR SALAD GREENS:  Store in your crisper drawer with the bag slightly open.   the back of the fridge because it can sometimes be too cold.  Regulating moisture:  In the day(s) after harvest, the moisture from our initial washing will leave the bag. As you notice the greens losing this moisture, roll the bag down to seal it.  

Wash? Even though we do wash your mixed greens, we still recommend cleaning the leaves again before eating raw.  You can choose to do that immediately when you get home or you can wash them in small batches as you need them for salads.  Some people like to wash and then store their greens in their salad spinner.  If you don’t have a handy salad spinner of your own, you can simply lay the leaves on clean towels to absorb excess moisture from washing.  Do not let them completely dry out.  

STORING FRESH GARLIC:  The easiest thing is to keep it on the countertop with lots of air around it (not in the fruit bowl) and eat within a week for the juiciest experience.  It will continue to dry or "cure" until the flavors condense and the outer layers dry out, making it easier to peel.  Garlic will keep in this way for weeks and often months!