Looking around.

Every Field Needs Its Fallow Year

After six exhausting "start-up" years, this year we decided to slow things down and take the time to look around.  On both a human and ground level, we are using this year to reboot and restore. We are restructuring, rethinking, rebuilding the farm. 

Inspired by the contributions from our spring fundraiser and by all our farmer friends, we have achieved a good part of our project goals already. In addition to growing veggies for our Tuesday market, here's some of what Todd's been up to:

High Tunnels Oh High Tunnels - Passive-heat greenhouses extend the growing season by at least two months. We have much of this project already completed, including concrete anchors, but still need to finish out ends of two tunnels with polycarbonate panelling (one is done!!). These semi-permanent ends help during high winds because they enable us to seal the structure up fast. The high tunnel project is labor-intensive and has been very difficult to complete when we are at full production.  We now have one fully installed, anchored, sealed and housing tomatoes!

Root Crop Washer - This will speed up washing of bulk carrots, beets and potatoes. When I say "speed up," I mean it!  Right now, depending on the size and dexterity of the worker's hands, it can take a full day to complete the washing process for just half of our CSA group. 

Cold Storage - In past years our cold storage has always been short-term, using ice packs and 100-qt coolers. Actual refrigeration will help our efficiency by enabling us to spread out the harvest during the week instead of harvesting just the day before delivery. We are deciding between a few options of walk-in coolers to install at the back end of our packing shed. 

Me between two of my favorite people:
Kerry from Bloom Yoga and Lisa of Blue Sky Bakery.

Pre-plastic.

Working hard this spring to finish the one tunnel for tomatoes.

"Planet Claire" just left for Navy camp--we will miss her.
She was one of our toughest and FASTEST workers out here!

This photo was taken August 15th, 2014.  We have lots of plants, flowers and small fruits.
Let's hope for some hot weather to get these things going fast!

Kale, too, and always.

Yes, we are growing peppers this year.  Look for them at market soon!

Does anyone know what this tree is?

Winter squash.

Very happy bees--a good honey year!

Monarchs and bees love my cup plant.

Pickled beets and carrots so far!

While Todd is toiling outside, I've been busy with my off-farm career (massage therapy and yoga instruction) while staying active in the kitchen, including preparation for my...

Canning 101 Clinic! 

In the meantime collecting energy and butterflies,
Julia

Vegetables Are People, Too

"Vegetables Are People, Too"
The nuance of this long snappy title for my 2014 Growing Season Calendar is being revealed as we speak. I see it in CSA efforts all over the world."Vegetables Are People, Too" is in fact a love story to CSA farming. Robyn Van En, the originator of this model of agriculture in America, translated a term from the Japanese model "teikei" as food with a face. Vegetables are people.

What started all the efforts to put a face to farming? It came partially from a rise in industrial farming and the opening of global trade that pressures companies to source from all over the world. Florida grocery stores now sell oranges from Canada. Illinois stores sell tomatoes from Mexico even in the summer.  Documentaries like Food Inc. and others have spiked a concern over GMOs and the conditions under which food is produced: pesticides, labor conditions, animal conditions, etc. They are legitimate concerns, so that's why people have started to care. Where is my food coming from?

The CSA experience/relationship puts people back into the picture of food production by building community. This is done through events on and off the farm, emails, notes, photos, updates. Some CSA members will even come out to put an hour or two into harvesting or weeding. Not required!

CSA puts people back into the much larger picture, too. It is a voice saying "I want to have a meaningful attachment to food again. Before I buy a vegetable, I want to know if it was grown with synthetic, persistent pesticides. I want to know if my food has been bioengineered in a lab. I want to know the farm laborers are not slaves. If there's a huge pile of manure from a factory farm next to my cabbage, I want to know that, too, because I'd probably not want to buy it then."

You can certainly go to the store and find cheaper produce. Plenty of multinational corporations will be happy to accommodate you. I go there in the winter on my way home from my off-farm job and I'm super hungry for a piece of cheese or something. Ideally, I'd have sourced that cheese from an ethically sound place, but sometimes you need a piece of cheese when you need a piece of cheese.

No one has to become a monk when they join a CSA farm, but you will naturally--by default--become more respectful and more connected to the whole picture which everyone--by default--is a part of anyway.  Farmers grow, you eat.

Two Words: Organic and Sustainable

“I love organics.”

I hear this from people a lot, mostly after I tell them I have an organic vegetable farm.  But what does loving “organics” mean to people? 

In February, I tackled this subject in a presentation to a monthly Green Drinks group, a network of people in the area that care about the environment and all things “green.”

The way I broached the subject was to ask the audience to consider what part of “organics” resonates with them.  Then I broke it all down:

"Organic"

No synthetic chemicals and no GMOs.

Why should we care about the use of synthetic chemicals? Pesticides have been around since WWII and were invented alongside chemical warfare. Since their relatively new introduction into the world, pesticides have been scientifically linked to problems with many body systems: reproductive, endocrine and immune. And, frighteningly, pesticides have also been linked to cancer. The most heart-palpitating, gripping seminar I’ve ever attended was by a scientist in this field of study.  He said that small doses of pesticides from residue on food and in our water have a real impact across generations because pesticides cause gene mutations.  A user-friendly website that you can go to learn more is here: http://www.sustainabletable.org and then follow links to Food and Industrial Agriculture Impacts. Or peruse as you wish.

USDA Organic Certifiers mostly care 

about what farmers do NOT do,

  but most small organic farmers think of their farm as an ecologically integrated system in which

what we DO do is just as important. 

That brings us to another word, “sustainable.”

“Sustainability”

      Sustainability results in a positive environmental impact.  It is “organic” seen as a long-term agricultural system. Sustainable farmers consider the future of our food, soil, water, air, ecologies, communities and even our own human genetic makeup.  Sustainability includes how a farm’s scale impacts these things plus the local economy and farmer autonomy.

From a sustainability standpoint, pesticides and chemical fertilizers are bad for many reasons.  For one, chemical fertilizers are required in vast amounts; they are expensive and most of them come from non-renewable sources. Pesticides have harmful environmental impacts, too, including pest resistance, loss of biodiversity (like bees!), soil contamination and pollution.

Buying “organic” with the USDA label from the store is great.  Buying direct from a small farmer who is committed to the system and the long-term sustainability of organic agriculture is even better!

All the things "sustainable" farmers do:

We rotate crops to manage pests and fertility way into the future (indefinitely!).

We build our soils with green manure crops and compost alive with healthful microbes.

We integrate natural ecological happenings such as beneficial insects.

We use diversity to manage natural risks and weather.

We monitor plant health closely, keeping them less susceptible to pests and disease and more delicious to humans.

Just Be Better.

Usually Todd and I make the resolution every year to “Be Better.”  It usually works pretty well. This year is the same but with a few more concrete goals.  A short, manageable reading list:

• Foodopoly by Wenonah Hauter
• Bringing it to the Table by Wendell Berry with intro by Michael Pollan
• Closing the Food Gap:  Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty by Mark Winne
• Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies:  Migrant Farmworkers in the United States by Seth Holmes, Philippe Bourgois

Why?

I will just say this:  All it takes to make a lively and tense Christmas holiday is for one family member to say “organic food is elitist” and the other one to say “adjust your priorities.”  If the former is a mother and the latter is the co-proprietor of an organic vegetable farm, this makes for lively conversation indeed.

How do you talk about the importance of buying organic in a sensitive and intelligent way? I sure don’t know. My tactic last week was to sputter “cancer!” and “subsidies!” in a wholly unintelligible way. I was emotional, I was unprepared, and I was drinking high-octane IPA beer. 

I have similar conversational shortcomings with customers at market. The word organic gets all muddled up in people’s heads until it is unclear what it even means. “Isn’t everything at the farmers market organic,” people ask. “It’s all natural, right?” “It means it’s non GMO, right?” “If you don’t use ‘synthetic chemicals’ on your plants or soil like your sign says, what kind of chemicals do you use?” In general, people in Chicago at my particular market have at least developed the mantra that “Organic is good” and also that “Monsanto is bad.” But I don’t think there is a real understanding. I myself don’t fully understand the ins and outs of our food economy, but I have resources.

This brings me back to my reading list for 2014.  Given my position as an advocate of CSA and organic farming, I commit to fortifying myself with more facts and learning how to calm defenses and actually talk with people.  I want to be able to inspire curiosity about our food system, not antagonize.

The one thing that everyone can agree on is that something is broken in our world if the people who need nutrition the most cannot afford it.   How can organic food production be a part of the solution?   Many already get the message that we should all EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES but where does that leave the organic vs. non-organic debate? 

Simply asking these questions has already made me feel less of a monster and more a diplomat.  I will go from here.  Onward 2014!

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.