Certification Time

This past Tuesday, a customer read our sign “we use no synthetic chemicals in our soil or on our plants” and asked me to explain.  I stuttered for a minute because I thought Todd and I had finally figured out a succinct way of saying we are organic without saying we are organic.  I thought we finally figured out the most perfect simple credo by defining the most basic aspect of organic:  No synthetic chemicals. 
Yet this customer reads our credo and is still confused.  “This stuff isn’t grown organically, right?”
I say “Yes, in fact it is.  That is what the sign means.” 
Under the hot sun on the hard black pavement I think enough is enough.

It’s time.  It’s almost been three years.  I’ve decided to prioritize the organic certification paperwork.  Over and above grant writing, over and above any other paperwork.  So that we can roll that word around in our mouths slowly, loudly, with a gentle pause between each of the three mighty syllables.

College Days

When I was a student in college, I belonged to the Pi Beta Phi.
I (Julia) also became a vegetarian.
After reading Food First and Diet for a Small Planet I considered myself an expert on the subject of international food aid and the truth behind the factory farm. I remember debating Republican fraternity brothers with abortion metaphors and long speeches usually ending in the image of a calf too weak to stand drinking its own urine.
And in the dormitory, exasperatedly turning off faucets for girls while they brushed their teeth so that they didn’t waste water.  I mean did they really know what was in the cafeteria’s meatloaf tonight?  Really?  Because if they think it didn’t come with the desperate cry of a pained and exploited mammal, they should think again.
I regret my piety in those days.  I regret not eating my mom’s green jello salad (horse’s hooves) that she made for me special on Thanksgiving.
Those days were the first in which I began to question our world’s agriculture and food systems.  There were and are no shortage of concerns, but not necessarily one side against the other.
I am still technically a Pi Beta Phi.  I am no longer a vegetarian.
-Julia


“The Dignity of Agriculture”
I used the above phrase in a previous posting, something about how Todd and I are single-handedly reclaiming the dignity of agriculture.  So I thought I’d take a sentence or two today to clarify that ambitious declaration and backpedal once: I will just say that there is little dignity in our country’s quantity over quality food system.  Reinforcing that thin thread of connection between farmer and consumer would definitely help foster more respect for food.
Let’s examine some other concerns on a couple trips to the market.  I’ll just change my cardigan and my sneakers and let’s go!
The Dignity of Agriculture:  Wicker Park
Here is an indisputable opposite of dignity:
Without much detail, just imagine what happens to the person inside when a portapotty gets tipped over. For the sake of secrecy and gossip, I will tell you that this ridiculously undignified incident did indeed occur about a year ago to an innocent bare-sleeved and masculine market vendor at the Wicker Park Fest (not Todd).      Holy Moly!
The unique and challenging issue at the Wicker Park market is that all the customers mistakenly assume that all the vendors are organic.
Why does organic agriculture have more dignity or does it?
The righteousness of growing without synthetic chemicals (aka organic farming) comes from the fact that many synthetic chemicals for agricultural use represent questionable ethics.  Pesticides are toxic.   Companies who make and sell pesticides and other agriculture chemicals do not prioritize their customers’ best interest, especially when it comes to anyone’s health, bodily or financially.  Learning to work instead with compost and green manure honors the soil and the small farmer (who can create both on the farm) and inevitably the consumer.
There is another type of farming with a certain amount of dignity, at the very least in the opinions of those that do it.  This is IPM farming, or “Integrative Pest Management” farming. Synthetic chemicals are used in IPM but with regulation and conservatively.  It is widely practiced by fruit vendors at the Green City Market, for example.  They could speak more on the subject.  Or you might ask Nichols Farm or Seedling, whose smoothies I cannot resist.
The Dignity of Agriculture:  Lincoln Square
The unique and challenging issue at Lincoln Square is that all the customers mistakenly think that all vegetable vendors can speak with direct experience about their crops.  
As a longtime customer, I feel that the core of the farmers market experience is the chance to interact with food that was grown only a few miles away, knowing you are supporting your local economy and gaining a better appreciation of the produce itself. 
“Why are the tomatoes slow this year?”
“When will you have spinach again?”
“How do you store salad mixes?”
“How did you wash the leaves?”
“How should I wash them?”
“When did you dig these potatoes?”
“Do you use pesticides on your farm?”
“How do you feed your soil?”
“Yup, looks like rain.  We sure do need it.
This type of conversation returns customers to the stands every week.


We think if a vendor is bringing other farms’ vegetables to market, then that vendor should be honest about their role in production and should know the answers to questions regarding chemical use.
For example, if a vendor buys tomatoes wholesale from Florida, then their customers have a right to know that.   Peeling those labels off is… not very dignified… and not very honest.
In our case, we are now working with another farm and will be bringing Deer Creek organic beets and other root veggies to the market from time to time.  Todd has been to the farm, met and talked with the farmer, and we will label their stuff accordingly. 

Cigarette

Cigarette Smoking Farmer came with his 18-wheeler truck today and parked it on our property. And lit a cigarette.
Todd became emotional and rushed out to remedy the situation.
A hostile exchange was made.
Todd went out to buy him a replacement part.

Roundup

The saga of the Roundup tank continues.  To recap:  The farmer next to us (let’s call him Cigarette Smoking Farmer) has parked his 18-wheel truck and tank of Roundup on our property for weeks.  He finally moved the truck but left the tank.  It has now been nearly an entire month of looking at this thing, watching weeds grow around it and under it-- a feat of extraordinary tolerance for an organic farmer. 
Today:  The story goes that Todd was coming back from a manure run on his tractor and “became emotional.” He decided to “remedy the situation” by hitching the tank to the tractor and dragging it across our property line onto Cigarette Smoking Farmer’s soybeans.  Todd’s emotional remedy “accidentally” broke a piece of the sprayer. 
The war is on.

Illegal Parking

The farmer renting the land next to us has parked his 18-wheel truck on a strip of our property.  It has sat there for a week.  This compacts our soil and throws Todd into a rage.    Hoisted on the truck is a tank of Roundup, the most popular herbicide out here.  Most of the corn and soybeans are “Roundup ready” which means they, thanks to scientists, have the genes to resist effects of this chemical.  The effects, of course, meaning plant destruction.  I forget how roundup actually works and will ask Todd to tell me the story later, after he has cooled off from this latest infringement (the parking of the truck).

Last year this same farmer who is probably a really nice guy was spraying chemicals very close to us on a windy day, so we confronted him and snapped photos of the label on the tank, the photos I included here above and below.  Todd has had more pleasant encounters with him since, but we don’t think it has erased his image of us as crazy angry people.  Oh well!
The truth is that our crops are not Roundup ready.   And other chemicals he might be spraying are toxic to breathe. 

Farmers who spray are legally counseled to play nice by not spraying when there is a certain amount of wind.  We have the supposed advantage in court if anything were to happen to our crops but this not something we’d like to test.

Two more complaints:

• Certified organic farmers, by law, have to sacrifice tillable ground to form a 25-ft buffer between them and the land of toxic chemicals.
• While conventional farmers receive money every year in subsidies, organic farmers have to pay a third-party certifier every year to continue claiming organic,

Three heartening thoughts:

• More people are lobbying government on behalf of small organic farmers.
• More consumers are buying organic produce from their small, local farms.
• Merle did not kill the chicken she had in her mouth today.

Happily clad in a new apron today,
Julia

Drizzly Rain

We spent a quiet day in the drizzly rain on the Fourth, harvesting for Sunday.  Luckily it was cool and drizzly all day—could harvest all our lettuce and greens before dinner and sparklers.  Usually harvest day ends in exhaustion and a rush to harvest all before the sun goes down.  I think I’ve mentioned before that greens cannot be picked in the heat of the midday sun.  An inconvenient truth. 

Despite drizzly rain this weekend, we could still use a few more inches.  We harvested broccoli yesterday for CSA members and next week look forward to our first potatoes!  We are finding them all over the garden, a result of our dog’s help during planting.

Japanese beetles, the grossest bug of all, are showing their ugly heads.  So are hornworms and parsley worms.  Todd is picking most of them off and, after a silent and respectful nod towards their place in the universe, squashing them with his fingers.

We are officially disconnected from the television and are fine.
Julia

Krispy Kale

Figured out an alternative krispy kale recipe, good for both types of kale, thanks to one of our worker shareholders.  Here’s what she wrote to me:

We de-veined the leaves and cut them into 1' sq.s as usual. Then, I
tossed them in a bowl with a crush garlic clove and about a tablespoon
of olive oil (per pound of veg) to coat lightly. I then preheated the
oven to 375 and spread them on a flat baking sheet, and put it in for
six to eight mins. Sprinkle with sea salt to taste at the end.

My husband Aaron and I enjoyed our first day working on the farm and,
of course, eating the veg we helped harvest. Please be well and see
you Sunday.

Best,
Susan

I have been making yummy omelets with kale almost every other day.  Today I used mushrooms from River Valley and some hot peppery spices in the sauté with the kale, adding it into the omelet cooked. 

What is a garlic scape?  A green curled flowering stem of the garlic plant, yummy to eat.