Hi Everyone,
In this update:
1. Potluck and work party this Saturday.
2. It just keeps coming . . .
3. Goodbye (for this season) to Jacob.
4. The “facts” about organic corn.
5. The “guarantee” (goof-proof?).
6. Kids and organic foods: the UW drops the bombshell.
7. Info on organic beef and pork.
8. It’s time to start thinking about next year!
9. Farm Chatter.
1. Potluck and work party this Saturday (September 17)
This Saturday we’re having our annual Solstice Potluck and work party. The way it works is this: the main event is the Potluck, which will start at 5:00 PM. We’re asking everyone to bring a dish—a main dish, a salad, bread, or desert—in a quantity that would feed your own family/group/self and a couple more. In the past, this has worked just fine, and we’ve ended up with a great variety of dishes. Also bring plates, glasses, and eating utensils for your family/group/self. That’s it. We’ll have plenty of melons to eat in addition to deserts that are brought—we will probably break into the experimental melons which will be fun.
The “work party” is for those who have a hankering to do something, and want to come early. Those of you in this category are welcome to arrive any time from 1:00 PM on. We’ll have work for the kids, too. This year we’re saving seed from our edamame and beans, and as most of you have probably noticed, we’ve got a huge stack on the porch that needs to be shelled. This is great “work” for kids of all ages. We’re also going to be working on the hay maze, for those who feel energetic and don’t have allergies to hay!
Please, please understand this isn’t one of those “potlucks” that is a surreptitious attempt to get you to what is really a work party. The “work” we have in mind is easy, fun and not pressing. If we get something done, fine. If not, that’s fine too. We just hope that many of you’ll show up for food and a final hayride through the farm before fall settles in. This has been a very good growing season for us, and the changing of seasons is a time worthy of celebration. Come join us!
2. It just keeps coming . . .
This year we’ve had quite a “bodacious” growing season. Wendy and I have experienced the proverbial embarrassment of riches each week as we try to decide what and how much of the bounty to put in the boxes and make available for u-pick. It’s been a challenge to try to keep the value of the boxes somewhat commensurate to the price. We haven’t done too well, as you all know, as the size on the boxes and u-pick has gotten a little out of hand. There aren’t too many sources of organic produce where your twenty dollars a week would go so far! But we justify it by remembering that the early boxes were not so bodacious, and that we’re looking at the average, not just these very “heavy” weeks.Some of you may wonder why we concern ourselves with the boxes being too big. Well, there are lots of reasons, some of these relate to our own interests, some to the interests of others. When we started doing CSA we were the only ones in all of King County—probably in the state—doing CSA, with the notable exception of Clair at the Root Connection. Back then, what Clair did and what we did had little impact on each other. But now there are many, many CSAs in the area—two within a mile of our farm! A part of our concern about not over-indulging our members is out of fairness to them. As far as I know, we’re the only CSA that doesn’t buy in at least some things in the summer. If you’re buying produce as they do, there’s not only no temptation to over-indulge, but a justified resentment toward those that can and do. So we want to be good neighbors to our fellow CSA farmers.
It also turns out that giving more than we should isn’t good for us. When we did that in the past, some members decided they got so much they should “share” a membership with another family. That has been an issue with us that has persisted even in this season (but won’t next year). Sometimes too, members feel like if they can’t eat everything that we offer, they aren’t getting the best deal. This is human nature at work. One person who buys a couple's share may eat little other than vegetables in the summer, and they can take and use more of what is offered. Someone else might look at that and feel they aren’t getting such a great deal (even if they get and use the full or even greater value than the twenty dollars they paid). It’s like getting a good price on an airline ticket then finding out the person sitting next to you is getting even a better deal. It can be a little frustrating. We hope that most of you recognize that if you are getting a good deal, and if you are supporting something you believe in (not an anonymous, corporate entity with annual sales in the billions), then you should feel satisfied—even if someone else may be getting as good or even a better “deal.”
So, we’re finding ourselves trying to hold back a little, without depriving our faithful supporters of the bounty of this great season.
3. Goodbye to Jacob
This week we say goodbye to Jacob, until next year, anyway. Many of you know him, or have seen him at least. He’s the tall, thin, young man who has become a mainstay here at the farm. We first met Jacob five years ago. He was then 15. He called, and asked if he could volunteer to work at the farm. As you can guess, we never turn down volunteer help. But when Jacob showed up on a June day that was ultimately going to get to be ninety-five degrees, I doubted that this tall, pale, down-right-skinny kid could get through even a day. But he did. And he got through the next day too. Being too young to drive, he was driven each day to the farm by very supportive parents. And he kept coming, for the duration of the summer.The next year Jacob was a formal “intern” at the farm. His love of the farm and his desire to learn about organic farming were both strong. That season saw a lot of maturation in Jacob, and by the next year he was ready to spread his wings. So, for the next season and the following one too, Jacob worked at another farm. Last year he came back “home” to Jubilee, and has been with us again this season. He’s not an intern any longer, but a fully capable farm worker. In fact, if Jacob were so inclined, he could manage this farm in another year or two. We’re thrilled that he has decided to come back next season. Each year his contributions to the farm increase, as does his knowledge about farming and the number of ideas he has about how to improve our operation.
Jacob’s off to Evergreen State College. We wish him success--and have no doubt our wish will come true. Just in case you happen to read this, Jacob, I want to publicly take back (most of) the joking I’ve contributed about “the kid.” Honestly, your involvement in the farm has been worth your weight (and more) in gold to us, and it’s hard not to think of you as part of the family.
4. The “facts” about organic corn
I neglected to deliver the usual, pre-corn harvest short course in “organic corn 101” for new members of the farm. But I was reminded of my oversight when I overheard a conversation in the barn between a long-time member and a new member. The more experienced member had just seen the newer member pull open the tip of an ear of corn, and had seen the look of horror in her eyes when she saw a worm in it. Here’s what she said:
“Oh, you must be new this year. Here’s what I do. The corn here is great, but it’s organic. That means they don’t use any pesticides to kill the larvae of corn moths. The best thing is to take the corn home without looking at it, cut the tips off, and then open it up. The larvae only are in the tips of the corn; they stay there. It was hard for me at first, but I’ve learned that it’s better to “share” the tip of the corn with the corn moth than to eat corn saturated in pesticides. You’ll get used to it!”
What more can I add?
5. Our Guarantee (the “goof-proof” policy revisited)
I’m afraid some of you aren’t fulfilling your end of our “goof-proof” policy. Our end is to extend the policy to you; your end is to let us know when anything isn’t right and to be willing to let us make it right. I know it happens, and in all seriousness we really do want you to let us know. It’s not complaining; it’s not being unsupportive. In fact, it’s being very supportive. We want you all to be happy, satisfied members. Some things we can’t do. We can’t not make mistakes (I wish we could). But we can replace anything that isn’t right, if you just let us know. In years past we have sometimes read on the year-end surveys that members have gotten bad melons, or tomatoes, or something. We can’t do anything about it then! We need to find these things out when we can still do something about it, like now.So please don’t “hold out” on us, and especially don’t fail to say something if you get produce that’s not top quality. And for sure, don’t think you are doing us a favor by not telling us. You are not. We need to know. It is just like in a family: if someone is doing something that is problematic for others, it needs to be (tactfully) discussed, so it doesn’t become an unbearable issue. We too need to know about problems with the produce, and whenever we can replace something that wasn’t good, it makes us feel, well, like “family.”
6. Kids and organic foods: the UW drops the bombshell
Many of you have told me about your commitment to raise your children as much as possible on organic foods. The health-value of that decision recently received additional empirical substantiation. An article in the Seattle Times (Sept. 3rd p. A5) outlined the findings of a UW study that showed the level of poisons in children’s bodies dropped “dramatically and immediately” when they switch from eating “conventional” foods to eating organic foods.I’m pleased, encouraged, and surprised at these results. I would have thought that the effects of consuming chemical-laced food would have had more long-term residual effects. Maybe children have more resilience than adults. In any event, the fact that they can purge the poisons in their bodies by eating organically is good news! It’s a bit ironic that our society, which has (rightly) gone to such lengths to protect our children in so many ways, still hasn’t yet taken steps to protect them from the gradual, accumulative, and, if not abated, the life-long impacts of ingesting low doses of poisons in their food.
Pesticide manufacturers have had to admit that their poisons become a part of the bodies of children (and adults) when they eat non-organic food. Their last stronghold, the one that will allow them to continue reaping huge financial gains at the expense of public health for a few more years, is that it hasn’t been “scientifically proven” that it’s bad for children (and others) to have low doses of poison in their bodies. I’m glad most of you aren’t waiting for scientific confirmation (which will take years, but is, thankfully, being worked on now and will come) to pay the few extra dollars to eliminate food as a source of ingested poisons in your children’s and your own bodies. Isn’t it interesting that being good to the environment is also being good to ourselves? I’m always suspicious of the idea that killing something is the only or the best way to solve a problem. (I’m tempted to make a political comment here . . .)
7. Info on organic beef and pork.
Just in case you didn’t all get the word, we now have information, prices, and are taking orders for our pork and beef. I’ve heard that the information I sent out is not totally perspicuous—how could that be? Well, if you haven’t gotten the information, please e-mail us (jubileefarm@hotmail.com) and we’ll get it to you. If you got the information and, like most others, still have questions, also e-mail us and we’ll try to clarify.8. It’s time to start thinking about next year!
A couple of days ago someone e-mailed wondering if the Summer Session goes clear through the end of September. Oh yes. In fact, it also goes through the end of October! But as any of you who have been here for longer than just this year know, October is our subscription month. It really helps us as farmers to have some idea how many members we’ll have the following year. So, we ask people to “re-enlist” in October. That entails filling out an application form either paying the summer fee now online or making a deposit by sending in a check for $100. The deposit or the payment are important, as that becomes the money with which we get things going in the end of February and March when we start farming. We’re aware that there are reasons why some of you just can’t commit in October for a share in June. But if you’ve been satisfied with your share this season, and if you want to continue to support this farm by being members, why not fill out the application in October, and let us know you’re on board?I do need to tell you that we are raising our prices next season. I don’t feel like I need to spend a lot of time explaining why; basically our costs are going up. This year a Couple's Share was $425, next year it will be $475. A Family Share this year was $625, next year it will be $675. As an “incentive,” or maybe better as a way of saying “thank you” for rejoining, we will be offering $25 off the new prices for anyone who joins (or rejoins) before November 1st. That makes the increase $1.25/week over this year for those of you who are able to commit in October.
Our very capable webmaster Joe has been working hard to get the web site updated. If you signed up online last year, the application is easy because all your information will come up with your application, assuming you have browser cookies enabled. (Isn’t it frightening to think of the amount of literature Thomas Aquinas could have produced had technology been available to him?) You can also pay the full amount online through PayPal or if you prefer to only pay $100 now, you can send that deposit in by check (after filling out the online application).
We’ve also finished the online application for the Fall Session of our CSA. Deliveries for the fall CSA will begin on Wednesday, November 2nd.
9. Farm Chatter
You’ve noticed, I hope, that things are turning green on the big fields around the farm. With copious quantities of Canada-doo (not to be confused with Canada Dry, which, as far as I know, is not a by-product of a large flock Canadian Geese adopting your field in the Fall), and the benefit of an inch-and-a-half of rainfall last Saturday morning, kernels of rye and winter wheat are awakening and stretching for the sky. It’s a beautiful thing, and it always feels good to see it happening. The feeling is one of safety and security. The soil is being grasped by legions of tentacles whose tenacious hold is stronger than surging flood waters. Nutrients that might have leached out of the soil (and into the river) by rain and flood are being scavenged and captured bodily by the wheat and rye. And, of course, millions of blades of grass are amassing surface area to capture minerals that are waiting in the mountains to be delivered “special delivery”—via floodwaters—to our farm.The rain last Saturday was unbelievable, and even more so as it came on the one day of the year that Wendy and I were preparing to do an off-farm market. Neither of us are real “marketers,” but the occasion was the Tilth Harvest Festival; we couldn’t say no. It’s more like a big party of the Seattle organic community than a farmer’s market, and even with the rain it was worth going to. We had a chance to renew a lot of acquaintances, meet some new folks (many interested in work shares), and see some of you as well. But it certainly could have taken place without the rain!
I’ve been amazed this fall by the way the brassicas, and particularly the broccoli continues to flourish. The broccoli Wendy and I had last night with our corn and fresh greens was as good as I’ve ever tasted. What a joy it’s been to watch its growth! Earlier this season we had to harvest the broccoli early as it kept wanting to go to seed. But the fall crop seems content to just grow and grow. We’re going to try one more rotation, which, if it makes it will be ready around the end of October. But it might be November—something for the fall CSA.
We’ve also been pleased with the cantaloupe/watermelon harvest this year. We’ve been using our cooler more effectively this year, which has enabled us to harvest the cantaloupes at least every other day, which we need to do. They ripen so quickly, and also over-ripen quickly. That’s another reason I really want to know how the cantaloupe you get are. There will always be a certain percentage that get picked too late or early, but we’re trying to get better at reducing that percentage, and your feedback will help us.
I was thrilled yesterday (Tuesday), upon my first visit to the “honey and pearl” variety of corn to see it loaded with big, full, ripe ears. It is certainly the best corn we’ve had yet this year. I hope you all have enjoyed it (or will soon) as much as we have. The white corn should be ready week after next, and then, my very favorite, golden jubilee. It seemed to me like the corn struggled this year, growing slowly and just not looking too good. That’s why I was so happy to have the good results with the honey and pearl, and we’re hopeful for the next varieties as well.
I could go on and on, but there are other things to be done. With the heavy rain on Saturday came the official end of irrigation season. Today I hope to pull the intake lines from the river, and maybe even drag the pumps in. But that won’t happen with me sitting in front of the computer, nor can Joe, as good as he is, post what I haven’t sent him. So I’ll sign off for now. We hope to see many of you this Saturday for the potluck.
Erick and Wendy