Hi Everyone,
Never have we worked harder or written less! I apologize for the lack of updates, but here (finally) is a little something. As always, here's a topical look at the contents, so you can browse:
1. So, what happened to the "every other week" updates?
If you think there hasn't been a lot of communication from our end this summer (so far), you're right. I've had lots of good intentions, but . . . well, let's just say "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." You probably all know that Wendy and I went to a Haakenson family reunion in North Dakota over the fourth of July. Our absence for a week was preceded by more than a month without a day off trying to get the farm ready for our departure, and followed by an equally busy time trying to catch up. The reunion was good and worth going to, but it was a hard time of the season for us to leave. In any event, it put us behind for quite a while, and that's the main reason for so little correspondence. At the same time it was heartening that we actually could get away for that time, and have the farm continue on without us here.
2. Eating seasonally: the "100 mile radius"
One of the things I like to remind us all about each year is the virtue of eating seasonally. For about 99.9% of the collective history of our species on earth this has been a practice of necessity. Our ancestors, even our recent ones - many of whom we know or remember - didn't have the option of eating fresh fruits and vegetables at a time when they were not in season where they lived. Because of that, they had great anticipation for the arrival of each season and the particular foods that became available to them during the annual (or in some cases biannual) cycle of nature. We, on the other hand, have to a large degree lost that connection with the annual cycles of nature. We eat what we want at any time of the year, often without the slightest thought of the progression of seasons.
There are many kinds of CSA, but most of us who do CSA believe in honoring and celebrating the natural progression of the seasons. We anticipate the beginning of a new growing season with the arrival of the first greens. Lettuce, spinach, chard, kale and various other greens thrive under the cool and (usually) wet conditions that awaken the soil from its winter's rest. Some year this early season passes quickly; other years, like this one, it gets stuck for a while before the warmer weather brings on the conditions necessary for the ripening of radishes, turnips, and the first of the brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, cauliflower). Then, as June turns into July, each week marks the new arrivals. We sense that strongly as we harvest each week for CSA. It's exciting for us to offer our first tomatoes. Last week we had our first garlic. This week we should see our first onions, and maybe summer squash. And so it goes, the arrival of each crop turns another page on the perennial calendar of the natural world; all of which is missed, of course, by habitually and thoughtlessly eating out of season.
In our world, of course, most of us do and almost have to eat "out of season" to some degree. But a CSA program that provides all its food from a single farm is a great way to sense and appreciate the natural progress of foods. I've been impressed by an idea that is being adopted by many throughout the nation and in our own area. This is the decision people are making to limit their food purchases as much as possible to items produced within a 100 mile radius of their home. In addition to the connection with natural cycles I've been suggesting here, there are myriad additional reasons to join the "100 mile club." One obvious reason to eat locally and seasonally is that eating food that utilizes a great deal of fossil fuel in its production and transportation is not sustainable. Many people do not want to participate in squandering resources and polluting our shared environment.
Eating locally also strengthens local economies and local sources of food production. When we grow dependent on "foreign" food as we have on "foreign" oil, we are compelled to take a different perspective politically. Dependency on the cheap labor available (now, perhaps not later) in third-world countries is seen by many as an only slightly veiled exercise of economic imperialism. Furthermore, how can we be objective in our in our foreign policy with counties that provide us our food at cut-rate prices? As Aristotle noted, "the jury is never impartial, when self-interest is at the bar." It seems we have already gotten ourselves embroiled in some very difficult international issues that unarguably have ties to dependency on foreign oil; will dependency on foreign food be any different?
Those who join the "100 mile club" also are concerned about health. Most of us have some idea about what is going on with food production within 100 miles of our homes. Or, at least we could find out if there was a question. But what about food production that occurs across the globe, where health (and environmental) standards are not what they are here? Do we have any way of knowing? Can anyone be sure that food they buy in a local grocery store wasn't grown on ground where DDT or other toxic chemicals have been used? We don't like to think about it, but these chemicals, though not legal to use in the US, are still made in the US and exported throughout the world for use in agriculture. People in the "100 mile Club" especially when they also eat organic food have reasonable assurance of the purity of their food.
Our hat is off to those of you who think about the 100 mile radius as a component of your food buying decisions. It may not always be possible, but it's a goal that makes sense in so many ways. And most of us could probably do better than we're doing now at promoting greater sustainability through buying locally.
3. Road Work on the Tolt Hill Bridge.
This is a little after the fact, but we're in for a year of periodic closures of the Tolt Hill bridge. The good news is that the old bridge will not be removed until the new one is up and in service. Also good news is that closures, like the one we just had, are publicized well in advance so that any of us (and you) that travel the road won't be surprised when a closure occurs. They usually give all of us who drive the bridge a three week warning about a planned closure. And now we all know the alternative routes! It will be over a year in construction, but the new bridge will be wider and safer.
4. A word about tomatoes.
This is mostly a note for new members. We grow a lot of varieties of tomatoes here, but probably none you have seen in most grocery stores. The reason you don't see them there is that we grow heirloom tomatoes, not hybrids. Hybrids are much easier to grow. They are much more prolific. They last much longer, and they ship well. For these reasons they abound. The only problem is that they don't taste like much.
Heirlooms, on the other hand, are more susceptible to disease, produce markedly fewer tomatoes per plant, have very thin skins and hence don't ship well, and have a short shelf-life. So why do we grow these? Because they taste great! I'm not even sure how many varieties we have growing this year, but at least 40 varieties of heirlooms, and over a hundred "experiments." We also have two varieties of hybrids. That's up two from last year, and is probably two more than we'll do next year.
The main thing I need to say to those of you who are new to our program is that some, well, "most," heirloom tomatoes aren't your standard, red and perfectly round tomato. Some are orange, some yellow, some pink, some black, some are green, some all the shades in between, and some a variety of colors. They also come in all shapes. But most importantly, instead of the homogenized taste of most grocery store hybrids, heirlooms come in all flavors.
The reason I bring this up is that sometimes people are hesitant to choose or try something that looks different. Someone sent me a note saying her tomatoes were "unusable." When I wrote back to find out why, I was told they were "brown and bruised." It turns out that these tomatoes were the heirloom variety called Black Prince. This variety is considered by many people to be one of the richest tasting tomatoes in existence. I can tell you for sure that we could sell every Black Prince we grow on this farm at Seattle Farmer's Markets for four dollars a pound, and have people lined up to get them. But I have to admit that for someone who doesn't know about heirloom tomatoes (which I didn't until I started growing them ten years ago) the Black Prince does look "brown and bruised." So my point is simply to be brave. Try them even if they don't look like what you are used to a tomato looking like. You will be pleased.
I wish we could label each tomato, but we can't. But if you find one you really like, and want to know what it is, we can probably identify the variety for you, or we can do a greenhouse walk to find its source. This is one of the benefits of using only our own produce - we can always track down what it is (and where it's growing)!
5. Kids' activities
This is just a reminder that although we missed the first week of kids' activities due to our family reunion, we have done them each of the last two weeks. We're following the schedule printed in the CSA Handbook (it's on the web page: www.jubileefarm.org). On Tuesday kids' activity is at 12:30, on Friday it is at 3:30.
Several people have requested a schedule of what we will be doing each week. We did that once in the past, but have decided against doing that now. Our activities are farm related, and there are just too many contingencies to publish a schedule. How could we ever have planned for last Friday, for example? At 3:30, it was 106 degrees. All we could do was forget about what we were going to do, stumble into the river, and try to cool off! That probably won't happen again, but planning ahead for activities that are so weather/crop related just isn't realistic.
6. Keeping vegetables cool on hot days
As we get to the dog days of summer, I'd like to remind you of what many members do to keep their produce cool. If you bring a large cooler with an ice pack you can keep your produce cool even in the back of a hot car. This is a great way to insure that you get home with the produce in the same condition that you picked it up in.
For those our delivery members, we continue to be in a "monitoring mode" regarding potential wilting and other heat related issues. If you experience this, please contact us and we'll work together on a solution (jubileefarm@hotmail.com.)
7. One member's suggestions for maximizing utilization of their share.
[What follows is a note from one of our Workshare members, which I have copied and pasted as it was sent to me.]
I picked up my food from the farm, now what?
It was like any other Saturday at the farm; Erick took all of the volunteers' watches, and informed us every 1/2 hour that it was still 9:30 A.M.
And, every Saturday we all fall for it and work an extra 2 hours...
That's not true, Erick is more than reasonable when it comes to work shares, and he only forces us to work late every other weekend...
Several work share members, along with Erick, brought up the subject of food on the farm and whether CSA members might like some ideas on how to store and enjoy your food. In this particular letter, my wife and I would like to discuss the storage and preparation for salad, and root vegetable greens.
Within a day of bringing home your salad greens, it is important to rinse them in a large bowl, or fill your sink up with water and clean the greens. Next, dry the greens in small batches using a salad spinner. If you do not have a salad spinner you can also set the washed greens in a kitchen towel, and shake them dry outside. The idea here is to get the greens as dry as possible. Any excess moisture will only work against your greens and cause them to wilt and rot quickly.
Once the greens are dry, transfer them to some type of airtight container, such as Tupperware. Store them in your refrigerator, and they should stay fresh for 5 to 7 days.
We love to use as much food from the farm as possible when adding to our salad, which includes shredding: beets, carrots, kohlrabi, turnips and daikon radish. We also include green onions, nasturtium flowers, parsley and toasted sunflower seeds. Some of these items are not always available each week at the farm, so these items change accordingly.
The great thing about preparing a salad in this manner is the convenience for the week ahead. You can pack a salad and take it to work, or enjoy it for dinner each night. This is a great way to use your vegetables and enjoy the benefits of belonging to a CSA.
As a side note, we noticed that many people were cutting off the beet greens and discarding them. Beet greens have an amazing flavor and go perfectly with the beet root itself. Once you've brought your beets home, cut off the tops approximately 1 inch above the root, and store them until your ready to enjoy. The beet greens should last 4 to 6 days.
To prepare your beets, set them in a pot and cover them with water. It is best to cook them whole, so they will retain their nutrients. Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat to a slow boil and cook until beets can be pierced with a fork. (20 to 45 minutes depending on size).
Once beets are cooked, run them under cool water and peel the skin off with your fingers.
When you've finished peeling the beets, slice them into bite size pieces and set aside.
Next, take your beet greens and cut the stem out of the middle. Cut the greens into bite size pieces and wash them in the same manner you wash your salad greens.
Next, heat up a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and add the greens. Once greens start cooking down, add 1 to 2 cloves up chopped garlic. Cook garlic and greens for about a minute, and add your sliced beets. Continue cooking until greens are wilted and tender. Add salt and pepper to taste, and they will taste YUMMY!
8. Farm Chatter
I can't remember when we had our last rain. It hasn't rained since we've been home. I heard there was some rain in some places on the 4th of July, but not enough here even to settle the dust. And things were dry and in need of irrigation before we left on June 30th. So I guess it's been about a month, anyway. How thankful we are for the ability to irrigate. But it's a big job. It takes five people between two and three hours just to set up (carrying the pipe). Then in the evening it takes Wendy and me another couple hours (if all goes well) to get the pump primed, the lines cleaned out, and all the sprinkler heads working. Our two pumps are powered by our tractors, and once we get everything set, we let them run for about four hours, ending at about 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning. We've gone through this little routine almost every day since we've been back, and will continue for several more days. It's a lot of work, and it would only seem fair that when we put this much effort into something, other farm needs (like weeding, planting, harvesting, trellising, etc.) should be lessened. But that's not the way it works. So, until the next rainfall, we just settle into the routine of very long days. Fortunately our system of watering is very effective.
As we go look at the fourth week in July we are still a couple of weeks behind the last few years in terms of ripening. For example, usually by this time of year we're buried in summer squash. But this year we've only had a few so far, although the plants are loaded with blossoms and will soon be in production. The onions are looking very good, and we will likely harvest Walla Walla's next week, which is also later by two or even three weeks than usual. The garlic is ready, as you know, and we will be distributing more garlic next week. The beans are coming on, and should become a regular item for the next several weeks. We do three plantings of beans, staggered at about two week intervals. We also have dried beans planted that we won't harvest until the end of August or even into September. Additionally we have two very strong rotations of edamame up and looking good.
We all look forward to melons, and our watermelon and cantaloupe are setting fruit like crazy right now. The vines are loaded with little melons. Last night we watered them. As you can imagine, they need a lot of water! The cantaloupes ripen first, and they are a little bigger than the watermelons right now. It will still be about four weeks before they show up in our shares, but they are on their way.
I talked a bit about tomatoes already. We had a slightly earlier start on tomatoes than usual. They are less affected by the cool weather because they are all in greenhouses. Although the green houses aren't heated, if it's a cool day, we just leave the greenhouse closed and it get plenty warm inside. So a lot of their temperature is in our hands. We planted more tomatoes than usual outside cherry tomatoes this year. Many of them are experimental varieties that came from Tom Wagner, our "resident" tomato breeder extraordinaire. The reason we don't grow many tomatoes outside is that we have a late blight that sweeps through our valley in late August that kills any outside tomato plants. I only know of one variety of cherry tomato that is truly blight resistant, and that's the one we've planted for the last several years. But Tom has given us many of his varieties that he thinks will be resistant, and we have planted them outside. We'll see.
It's been a couple of days since the last words were written. This is the warmest stretch of weather I've ever seen here. Friday was 106, Saturday 102, Sunday 104, and today it is already 100 (at 11:30 in the morning!). To be honest, I feel pretty brain-dead, with heat and work induced weariness. But this isn't a complaint. Wendy and I are both so thankful to be doing what we're doing. These hot and dry stretches are a challenge for us, but it's a small price to pay for such rewarding work. We are so pleased to see so many of you spending time here at the farm, and enjoying the fruit of our efforts.
Erick and Wendy Haakenson