Current Farm Notes - Volume 1: April 10
WELCOME BACK TO FARM NOTES: 2008 SEASON
Introduction
Wow! The supposedly winter months have past, although there is still snow over the growing tables in the back yard and too much ice on the road between the kitchen and the greenhouse for me to go fetch the “b’ys” for phone calls. We try to use a Walkie-Talkie, but that doesn’t always work. There has been so much going on, it’s hard not to chatter about everything. I had planned to post a sort of annual report about the projects and activities flowing from the farm least year - articles, chef’s visits, new crops, visits from local schools, seminars and presentations Mike presented and the workshops and conferences that Melba organized; but there is no time for that now. Today, it is full speed ahead, to get out the first Farm Notes of the season.Farm notes usually talk about What’s Happening On and Off the Farm. Although there are exciting things happening off the farm, the longer pieces will be what is happening on the farm,
who’s coming back this year, new crops and new ideas.
News to share? Send it to
Organicfarm@nl.rogers.com. We will provide a link from our website or post it in Farm Notes or both.
What's happening off the farm!
Friend and neighbor, Marlene Creates, has works included in the documentary series Landscape as Muse by 291 Film Company, which is airing soon on Bravo! TV, Thursday evening, April 10th at 9 pm Newfoundland Time. Tune in to view: The Tolt, the Droke and the Blast Hole Pond Rivers with Newfoundland artist Marlene Creates.
Organic Networking
Workshop, Friday, April 18th.All day, starting at 9 am St.James Church on Elizabeth Avenue.Everyone is welcome! Traditional farmers and gardeners and wanna-be organic growers of all shapes and sizes. There will be excellent resource people from Nova Scotia presenting; Nova Scotia is one of the most active provinces in terms of organic production in Atlantic Canada. Mike will also be talking about growing locally in the afternoon. This activity is coordinated by our provincial Agri-foods folks and ACORN, Atlantic Canada Organic Regional Network. The long term goal is to establish an ACORN chapter in our province. Come and help us make history. Click here for more information.
Eco-Market, Saturday, April 19th, Masonic Temple
In Celebration of Earth Day. Environmental friendly talks, resources, things to see and buy, but in general an opportunity to network with folks of like mind. Do drop in. The Organic Farm will have a table with Micro-greens, seeds and whatever other goodies we can come up with this time of the year.
Farmer’s Market Rumor is true!
There has been much talk by many and lots of work by a core group to finally get a Farmer’s Market in place in the City of St. John’s. It opens at the Lions Club Chalet, near the Curling Club, in June. It will be on Saturdays from 9 am until 2 pm. Calls are being made now to book tables. No doubt it will be well advertised, but we will also keep you posted in Farm Notes and the farm website.
The Hungry Heart Café is opening soon!
A few weeks ago, we received a call asking for sprouts, and telling us about The Hungry Heart Café. They offer a full service restaurant as well as catering with a focus on creating nutritious, delicious and affordable meals. The Hungry Heart Café is sponsored by Stella’s Circle, which is situated at the corner of Rawlins Cross (the old W.J. Murphy building that has been refurbished). All their profit is used to fund employment training and low cost meal programs. The café will also serve as a small gallery for local artists. For more information, visit the café’s website at www.hungryheartcafe.ca.
Toby Rabinowitz will open the gallery activities at The Hungry Heart Café in late April or early May. This show is being organized with The Leyton Gallery, which is Toby’s home gallery. For more information about the Stella Burry Foundation, visit their website at
www.stellaburry.ca. For more information about Toby’s work, see The Leyton Gallery website at www.theleytongallery.com.
Sarah the Farmer Turns Back into Sarah the Dancer
Sarah Stoker, who has been working on the farm since last season, recently had a solo piece on the stage in New York City as part of Performance Mix Festival/NDA Exchange. From New York City, Sarah traveled on to visit her sister, Stephanie, who is working with children in an outlying area of Peru. Locally, Sarah continues to be involved with the Neighborhood Dance Works, and expects to be working on the farm full time this season. Congratulations Sarah and Welcome Home!
GEMMA, A Society for the Promotion of Infant Mental Health pulls off whirlwind tour and talks by Dr. Bruce D. Perry, world renowned spokesperson on child maltreatment and rotten outcomes for children. It took over two years from the time Melba first e-mailed the ChildTrauma Academy in Texas to ask about a date for Dr. Perry to present in St. John’s. This activity finally took place the last week in March, with an exceptional response from practitioners, which included 170 people attending the free public lecture at The Lantern, around 200 showing up at 8:30 am at the Health Science Auditorium on Wednesday morning for Dr. Perry’s horrifying evidence (that is what happens to children before three years of age can and often does scar them for life) and the limit of 120 people attending a follow thorough session, Where To From Here in the afternoon.
Outcomes:
GEMMA will use Dr. Perry’s visit as a catalyst to organize a working group for change for children. The first meeting, Raising Our Voices for Children meets on Tuesday evening, April 22nd. Please go to GEMMA Website at
www.gemma-nl.org and get involved!
What's happening on the farm?
The Birthday Boy Finds His Way to Atlanticia!
Yes, Jeremy Charles, the Chef at Atlanticia does visit the farm often, picking up whatever he sees and writing it on a list in the shed. He also sometimes calls in an S.O.S. in the later afternoon or even the evening, asking if we will run down a tray of this or that, because he just ran out. And, yes, Atlanticia was reviewed by the Anonymous Gourmet on the Farm Website last fall. No, we have never been to Atlanticia. Last Saturday evening, we broke this slum of deprivation by joining friends at Atlanticia for Mike’s Birthday. We had a table by the window, a
lovely clear night, the Bell Island Ferry gliding happily over the tickle. We were already excited and in a good mood; the quietness of the evening, the spacious dining room and being with friends set the stage for a wonderful evening.
Mike had heard of the Taster’s Menu and ordered it right away. Our friends also ordered it. As unaccustomed as I am in eating in expensive restaurants, I asked for a menu, thinking I might have a soup and salad. But the crowd converged on me to also have the Tasters Menu. Mike and his friend, Hughie, had the wine pairings. That’s where the other Jeremy, the wine specialist, chooses the wine to pair with the particular dish and explains both the dish and the choice of wine. Shelley and I sat it out, with something simpler to drink.
I cannot begin to describe the various dishes, with its many variations on what might otherwise almost seem familiar, but were different in all of the right ways. A bit of truffles, olives or fresh chili, pine nuts, fresh garlic, green apples or sun dried tomatoes, just in the most unexpected, but perfect places. Even though the fresh tuna still stands out, the most memorable for Mike and me is the home made pasta, which came out as the third or fourth dish. We later learned this was made by Alice, the young woman who worked on the farm all last season and who
was adopted by Jeremy over the winter. We started at 7pm and finished a little before 11pm with a dessert boat, which held three different desserts. I come closer to being able to talk about the desserts than I would the various, intricate dishes, but still would not be able to do them justice.
We visited the kitchen afterwards and found Alice happily cleaning up her work space getting ready to go home for the evening. It’s not likely that we will see her back on the farm this season, except to come with Jeremy to pick off the most delicate of what the Organic Farm has to offer this very fine restaurant.
Oh yes, at the end of the evening, we met Mr. Charles, Jeremy’s Dad, only to discover that his birthday is on the same day as Mike’s. Rather than go on the waiting list next year, like we had done this year - because I neglected to call, we booked the same table, same date, next year and invited Mr. Charles to join us.
~Melba Rabinowitz