VEGGIE COOP FARM NOTES: WEEK 9 : August 19, 2009: Larger Bag
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Packing Slip: Larger Bag

Basil – 25g regular or red 2.00
Cherry tomatoes – half pint or 400g greenhouse tomatoes 3.10 Please be patient with me!
Dill - bunch 2.00
Garlic – 150g 2.10
Micro Mix 8.00
Salad Mix - 250g 7.00
Snow or Sugar Snap Peas - 100g 2.00
Summer squash 750g 2.25
Swiss Chard or Kale - bag 3.00
Total: $31.45

Important message from Mike! Mike made a point of pointing out that he wanted this message on your Farm Notes again. He insists - for the best taste ever, try to be patient and let the tomatoes ripen until their color is vivid. Dill! Try putting the dill in a glass of water on the counter, in a plastic bag in the refrigerator or dry. My experience is that dill works well, fresh or dried. Try adding dill to anything and everything. For example, prepare fish steaks for grilling by glazing with lemon juice, olive oil or sour cream, then sprinkle lightly with dill. Lo;uis did this with salmon steaks a couple of weeks ago. Awesome! Or make a dip by tossing the entire bunch of dill into a food processor with an 8 oz. block of cream cheese and a few tablespoons of milk or cream to make a consistency you like. Blend, then add soy sauce to taste.
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For information, questions or comments, we are only an e-mail or phone call away. Contact; Mike Rabinowitz, Co-Owner and Coordinator, Veggie Coop. House Phone: 895-2884. If you are running late for the pick up, call Mike on the Farm Cell at 689-7693.

IT’S IN THE BAG and Special Orders. Even though we may not have enough of the things you especially enjoy each week to make up the forty member bags, keep in mind that these may be things you will want to special order. E-mail Mike with your order. He will bring special orders to drop-off or you can pick them up at the Farm Store on the week-end. Families Welcome! This past week-end, it was delightful to see so many Veggie Coop members with children, tromping about the farm, investigating the pond for fish and perhaps…… just maybe, trying to catch a frog! A couple of families took their children to pick raspberries. It was a special treat to have Stephen and Emily, of Georgetown Bakery Fame and their three children, Evan, Annie and Felix out on Sunday, even though they almost missed Mike. We used to see them often when the children were younger and actually before Felix, who is now three was born. Of course, this was before they got so busy with the bakery, children and renovating a new house. Hint: If you want to visit with Mike at the farm on Sundays, he is not usually here until after 3 o’clock.

HAIL! HAIL! The gang’s all here. Zucchini and cousins! I am sure no one needs a recipe for the first squash of the season but mine is a lightly sautéed, pan fried dish with Monterrey Jack Cheese. It is on the Website, under Zucchini. The best place to find Monterrey Jack Cheese consistently at a reasonable price is M&M Pre-Pack Sales, corner of Portugal Cove Rd. and Newfoundland Drive, near the Dairy Queen. On Monday, when I prepared farm notes I had a meatless lasagna in the oven made with a thin layer of spinach on the bottom resting on the noodles and under the first layer of cottage cheese, followed by a second layer which is topped with thin slices of zucchini sprinkled with fresh oregano and other spices; tomato sauce, then more lasagna pasta, layered with more cheese and sauce.Baking on the shelf below as a a chocolate zucchini cake, because Louis found a monstrous size zucchini hiding somewhere in the squash patch. I plan to post the chocolat4e zucchini cake and the zucchini carrot cake recipe a little later on, when the summer squash is more plentiful. Meanwhile, if you are interested, send me an e-mail.

HANDLE WITH CARE! We are picking raspberries each day. They rest in the chill room for an hour, then, I go through them and put them in their boxes, saving the most ripe ones for the house. As suggested last week, every raspberry is touched and inspected by me. They are guaranteed to be fresh, but they must be used the day of or frozen on a tray!!

NO MORE PRINTED FARM NOTES IN THE BAG!
At least five years ago, some members commented on how wasteful, printing all of the Farm Notes were and advised that we should post them. At that time, one Veggie Coop member offered to set up our Website in a simple language that even I could manage. It was his idea at that time that we would post information for our Veggie Coop each week and also a list of produce available for restaurants to buy; thus a Chef could place an order simply by going to our website. We have been working with Louis Atkinson now, on an informal basis for a couple of years and have made one step toward that goal,. I have learned to do the simplest things, like how to post the Farm Notes. You have probably noted that, I have not yet learned how to put them in order of dates. This means you have to scan the list and find the notes according to date and large bag or small bag. Be Patient! I am still learning. I will get someone to help me re-arrange them in order asap.

HOW THE FARM NOTES UNFOLDED Up until last week, we were printing off over 80 copies/ two sides - one set for Monday and another set for Wednesday. What we were doing was not only bad for the trees and environment, it was also overly time consuming, especially if we ran out of toner or the printer has some other kind of fit at the last minute. Sometimes we had the material written and almost finished, then didn’t have time to get them into the bags. On more than one occasion, we left them behind when we rushed off to meet our 6 o’clock deadlines. Although you may be disappointed not to have a paper copy, we hope you agree that there is no excuse for wasting paper.. However, when I printed off a copy, it seems to me that the fontz is quite small. Please provide some feed-back. I might be able to set them up in a larger fontz.

Farm Notes always included more than the packing slip and a couple of recipes. I enjoyed writing extensively about what is happening on the farm, family and community activities and often listed upcoming community activities. Since then, Farm Notes have decreased in content, especially the gossip part. However, I still want to hang onto the idea of being able to involve our members in the things we care about at the farm, who is coming and going, little stories, etc., even though I have less and less time to do this. During the course of the week, a hundred things come across my mind, to pass along in the Farm Notes. This morning, it was about the Bell Island Ferry System. The days when the two ferries are actually on the tickle are few and far between. This morning, Diane explained that one of the ferries was hung up on a rock last night and they had to have divers in – thus, only one ferry this morning. This happens more often than you or I could count. For Vince and Diane who have to depend on the ferry, it is just another day in the life of the Bell Island Ferry. They get up at least by 6:30 a.m. to get to the ferry by 7:30, only to find that it is not running on time, or delayed by 2 hours because it had to make an emergency run to take the ambulance over the night before. When this happens, it doesn’t go out for the first couple of runs. !

WHAT DO MEMBERS WANT? At least five years ago, we sent out a survey to get feedback from members asking what they felt was the most important thing about the Veggie Coop. We asked if they could keep only one or two things, what would it be?. This covered all aspects of what we do - including whether or not we should continue to wash and clean the veggies or pass them along as they come from the field which would reduce the costs; preferences for herbs, printing a packing slip, recipes and What’s Happening On and Off the Farm. Several members wrote back to say that they didn’t have much of a preference for the list and/or the totals on the packing slip, but the aspect they would like to see maintained was the Farm Notes. I am a closet writer, do a lot of tongue in cheek writing and you might have noticed, I have never been very concerned around minor errors, missed words, etc., as long as what I say connects with your intuition in some way. This has sometimes been so obvious that one of the members offered to edit Farm Notes for me. The difficulty is that they are never ready before the day or and in fact, the minute of. It is now 4:30 and Mike just came indoors to make a revision on the Packing Slip. However, due to many, many factors, I have not been able to put the time in on the Farm Notes as they existed in the distance past. It is still my intention to l to tell more, not less about What Is Happening on the Farm. For example, this coming week-end, I hope to go to a workshop sponsored by the St. John's Writers' Guild to be held at the summer home of Bernice Morgan, Coley's Point.

WHAT IS HAPPENING ON THE FARM!
Vince has been off for more than a week, because his 8 year old son, Cody was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes and has been in the Janeway, getting various aspects of his medicine and insulin adjusted. Goldie, Vince’s wife and also Vince are juvenile diabetics and actually met at Diabetic Camp many, many years ago. Sheldon, another core worker is off this week because he hurt his back on Monday morning, picking up an empty plastic crate. Sheldon explained that he knows it wasn’t the actual farm work, that he has had back trouble since he was a teenager. He said it started when he was in a marching band and had to carry a 65 lb drum with a back strap and later, due to having to handle heavy equipment for Weir Construction. However, he says he is seeking compensation because the incident happened during his work time here.

WHO IS COMING AND GOING!
Rachel and Emily, the WOOFERS from Nova Scotia, Ashleigh from Winnipeg are leaving on Friday. Emily and Ashleigh have helped with raspberries while Rachel has been Diane’s right hand woman to help with salad mix. No doubt, they will leave a gap in getting things done. This coming week, as far as we know, there will be no WOOFERS for the first time this season. A friend of mind, from college arrives tonight from Tennessee – not exactly a WOOFER, but I am sure she will help just the same!

Do let us know what’s on your mind! Meanwhile, I have to go check on the zucchini- pineapple loaf in the oven!.

Melba/ August 19, 2009