FARM NOTES: Introduction to Farm Notes: Week of June 25, 2018.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Coordinator: Mike Rabinowitz Contact Us Before 5:00 pm. House Phone: 895-2884. Leave Message
Pick-UP Places and Time: 6 – 6:30 Mun Science Building Parking Lot
or Organic Farm: 5:30 – 7:30; other days by appointment.
Cell Phone on Pick-Up days: 709 749-2884. ( 6 – 6:30 only) .
Welcome to our Vegetable Membership Option for the Season 2018. The Farm Notes will sometime accompany the weekly vegetables. This introduction has some background on Veggie Membership and how Farm Notes came to be with the list and description of veggies and a couple of recipes or kitchen hints. It may have more details about farm or wider community and some weeks it may not take place at all except for packing slip and a couple of comments from Mike. I wrote extensive Farm Notes for years before my health began to slide in the summer of 2008.
How the Veggie Membership idea unfolded. When the Organic Farm and the Lien Farm developed a partnership to offer the first vegetable bag program, around 1986, we didn’t know other farmers in Atlantic Canada were beginning to unfold their own ways and means of offering group buying opportunities. Today, the concept is known as a CSA, which stands for Consumer Supported Agriculture and the options available at that time was a great deal of variety, from vegetables and herbs, meats and eggs as well as some speciality items. Our first Veggie Membership had an enrolment of 30, made up of student and staff at Memorial, gradually increasing too much larger numbers from every aspect of the community, friends and neighbours, partners and grown up siblings. When the numbers reached a 100, the Lien Family Farm and the Organic Farm separated into two different buying groups, with similar but different options. Today, there is healthy competition among a number of local farmers, which is main reason the Organic Farm is offering the opportunity for part-time memberships and an availability list for pick up at the farm each week.
However, we don’t want to loose the greatest pleasure for the farm; this is having visitors at the farm, especially families and children, and sharing recipes and stories among our members. This starts with the first farm notes of the season and continues throughout the season. A few years ago, something happened and the 25 years of Farm Notes went flying off into cyber-space, never to be seen again. A young IT friend could spy them floating around in pieces, but when I asked if he would pull them back for me, he said, it would cost more of his time to collect and put them back in some order than I would be able to pay. I cried and complained for months, until a wonderful Veggie Member sent me a copy of her collection which covered about 20 years. Now, the issue is what to do – the challenge is pulling in some of the more relevant recipes as the season unfolds and incorporate some of the gossip pieces into a more modern, up to date Version of Farm Notes. And, whereas, in the old days, I might have written for 2 days to cover the recipes and gossip or at least one whole day, it is likely that, I won’t be able to keep up with the weekly pace. But is fun for me so, I hope to be on a roll this season; if not, Mike will send the basics, which is the packing list.
VEGGIE MEMBERSHIP GUIDELINES. Need To Cancel This Week? Let us know as early in advance as possible and your vegetables will not be harvested for you. Can’t make it for pick-up or the farm or drop-off due to something unexpected. Phone us between 6 and 6:30 at Pick-UP. We will take care of your vegetables in the farm chill room for a few days. If you are not able to come for your orphan vegetables, let us know. We will give them to a volunteer or we may be able to share with a food shelter or free meal program.
THIS VERSION OF FARM NOTES INCLUDES:
What’s In the Bag and Nutrition Facts.
Recipe Hints.
What’s Happening On The Farm?
Canary in the coal mine.
Unpack bags over the sink!
Re-using brown paper bags used for Veggie Members.
WHAT’S IN THE BAG? This is it! Get ready for lots of greens. This is the coldest June in memory and we have had a few. One year, I could see bunch beans in the side garden by the house suffering under a new snow on June 19tth . We can be grateful for the wonderful sunny days we have had in the past two weeks, interspersed with the rain and cold. Some green house crops are still hiding under blankets of row cover, especially in the evenings. But never fear! Spring is here!!
Chives
Green Onions
Lettuce and/or Salad Mix
Chinese Cabbage
Braising Mix with spicy mustards/ or
Potpourri of brassicas
Rhubarb
Edible Flowers
Recipes. Ready, Set, Go! Over the years, our Veggie Members have learn to use spring greens in dozens of ways from chopped and raw with a spicy peanut butter sauce, to stir fries, casseroles and soups. No kidding. One of Mike’s former graduate students is a vegetarian and was a member of the Veggie group for several years. Her husband hated raw, green things so she blended all of her greens into a soup on a regular basis. They survived; he not only grew to like her soups, he now prefers green and other fresh vegetables to the frozen prepared food, he used to buy. We are still in touch. They share their time between living in a high rise apartment in Manhattan where he is a jewelry designer for Tiffany and Northern Ontario where she is a University Teacher. He visits us occasionally in Tucson where we hid from the cold in the winter. He comes to the world renown gem show there in February each year and looks for gems in the raw, he can used to cut into exotic jewels. .
What’s Happening On The Farm? A Cooking Adventure with Rachel and Marc. Rachel is an apprentice from Ontario for this season who arrived in early April. She has worked on several farms in North America, loves to cook and likes to create her own recipes, using things from the farm. Today she is making her second pot of soup, using nettles. This time of year, of course, the farm harvesting involves greens of every sort and every kind. Marc also works on the farm; he returned to farm in February after spending his winters with friends in the West. He lived in Paradise for many years, active in swim team and bicycling and has many friends around. He is one of the most aware and cautious people you will ever meet in terms of reducing our carbon footprint and using the resources we have on the farm and in the area. He rides his bike regardless of how inconvenient, is tenacious with farm tasks no matter how tedious, manages farm and house re-cycling and walks the talk when it comes to the use of fossil fuels to bring food from other parts of the world. He and Rachel immediately recognized their common bond around growing organically, being frugal with food and contributing in a positive way to all the ongoing activities associated with the farm. Rachel likes to cook and cooks most mornings, making breakfast from simple things and leaving a tray of cookies, buns or rhubarb custard squares on the kitchen table for farm staff. Needless, to say, the chocolate cookies and squares go first and the plate is usually empty by noon. Rachel and Marc keep a pot of greens, stems and leaves they pick from the farm simmering on the back of the stove most days. The broth is strained and used for soups made by soaked beans, lentils, discarded potatoes and undervalued early crops such as tiny parsnips and carrots.
Tom Loader, our manager has resigned. About two years ago, Tom, a professional geologist came to Organic Farm as a volunteer between jobs and quickly slipped into a manager/supervisory role. Recently, he resigned to take a new position with a geological exploration project on the West Coast. He farms organically on a small family farm in Torbay. He has lots of farming skills and experience but the more important aspect of his work is helping Mike problem solve around issues in the Geo-thermal green houses. Geo-thermal heating for greenhouses is a new strategy for Agriculture and there is much to learn – for example, air circulation, temperature variation, dampness and drainage. Tom also helped with the tomato grafting project which is a new initiative for the farm. He will be sadly missed by all, but, we are not writing an obituary; he says, he will stay in touch and be available for consultation when he knows his schedule with the geology project. Meanwhile, we can follow him on farm face book, as soon as we can replace him with a new face book administrator.
Recipes. This is the fun part and in some ways the easiest, because we have a collection of recipes from our Veggie Members under the recipe header on the Website. I have tried each of the recipes shared in our recipe file and of course, there are dozens of recipes on-line now. Stay tuned! One I haven’t posted yet is the spicy peanut butter sauce with fresh ginger that we like with mustards and greens. The recipe is from the Moosewood Cookbook. I made it over twenty five years ago for Jon Lien, a dear friend and vegetarian. Rachel made it one day last week and served it with finely chopped kale. Tasty, hearty and not too difficult.
Canary In A Coal Mine
We invite our members to give feedback especially around quality of their vegetables. This helps us know more about quality of products we are selling. For example, appearances are not always what they seem; maybe you cut a Chinese cabbage and found that the centre was questionable or cut into a turnip to find there are brown areas. If staff suspect a vegetable is not the way we want, they usually send these vegetables to me. I open it up, have a look and try to save the good parts. If it is not through out, you may want to do the same thing, but, if you feel a vegetable is not usable, please let us know. We will take note and replace with items of similar worth. Not a problem, your word is good enough. You don’t’ have to return the vegetable, like is expected when we return a bag of apples that are half rotten to COSTCO. They expect to have the whole bag returned with all of the apples, good and bad or will not honour a exchange.
Nutrition Facts:
Rhubarb is actually a vegetable that is primarily grown and used as a fruit in pies, sauces and other desserts. Also referred to as the “Pie Plant,” rhubarb contains vitamin A, potassium and calcium – as much calcium as a glass of milk! It is also low in calories and fat, and is cholesterol free and high in fibre.
Chinese Cabbage Chinese cabbage is an excellent source of vitamins A and C and POTASSIUM. Unlike other members of the cabbage family, Chinese cabbage does not cause gas, a bonus for people with sensitive stomachs. Once you have invited our brave Chinese Cabbage into your kitchen and become comfortable gently tumbling out any harmless, baby slugs, it may become one of your best friends.
EMPTY YOUR VEGETABLE BAG OVER THE SINK
I found a couple of tiny creepy crawlies hiding the gorgeous, fluffy head of mufti-leaf lettuce that came to the house this week. Nothing ran over the counter, trying to escape because I was unpacking in the sink near the compost bucket. This just a reminder that you may find live creatures, especially in brassicas that have not been washed – like broccoli, Chinese cabbage and lettuce. (Although so far this season, I have not found creatures with legs that are quick to escape, only a tiny, creeping caterpillar recently hatched from an egg laid by a cabbage moth. At beginning of the season, the brassicas are covered with vegetable row cover, not only to enhance warmth, but also, to protect from cabbage moths. As soon as the cover is exposed, mom knows she has discovered a new condo to raise her young. Newly hatched young ones is a sign the vegetables have not been sprayed. What better place to start a new family that in a healthy environment.
A Perfect Camouflage
The most challenging may be the tiny green caterpillars clinging secretly in the broccoli branches. . Rinse broccoli in a bowl of cold water but do not totally submerge. Watch and Wait! They will usually crawl up to avoid water. If you dunk them, they may hang on and be harder to find. Take a breath and know that broccoli is also blessed with a creation designed to protect its young.
Action Plan for Insects and Creepy Crawlies! .
You may want to use a wet paper towel to scoop it/them up and discard in compost; some people run water from the faucet to capture them by drowning. Toby, our daughter, picks the live creature up carefully and takes it outdoors. Good Luck with your chosen method.
Report from the Field!
If there are a lot of insects, please give us a heads up! It can happen almost over night. We have an organic spray, BTK, on hand; it is made up of live bacteria, not chemicals and has to be kept refrigerated. So far, this season, we haven’t seen the need to use it.
RE-USING BROWN PAPER BAGS
Yes, thank you for returning the brown paper bags, folded neatly if possible. We do plan to use them a second time so we accumulate and organize according to large and small. When we started this procedure, there was an internal discussion around whether they would be re-used. We did save them but they were not being re-used for fresh food; most are folded neatly in a box in the basement. I have made a decision to re-use them for our veggie groups. If anyone has a objection to this, please let me know. Of course, we check them as they are returned to make sure they do not have dirt or leaves or some other potential contaminant before we fold them and put them away for next use.
Conversation From The Field: How/ When did we decide to use paper bags?
People familiar with our history will know that initially we provided canvas bags with a garlic logo for years. Each member purchased two bags as a membership costs. The plan was to bring back an empty clean bag and pick up a full one, rotating bags from week to week. We were dedicated to not using materials that would go into a landfill. Over time, it was not feasible to stick with that plan. We washed, turned and dried each bag every week by hanging them in the sun, weather permitting. It was not only the cost of labour for washing, it was also the fact that half the time, people did not return their bags, so we would have to put veggies in plastic grocery bags to go to drop-off. Next, we purchased a supply of washable, cloth bags – the kind of inexpensive cloth bags from Belbins or Dominion. We also washed them, with lots of labour involved in the washing. Finally, after around five years of cloth bags, I donated them to a local toy library and looked for other ideas. Some CSAs in Atlantic Canada bring tubs of vegetables to pick-up site or Farmers Market and ask their members bring their own containers. This is our third year using paper bags. Our view is that although the paper will leaves some footprints, in terms of the energy required to re-cycle, it is a gentle footprint, not like plastic or canvas that takes years to return to natural state, if ever. Members who have knowledge, experience or opinions around differences in using plastic, cloth and paper in terms of footprints are invited to comment, either in an e-mail or farm facebook.
WHAT’S HAPPENING OFF THE FARM?
You may have heard the new St. John’s Farmers Market (SJFM) is due to have a grand opening on July 15th. The Farmers opportunity to visit the Vendor space this past week was cancelled and will be re-scheduled. We can’t wait as we are not sure yet, what type of storage, display and table lay out will be best arrangements for a more permanent set-up.
Toby’s Summer Shows. Our daughter, Toby is a visual artist and fairly well-known in this part of the world. Google: Toby Rabinowitz to see her work. She has paintings in two summer shows in St. John’s now: Leyton’s Gallery on Baird Cove and the Newfoundland and Labrador Craft Council Gallery on Duckworth Street.
_____________________________________Please send in your feedback and recipes for sharing.
The Little Red Hen of the Organic Farm
June 27, 2018
