(Mt. Vernon, Iowa)
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Greetings shareholders,
This Tuesday, I plan to give you potatoes, onions, beets, turnips, squash, radishes of all sorts, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, bok choi, spinach maybe, broccoli, brussels sprouts, chard, mustard greens, kale, arugula, and baby greens of several sorts. Remember that this week, you pick up on Tuesday, November 24, 3:30 until 6:00. Then you can spend all day Wednesday getting ready for the big party on Thursday.
We'll also be handing out the turkeys to all the people who asked to pick up at my place.
I hope to be able to give you spinach. It's still quite nice, and very sweet. What I need is a nice warm Monday. I have to take off my gloves to pick the spinach, so I need a few hours of warm and sunny. If we get that on Monday, or Tuesday am, I'll dive into the spinach patch. Otherwise, we have to put it off for another week.
The brussels sprouts will be small, but I think they taste fine, so I'll bring in a bunch of them. It might take several plants to get a couple of pounds (and you'll probably have to take them off the stem if I don't get it done), so wear some gloves that can get yucky and you can leave all the stems here for me to compost.
The mulch got out into the garlic patch last week, although I still haven't spread it over the rows. My neighbor, Warren Stoner, has a machine that picks up big bales of hay and grinds them up and spits them out wherever you want. So, I had him grind 7 big bales of alfalfa and drive along the garlic rows. Hay makes great mulch and adds nitrogen to the soil as it decomposes. Everything is going according to plan to have some great garlic next year.
My friend, Susan Jutz, and I hosted an open house here on Saturday afternoon, after the market, for beginning farmers to see some fall crops up close and personal. We had about 30 participants, so it was a good, productive way to spend a nice afternoon (although I wasn't picking your spinach as I could have been. But I was making the world a better place). The chicken house is clean for winter and very soon the little ones will move out of the chicken yurt and into their winter home. The onions and potatoes are safely stored in my underground garage. The sheds are getting less cluttered, the manure has been hauled from the neighbor's, and all the root vegetables have been washed and put away. That leaves only about 200 things left to do around here before winter hits. We're making progress!!!!
See you Tuesday afternoon. I hope you all have a wonderful and peaceful Thanksgiving.
Laura
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Posted by Laura
@ 08:44 AM CST
Greetings shareholders,
This week, we have potatoes, onions, squash, kale, Chinese cabbage, arugula, lettuce, mustard greens, bok choi, daikon radishes, red globe radishes, broccoli, chard, beets, and turnips. Whew! Long list. The garden just doesn't want to quit!
Pickup this week is regular time, Wednesday afternoon, 3:30 until 6:00. Next week, you pickup on Tuesday, same time. If this conflicts with your Thanksgiving travel plans, say something this week and we'll see what we can arrange. I think I'll be able to scare up a few brussels sprouts for next week, plus more of most of the things we are having this week. This time of year, there aren't too many new things appearing in the garden. Although those greens I planted to harvest in October are looking nicer and nicer all the time!
Good news. THE GARLIC IS PLANTED. When the weather turned dry and the condition of the soil improved, I hustled up some really nice seed garlic and got it planted in a couple of not-too-cold days. So (barring any winter disasters), there should be garlic in the 2010 share. Can't wait for scapes!
One reason I was able to plant the garlic is that the place I had planned to plant it finally opened up. There were potatoes in the garden next to the farm driveway. Some of them, we dug in October, but there were so many, and I was so sick of working in the mud, I decided to let the last 8 rows or so stay in the ground. That's the place I had planned to put the 2010 garlic if possible. My friend, Susan Jutz, found out about my plan and she couldn't stand the idea of all those potatoes going to waste, so she called in her volunteer troops. With two major events two afternoons in the first week of November, the volunteers - primarily associated with Metro High School in Cedar Rapids - picked up almost 2 tons of potatoes. We were able to donate 3300 pounds to the teachers at Metro to distribute to the families and neighbors of the school, plus, we took 150 very large, very nice bakers to the Free Lunch in Iowa City were they will be served in a baked potato bar on Wednesday. Very big treat. I'm sure glad we went to the trouble. Lots of people are going to get to enjoy some really great potatoes, thanks to all the help from the big group of volunteers.
Please, remember that there are 2 cute kittens here, still waiting for families who will let them live inside the house. Still adorable. If you know anybody who needs a kitty, send them here first.
Here's a link to a new slide show developed to promote a more socially just food system in this country. A lot of the slides are from Immokalee, Florida, where I used to live. I was a Church of the Brethren worker who managed an emergency service center for migrant and seasonal farmworkers and the homeless. Things there were pretty tough. I think it's still pretty bad there, but there is a glimmer of hope for farmworker justice with the work of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. I sure enjoyed seeing the photos from Immokalee. I really enjoyed living and working there, and what I learned there has a lot to do with the kind of person I am today. http://www.fairfoodproject.org/
See you Wednesday,
Laura
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Posted by Laura
@ 02:31 PM CST
Greetings shareholders,
This week, we have potatoes, onions, squash, probably a few skinny leeks that escaped harvest this summer, a little bit of spinach, daikon radishes, and some beets. The greens will be head lettuce, Chinese cabbage, kale, mustard greens, beet tops, arugula, and some red leaf lettuce. Vegetable pickup this week is on Tuesday, November 10, 3:30 until 6:00, in the big shed. Bring a flashlight if you are coming later than 5:00 so you can get back to your car safely.
The spinach is that I had planted for harvest for the regular CSA in October. It's finally making some bigger leaves, so we've been harvesting some of it. It has been helped by the cold and is very sweet, so use it in a salad if you can. Picking spinach is a VERY slow job; I'm not sure how we ever managed to provide it for everybody in years past. The beets will be some that we harvested from the main garden this summer. They've been in the cooler because, once again, I wasn't able to get enough from the fall crops to give at least a pound to everybody in the regular CSA. Beets can be stored for a long time, but since I've done the storage for you, I urge you to eat these soon. Chinese cabbage, arugula, and head lettuce will be from the hoophouse. All of the other greens are from the outside garden.
We had a great week of warm weather and are looking forward to another one. My corn was combined on Thursday and is stashed away in the big bin and in wagons. It had not dried completely in the field and was wet, 22% moisture, but that turns out to be the driest corn Ralph Jordan had combined up until then. I've got the big fans running to dry it further, to about 15%, so that it will store well. Moist corn and sunny winter days can be a recipe for mold to grow in the kernels of stored corn. Molds are a concern for me because they decrease seed quality, but they also can create toxins that are very, very dangerous in corn that will be used for food and feed. Moldy corn can't be sold, or is discounted heavily. So, we farmers are running the fans and dryers as fast as we can. The warm, dry air is a real blessing because it helps drying to continue for the corn in the field, and can actually reduce the moisture level in the stored corn if it is pushed through the pile long enough. My little operation here is using electricity as fast as we can, but my bill is likely only $30 or $40 per day. I can't imagine what kinds of big electric bills the crop farmers are accumulating. Once again, I'm glad I raise vegetables.
Again, remember that you pick up vegetables this week on Tuesday, November 10, 3:30 until 6:00. Next week, we'll be back on the Wednesday night schedule. I'll be in Ames all day this Wednesday. Thanks for giving me the flexibility to attend my meeting. One thing I am trying to arrange for my trip is to pick up about 50 lbs of seed garlic. As you remember, I gave up on planting garlic and gave you the seed to eat in October. Well, guess what. Now the ground is fit for planting, and we are looking at a dry week, and now I want to plant some for the 2010 season. The problem is, of course, there is almost no seed left in Iowa because it's all been planted or eaten. So, I'm calling all my buddies, trying to get a bit here and a bit there. Hopefully, I'll get enough and get it planted and we'll have some fresh garlic next summer, or at least some scapes.
See you tomorrow evening,
Laura
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Posted by Laura
@ 09:33 AM CST
Greetings Late Fall CSA shareholders,
Welcome to the first pickup of the new CSA. This Wednesday, we'll have kale, potatoes, onions, daikon, Chinese cabbage, mustard greens, baby Red Russian kale, arugula, squash, cilantro, chilies, and a little broccoli. Depending on how cold it gets tonight and what I am able to find, I might also be able to cut some leaf lettuce and small cabbages.
Like Saturday, we have quite a lot of squash that needs to be taken care of right away. You will be able to have as much of that as you would like. Even with the good squash that appears to be blemish-free, don't let down your guard. It could change quickly, so if you are trying to keep it for later, keep an eye on it. I'm going to try to give you squash every week from now until Christmas, so I'll probably give you the ones that are least likely to store well first.
They are predicting a warm, dry week. WOW!!! That will be great if it really happens. The crop farmers are absolutely, completely frustrated by their inability to get the crop in and the financial losses that are occurring. I sure feel sorry for them. I know how stressed the weather makes me; now multiply it by about $250,000, and that's how they feel right now. I expect my little field of open pollinated corn will be combined sometime this week. The Jordans are coming here as soon as they finish their soybeans. It doesn't take very long to combine such a small field, but it's a hassle when there is so much other work on their own farm that needs to get done. I really appreciate their help, so I'm spending today and tomorrow getting everything ready so they can get in and out of here quick. The open pollinated corn is an heirloom that has been grown on this farm since 1903. I sell it for seed to livestock farmers all over the Midwest, primarily organic dairy farmers. Abbe Hills OP is quite different than modern corn hybrids in both performance and in quality characteristics, and it is valued by my customers because it makes a very high quality feed, especially important for dairy cows. It's what keeps me busy over the winter.
Most of what I am harvesting for you this week is coming from the garden. Only the Chinese cabbage will be from the hoophouse. If it does stay warm and sunny, there should be arugula, radishes, and a couple of kinds of Asian greens that will be ready to pick in the next 10 days. Finally! I planted them to harvest the first of October! We might even get a few brussels sprouts if the warm stretch lasts three weeks. And, the things in the hoophouse look really nice, too. The lettuce isn't quite ready to cut, but will be in about two weeks, about when the main garden should start to fizzle out. It just might work out perfectly.
We still have about 2500 hills of potatoes in the field by the entrance driveway. We don't need them; I have so many potatoes in my garage that I'm sure I'll even have quite a lot to donate to Green Square Meals when we get closer to the end of the season. But, I hate to let the ones in the garden go to waste, so we're working to line up a team of kids from Metro High in CR to come sometime this week and dig them. They will take the potatoes back to distribute to the Metro families. All we need is a couple more dry days to make it so we can get into the field. It will be nice to cross off "dig potatoes" from my list!
Pickup is this Wednesday, November 4, 3:30 until 6:00. Come in the farm driveway and go out the house driveway, like we have been doing. You can park nearer to the shed since there will be fewer cars, but please do pull in at least so you are even with the front of the shed so we don't block the entrance too much. Maybe you won't have to dodge any mud puddles. That would be unusual. Bring bags and maybe a flashlight. It will be dark by 5:15.
One more thing. I would like to attend a meeting of the Fruit and Vegetable Working Group in Ames next Wednesday, November 11. The meeting will take all day and I won't get home until about 5:30. Because of that, I'd like to change pickup next week to Tuesday night, 3:30 until 6:00. If that WILL NOT work for you, please let me know this week. I'll make a special delivery to your house, or make arrangements for you to pick up here later that night, or something. This meeting was announced after I make the arrangements for the CSA or I would have mentioned this to you earlier. Sorry for the inconvenience.
See you Wednesday,
Laura
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Posted by Laura
@ 08:38 PM CST
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