Maplewood Organics

Friday, October 8th - Garlic Planting - 1pm-5pm

This is the best root day this fall to plant our garlic. Lots of hands will make it go quickly. We'd LOVE your help. We'll make our rows, plant the cloves and mulch the whole area with loose hay. Please call or send an email if you would like to help us on this day.

Garden Progress and Farm News (some repeats here...)

We do have some melons ripening...not a great yield. We are picking what's ready each week now and offering them as extra choices. If you have already taken one as an extra choice, please consider leaving them so that someone else who hasn't had one can get one. Next year they will be more abundant. The area behind the house is designated for melons and garlic next year.

Madeleine and Calvin helped in the milk room for a while Sunday washing carrots. They each had a bucket going for their clean roots. When they were finished, we counted the results by 5 to see how much money they earned. (I pay them a nickel per carrot washed, beet picked etc.) Calvin washed 37 carrots and Maddy washed 83! Pretty good for little ones! And boy were they proud! "Come look at how much I did, Mom!!!" For most helping, they get the satisfaction of being helpful to the family. But I started paying them for some tasks so we can start teaching them early about money management. By the way, if you haven't read The Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker, it is well worth the time! It's very interesting and eye opening.

We are working bit by bit at pulling out spent plants to get the gardens ready for winter. It's hard to believe that it's that time again already. The season went by so quickly. Soon it will be time to start making Christmas presents. Then it'll be time to start planning next year's garden. We are hopeful that we'll have two interns lined up early leaving only one spot to fill. If you know of anyone who may be interested in working with us next season to learn about organic farming, please pass their information on to us so we can get it touch.

Recipes of the Week

Amish Cole Slaw

1 head cabbage

1 onion

1 carrot

1 green pepper

Shred and place in layers. Store in refrigerator overnight covered tightly. One cup sugar over top of combination.

1 cup vinegar (Apple cider vinegar tastes great!)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon dry mustard

3/4 cup oil

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon celery seed

The next day boil the vinegar, sugar, mustard, oil, salt and celery seed together. Pour over cabbage mixture. Don't stir. Return to refrigerator. Stir when ready to serve. Will keep several weeks.

Carrot Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1 cup rolled oats

2/3 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup shredded carrots

1/2 cup real maple syrup, room temperature

1/2 cup unrefined (fragrant) coconut oil, warmed until just melted

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Preheat oven to 375F degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and oats. Add the nuts and carrots. In a separate smaller bowl use a whisk to combine the maple syrup, coconut oil, and ginger. Add this to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Drop onto prepared baking sheets, one level tablespoonful at a time, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Bake in the top 1/3 of the oven for 10 - 12 minutes or until the cookies are golden on top and bottom.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.