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25 Jun Mon 2012

Happy Day! It rained!

Greetings shareholders,
This week, we'll have the first onions, more bok choi, Chinese cabbages, lettuce, the last spring turnips and radishes, broccoli, kohlrabi, kale, and the last garlic scapes.  The onions will be small, as will most of the onions this summer.  Bok chois are still delicious.  Here and here are a couple of recipe ideas for chois, Chinese cabbage, and other flavorful leafy greens.  You already know my advice - when in doubt, stir fry. 
The lettuce and broccoli might be a little damaged this week.  Heat is the enemy of good quality in those two vegetables, and we're going to have plenty of it this week.  We try to keep ahead of it, but aren't always able.  Lettuce "bolts" in heat, giving up on leaf growth and getting ready to make flowers.  It starts to look like a Christmas tree.  The flavor can be a bit strong, but still good, I think.  We've got more heat tolerant lettuces (we hope) that should be ready next week.  Broccoli turns brownish on the top when it gets too hot, and sometimes the stems separate too much.  Once again, heat is giving the plant the message that it's time to go reproductive.   Doesn't seem to hurt the flavor, but looks funny. 
Next week, I think we'll have beets and chard, small cabbages, summer squash, and new potatoes.
We had two rain events last week, .15" on Wednesday night, and a wonderful 1" rain yesterday morning.  I'm looking forward to taking a break from irrigating for a couple of days.  We had all of our hay down, drying.  It's not so dry now, which is a bit of a problem, but I'm sure glad the tiny alfalfa plants under the hay finally got a drink.  I was worried about their survival.  The moisture also softened up the ground a few inches down, so I hope that I can till some more garden in the next couple of days.  We've run out of space, and a few more rows will make it possible to plant okra, cantaloupe, brussels, and more beans.
The Japanese beetles have emerged and are starting to cause trouble.  Here is some info from Iowa State to help you identify them, and here is more info on management. 
See you this week,
Laura
Laura_1
06:30 AM CDT
 
18 Jun Mon 2012

growing food in spite of drought. Pickup is 4:30 until 7:00

Greetings shareholders,
This week, we'll have lots of lettuce, more marvelous bok chois, garlic scapes, a few small onions, kohlrabi, spring turnips, daikon radishes, kale and collards.  The Monday people will get more peas, and I think the Thursday people will get broccoli.  Beets, chard, onions, garlic should begin next week or the one after.
We're watering non-stop, or at least as much of each day as I can keep the pump up and running.  I'm sure glad I have a big pond. This is exactly the purpose for which it was built (although it hasn't been as dry as this since 1988, the year we built it).  Where we've watered, the crops look pretty OK.  Where we haven't, the soil is dry and too hard to be tilled with any equipment that I own.  We finished planting tomatoes last week, got the plastic down for the winter squash, set out most of the peppers, plus beans, herbs, and summer squash.  We've started melons and cantaloupes in trays hoping that it will be easier to get transplants to establish successfully than it would be to start from seeds.  We hope to get all the winter squash direct seeded into the field this week.  Not sure how it will work, but we'll soon find out. 
We got .2" rain Saturday night.  That's "point two inches".  Not very much, but enough to wash off leaves at least.   There was dust on my road by noon Sunday.  We're expecting a hot and windy week, so I'm not going to push my workers as hard as I have for the past month.  Gotta keep everybody healthy.  And maybe I'll have some time in the house to finally look at all the checks and registration forms you all have handed me.  I'm embarrassingly behind on my paperwork. 
I know you are anxious to get your vegetables each week, and I really appreciate your enthusiasm, but I have to ask for your cooperation to maintain our opening time.  It's crept a few minutes earlier each pickup this season, and I'm worried that if we don't get a handle on it, you'll be watching me eat lunch pretty soon!  Remember, our pickup times are 4:30 until 7:00, Mondays and Thursdays.  It would be hugely helpful to everybody who works on the farm in the afternoons getting everything organized if you could please delay getting here until 4:30.  We're usually hectically moving machinery and tractors and putting out parking signs, going the wrong way on one-way roads, and generally hustling around the yard, driveways, and shed right up until the last minute.  None of which is very safe for our shareholders.  And we don't take the vegetables out of the cooler until about 4:25. Then, we need room to calculate and figure out the set up, and it's hard to do without making mistakes when there are people hovering.  So, I know you want to get in and out of here early, but please, remind yourselves and your drivers  -give us at least until 4:30.  We need that much time to make pickup nights work smoothly for everybody.  Thanks.
Despite the drought, things are going well this season.  Weeds don't grow very much in a drought, and we haven't had to leave the field because of lightening.  My workers are marvelous. The vegetables we've had so far have been tasty and lovely.  Parking is working perfectly, we've had lots of food to donate, and shareholders seem to be happy.  All in all, it's good. 
See you this week.
Laura
Laura_1
06:24 AM CDT
 
10 Jun Sun 2012

we've got plumbing in the gardens

Greetings shareholders,
This week, we'll have nice lettuces, bok chois and other Asian greens, garlic scapes, and a few sugar snap peas.  The first planting of sugar snaps - the ones you got last week - were phenomenal.  All I can say is that I guess sugar snaps love drought.  This week, there will be a more normal amount.  Soon, we'll have kohlrabi, Chinese cabbage, onions, radishes, little turnips, but those things need just a little more time.  They all stalled for the month on May, but now with the water we're able to provide, have started to grow again.
The good news from last week is that we got all the garden that was already planted - cabbages, broccoli, beets and chard, lettuce, kale, beans, some peppers, summer squash - with the capacity to be watered.  It was a big job, but all the plumbing is finally laid out and everything has had at least one good drink.  Now, we go back to planting, which is quite delayed.  We're finding that we have to water even before we plant, the soil is so so so dry.  Things that we start from seeds, like beans, herbs, pickles, winter squash, melons are going to be a continual challenge because it is so hard to get a nicely firm, uniformly moist seedbed.  The vegetables that are set out as transplants have a little better jump on things, but they are getting tired of living in those plastic trays on a hayrack.  This week, we concentrate on the workhorse crops like tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, winter squash. (And a little weeding wouldn't be a bad idea, either.)  After that, we go to the crowd pleasers like okra, carrots, more beans, more cukes, zukes.  We're heading in the right direction.
Sweet corn, potatoes, onions, and garlic are all far away from the pond, plus too much to irrigate.  But they were all planted early and seem to be hanging on OK.  I can't believe how resilient plants are.  They get eaten and fried and baked and starved and smacked around by the wind all day, and still they keep living.  Amazing.  And good thing for us!
My workers have been just great, working well beyond what I expected of them when I hired them.  Without their support and help, not too much would get done around here. 
Some of you have asked about the plastic we are using as mulch.  Here is a video showing the machine we have and how it works.  (Thankfully, our soil isn't as pulverized and damaged as the soil in the video!)  After the big sheets of plastic are laid, the girls poke holes in them and stuff a transplant in.  We have the irrigation running underneath, and the plastic holds the moisture in place near the roots, plus keep weeds from growing.  I never wanted to be a farmer who depended on plastic; we've always been able to manage weeds with cultivators and hoes, and I hate the idea of disposing of all that plastic at the end of the season.  But I'm sure glad that I made the investment this year.  I think it's going to really help out over the long haul.
Channel 9's radar looks good tonight.  Maybe we'll get a little rain by morning.  If not, we'll keep plugging along, doing our best to grow you some great food.
See you this week,
Laura
Laura_1
10:48 PM CDT
 
03 Jun Sun 2012

rain was great, 2012 season starts this week

Greetings new and returning CSA shareholders,
This week, we'll have lettuce, a few garlic scapes, bok chois, and gobs of sugar snap peas.  YIPPEEEE!!!   I'd hoped to have a few more things for you at the beginning, but the drought has made everything here a little more complicated.  I'd also planned to write you a long and fact-filled newsletter tonight, but the truth is, I'm out of steam!  Fighting drought has sucked just about every ounce of time and energy I've had for the last couple of weeks, so paperwork and lawn care have taken a seat pretty far in the back.  Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks, I'll be able to give you a little more information about the spring so far.  It's been a challenge.
Vegetable pickup for the season starts tomorrow, Monday, June 4, and Thursday, June 7.  You can come any time between 4:30 and 7:00.  The farm address is 825 Abbe Hills Road, Mt. Vernon.  Remember to bring a handful of bags.  I'll have some emergency ones available, but I'm going to try to get you to bring more veggie bags from home by making it more difficult to get them from me.  I'm using so much plastic to mulch the gardens (a drought strategy), maybe I can be redeemed if you use your recycled bags for packing!
We've only got one kitty this spring.  It's going to be tough when 80 kids want to hold her at the same time.  Not sure what happened to the other 7 kittens, but there was a pretty fat raccoon here for a while.  Hope there is no relationship.  We do have the hens up near the shed, plus 120 replacement pullets (teenager hens) in the chicken house in the shed.  Kids usually enjoy watching them.
Bring the kids.  Leave the pets at home, please.  Lucky, the dog, will be lounging around.  He's enough pet for everybody.
There is a Parking Witch deep within my psyche.  I work hard to keep her from emerging.  Please help me with that  this week.  From Abbe Hills Road, please enter the farm through the farm driveway (the one without a mailbox), drive all the way around the building, and park somewhere along the right side of the house driveway (the one with the mailbox), or in the field on the west side of the driveway.  It keeps everyone safer, especially the kids, if we can keep the vehicles far away from the action near the shed.  If you are elderly, or can't walk, there are about three spaces on the grass near the shed where you can park.   Everybody else, keep driving!!! 
(Here is a life skill for farms.  Never drive off the path or where the grass hasn't been mowed.  Usually there is something pointy and made out of iron hidden there.)
We have a bread baker this year.  Her name is Charlotte Ruddy, and she is GREAT.  She'll have bread for you to taste, plus loaves to sell, plus I think she'll be taking registrations for bread shares that you could pick up each week with your vegetables.  So, bring $5 and hope you get here in time to get some.
The IRENEW Energy Expo is this upcoming weekend, June 8-10, at Kirkwood.  I urge you to attend if you are thinking about ways to make your life more energy efficient.  You'll be able to see the new wind facility at Kirkwood, plus meet the vendors of the latest products, talk with experts, attend workshops.  I'm going to try to get away from home for a few hours so I can learn more about solar.  I'm dreaming of inventing the first solar powered, portable irrigation system that can pump water uphill from the surface of a pond and not make any noise while doing it.
There may be some paperwork mess-ups this first week, but I think everything else is going to be fine.  We've got some lovely vegetables for you.
See you this week,
Laura
Laura_1
11:24 PM CDT
 
18 May Fri 2012

work on getting some rain this weekend

Greetings shareholders and friends,

Whatever it is that you do when you want to get the attention of the universe - pray, sing, chant, gaze, dance - you better start doing it.? We need rain very very very badly.? Virtually all the soil moisture is gone down to about 6 inches, which is well below where the roots of wimpy little garden vegetables can reach.? They can't grow, so all they do is hang on. ?We stopped planting?anything?else?- transplants, seeds, field corn, everything - eight days ago, thinking we could wait it out until the soil conditions are better, but that's no comfort if the rain takes another week to get here and it's hot and windy the whole time until then.? There are thousands of little plants and one frustrated farmer wanting to get things going.? So we need it to rain on Sunday.? All day.? Slowly.? No passing showers.

I was thinking that I would have to address drought in August.? Of course, that means that none of the infrastructure is in place to start dealing with it now.? We're putting out irrigation line, upgrading the pump, planting as much as possible?onto plastic mulch.? But it's going to take some time to get the water flowing and to get some response from the plants.? I imagine there will be some delay in what we are able to harvest for you.? Or not.? Depends.

There's a photo contest sponsored by Mt. Vernon Creates and the Mt. Vernon Sun that needs your entries.? Here's a note from the organizer:??

I've picked some more spinach out of the hoophouse and put it in the Pepsi cooler in the big shed.? You can stop by this afternoon, Saturday, or later in the week if you want to buy some.? Or get?some from one of the other farmers at the? market on Thursday afternoon.

The registration form for the 2012 CSA is attached.? Thanks to all of you who have registered and paid.? I'm using the money to buy drought-remediation supplies!

Laura
Laura_1
11:49 AM CDT
 
11 May Fri 2012

Beef delivery, spinach

Greetings shareholders and friends,
Sorry it's been so long since you've heard from me.  If I had 6 or 8 hours to sit in front of the computer, I'd get my garden lists organized and send you all a better note about your CSA.  Hopefully, it will happen sometime next week. 
Lots of good things going on here and the garden looks pretty good right now.  I'm optimistic, although I would be happy for a little rain this afternoon.  It dries out so quickly when I'm out there stirring up the soil as much as you have to when you grow vegetables.  Gotta keep knocking away at all those stinking weeds!!!
My friend, Dad Specht, will be making another beef delivery on Saturday morning, May 26th.  Here is his note:
I will be delivering grass fed beef to Laura's farm on Sat. May 26th between 10 and 11 am. Same deal as last time, 20 lb. boxes containing apx. 1/16th of an animal... steaks, roasts stew meat, and hamburger, for $5.50/lb. No soup bones, ribs, or organ meats. I do have soup bones available and will sell them separately to folks who request them for $2.50/lb. I have also been getting inquiries about ordering 1/4's or 1/2's . More on that later, but it will not be until Aug. at the earliest. My price will be $2.25/lb. carcass weight. You pay the locker processing fees and pick up your meat.
A little about my operation. My main business is growing grass based forages and marketing it through beef and cattle sales. Experience has taught me that steers need to be at or approaching 2 years old to produce a quality animal ready to harvest. I have found that if I calve my cows in the fall, the resulting  animals reach market weight and condition in late summer early fall of their 2nd year, after a long season of  grazing in lush pastures. This results in peak levels of omega 3  and other healthy fatty acids, and vitamin E , as well as great flavor.  Managing my farm as a grassland ecosystem allows me to be productive, while conserving my soil and water resources, as well as providing habitat for grassland birds and animals, many of which are declining because of loss of grassland habitat.
Email me your orders...   Dan
Dan Specht
12082 Iris Ave. McGregor, IA 52157
<a title="mailto:danspech@neitel.net CTRL + Click to follow link" rel="nofollow">danspech@neitel.net
563-516-1007 cell
If you have not yet signed up for the 2012 CSA season, you could do it now!  Registration form is attached.  If you have signed up already, thanks.  I really really really appreciate all of your support and encouragement.
I've got lovely spinach in the hoophouse right now which I would be happy to sell.  I'll have bags of it in the Pepsi cooler in the shed this afternoon and tomorrow in case you would like to buy some.
Don't forget to shop the farmers market for the rest of your vegetables, Thursdays, 4:00 until 6:00, Memorial Park (by the water tower), until the CSA opens, likely the week of June 4.
Laura
Laura_1
06:42 AM CDT
 
20 Apr Fri 2012

Modern "barn raising" and market tomorrow

Greetings shareholders and friends,

The market tomorrow is in Springville, 9:00 until 11:00, at the Community Center downtown.  I have another appointment tomorrow, but I expect all the other regular vendors will be there.  For sure, both Mary from Buffalo Ridge and the Strabala sisters will have lots of produce.  There's also a lady now who is bringing hand loomed rugs that are quite wonderful.  I hope you will stop in.

I have a lot of spinach and lettuce in the hoophouse, plus green garlic for another week.  If you would like to stop by and buy any of those things some afternoon, just give me a little warning so I can make sure I have enough harvested.  I'll be in the field most of the upcoming (dryish) week, but I can leave bags of vegetables in the Pepsi cooler in the shed so you can get what you want without me.

We've sure had some nice rain, but I'm ready for another break. We've got a few thousand more onions to plant, then two racks full of bedding plants that are ready to go to the field.  The fields are nearly perfect.  It's going to be a very busy week.

If you're up for an adventure and you've got time early tomorrow morning, David Miller is having a modern "barn raising".  He's built himself a new hoophouse and tomorrow is the day the giant piece of plastic is being stretched over the roof.  Should only take an hour or two, and I'm sure he would be happy to have your help.  Lots of things can go wrong in the 10 minutes that a 3000 square-foot piece of plastic is unattached to anything solid!  We had about 30 helpers when we put the plastic on mine and it was actually kind of fun. (And almost no one was lifted off the ground.)  He's promising juice and chocolates for the crew.  Below is his note:

I apologize for the early 7am start time; however, the wind is calmest in the morning.

Before I give you the location, I have to stress that you NOT use GPS or online maps to assist you getting there. They will likely lead you down a dirt road and you could get stuck in deep mud. (Some of you may recall the farmers' market email about the folks from Chicago who used GPS...and never made it to our place.)

Directions (See attached maps.)

-From Mount Vernon, travel north on Highway 1 approximately 2 miles.

-Turn right on Ellison Road.

-Travel east approximately two miles. (Ellison Road becomes 30th Street across the Linn-Jones County line)

-You will see the frame of the high tunnel just before a curve. The road curves left and in mid-curve take a right.

-The sign cautions you about a B-grade road, but it doesn’t turn to dirt for a half mile. Park here and walk toward the high tunnel frame (about 400 feet).

-The actual address is 24501 30th Street.

What to wear

-Dress in layers. However warm it is in town, it will feel about ten degrees colder on the prairie.

-Wear old clothes you don’t mind getting dirty (you shouldn’t get very dirty, but it could happen).

-Depending on sun exposure, you may get warm and need to peel off layers too.

-Wear old shoes or, preferably, rubber boots if you have them.

-Bring gloves and a hat just in case.

Just so you know

There is no bathroom—not even an outhouse.

There will be coffee, juice, water and hand-made croissants. And, of course, my wife's candy.

You do not need to stay until the final end of the project. If you can assist for one hour, great. Two hours is better.

If it rains, stay home. Be on the lookout for a cancellation e-mail should the forecast for mild winds change.

Thanks again.

If you have any problems finding the place, contact me at 319-310-6299 or Mickey at 319-310-6399

See you soon,

Laura

Laura_1
07:17 AM CDT
 
13 Apr Fri 2012

finally getting a little rain, hope it keeps up all weekend

Greetings shareholders and friends,

The market tomorrow is in Mt. Vernon, 11:00 until 1:00, at the Community Center east of downtown.  I'll be there with eggs, spinach, leaf lettuce, stir fry kits, green garlic, and maybe a little cilantro that survived the winter in the field if it's not too muddy to cut it (but I hope it is).  I'll also have very early asparagus from Local Harvest CSA.  But it didn't grow very much this cold week, so the harvest will be small.

It just starting to sprinkle while I am writing this.  Hope it rains a lot, all weekend.  We really haven't had a good rain since last June, and it's starting to show.  The snap peas that I planted on March 29th still haven't emerged out of the ground.  Not because it's too cold (the usual situation), but because they haven't absorbed enough water to be able to germinate.  So a good, slow drenching would be a wonderful thing.  Plus, I could stay in the house and catch up on the paperwork that is getting completely away from me. 

The next event of the Mt. Vernon Vegetable Gardening Club (needing a better name) is coming up on Wednesday, April 25, 6:30 pm.  Join us for a walkaround at Jo and Brian Nowak-Thompson's farm and gardens.  Every kind of gardener with any skill level is welcome.  If you'd like to get a reminder notice, zap a note to Charlene Vig, our communications expert, and she'll put you on the mailing list.

Hope to see you Saturday,
Laura

Laura_1
12:59 PM CDT
 
05 Apr Thu 2012

More spinach, good weather, pink slime

Happy Easter Week,
The market this Saturday is again in Springville, 9:00 until 11:00, at the Community Center downtown.  I'll be there with eggs, spinach, lettuce, stir fry kits, radishes, and green garlic, plus the first asparagus from Local Harvest CSA near Solon.  I'll be able to bring more spinach and lettuce because the plants are getting bigger, and hope to stay in business longer than 30 minutes this week!  Please don't make me regret harvesting more!
Picking spinach this spring, one leaf at a time, has helped me remember why we don't grow it for the regular CSA.  Last week, it took me 60 minutes to pick 6 lbs.  At that rate, we'd have to harvest for 12 hours to get enough to give everybody 12 ounces of the stuff.  And that's just on Monday!  We'd do it again on Thursday.  Plus, I'm usually faster than my workers.  So it might take longer!!!  I know how much you all love spinach, and I wish I could figure out how to grow and harvest it efficiently, but I'm afraid we likely have to leave the spinach business to the farmers in California with the laser-flat fields and the 30-foot greens cutting heads on their harvesters.  We've got lots of other wonderful and flavorful greens that we can use instead, like lettuces, chard, beet greens, kale, collards, yukina, bok chois, cabbages, and mustards.  And most of them aren't available in the grocery store.  So actually, you get to eat better since I can't grow spinach!!!  Who knew!!!
Everybody keeps asking me how we are doing with the strange/wonderful/dramatic weather this spring.  What I've figured out is that I don't really have time to do all the things I was going to do now plus all the things I was going to do four weeks from now, so I'm just staying on my normal schedule.  I planted snap peas in the field before the nice rain last week; as of last night, they still haven't emerged, which means the soil is still a little too cold for most other crops.  We've got a huge amount of stuff going in the germination house and are starting to bring it home to grow for the next 10-14 days in the hoophouse.  Most of the potatoes will get planted this weekend.  Here is a link to an interesting website describing the Great Warm Wave we've experienced. 
And I can't let you stop reading this week without saying something about pink slime.  It's SOOOOO interesting to see how this story unfolds.  We shouldn't be surprised to find out that something that virtually EVERYONE agrees is yucky is being done by food processors (and damaging the reputations of beef farmers in the process) in order to make a few more pennies.  What a great opportunity for consumers to demand more, more, more, more transparency from our food system!!!  And another good reason to get your food from farmers and processors you can know.   And another good reason to support policies that give small, regional food producers and processors the chance to succeed in the land of giants.  Here is a good analysis. 
The registration form for the 2012 CSA season is attached.  I'd be honored to grow vegetables for you this year (but probably no spinach!).
Have a wonderful weekend.
Laura
Laura_1
08:31 AM CDT
 
30 Mar Fri 2012

special market this week for al the greens, Symphony of the Soil screened

Good morning shareholders and friends,

Good news!!!  We're having a special, unscheduled, emergency market tomorrow, March 31.  It will be in Springville, 9:00 until 11:00, at the Community Center downtown.  We didn't have any market scheduled for this weekend, but because of the warm weather, all the people with hoophouses have too many fresh vegetables that we've got to move!!!  So, the first market of the season specifically for leaves!!!

I'll bring eggs (lots of them), green garlic, as much spinach as I can pick between now and then, leaf lettuce, arugula, stir fry kits, broccoli raab, and radishes.  I know Mary from Buffalo Ridge will have much of the same, plus potatoes.  I think there will be at least one baker, hopefully some meat and honey, and a few other things.  It will be a smallish market, I think, but we'll have lots of the things you have been waiting for. 

Most of the oats and alfalfa are planted here, plus the first crop of snow peas.  The rain last night was PERFECT.  I haven't been out to look around yet, but Lucky's dish is full, so it must have been a nice amount.   We were becoming very dry.  My brother, dad, and I will start on the potatoes this weekend.  If you need a reason to get outside, come over and I'll let you help me take the mulch off the garlic so we can start cultivating the weeds out of it.  WOW, things are really happening fast this spring!

There was a great new film screened in Iowa this week.  I couldn't go to Ames or Cedar Falls to see it because I was growing food, but I've heard only good things.  "Symphony of the Soil", http://www.symphonyofthesoil.com/.  When it's released late this summer, I'll try to find a way to get it shown here, as long as I can do it without getting arrested (a few years ago, Walt Disney's attorney called me to tell me that I can't show his movies on the side of my shed to raise money for the food bank.  Or else.  Learned my lesson with that one.)  You can listen to a "Talk of Iowa" program from March 27 with interviews of the filmmaker, Fred Kirschenmann, and Francis Thicke by clicking here  http://iowapublicradio.org/news/talk-of-iowa/past-shows.html .  They talked about the things I like to practice here on the farm - growing a healthy soil food web in order to grow more and better food and to improve the land, air, and water we all share.  I was inspired.

Hope to see you Saturday,

Laura

Laura_1
07:47 PM CDT
 
16 Mar Fri 2012

Sure seems like spring, making me hustle

Greetings CSA shareholders and friends,
This week's market is tomorrow in Springville, 9:00 until 11:00, at the Community Center downtown.  They'll have all the normal meat, honey, bakery, jellies, popcorn, eggs.  I wouldn't even be surprised if there is some new hoophouse spinach.  PLUS, representatives from H&R Block will be there with suggestions and tips for income tax preparation in exchange for a few cans of food for the Linn Community Food Bank in Springville. 
The new Mt. Vernon Vegetable Gardening Club will meet this upcoming Wednesday, March 21, at Local Harvest CSA Farm near Solon, 6:30 pm.  There will be a tour of a germination house and moveable high tunnel, plus baby lambs and a sprout growing project.  Every kind of gardener with all levels of experience are welcome to attend.  Zap me back a note to get the directions to the farm.
Thanks to all of you who have signed up for this year's CSA.  I'm spending the money you are sending me as fast as I can.  Yesterday, we got the fertilizer spread.  Next week I interview workers.  We've started in the germination house, and I hope to have all the oats and hay seeded on the parts of the farm that won't be garden for a couple of years by the middle of next week.  Weird weather, but sure nice.  You can get the registration forms for this year's CSA by clicking here.
Plenty of eggs at my house this week.  Just zap me a note to make sure I'm home when you want to come.  But, you might have to weed or grease or paint or plant something if you hang around here too long!
Laura
Laura_1
08:41 AM CDT
 
18 Nov Fri 2011

Thanksgiving food at market this week

Greetings shareholders and friends,
Farmers market this Saturday is in Mt. Vernon, 11:00 until 1:00, at the Community Center at the east end of downtown.  I'll be bringing leaf lettuce, kale and collards, mustard greens, bok chois, yukina, arugula, radishes and daikon, turnips, fresh garlic, and eggs.  I also have a few bundles of my new favorite vegetable, called gai lan.  It tastes a bit like broccoli only sweeter and more bitter.  It seems to like cool weather so I doubt that I'll ever be able to grow it for the regular CSA season.  This might be your only chance to try it out.
I still have potatoes and onions at home that I won't be bringing to market.  If you'd like to stop by on Monday next week to get some for your Thanksgiving dinner, I'll have the shed open for shoppers.  I'll try to have a few extra fresh vegetables in the cooler, too, so you might be able to get some last minute salad.    Kind of depends on how well things made it through the big freeze on Wednesday night.  It's still too early to know for sure the extent of the damage to the leafy things.
Also, Monday afternoon, 2:00 until 6:00, is the time to pick up the fresh turkeys that you ordered a couple of weeks ago.  If you want a turkey and didn't order one before, if you tell me TODAY, I can still get you on the list.  The turkeys are organic, free-range, fresh, and delicious.  $3 per pound.  They are grown by Henry and Ila Miller of Kalona.  
We're looking for a few new board members for the Southeast Linn Community Center.  Terms start in January and last three years, I think.  If you are from Lisbon or Mt. Vernon and think you might like to give it a try, please let me know and I'll pass your name on to the nominating committee.  It's not terribly time consuming, and a good way to serve our two communities and to meet some new people.
The garden has been SUPER productive this fall, once we got a little more rain.  We've been able to give away hundreds of pounds of fall crops, plus lots of extra potatoes and onions.  It wouldn't happen without lots of helpers, especially a group of Cornell volunteers who have come nearly every Friday for the last two months to help me harvest, cover, bury, dig, plant, haul, and dismantle.  Because of their contributions, we're almost ready for winter around here, and have been able to help lots of other people have access to some very good food for their families.   THANKS!!!
Hope to see you at the market tomorrow,
Laura
Laura_1
06:26 AM CST
 
04 Nov Fri 2011

winter markets begin

Greetings shareholders,
The first winter market of the season in Mt. Vernon is tomorrow, Saturday, November 5.  The market is in the old middle school, now the community center, east end of downtown, 11:00 until 1:00.  I'll be bringing lots of nice leaf lettuce, mustard greens (which you have to admit if you've been eating them, are fabulous!), various chois, radishes, daikon, kale and collards, arugula, turnips big and small, cilantro and parsley.  If I find some more nice things in the garden that survived last night, I'll bring them, too.  If there is something not on this list that you want me to be sure to have on hand, zap me a note back and I'll try to do it.
The other vendors will have squash, potatoes, carrots, garlic, sweet potatoes, honey, meat, bakery, ceramics, and much more.  The market is big and dynamic, lots of fun, and worth the time it takes to visit it.
I am only bringing a very few dozens of eggs this week.  The hens have finally been culled, the roosters from the other shed now live in the freezer, and the 60 young pullets have moved into their permanent home in the mobile chicken house with the hens.  The pullets are just starting to lay reliably, so every day I get about one more egg than the day before.  Soon, like in month or 6 weeks, there will be lots of eggs.  But for now, the flock is just about keeping up with the demand from people who buy eggs during the week.  So, I'll have a half dozen cartons of pullet eggs ($1.50 per dozen) this week, almost no hen eggs.  But it's going to get better!!!!
I'm using this email to try something new with my server.  I may have to try twice.  Sorry for the inconvenience if that happens.
See you at the market,
Laura
Laura_1
08:14 AM CDT
 
20 Oct Thu 2011

Last pickup this season. Greens, greens, greens.

Greetings shareholders,
This Saturday, Oct 22, is the 20th and final pickup of the regular CSA season.  We will have potatoes and onions, hot peppers, sweet peppers, daikon and regular radishes, winter squash, lots of bok chois and mustards, yukina, arugula, swiss chard, lettuce, parsley and cilantro, kale and collards, small turnips like we had in the spring, and small beets with tops.  Remember, you can eat both the roots and the tops of both turnips and beets, so don't throw anything away until you try all the parts.  I especially like beets greens sauteed in a little butter.  They are a real treat.
Pickup is at regular time, 10:00 until 2:00.  If you absolutely can't make it, let me know and we'll see what we can do about it.  Bring the kids, but please remember to leave your pets at home.  I can't stand any more excitement on pick up days.
Even though this is the last week of the CSA, there is still a lot of very nice food in the garden, so I'm going to offer another Saturday of vegetables.  The dry September slowed everybody down, then rain and sunshine in October brought them back to life.   It will be the "One Week Only CSA".  Shares will include onions and potatoes, radishes, lots of greens, mostly all the things we have this week except maybe not squash.  It depends how much squash we have left after this Saturday's pickup.  A one-week share will be $20, which you can pay me when you come to pick up.  I'll put out a signup sheet on Saturday.  I think I can handle 50 or 60 shares, but I will need to know in advance how many people to expect.
Starting on November 5, I plan to be at the Mt. Vernon and Springville winter farmers markets as long as there is something in the garden that's still edible.   I'll also have eggs.  I plan to use this email list to send you brief messages each week to remind you of the markets.  If you DO NOT want to be on this winter list, just let me know and I'll take you off.  I promise not to be a pest, but I think many of you like the reminder about the winter markets.  They are a bright little excursion when the weather is icky.  And I know the vendors really appreciate your business.
Somebody left a cloth bag here last Saturday, with "Del Sol" on it.  It's in the cooler if you want to claim it and all the vegetables inside. 
It seems like nearly every piece of old farm equipment on my place has had a flat tire this fall, or has one right now.  I'm needing 14" and 15" used tires to get everything repaired, and the tire guys never seem to have the size I need.  If you have tires that you can't use, I'd be happy if you would give or sell them to me cheap.  I'll get a few years of work out of them and we'll get them out of your garage and keep them out of the landfill.
Local Harvest CSA is again taking orders for fresh, organic, free-range turkeys from Henry and Ila Miller of Kalona.  Weights will be 14-16 lbs, price is $3 per pound which you pay when you pick up.  Pick up will be at Metro High School on Nov 22, or here at the farm on Nov 21, about 5:00.  If you want one, contact Susan Jutz at 929-5032, or send her an email.  She needs to know the number of turkeys you want, preferred weight (they try to match what you want with what they have as much as possible), and a phone number where you can be reached at the last minute.  She needs your order by November 1.
There are two yellow kittens still looking for their forever families.  Free and irresistible.  Let me know if you want one or two.
Frances Moore Lappe will be speaking about sustainable food and climate change at the University of Iowa on November 1.  The lecture is free.  She is pretty famous for a book she wrote a long time ago called "Diet for a Small Planet".  Since then, she has lectured and written about food, hunger, democracy, and the environment.
Thank you for being a part of Abbe Hills Farm CSA this season.  I hope your family has enjoyed both the food and the experience of eating locally for a season.  We had some weather challenges, but also some really wonderful crops like sweet corn, cabbage, and sweet peppers.  I guess it all works itself out in the end, no matter how many hours I spend in the middle of the night trying to get it to start or stop raining!  My workers and I have enjoyed working for you this summer and I look forward to seeing you again next summer.
See you Saturday,
Laura
Laura_1
07:59 PM CDT
 
13 Oct Thu 2011

Wonderful rain on Wednesday. Lots of greens and squash, big radishes

Greetings shareholders,

This Saturday, October 15, we will have potatoes, onions, kale and collards, green tomatoes, mostly red sweet peppers, daikon radishes, regular radishes, several kinds of bok choi, several kinds of mustards, arugula, lettuce (yippee!!!), small Red Russian kale, hot peppers, a few red turnips, parsley and cilantro, swiss chard, and winter squash. 

We harvested almost all of the squash, but we're only going to give you about half of it.  We'll save the remainder for the final Saturday, October 22.  We've got spaghetti, butternut, acorn, Honeybear (a brand new, smaller acorn), buttercup, baby hubbard, kabocha, Delicata, and Sweet Dumpling.  Most of them, except the spaghetti, Delicata and Dumpling, can/should be stored for several months.  Butternut and kabocha seem to get better the longer they sit around at my house.  However, if you notice a soft spot on a squash, eat it.  They don't store well if their skin is compromised.  Luckily, there aren't too many with that kind of problem this year.  Here is a pretty useful guide to winter squash varieties.

Sunday, October 16, is World Food Day.  Hope you will celebrate it.  Here is an idea about how to do it.  

My friend Dan Specht just called to ask me to remind you that he has grassfed beef for sale.  He said he's had lots of calls and really appreciates your business.  He needs to make an appointment for the locker quite soon (competing with the deer hunters for locker space), so he needs to know how many steers to schedule.  If you are planning to order a half or quarter beef this fall, please talk with Dan by MONDAY, OCTOBER 17.  His contact info is Dan Specht, 12082 Iris Ave., McGregor IA 52157, 563-873-3873, 563 516-1007 cell, danspech@neitel.net . 

Also, remember that vegetable pickup time is 10:00 until 2:00 on Saturday.  If you just can't make it then, and you can't send a friend to pick up for you, let me know today or tomorrow and we'll see if we can work out something for you to get your things another time.  I hate to see you miss all the great fall food.

We had 1" of rain yesterday.  Perfect.

See you Saturday,

Laura

Laura_1
12:04 PM CDT
 
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