The Harvest Bee Blog

Good Day, Friends: We have been asked by many people the last week or so how long do we plan to grow this season. The answer is a little complicated because we definitely intent to grow through the 1st week of May, which would technically be the last week of the CSA. However, I have also told you CSAers that my intent is to throw in at least 1 or 2 complimentary weeks of food for all the support you have provided this farm throughout out the season and for that to happen, we need the weather to cooperate and if it does, we would look to grow right into June. We know that the longer we can grow the more people can continue to sustain themselves off of local, sustainable food (or at least produce). We understand this desire, this need from people and we will do the best we can to continue offering food from The Hive for as long as we can, but not at the expense of straining the soil. At some point it (and we) will need to rest and when that time comes we will let our wonderful supporters know. One reason I bring this up now is because following (and during) the lecture this past Sunday, several attendees inquired what their options are for finding local, sustainable, farm fresh food when options are limited, either because maybe there are no local organic farms offering a particular staple (dairy, for example) or during the off season/summer when most local produce farms shut down for awhile. Unfortunately, the answer to the first is that grocery stores really are the only option for finding food sources not supplied by local farms. Thankfully, some local grocery stores offer staples other than produce from reputable farms and businesses that may not necessarily exist within Collier County, but are at least local enough to the area that they can send their products to us via these grocery stores. Unfortunately, though, the truth of the matter is that we are just not yet at the point in this local food movement here in SW Florida where strictly supporting and sustaining ourselves from local products is viable, especially if you are not a vegetarian or vegan. As such, I always encourage people just to make sure they do a little research on some of the common "organically certified" products they find at the stores before purchasing. You may find that some of these products may not be as organic as you would think and/or are produced by very large conventional businesses, which begs the question of how organic can they really be? There are some honest and delicious large companies that offer quality products. Find those. Buy those. Enjoy those. Regarding produce consumption...as we head into the final months of our growing season, my recommendation to customers and consumers has always been to consider stocking up on what produce local farms are still offering and attempting to pickle and preserve this food. Most, if not all produce can be stored in some way and these methods are really not all that difficult. In fact, often times it is really a fun time preparing food for storage, especially when doing it as a family. In has this rusting, throw back feel of working with food as Natives did. Of course, using this food in various ways and consuming it throughout the off season really can bring a sense of comfort to our bodies knowing that we are still really close with the food we are consuming, even if it is spreading some tomato jam on a slice of toast with a drizzle of olive oil, rather than slicing those tomatoes fresh the day you purchased them. We have a pretty short off season so, you really do not need to do a whole lot of preserving and there are some awesome local fruits that people will be offering around SW Florida to provide that fresh feel to our souls, but expanding our repertoire of how to connect with this food can be truly fulfilling. Please share whatever ideas you all may have for ways you might have preserved in the past, too! In this week's shares you will find the following: Kale Mix 1 Head of Lettuce 1 Bunch Carrots 1 Head of Cabbage Bush Beans 1 Pack of herbs Here is a wonderful and easy recipe for pickled carrots that also includes cabbage as a way for you all to try your hand at preserving local, farm fresh food (Use more carrots and less cabbage, if you want). Also, so many of you have sent or posted photos of the amazing things you are doing with the food you have receiving each week. It is awesome to see people having fun with their food and enjoying it! I would love for you to actually send me the recipes, too, not just for my own liking, but it is my intent to eventually offer a CSA style cookbook for future CSA members and seasons, especially when the website gets up and running. It will be just another vehicle in which members can become more confident with the food in each week's distributions and showcasing what you members are doing yourselves would be a great way to set this up, in my opinion. So, please, send those recipes our way! Pickled Carrots: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017277-pikliz Enjoy the rest of your week's and we will see you when we see you! "Onen", The Bees