The Harvest Bee Blog

Gunga Galunga, Week 2 Hello, Friends: Often times at the farm we are reminded of the wise words of Lady Galadriel, the elven maiden from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings: “Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.” In a world dominated by major (and majorly corrupt) farm corporations, Big Ag we call it, how could we small farmers really hope to compete? Yet, somehow and someway we do and we do so by sticking together. Rather than allow ourselves to foolishly believe that competition and corruption are the only ways to get ahead in this world, we believe that growing healthy, honest, real, sustainable food on small plots of well maintained soil will recreate and resurrect the true American Dream. Us small farmers see each other as cronies, sharing grief over a failed crop of tomatoes and happiness at the success of a trial run of potatoes or tips on how to prevent powdery mildew from spreading. The end result, or so we hope, is that together we can offer to the public what one of us alone simply cannot, especially as the demand for real food from real, local, farmers continues to increase annually. Sounds great, right? Truth is, easier said than done considering that often times it seems as though a new obstacle presents itself just as a previous one is being conquered and that cycle never ends. However, rather than succumb to the myriad of challenges found in small scale, organic farming, we strive diligently and passionately to remember just why it is we do what we do, a sincere love for the soil and all the organisms above and below it, as well as to give back to the people who so amazingly throw their support behind our growing aspirations. The amazing words of affirmation from our CSA members this past week has been incredible, to say the least. We are so very pleased that you have enjoyed in the first week’s bounty and hope that this continues throughout the next 20 weeks, especially as we work our way through the heavy doses of greens coming out of the ground, presently. Fear not, though, we are pleased with the progress of the carrots, broccolis, and cabbages, as well as the peppers and tomatoes, among other crops. Finally, some lettuces have started to make their way into the fields, a sign that the weather is somewhat starting to cool, and we are even seeing some positive signs of a trial run of shallot and leek seedlings popping up!!! We are really keeping our fingers crossed with those for later in the season. We will, of course, keep you posted and so as not to allow ourselves to get too far ahead, we have our amazing (sarcasm here) army of red ants littered throughout the field (speaking of small people/animals/insects) with those ever annoying bites of theirs to bring us back into the present and/or reality and man, sometimes reality bites hard. Those little ant bites, as painful as they may be, serve as a great reminder of just how strong 1 small being can truly be and how much that strength is increased when combined in mass numbers. So, here’s to changing the world, one small farm at a time! In this week’s shares you will find the following: • Black Sapote (AKA: Chocolate Pudding Fruit) • Grapefruits (probably last of the season, at least for awhile) • Baby Kale Mix • Mustard Greens • Pac Choi • Moringa We have included a description for you to review on how to know when to cut open your Sapotes, as well as a recipe for the Mustard Greens that seems to tone down the spiciness for you, if you don’t necessarily enjoy the kick of fire that mustard greens offer. Just substitute the mustard for the chard in the recipe. Enjoy! -Mustard Green Cakes: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013616-quinoa-and-chard-cakes -Black Sapote: http://tropicalcuisine.com/getting-to-know-black-sapote/ Two final quick notes of business: 1). Please bring your totes with you to pick-ups and we will refill them with this week’s selections. Those of you picking up at Juicelation, your food will be ready in the cooler there and they will have a list indicating what to fill your bag with. 2). Some of you have already informed us you will be out of town next week and have opted to not pick-up. Before we make a final decision on if and how next week’s pick-ups will work (Christmas is on Friday, market would be on Saturday – kind of stuffy there) please shoot us a quick heads up if you have not yet done so letting us know whether or not you will be in town. Once the final tally is in we will make a decision on how next week’s pick-ups will go and subsequently, let you know. Have a great week and see you all very soon! “Onen,” The Bees Matt picking up his bounty!