October 13 2010 Week 19

I have often thought to take a photo of the weekly spread and finally did it. These food items are truly beautiful to me and add to my enjoyment of Autumn. The colors and textures fit perfectly in the season.

This week CSA will be enjoying summer squash and winter squash. The Patty Pans and zukes are familiar. The Delicata may be new to some as it is to me. We have yet to eat one. Sweet tasting is the word on the street.

The greens look awesome with Swiss Chard just bursting with bright orange,pink and red. I realize this picture does not capture that statement, but it's true. Green and red Bell peppers, potatoes(some got the Gold, others the Red) and two kinds of tomatoes finish of this weeks installment of Farm Fresh Produce.

We are proud of the quality of food we have grown this year. I have been pleased every week at harvest time and delighted when doing the devy for the Shareholders. This marks the second to last CSA I will contribute to for the Twenty-ten season. Next week will be very exciting as a dear friend will be visiting and helping us for a day or two. Then that means the end of my involvement, for my family and I have travel plans and then CSA will conclude.

Eat up! Enjoy! And Thank You!

P S- I keep getting a thrill looking at the photo. I am saying,"look what I did! I grew that!" Not by my self, of course. I assisted Farmer Drew to my great delight. Thank You DREW!!!

Two weeks notice

I have given notice, folks. My employment at the farm will subside soon. Farming is meaningful, important, and fulfilling. It is also a hard way to make a living. And, a Farmer has to pay the Note before he can pay staff. In These times, in this place, payroll is going to have to cease. And since I am 'payroll', I will be laid-off.

No huge deal. Saw it coming, I expect. Kind of liked the whole arrangement more when it was 'under the table'. It had a renegade feel about it. A sense of it aint nobody's business how I am compensated for the farming I was doing. A secret agent of sorts. Whether taxed or not, I was feeding people. I was helping the farm go round. That was my reward. That and the eggs and produce, of course.

Winter comes again and I wont be collecting from Crooked Furrow this time. No, of course the Work is not all done. Just the money is gone and tis nigh impossible to cash in when the fields are brown and soggy.

Long Live The Farm!!

Menu

Oh, looky. I forgot to do the minimum. Well, better late than never is the case in many situations, isnt it?

For the CSA produce boxes this week we have:
Half pound salad mix, of course.
2 pints cherry toms, and a slicer.
Minessota Midget cantaulope(oh yummy sweetness).
Green Beans.
Garlic.
Spagghettie Squash.
Large bunch of Carrots.
Cilantro.
I think that was it. Good stuff: the boxes looked deliciously beautiful.

BOMBUS I MISS THEE

Last summer I saw fifteen thousand Bumble Bees everyday. I think this year all combined I have seen 20 Bumble Bees.

Such hard workers these bees. I loved harvesting among them.

I miss them this summer. I have only recently begun to see more of them. And it is only one variety: smallish with yellow bands real low on the abdomen and high on the thorax(like above image). What happened to all others I have no idea. The December Deep Freeze could be the cause. It is troubling to lose such a devout pollinator.

Thistle Galore

I think I have harvested more seed heads and flowers from Sow Thistle and Canada Thistle than Tomatoes and Summer Squash combined.

Both the weeds are a menace and are everywhere. The best I can do is realize we can never get it all one hundred percent. I also am joyed knowing that every seed and flower head I "harvest" reduces the population of potential weeds by 87, 349. We have made some Terrific Progress in manual weed control over the last few weeks.

We shall overcome!

It is a good feeling to have in August when Weeding loses its urgency. I can barely believe it myself.

Week 12?

If it is The Twelevth of CSA shares for Twenty-ten, then we are over half way through the Season, already. I think it's a 22 Week season. Maybe thats why the notion hit me today. That Notion being that the minimal amount of posting at this site should be A List of Each Week's CSA share. And why not?

2 pounds Potatoes-not sure of the varity.

1 pound Cherry Tomatoes-Sun Gold

2 large cuccumbers-Green Slam

Large Egg Plant-Black Beauty

1/2 pound Salad Mix

1+ pound Summer Squash-Patty Pan and others

3 Gypsy Peppers

1 pound Green Beans-Maxibel

No fruit theis week. Hmmmm? Appels can go any time now. First Cider Presssing and Potluck is Sept. 5. Appel juice running out of the press from Appels you just picked and are pressing, is truly the Best Apple Juice there is, anywhere.

The Ride

Up and down. In and out. Peaks and valleys. Ebb and flow.

Yep. It is a ride. Not too often a wild ride, but there are thrills and spills. High and low.

I bring this up because I fear, and feel, the Passion wanning. Maybe because it is hot. Maybe it is because the farm is as close to Autopilot it can fly. We are half way thru the CSA season and feeling tired. I am tired because I have nearly abused myself for three days. Ass was dragin' and I felt wiped, worn out and devoid of energy. Others sure seemed to be in the same boat.

The abuse I am talking about came in the three previous days. See, guilt had creep inside me and the only way I could fight was to put my head down and Work. Work hard and fast. Like a mule in blinders I had narrow vision.

I had to get some energy. Physical speed and power took the place of lackluster, failing passion. Parts and pieces of me are hurting now. Too Much pulling and tearing of weeds. Too Much heavy lifting with my legs, of course, and back and Anger. Bruce Banner was always looking for the Strength. Instead he got the Hulk, and The Hulk, well, HULK SMASH! It was only an old railroad tie and cider block. And, it did relieve some pressure...I smashed it as best I could.

Anyway, as we say down on the Farm,"My neckback shoulder ankletoe wrist hurts".

@#$^@#$*

I forgot what the bleep I was going to post. I was sitting here with an idea, and, poof it is gone. I blame the "Done, but with errors on page" message bottom left on my screen. I dont know what the errors are, how many, or how to get rid of them. Screw it! I'll be back.

Shit In My Life

OK! So things can always be worse. But, just for the sick and twisted fun of it all I am going to make a list. This list is entitled: THE SHIT IN MY LIFE.






Taxes, politics and the economy, shit that they are, do not make this list.


Here goes: SHIT IN MY LIFE

Dog shit. Chicken shit. Sheep shit. Goat shit. Cat shit. Horse shit. Baby shit. And of course my own. Which someday, I expect, will be the ONLY shit in my life. After all babies ain't babies for longer than forever, right? They will handle that kind of business all by themselves someday.

I do not have to have dogs and cats, but I do. They are a part of the family and I am the family pooper scooper, so...

Organic farming is not done without shit. In this case the shit is the good stuff! Fuel for the soil. It's the nutrient cycle; in, out, and around. Chicken, sheep, goat, horse(and Moo-beast, if we had any)poo poo all benefit, add to and in strange ways empower or encourage our farm. Actually the ways are not so strange. They are perfectly natural, sustainable and dynamic. OK, so if they are BIO DYNAMIC then the ways become a little strange to me. If not strange, then, unfamiliar and different.

The above is a list of a lot of shit, but not bad shit, not by any one's measure...

23 dollars? Gold for pennies, I tell you

The CSA boxes this week? Just gorgeous! They have color. They have varitey. They have freshness. They have nutrition.

The aesthetic value alone, if I had to put a dollar amount on it, is worth, like eight bucks. Minimum.

That brings the total Farmer's Market dollar value to 31 bucks!!

They really are that Nice, guys. And gals.

And what can one say about this blog post?

Vague.

I had a heartbreaking experience

It is true: I wanted to cry.

See, sometime between 9 and 11 months ago I planted out Leeks that had been seed starts even longer ago. Big deal you might say. Maybe. But to me it is a big deal. Either Farmer Drew or my self preped the planting tray and sowed the seeds and then both of took an active hands on experience of watering and feeding the seedlings for another of amount time.

Eventually planting day comes. And this was all me. I am not boasting here. Just a fact. I planted out these particular Leek. All five hundred feet of them were under my scrutiny. Alternating between bent back and crawling on my hands and knees I placed each seedling in the row.

Obviously this is not the tear jerking part. That came today when I MOWED the whole mess down with the lawn tractor.

The starts had, well, a good start. Planted out, watered and tended as needed. The tending to tends to become enfrequent, or at the most happens when there is nothing else to do. So one can project from this that they were lost in the weeds. True that. The Leeks were nearly drowned by the competition. However, it seems that the weather played are more significant role in the demise of the Leeks. The cold wet weather through out this spring right into mid-summer did damage that could not be stopped or altered to ensure a profitable crop.

As the wet and chilly days stalled the development of the plants, the sunny, long and warm days boosted and jumped-started the growth of said Leeks straight to flowering, i. e., they all bolted. And, that is no good for eating.

Ruined and lost crop!

Sad.

As we say in the business, "That's Farming".

Can Not Stop It

Grass, that is. The Lawn. It is so very lush and green we may just burn up the mower this season. Because this season has been right for the lawn. And the Weeds. Oy! The weeds have run away with entire rows. We have prevailed and won back a few rows by having productive weeding parties.

If you have not thus far been a particapant at one of these weeding parties, do nothing else until you attend. We get down! There are Yard Butlers. short and long handled hoes, and if you can last, glowing spectacular sunsets. After sunset the tempo changes: out come the disco light and Techno bumps. We might Trance-out in the field and groove out til the wee hours; the weeds dont stop so why should we?

Junuaray El Kiddo

Well here is fine howd'you do: someone posted flyers all over town that include the address for This blog. Which puts me into a sort of panic. I better get some content worth a darn on this thing in case some body actually clicks it up and reads it.



There hasn't been any regular posting here in months. Reckon that's because winter was over for a while. Longer farming days make for weary nights, and anything outside of "no effort" activities is just plain crazy. But, then, I am a whiny baby who tends to complain...



Oh, and those flyers? Total R-O-C-K!! They are promotional materials to bolster much wanted Community Supporters for our Agriculture.



Of course you might be wondering why the New Website isn't highlighted? All is not coming up broccoli in Tech-land. Tis a mirror to Farm-land: transition, slow, uncooperative components, miscommunication, and time and weather.



Nice laundry list of blame, huh?



Muy mucho has been undergoing change on the Farm Business end of things. The kick ass flyers are one example. Another would be Name Change(Laughing Duck to Crooked Furrow). Still another would be accounting and $ tracking and payroll and all the shit that some body smarter than me has to, check that: wants to deal with. It aint easy and it does not get done all by its self. There is the website to build and, at least, transfer info from the old one. Phone numbers to obtain, mailings to collate, applications to design...you know, Paper Work.



Pardon me Business Manager, I know I omitted important details, and it is not on purpose.



Did any one look at a calender today? JUNE 6 2010. That's right, Summer Time! Oh, except for one thing: It is not June after all. No, it is JUNE-U-ARAY. That's right. This is a time- frame spanning approximately late April through a day that could be this week or one relatively soon, I guess. Never heard of it before and frankly it is a bit tiresome and quite the buzz kill.



This really only pertains to Ground Work. As in we can not do any if it is raining and remaining wet for days and weeks in a row. A friend of mine is fond of saying, "Caint dance. Too wet to plow". Which he will say if invited to eat a taco, or go watch baseball. But, by golly, down on the farm it's said in a literal sense. Although, I do have some of the funkiest dance moves in the valley,that I can bust out on the kitchen floor any evening round dinnertime. However, that does nothing for the too wet to plow(or till) part. Cold hard wet reality is the farmer aint getting to turn ground often enough in June-u-aray and the food, she wont grow. And what do you know, here is a TV news article covering the very same.

There really is no time like the present. And, the Present never last. A fleeting sort of time frame, and in most cases filled to overflowing with activity.

Since one toddler is plugged into the TV and contented, currently devoid of needs and the other one, still more baby than toddler (but dont tell him that) is quite in his nappy-time, I figure I have a few minutes in this Now, to blog about farming.

Sooo much has gone down lately it is hard to know where to begin. Time flies super sonic in spring and summer.

What has been planted? Good question. Without looking at our notes I will just list what comes to my tierd brain.

Potatoes: Five rows, each approx. 95 feet, of, I think three differnt varities.

Broccolli, Cauliflower, Kale, Cabbage, a green one and a purple one, Peas, beets, turnips, Mesclun, Lettuce, Spinach, Carrots, ...Well, looks like that is all I can think of presently.

What else has been added to the farm is ten rams. Pasturing at the Crooked Furrow for a few months to help with the mowing. The more they munch the tall grass the less we have to operate the tractor in the pasture.

Like I said; the Present is fleeting...

One of the presents my wife birthed for us is calling. Oh now two of them are in need again.

The moon is always out, errm well, at least part of it

The moon is out whenever Farmer Drew is in the field...


What does that mean? Any takers?

Thars plantings in dim thar furrows

The tractor is running hot and so is the sun on the back of my neck. Yahoo! I applied sun screen yesterday! Next step is to dust off the old straw hat to increase my personal SPF.

Poor old Farmer Drew lost his straw hat to the puppy. Rather, Pie munched and drug and shredded and scattered that old hat to ensure her old man had to get a new one. Reckon I ought to pick one up for the old boy seeing as how it is hard for him to get away these days. And it will only get more difficult and getting a hat on his own will be ever present on the "when I get a round to it" list.

Friday was a haapy day: We preped several beds and planted out the goods we had started as early as January 29! Broccoli is in the field!!

The fields look different this go-round: The rows are tilled and planted to follow the countour of the land. Aint nothing straight at a right angel down at the Crooked Furrow. This adjustment should allow for better irrigation, if not better then, more effective and even.

Also two newcomers have spent time working, helping on the Farm. Both said they would come again on a regular basis. Without jumping to hasty conclusions, we might just have or seasonal Team. That means the 4 of us will be at hand to harvest and cultivate and fill CSA boxes. I can see it now: A well oiled machine. Groovin'. Doin' it!

It's on, now.

Who is keeping track? Spring is sprung all around and sprining a bit more each day. Ground work has begun and Markets are open. Why, I planted peas today! Tomorrow should result in multipul rows of Brassicas planted out. Also many rows of salads and lettuce have been pushed out. There is no stopping it: Food time is nigh time. Set the good food mood, dude; outdoor planting is on, soaking up the sun and lengthing daylight gets the Farm growing.

It's a whole new ballgame

This blog has been very quite lately. Not that hasnt been a rambucious lot going on at the Farm. I mean, there has been A LOT going on in recent weeks. I am going to have to say that the most noteable is the acquisition of the Farm's new Business Manager. From office organization to marketing and sales, Catherine is on board and getting down to it! As she is so fond of saying, "it's handled." She is also fond of saying, "how about now?" Which is shorthand for stop procrastinating and get 'er did.

To our Farming Periodic Table she is a new element.

Thank you for your efforts, caring, and help, Honey. (It's ok. I can call her that. She is also my Wife.)

With an actual real-life "manager" our game is stepped up, taken to a new level...it is a whole new ball game.

What is growing on? PART I

Here is the dish, people. Yummy in the tummy and not only Green.

Leafy salads are truly delicious and nutritious! So much good food grows in the crooked furrows I thought you might want to know what is growing in the cold frame right now.

And, it is ready for eating!

Can you dig it? Some of the salad greens have been harvested since early February! And in this hemisphere February is in the winter...



Arugula: This plant is so cool, in some places, it is called Rocket. The taste, to me, is nutty with a slight spiciness. Love it in a salad, straight from the garden, on a pizza, or cooked with eggs. And for one's health Arugula is rich in vitamin C and Potassium. And who knew it was a good source of Protein? And a very good source of dietary fiber? We all do now. Get Some!
Arugula is commonly combined with the following ingredients: prosciutto, goat cheese, endive, Parmesan cheese, and sun-dried tomato. yummm.
(Go here for way too much nutritional information.)

Mesclun: Literally it means mixture. And that is just what we have. The Mesclun mix is quite a variety of leafy greens and even has red and purple(ish) mustard 'greens'. There is even a speckled lettuce and arugula in it. Since Mesclun Mix originated in France you know it is fancy. A real beauty with different colors, textures and leaf shapes, and a treat for the palate with its robust flavors. After having a Mesclun salad I have heard it exclaimed, "Whoa! Wow. Now that was one delicious salad!"

We are growing several other varieties of leafy greens currently. Please click through the list if you would like to see the descriptions Wikipedia style:

Endive


Mache also known as Corn Salad.

Mustard Greens which has many applications for culinary delictibility if you visit epicurious.

(OK. So it is a short list. I forgot specific names of the others. I will brush up on the names and varieties and post a PART II.)

'Sup Down'n The Farm?

I am currently wondering what is going on down on the farm? What are we, what have we, been doing? After eight straight cloudless days you can bet the lawn mower was dusted off and fired up. There was talk of hooking up the brush hog in order to knock down some of the old corn and sunflowers that are still standing tall. And you can bank on talk of the tiller; let's do some ground work! Alas, tis only talk. The ground is too squishy. And when we said tilling can surely be done in another two days, well, then it rains. And rains.

And, you know, that is all OK. We have been starting seedlings and bumping up some of the more eager sprouts to larger containers or soil blocks. Sowing seeds and/or bumping up seedlings is a daily event this time of the year. Did you know that tomorrow is March? Hit me with the stun-ray too.

With all the warm air and sunshine weeds are on the grow. Which means we farmers are on the pull. Never mind trying to stay ahead of it, swish, just do it.

There has been extensive work in the cold frame: harvesting of radishes and arugula, sowing of 13 rows of various seed such as micro-greens and other lettuce. Two rows of sugar snap peas are in the cold frame already. And, extensive weed control.

Some "business" stuff has been handled. I dont know much about this kind of thing but it all helps us grow. The entire farm is going thru a name change and experiencing some growing pains or rites-of-passage as it were. We will be Crooked Furrow Farm in practice and on paper. And that just tickles me silly.