Month: June 2011

Another splendid week ahead here at the farm. After a few drab days of cold temps and fog we had an amazing day today, getting ready for harvest and catching up with field work. The big themes we are working with right now are weeds and pests. Our melon and potato crops have been in the ground for a while look good but the past week has seen an explosion insects. Specifically for these two crops, the cucumber beetle and the colorado potato beetle (click the links for nightmare inducing photos) are thriving and their numbers that have us a bit worried. What do we do as organic farmers to save our crops? Well we have a few options at hand. First and foremost, we rely on the the diversity of the farm and of the crops in our fields. When we are planning the season each winter we look closely at the arrangement of plant families and types and try to mix them in each field. For instance we put our potatoes (solanaceous family) alongside our storage onions (allium family) along with our strawberry crop (rose family). This diversity in one field along with grassy strips and field edges filled with flowering clovers provide places for different beneficial insects and bacteria to thrive. These insect and micro-organisms help keep large populations of pests and diseases in check. To keep crops healthy we also use physical barriers like floating row cover, which are large pieces of special fabric that cover the crop and keep the pests out or we actually move through the fields and pull the pests out by hand. This week we had some help with this in the potatoes from the kids attending our farm camp. Here’s a shot of the kids picking beetles of the plants into buckets of soapy water. They got several hundred in less than an hour!

If all of these approaches don’t stop the pests from taking the crop we still have one other option, and that is spraying an organic approved control. Most people don’t think organic growers can spray anything but in fact we have a many naturally derived compounds we can use. These options are developed from non -synthetic sources and are extensively tested to be sure they are safe for both humans and wildlife. Controls derived from hot peppers and garlic are well known by home gardeners. Potato beetles have a couple of compounds that target them, one is kaolin clay, a fine clay that when added to water and sprayed gets into the joints and breathing holes in their exoskeletons, making them very uncomfortable. The other control option is using a concentrated soil bacteria called spinosad that affect a small part of the beetle family, harmless to ladybugs, and has no effect on other bugs or mammals. Hopefully the work the kids did this week will do the trick!

 

 

More kohlrabi this week!

 

If you didn’t use your kohlrabi last week you can make something really great with all of it this week. Check out these recipes.

 

Greens are great.

Master minimalist chef Mark Bittman of the New York Times has a great and simple guide to enjoying the luscious early summer greens.

What to expect in this weeks share:

Strawberries

Salad greens

Kale/chard

Scallions

Kohlrabi

Broccoli

 

Fourth of July is coming! What better way to celebrate than having lobster! Call Harpswells’ own Interstate lobster Co-op and order yours today! 833-5516

After a May that reminded me of a visit to Seattle, we are finally getting summer.  Warm, dry weather makes life pleasant for all of us that work outside; for farmers this weather also makes us busy.  For the past two weeks we have been really running here.  Here’s a snapshot of my day on Monday (yesterday): 4:30am: out of bed and outside, set-up hand-washing station for first day of farm camp, measure out grain for pigs, chickens and lambs, assemble flats for the first harvest of strawberries. 6:00am: meet with farm crew, water greenhouse, head down to the fields to pick berries for 2 hours – 216 pints total.  8:30am: quick breakfast, four phone calls and a trip to the greenhouse to spray Koalin clay on the watermelon seedling to deter the cucumber beetles that are feasting on them. 9:30 am: work with farm campers to feed animals. 10:00am: prep beds with apprentices to begin transplanting basil into the high tunnel, 1176 plants in the ground by midday. noon: Quick trip to Lewiston for supplies.  1:30 pm: meet with researchers from UMaine Orono for interview on high tunnel production techniques. 2:15 : pick up the first load of 115 bales of hay  that Tom Settlemire is baling on River Road across town. 2:30-6:30pm, shuttle hay from river road to the farm crew who is rapidly stacking them in the barns to feed sheep over the winter. 6:45-8pm diner with the family and put kids to bed. 9:30 write this down in the newsletter. Phew.  Most days aren’t quite this nutty but this time of year you never know.

As American as Strawberry Shortcake.

Strawberries arrive this week. This looks like a really good crop. There is lots of fruit yet to mature and as long as we don’t get multiple wet days in a row I would expect a couple of weeks of berries at least. If your strawberries actually make it home, remember to refrigerate them and keep them covered. Ours are picked to be ripe or very close, so they they need a bit of extra care to keep, unlike the California ones that are picked almost green and ripened with ethylene gas when they arrive.

The Aliens Have Arrived.

Less well know than strawberries you will also find in your share an odd sputnik looking beast know as a kohlrabi. Don’t fret or frustrate over this vegetable. It is easy to use and tastes great raw or cooked. Here’s a simple way we use them: coarsely grate them over you salad and drizzle on the dressing of your choice. There are a few other ideas for enjoying  kolrabi under the “recipes by ingredient” sidebar on the website. Here’s a link to the kohlrabi page I love kohlrabi This vegetable is fun. Just look at it. Can you believe that color? Nothing says I like to laugh while I cook quite like a kohlrabi.

What’s in the Share this Week?

Strawberries

Endive/Escarole

Kale/ Chard/Bok Choi

Spinach

Lettuce Heads

Kohlrabi

Down to Earth Ideas About Greens

Greens are great. A couple of CSA members contacted us this past week with their praise and ideas for how to stay excited about the greens in their share. “We make pesto with kale, chard, and spinach”. Talk about easy, just throw the greens and a few table spoons of olive oil and a dash of salt in the  food processor. From  here you can add your pesto to sautéed onions and toss the whole thing with pasta or rice.  We also freely add greens pesto to tomato sauce. You can freeze you “county pesto” add find even more thing to do with it come the winter.  Another member has started a facebook group for CSA members to “share their favorite recipes, ask for help on a new-to-you share item, or inspiration on what to do with all those darn zucchini!”. Check it out by following this link  facebook . Thanks for the advice Emily and Joanna!

Volunteer weeding parties every Wednesday and Saturday morning from 9 am until 11 am.

Weeds and witty conversation, or contemplative solitude with fresh air. Come yuck it up with all of us while we free the farm world of undesirables.

Lobster!

We saw some beautiful lobster delivered last week here at the farm. Bring some home this week to your family and friends. Call the Interstate Lobster, our own Harpswell lobsterman’s co-op and they deliver your freshly landed lobsters to the Tuesday or Friday CSA pick-up 833.5516.

Port Clyde Fresh Catch

Maine groundfish shares available. This is fresh fish delivered to the farm each Tuesday during CSA pick-up. Check out their website for more info www.portflydefreshcatch.com

Tofu Tempeh, Mushroom share will start the first week of July.

Look for Maine-produced tofu, tempeh and mushrooms for sale and to taste at pick-up during the next couple weeks. We hope to get all of you excited about these great products and sign you up for a share that will start the first week of July. Each week you will get either a pound of tofu, a pound of tempeh or half a pound of mushrooms, all produced here in Maine. Whata great way to rounding out you Maine meals!

What to expect in this week’s share:

• Lettuce
• Kale/Chard
• Scallions
• Endive/Escarole
• Broccoli (see the story below)

June is warming up after a cooler than desired May. The crops are coming in well considering these lower than normal temps and big swings of heat in between. We had a beautiful Arugula crop two weeks ago that we lost in the those few days of ninety degree temps. Growing early crops could be called an art but really, its closer to a roll of he dice. Unlike the weather for the rest of the summer, late April and all of May are quite variable in almost every way. The crops that we are harvesting in these first weeks of June have all been in the ground for the past four to six weeks and suffered through the ups and downs. During this stretch we can have temps that range from 30 to 95 degrees with days of rain followed by days of strong sun. Crops, especially tender leafy ones, are all trying their best to produce leaves and then flowers and seed, the goal of the plant is to reproduce. When the plants are stressed by extreme temps, wetness and or lack of sun, they switch into reproduction mode, setting flowers and seed earlier than they would have without these stressful variables. As farmers and eaters we want these plants to take their time getting to reproduction stage (also called bolting) so that we can harvest them a few times, enjoying their tender leaves, like in the case of arugula. The leaves of crops that are not rushing towards bolting also taste better. The good thing is that we have many successive plantings of these tender crops, like the arugula we have this week to replace the crop we lost last week.

Two crops to look for in the next couple weeks are strawberries and zuchinni. Both look strong in the fields and should be along soon.

Volunteer weeding parties every Wednesday and Saturday morning from 9 am until 11 am.

Join the crew in the fields pulling weeds amongst your vegetables. This is not like when your parents sent you into the jungle-like backyard garden to weed when they should have sent to in to bush hog.  Our crops are in beautiful rows and the work is easy, instantly satisfying, and dare I say, fun.  Chat with our lovely apprentices & fellow CSA members while you weed, or find your own quiet space.  Past weeding volunteers have thanked us for the free meditation sessions!  Meet at the CSA building at 9am on Wednesdays and Saturdays or find the crew in the fields anytime after 9 until 11.  Help your vegetables win the battle against the persistent weeds & arrive with vitality on your table.

Lobster!

We saw some beautiful lobster delivered last week here at the farm. Bring some home this week to your family and friends. Call the Interstate Lobster, our own Harpswell lobsterman’s co-op and they deliver your freshly landed lobsters to the Tuesday or Friday CSA pick-up 833.5516.

Port Clyde Fresh Catch

Maine groundfish shares available. This is fresh fish delivered to the farm each Tuesday during CSA pick-up. Check out their website for more info www.portflydefreshcatch.com

Tofu Tempeh, Mushroom share will start the first week of July.

Look for Maine-produced tofu, tempeh and mushrooms for sale and to taste at pick-up during the next couple weeks. We hope to get all of you excited about these great products and sign you up for a share that will start the first week of July. Each week you will get either a pound of tofu, a pound of tempeh or half a pound of mushrooms, all produced here in Maine. Whata great way to rounding out you Maine meals!

Salad Dressing Recipes this week.

Look on the website for more  recipes where you can search by ingredient (look for the sidebar at the right on the page) www.crystalspringcsa.com and send in your favorites for us to post.

The season of eating fresh green salads has begun.  At the end of the day, sometimes making a salad dressing can seem like one extra step too many.  Keep it simple!  Just a little effort really does go a long way in this case. Start with the basics and build from there.  Adapted from Mark Bittman.

Using the blender makes emulsifying easy & effective, but there is nothing wrong with shaking everything up in a jar or using a fork.  Avoid the giant list of ingredients in store-bought dressings and make some simple ones at home.

The Basic Recipe: ½ cup olive oil + 3 tablespoons wine vinegar + salt + pepper

• Lemon:  ½ cup olive oil + ¼ cup lemon juice + tablespoon warm water + black pepper
• Mustard: add 1 teaspoon (Dijon or whole grain) to the basic recipe
• Soy: add tablespoon soy + 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil to the basic recipe
• Ginger: add 1 inch (or more!) of peeled & chopped fresh ginger + tablespoon warm water to the basic recipe
• Honey-garlic: replace the wine vinegar with balsamic + a clove of garlic and a tablespoon honey

We are happy to announce the start of CSA distribution!  Come to the farm Tuesday June 7th or Friday June 10th from 2-7pm to pick up the first harvest of the season.  Bring bags!

We have some beautiful greens for you this first week along with chives to brighten your salads and stir fries.  We’ve been waiting on the first planting of radishes so there’s a possibility they may arrive in your share this first week. We’ll know more on this front when we start the harvest on Tuesday. Strawberries are coming soon!

June is an exciting month, the first hints of fresh local produce to come. The greens of this month benefit from the long days and cool nights. Look for other additions to your share in the next couple weeks like strawberries and scallions.By the end of the month we will get into our first cabbage, broccoli, zucchini and kohlrabi.

We will be here to meet new members, greet old members, and answer any questions you may have.

Local Products Available for You to Buy:

We make an effort to bring in high quality locally grown products to enhance your eating experience and to support our local economy.  If there are products you would like us to carry here, please let us know.   You can expect to find milk, eggs, cheese, lamb, beef, chicken, maple syrup, and more.

Two Great Ways to Support Local Fisherman!

Lobster:  Be sure to pick up a brochure with the information for Interstate Lobster Co-op of Harpswell.  They will be delivering freshly landed lobster Tuesdays and Fridays – you just have to call to place your order by 11:00 am each pick up day.  Their number is 833.5516.

Fish:  Order your community support fish (CSF) shares with Port Clyde Fresh Catch. Pick up fresh fish delivered to the farm each Tuesday.  For more information on how the CSF works see their webpages at http://www.portclydefreshcatch.com/productcart/pc/home.asp

Tofu, tempeh, mushroom share:  This share will start in mid-June. We hope to have some samples next week of all three products for you to try. We’ll have information about this new share at CSA pick up.

See you at the farm!