Just thought I'd share one meal that I made with some of the produce from last weekend.
STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS
For the week preceding Saturday, August 1st, 2009
General news & info
Hello all!
Produce: Either new or back on the list this week are:
Greens: Rainbow chard.
Vegetables: bi-color corn, Italian eggplant, fennel (limited), okra, red onions, cippolini onions, green bell peppers, rainbow mixed potatoes.
END: garlic scapes, rhubarb.
Open-farm invitation: You should have received a separate email from us last week with all the details for the August 1 and 2 open farm. Check the blog (http://starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com/) if you're still trying to find a ride. Please RSVP if you're coming.
ORGANIC—To be or not to be, that was our question: Last week we mentioned our concerns about whether we wanted to continue next year with our organic certification, a big deal for us since we've always been an organic farm. The issues were not just about certification hassles and cost, however, but also about the dangers of some of the materials allowed, and the dangers of losing a crop completely if the organic controls didn't work. We heard back from 9 or 10 of you, and I talked with about that many at market last Saturday. The gist of all the conversations was along the lines of “do what you need to do... we trust you to do the right thing.” So that we will try to keep doing. We'll keep you posted.
On the farm: We can see that the blight is spreading on our potatoes and tomatoes, in spite of me now spending lots of money and time applying organic sprays each week. However, many of the crops were large enough that they have started producing, and it looks like we have a race to see if we have enough sun and rain to keep them growing fast enough – while they still have enough leaves to make use of it – to put out enough of a crop to harvest before all the leaves die and we're done. We have started harvesting potatoes, and while they're still mostly smalls and mediums, at least I feel like we're getting something for our work.
We've been getting some rain every week lately, which is both good and bad, with the plant diseases mentioned above, as rainy conditions are conducive to their spread. Even with the rains, we still need to irrigate, specifically our crops grown on plastic mulch (an acre of winter squash) as the rain doesn't get down through the mulch. We've had to dig holes in the creek bed to make a spot for our suction hose to sit in the minimum one foot required, as the water level is so low.
The construction of our second cooler – actually an expansion of our existing cooler – has been on hold since cutting the hole in the wall last spring, but we have begun on it again, and are more-than-ready to have more space in the cooler, especially on Fridays when we're packing orders. Hopefully we'll have it ready in about two weeks.
CSA-Specific News
Planned CSA produce for this week:
This week the plan is for green beans, lettuce and tomato, a Walla Walla sweet onion, bi-color corn, rainbow chard, a few of the first chile peppers of the season, a small bunch of sage, a cantaloupe a peach and a nectarine. Enjoy!
Adams Morgan CSA volunteers. Thanks to Gabe & Jul and Will for their help handing out orders last weekend!
Thanks for your support!
Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm
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STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS
For the week preceding Saturday, July 25th, 2009
General news & info
Hello all!
Produce: Either new or back on the list this week are:
Berries, Melons & Fruit: Blackberries (very limited), cantaloupes, nectarines, elephant heart plums (also limited).
Greens: Young chard, lacinato kale, cress, red leaf lettuce, cabbage.
Vegetables: white corn, purple carrots, Walla Walla sweet onions, purple bell peppers, leeks, Yukon Gold potatoes, mixed basil.
Other items: Goat cheese (garlic / dill flavored chevre, ash log, demi-sec)
ON SALE: garlic scapes, rhubarb.
Open-farm invitation: You should have received a separate email yesterday with all the details for the August 1 and 2 open farm. We'll post a rides-offered and rides-needed sheet at the truck in Adams Morgan. Check the blog (http://starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com/) or the list at the truck in Adams Morgan this Saturday. Please RSVP if you're coming, as we'd like to have some idea how many to plan for.
ORGANIC—To be or not to be, that is our question: Last week we mentioned the late blight occurring in the area, affecting both tomatoes and potatoes. We've sprayed twice now and it sort of looks like we're holding it off a bit, but I can see that we've got it. Its spread is proceeding slowly, probably because it's been quite dry and that is not conducive. Penn State also issued a warning last week that two different kinds of diseases were on the spread on cucurbits (cucumbers, squash, pumpkins) in Pennsylvania. Our largest acreage is in potatoes, second largest in winter squash, and tomatoes are one of our biggest dollar value crops, though smaller in acreage. Should be an interesting year.
It's 5:30 Wednesday morning as I write this, and I'm anxious to get a bite of breakfast and out to work, but I want to bounce a few thoughts off you, as my mind has been working overtime lately on several interrelated issues, both of which sort of cut to the core of who we think we are here and what we're trying to do on the farm. Both of these have sort of been pushed upon us by the current disease outbreaks, but are worth delving into even beyond that. Undoubtedly this will end up a rambling, drawn out discussion, so I won't be offended if you stop here!
Executive summary: We at Star Hollow Farm are pondering whether we will continue to be certified organic next year, and are not even sure about whether or not to use only organic materials in the future, especially if we risk major losses such as could be the outcome of the current disease outbreaks. We need to stay in business to be a “good” farm. We don't intend to turn our backs on the principles that led us to do this for a living in the first place. Would you continue to support us by buying our produce and being part of our CSA even if we weren't organic?
The first issue is organic certification. We have been a certified organic farm since Day One here on the farm, which goes back to our first year in 1992. For most of that time, if anyone asked me what I did, I'd say I'm an organic vegetable farmer. About 1995 or so I was one of the founding members of Pennsylvania Certified Organic, our in-state certifier, in response to the lack of a local certifier. I also trained to be an organic inspector, and did inspect a dozen or so farms one season. Then organic got big, the government got involved, it got complicated, it got expensive, and over the last year or two we've begun to wonder what it means anymore.
I drive by the largest organic farm on the East Coast—a former member of our Co-op—and see hundreds of acres of crops, with a tractor and sprayer and huge clouds of spray rising up, the driver safely wearing a moon suit and respirator, just like conventional farms in CA (but I'm sure the farmer is spraying only organically approved materials).
The dividing line between what organic farmers can spray and what they can't was somewhat arbitrarily defined to be “of natural origin” or “occurring naturally in nature” OKAY, “synthetic” NO. That was a line drawn that seemed enforceable and logical in one sense. On the other hand, there are naturals that are more dangerous to farmers and the environment than some synthetics, and there are naturals that have now been distilled 500 or a thousand times, to improve effectiveness, but how do we know that they are any safer than any synthetic, as they have never existed in nature at those concentrations before their development in the last year or two. I'm amazed at the number of Organic materials on the market now, compared with five years ago. My first thought is “Great” but there is this question of “Are they really any better?” in the back of my head.
Along with the growth of organics, certification has become much more complicated, for the farmer and the certifier. Thus paperwork has increased, as has the fee. We pay about three times as much now as ten years ago. If we were a large farm, we'd just have the secretary deal with the paperwork and pay the fee, knowing that we'd come out ahead, since we had large quantities to sell for the organic premium. There's no secretary here—just Randy at his desk instead of out farming—and the quantities are not so large that it is covering the increased cost.
And the organic premium... (which is presumably why the Big Guys got interested in organic). Well, with the economy the way it is, I think our organic prices are really hurting our sales, at least in Adams Morgan. Our Co-op, which is where we used to get about half our produce, has its prices so high that I've had to start shifting my purchases to other farmers I know that aren't organic, just so that I can offer produce at prices that don't seem ridiculous. That's why the CSA boxes have less than half organic produce in them anymore. How else can I give 8 kinds of produce for $15-17?
On another front, now that organic produce is plentiful, the (not organic) stand next to us in Adams Morgan regularly has organic produce that they've bought at the terminal market in Jessup, MD for cheap the night before—just a few steps away from our local organic produce—and available for prices way below what I need to charge to be even worth trying to grow it. It seems a good thing that people can get organic for a good price right there in Adams Morgan, but how can I bother to grow it locally if I can't sell it for a profit? It seems to just be another commodity now.
I could go on, but I think I'll leave it there for this week. It's a complicated issue. I guess the bottom line for us is: If we did what we think we needed to do to keep this all going for us and you, would you continue to support us, even if we weren't organic?
CSA-Specific News
Planned CSA produce for this week:
This week the plan is for Romano beans, red potatoes, sweet corn, scallions, garlic scapes, cantaloupe, peppermint and peaches. Enjoy!
Adams Morgan CSA volunteers. Thanks to Tyler and Phil for their help handing out orders last weekend!
Thanks for your support!
Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm
Ok, I'm calling this "succotash" because I made this recipe up off the top of my head and can't think of anything else to call it that describes it accurately.
It's great as a side dish (which is what I use it for), but I feel like it could also be combined with rice and/or meat (if desired) to make it a full meal. Also, it's a great way to use up the random veggies you have left around at the end of the week.
All the ingredients (except the olive oil, salt and pepper) are from my most recent Star Hollow CSA box.
(Side note: I don't measure anything when I cook, so bear with me....)
Ingredients:
(if you want more of less of something--or more of everything--tinker with the amounts)
-1 Zucchini
-2 Ears of corn
-About a 1/2 pound of Mushrooms
-3-4 cloves of garlic
-6-7 leaves of lemon basil
-salt
-pepper
-olive oil
Instructions:
1) Dice zucchini and mushrooms and add to large bowl. Use a sharp knife to strip corn kernels off of the cobs, add to bowl with zucchini and mushrooms. Dice cloves of garlic, set aside.
2) In a large skillet heat olive oil (like I said, I don't measure anything, maybe 2-3 tablespoons? Not sure, use your best judgment). Add garlic and let cook for a few minutes until light brown. Add in mixture of zucchini, mushrooms and corn kernels. Add in leaves of lemon basil. Add salt and pepper (desired amount). Toss everything with olive oil and garlic and let cook for 7-10 minutes until everything is just tender.
3) If you can, try and fish the leaves of lemon basil out before serving (OK if you can't).
4) Enjoy!
This is much more a suggestion for veggie usage than a "recipe." You can add and subtract other things (i.e. onions, squash, etc.) as you like.
Hope you all enjoy. The lemon basil really gives the whole thing a fantastic, bright taste. It also looks great, wish I had a picture to prove it!
STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS
For the week preceding Saturday, July 18th, 2009
General news & info
Hello all!
Produce: Lots of new items again this week, as we shift into full summer mode.
Berries & Fruit: This is almost the end for blueberries; probably a few next week but not any quantities like this week. Last week for currants. This is the start of the short plum season, starting off with the small, purple Methly plums. There are no apples this week, probably the only week of the year when we don't have any. Also, apricots were in especially short supply due to a freeze at the wrong time this spring, and are apparently over. Peaches are shifting from cling to freestone, and this week are sort of in-between.
Greens: Lollo Biondo green frilly lettuce, wild purslane (one of the other weeds we pass off as food, owing to the fact that it tastes good and is better for you than the things we grow on purpose!)
Vegetables: bi-color corn, fresh red garlic, sweet onions, snow peas, Austrian Crescent fingerling potatoes, shallots, green tomatoes,
Other items: Ricotta and feta cheese from Keswick Creamery, 2-lb. honey jars.
ON SALE: garlic scapes, rhubarb, scallions, many herbs (oregano, peppermint, sage, savory, sorrel)
On the farm: This week has been a little crazy so far. There have been many reports about an outbreak of late blight in potatoes and tomatoes in the region, due to several factors: conducive weather over the last month and a shipment of infected plants to many of the big-box stores in the area. It spread fast as more people than ever are gardening again, so host plants are widespread, and the spores move in the air, on the wind. What you might not know is that we began a new farming focus this year, where we really expanded our storage crop plantings, chief among them the planting of close to 16,000 hills of potatoes, and bought a new cultivator and hiller specifically to take good care of them. They are coming along fine and look great, but we are just a bit nervous about having the blight that caused the Irish potato famine widespread in the area. For the first time ever on potatoes we started spraying an organically-approved fungicide to try to hold off any problems. Fingers crossed?
Open-farm invitation: August 1 and 2, and September 5 and 6 are the two dates planned. We'll post a rides-offered and rides-needed sheet at the truck in Adams Morgan. Others are doing the same on the blog (http://starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com/).
CSA-Specific News
Planned CSA produce for this week:
This week the plan is for a head of Lollo Biondo lettuce, a bag of additional mixed lettuce leaves, 4 ears of corn, some mixed color beets, a zucchini or two (depending on their size), your last pint of blueberries for the season, and a couple of peaches. Enjoy!
Adams Morgan CSA volunteers. Thanks to Johanna (and Cachuco) and Jamie for their help handing out orders last weekend!
Thanks for your support!
Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm
For the week preceding Saturday, July 4th, 2009
General news & info
Open-farm RSVP: We haven't heard from anyone planning on coming this weekend yet, so are guessing the date selection was not a good one. If you are planning on coming, please let us know by this evening (July 1) at 9:00. We'll decide tomorrow whether to cancel it or not. The details are repeated further down in this message. And we have two more dates scheduled for later in the summer, so it's not “now or never.”
Produce: We're pretty sure you're gonna like the additions this week. This feels like the start of summer more than last week, at least produce-wise.
Berries: blueberries, red currants, gooseberries, black raspberries.
Tree fruit: Lodi apples, apricots, sour cherries, peaches.
Greens: baby beet greens, collards, red Russian kale.
Other vegetables: yellow wax beans, red and chioggia beets, purple carrots, bunched garlic, red scallions, radishes, mixed cherry tomatoes.
Herbs: lemon and Thai basil, sage.
ON SALE: green beans, European cucumbers, garlic scapes and bunched garlic plants, Jerusalem artichokes, English cheddar cheese, and several of the glass jars of preserves.
On the farm: Mostly just long days trying to get the ground worked up and crops planted and then already-planted crops cultivated in between rainstorms. That's just what we do at this time of the year, and it goes on and on and ...
Open-farm invitation:
WHAT: Star Hollow Farm Fourth of July get-together. We invite you to join us to see the farm, our crops, our chickens, meet and get to know us and the others who come. We have 2 other get-togethers scheduled for the first weekends in August and September.
WHERE: Our farm, in Huntingdon Co., PA, approximately a 3-hour drive north of DC.
CSA-Specific News
Planned CSA produce for this week:
This week the plan is fruit-heavy – but think you'll be able to handle it. There'll be a pint of blueberries, half pint of black raspberries, and a couple of peaches, then a bunch of Swiss chard, a pound of green beans, a bunch of purple carrots, a bunch of scallions, and a baggie full of summer (savory). Enjoy!
Adams Morgan CSA volunteers. Thanks to Bruce & Cynthia and Chris & Heather for their help handing out orders last weekend.
Thanks for your support!
Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm
