What's in the Box

I haven't posted photos of our beautiful CSA boxes for weeks now! We're really in the busy part of the season, both in the field & the office. I think it's busy here all the time, but I'm told it's really going to start getting hectic now. So much food is ready for harvest but the weather really isn't cooperating. It was cool & rainy much of today & while the moisture is welcome, we could still use some more heat. I mean, I still have so many popsicles to hand out! Paletas, anyone?

August 28 box (above) September 4 (below)

September 11 delivery

All About Tomatoes

This week's newsletter essay, by Farmer Richard:

Tomatoes are a bit of a challenge in our normally moist valley. The moisture favors the leaf diseases that cause leaves to spot, brown and die before they can put full flavor into the fruit. After some years of tomato failures, we have developed a dependable production system and we search for varieties that are suitable for our region, with great flavor and disease resistance. Many conventional and commercial tomato varieties bred for consistent size and shape are suitable for mechanical picking and long distance shipping, but to the detriment of flavor.

We plant two crops of tomatoes in our greenhouses on March 20 and April 20. In mid-May, we transplant the first crop into a green plastic covered raised bed, which helps to trap heat and promote growth. We put down mulch between the beds for weed control and for a dry picking path. The tomatoes are planted only 12 inches apart. We put a wooden stake between every three plants and every sixth stake is a stronger steel post with steel at the ends. There are steel “gates” every 150’ for picking access. Three weeks after planting, we prune all suckers except the one below the first flower cluster. That gives us two main stems per plant. When the plants are about 12 inches high we weave the first string between the stakes to hold the rapidly growing tomato plants upright.

Rapid growth is somewhat dependent on hot days, but also on good moisture. Every raised plastic covered bed has a drip irrigation line under it. Every week we give the tomatoes’ root zone a good drink of water with liquid fish and kelp nutrients added. This produces rapid growth and many large tomatoes. Every week we add a string to both sides of the vines, looped tightly around each stake. This process includes a ball of twine on the string-tiers waist, with the twine threaded through a small oak stake to give the person tying a longer reach over and around the stakes. Fast tying involves great skill and results in a beautiful wall of tomatoes off the ground, high and dry for minimizing disease. Picking is much easier and faster with this system as well.

Tomatoes are categorized as either determinate (one crop all at once, topping off at a specific height) or indeterminate (plants that produce vines that don’t top off and will continue to produce until the first frost). When indeterminate tomatoes continue to grow above the 5’ stakes, we cut the tops off as a way of staying “stop & ripen” to the many tomatoes already set on the plant.

Good, rich, fertile soil and lots of water are essential, but so is the genetics of the seed. There are thousands of tomato varieties, but they vary greatly in resistance to disease, color, flavor, sugars, and acid balance. High acid is required for canning. A nice balance of flavor, sugars and acid may be the best for fresh eating, but does it also have resistance to disease and cracking?

Our all around favorite tomato is the “Japanese Pink.” The Japanese value great tasting food, but have added disease resistance and crack resistance to a very great tasting tomato. It appears pink because it has a thin clear skin, unlike American bred tomatoes with their thick orange-red skin. We also like color, so we’ve thrown in some yellow-red striped German, a gold tomato, a few green and red striped zebra, and a black for a beautiful tomato plate. Tomatoes are self-pollinating, so it is fairly easy to save seed. Family and regional heirloom varieties abound the world over. Although good seed saving involves fermenting the pulp and the seeds to kill seed borne diseases, we also hot water treat seeds to kill disease just before we plant.

The optimal storage temperature for tomatoes is about 50-55°F. If stored in a cold environment (34-38°F), they will get soft and lose flavor if stored for longer than a couple of days. We often pick tomatoes a little on the green side so you have a longer window of opportunity to enjoy them, before they over ripen. Tomatoes will ripen on your counter, but when they are ripe, either eat them or store them in a cool pantry or the warmest part of your refrigerator.

Sadly, our early crop of tomatoes was flooded after mulching, pruning and staking. Only a few survived. Our friends at Driftless Organics are supplementing our tomato harvest until our beautiful late crop ripens – or will it? Where is global warming when you need it?

Mystery Items

Last week's newsletter dealt with this issue quite well, but this is a picture of some of the "Mystery Items" you might find in your CSA box this week.

Because of the devastation of some crops with the rains in June, we haven't been able to harvest enough of single items to put in all our CSA boxes. For much of this season, we've had quite a few either/or items on our What's in the Box lists (sauté mix or arugula, cucumbers or summer squash, melon or raspberries, etc). This week we decided to call one of those either/ors our "Mystery Item". For our Twin Cities deliveries, you'll either get okra, tomatoes or raspberries. You'll also get leeks, petite green beans, edamame, Yukina savoy, two kinds of eggplant, two kinds of melon, cucumbers, summer squash or zucchini, salad mix, two kinds of peppers, sauté mix or arugula, and garlic.

Here are some photos from my walk through the field across the road. The okra flowers are so beautiful! I'm amazed with all these plants. Each bloom could (and probably will) become something delicious to eat.

We are waiting anxiously for our second plantings of so many crops to produce. This has been another weird growing season. Not that it's near over, but the days are getting noticibly shorter and I'm starting to plan a winter getaway.

Safety First

This week's newsletter:
Guess who came to lunch? by Andrea
We always extend an invitation to any guest at the farm to join us for lunch…even the sanitation inspector! Last week we had our annual sanitation inspection and received a Superior rating! We take pride in the vegetables we grow, from keeping clean weeded fields to washing off field dirt to reveal the beautiful colors of the vegetables in your CSA box and eventually on your table. With the recent food warnings and recalls including salmonella on jalapeños and tomatoes, and e.coli on spinach, being aware of food handling procedures is very important to ensuring you have a clean and safe food supply.

Our goal is to grow tasty, nutritious vegetables, but we also don’t want to overlook the importance of our handling practices in making sure you and your family can enjoy our vegetables with confidence.Last year we earned our GAP/GHP (Good Agriculture Practices/Good Handling Practices) certification, a voluntary food safety certification. We were encouraged to pursue this certification by Whole Foods Market, one of our major wholesale buyers. While obtaining the certification is additional work for us, we have encouraged other growers to go through the process. Why? Because as part of this program employees are required to wear very stylish blue or green bouffant caps (like Cullen sports in these photos). No, the real reason is that knowledge gives you the power to prevent potentially dangerous situations before they occur. We have learned to see our farm, from field to packing shed to shop, with a new set of eyes. The inspector we work with is from the American Food Safety Institute International. We spent seven hours going over the farm with a fine toothed comb and here are just a few of the highlights.

With threats of rain hanging overhead, we decided to check out the fields first. The inspector had seen our fields last year, but we have acquired some new farmland this year and he wanted to look at it. As we cruised onto the property, his eyes scanned the landscape looking for trash, brush piles, and traces of animal activity. We encourage biodiversity in our fields as part of our organic farming practices. We know we can’t keep out every bird, deer, raccoon, etc, and in fact we put bird houses near the fields to encourage their presence. However, we do need to manage the wildlife and animal activity in and around the fields. We keep trash picked up and remove large brush piles from the fields since these make nice homes for some critters. Our crew is trained to look for signs of animal presence; specifically we are concerned with scat (aka feces or doody). If they spot an area that is contaminated, they will flag it to prevent harvest of that product.

After looking at the fields, we went back and went through the packing shed. We have learned that food safety and sanitation encompasses aspects ranging from personnel practices to facilities management, pest control, as well as written procedures, documentation, training and accountability. With all of these aspects in the back of our minds, we looked at nearly every surface, inside and out. He was looking for signs of pests (mice, insects, spiders, etc), microbial growth (mold, mildew and bacteria), and any structural problems that might create a food safety related problem.

After looking at all of the greenhouses, storage areas, the packing areas and the shop, we went back to the office to review what he had seen. While most people get nervous when an inspector is coming, I learned that he is not to be feared. He was very helpful and spent time showing us other resources that will help guide us as we refine our cleaning schedules, log books, pest control program, personnel training program and updating our employee manual.

Eating locally gives you an advantage you don’t have when you buy products sourced from large farms all around the world. It’s hard to go check out your farmer’s field in China or Mexico (that is if you can ever figure out who the farmer is), but it is possible to visit your farmer who is about 2-3 hours from your home. We are located in an isolated valley and our farm and fields are not located near any large feedlots that could contaminate our fields with run-off, wind drift or transfer of contaminates via animals. Still, we choose to practice the Precautionary Principle and do what we can to prevent any possibilities of contamination. Unfortunately, the world and its organisms are not the same as they were 50-100 years ago. Modern industrial farming practices, large feed lots, grain fed animals and overuse of antibiotics have resulted in dangerous bacteria we didn’t worry about previously. Even if we think we are safe from direct contact, we still must practice due diligence since these bacteria can be transferred via birds, vehicles or other means of cross-contamination. We acknowledge that we don’t live in a sterile environment (shit happens), but we do what we can to educate and train ourselves and our employees so we can send vegetables to you with peace of mind. We encourage you to handle your produce properly once it makes it into your hands as well. Aside from ready-to-eat, bagged greens (salad mix, sauté mix, arugula), you should wash your vegetables before eating them. Take care to avoid cross-contamination with meats and other potentially hazardous foods when preparing your vegetables.

Next time you are in the area, we hope you’ll stop in and check us out. Be sure to remove your jewelry (a food safety hazard in the packing shed) and I’d recommend wearing something that will go with the green or blue bouffant cap we will ask you to wear in the packing shed area. We hope you will continue to enjoy the vegetables we grow for many years to come. We will continue to do what we can to better ourselves and offer you the highest level of consumer confidence in our product that we can achieve. If you’ll excuse me now….time to check the cooler temps.

Potatoes and What's in the Box

This is the prettiest photo from this week's CSA box (manna from heaven?).

A mighty fine box, all in all:
Yukina Savoy, Cucumber (or Summer Squash or Zucchini), Sweet Spanish Onions, Italian Garlic, Red or Rainbow Kale, Dill, Red Norland Potatoes, Broccoli or Cauliflower, Carrots, Red or Gold Beets, Green or Sweetheart or Savoy Cabbage. Lots of "ors", since we're still dealing with the ramifications of June's heavy rains. The first plantings of some crops have suffered and we don't always have enough of any one item to go into every CSA box. Soon, my friend, soon. We've replanted and anticipate great big juicy harvests with something of everything for every single one of you.

Plus a lovely fruit share delivery this week with lemons, Flame seedless grapes, Lapin cherries, blueberries, Dapple Dandy pluots, Elegant Lady peaches (from Mas Masumoto - I just started reading his Four Seasons in Five Senses), and Flavortop yellow nectarines.

I'm feeling inspired. More again soon.

Beans

As Anna, our field/harvest coordinator said, this is an awesome bean picking crew. They're not half bad cutting salad either! If only you could meet Nestor (Pollo), José (Chepe), Benji, Jesus, Gerardo, Daniel (Chilango), Miguel, Vicente (Buckethead), René, and Claudio. Good workers, good people, good times!

Glove Nest

This spring I noticed that a house wren had built a nest under the eaves of my little cabin. I didn't mind at all, they have a lovely song and were pretty friendly. Since the nest was right by my front door, I didn't want a bird who would swoop at me and try to scare me away from her eggs or anything.

I have a clothesline strung across my porch for drying my bathtowels in the morning or my socks after a tramp through the creek. Lately, as I've been hanging my towels in the morning, I've been startled by a little birdy flying away from the porch. I've thought to myself "Oh my gosh - am I that sleepy and unobservant that I didn't even notice the little wren on the line?"

Then yesterday I was enjoying a lazy Sunday, finishing "The Milagro Beanfield War" on a chair on the porch, occasionally snoozing in the sun. I was taking a break from all that and enjoying the view of my overgrown garden and maybe watching the goat drama unfold in the pasture on the hill (a couple kids jumped the fence and couldn't figure out how to get back in where everybody else was - what an unholy racket those goats make when separated!), when I finally saw the secret. The wrens had a Glove Nest (get it?) in my gardening gloves, also hung on the line. Obviously, my garden has been a bit neglected if I've given wrens enough time to build a nest in my gloves. There were four eggs in there today!

I did get out to the fields on Saturday, in an effort to tire out the rambunctious, teenage puppy, Captain Jack. Richard was at Market and Andrea was visiting a cabin up north, so it was just me, the dog, and pretty much a full crew at work in the fields. I usually try to stick pretty close to home on Saturdays so I can check on messages from the Madison CSA deliveries. It's been going really well, though! No calls or emails on Saturday about missing boxes or CSA members who can't find the pick up site. Very awesome.

Out in the fields, we found some lovely melons, jalapeño and Italia peppers, and eggplant blooms. We actually got to try some of the melons today, at lunch. Yum.