Richard's first morels of the season

We've been hearing about other people's morel hunting successes, but this is Richard's first of the season.  He spotted some last night under a dead elm, but just beyond a hot fence - I'm not getting anymore specific about location than that! 

Chef Katie is super excited & I can't wait to taste what she does with them.  And what is that beautiful shell shaped, feathery spotted shroom?

The Boys are Back in Town

And none too soon!  The first day back at work for the 27 guys who made it through the H2A visa process was April 12.  Vicente was a little late but better late than never! 

And such drama this year - it's always an ordeal, but this year was especially precarious.  The thing begins with the farm getting approval for bringing in H2A visa workers.  The H2A visa is a special agricultural worker visa, and we have to prove that we aren't displacing U.S. workers.   We place local help wanted ads and wait to see if qualified workers apply.  Then we have our housing inspected (we own two houses in Viroqua town and one here in the valley) - the inspector approved us for 41 beds, but we only asked for 30 visas.  (41 seems a bit crowded for me - these are grown men who need some breathing room, right?)  Once we get approval for the generic visas, we submit the names of the workers we'd like to invite/sponsor this year.  (We've had guys working here for 8-10 years who have become nearly indispensable so we truly hope they come back - they are good friends to me as well)

We work with a company in Texas that does much of the bureaucratic paper work and has a liaison in Mexico who helps the guys once they get to the U.S. consulate in Mexico.  They informed us that our interview date was April 21.  So not good.  We are having such an early, warm spring!  Richard was quite upset - would we be able to bring in the overwintered parsnips & spinach?  Harvest ramps?  Plant & plant & plant?  What would we do until April 26 without the bulk of the experienced field/harvest crew?

So our company in Texas petitioned for an emergency appointment.  We weren't sure if we'd be able to get all the guys an earlier appointment so we prioritized our list of names.  We also didn't want the newbies to have to go through the process on their own, so it would be preferable if they had someone who knew the ropes help them along.  (Last year we had 22 visa workers, so a couple new guys this year). 

They usually leave home and travel to the consulate in Monterrey, MX for the interview.  If they pass the interview and are granted visas, they need to be prepared to travel right to the farm.  They need to pay for the visa processing, plus pay transportation costs to the farm (they are reimbursed when they arrive, but they have to have the pesos and/or dollars in hand until then).

This year, they'd have to travel to Monterrey to meet with the liaison and then travel to the consulate that could fit us in for the emergency interview appointments.  Thankfully (sort of), we got an appointment in Nuevo Laredo - north of Monterrey, on the Texas border.  (We could have had to send them way back southwest across the country to the consulate in Guadalajara, so going north seemed easier.)

On Monday, April 5 we called our guys in Mexico (we have a couple leaders who spread the word to the rest of the crew for us) and told them that instead of an April 21 appointment, we got one for everybody on April 8 - that very Thursday, in Nuevo Laredo.  Can you be ready?  Yes, of course!  I pooh-poohed Vicente's concerns about how dangerous Nuevo Laredo is - people getting killed on the streets and robbed of their very homes.  He told me that not only did he hear of some visa seekers not only being rejected, but also getting murdered soon after.  I thought maybe he was being dramatic.  I've become complacent in my time here in the quiet and peace of Harmony Valley.

So we were all thinking good thoughts for our Mexican friends that Thursday.  Ends up one of the 30 got cold feet and didn't go to the interview, two were outright rejected, 26 approved and Vicente was on hold. The 26 started their journey north on Friday, while Vicente waited.  He worked for us last year, but was rejected the year before after having worked here for several years previously.  The interviews serve the purpose of rejecting as many as possible for just about any reason that can be found.  Vicente's shadow was a ticket he got in Arkansas in 1997!  We got as much info from him as we could and I was lucky enough to find the town, reach the city clerk, and get a copy of the resolved ticket faxed to me (thank you internet & thank you Jill in Searcy AR!).  I called the consulate & faxed them the info as well as emailing it to the liaison in MX so Vicente could have a copy if need be.  We told him not to go home - he might be able to have another interview on Monday.

Vicente called on Monday,  quite disheartened.  He said "Maybe this  year is not my year."  While watching the news that weekend, he had seen the television reports of the violence at the U.S. consulate in Nuevo Laredo - the place was closed until they felt they could reopen safely.  He thought maybe the office wouldn't re-open for a week or more!  Ends up that on that Friday, after our guys had hired the bus to take them north, someone had thrown a live grenade over the fence of the U.S. consulate.  This came on the heels of other violence in March, when several people had been killed.  We asked Vicente to not go home -wait & see.

Luckily, Vicente waited and the office re-opened on Tuesday.  He was issued a visa, got on a bus & after a long detour through the southeast U.S. (Atlanta, South Carolina & finally Lexington KY), Vicente, our rain man/irrigation guy extraordinaire, made it to La Crosse on Friday evening.  I thought he was in pretty good spirits considering his four days on a stinky old bus!  Hopefully that ticket from 1997 will follow him no further and I won't doubt his stories of the difficulties and dangers on the streets in Mexico. 

Our New Chef Rocks!

Katie is cooking up a storm for the crew (the boys are back in town - more on that saga later) & averaging 40 plates each noon hour.  She's doing it with a smile on her face and the crew seems pleased - going back for seconds!

This week's lunch menu:
Monday:  Beef Roast, Spicy Lentils, Apple & Turnip Salad
Tuesday: Chili, Cornbread, Creamed Spinach & Parsnips, Chocolate chip cookies
Wednesday: Coconut Ginger Pork, Rice, Braised Burdock & Carrots, Orange & Spinach Salad
Thursday: Beef & Spinach Lasagna, Roasted Rutabaga & Onions, Rhubarb Crisp

Friday: Ham & Beans, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Slaw, Cranberry & Kumquat Relish

For dinner we had:

Monday: Pork Chops, Cranberry Quinoa, Roasted Parsnips & Carrots

Tuesday: T-Bone Steak, Sauteed Ramps, Celeriac & Sweet Potato Gratin

Wednesday: Parsnip Soup with Spinach Puree, Grilled Beef & Cheese sammies
Thursday: Skirt Steak, Pasta salad with Celeriac, Carrots & Sogne cheese, Creamed Rutabagas
Tonight it's Turtle Two Ways - Fried & in soup.  Jake was a bit perturbed that Richard caught the turtle that he saved from the road, but Katie was game for preparing it, so I'm eating turtle for the first time tonight!

Next Week's Menu

Lunch:
Monday: Turkey Corn Soup, Sweet Potato Biscuits, Spinach Salad
Tuesday: Meatloaf, Roasted Potatoes, Parsnips, Strawberry Dessert
Wednesday: Soy Marinated Flank Steak, Sesame Carrots & Turnips, Rice, Apples
Thursday: Hot Dogs, Pickled Vegetables, Baked Beans, Brownies
Friday: Arm Roast, Curried Chickpeas & Ramps, Braised Turnips, Fruit

Dinner:

Monday: Skirt Steak, Sorrel Pesto, Pasta
Tuesday: Beef Gyros, Yogurt Sauce, Bulghur
Wednesday: Sirloin, Cous Cous, Curried Turnips
Thursday: Tenderloin & Flat Iron, Potatoes, Spinach Salad with Lemon Thyme Vinaigrette
Friday: Waffles, Fig Compote, Eggs & Bacon (breakfast for dinner!  my favorite!!)

I don't have a chance against these 20 pounds I'm fighting, do I?

One Day Old

Happy March!

Spring is coming, I swear, and here's the proof:

Onion sprouts in the greenhouse!

Baby goats, born on Saturday 2/27/10!

Career Opportunities

We are always in search of hard-working individuals with an interest in being part of our team. We have several year-round positions in addition to employing seasonal employees during our peak season from April-November. While we actively recruit after January 1 of each year, we invite you to contact us any time of the year. Send us an email outlining your interest and experience as well as attaching your resume or a completed application from our website and we will let you know our current needs. Apply Now.

Please send inquiries to:
Harmony Valley Farm
S 3442 Wire Hollow Rd.
Viroqua, WI 54665
Phone: 608-483-2143
Email: bookkeeper@harmonyvalleyfarm.com

Benefits

In addition to an hourly wage, all full time employees are eligible to participate in our retirement benefits and health insurance programs. We also offer lunch for all employees prepared by our farm chef during the peak season, April-November. You will have access to produce from the farm when available. Opportunity for advancement always exists for individuals demonstrating a strong work ethic and superior performance.

Hours of Operation
During our peak season, April-November, work hours are 7:30/8:00 am-6:00 pm with a 1-hour lunch break. In the off-season, work hours are 8:00 am- 5:00 pm. Keep in mind this is a farm and there may be times when these hours will vary based on weather conditions, farm events, or other variable factors.

POSITIONS
Field & Harvest Coordinator—Hiring for 2010

We are looking for an organized, people-oriented individual who has a minimum of 2 years farming experience, with an emphasis on growing fresh market produce. In this position, you will work with the management team to plan field and harvest tasks and expedite job completion while working with a field/harvest crew of 20-25 people. You will manage quality control of product being harvested, supplies, and time usage. Basic tractor operation skills are required. Additional opportunities, based on experience, may include greenhouse management, planting, irrigation and other field work. Spanish language skills a plus. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
§ Daily & Weekly harvest scheduling
§ Manual & Mechanical harvest
§ Quality Control
§ Ensure appropriate post-harvest handling of product
§ Transport of harvest from field to packing shed
§ Record Keeping
§ Other production related tasks may include transplanting, weeding, mulching, pruning, mowing, and other field maintenance.

This is a year-round position. During the off-season, tasks may include helping as needed in the packing shed, doing inventory of seeds, seed ordering and receiving, germ testing and end of season record keeping and production reporting, time-studies evaluation, etc. Basic computer skills are a must (Outlook, Word, Excel), advanced computer skills a plus.
Position available March 1, 2010

Farm Chef—Hiring for 2010

Are you looking for a creative culinary challenge and a chance to connect directly with your source of organic ingredients? We are looking for a creative individual with cooking experience and an affinity for organic ingredients who is interested in writing and preparing their own weekly menus based on the seasonal produce available from our fields and meat from our pastures. Your primary responsibility is preparing lunch for our crew of 40-45 Monday-Friday. The sky is the limit as long as the meals are prepared on time and are nourishing enough to fuel the appetites of our hard working crew and emphasize ingredients from our farm, supplemented with staple organic ingredients from other local producers and our local food co-op.
You will also have the opportunity to serve as a resource for our CSA members by providing weekly recipes and information for our newsletters on vegetables they receive in their boxes, participating in and planning culinary aspects of on-farm events.

Additional responsibilities include weekly blog entries, food preservation, and managing food inventory and storage areas as well as purchasing.

You must have experience and references for previous work in the foodservice industry. Also must have basic computer and writing skills. This is a full-time, salaried, seasonal position. The Chef’s contract is for our peak growing season, April 5, 2010-November 20, 2010.

Assistant Farm Chef—Hiring for 2010
We are in search of an individual with cooking experience and an affinity for organic ingredients to assist our farm chef, prepare dinner for farm residents and guests, and contribute culinary information to our weekly CSA newsletters. Responsibilities include assisting with lunch prep and cleanup several days weekly, assisting with food preservation projects, assisting with maintaining neat, clean and orderly kitchen and storage areas, and filling in for the Farm Chef in their absence. You will also have the opportunity to interact with CSA members at our three annual on-farm events and through weekly written and recipe contributions to our vegetable, fruit and/or cheese newsletters for our CSA members. You will also prepare dinner 4-5 nights weekly for 3-5 farm residents and any guests of the farm.

Previous culinary/cooking experience and references required. Also must have basic computer and writing skills. This is a part-time (20-25 hours/week), salaried, seasonal position. The Assistant Farm Chef’s contract is for April 26, 2010-November 20, 2010.

Shop & Field Crew Member—Hiring for 2010
We are looking for an individual with 2 or more years of experience working on a farm to be part of our shop and field crew. Must be willing to learn organic farming methods and be a flexible, cooperative team member. Experience with operating tractors and implements required. Basic skills with preventative maintenance and repair of machinery and facilities, and computer skills are preferred. Depending on your skills & experiences, as well as the needs of the farm, you may work independently or as part of a team to perform any of the following responsibilities:
§ Soil preparation
§ Transplanting & seeding in the field
§ Mechanical cultivation & harvest
§ Seeding cover crops
§ Fertilizer, mineral and pest control application
§ Pasture management & caretaking of animals (cattle, pigs, chickens and goats)
§ Irrigation setup
§ Equipment & facility maintenance and repair
§ Turning and spreading compost
§ Record Keeping
This is a year-round position with tasks varying with the seasons. We are looking to recruit individuals with an interest in working here for a minimum of two years in order to build a strong team with continuity from one season to the next.
Position available March 1, 2010

Delivery Driver—Available for 2010 Season
We are looking for an experienced truck driver with a valid CDL and a clean driving record. You will drive a 27' straight truck on a delivery route to Minneapolis/ St. Paul or Madison. If driving to the Twin Cities, you will leave the farm Wednesday evening, stay overnight in the Twin Cities, and complete deliveries Thursday morning before returning to the farm in the afternoon/early evening. If driving the Madison route, you will leave the farm very early on Saturday morning, complete deliveries and return to the farm in the afternoon. We are looking for more than just a truck driver; you will be representing Harmony Valley Farm to our customers. Responsibilities include:
-Delivery of wholesale produce orders to warehouses
-Delivery of retail orders to stores and restaurants
-Delivery of Community Supported Agriculture boxes to home sites
-Meticulous set-up of CSA sites which involves neatly stacking the correct number of boxes, and set-up of a newsletter and brochure table.
-Keeping careful logbook entries
Position available May 2010

Packing Shed Coordinator—Position Available for 2010
We are looking for an individual with excellent communication and organizational skills to work in our packing shed. In this position, you will work with our current packing shed coordinators and management to plan, coordinate and supervise the flow of production to complete washing and packing of product for distribution to our CSA, wholesale accounts and farmer’s market and supervise packing shed crew members. Your primary responsibilities include the following:
Wholesale/Retail Sales: Receive orders, communicate with Sales Manager, Bookkeeper & WS coordinator in the packing shed to ensure orders are filled and shipped correctly. You will also schedule and plan trucking, coordinate consolidated shipping /cross-docking.
Market: Ensure product being harvested for Farmer’s Market is received from the field, washed, sorted and stored appropriately for market quality standards. Pack product for market and load the truck including all needed supplies. Complete inventory of product upon return from market.

General responsibilities include supervising wash/pack operations to ensure proper packing and maintain quality standards. Prepare packaging needs (labels, boxes, containers, etc). Wash and pack produce. Enforce and supervise sanitation practices, help maintain general orderliness of supplies, inventory and work areas.
Required Skills Include:
Computer Proficiency (Microsoft Word, Excel)
Able to work as a part of a team with effective communication
Experience operating fork lift and pallet jack
Previous supervisory experience
Spanish language skills a definite bonus

Position available March 1, 2010

Assistant Production Manager

We are looking for an individual with a minimum of 2 years experience farming vegetables to join our team as an Assistant Production Manager. In this position, you will assist with the planning and management of field operations including soil nutrition management, cover cropping, planting, cultivating, disease prevention and management, composting and maintaining surrounding field areas. Work will involve planning as well as execution of the plan, record keeping, and management of 3-5 crew. This is a year-round position. In the off-season, you will assist with record keeping, planning for the upcoming year, equipment maintenance and other related tasks.

Required skills include:
Experience operating tractors, skidsteer
Basic computer skills (Word, Outlook, Excel)
Able to work as part of a team with effective communication
Willingness to learn and contribute to the success of the farm

Spanish language skills, experience with specialized vegetable implements, machine repair and maintenance skills are a plus, but not required.

The potential for ownership in shares of the farm exists for the right individual who demonstrates a strong work ethic and contributes to the success of the farm.

Position available immediately.

Snow Day!

So far we've had about a foot of snow and it's still coming down. We told the packing shed crew not to come in today, but the guys who live here in the valley came in to help us clear some snow. I'm not sure how much experience any of them have with the snow - I know José Manuel has worked winters in Canada, so he's probably non-plussed, but Danielo, Vicente, Antonio & Juan may have not worked this far north, this late in the year. Danielo goes home on Monday and the rest of remaining H2A visa workers leave December 20, hopefully making it home for Navidad/Christmas with the family.

(Most of the H2A crew left mid-November, we just had a few stragglers who wanted to work another month, for various reasons. Here they are on the way to the airport or waiting at the airport)

We're snowed in for the day, so we'll have to delay our Twin Cities CSA meat delivery until Friday. Other than that slight inconvenience, we'll do some office work, have some cocoa & let Jack the dog out as much as he'd like - he loves the snow! Stay safe & warm and enjoy the snow!

All About Parsnips

While many CSA farms are winding down their season and tucking away their farm for the winter, at Harmony Valley Farm we are still hard at work harvesting and packing vegetables! It’s always exciting to be a part of the fall harvest….the culmination of a season’s worth of work to produce a crop. But there’s also some nervousness as this time of year can be rather unpredictable. Richard tells stories about the year they got 3 feet of snow on October 29. Just two weeks ago, we scrambled to get the sweet potatoes harvested and put covers on lettuce, fennel, chicories, and mini-sweet peppers before the frost arrived. The weather turned cold quickly with freezing temperatures over the weekend and we were fearful that the daikon, turnips and other crops would be damaged, but thankfully they were not. The cold snap was followed by more cold along with rain. It’s hard to harvest roots in slippery mud; it just doesn’t work. How many more days do we have to get everything done? You never know so you just keep forging forward—you can’t wait for the perfect day. On the flip side, we could get a couple more weeks of nice, dry days with moderate temperatures. We aren’t counting on it this year, but there have been years when we’re able to harvest salad greens until the end of October/first of November!
We still have daikon and turnips that need to grow, but they’re growing slowly in the cool weather. We have parsnips that are getting too big, but the forecast for the rest of the week is for rain so we’re not sure we can get the rest out of the ground. We still haven’t harvested the sunchokes and we are only in the middle of garlic planting. We’ve never missed a garlic planting, but we have planted into mud just to get it in the ground before it’s too late. The beauty heart and black radishes need to be dug as do the rest of the rutabagas. In the meantime, we can’t forget about the cabbages or the rest of our responsibilities. We’ve had to change our strategies along the way. Instead of relying solely on our FMC (the machine typically used for harvesting roots), we’ve brought the old potato digger and another piece of machinery into the picture along with a lot of hand harvesting. We had a digger breakdown yesterday and we are down two tractors right now…we are praying we don’t have any more breakdowns. The coolers are filling up fast….where are we going to store all these veggies until they are washed and packed for their final destination!?
Since this is the first week you have parsnips in your box this fall and this is “parsnip push” week here at the farm, we thought perhaps you might enjoy learning a little more about this interesting white root. Parsnips are one of our major crops—this year we planted 8 acres. Since they have a long growing season, it’s important to plant them early. If you miss the window of opportunity, you miss having a crop for the year. The parsnip seed is very interesting—a small, flat disk referred to as a winged seed. Don’t cough, sneeze, or stand near a fan while you are dealing with these seeds, they are so lightweight they can easily blow away. It’s important to plant them into moist soil at just the right depth—1/4” deep. Plant them too shallow and they might just lay there. Plant them too deep and they might not be strong enough to push through. It takes 2-3 weeks to germinate a parsnip seed, partly because the soil is still cold at that time of year. In the meantime, a blanket of spring weeds can sprout up all around the little seeds. One of the first methods of weed control we use for this crop is called flaming. We literally burn off the weeds in the bed to get rid of them. But you have to do this right before the parsnips pop from the ground. Do it too early and more weeds will grow up, do it too late and you burn your crop as well. This year we had a field of parsnips planted on one of our newly acquired fields. What a nightmare of weeds! The weeds seemed to grow three times as fast as the parsnips! We mechanically cultivated as much as we were able and then sent a hand weeding crew through twice. We debated if it was even worth investing the time and effort into to save the crop. In the end we decided to keep it, and invested the labor to remove the weeds to improve the land for future years.
We won’t harvest all the parsnips this fall—just enough to hold us through January. We will leave two acres to overwinter until the spring. Not only do parsnips tolerate the colder weather, but they actually improve in flavor and texture after a freeze. Our sweetest parsnips, in fact, are the overwintered parsnips that are left in the ground throughout winter, and dug in the spring. Don’t get me wrong, they are pretty tasty right now. Before refrigeration, parsnips were a wintertime staple that could be stored for months in a root cellar or packed in a mound of sand. So, if you find yourself accumulating parsnips throughout the upcoming deliveries, don’t worry—they won’t spoil quickly. Store them loosely wrapped in a plastic bag with some moisture and they will hold just fine for several weeks in your refrigerator. Parsnips may lose moisture over time and become shrunken and rubbery, but this is no reason to discard them. Go ahead and add them to your next soup, and they will perk right up.
Like the other members of the Umbelliferae family we have featured this year (such as celery and celeriac, fennel, carrot, etc.), parsnips originated in the Mediterranean basin and have been cultivated for several thousand years. They have been a fixture of European cuisine, particularly the northern countries with cooler climates and shorter growing seasons.
Parsnips are closely related to carrots, with an arguably more complex flavor. They can be prepared in many of the same ways as carrots, although eating raw isn’t nearly as common. Parsnips need not be peeled, but depending on the usage you may wish to, if the skin is thick or stringy. With their high sugar content, parsnips caramelize well. Roasting them at a high temperature, then reducing heat slightly and finishing cooking with a lid will create a chewy, browned exterior and a soft interior. Steaming is also a good way to retain and concentrate all of the parsnip’s flavor and create a soft, smooth consistency. Besides for soups and stews, boiling isn’t recommended because the parsnip will lose flavor (and nutrients) into the cooking water. In American cuisine, the most common uses of parsnip are in purees and root mashes, either alone or with other roots and tubers, and simmered with soups, stews, and roasts. In her book Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini, Elizabeth Schneider notes that although American recipes from the 19th and 20th centuries have tended to use parsnips in rich, heavy preparations such as creaming and frying, the versatile parsnip really shines in more complex preparations as well. Records of ancient Roman recipes show that parsnips were sometimes combined with white wine and olive oil, fresh coriander and pepper, cumin and chives, celery seed, honey, and nuts, among other things.
So whether you jazz it up with exotic spices, or simply toss it in the pot with the Sunday roast, it’s hard not to enjoy the sweet flavor of parsnip.