I’m not sure when we will be planting the garlic. Maybe this Saturday if it doesn’t rain too much this week? It might be a sudden announcement so try to keep your schedule clear for the next two weeks!
Two more weeks in this season. Please plan accordingly.
We’re still taking orders for 2024. Thank you to all who have already rejoined. We appreciate your support. For those who plan to rejoin please do so soon if you can. Send in a $100 deposit either through Zelle (use my phone number or email address though Zelle will have my wife Susan’s name on the account), PayPal (they charge a service fee but if that is convenient feel free to use my email or phone number), or send a plain old check to 6455 Oakgreen Ave S, Hastings MN 55033. I also take cash for those who are out here. New members can join by ordering through our online store.
Farm News
One aspect I love about running a CSA farm (vs. say a farmers’ market style farm) is the opportunity to try new things. I feel if I was growing food for sale at a farmers’ market I would have to find the types of things that people who attend farmers’ markets would want to buy. There is nothing more frustrating than going home from the market with a bunch of produce you worked hard to produce over a long period of time. A long time ago when I sold at farmers’ markets I noticed that I was the one with some of the “weird” vegetables, things like fennel or tomatillos or kohlrabi. I had a few customers who would stop by and purchase these types of things from me but the majority of people either walked by or stopped and asked what these things were — then continued walking. I quickly learned that to be successful at a farmers’ market you had to grow red tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, zucchini and cucumbers. Maybe sweet corn but then you had to compete on price with the farmer who had 20 acres of sweet corn and a machine to harvest it all.
I mention this because this year we tried something new. And I think it was a success — or at least successful enough to ramp up for 2024. In the spring I bought two pounds of organic ginger to try growing for the 2023 season. I suppose this is where you start wondering, “Huh. Why is it that we can’t find locally grown ginger?” And the reason is that it is a tropical plant. But wait farmer Chris, tomatoes are tropical plants and yet here we are with an abundance of tomatoes grown here in Minnesota. I think your logic is flawed! Touche I say! Yes you are right. We grow a lot of tropical plants here in Minnesota. But to do so we have to modify the plants environment to be more like its home. The biggest environment modification is starting plants in a heated greenhouse structure then transplanting them outdoors when the weather warms. We do this to extend the season. Most tropical plants we grow need more than what seems like only a month of two of warm weather here in MN. We actually have more than a month or two but we don’t have the five months of frost free weather it takes for say peppers to ripen. So we start them in the greenhouse then transplant them out when it gets warm and hopefully frost free.
So why don’t us farmers do the same for ginger? Can’t we plant a seed in the greenhouse then transplant it out into the field when the weather warms like we do for peppers or tomatoes? Much like potatoes we don’t start ginger from seed. Ginger grows from the rhizome of former ginger plants. We plant parts of the rhizome to start new ginger plants. But that doesn’t really address the question behind the question. Why can’t we start ginger in the greenhouse like tomatoes? We can and we did. But the problem with ginger is it takes 10 months to get to the state in which we typically purchase ginger. So we’d have to heat the greenhouse from say December until we transplant it out. That is not cost effective to say the least.
Since we start the greenhouse in March for other plants we can also star the ginger in March. But this gives us only seven months, which, using the math knowledge I gained in elementary school, is less than the 10 months necessary. However, with this year’s experiment we found that we could grow ginger to the point where it has somewhat large rhizomes with a strong ginger taste. It doesn’t have the protective “skin” of fully mature ginger so it won’t store as long but it also doesn’t need to be “peeled”. It can be grated right off the root so to speak! It is known in the ginger industry as “fresh” ginger.
Now the amount of ginger we grew this year was an experimental amount. We planted two pounds and got 15 in return. I’m not sure if that is acceptable in the ginger growing regions of the world but I was pleasantly surprised by it. Once we transplanted into the field under black plastic for warmth and weed suppression we didn’t do a lot with it other than water it and then harvest it. Our initial plan was to grow some of it in the hoop house giving us an extra month or so plus having a hotter environment for it to grow. But we planted sweet potatoes in the hoop house this year and ran out of space for the ginger. Maybe next season.
I’m not sure exactly how we will distribute it. Fifteen pounds divided by 350 shares isn’t much. We’ll probably give each member a small thumb size piece just so everyone can try it. I feel it is stronger than store bought ginger so maybe a small piece is enough. You should store it in the fridge, maybe in a plastic bag so it doesn’t dehydrate. Or you can grate it and freeze it for longer storage. I suggest using it sooner rather than later. No need to store such a small piece in my opinion.
Anyway, we are already ramping up ginger production for next season. We have an experiment running now that we hope will extend the ginger growing season for much closer to 10 months and maybe even more if it works. That is one thing about farm experiments. Each experiment takes at least a season and frequently many seasons. You can’t rush a a good farm experiment.
What will we have this week?
Besides the small piece of ginger we’ll also have BS (that’s Brussels sprouts)! The BS seems a bit on the small side but should still be tasty! Plus more lemongrass, some leeks, the last of the peppers, some onions, lots of squash, a few pie pumpkins, arugula, mesclun mix, daikon radishes, possibly shallots, and all those other things I am forgetting. Some day when the ground dries we’ll dig the carrots and potatoes. Hopefully before next week!
It is the last EggShare week. FlowerShare will be more gourds.
Here are a couple of daikon radish recipes other members suggested we try!
https://cookingontheweekends.com/spicy-roasted-daikon-french-fry-recipe/
That is all for now. Lots to do! As always, feel free to send in questions, comments, suggestions, share orders or other items of interest!