Thoughts for the Week

First some announcements.

The Annual Garlic Planting Party is scheduled for Saturday, October 8th from 1:00 until done. This is a great event to see the farm, meet other farm members, get some fresh air and sunshine, and learn a little bit about what it takes to grow one of the items we give you each season. All ages and abilities are welcome. There is some stand-up work. There is more kneeling on the ground work. And of course you need to be prepared to have a conversation with other like-minded people, which could be the most difficult part for some of you. Put it on your calendar and I hope to see many of you here! (This is a fair weather event so check the website if there is any chance it could be postponed).

Speaking of garlic, we are still looking for assistance in processing the harvested garlic. It is easy work and if so inclined you can listen to your favorite podcast while working! Let me know if you can lend a hand for an hour to two or three or four but no more than five.

But if you still have time after the garlic is processed we could use your — or someone else’s — help processing the onions! This is probably even easier than garlic. Feel free to utilize your favorite podcast for this activity as well. Wow. So many opportunities to experience farming!

Still taking back pint size clamshells.

Farm News

Maybe I should change the name of this section to “This week’s top story” since it may not always be “news” like for example this week. Anyway, since I already typed “Farm News” and I’m out of electronic “Wite-out” so I’ll leave it as is for now but it’s something to consider for future newsletters.

Probably the biggest challenge in running a CSA farm is trying to meet the culinary desires of every one of our members. Of course this is impossible. Where some say, “Too many beans!” another says “Why are you so skimpy on the beans?” Where another says, “Love the fennel!” Another says, “Please don’t send me any more fennel.” No two people have the same likes and dislikes. We don’t enjoy the same meals/recipes. Which in my opinion is a good thing. If we all loved the same food and only that food we would run out of food far quicker than having the diversity the current human population exhibits — unless it is thistle or one of the many weeds here on the farm. Seems like we’d never run out of those.

One way we try to mitigate this issue is with our on-farm pick-up where you have some choice in what you take home with you. Don’t like cabbage? Maybe the cauliflower is more your style! I wish there was a way we could replicate it at each of our drop sites but unfortunately it wouldn’t be cost effective and could be potentially quite wasteful. At least with the on-farm pick-up we have over a hundred families picking up over the course of the week so we have a greater diversity of veggie eaters here than at any of our drop sites.

So since we can’t replicate the on-farm pick-up model elsewhere we have to instead find ways to help our drop site members figure out how to best use the produce we give them. Frequently the problem isn’t the vegetable. It is finding a way to prepare the veggie in a way that you find delightful! An example from my life is I never liked okra. It was slimy and it didn’t spark joy so I Marie Kondo’ed it out of my food repertoire. But then, out of nowhere, one of our members suggested a Bhindi Masala recipe. I gave it a try and found I really liked it. There were so many flavors that the okra was just the carrier of the spices. Cooked paper towels with all those spices would taste good. The point is that sometimes you just need to keep trying to find a recipe you enjoy. But I also realize that at some point you may as well give up and just not consume that particular veggie. Sending it to the compost pile or to a neighbor is a perfectly acceptable solution to something you truly don’t care for.

One thing I have noticed over the course of my farm and eating/cooking careers is that frequently veggies taste good when combined with other veggies, herbs and spices from the same area of the world. For example, Bok choy originated in China’s fertile Yangtze River area. Soy sauce also comes from China. When paired together they are quite delicious! Garlic also comes from China so why not throw that in as well! Even better! Ginger comes from Southeast Asia. Perhaps a bit of ginger would help hide the taste of the bok choy. You get the idea.

That is not to say that pairing things from the same region of the world is the only way to prepare a vegetable. Tomatoes come from the Andes region of South America but they do well when used in Mediterranean cooking using herbs and spices from this region. So perhaps it isn’t a vegetable evolution solution but a human evolution. We’ve learned to enjoy the dishes we’ve either grown-up with or maybe even as humans evolved to enjoy these combinations since they were found together. Either way, I think there is something to it.

And I suppose the last point to make is that we here in America seem to not have the same history of using veggies as most of the rest of the world. I’m not sure why we evolved into meat and potatoe (a nod to former VP Dan Quayle) types. So looking elsewhere for vegetable recipes is always a great idea. I lean toward spicy foods — and I don’t necessarily mean hot spicy. The more flavor the better. Throwing veggies together with a curry powder or paste works wonders. Using the Google and a region of the world with the veggies on hand reveals ideas I hadn’t thought of. Getting out of the Midwest cooking slump of mashed potatoes and coleslaw does wonders to figure out how to use all the produce we send out each week. So keep trying to enjoy those you don’t like and if you get stuck don’t hesitate to connect with other members on our Facebook forum. They seem to be full of good ideas.

What will we have this week?

An overwhelming amount of beans! Plus tomatoes, tomatillos, some cherry tomatoes (still struggling to get them to not rot in the containers), a few eggplant (not the best year for eggplant), some summer squash/zucchini, garlic!, onions, cucumbers, peppers (they seem unusually slow this year), a few broccoli, a few cauliflower, a few cabbages, kale, and as we have every week, all the things I forgot.

FlowerShare and CoffeeShare this week!

Recipe of the week!

That’s all for this week. As always do not hesitate to contact me with questions, comments, suggestions, jokes, etc.

Joke of the Week

What do you get when you cross a robot and a tractor?

A transfarmer