Rodale Article

We had a really nice write-up in Rodale's ag newsletter last week, about my work on post-harvest handling and food safety education. You can link to the article here. My favorite line was from my response to a question at a field day: "Food safety is not just a legal responsibility, but a moral and ethical obligation you have with your customers."

Winter Shares

Don’t wait to sign up for our winter shares! For several years running, we have sold out of our October-through-December shares, and we expect a strong response to our limited offering for the new Deep Winter shares. We can’t sell extras of these because of limited storage and growing space in the coolers and greenhouses, so please don’t wait.

Picking Beets

It’s been a long and busy week, and I went back into the archives for this week’s newsletter, from this same week in 2001.

On Tuesday, we were picking beets when we heard about the tragedies. I turned away and wept after trying to explain to my sons that we were safe here. It simply didn’t seem like enough. The rest of the day seemed to go by in a sort of slow daze: we dug the leeks and picked up the potatoes. We raked and seeded more salad beds for the winter.

In the evening, I scythed the weeds next to the greenhouse. Bathed in sweat in the cool evening, I stopped to whet my blade, my stone singing. The skies, turning towards darkness, looked oddly empty without the tell-tale straight-arrow clouds left behind by so many aircraft every day. I listened to the crickets singing their song of fall. The neighbor’s dog barked and barked, lonely. Another neighbor’s bull bellowed his loneliness. I lowered the scythe and continued with my mowing.

Change rules our lives here on the farm, where every day we play a part in an ancient ritual of life, death, and renewal; yet these things forever remain the same. I could see the subtle change in the green of the leaves on the trees on Tuesday, summer’s glow having faded ever so slightly from their surface. The Big Dipper sinks a little closer to the northern horizon every night. The fields yield up their bounty, and slowly empty.

As dusk turned to darkness, everything seemed so large. The change of the season happens inexorably. The stars are so far away. The empty sky is more immense than it has ever seemed before. The world of people takes on such an air of bitter tragedy that it seems that we may never overcome it. And yet, we are bunching beets. It matters. The work that we do here, however small and seemingly futile in the face of so much evil, is good and necessary. For we - all of us, together - are establishing a place where the simple but incredibly important work of building a new way of farming—indeed, a new way of living— based on life instead of death, can go forward. It is the little things that, in the end, may matter most.

Farm Happenings

Weather: Continued cool, with a nice warming up at the end of the week. No rain, but I feel okay about that, since soil moisture seems just fine. Every morning for a week has included dense fog that makes the school bus late and commutes to the farm a little longer. Wednesday morning, a great blue heron flew just twenty feet from Chris and Ben while they harvested beets in the fog. Ben worked to establish salad beds in the greenhouse, staking and raking them smooth for the intensive seeding we use to maximize yields in a limited space.

What We Did: Being a little short on help, we devoted most of our attention and intentions this week to harvest. We have some big projects in the wings, but they took a back seat to the need to get things out of the field.

In the Kitchen

I really like Spinach season. We used to try to grow spinach right through the heat of the summer, but it shines so much better in the spring and the fall that we finally came to our senses. The following spinach salad is a long-time family favorite.

Wilted Spinach Salad
1/2 lb fresh spinach
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and pressed
1/2 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts– or almonds
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt
freshly ground pepper

Heat the oil in a small skillet. Add the nuts and cook over low heat for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic near the end. Pour over the spinach, scraping in as much of the oil as possible. Toss until spinach is coated and the nuts are well distributed. Sprinkle in the vinegar and salt and pepper, toss again, and serve.

Our Salad Mix continues to produce nicely into the fall. I’ve mentioned before my fondness for salad mix simply dressed with just salt and pepper. The children enjoy it drizzled with olive oil and balsamic or red wine vinegar; we skip the vinaigrette step and save a dish.

Although our outdoor tomatoes have gone down to the blight, our indoor crops of Round Red Tomatoes and Sungold Cherry Tomatoes continue to produce quite nicely. Planted right next to the blighted tomato crop, the plants of both the Sweet Red Peppers and the Jalapeno Peppers look so green and succulent that they seem to come from another world.

The abundant sunshine and cool nights have had a wonderful effect on the sweetness of our carrots and beets this season.

Eric's Mom's Beets

I first ate this gloriously pink dish at Madison's L'Etoile restaurant, where the kind chefs would serve lunch to weary farmers following farmers markets.

1 1/2 lbs red beets
1/2 cup yogurt, sour cream, or creme fraische (best choice)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp chopped mint

Place beets in a casserole dish with 1/2 inch of water. Cover and bake in a 400 degree oven for about an hour. The beets are ready when they can easily be penetrated with a paring knife. Cool slightly and slip the peel off. We slip the peel off under running water; it saves on burning the fingers. Cool beets, and then grate on a coarse grater. Mix in creme fraische, mint, salt and pepper. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

The cool weather has also made for a great Chinese Cabbage season. I particularly enjoy the versatility of this leafy head, which can be enjoyed both raw and cooked.

Napa Cabbage Carrot Slaw with Toasted Sesame Seeds

3 carrots, shredded
1 small head Napa cabbage or Chinese cabbage shredded
1/4 cup onion,
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup toasted sesame seed

In a large bowl, combine the carrot, cabbage, onion, garlic and cilantro.

Combine the remaining ingredients, except the sesame seed, until blended and toss with the cabbage mixture. Sprinkle with sesame seed.