VOLUME VI, JOURNAL XV
SEPTEMBER 26, 2011
BLUE HERON FARM JOURNAL
SO WHAT’S HAPPENING ON THE FARM THIS WEEK?
Week 15- Thanks for all the well wishes and letters of support last week. We did receive VHCB funding for conserving the farm - only two more really big hurdles to go - local fundraising for the rest of the money needed to conserve the farm and for us to get a mortgage for the land. Thanks again - you are all so wonderful!
Three more pickups after this week. Yet to come - some sweet baby carrots, celery, chard, kale, haukerei turnips, a new round of baby lettuces and arugula, young tender green beans, more potatoes, winter squash and more - I think we will finish strong. And we will have more of the other veggies too. We will be pulling out the hoophouse tomatoes and peppers this week to make room for late/fall and winter crops. The tomatoes n the hoophouse are having trouble turning red - with the cooler night temperatures and a whole lot more moisture in the air. So we are going to pick them all and let them ripen in the barn. In that very large hoophouse we are going to try to grow chard, spinach, broccoli, kale, bok choy, and a few others and see how it goes..
We are putting fields to bed and getting ready for next year already. Trying to have some good days in a row so we can get the last bit of hay off the land for the sheep, cows and chickens for the winter. This is the last week of sweet corn - we picked the last of it last night (Sunday) - not sure if Thursday folks will get some (thats why you have been getting a bit extra each week of corn just in case this was going to happen). Sweet corn is best eaten within a day or so of eating - its the sweetest then. It still tastes fine after that - you just miss that candy like window - I think - but hey, I have cooked corn up that was a week old and it still was great! You will notice you have quite a bit of eggplant this week - the eggplants have put on a flush for us this week. So I will not ramble on too long - so I can put in lots of recipes for it. Please come and PYO ground cherries and sungolds - sungolds are definitely on their way out due to the cooler temps and longer amounts of dew on the plants. The ground cherries we should keep having to until frost or so..
THe green beans in your share this week were a bit of a surprise for us. We had already picked this planting twice maybe even three times and then cut them back and then - after all that sun and then rain and then a bit more sun - bam! we have some beans - some beans to tie us over until the fall beans come in. We will be moving to a younger planting of lettuce and arugula next week.
This is Adora's last week with us. She's been interning with us since the beginning of June. She'll be leaving on Thursday. We have had a grand time with her and learned much from her and we wish her the best in her adventures that lie before her. Good Luck Adora in your travels.
Thanks for reading - see you all soon. Have a great week! Thanks for listening and your support. Peace, your farmers, Christine, Adam, Sadie and Delia and our Interns Ashlynn and Adora
WHAT’S IN THE SHARE THIS WEEK: BASIL, CILANTRO, SWEET CORN, LETTUCE MIX, ARUGULA, Eggplant, sweet peppers, hot peppers, PYO Sungold Cherry Tomatoes, Green Onions, TOMATOES, PYO Ground Cherries, Green Beans, and a few other things - Best guess for the week.
EGGS FOR SALE
We have the pretty girls’ eggs for sale – these are free-range, certified organic chicken eggs that are brown, green and blue – with the brightest yellow/orange yolks you ever seen. The eggs are $5.00 a dozen.
Yarn for Sale
Yarn is available in our natural color "Island Oatmeal." Worsted Weight, double twist, soft, 220 yds, 4 ounces, Greenspun (no petroleum products used in cleaning the wool) by Green Mountain Spinnery here in Vermont. Yarn is in the farmstand. 17.00 skein. Also available wool roving, white, brown, oatmeal - $9 for 4 ounces.
Recipes
Eggplant Gratin "Almodrote de Berenjen" adapted from Joyce Goldstein's Sephardic Flavors
Those of you who enjoy eggplant might want to check out Joyce Goldstein's book Sephardic Flavors. It is a fascinating look at the foods and culture the Jews took with them into the Arab world when they were expelled from Spain by the Catholics in 1492. (http://mariquita.com/recipes/eggplant.html)
4 pounds largish eggplants 2 cloves garlic, minced 4 slices country bread, soaked in water, and squeezed dry, 4 eggs, 6 ounces fresh white cheese, crumbled (such as ricotta or feta) 1/2 pound gruyere or kashkaval cheese, grated 1/3 cup sunflower or olive oil 1 to 2 teaspoons salt black pepper to taste 3 Tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
Bake the whole eggplants on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven for 30-45 minutes. You can also broil them for 20 minutes, turning often. Transfer to a colander. When cool enough to handle, strip away the skin and remove the large seed pockets. Place the pulp on a cutting board and chop coarsely. Return it to the colander and let drain for 10 to 20 minutes to release the bitter juices. You should have 2 to 2 ½ cups pulp. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 7 x 11 baking dish. Transfer the eggplant to a bowl and mash well with a fork. Add the bread, eggs, crumbled cheese, and all but 1/4 cup of the shredded cheese, and all but 2 Tablespoons of the oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Spread mixture in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining 1/4 cup shredded cheese and the remaining oil over the top. Bake until golden and set, 30 to 40 minutes. Serve hot directly from the dish.
Princess Eggplant from Julia http://mariquita.com/recipes/eggplant.html
2 pounds smallish white or purple eggplants
3 tablespoons peanut or safflower oil
2-4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch chard, washed and roughly chopped (it's ok to leave water on the leaves)
1 bunch parsley or cilantro, chopped
sauce: Mix together with a bit of water:
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
Tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 Tablespoon black bean sauce
Cut the eggplants into large-ish bite-sized pieces. Cook them over high heat in the oil, after 2 minutes, add the garlic and stir often, until the eggplants are mostly cooked through. Add the chard and mix in until it's wilted some, about 1 or 2 minutes.Add the sauce to the still-hot eggplant mixture. STIR in the parsley or cilantro just after removing from the heat, serve with rice.
Fragrant Broiled and Pureed Eggplant adapted from Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini by Elizabeth Schneider
This recipe suits any large eggplants - ones with a large proportion of flesh to skin. Season, broil until smoky and squishy, drain, and puree. Do not trim off the stems, which act as handles during preparation. Serve as a salad course, accompanied by olives, sliced tomatoes, and breadsticks or toasted pita triangles. Or thin puree slightly to offer as a dip with raw fennel and other vegetable strips. Allow to mellow overnight before serving. Mince feathery fennel tops to sprinkle over the dip.
3 large garlic cloves
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground anise, fennel or allspice
about 2 Tablespoons flavorful olive oil
2 or 3 eggplants of equal size (to total about 2.5 pounds)
1 teaspoon sugar
½ Tablespoon kosher salt
about 1/3 cup whole-milk yogurt or a smaller quantity of thick drained (‘Greek’) yogurt to taste
Black pepper or ground hot pepper to taste
Preheat broiler. Cut garlic into long slivers or slices. Combine in cup with coriander, cumin, anise, and 1/4 teaspoon oil; mix well. With knife tip, cut deep slits in eggplants. Holding slits open with knife, insert garlic. When garlic is used up, rub eggplants with any remaining spice mixture. Place eggplants in a baking pan as far from broiling element as possible. Broil, turning once, until skin wrinkles and blackens and eggplants collapse - about 20-30 minutes, depending upon size of eggplants and type of broiler. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand about 10 minutes. Holding stem of one still hot eggplant, gently remove skin with a small knife. Discard skin along with stems. Place flesh in a strainer to drain as you peel remaining eggplant (s). Combine eggplant flesh, sugar, and salt in food processor and pulse to barely mix. Pulsing, gradually add yogurt to taste, then add remaining oil. Do not puree until smooth - some texture is nice. Scrape into a bowl. Add pepper and adjust seasoning. Refrigerate overnight. Season before serving, preferably at room temperature.
Welcome to our Farm! Little stories about our life as organic farmers raising a family on an island in the middle of Lake Champlain
Monday, September 26, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Journal Post for the week of September 19, 2011
VOLUME VI, JOURNAL XIV
SEPTEMBER 19, 2011
BLUE HERON FARM JOURNAL
SO WHAT’S HAPPENING ON THE FARM THIS WEEK?
Week 14- If there were such a thing as a foodie's dream share - this would be the week - the only thing that would make it perfect would a watermelon or cucumber to add to it all. Sweet Corn - crunchy bursts of butter and sweetness leaking out the corners of your mouth, late summer sweetness and saltiness of those heirloom tomatoes, the super sweetness of sungolds and ground cherries that have been ripened in the warm glow of the sun all day - just in time for you to pick them. The Lettuce and arugula - so tender and sweet and the right amount of pepperiness. Drizzle some homemade maple balsamic vinaigrette with a dash of pureed raspberries. Banana Fingerling potatoes that are so buttery when you roast them in the oven, or sauté them in the pan with a little olive oil or toss them with onions and garlic and put them on the grill. Basil that makes every person smile when they smell it, touch it, eat it over tomatoes, over pasta, over eggs or just straight up. Spaghetti Squash with its taste of fall and coziness..The hot peppers that give that kick when you need it. And those sweet peppers, that Miss Sadie loves to snack on in the field, in the car, in the house, with a mouse.. :) Okay I think I need to stop now - I think drool has hit my keyboard.
We picked over 300 ears of corn this morning - All for you. Don't worry Thursday crew - you'll get fresh corn too - yours will be picked Thursday morning. Did you know that sweet corn starts to lose it sweetness moments after it is picked..don't worry it is still plenty sweet when you will get it. Did you know that you get one ear of corn per plant? How was it last week? Did you try it raw? We love it raw - we also like to soak it for a few minutes and then grill it with the husks on - just to carmelize some of those sugars - yum! (again the drool is starting...) You can also freeze the corn, blanch it, then cut the corn off and freeze it first on a cookie sheet, then put into quart size bags. Enjoy it all winter long. We are not bringing it to market - so eat up - this is for you. I am glad we waited to plant it - I am fine with sweet corn in September especially this year - because at least we have it. It may not be in the hey day of summer - those red and white checkered tablecloths with potato salad and sweet corn in July - but hey, I like it now with the leaves starting to turn and being able to enjoy it with my family and friends. Sweet corn is sweet corn - regardless if its ready in July or September. I am not in it to win the race to have the first sweet corn or the first red tomato - we are in it to feed us and you.
The rumors are true - we have discovered Late blight in the heirloom tomato field. This devastating disease is horrific - one day you have beautiful mouth watering tomatoes and the following day round brown poop spots on your tomato - you can not eat it, you can not can these tomatoes, it awful. It is sucha a waste. As I type this (while one is napping and the other nusing) the interns and Sophie are picking tomatoes that maybe able to be spared and ripen in the barn. After we pick the tomatoes, we will pull all the tomatoes up either burn them or tarp them to kill the spores. We still have potatoes in the field - yellow, kennebec, red and fingerling and we don't want them to get it. Also, we want to save the peppers, eggplants, and hoophouse tomatoes. So there maybe green tomatoes in your share this week. Also we are sorry if one day your beautiful heirlooms are beauties and the next they are brown. That's how this blight works - it may take a day or two to infect the tomato. But it could be worse. Its about 1000 feet of tomatoes at the end of September that needs to be pulled out - unlike 2 years ago when we got it - 1500 feet at the end of July - July 29th (day will live in Infamy) we hadn't harvested one dang tomato and had to kill them all to save the pepper and potato crops.. We also could have lost them a few weeks ago during the tropical storm. Late blight cannot survive in our vermont soils as long as we have a cold winter - it can only live on live tissue - so we will have to be extra vigilant on volunteer potatoes next year - because potatoes are live tissues. Seeds are not until they germ. So volunteer renegade tomatoes will not spread it next year. We could have sprayed copper on our tomatoes - but seriously - I do not want my kids or your kids or you or me eating copper. Imagine hand washing over 600lbs of tomatoes every week? Making sure all that blue copper is out of the cracks and folds which make the heirloom tomato bodacious. We kept them weeded, grass trimmed, tied up (thanks Ashlyn) and loads of air circulating. We did want we could..so we will be barn ripening tomatoes and see how it goes..
On Friday night (Adam and I have the most romantic of date nights), we picked all of the winter squash. After all the rain - that field flooded and some of the squash - well most of the squash was sitting in mud and huge puddles - I have pics if you like to see. Anyways, in the share this week will be spaghetti squash - I would eat it this week and refrigerate just in case it doesn't keep because of all the moisture it was sitting in. We have plenty of acorn and delicatas - the jury is still out on butternut and pie pumpkins. It does not look good for Carving pumpkins this year. :( Sorry - the field flooded after 5 days of nonstop rain - and other fields drain into this one. After we own this land - we will be fixing the ditch system and tiling to help elevate future flooding. Don't worry this is just field to field water - not sewer water or river water...
Folks have been asking about when we should have our shares until. Well this is week 14 so 4 more after this one - we will be going into October - with the last pickup being the Monday AFTER columbus day.
Tomorrow we go to the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board to ask for funds to conserve our farm. This is exciting and scary. We are hoping that you all could keep us in your thoughts on tuesday - while we present our farm (yours and ours) to this board to tell them what we are doing and what we hope to do with this land. Thanks to all who have written little notes. They mean a lot Your support means a lot too - we will send out an email to let you all know what happens.
Anyways.. Thanks for reading - see you all soon. Have a great week! Thanks for listening and your support. Peace, your farmers, Christine, Adam, Sadie and Delia and our Interns Ashlynn and Adora
WHAT’S IN THE SHARE THIS WEEK: BASIL, SWEET CORN, LETTUCE MIX, ARUGULA, Eggplant, sweet peppers, hot peppers, PYO Sungold Cherry Tomatoes, Spaghettri Squash, Heirloom TOMATOES, PYO Ground Cherries, Fingerling Potatoes, and a few other things - Best guess for the week.
EGGS FOR SALE
We have the pretty girls’ eggs for sale – these are free-range, certified organic chicken eggs that are brown, green and blue – with the brightest yellow/orange yolks you ever seen. The eggs are $5.00 a dozen.
Yarn for Sale
Yarn is available in our natural color "Island Oatmeal." Worsted Weight, double twist, soft, 220 yds, 4 ounces, Greenspun (no petroleum products used in cleaning the wool) by Green Mountain Spinnery here in Vermont. Yarn is in the farmstand. 17.00 skein. Also available wool roving, white, brown, oatmeal - $9 for 4 ounces.
Recipes this week are from http://mariquita.com/recipes/spaghetti.squash.html
What on earth do I do with Spaghetti Squash? You eat it :)
Cut squash in half lengthwise; remove seeds. Place squash cut sides up in a microwave dish with 1/4 cup water. Cover with plastic wrap and cook on high for 10 to 12 minutes, depending on size of squash. Add more cooking time if necessary. Let stand covered, for 5 minutes. With fork "comb" out the strands. Let it cool. ( Christine's Note: You can also do it in the oven, prepare the same way but put tin foil or cover on it and cook for 15-20 minutes at 350.)
While the squash is cooking, boil the shrimp in lightly salted water. Drain and rinse in some cold water. Peel and butterfly them after they cooled. Add to Squash.
Chop the basil coarsely and add to squash. Mix until the shrimp and basil are evenly distributed.
Mix dressing into squash mixture right before serving. There is more dressing here and is needed for a 4 lb. squash. Mix in only as much dressing as needed to your desired taste. The remaining dressing can be used as a condiment for dipping meat, seafood, and vegetables or for drizzling on plain rice. The dressing will keep up to two weeks in the refrigerator.
Mix cooked spaghetti squash with a little egg and flour. Add fresh minced ginger, white pepper and sliced green onions (but no salt). Fry like a potato pancake and serve with soy sauce. Yum!
Cook Spaghetti Squash by cutting in half and cooking like a pumpkin or butternut squash in the oven until it can be easily pierced by a fork. Gently scoop out sqush 'noodles' and serve hot with red sauce or cooled like a noodle salad with your favorite dressing.
Saute garlic and butter until the garlic is soft. Cut the squash in half and steam the squash until tender. Then separate from the shell by running a fork along the length of the squash to get spaghetti-like strands. Add to the pan and toss to coat with butter and garlic. Add fresh diced tomatoes and torn fresh basil, cook for a minute or two and add salt and pepper to taste.
SEPTEMBER 19, 2011
BLUE HERON FARM JOURNAL
SO WHAT’S HAPPENING ON THE FARM THIS WEEK?
Week 14- If there were such a thing as a foodie's dream share - this would be the week - the only thing that would make it perfect would a watermelon or cucumber to add to it all. Sweet Corn - crunchy bursts of butter and sweetness leaking out the corners of your mouth, late summer sweetness and saltiness of those heirloom tomatoes, the super sweetness of sungolds and ground cherries that have been ripened in the warm glow of the sun all day - just in time for you to pick them. The Lettuce and arugula - so tender and sweet and the right amount of pepperiness. Drizzle some homemade maple balsamic vinaigrette with a dash of pureed raspberries. Banana Fingerling potatoes that are so buttery when you roast them in the oven, or sauté them in the pan with a little olive oil or toss them with onions and garlic and put them on the grill. Basil that makes every person smile when they smell it, touch it, eat it over tomatoes, over pasta, over eggs or just straight up. Spaghetti Squash with its taste of fall and coziness..The hot peppers that give that kick when you need it. And those sweet peppers, that Miss Sadie loves to snack on in the field, in the car, in the house, with a mouse.. :) Okay I think I need to stop now - I think drool has hit my keyboard.
We picked over 300 ears of corn this morning - All for you. Don't worry Thursday crew - you'll get fresh corn too - yours will be picked Thursday morning. Did you know that sweet corn starts to lose it sweetness moments after it is picked..don't worry it is still plenty sweet when you will get it. Did you know that you get one ear of corn per plant? How was it last week? Did you try it raw? We love it raw - we also like to soak it for a few minutes and then grill it with the husks on - just to carmelize some of those sugars - yum! (again the drool is starting...) You can also freeze the corn, blanch it, then cut the corn off and freeze it first on a cookie sheet, then put into quart size bags. Enjoy it all winter long. We are not bringing it to market - so eat up - this is for you. I am glad we waited to plant it - I am fine with sweet corn in September especially this year - because at least we have it. It may not be in the hey day of summer - those red and white checkered tablecloths with potato salad and sweet corn in July - but hey, I like it now with the leaves starting to turn and being able to enjoy it with my family and friends. Sweet corn is sweet corn - regardless if its ready in July or September. I am not in it to win the race to have the first sweet corn or the first red tomato - we are in it to feed us and you.
The rumors are true - we have discovered Late blight in the heirloom tomato field. This devastating disease is horrific - one day you have beautiful mouth watering tomatoes and the following day round brown poop spots on your tomato - you can not eat it, you can not can these tomatoes, it awful. It is sucha a waste. As I type this (while one is napping and the other nusing) the interns and Sophie are picking tomatoes that maybe able to be spared and ripen in the barn. After we pick the tomatoes, we will pull all the tomatoes up either burn them or tarp them to kill the spores. We still have potatoes in the field - yellow, kennebec, red and fingerling and we don't want them to get it. Also, we want to save the peppers, eggplants, and hoophouse tomatoes. So there maybe green tomatoes in your share this week. Also we are sorry if one day your beautiful heirlooms are beauties and the next they are brown. That's how this blight works - it may take a day or two to infect the tomato. But it could be worse. Its about 1000 feet of tomatoes at the end of September that needs to be pulled out - unlike 2 years ago when we got it - 1500 feet at the end of July - July 29th (day will live in Infamy) we hadn't harvested one dang tomato and had to kill them all to save the pepper and potato crops.. We also could have lost them a few weeks ago during the tropical storm. Late blight cannot survive in our vermont soils as long as we have a cold winter - it can only live on live tissue - so we will have to be extra vigilant on volunteer potatoes next year - because potatoes are live tissues. Seeds are not until they germ. So volunteer renegade tomatoes will not spread it next year. We could have sprayed copper on our tomatoes - but seriously - I do not want my kids or your kids or you or me eating copper. Imagine hand washing over 600lbs of tomatoes every week? Making sure all that blue copper is out of the cracks and folds which make the heirloom tomato bodacious. We kept them weeded, grass trimmed, tied up (thanks Ashlyn) and loads of air circulating. We did want we could..so we will be barn ripening tomatoes and see how it goes..
On Friday night (Adam and I have the most romantic of date nights), we picked all of the winter squash. After all the rain - that field flooded and some of the squash - well most of the squash was sitting in mud and huge puddles - I have pics if you like to see. Anyways, in the share this week will be spaghetti squash - I would eat it this week and refrigerate just in case it doesn't keep because of all the moisture it was sitting in. We have plenty of acorn and delicatas - the jury is still out on butternut and pie pumpkins. It does not look good for Carving pumpkins this year. :( Sorry - the field flooded after 5 days of nonstop rain - and other fields drain into this one. After we own this land - we will be fixing the ditch system and tiling to help elevate future flooding. Don't worry this is just field to field water - not sewer water or river water...
Folks have been asking about when we should have our shares until. Well this is week 14 so 4 more after this one - we will be going into October - with the last pickup being the Monday AFTER columbus day.
Tomorrow we go to the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board to ask for funds to conserve our farm. This is exciting and scary. We are hoping that you all could keep us in your thoughts on tuesday - while we present our farm (yours and ours) to this board to tell them what we are doing and what we hope to do with this land. Thanks to all who have written little notes. They mean a lot Your support means a lot too - we will send out an email to let you all know what happens.
Anyways.. Thanks for reading - see you all soon. Have a great week! Thanks for listening and your support. Peace, your farmers, Christine, Adam, Sadie and Delia and our Interns Ashlynn and Adora
WHAT’S IN THE SHARE THIS WEEK: BASIL, SWEET CORN, LETTUCE MIX, ARUGULA, Eggplant, sweet peppers, hot peppers, PYO Sungold Cherry Tomatoes, Spaghettri Squash, Heirloom TOMATOES, PYO Ground Cherries, Fingerling Potatoes, and a few other things - Best guess for the week.
EGGS FOR SALE
We have the pretty girls’ eggs for sale – these are free-range, certified organic chicken eggs that are brown, green and blue – with the brightest yellow/orange yolks you ever seen. The eggs are $5.00 a dozen.
Yarn for Sale
Yarn is available in our natural color "Island Oatmeal." Worsted Weight, double twist, soft, 220 yds, 4 ounces, Greenspun (no petroleum products used in cleaning the wool) by Green Mountain Spinnery here in Vermont. Yarn is in the farmstand. 17.00 skein. Also available wool roving, white, brown, oatmeal - $9 for 4 ounces.
Recipes this week are from http://mariquita.com/recipes/spaghetti.squash.html
What on earth do I do with Spaghetti Squash? You eat it :)
Cut squash in half lengthwise; remove seeds. Place squash cut sides up in a microwave dish with 1/4 cup water. Cover with plastic wrap and cook on high for 10 to 12 minutes, depending on size of squash. Add more cooking time if necessary. Let stand covered, for 5 minutes. With fork "comb" out the strands. Let it cool. ( Christine's Note: You can also do it in the oven, prepare the same way but put tin foil or cover on it and cook for 15-20 minutes at 350.)
While the squash is cooking, boil the shrimp in lightly salted water. Drain and rinse in some cold water. Peel and butterfly them after they cooled. Add to Squash.
Chop the basil coarsely and add to squash. Mix until the shrimp and basil are evenly distributed.
Mix dressing into squash mixture right before serving. There is more dressing here and is needed for a 4 lb. squash. Mix in only as much dressing as needed to your desired taste. The remaining dressing can be used as a condiment for dipping meat, seafood, and vegetables or for drizzling on plain rice. The dressing will keep up to two weeks in the refrigerator.
Mix cooked spaghetti squash with a little egg and flour. Add fresh minced ginger, white pepper and sliced green onions (but no salt). Fry like a potato pancake and serve with soy sauce. Yum!
Cook Spaghetti Squash by cutting in half and cooking like a pumpkin or butternut squash in the oven until it can be easily pierced by a fork. Gently scoop out sqush 'noodles' and serve hot with red sauce or cooled like a noodle salad with your favorite dressing.
Saute garlic and butter until the garlic is soft. Cut the squash in half and steam the squash until tender. Then separate from the shell by running a fork along the length of the squash to get spaghetti-like strands. Add to the pan and toss to coat with butter and garlic. Add fresh diced tomatoes and torn fresh basil, cook for a minute or two and add salt and pepper to taste.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Need a little note from all of you - TODAY - pretty please
Hi Everyone-
We look forward to seeing most of you at pickup tomorrow and through out the week at farmers markets and deliveries. We just got in from putting all the animals to bed and walking the fields and wish all of you could be here with us - at twilight. This farm is a beautiful place and we are so very lucky to farm here.
On Tuesday, yes this Tuesday, we are going in front of the Vermont Housing Conservation Board to ask for funds to conserve our farmland through the Vermont Land Trust and in partnership with the South Hero Land Trust. These funds are well over 1/2 of what we need to conserve this land - a lot of state and federal dollars. As we were walking the fields this evening- we thought how we would also like all of you there with us - to tell VHCB what you like about our farm, why you are part of this farm, and why is should be conserved - and never be developed. Through selling our development rights, we can afford to buy this land - these 30 acres that we have called home for the last 7 years AND be able to have our children or other folks children farm here when we are done farming - our future.
You all can not be in that room with us - BUT you can write a little note for us - is support of us and our farm - a note of supprt - nothing long - maybe a paragraph or so..tell them why Blue Heron Farm should be conserved and why Blue Heron Farm is important to you. You can email us this note and I can print it out or we will have index cards available for you to fill out at pickup on Monday or drop them off at our house. The only kink in all of this is that I need them all by 7pm MONDAY night 9/19/11 (tomorrow for those of you reading it tonight or today for those of you reading this on Monday).
I know I know very short notice - but sometimes these Ideas just kind of pop up even at the last minute - when you are walking in a beautiful lush field listening to sheep and cows chewing grass.
Do what you can - If you can do it - great! awesome! If you can't no problem - we totally get it - short notice and all, don't worry we won't love you any less. Just think good thought s around 10:30 on Tuesday - we'll be in randolph - presenting our farm and telling them why our little farm - deserves conservation funds.
Much love to you all - call or email if you have questions-
Feel free to write a note, write a song, draw picture (kids are encouraged too), anything that gets your voice heard to all these folks - I want them to hear your voices - of why Blue Heron Farm should receive conservation funds to continue farming right here. Right here on Quaker Road - here on this Grand little Island in the middle of Lake Champlain.
Thanks everyone-
Love,
Adam, Christine, Sadie and Delia
harmonyvt@yahoo.com
We look forward to seeing most of you at pickup tomorrow and through out the week at farmers markets and deliveries. We just got in from putting all the animals to bed and walking the fields and wish all of you could be here with us - at twilight. This farm is a beautiful place and we are so very lucky to farm here.
On Tuesday, yes this Tuesday, we are going in front of the Vermont Housing Conservation Board to ask for funds to conserve our farmland through the Vermont Land Trust and in partnership with the South Hero Land Trust. These funds are well over 1/2 of what we need to conserve this land - a lot of state and federal dollars. As we were walking the fields this evening- we thought how we would also like all of you there with us - to tell VHCB what you like about our farm, why you are part of this farm, and why is should be conserved - and never be developed. Through selling our development rights, we can afford to buy this land - these 30 acres that we have called home for the last 7 years AND be able to have our children or other folks children farm here when we are done farming - our future.
You all can not be in that room with us - BUT you can write a little note for us - is support of us and our farm - a note of supprt - nothing long - maybe a paragraph or so..tell them why Blue Heron Farm should be conserved and why Blue Heron Farm is important to you. You can email us this note and I can print it out or we will have index cards available for you to fill out at pickup on Monday or drop them off at our house. The only kink in all of this is that I need them all by 7pm MONDAY night 9/19/11 (tomorrow for those of you reading it tonight or today for those of you reading this on Monday).
I know I know very short notice - but sometimes these Ideas just kind of pop up even at the last minute - when you are walking in a beautiful lush field listening to sheep and cows chewing grass.
Do what you can - If you can do it - great! awesome! If you can't no problem - we totally get it - short notice and all, don't worry we won't love you any less. Just think good thought s around 10:30 on Tuesday - we'll be in randolph - presenting our farm and telling them why our little farm - deserves conservation funds.
Much love to you all - call or email if you have questions-
Feel free to write a note, write a song, draw picture (kids are encouraged too), anything that gets your voice heard to all these folks - I want them to hear your voices - of why Blue Heron Farm should receive conservation funds to continue farming right here. Right here on Quaker Road - here on this Grand little Island in the middle of Lake Champlain.
Thanks everyone-
Love,
Adam, Christine, Sadie and Delia
harmonyvt@yahoo.com
Monday, September 12, 2011
Journal Post for the week of September 12, 2011
VOLUME VI, JOURNAL XIII
SEPTEMBER 12, 2011
BLUE HERON FARM JOURNAL
SO WHAT’S HAPPENING ON THE FARM THIS WEEK?
Week 13- Thanks for all the kind words from the last journal post. Sometimes it is just good to get all that worry and all out into the world - instead of bottled up in my head. My apologies for not posting last week - the kids had colds and teething and farming and all - there was literally no time to sit and write.- Christine
Resilient - Resilience - Resiliency - to bounce back
I feel that is where we are at. The veggies, the animals, our farm, us, Vermonters, Americans, the world - we are all in sort of a resiliency phase I feel. Recovering - trying to bounce back. As I walked the fields this week - I noticed that the chard and kale are coming back after being mowed down - being dormant for over a month- being beaten by the summer drought like conditions. I kicked some weeds around and I noticed that the chard was growing - putting on new leaves - nice tender young ones. If we pull some of the weeds away, side dress with some compost, there could be some really nice chard in a few weeks. This chard was transplanted in the beginning of June when that field finally dried out - it flourished until the sun was unrelenting and the bugs made holes. Now it is bouncing back. This chard is like life - you go through some hard stuff, take stock, and you bounce back - sometimes quickly sometimes slowly sometimes more thoughtfully - but we can bounce back - life is elastic - we don't live in a vacuum.
I want to be that chard. that kale. that grass.
Folks tell me that this is one of the most challenging times in a young family's life - balancing family, buying your first home/land, farm, work, life, relationship with your partner. I am thankful that we are not alone in this. When I ask folks who have children much older than ours - they smile and then become thoughtful - and I hear them say - I remember that time, you will survive and things will get better, they will get a bit easier. Thanks for those words. They mean a lot.
Adam and I are happy to share with you our first crop of sweet corn for the season. It is so sweet and buttery. Yummers! The interns seeded this corn into flats and then transplanted it out. Over 1000 plants. We fertilized with soy bean meal (for nitrogen - corn is a very heavy eater of nitrogen from the soil) and prayed that it would grow tall before tasseling out. We picked over 130 ears last night. Each plant has only one ear. Delia was on my back as I went through the tight rows, and picked into my skirt, feeling for the bulbous fat corn cobs. Sadie followed Adam and picked as much as she ate the raw corn. Delia even got in on the eating action. I think between all of us we ate a dozen ears just sitting there. Then we locked the corn up with electric line to hopefully keep rocky raccoon out of the corn. We are hoping to have corn this week and next for all of you. The sweet corn made it through the storm because it was tucked in by a northern hedgerow. If we hadn't had planted it there - the corn would have been destroyed. Some stalks got bent from the storm but majority did well. We do not spray pesticides on our corn - so with that being said - you may find a stray corn worm - just cut that part away and eat it up.
A neighbor was telling us that many CSA farms around the state are done for the year due to Irene. We feel very blessed and lucky for the fortune of being flooded on the early part of this season and not this later part. So very blessed. Last Saturday - a week ago - we had a collection with the rest of the Champlain Islands Farmers Market and we were able to send $800 donated from the market, vendors and customers to the Vermont Farm Fund. We are still looking to do other things to help out. We will let you all know.
Also, we are not done, our CSA is still going - and we are hoping to go through the middle of October or so - mother nature willing. We still have fall potatoes, beans, shelling peas, turnips, kale, chard, spinach, winter squash and pumpkins to come and more. We like growing in the month of September - the soil is warm, the sun is kinder to our tender plants and our bodies, and the pests seem to go away- i.e. flea beetle - our arugula is out flying in the breeze - without row cover - with one or two flea beetles here or there.. potato bugs are already hibernating or moved on. What pest that likes this weather our plant diseases with the dew being heavier and the mornings being cooler. Anyways..
Have a great week! Thanks for listening and your support. Peace, your farmers, Christine, Adam, Sadie and Delia and our Interns Ashlynn and Adora
WHAT’S IN THE SHARE THIS WEEK: BASIL, GARLIC, SWEET CORN, LETTUCE MIX, ARUGULA, OKRA Eggplant, sweet peppers, hot peppers, Sungold Cherry Tomatoes, Heirloom TOMATOES, PYO Cherry tomatoes, PYO Ground Cherries, Cilantro,
EGGS FOR SALE
We have the pretty girls’ eggs for sale – these are free-range, certified organic chicken eggs that are brown, green and blue – with the brightest yellow/orange yolks you ever seen. The eggs are $5.00 a dozen.
Yarn for Sale
Yarn is available in our natural color "Island Oatmeal." Worsted Weight, double twist, soft, 220 yds, 4 ounces, Greenspun (no petroleum products used in cleaning the wool) by Green Mountain Spinnery here in Vermont. Yarn is in the farmstand. 17.00 skein. Also available wool roving, white, brown, oatmeal - $9 for 4 ounces.
Recipes
Sun dried (ahem) tomato candy
In our house, there is a favorite candy - tomato candy. We pick loads of sungold cherry tomatoes. Slice them in half and then put them in our dehydrator. About 145 degrees for about 12 hours - until they are completely dry. We then put them in a mason jar and put them either in the pantry or if I am not sure if they are completely dry in the fridge. We then use them in everything and anything - sometimes rehydrate them in some oil. Toss them with some pasta, put them on pizza with some soft annie cheese or goat cheese, put them in our basil pesto, or just eat them like..candy. Sadie loves them.
Slow Roasted Tomatoes - http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/08/slow-roasted-tomatoes/
Cherry, grape or small Roma tomatoes
Whole gloves of garlic, unpeeled
Olive oil
Herbs such as thyme or rosemary (optional)
Preheat oven to 225°F. Halve each cherry or grape tomato crosswise, or Roma tomato lengthwise and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet along with the cloves of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, just enough to make the tomatoes glisten. Sprinkle herbs on, if you are using them, and salt and pepper, though go easily on these because the finished product will be so flavorful you’ll need very little to help it along.Bake the tomatoes in the oven for about three hours. You want the tomatoes to be shriveled and dry, but with a little juice left inside–this could take more or less time depending on the size of your tomatoes. Either use them right away or let them cool, cover them with some extra olive oil and keep them in the fridge for the best summer condiment, ever. And for snacking.
Pasta with roasted tomatoes - Candance Page - Burlington Free Press - September 11, 2011
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20110911/GREEN01/109110312/-1/TOPICS0503/Localvore-Roasted-tomatoes-make-great-late-summer-treat
INGREDIENTS:
Sufficient small plum or cherry tomatoes, halved, to cover a large, rimmed cookie sheet
1/2 to 1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil
Garlic, to taste
1/3 cup fresh basil
3/4 to 1 pound pasta, ideally rombi but fusilli or penne certainly would work
Fresh Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover cookie sheet with aluminum foil and cover it with tomatoes, cut side up. Sprinkle lightly with sugar. Roast tomatoes for 1 hour. They can be used as-is, or cooled and cut into smaller pieces. Slice garlic — up to 1 full head — thinly. Sautee garlic slowly in olive oil. Cook until the garlic is soft but do not allow it to brown. Cook the pasta. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta. In a large bowl, toss the pasta, pasta water, garlic/olive oil, basil and tomatoes. Divide among four pasta bowls and pass the Parmesan.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2011
BLUE HERON FARM JOURNAL
SO WHAT’S HAPPENING ON THE FARM THIS WEEK?
Week 13- Thanks for all the kind words from the last journal post. Sometimes it is just good to get all that worry and all out into the world - instead of bottled up in my head. My apologies for not posting last week - the kids had colds and teething and farming and all - there was literally no time to sit and write.- Christine
Resilient - Resilience - Resiliency - to bounce back
I feel that is where we are at. The veggies, the animals, our farm, us, Vermonters, Americans, the world - we are all in sort of a resiliency phase I feel. Recovering - trying to bounce back. As I walked the fields this week - I noticed that the chard and kale are coming back after being mowed down - being dormant for over a month- being beaten by the summer drought like conditions. I kicked some weeds around and I noticed that the chard was growing - putting on new leaves - nice tender young ones. If we pull some of the weeds away, side dress with some compost, there could be some really nice chard in a few weeks. This chard was transplanted in the beginning of June when that field finally dried out - it flourished until the sun was unrelenting and the bugs made holes. Now it is bouncing back. This chard is like life - you go through some hard stuff, take stock, and you bounce back - sometimes quickly sometimes slowly sometimes more thoughtfully - but we can bounce back - life is elastic - we don't live in a vacuum.
I want to be that chard. that kale. that grass.
Folks tell me that this is one of the most challenging times in a young family's life - balancing family, buying your first home/land, farm, work, life, relationship with your partner. I am thankful that we are not alone in this. When I ask folks who have children much older than ours - they smile and then become thoughtful - and I hear them say - I remember that time, you will survive and things will get better, they will get a bit easier. Thanks for those words. They mean a lot.
Adam and I are happy to share with you our first crop of sweet corn for the season. It is so sweet and buttery. Yummers! The interns seeded this corn into flats and then transplanted it out. Over 1000 plants. We fertilized with soy bean meal (for nitrogen - corn is a very heavy eater of nitrogen from the soil) and prayed that it would grow tall before tasseling out. We picked over 130 ears last night. Each plant has only one ear. Delia was on my back as I went through the tight rows, and picked into my skirt, feeling for the bulbous fat corn cobs. Sadie followed Adam and picked as much as she ate the raw corn. Delia even got in on the eating action. I think between all of us we ate a dozen ears just sitting there. Then we locked the corn up with electric line to hopefully keep rocky raccoon out of the corn. We are hoping to have corn this week and next for all of you. The sweet corn made it through the storm because it was tucked in by a northern hedgerow. If we hadn't had planted it there - the corn would have been destroyed. Some stalks got bent from the storm but majority did well. We do not spray pesticides on our corn - so with that being said - you may find a stray corn worm - just cut that part away and eat it up.
A neighbor was telling us that many CSA farms around the state are done for the year due to Irene. We feel very blessed and lucky for the fortune of being flooded on the early part of this season and not this later part. So very blessed. Last Saturday - a week ago - we had a collection with the rest of the Champlain Islands Farmers Market and we were able to send $800 donated from the market, vendors and customers to the Vermont Farm Fund. We are still looking to do other things to help out. We will let you all know.
Also, we are not done, our CSA is still going - and we are hoping to go through the middle of October or so - mother nature willing. We still have fall potatoes, beans, shelling peas, turnips, kale, chard, spinach, winter squash and pumpkins to come and more. We like growing in the month of September - the soil is warm, the sun is kinder to our tender plants and our bodies, and the pests seem to go away- i.e. flea beetle - our arugula is out flying in the breeze - without row cover - with one or two flea beetles here or there.. potato bugs are already hibernating or moved on. What pest that likes this weather our plant diseases with the dew being heavier and the mornings being cooler. Anyways..
Have a great week! Thanks for listening and your support. Peace, your farmers, Christine, Adam, Sadie and Delia and our Interns Ashlynn and Adora
WHAT’S IN THE SHARE THIS WEEK: BASIL, GARLIC, SWEET CORN, LETTUCE MIX, ARUGULA, OKRA Eggplant, sweet peppers, hot peppers, Sungold Cherry Tomatoes, Heirloom TOMATOES, PYO Cherry tomatoes, PYO Ground Cherries, Cilantro,
EGGS FOR SALE
We have the pretty girls’ eggs for sale – these are free-range, certified organic chicken eggs that are brown, green and blue – with the brightest yellow/orange yolks you ever seen. The eggs are $5.00 a dozen.
Yarn for Sale
Yarn is available in our natural color "Island Oatmeal." Worsted Weight, double twist, soft, 220 yds, 4 ounces, Greenspun (no petroleum products used in cleaning the wool) by Green Mountain Spinnery here in Vermont. Yarn is in the farmstand. 17.00 skein. Also available wool roving, white, brown, oatmeal - $9 for 4 ounces.
Recipes
Sun dried (ahem) tomato candy
In our house, there is a favorite candy - tomato candy. We pick loads of sungold cherry tomatoes. Slice them in half and then put them in our dehydrator. About 145 degrees for about 12 hours - until they are completely dry. We then put them in a mason jar and put them either in the pantry or if I am not sure if they are completely dry in the fridge. We then use them in everything and anything - sometimes rehydrate them in some oil. Toss them with some pasta, put them on pizza with some soft annie cheese or goat cheese, put them in our basil pesto, or just eat them like..candy. Sadie loves them.
Slow Roasted Tomatoes - http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/08/slow-roasted-tomatoes/
Cherry, grape or small Roma tomatoes
Whole gloves of garlic, unpeeled
Olive oil
Herbs such as thyme or rosemary (optional)
Preheat oven to 225°F. Halve each cherry or grape tomato crosswise, or Roma tomato lengthwise and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet along with the cloves of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, just enough to make the tomatoes glisten. Sprinkle herbs on, if you are using them, and salt and pepper, though go easily on these because the finished product will be so flavorful you’ll need very little to help it along.Bake the tomatoes in the oven for about three hours. You want the tomatoes to be shriveled and dry, but with a little juice left inside–this could take more or less time depending on the size of your tomatoes. Either use them right away or let them cool, cover them with some extra olive oil and keep them in the fridge for the best summer condiment, ever. And for snacking.
Pasta with roasted tomatoes - Candance Page - Burlington Free Press - September 11, 2011
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20110911/GREEN01/109110312/-1/TOPICS0503/Localvore-Roasted-tomatoes-make-great-late-summer-treat
INGREDIENTS:
Sufficient small plum or cherry tomatoes, halved, to cover a large, rimmed cookie sheet
1/2 to 1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil
Garlic, to taste
1/3 cup fresh basil
3/4 to 1 pound pasta, ideally rombi but fusilli or penne certainly would work
Fresh Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover cookie sheet with aluminum foil and cover it with tomatoes, cut side up. Sprinkle lightly with sugar. Roast tomatoes for 1 hour. They can be used as-is, or cooled and cut into smaller pieces. Slice garlic — up to 1 full head — thinly. Sautee garlic slowly in olive oil. Cook until the garlic is soft but do not allow it to brown. Cook the pasta. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta. In a large bowl, toss the pasta, pasta water, garlic/olive oil, basil and tomatoes. Divide among four pasta bowls and pass the Parmesan.
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