Monday, August 18, 2014

Journal Post for week of August 18th

Volume IX, JOURNAL 10
                                                                                                                          August 18, 2014
       Blue Heron Farm Journal
***FRESH CERTIFIED ORGANIC CHICKEN AVAILABLE at the FARM TODAY - $5.50 a lb***
So what’s happening on the farm this week?

Week 10J  There are many things going over the internet these days - conflicts, death, ice buckets, beaches, and stories about not letting your children become farmers.  These days the work is hard and long.  We wake up early, work past dark, break for meals and play and keep on keeping on.  I found Delia's flip flops by the wash station today, she probably flung them off while picking wildflowers for the fundraiser we had here yesterday for Food for thought.  I helped weed Sadie's little garden that she made all herself.  I see the little tykes cars strewn between the farmstand and the cherry tomato hoophouse.  I found a little basket of eggs collected on a tour that my girls did yesterday with some visitors.  I hear the rooster crowing.  We pick 70 pints of cherry tomatoes.  Our steadfast volunteers pick the green beans that will be on your plates today.  We ate eggs from chickens that we had as chicks and ham we had from a pig we had as a piglet.  I snacked on tomatoes, split cucumbers in two in the field and ate one - their refreshing snap and crispness a nice break in the picking.  I scout out the corn with Adam to hopefully to pick later in the day.  Our girls had yogurt for breakfast from our sweet cows Annie and Maggie.  Sadie found it to be a bit chilly this morning, and she grabbed her wool hat made with these hands made from the wool from the backs of our sheep.  The coolness of mid august was welcome while picking this morning for this community we belong to. Our girls were so excited to show everyone that came yesterday the beauty and fullness of this scared place - explaining along the way why we raise that vegetable, why we raise sheep and chickens and cows , how all the animals and veggies and people need each other to grow. This is our office - this is what pays the bills.  Things are not all roses on small diversified family farm.  There is a lot of hard work, stress, dirt, and anxiety.  But this farm is what gets us out of bed every morning.  The joy that is in farming along with all the yuck - is a wonder.  Sometimes you have to take a step back and see the forest for the trees. 

 

Our girls will be themselves when they grow up - our hope is to help them build their toolbox of skills: mentally, physically and spiritually - to be who they are.  Their occupation will be to be good, passionate, caring citizens - knowing they are part of a bigger community.  Knowing where their food comes from and how important food, shelter and clothing are to everyone. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut.  I learned to work hard, being caring, brave, loving and passionate. And I know I am those things today and I express those things through my daily life- that’s what I hope defines me not necessarily my occupation.  I hope the same for my girls to be who they want to be and not have an occupation to define them. They will be independent.  They will know how to grow, harvest and prepare their own food.  They will be able to know how to read the weather, the land and drive a tractorJ Farming is more than a profession. Farming is a way of life, it is not 9 to 5, it is dynamic.  Being a farmer is who you are.

 

I saw the following article and it spoke to me and other mama farmers I know.  My girls know where their food comes from, they know the work that goes into farming and the flexibility of us going with dirty knees and all to a baseball game or dance practice.  Farming is a way of life that is hard but so rewarding. I have enclosed the article for you to read.  Be brave. Wear stripes and polka dots.  Be home before dark to put the baby chicks in. get dirtyJ

 

Have a great week.  

 

We look forward to farming with you this season.   

Peace, your farmers, Christine, Adam, Sadie and Delia, and Carly

 

Let Your Children Grow Up to Be Farmers

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jenna-woginrich/let-your-children-be-farmers_b_5674640.html

Posted: Updated:

""Don't Let Your Children Grow Up to Be Farmers." That was the title of an op-ed piece in the New York Times circling around my Facebook feed this week. You may have read it yourself, but if not here's the gist: There is no money in farming with integrity as a small business model. It's a nearly-impossible way to make a living. Those organic veggies at your local farmers' market, the CSA share you may or may not have invested in, the truck hauls to busy city centers to deliver box club splits... It's a dog-eat-dog shit show, a constant competition between "hobby" farms (some are recreation of the wealthy for land tax breaks in the same farmer's market as commercial growers) and nonprofit farms who have boards of directors to hand out new tractors instead of resorting to begging a bank for a loan. It was a good article and as a good point was made. Farming as your sole source of income is no way to get rich and getting harder all the time, even among this recent food movement. And that was why the title was what it was, to grab your attention and point out how hard the much-applauded small farm business is. "Don't let your children grow up to be farmers" was a warning and an earnest one.

The article ends with issues farmers need to fight for, like loan forgiveness for college grads (I personally would love this one) who pursue agriculture and better wages for every part of the food-growing system. Like I said, it was a powerful article and well written, and I agree with him on all points but one:

Let your children grow up to be farmers.

Let them know what it is like to be free from fluorescent lights and laser pointer meetings. Let them challenge themselves to be forever resourceful and endlessly clever. Let them whistle and sing loud as they like without getting called into an office for "disturbing the workforce." Let them commute down a winding path with birdsong instead of a freeway's constant growl. Let them be bold. Let them be romantic. Let them grow up not having to ask another adult for permission to go to the dentist at 2 p.m. on a Thursday. Let them get dirty. Let them kill animals. Let them cry at the beauty of fallow earth they just signed the deed for. Let them bring animals into this world, and realize they don't care about placenta on their shirt because they no longer care about shirts. Let them wake up during a snowstorm and fight drifts at the barn door instead of traffic. Let them learn what real work is. Let them find happiness in the understanding that success and wealth are not the same thing. Let them skip the fancy wedding. Let them forget four years of unused college. Let them go. Let them go home.

Farming never has been, and never will be, an easy life but for many it is an easy choice. For me it was the only choice. Perhaps that is what it takes? Being a farmer means wanting to do it more than anything else. It means giving up things other people take for granted as givens, like travel and the latest fashion, new cars and 401k plans. It means making choices your peers won't understand, your family will disapprove of, and other farmers will scoff at. It means making a decision and owning it, really owning it the way few people get to own anything in their lives anymore. Let your children grow up to know this responsibility. Let them literally put food on the table, lift up their bootstraps and learn how much effort a life worth living entails.

I have been living on this farm full-time for nearly two years, and it has never been without worry. But that heavy blanket of anxiety is full of many, tiny, holes that let in brilliant beams of light, as many as there are stars! And those pieces of light I have reached have changed me so much. They are mountaintop rides on a draft horse, meals I knew as chicks and seeds, and finding a spiritual home in the everyday work and rhythms of my life. The version of me who was too scared to farm would certainly be more solvent, but she wouldn't be happy. She wouldn't know how to hunt deer, ride a horse, plant a garden or butcher a chicken. It is only in the last few decades of abnormal history that these skills were considered recreational or outdated. And perhaps that New York Times writer will find himself in a much better place financially when local food goes from being a novelty of the so-inclined to the staples his community depends on when gas prices, natural disasters, political climates or any other disruption in the cattle cars of modern civilization start to hiccup.

And that may be the best reason to let you children grow up to become farmers: they can feed themselves. They can achieve the most basic of human needs in a society clueless about how to take care of themselves without a car and a supermarket. Becoming a farmer isn't in financial fashion right now; that is sadly true, but it will be again. As long as people need to eat there will be a business in doing so, and it's up to each farmer to find his or her niche, celebrate it, unapologetically accept good money for it, and keep doing it far past the point of reason. Any son or daughter of mine that dared to be so bold would not be discouraged from facing the world with such fierceness for simplicity. Antlers on fire can set a lot more holes in a dark blanket.

Let your children grow up to become farmers. There is a surplus of mediocrity in this nation and a deficit of bravery. Let your children grow up to be farmers. Let them be brave. " -Jenna Woginrich  at Cold Antler Farm.

 
 What’s in the share this week:

This  list is what is in a  full share this week.  Things may change between Monday and Thursday and Individual and Salad share will get differing amounts and may not get everything on the list. Onions, Lettuce, Herbs, Corn (fingers crossed), Green Beans, Cucumbers, cherry/full size heirloom tomatoes, hmmmm

 

Farm Fresh Raw milk for Sale

We are very lucky to have two milking cows - Annie and Maggie - both give us plenty of milk each and every day and we would like to share that with you and anyone else would like to have raw milk.  We sell it $5 a half gal.  We also can do a sliding scale if needed for the milk.  You can buy milk at CSA pickup or anytime out of our barn fridge next to our house at 34 quaker.

 
***FRESH CERTIFIED ORGANIC CHICKEN AVAILABLE at the FARM TODAY - $5.50 a lb***
 

Eggs for sale We have the pretty girls’ eggs for sale – these are free-range, certified organic chicken eggs that are brown eggs– with the brightest yellow/orange yolks you ever seen.  The eggs are $5.00 a dozen.  $3.00 half dozen

  

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Journal Post August 11,2014

Volume IX, JOURNAL 9
                                                                                                                          August 11, 2014
       Blue Heron Farm Journal
So what’s happening on the farm this week?

Week 9J  Busy picking on Monday - lots of labor intensive things like potatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers..that is why this journal is late and abbreviated.  The cherry tomatoes are really starting to come in now and the full size tomatoes are really thinking about turning for usJ  This was a first harvest of red potatoes - they are all red - they are called Mountain rose.  Delicious potatoes whether its boiled, fried, grilled or broiled.  For a couple of nights this week - I boiled these potatoes, drained them added salt, pepper, olive oil, the green tops of the onions and put in a pyrex pan and put cheddar cheese all over it and broiled it for 7 minutes - so.yummy.

 

We processed chickens and they are now available fresh on the farm or at the farmers market. They range from 3.0 to 4.75 lbs and they are $6 a pound.   

 

YOU and YOUR FRIENDS AND FARMILY ARE INVITED!

oods to children at risk of hunger in Grand Isle County- come enjoy a great meal, support local farms and food businesses, and help feed our community- all at once!

By donation. Suggested donation $17 per person, kids under 13 free.

RSVP encouraged, so that we can be sure to have plenty of food! Email harmonyvt@yahoo.com.

We are getting ready for the Savor the Islands Dinner happening on our farm this Sunday from 3 to 5pm.  It is a fundraiser for Food For Thought - Islands Summer Lunch program.  We will have wood fired flatbreads filled with toppings from our farm and other island farms, many yummy side dishes and farm fresh ricotta cheesecakes and other sweet treats for dessert.  There will be a self-guided tours and music.  We look forward to seeing you.  Hope you all can come. It is by donation with a suggested donation of $17 per adult and free for children under 13.  If the suggested donation is a stretch - just put in what you can and if you can put in more - go for it.  This should be a wonderful event! Last year we had almost 150 people here.

 

Have a great week.  

 

We look forward to farming with you this season.   

Peace, your farmers, Christine, Adam, Sadie and Delia, and Carly

 

 What’s in the share this week:

This  list is what is in a  full share this week.  Things may change between Monday and Thursday and Individual and Salad share will get differing amounts and may not get everything on the list. Zucchini, Summer Squash, Napa Cabbage, Onions, Lettuce, Red Potatoes, Cucumbers, cherry/full size heirloom tomatoes

 

Farm Fresh Raw milk for Sale

We are very lucky to have two milking cows - Annie and Maggie - both give us plenty of milk each and every day and we would like to share that with you and anyone else would like to have raw milk.  We sell it $5 a half gal.  We also can do a sliding scale if needed for the milk.  You can buy milk at CSA pickup or anytime out of our barn fridge next to our house at 34 quaker.

 

Eggs for sale We have the pretty girls’ eggs for sale – these are free-range, certified organic chicken eggs that are brown eggs– with the brightest yellow/orange yolks you ever seen.  The eggs are $5.00 a dozen.  $3.00 half dozen

 

oods to children at risk of hunger in Grand Isle County- come enjoy a great meal, support local farms and food businesses, and help feed our community- all at once!

By donation. Suggested donation $17 per person, kids under 13 free.

RSVP encouraged, so that we can be sure to have plenty of food! Email harmonyvt@yahoo.com. oods to children at risk of hunger in Grand Isle County- come enjoy a great meal, support local farms and food businesses, and help feed our community- all at once!

By donation. Suggested donation $17 per person, kids under 13 free.

RSVP encouraged, so that we can be sure to have plenty of food! Email harmonyvt@yahoo.com.
oods to children at risk of hunger in Grand Isle County- come enjoy a great meal, support local farms and food businesses, and help feed our community- all at once!

By donation. Suggested donation $17 per person, kids under 13 free.

RSVP encouraged, so that we can be sure to have plenty of food! Email harmonyvt@yahoo.com.

 

Recipes

Tzatziki Cucumbers from the Madison Area CSA Coalition

1 medium cucumber, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. lemon juice
8 oz. yogurt
1 Tbs. chopped fresh mint

Combine all ingredients, chill and serve. Makes 2-3 servings.

Cherry Tomato & Avocado Salad

1 basket cherry tomatoes, halved
2 Tablespoons chopped scallion or other mild onion
1 cup (approx.) chopped avocado
2 tablespoons chopped herb (such as parsley, cilantro, dill....)
optional vinaigrette to coat (whirl 2 T lemon juice or vinegar, 1 small clove garlic, 1 t mustard, pinch salt and pepper, with 1/2 cup olive oil in blender.) Gently mix all ingredients. Serve. (The avocado is optional but delicious)


Marinated Cherry Tomatoes 4 servings

2 baskets Cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup Finely chopped parsley
1 Tablespoon Finely chopped rosemary
3 Garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup Extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste


Mix tomatoes, onions, parsley, rosemary, garlic, olive oil and vinegar in a shallow bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the bowl and let tomatoes marinate at room temperature at least 1 hour, but preferably 3 to 4 hours or overnight. Stir occasionally. Enjoy with crostini or as a side dish.

 

 

Monday, August 4, 2014

Journal post for week of August 4


Volume IX, JOURNAL 8
                                                                                                                          August 4, 2014
       Blue Heron Farm Journal
So what’s happening on the farm this week?
Week 8: What crew we had this morning!!  Thanks to Carly, Todd, Sadie, Gail, Diantha, Gretchen, Patrick and Garren for harvesting out of our jungle of a farmJ It is thanks to them that all of these yummy veggies are for you todayJ Commitment is what I have to say when they picked all those cherry tomatoes out of the jungle of the hoophouse - I need to get in there with my clippers.  The carrots that the girls have been nibbling on are finally ready - hmmm weren't these supposed to be spring carrots? The fall carrots and beets are up and growing.  Everything is loving this rain we got last night - I think we received about 1/2 inch.  A couple of folks asked about potatoes - I think next week - we have a bunch growing.  That field was too wet to get into and its not good to play with clay soil when its wet ;) The first crop of corn is looking good.  We are just waiting for it to bulk up maybe next week maybe the week after.  The cucumbers are in full force finally.  The tomatoes are starting to ripen more with all the clipping and trimming we did in the middle house - you get the first of these todayJ The ground cherries might be ready next week but definitely the week after. Oh and the lettuce should be back next week - if we picked it today we would have had to pick so many baby heads that we would have wiped out supply .  So we are going to let them get a little bit bigger.  They love this weather. 
 
We had a wonderful Savor the Islands dinner at Snowfarm yesterday.  I was on topping duty for flatbreads.  It was great fun to make all these fun creative pizzas and have Matt cook them in the wood fired oven.  So tasty.  Such a great fundraiser for Food For Thought - Farmers slinging pizzas and desserts J So much fun! Our farm is the next one on August 17 from 3-5.  Hope many of you can come - it is by donation and all the food is local.  I think I might even make a few ricotta cheesecakes too;) We will be looking for volunteers who would like to help with our event - everything from cooking, cleaning, setting up, collecting tents and tables, oh the list goes on - if you are interested let us know.  We will feed you really well.  We had over 140 people last yearJ
 
Have a great week.  
 
We look forward to farming with you this season.   
Peace, your farmers, Christine, Adam, Sadie and Delia, Carly and Todd
 
 What’s in the share this week:
This  list is what is in a  full share this week.  Things may change between Monday and Thursday and Individual and Salad share will get differing amounts and may not get everything on the list. Zucchini, Summer Squash, Carrots, Basil, Cilantro, Onions, Squash blossoms, Cucumbers, Pickling cucumbers, Green Cabbage, cherry/full size heirloom tomatoes
 
Farm Fresh Raw milk for Sale
We are very lucky to have two milking cows - Annie and Maggie - both give us plenty of milk each and every day and we would like to share that with you and anyone else would like to have raw milk.  We sell it $5 a half gal.  We also can do a sliding scale if needed for the milk.  You can buy milk at CSA pickup or anytime out of our barn fridge next to our house at 34 quaker.
 
Eggs for sale We have the pretty girls’ eggs for sale – these are free-range, certified organic chicken eggs that are brown eggs– with the brightest yellow/orange yolks you ever seen.  The eggs are $5.00 a dozen.  $3.00 half dozen
 
 
Recipes
 
Christine's Squash Blossoms
The squash blossoms that are in your shares this week are the male blossoms from a summer squash or zucchini plant. You can eat the female ones, but we figure they are pretty busy making fruit and they kind of fall apart when you pull them off the fruit.  Some say pull them stamen out but I don't.  These plants create a plentiful amount of squash blossoms to make sure that the female blossoms are pollinated to make fruit.  We take the excess off and enjoy these only summer time treats.  We pick them all when they are wide open and they will gradually close on their own.  It is important to pick only wide open ones, so they open later for you.  Shake out any stray bugs, fill a ziploc bag with some soft cheese (chevre, ricotta, cream cheese, really any kind) cut a little hole in the corner and pipe the cheese into each blossom.  Dip in egg, then roll in flour or cornmeal or panko or regular bread crumbs or a combo of all the above - and in a hot skillet with oil (we have used canola, coconut or organic vegetable shortening) cook until one side is golden brown and then the other.  You can fry them without filling them but oh my - are they delicious filled! Sadie can sit and eat plates of them.  You can also eat squash blossoms just in salads or just the way they are.  Some CSA members are chopped them about put them into fritattas.  They are best used within the first few days of having them if you are going to stuff them.
 
Tzatziki Cucumbers from the Madison Area CSA Coalition
1 medium cucumber, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. lemon juice
8 oz. yogurt
1 Tbs. chopped fresh mint
Combine all ingredients, chill and serve. Makes 2-3 servings.
Baked Summer Squash with Pesto Crumbs
from More Recipes from a Kitchen Garden by Renee Shepherd
This can be served as a whole meal, over wild rice and garnished with toasted pecans.
3 lbs. Mixed summer squash
3 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. olive oil
1/4 cup half-and-half
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. mace
1 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
2 shallots, minced
4 scallions, finely chopped
½ cup Pesto Bread Crumbs Recipe(see below)
Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly oil a 2 ½ to 3 quart casserole dish with cover. Trim squash and cut into large chunks (about 1 ½ inches). Arrange squash pieces in casserole and set aside. Melt butter and olive oil together in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients, blending thoroughly. Pour sauce mixture over squash, tossing until squash is coated. Cover casserole and bake 40 minutes. Toss squash gently and spoon juices and seasonings from the bottom of dish over squash. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake uncovered for 10 minutes longer, until squashes are tender when pierced with a knife.
Pesto Bread Crumbs
1 cup dry bread crumbs
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese
3 Tbs. roasted pine nuts
1 ½ cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper
Combine all ingredients in a food processor until thoroughly blended. After using, refrigerate any leftovers. Makes 2 cups.
Squash Pancakes - marquita.com


2 eggs
1/2C milk
4 medium summer squashes, grated
1/2C bread crumbs
1/2C grated cheese
1/3C each chopped fresh parsley, basil and cilantro
2T minced shallot or green onion
4T butter
1/4C flour


Mix together eggs and milk. Add squash, herbs and shallots. Then mix in the cheese. Add slowly the bread crumbs and flour and mix well. In a large, heavy, non-stick skillet, melt 1T butter until it starts to brown. Spoon about 1/4C of mixture into the pan and flatten a bit with the spoon. You might be able to fit 2 pancakes into the same pan at once. When the edges show a little browning turn with a spatula. Cook the other side until it is also golden brown. Keep pancakes warm in the oven until they are all cooked.