Eight Mile Creek FarmWeek of September 8, 2019
Produce from the Farm This Week
Red Leaf Lettuce, Heirloom Tomatoes, Cherry Tomato Mix, Cabbage, Scarlet Kale, Parsley, Summer Squash, Pink Blush Onions, Zucchini
The Race
Not always the bucolic picture depicted in paintings, the farm is a needy, demanding, living force which will take as much from you as you can give. Though there are moments of tranquility, and beauty is ever present, the relaxing feel is tauntingly just out of reach most of the time. And there are thousands of lives depending on you, and you on them; from tiny green ones to great big one ton animals. It is a race. January begins the year like a good stretch to limber up: crop planning and strategizing. February begins the warm up as the greenhouse is beginning to fill. March begins the race: field prep, fencing, soil prep, planting. April more planting, more fencing. May begins the race against the weeds trying to smother the delicate vegetables, and getting the cold hardy veggies into the ground. June: everything in, haying begins. July: succession plantings, harvest before bolting, hay, hay, hay. August: racing against the pressure of giant weeds, taller than you heading into prickly pods sticking to you, the dogs and whomever else they touch. Last chance to get plantings in before shortening days limit growth. Hay, hay, hay. September: harvesting for storage before frost damage, finish the hay. October: put produce safely into storage. November: prep farm for winter before snowfall covers or limits access. December: exhale.
EMCF Cole Slaw
1 head green cabbage, chopped
Fresh parsley or cilantro to taste, minced
1 – 2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Dark green onion tops, chopped
A few slices of onion bulb, minced
Sea salt to taste
Combine all ingredients and stir well. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight to allow cabbage to soften and flavors to come out. Mix a few times. Stir before serving.
Kale Salad with Apples and Chedder
1 bunch kale, very finely chopped
2 Tbsp coarsely chopped, toasted almonds
1 apple, cored and cut into 1/4″ dice
1 oz sharp chedder cheese, diced
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Sea salt
1 clove garlic, minced
5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp Parmesan, grated
Combine kale, almonds, apple and chedder. Whisk together remaining ingredients minus the Parmesan. Add to the salad and toss well. Sprinkle with Parmesan.
Adapted from cooking.nytimes.com
Don and Roberta Steiner picking up their giant chard with their CSA share last week
Next week…..Roma Tomatoes, Dill
The Race. That says it all! There is a single path from your house to the barn at the end- A Very Long Path -but one can barely imagine the bajillions of urgencies which call for your attention and your utmost personal power-every day, and every step of the way from the inside of your house to the inside of that barn. You once said you “have thousands of babies”— Truer words were never spoken, as they all cry to you about their seasonal needs along that path.(Yes! from the scrawny seedling to the two ton critter)
I don’t know how you do it, but my prayers are with you all of the time, to keep you well and strong and safe during your days which hopefully are incredibly fulfilling (at least most of the time) despite the exhaustive efforts you make from the crack of dawn until you turn out the lights in the chicken coops late at night when work is done.
As your dad said “You do the work of three men”. And it’s all for the good, Pam…the good of the soil, the animals, the vegetables and all of us who are the beneficiaries of your hard work.
How can we thank you enough?
I really don’t think that most people realize how much work goes into your farm. I’m amazed by how much you do.
And it all would be for naught without those of you who support our efforts!