June 17, 2008
Big Ag, Small Ag
This is taken from the December 2007 issue of Small Farm Canada; Editor Tom Henry identifies the differences between big farms and small farms. This is his list edited down to those relevant to market farmers.
Big Ag Small Farm
Barn is bigger than house house is bigger than barn
Marketing boards roadside stand
Battery cage free range
Big round bales small square bales
Bio-security suit boot scraper
Sprays weeds pulls weeds
Thinks in quarter sections thinks in acres
Commodity markets farmers markets
Plants GMOs drives old GMS
Dreams of subdividing nightmares of subdividing
Needs government subsidy needs off-farm income
Buys seeds saves seeds
Nutrient management plan manure pile
Thinks ethanol cuts firewood
Ulcers back pain
Lives in fear of banker lives next door to banker
Hello again. Hope you are all LOVING this weather as much as we are! What a relief.
The Harvest
½# baby spinach
¾# salad mix
Pak Choi
Herbs (dill, chives, mint, or tarragon)
2 oz Basil (not everyone will get this week)
1 bunch radish (if you didn’t get them last week, you’ll get them this week)
Pak Choi – Pac Choi, Pak Choi, Bai Tsai, and Bok Choy are names for basically the same vegetable. All these names came into being due to Pak Choi’s area of origin – Asia. Because Asia has so many different regional dialects with different spellings and pronunciations Pak Choi = Bai Tsai = Shanghai boc choy. The different names may correspond with slight variations to the leafy vegetable that have developed to fit into specific growing conditions of a region.
Bok Choy literally means white vegetable. It has been a dietary staple in Asia for 1500 years – mostly as a poor people’s food. Only recently has it become a trendy vegetable. Pak Choi came to America with the young Chinese male immigrants who came with hopes of getting rich during the gold rush. Bai Tsai is a good source of Calcium, fiber, vitamin A and C.
The News
Let’s see…..really glad it’s warming up. Should encourage the tomatoes to start coloring up, the beets, carrots and onions to resume growing, and the flowers to start growing! It feels like we are about 3 weeks behind last year out in the field, and about 3 weeks ahead of last year in the greenhouse.
We’ve got variegated cutworms in the greenhouse. Bad news…..they are eating the tomato plants, and the fruit – they are also doing some damage to the basil. We have been hard at it hand picking them off the plants (the ducks have been reaping the rewards of that). We are knocking their numbers back, and hopefully will soon have them eradicated. We are doing our best to protect the tomato harvest.
Baggies – feels like we go through a lot of plastic bags here. And we do, but right now it’s the best option. I would re-use baggies for your greens if I could – but I can’t. I hope you get a chance to re-use them at home before they get recycled. If you are splitting a share, and like to do the dividing here at the farm, it would be great if you could bring in used baggies from home to do your re-packaging. I have bags here if you need them…..but we should try to reduce where we can. Thanks.
There are still a few people out there who need to bring their forms back in….
The Recipe
This comes from Debbie Leung from 9th Heaven Farm in Olympia, WA. She specializes in Asian greens. Although this is now a dish fashionable in restaurants, it is a typical way to prepare pac choi in rural Asia.
Bok Choy with Ham and Ginger
1 large bok choy 1 tbsp thinly sliced 1” long slivers of ginger
1 or 2 slices of thinly-sliced ham Canola oil
1 tsp salt few drops toasted sesame oil
Cornstarch ¼-1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tsp soy, fish or oyster sauce pinch sugar
Chop bok choy diagonally into ¼ by ½ inch pieces. Cut leaves in half and then into ¼ inch ribbons.
Make thin, one inch long slivers of the ham.
Heat a wok or skillet and coat with canola oil. Sprinkle in a few drops of toasted sesame oil and the salt. Throw in the ginger, coat it with oil for a few seconds, then add the bok choy and toss. When the bok choy begins to wilt, throw in the ham. Toss quickly and when the ham is hot, put it all into a plate or bowl.
Dissolve cornstarch into cold water to make a thin paste. Put about ¼ to ½ cup of unsalted chicken broth into the unwashed wok. Season to taste with soy, fish or oyster sauce and a pinch of sugar. When the broth simmers, thicken it by slowly drizzling in the cornstarch liquid while stirring the broth until it reaches the desired consistency. Let it summer another minute. Throw the vegetables back in, toss, and season with white pepper to taste. Serve over hot rice.
That’s all for this week, hope you enjoy the food. I’m off to join the others, picking variegated cutworms off the tomatoes…..
Daisy
This is taken from the December 2007 issue of Small Farm Canada; Editor Tom Henry identifies the differences between big farms and small farms. This is his list edited down to those relevant to market farmers.
Big Ag Small Farm
Barn is bigger than house house is bigger than barn
Marketing boards roadside stand
Battery cage free range
Big round bales small square bales
Bio-security suit boot scraper
Sprays weeds pulls weeds
Thinks in quarter sections thinks in acres
Commodity markets farmers markets
Plants GMOs drives old GMS
Dreams of subdividing nightmares of subdividing
Needs government subsidy needs off-farm income
Buys seeds saves seeds
Nutrient management plan manure pile
Thinks ethanol cuts firewood
Ulcers back pain
Lives in fear of banker lives next door to banker
Hello again. Hope you are all LOVING this weather as much as we are! What a relief.
The Harvest
½# baby spinach
¾# salad mix
Pak Choi
Herbs (dill, chives, mint, or tarragon)
2 oz Basil (not everyone will get this week)
1 bunch radish (if you didn’t get them last week, you’ll get them this week)
Pak Choi – Pac Choi, Pak Choi, Bai Tsai, and Bok Choy are names for basically the same vegetable. All these names came into being due to Pak Choi’s area of origin – Asia. Because Asia has so many different regional dialects with different spellings and pronunciations Pak Choi = Bai Tsai = Shanghai boc choy. The different names may correspond with slight variations to the leafy vegetable that have developed to fit into specific growing conditions of a region.
Bok Choy literally means white vegetable. It has been a dietary staple in Asia for 1500 years – mostly as a poor people’s food. Only recently has it become a trendy vegetable. Pak Choi came to America with the young Chinese male immigrants who came with hopes of getting rich during the gold rush. Bai Tsai is a good source of Calcium, fiber, vitamin A and C.
The News
Let’s see…..really glad it’s warming up. Should encourage the tomatoes to start coloring up, the beets, carrots and onions to resume growing, and the flowers to start growing! It feels like we are about 3 weeks behind last year out in the field, and about 3 weeks ahead of last year in the greenhouse.
We’ve got variegated cutworms in the greenhouse. Bad news…..they are eating the tomato plants, and the fruit – they are also doing some damage to the basil. We have been hard at it hand picking them off the plants (the ducks have been reaping the rewards of that). We are knocking their numbers back, and hopefully will soon have them eradicated. We are doing our best to protect the tomato harvest.
Baggies – feels like we go through a lot of plastic bags here. And we do, but right now it’s the best option. I would re-use baggies for your greens if I could – but I can’t. I hope you get a chance to re-use them at home before they get recycled. If you are splitting a share, and like to do the dividing here at the farm, it would be great if you could bring in used baggies from home to do your re-packaging. I have bags here if you need them…..but we should try to reduce where we can. Thanks.
There are still a few people out there who need to bring their forms back in….
The Recipe
This comes from Debbie Leung from 9th Heaven Farm in Olympia, WA. She specializes in Asian greens. Although this is now a dish fashionable in restaurants, it is a typical way to prepare pac choi in rural Asia.
Bok Choy with Ham and Ginger
1 large bok choy 1 tbsp thinly sliced 1” long slivers of ginger
1 or 2 slices of thinly-sliced ham Canola oil
1 tsp salt few drops toasted sesame oil
Cornstarch ¼-1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tsp soy, fish or oyster sauce pinch sugar
Chop bok choy diagonally into ¼ by ½ inch pieces. Cut leaves in half and then into ¼ inch ribbons.
Make thin, one inch long slivers of the ham.
Heat a wok or skillet and coat with canola oil. Sprinkle in a few drops of toasted sesame oil and the salt. Throw in the ginger, coat it with oil for a few seconds, then add the bok choy and toss. When the bok choy begins to wilt, throw in the ham. Toss quickly and when the ham is hot, put it all into a plate or bowl.
Dissolve cornstarch into cold water to make a thin paste. Put about ¼ to ½ cup of unsalted chicken broth into the unwashed wok. Season to taste with soy, fish or oyster sauce and a pinch of sugar. When the broth simmers, thicken it by slowly drizzling in the cornstarch liquid while stirring the broth until it reaches the desired consistency. Let it summer another minute. Throw the vegetables back in, toss, and season with white pepper to taste. Serve over hot rice.
That’s all for this week, hope you enjoy the food. I’m off to join the others, picking variegated cutworms off the tomatoes…..
Daisy
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