8-5-2008
CSA Newsletter
July 29, 2008
Government involvement in agriculture should be limited to upholding human rights and protecting the environment and should not include regulating production methods or providing subsidies.
Kimberton Hills Biodynamic Agricultural Planting Guide and Calendar
There is a lot of really interesting and potentially scary things going on with government regulation of food and food production right now. Raw milk is a big one, the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and greens production are others. I’m guessing that many people have been made wary by all the outbreaks in the last few years – which people should be. The “solutions” being put forth create huge problems of their own, and do not address the root causes of these outbreaks. Greens growers in California and other States have been asked to cut down their hedgerows to eliminate wildlife and insects near their production fields. Hedgerows have been used for years by ecologically minded farmers, they encourage a healthy diversity. (Boy, in the “old days” that would have been considered a redundancy – ecologically minded farmers. Being a farmer meant you were a steward of the land. How the tables have turned.). Getting rid of good ecological practices is not going to do anyone any good.
Raw Milk – I question why the government is regulating raw milk as if it were a dangerous substance. I can walk into Wal-Mart or Home Depot, or my neighborhood grocery store and buy a very dangerous pesticide with proven carcinogens in the ingredient list, but I can’t go into my neighborhood grocery store and buy a gallon of raw milk. People get very passionate when it comes to the debate of raw milk, so I guess I’m going to skirt it a little. The thing I won’t shy away from saying is that I strongly believe that I should have the CHOICE to buy raw milk, from whomever I decide. The government currently does not give me or you that choice. There are very few dairies that you can buy raw milk from in Utah, and Legislation has made that so. More and more small dairy farmers go out of business every year because of un-necessary regulations and destructive legislation.
There is a wonderful organization out there called The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund. I strongly encourage you all to check out their website and become educated on many of these issues – they do or will affect you (www.ftcldf.org). You can also help support their cause on their website. They are doing very important work defending small farms and farmers whom the government has come down on, often illegally, and tried to shut down. They are working to protect all of our freedom of choice as consumers and lovers of food. I read an interview with one of their lawyers and thought I would pass along some snippets.
Gary Cox: “The way I’m looking at it, it really comes down to private activity versus public activity. At what point does the jurisdiction and the authority of the government stop? As a former public servant who represented the State of Ohio in environmental cases, I can certainly understand where there is a need for state government and state agencies to regulate and protect the public. But if a group of private citizens wants to regulate themselves or subject themselves to their own standards of conduct, then I don’t think the government has a place in that area. Whether it is livestock processing or whether it is growing and producing vegetables or whether it is pet food products or it’s grain – if there is a group of people that want to hire somebody to perform a service for that group, then that type of conduct should not be regulated, especially when it comes to food. If I want to choose what type of food I want to put into my body, I should have that choice, and the government shouldn’t mandate what I eat, whether or not it is healthy or unhealthy or dangerous or whatnot. The government eventually has to realize they can’t regulate all areas of a private person’s life. People have a fundamental, indeed a God-given right to produce and consume the food of their choice. I really see a need for the Fund to represent farmers in all facets of farming. What we choose to eat is such a uniquely private decision for each individual that I think we’re really going to have to keep the government out of it.”
The Harvest
1# Salad mix
½# Stir Fry mix
¼# arugula
2 oz basil (lettuce leaf, Red Rubin, Lemon)
1 bunch carrots (mostly Napoli, but some Yellowstone also)
1 bunch beets (a mix of Chioggia, Detroit Dark Red, and Golden Detroit)
1 bunch onions (Mini Red Purplette)
Sweet pepper (Purple Beauty or Sweet Cal Wonder Bell)
1 bunch herbs (cilantro, dill, tarragon, sage, or mint)
Not everyone will get the following:
1.5# heirloom tomatoes
Hot Peppers (Fish – red ones, or Jalapeno – green ones)
Broccoli
Eggplant (either Snowy or Galine)
Cucumber
1 oz Edible Flowers
U-Pick – Oregon Sugar Pod Peas (ask us where they are)
U-PICK – we are getting into U-Pick season, yeah! What is u-pick? U-pick is certain crops we are growing for you all to harvest. Right now all we have is peas, but soon we will have cherry tomatoes and beans also.
Here is how it will work – there will be small plastic baggies on the outside table, you grab one, and head out to harvest whatever the U-pick item of the day is. If you get there and there are no peas (or beans or tomatoes) of the right size to harvest, then please DO NOT HARVEST THEM. Leave them for next week when they will be ready.
Not everyone is going to be able to U-Pick each week – there just won’t be enough. I feel like I have enough lists going, and do enough regulating around here – so it’s up to you guys to share the harvest with your fellow CSA members. I think that if you harvest U-Pick items every other week or so, that will leave enough for everyone. I will let you guys know if you are not keeping up with the U-Pick and need to ramp it up.
I hope you enjoy U-Pick!
Basil – if you are having trouble keeping your basil, try leaving it on the counter – not in the fridge. Again, leave the bag open, and make sure nothing is smashing it.
The News
Just want to remind you all that next Wednesday (August 6th) is going to be the Tomato Tasting here at the farm, 5:30- 6:30. Come enjoy some tastings of all the tomato varieties, rate the tomatoes, get to know your fellow CSA members… etc. BYOB and anything else you might want. Look forward to seeing you then!
How do you all like the salad mix? There are a couple spicy greens in there, and I’m just wondering how you all feel about that? It’s nothing new, it’s the same mix we had last year, just thought I’d check in to see how you all like it. Let me know tomorrow, or shoot me an email. Thanks.
The Recipe
Here is another from our new favorite cookbook – yup you got it “Quail Hill Farm Cookbook”.
Mixed Greens with Salad and Fresh Goat Cheese
Rinse and dry about 1# of assorted bitter greens (that would be our stir fry mix). In a large bowl, layer greens alternately with ¼# fresh goat cheese cut into ½” cubes. Sprinkle to taste with ½ to 1/3 cup diced red onions (that could be the mini-red-Purplette onion). In a small, non-reactive saucepan, heat 2 tbsp walnut oil and add 3-4 tbsp coarsely chopped walnuts, toasting them lightly. Add 2 tbsp sherry or red wine vinegar and 1 tsp maple syrup. Bring to a boil and pour, stirring over salad. Toss lightly and serve immediately with a good crusty bread.
Beet Greens with Pine Nuts and Currants
Put on a very big pot of water to boil. Add more water than you think you should and then throw in about 2 tbsp kosher salt. Stem and roughly chop about 1# beet greens. When the water is at a rolling boil, throw in the beet greens and cook well. Put about 2 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan and chop up 2-3 shallots (or the mini-red- Purplette onions) or 1 medium onion. Cook until soft. Drain off the water and put the greens in a salad spinner. Spin a few times and then take out the blob of greens and wring them out. Chop them again. Add the shallots and onions along with a handful or two of tasted pine nits and currants.
Curried Carrot Soup
In a pan, cover with water 8 carrots peeled and cut into chunks, 1 onion cut into chunks and 1 clove garlic, minced. Cook until tender, about 30 minutes. Puree in a blender and then return to pot. Add 1 tbsp of curry powder, salt and then stir in chopped cilantro.
The last week of July…..wow. Hope you are having a great one.
Daisy
July 29, 2008
Government involvement in agriculture should be limited to upholding human rights and protecting the environment and should not include regulating production methods or providing subsidies.
Kimberton Hills Biodynamic Agricultural Planting Guide and Calendar
There is a lot of really interesting and potentially scary things going on with government regulation of food and food production right now. Raw milk is a big one, the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and greens production are others. I’m guessing that many people have been made wary by all the outbreaks in the last few years – which people should be. The “solutions” being put forth create huge problems of their own, and do not address the root causes of these outbreaks. Greens growers in California and other States have been asked to cut down their hedgerows to eliminate wildlife and insects near their production fields. Hedgerows have been used for years by ecologically minded farmers, they encourage a healthy diversity. (Boy, in the “old days” that would have been considered a redundancy – ecologically minded farmers. Being a farmer meant you were a steward of the land. How the tables have turned.). Getting rid of good ecological practices is not going to do anyone any good.
Raw Milk – I question why the government is regulating raw milk as if it were a dangerous substance. I can walk into Wal-Mart or Home Depot, or my neighborhood grocery store and buy a very dangerous pesticide with proven carcinogens in the ingredient list, but I can’t go into my neighborhood grocery store and buy a gallon of raw milk. People get very passionate when it comes to the debate of raw milk, so I guess I’m going to skirt it a little. The thing I won’t shy away from saying is that I strongly believe that I should have the CHOICE to buy raw milk, from whomever I decide. The government currently does not give me or you that choice. There are very few dairies that you can buy raw milk from in Utah, and Legislation has made that so. More and more small dairy farmers go out of business every year because of un-necessary regulations and destructive legislation.
There is a wonderful organization out there called The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund. I strongly encourage you all to check out their website and become educated on many of these issues – they do or will affect you (www.ftcldf.org). You can also help support their cause on their website. They are doing very important work defending small farms and farmers whom the government has come down on, often illegally, and tried to shut down. They are working to protect all of our freedom of choice as consumers and lovers of food. I read an interview with one of their lawyers and thought I would pass along some snippets.
Gary Cox: “The way I’m looking at it, it really comes down to private activity versus public activity. At what point does the jurisdiction and the authority of the government stop? As a former public servant who represented the State of Ohio in environmental cases, I can certainly understand where there is a need for state government and state agencies to regulate and protect the public. But if a group of private citizens wants to regulate themselves or subject themselves to their own standards of conduct, then I don’t think the government has a place in that area. Whether it is livestock processing or whether it is growing and producing vegetables or whether it is pet food products or it’s grain – if there is a group of people that want to hire somebody to perform a service for that group, then that type of conduct should not be regulated, especially when it comes to food. If I want to choose what type of food I want to put into my body, I should have that choice, and the government shouldn’t mandate what I eat, whether or not it is healthy or unhealthy or dangerous or whatnot. The government eventually has to realize they can’t regulate all areas of a private person’s life. People have a fundamental, indeed a God-given right to produce and consume the food of their choice. I really see a need for the Fund to represent farmers in all facets of farming. What we choose to eat is such a uniquely private decision for each individual that I think we’re really going to have to keep the government out of it.”
The Harvest
1# Salad mix
½# Stir Fry mix
¼# arugula
2 oz basil (lettuce leaf, Red Rubin, Lemon)
1 bunch carrots (mostly Napoli, but some Yellowstone also)
1 bunch beets (a mix of Chioggia, Detroit Dark Red, and Golden Detroit)
1 bunch onions (Mini Red Purplette)
Sweet pepper (Purple Beauty or Sweet Cal Wonder Bell)
1 bunch herbs (cilantro, dill, tarragon, sage, or mint)
Not everyone will get the following:
1.5# heirloom tomatoes
Hot Peppers (Fish – red ones, or Jalapeno – green ones)
Broccoli
Eggplant (either Snowy or Galine)
Cucumber
1 oz Edible Flowers
U-Pick – Oregon Sugar Pod Peas (ask us where they are)
U-PICK – we are getting into U-Pick season, yeah! What is u-pick? U-pick is certain crops we are growing for you all to harvest. Right now all we have is peas, but soon we will have cherry tomatoes and beans also.
Here is how it will work – there will be small plastic baggies on the outside table, you grab one, and head out to harvest whatever the U-pick item of the day is. If you get there and there are no peas (or beans or tomatoes) of the right size to harvest, then please DO NOT HARVEST THEM. Leave them for next week when they will be ready.
Not everyone is going to be able to U-Pick each week – there just won’t be enough. I feel like I have enough lists going, and do enough regulating around here – so it’s up to you guys to share the harvest with your fellow CSA members. I think that if you harvest U-Pick items every other week or so, that will leave enough for everyone. I will let you guys know if you are not keeping up with the U-Pick and need to ramp it up.
I hope you enjoy U-Pick!
Basil – if you are having trouble keeping your basil, try leaving it on the counter – not in the fridge. Again, leave the bag open, and make sure nothing is smashing it.
The News
Just want to remind you all that next Wednesday (August 6th) is going to be the Tomato Tasting here at the farm, 5:30- 6:30. Come enjoy some tastings of all the tomato varieties, rate the tomatoes, get to know your fellow CSA members… etc. BYOB and anything else you might want. Look forward to seeing you then!
How do you all like the salad mix? There are a couple spicy greens in there, and I’m just wondering how you all feel about that? It’s nothing new, it’s the same mix we had last year, just thought I’d check in to see how you all like it. Let me know tomorrow, or shoot me an email. Thanks.
The Recipe
Here is another from our new favorite cookbook – yup you got it “Quail Hill Farm Cookbook”.
Mixed Greens with Salad and Fresh Goat Cheese
Rinse and dry about 1# of assorted bitter greens (that would be our stir fry mix). In a large bowl, layer greens alternately with ¼# fresh goat cheese cut into ½” cubes. Sprinkle to taste with ½ to 1/3 cup diced red onions (that could be the mini-red-Purplette onion). In a small, non-reactive saucepan, heat 2 tbsp walnut oil and add 3-4 tbsp coarsely chopped walnuts, toasting them lightly. Add 2 tbsp sherry or red wine vinegar and 1 tsp maple syrup. Bring to a boil and pour, stirring over salad. Toss lightly and serve immediately with a good crusty bread.
Beet Greens with Pine Nuts and Currants
Put on a very big pot of water to boil. Add more water than you think you should and then throw in about 2 tbsp kosher salt. Stem and roughly chop about 1# beet greens. When the water is at a rolling boil, throw in the beet greens and cook well. Put about 2 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan and chop up 2-3 shallots (or the mini-red- Purplette onions) or 1 medium onion. Cook until soft. Drain off the water and put the greens in a salad spinner. Spin a few times and then take out the blob of greens and wring them out. Chop them again. Add the shallots and onions along with a handful or two of tasted pine nits and currants.
Curried Carrot Soup
In a pan, cover with water 8 carrots peeled and cut into chunks, 1 onion cut into chunks and 1 clove garlic, minced. Cook until tender, about 30 minutes. Puree in a blender and then return to pot. Add 1 tbsp of curry powder, salt and then stir in chopped cilantro.
The last week of July…..wow. Hope you are having a great one.
Daisy
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