Brooklyn Recap

Now that the dust has settled from our marathon Brooklyn or Bust trip yesterday, I wanted to give you a recap of the amazing amount of support we received from the One Acre Farm Community. Keep in mind this all started only Tuesday afternoon while I was watching Seinfeld and Amelia was sleeping. Reading a post of an old friend on Facebook re-posting a request for vegetables from a group called Occupy Sandy, based in Sunset Park Brooklyn. I called him to find out more info. After a few feeler calls to farms in the area, I quickly realized there was plenty of food to donate and the plan was in place.

Robert Lewis from Lewis Orchards donated 30 boxes of apples;

Sharon from East Rivendell Farm donated 40 dozen fresh eggs;

Cava Mezze Foods donated 4 cases of dips;

Mayorga Coffee donated 40 bags of freshly roasted/ground coffee;

Larry's Cookies (when I was picking up the dip from Cava I noticed a cookie shop next door and just went up and asked them) donated 5 trays of bars and cookies, I guess I look trustworthy!!!

Joan Norman from One Straw Farm, the farm I apprenticed on outside Baltimore, gave 15 cases of an assortment of vegetables: cabbages, collards, kale, spinach and more;

We, One Acre Farm, donated 2 boxes of red cabbage;

Kervitsky Family Apiaries donated 3 lbs of Honey;

Butlers Orchard donated one box of apples; and

Red Wiggler Farm donated 370 pounds of sweet potatoes and 30 pounds of Winter Squash.

To give you an idea about the kitchen where we brought the food, it was the basement of a church with tables and tables of people prepping vegetables, peeling potatoes, chopping carrots, then in the actual kitchen where I did not venture into was a dozen or 2 cooks cooking tons of food. Then was the packaging area when it got wrapped up, labeled with location and sent on its way by a driver. The best way to describe it is organized chaos. Not to mention they had received a shipment from The Daily Show of 11000 apple pies. I still am not sure if they meant 11000 pies or 11000 pieces of pie since each slice was individually wrapped.

That was the food portion of our donation.

We also received monetary donationsy, which at the moment is up to over $1,500!!! Not bad considering we mobilized efforts in a two day period!

When I noticed that we were raising more then we needed, I asked a few of you if I could spend your money buying items that were needed, with that money we bought a great supply of wool socks (54 pairs of socks), thermal underwear (22 sets), diapers and 80 flashlights. My original plan was to take the extra monetary donations and send it to the Red Cross. After going to Brooklyn and seeing that there are areas that need help but are not getting a lot of attention and support from Red Cross and FEMA because they are not considered the hardest hit (but trust me, they are still devastated), I decided that I would get in touch with a few of the organizations up there that are in need and get a list of items and directly ship those items to them.

Then came clothes, bags and bags of winter clothes (about 20 bags and 6 boxes of warm winter clothes). Unfortunately when we got to the drop off in Brooklyn, they were inundated with clothes and suggested we take them elsewhere, which we did. The Salvation Army was down the street taking clothes donations and so we dropped half the clothes there.

We then brainstormed for the final location to drop off the thermal underwear, flashlights, socks, and diapers. Red Hook, a community on the water that still doesn't have power (not to mention it holds a special place in my heart since my sister lived there, I used to hang out by the water when we were living there...) Driving around we found a public library who, unlike the Occupy Sandy location that was full to the ceiling with clothes, had basically nothing. They were grateful and took everything we had left. As soon as we started unloading, people were lining up to get these items!

With that, we were done. Up at 4, loaded by 7, on the highway by 8 (a little snafu with the generator which wouldn't start delayed us until the auto parts store opened, a minor detail) Brooklyn by 12:45 unloaded and gone by 2, home by 7:30.

A major thank you to all who donated time, money or food! It is amazing how a small community can pull so many resources together so quickly and still be home for dinner!!!

A great way to end the season here on the farm.

With Much Love and Gratitude,

Michael and Kristin

Lots to Be Thankful For!

I know, I know. It is only October. Halloween hasn't even come and gone! Our holiday cards arrived in the mail today (the only reason why I am super early this year is because of Groupon. Seriously, last year, I think our cards went out after Christmas!) and I have the urge to get our Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving (ed. note, we have never ever in all of our years living together had a Christmas tree!). So, what gives?

I don't know. Maybe it is because we have our first real house and we can decorate and entertain. Maybe it is because we know have a little person that solidifies our family unit. Maybe it is because after a long year of treatments for my dad, things are starting to look up! Maybe it is because Michael and I are heading (at the end of the season, thank you very much!) to our first real vacation in several years!! Do you really need a reason? Sometimes you do...

Or, maybe, just maybe, it has something to do with the delicious fall vegetables that have been miraculously appearing in my fridge! How can you not get excited for the holidays when you have something like this to make for dinner:

Buttercup squash, red-flesh potatoes, yukon potatoes, sweet potatoes and turnips! One measly clove of garlic (someone, who shall not be named raided our house of garlic unbeknownst to me) made it into the concoction, but I am thinking that the natural, fresh flavors of these root vegetables will eliminate the need for more (any??) garlic!

As the season winds down (just a few more weeks left...and then we have a vacation...did I mention that? Oh, yes, I am sorry; I did just mention that!), I think back to all that I have eaten from the farm this year. As we like to say in our family, it was gooooood eatins!  I am thankful for all of Michael's hard work and dedication to this humble endeavor and hope that you all enjoying eating the fruits of his labor as much as I do!

This week's share: arugula, escarole, rutabagas, winter squash, brussels sprouts/broccoli/cabbage (your choice!), and greens.

Insert Clever Title Here

Based on the title alone, you should have guessed that I decided to give Kristin the night off and write the post myself. For those of you who don't know Kristin and I personally, you might not know how incredibly supportive she has been about the farm since its inception as One Acre Farm, but it goes further back then that.

It is coming up on our 6th wedding anniversary and I thought that this was a perfect time to go to the highest mountain top, or in this case, the oneacrefarmgirl blog, and express my deepest love and appreciation for the truly great farmer of the family. "Farmer" you say? Let me explain: My definition of a farmer is someone who takes care of his/her herd. In her case the herd is her family; in my case it is the crops I sow. Although I am getting better at farming all the time, she seems to just have the je no sais quoi for it. There is no way the farm would exist without her, but that dwarfs the fact that there is no way I would be me without her.

To understand that point, lets go back to the beginning of our relationship, or on second thought, lets skip that and just give you some facts.

-We met as infants at pool parties only to learn years later, and at least months into our dating in high school, that we met as infants at pool parties. (her parents and my parents have mutual friends with, you guessed it, a pool!)

-We went to different colleges and after our four years moved in together in Brooklyn; she for law school, me for film.

-After two years I said, "enough!" and moved from my urban chic Brooklyn apartment to a cinder block migrant work house on a farm way outside Baltimore as the only English-speaking person to work manual farm labor. If anybody wants to option that story for a movie or book, make me an offer!

As a side note, most reasonable women in her shoes probably would have told me to get lost, but she saw the passion in my heart for farming (I had worked on a farm in PA during and after college that I didn't mention earlier in the section but I digress).

-After she moved home to Maryland, we were married...had a beautiful baby...and I still have the farm. (the details are important, but seriously, how much of this do you really want to read?)

Where was I? Basically the point is she has been standing beside me encouraging me the whole time for truly selfless reasons. I am sure she would be happier having me be home on weekends, (I am not sure why, I am not that pleasant of a person to be around) and take a week off in the summer to go to the beach as opposed to the one nighters that I barely allow myself to go on now...("I wonder how the tomatoes are doing?" I ask aloud when we finally start relaxing near the water under a shady umbrella. Like I said, I am kind of a pain in the ass.)

The farm would truly not exist on any level if it wasn't for the incredible devotion she has given me at every step of the way. If I were to have gone it alone, I know I wouldn't have passed step one, much less made the march I have to get where I am today. "Who knew Farmer Mike had to march to get here?" Her selfless encouragement and patience has made One Acre Farm possible, and in turn, hopefully created a few loyal followers who can see the sacrifices she has made to make my dream a reality. To be clear, I am not trying to compare her to Ghandi, I mean she is completely incapable of tightening a lid on any jar, so if you go to shake salad dressing and haven't confirmed for yourself the tightness of the lid, forget about the mess you will have on your hands!

In short, when you see the t-shirt that says, "Have you hugged your farmer today?" Perhaps it should say, "Have you hugged the truly excellent farmer that makes the decent farmer that grows your food today?" But I guess that doesn't have the same ring. And if you needed any more convincing about just how great she is, she will have edited this before I send it to you. Just so you know, that should be the most important point to you dear reader. If you had any idea how much I lack in basic grammar skills, punctuation, spelling, basically anything relating to written communication, you would wonder how the hell I went to an accredited four year institution of higher learning. We only hope that our daughter has her mother's terrific writing skills or god help her.

This weeks share has Potatoes, Beets, Radishes, Turnips, Winter Squash, Greens, Garlic and Broccoli.

Ed. note: I only moderately edited this blog. Any grammatical, punctuation and spelling errors were intentionally left in so that you could hear Michael "speaking." Well, that and I  have a contract to review tonight :)  

The Eggsperiment

People are getting ready to watch the first presidential debate tonight (not exactly sure what that entails, but I have seen multiple references online to various debate-related drinking games; I digress).  While the candidates espouse their proposals to make our country better (reduce taxes! balance the budget! end the war! etc.), I have my own "proposal" for you to consider. I know, sorry, so much to think about and on a Wednesday, no less.

I am trying to figure out how to offer more than just vegetables to my members. I've tried this in the past -- trying to create partnerships with other farmers or vendors and while the interest is there in the beginning, when push comes to shove, the interest wanes and I'm left with no choice but to stop offering different types of products.  In the past, I've offered (for separate purchase), eggs, peaches, sweet corn, and coffee.  I've asked whether any one would be interested in purchasing locally caught (although frozen) fish. I've had someone inquire as to whether I'd be interested in selling their granola to my members. You get the idea.

Ideally, what I'd like to be able to figure out is a way to offer these items for purchase online -- where you could simply pre-order (with enough time for me to pick-up the offered items you've selected) what you want for that week (imagine, you could even set up a recurring order!) and either pay online or pay when you pick up your goodies.

There are a lot of logistics to work out, the first being are you even interested?  If you are, then the next step is figuring out...what is the best way to go about this?  Offer a significantly more sophisticated website which would track online orders and convey the information to me (calling all web designers who'd help for a pittance...or a barter!).  Or, would you prefer an option to add a fruit share, a meat share, and/or a misc. items share (e.g., coffee, granola, breads, flowers, etc.) for an additional upfront cost. 

Obviously, I haven't figured out the details yet...I'd also have to establish relationships with vendors that would be of interest to my members and be able to get you the best deals possible while still figuring out a way to cover my additional expenses and make a small profit (again, I emphasize the word "pittance").  Did I mention that I'd have to have enough interest??

So, before I embark upon this journey of figuring out how to bring specialty items to my members, I need to hear from you, The People.  What would you be interested in purchasing if I could get it? How much would you be willing to pay for the particular items that you'd like (a range would be good, i.e., I'd pay 4-5 dollars for a dozen eggs or, there is no way I'd pay more than 10 bucks for a pound of coffee).  You get the gist.  The more specific you are, the better.

If you are interested in seeing something like this, please let me know.  Hopefully you won't mind participating in a few additional conversations/Q&A periods so that we can figure out (a) whether this is even worth everyone's time and (b), if it is, how is best to go about it.

We Want (to hear from) You! [insert copyright image of Uncle Sam here]

This week's share includes: broccoli, sweet potatoes, greens mix, amazing turnips, winter squash, & tat soi.

One Po-tay-toh, Two Po-tay-toh, Three Po-tay-toh, Four!

Tonight, I was making dinner (baked pork chops, sauteed Asian Greens with leeks and sweet potato circles) and noticed as I was cutting the sweet potatoes that some white dots appeared on the newly sliced potatoes. At first, I was wondering...did I forget to wipe the knife off before I used it?!? But, wait, I didn't cut anything that had a milky white texture. This was so weird.

I posed a question to the resident farmer. He looked at the potato. Hmmm, he remembered looking into this last year, but couldn't exactly recall why it was there. So, he sniffed it. Rubbed it. Turns out I even perplexed the farmer. What do we do when we are stumped? We google it of course! Google says that sweet potatoes that dribble a milky white substance when cut means that they are sweet and fresh. Score! Of course, I already knew that...they were harvested Monday! Also, of course, we spot checked a few more websites to make sure that what we found was correct, so that my post this evening would be accurate. Phew!

The sweet potatoes that we had night were delicious! Perfectly sweet with a great, smooth texture. I preheated the oven to 400 degrees. I scrubbed the skins clean (but left them on) and sliced the potatoes in thin circles (as thin as possible given how big these taters are!). I threw them in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper. In the past, I have also sprinkled them with some cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes (sounds weird but the spiciness is a nice contrast to the sweetness of the potato). I cooked them for about 30 minutes (turning half way through) until they were nice and crispy. (Note, the thicker your slices, the longer you need to cook them to get them crispy).  A nice, easy way to make baked sweet potato "fries". 

This week's share includes: Tat Soi (it looks AMAZING and tastes great, too!), greens mix, radishes (mind you, these are the best looking radishes I've ever seen...I swear!), winter squash, sweet potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and hot peppers...

Tell us what you are making with your share this week!!

The NFC East Showdown...

Nope, it is not what you think. Not even close. Most males in the 18-35 demographic (to our dear friend Jill -- who works at Nielsen -- please do not be offended if I have misrepresented the demographic range) are gearing up tonight for the start of the NFL season. Most males in the 18-35 demographic in the D.C. area are getting ready for tonight's NFC East showdown...the Cowboys and Giants.  Prior to this week, too, most males in said demographic have also been calculating, researching, strategizing their draft picks for their fantasy football teams  (I, myself, am in two leagues this year and completely forgot that tonight was a draft...we'll see how that turns out for me this year).

Not Michael. Nope. Instead of compiling football stats, over the course of the last week and a half or so,  Michael has been strategizing, researching and calculating all sorts of different formulas for fertilizer for the farm.  Here's the long and short of the situation:

Before our plants go in the ground, Michael spreads aged compost and then spreads fertilizer (from the country's oldest organic fertilizer company, thank you very much) on top.  Michael selects the appropriate fertilizer based on the results of his soil tests; for instance, if the soil is lacking in nitrogen but is high in potassium, then he will select a fertilizer (that is, organic fertilizer...I swear they need to come up with a different name than fertilizer especially since it is organic...the word fertilizer has such a bad connotation) that is high in nitrogen and low in potassium. Simple enough, right?  For a lot of crops, this methodology seems to work. As a matter of fact, all of this season's bounty has taken root because of this combo.

After visiting another farm, Michael realized how underfed certain of our crops were (such as peppers and eggplants, which is why these crops were not as bountiful (and thus, not as successful) as other crops we've had this year). Cut to this past weekend, Michael's "vacation" from the farm and he is nose-deep in some farm book, calculator in hand, scratching his head and talking through his formulas.  In this house, the NFC East showdown we've been preparing this week has nothing to do with football...the D.C.-area team, Michael has a fierce competitor in the nationally-recognized (well, at least amongst 7th grade math students) villian...Alegbra! I cannot tell you how many times we had to turn percentages into fractions and cross-multiply. 

Spoiler alert...Michael (with plays being called from the offensive coordinator, i.e., me (!), Michael narrowly defeats Algebra!!!  Okay, so maybe the football analogy isn't working here, but you've gotta give a girl a point (two point conversion?!?!) for trying!!

After we mastered the formula, we were able to identify the proper levels of different nutrients that we can funnel to the plants through our irrigation system. Michael just described as the difference between an all-you-can-eat buffet (current system) and a hot dog eating contest...with the buffet on the side.  The current fertilizing system provides a stable, consistent amount of "food" to the plants from the second they hit the ground until they are ready to be harvested.  The "new" system (the benefits of which we probably won't see until next year) maintains that same consistent food source and adds the volume of a hot dog eating contest (a targeted amount of fertilizer being fed through the drip tape irrigation system). I am getting queasy thinking about it! Hopefully our plants don't feel the same way!

This week's share you can expect: sweet potatoes (or regular potatoes), carrots, tomatoes, paste tomatoes, leeks, garlic and peppers.

Woah Oh We're Halfway There!

Tomorrow's distribution marks the halfway point of the season (24 week season with 2 one-week breaks). It is our 12th week, although we have already taken one of our week breaks. We expect that the next week break will be at some point when the summer vegetables begin to taper off and the fall vegetables come in. We will keep you posted when we expect that break to be.

How have you thought the season has gone thus far? For me, now that we are back to our own home and kitchen (you may remember that we were shacking up with my parents last summer, awaiting Amelia's arrival and didn't have an easy time using all of our veggies), we are savoring the fruits of Michael's labor. The other night we grilled a variety of our vegetables (leeks, eggplant, tomatoes and peppers) coated with olive oil, salt and pepper in a grill basket over charcoal. It made a simple, and delicious, side dish.

I am looking forward to see what next week's harvest includes (hopefully lots of tomatoes) so we can highlight Michael's delicious work at Amelia's first birthday party! I know that we will have plenty of melons to offer our guests for a refreshing dessert (don't worry, there will be cake, too!).

Speaking of melons, Michael tried to explain to me some complicated something-or-other about the storage of the melons harvested on Monday. In essence (I am going to give you the Cliff's Notes version because it's been one heckuva week (although it is only Wednesday) and I am exhausted), heirloom varieties are extremely more sensitive than conventional varieties, whether they be fruits or vegetables. This sensitivity is often why you only see heirloom offerings at farmer's markets and other specialty markets. They do not ship well and do not store well (for instance, heirloom tomatoes have a much thinner skin and are, therefore, more prone to bruise, split and early rot). On the flip side, heirloom varieties are SO MUCH tastier. In fact, my dad boldly proclaimed that our prudens purple heirloom tomatoes are the "best tomatoes I've ever had!" We try to select heirloom seeds when given the opportunity and when it is not cost prohibitive. We hope that you've enjoyed what we've produced to date!

This week's share will include: tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, leeks, garlic, potatoes, asian greens, beets, eggplant (hopefully), peppers, and squash.