Intern's Corner

This week, we have handed over the reigns to Laura, the Farm's intern.  Here is a picture of her hard at work!

For this week's post, Michael has asked me to share my perspective on farming and I've found that most of all, farming has been a great learning experience for me. Here are just a few of the lessons I have learned.

1.Weather is either your best friend or your worst enemy

-So far this season, we've been lucky enough to have some nice farming weather: upper 70s to low 80s, partially cloudy and a slight breeze. I've always found that its easiest to do your least favorite tasks (hand weeding, straw mulching and raking beds) when the weather is the nicest and do the easier things when the weather is not so great. Although sometimes this scheme is not possible to maintain, most notably would be the week that Michael and I spent planting tiny onion seedlings while on our hands and knees during the rain and cold of March. Now, if only we could do something about the incessant bugs!

2.Things usually don't go as planned:

-I'm sure Michael would agree with me that has been our number one issue so far. For instance, much of the early season crops such as the arugula, radishes and broccoli rabe that were direct seeded were overtaken by tons, and I mean TONS, of grass. However on a positive note, I've never seen onions do so well! At this point, there are four 200 foot triple row beds (that's about half a mile) of beautiful white and red onions.

3.You will feel peaceful and love your job one day and then want to cry the next:

-My farming friend Virginia likes to say that organic farm work is “back breaking but soul enriching” and that's the best description I have heard so far. Seeing all the hard work that goes into growing the wonderful veggies that we produce has given me a new found appreciation for what the earth provides for us. Its cliché but a visit to the farm will make this quite apparent. And, although I'm sure there is no scientific basis for this, I find that veggies that I helped grow always seem to taste better than store bought stuff.

4.There is a reason that chemical herbicides and insecticides are so popular:

-Organic weed control, usually in the form of physical removal, is hard work, takes a lot of time and requires constant vigilance. Enough said.

5.Farming requires courage

-Besides learning to be comfortable around ginormous spiders (seriously, I didn't know spiders this large existed in this part of the world) my main goal for this season has been learning how to drive the tractor. This endeavor has been somewhat nerve racking for me since I am used to driving an automatic car (“what's a clutch?”) and I get nervous that I will hurt the tractor/crops/myself. So far, no people, plants (except a few onions) or machines have been harmed while I've been driving the tractor and I've learned a lot of essential things such as how to hook up the implements to the back, using the broadcast seeder to plant cover crops and using the plow. I also owe a lot to Michael for being so patient and helping me learn!

6. Other miscellaneous and fun facts:

-the flowers of bok choi and tatsoi are edible and taste like broccoli

-new potatoes are just smaller regular potatoes that are harvested early, same with green onions

-tomato plants need to be pruned in order to encourage fruit production

-many species of “weeds” are edible: parslane, dandelion leaves, and lambs quarter (however I don't recommend picking and eating any of these if you find them, since they may have been sprayed with pesticide)

-beans and legume crops need to be inoculated with beneficial bacteria before planting

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy eating all the veggies as much as I enjoyed growing them!

Until next time...

What's Up With My Cauliflower??

Last week's share of cauliflower might have you scratching your head...it tastes like cauliflower, but it looks, well, sort of pathetic.  Here's the scoop on the "not-so-pretty" cauliflower you've received:

Some varieties of cauliflower have leaves that grow up and around the "fruit"to protect it from the hot sun, which bleaches the cauliflower, turning it yellow.  Think of these leaves as nature's sunscreen.  You have probably seen the remnants of the protective leaves around the base of the cauliflower you purchase at the grocery store.  The variety we chose to grow this year had leaves but these leaves were inadequate to protect the fruit from the the sun's harmful effects (if you ever wanted to grow such a variety, it is called self-blanching.)  As a result, the ever-industrious Farmer Mike found a solution: individually tie the leaves of each cauliflower plant around the fruit to protect it.

Unfortunately, this solution had an unforeseen consequence.  The little bugs that sometimes land on cauliflower (and nibble...and sometimes fly away without harming the plants) were now blissfully trapped in their very own buffet that would put Sizzler to shame!  The result was evident: the cauliflower did not blossom into the typical heads that you normally find (and look more like broccoli side shoots).  Ignoring these "birth-defects," the cauliflower can still be eaten and should still have great flavor.

This week, you can expect to see some combination of the following in your share: Sugar Snap Peas, Onions, Cauliflower, Lettuce, Cabbage, Collard Greens, Swiss Chard and Daikon Radish.

Next week, our intern, Laura, will be authoring a blog post, so make sure to check back and read her thoughts, insights and perspective on life at the Farm.

Until next time...

Spring Greens!!

Since we are seeing lots of spring greens in these early weeks (napa cabbage, collards, bok choy, etc), I figured I'd blog this week about some easy ways to eat these good-for-you veggies.


What I do first is chop up the greens (usually in ribbons) and soak them in a salad spinner (with the bowl, so the water is retained) using cold water.  After sitting for several minutes (more than several, if I have the time), I dump out the water and then proceed to use the salad spinner to dry off the greens.  I have found that this helps clean the greens without having to scrub each individual leaf.  If that is your desire, then keep on scrubbin'.


Once the greens are cleaned, they are ready to be cooked!


Here is a recipe from one of our members, Louise:


Simple Chinese Cabbage (the hairy one)

• Slice the cleaned cabbage crosswise in 1/2 inch strips.

• Lightly steam for 5 minutes in a saute pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1/2 cup water.

• Sprinkle with lemon juice and salt to taste.  Toss and serve.

Like Louise, I have been experimenting with fast ways to cook the greens.  My current go-to recipe is as follows:

• Heat olive oil in saute pan or wok (enough to cover the bottom);

• Add chopped onions and garlic and cook until tender.  I have been throwing in mushrooms lately...not sure if they really "add" something or if I just like them as part of a weird food craving;

• Add cleaned greens (I use whatever kinds I have on hand...sometimes I mix and match, like last week, I threw some broccoli rabe in with the collards);

• Saute in pan or wok (with cover on, so the steam braises the greens), stirring occasionally;

• Add soy sauce (a few swirls around the pan, or to taste);

• Cook until greens are wilted or braised-looking;

• ENJOY!!

The cookbooks all of our new members should have received also have fantastic recipes.  Please let us know if you have any tried-and-true recipes for any of the veggies you get each week and we'll gladly post them here.  Happy Cooking!!!

Tomorrow's distribution should include (some combination of the following):  Lettuce, Cauliflower, Collards, Broccoli Rabe, Napa Cabbage, Daikon Radishes, Radishes.

Again, if there are any topics that you'd like to know more about (or see pictures of), please post a comment on the blog and we'll happily oblige...to the extent we can!  We want to make sure that this experience is a true collaboration.

Until next time...

Distribution Day!!!

For those of you who are living under a rock, yesterday was the anniversary of D-Day.  Another momentous d-day is right around the corner...Distribution Day!  Now, for all of you war veterans, history buffs and others who cannot appreciate some tongue-and-cheek humor, I beg of you to not be offended by my comparison of the Farm's first official distribution to the turning point of the Second World War.  But, what can I say, we get awfully excited for Distribution Day around these parts!!

The season's first distribution will be this week, on Thursday, for both locations.  We are expecting that this week's share (although not as robust as it will be in coming weeks) will consist of the following: broccoli, napa cabbage, radishes, and lettuce.  For those of you who missed out on our "bonus" distribution last week, make sure you keep your eye out for our brand-spankin' new, special veggie delivery vehicle (aka our Reefer)!

Since it's been awhile since I've posted (apologies), there has been TONS of activity at the Farm since I last wrote.  First, the well was dug as I last reported.  The next step required a plumber, a water pump (of such capacity that the plumber insisted that should we go anywhere, we take it with us), a half mile of irrigation pipe, and a rented implement known in the biz as a "ditch witch."  Essentially, Farmer Mike had to create an irrigation system, to bring water from the well to the planting fields (obviously the distance of a half-mile), which involved burying said pipe at least 2 feet underground.  The still-wet conditions did not help.  But alas and alack, after a weekend of extremely hard (and frustrating) work, Farmer Mike got 'er done!!

This is the "ditch witch" in action:

Now that the pipe is in place, we were all ready for the electrician and Allegheny Power to come out and get us electrified.  The electrician was on top of his game and came out immediately.  Allegheny Power, on the other hand, put us on their "to do" list and said, we'll see you in 2-3 weeks!! 

Thank goodness we had a generator (her name is Genny) on the property that could provide a temporary power source so that we could get all that hard-dug water (and hard-buried pipe) to deliver the water to the fields!  Also, thank goodness, Allegheny Power must have heard the desperate despondency in Michael's voice when faced with a 2-3 week waiting period because they came out within the week!!  All's well that ends well...

Or is it?

Take a look at this picture and see if you can deduce the answer to the question above:

If you guessed "all's well that ends well....NOT," you would be correct!!  Apparently, during the irrigation pipe installation, the sections of pipe needed to be connected with clamps.  Ever being cautious, Farmer Mike did not want to secure the clamps too tightly, fearing that it could collapse the pipes.  Despite such precautions, we have now suffered two leaks (and of course, the latter leak was MUCH more difficult to locate), which required uncovering the pipe and fixing the leaks.  Apparently, in his cautious installation, the clamps were not installed with sufficient tightness to keep the water from leaking out of the connections.  There are several other areas where the pipe is connected that have yet to leak, but it is only a matter of time.  Thus, that muddy guy in the picture above (I promise, he does not normally come home looking that worse for the wear) will likely be uncovering and repairing leaky pipes for weeks to come.  Perhaps this post should be entitled D is for Distribution...and Digging!

I acknowledge that this post has more words (and a lot less pictures) than normal. I felt that I owed a significant post to the recent happenings at the Farm, since I have completely neglected my blogging duties.  I truly aspire to bring you a weekly post...and now that the season is (almost) officially under way, I suspect I won't have trouble keeping you informed!  With that in mind, please feel free to email recipes (using the Farm's veggies, of course) to michael@1acrefarm.com.  Also, if there is a particular subject you'd like to hear more about (or see pictures of), let us know that, too!  We loving hearing from you.

Until next time...