The Great Garlic Harvest of 2012!

Last Fall Michael found a local farmer friend who was selling a bunch of garlic seed (which, by the way, is actually the individual cloves of garlic) at a very low price ($3/lb vs the usual $11/lb).  Being the bargain shopper that he is, he couldn't resist a good deal, even if it meant that we would have garlic coming out of our ears this season.

We had to endure the smell of the garlic as it dried out, in preparation for planting, in my parents' basement.  I am not sure how we avoided eviction -- I think it's because I can count on one hand the number of times my parents actually entered their basement in the six or so years that they've lived there.

When Amelia was brand new, we had to find the time to separate every single garlic clove from the 100 pounds of garlic.  It was surprisingly tedious and it hurt! After a short time of separating the cloves, my hands were aching and getting calloused.  I think I checked on Amelia sleeping more in those hours than I did during her first few weeks of life -- anything (maybe even pinching her to wake her up) to get out of the garlic torture chamber!

Then, we rallied troops to plant the garlic in October.  Amelia and I treked out to the Farm to check on the troops...we put her in the Bjorn and she "helped" plant, too! In total, the "deal of the century" resulted in the planting of an entire field of garlic -- 17 rows of garlic at approximately 175 feet per row.  Which means (based on some calculations that I did not do, mathmatician that I am) that Michael and his crew just harvested -- wait for it -- almost six thousand individual garlic bulbs!!

Which means, members, buckle up! I have just invested copious amounts of money in Orbit, the gum company.

Let Me Tell You 'Bout the Birds and the Bees...

Well, not so much emphasis on the birds, but definitely a lot of emphasis on the bees!  As most of you probably know (don't feel bad if you don't), bees are very critical to the growth of our food.  Their hard work pollinates the flowers which ultimately become the fruit (or vegetable) of the plant.  I don't think I realized that most vegetables grow out of the plant's flower (squash blossoms turn into hearty zucchini, tomato flowers turn into juicy, ripe tomatoes, and so on and so forth).  I obviously remember something about pollination that we were taught in elementary school science, but I honestly thought bees were nothing more than a nuisance...one that you aren't supposed to swat away but that your natural instinct is to swat like hell until they get out of your face.

This year, Michael sought out local beekeepers who were in need of a place to keep their hive.  It'd be beneficial for the farm and could also be a potential source of fresh, raw honey for our members. After listening to Michael "interview" several beekeepers (the conversations were somewhat interesting), I thought he was going to lean towards the beekeeper who had an already-established operation and needed more land for his hives.  Shortsightedly, I thought this because it seemed like the best chance for access to significant amounts of honey...which our members in the past have loved.  In retrospect (and maybe if I was listening a little closer rather than playing Scramble with Friends (can I even say that or is it trademarked? I should probably know...), his choice was obvious: the beekeeper who was interested in learning about bees but didn't have any because he didn't have any land.  It was meant to be: a struggling farmer without access to land finally has a large plot of land (that he obtained access to through a very thoughtful and amazing friend) and is able to "pay it forward" to the struggling beekeeper who needs land in order to start his desired craft.  And, so, this is how One Acre Farm came to have bees.  (Michael also just informed me that there are actually two beekeepers (one that is more experienced) that have hives on our property, but, for the poetic license of my story, let's just pretend I didn't know that).  (Ed. note: I need to give credit where credit is due and the more experienced beekeeper is not as random as I am making him out to be. He is actually very legitimate, uses novel methods and is an all around "hard core dude".  Michael's words, not mine).

The other day, Michael called me excitedly to tell me that he and the more experienced beekeeper (again, for poetic license, let's just say it was the new beekeeper) had pulled a fresh, hot honeycomb from the hive. It sounded incredible. I can only picture the two of them like my favorite childhood character Winnie-the-Pooh (trademarked, copyrighted, patent pending I am sure -- see above), hands cupping the honey and dripping -- no, running -- down their fingers.  Hopefully this mutually beneficial relationship will also mean that we'll have fresh honey to offer at some point in the future.  Stay tuned...

Your share this week will consist of: garlic, (the last of the) garlic scapes, bok choy, lettuce, turnips, cabbage, fennel, and mustard greens.  Until next time...

Season's Greetings!

Nope, I am not confused.  Nope, it is not Christmas in June.  It is the start of that other season...the CSA season!  It is upon us and underway...we started our first distribution last Thursday (Capitol Hill and Potomac) and had our first pick-up at the farm (well, sorta...we are temporarily using a member's garage near the farm until our landowner can make the farm's entrance somewhat safer due to the hidden driveway) on Monday.  I can speak from personal (non-biased, of course) experience that this week's share was by far the best first share that Michael has ever had!  The greens are delicious -- I used the lettuce and radishes in my lunch salads, I made my first batch of kale chips (mighty fine, by the way, but a little salty...I will have to cut back on the sea salt next time around.  Another digression -- any suggestions on how to store them? However I stored them last night turned them into a soggy mess by the morning), creamed chard pasta with chicken and garlic scapes, and bok choy with hot sausage and barley.  We have been eating well this past week! Please feel free to share your recipes in the comments or on our Facebook page.  Everyone loves to hear suggestions of what others are making with their veggies.

A lot of hard work has gone into making the very first share so successful.  A lot of planning (field rotations, crop rotations, seed selection, natural fertilizer selection (I swear, there were mathematical equations in a very complex Excel spreadsheet), plowing, planting, weeding, etc.) happened during the "off-season" all while Michael was playing the very important role of a stay-at-home Dad!  The most rigorous of these tasks will continue throughout the season.  I doubt anyone out there believes that farming is easy work.  For those of you who were able to come to the first Farm tour, you now should have a greater sense for the scale of work that Michael does -- for the most part -- on his own.  I know that his vegetables are so delicious not only because they are locally grown and extremely fresh but because I know how much he literally toils (and stresses) day in and day out to churn out the best "product" that he can.  I am insanely proud of him and hope that you all appreciate the fruits of his labor as much as I do!

You can expect some of the following in this week's share: broccoli, collards, lettuce, red bok choy, radishes, garlic scapes, swiss chard, and arugula.

2012 Enrollment is Now Open!!!

We are excited to announce that enrollment is now open for the 2012 season!  Check out our website, http://www.oneacrefarm.com/ (the Membership Info page) for our 2012 Enrollment Form.

We are currently planning on having a distribution at Capitol Hill only this season.  If any returning members have interested friends, neighbors or co-workers who may be interested in joining, please spread the word that we are now accepting members.  We are also canvassing whether there is any interest in a pick-up location at the farm.  If you are interested (or know others who are) in picking up at the Farm, please email Mike at michael@oneacrefarm.com.

Finally, we have established a Facebook page!  Search for us "One Acre Farm" and like our page! We are hoping that the Facebook page will be a forum for members to interact with each other as well as with us.

Here's to a bountiful 2012!  Until next time...

Random Ruminations!

Today, Amelia and I went to visit Farmer Mike (aka Daddy) and to see what is going on with the Farm.  We got a (in-truck) tour of the fields...the Fall vegetables look incredible!  We also learned which fields were plowed under and reseeded with cover crop.  The cover crop will help keep the soil nutrient-rich in the off-season so that they can be nice and fertile come spring planting season.  We also saw the field that the garlic will be planted in and the beds are ready and a-waiting your helping hands!

As most of you know, this coming Saturday we are having a garlic planting marathon!  We ordered 4x more garlic seeds than we planted two season ago and will need all the help we can get.  Farmer Mike wants to make sure that I mention that we ordered so much garlic because we got a great deal on it...it would normally cost over $1,000 for the 100 lbs we purchased.  Bargain-hunter Mike purchased 100 lbs for around $300.  It was purchased from a local farmer friend who grew too much and was being farmer-friendly by giving us such a great deal!  (There, is that better, Farmer Mike?!? If the peanut gallery wants to suggest blog content, maybe the peanut gallery should write it, don't cha think?!?!).  The weather is supposed to be perfect for garlic planting (I heard Doug Kammerer say it with my very own ears!), so if you are looking for some outdoor activity that will undoubtedly be more gratifying than sitting at home and watching Bravo's latest reality show!  So, we hope to see you at 9am on Saturday...with your garlic-planting gloves on!

Finally, we are coming to the end of our season.  I believe we have about 5 weeks of deliveries left.  In the coming weeks, we will be preparing our annual survey.  While we know that everyone gets inundated with "junk" email and requests for surveys or other input on a daily basis, we promise that our survey won't take more than 5 minutes to complete and is vital to the success of our operation.  We generally ask what types of vegetables you liked, didn't like, what you'd like more of (or less of), so please start thinking about it and keep your eyes peeled for our survey!


This week, you will receive in your share: sweet potatoes, greens, lettuce, cauliflower, beans, and winter squash.


Until next time...


Oh, and PS, if you need extra incentive to come out on Saturday, Amelia and I will be coming out for a bit on Saturday morning!

Punkin Chunkin

This week, with all the baby things going on, I decided to give the usual blog writer a break and have you hear from me, Farmer Mike. When I was thinking about what to write, I first thought about talking about all the rain we had in that last storm. As a matter of fact, I had someone from Soil Conservation come out and look at the farm today and he said that the storm was a 1 in a 1000 year storm. How they come up with these figures, I don't know. But I do know that we had sh*^ load of rain. (that's probably not the scientific term for those keeping track at home).
But as the topic suggests, I did want to talk about Pumpkins and other winter squash. As the name rather confusingly suggests, Winter Squash is not something grown in the winter, it actually gets planted in late spring and matures now, but something that can last all winter keeping you fed. It is not as easy to grow as other types of squash for one very good reason. Unlike summer squash that can be seeded, grown and harvested relatively quickly, winter squash basically takes forever. Which is fine, if it wasn't for a disease that comes looking around for any and all squash plants and does a great job of killing them rather quickly. The disease is called Powdery Mildew, and for those of you who have ever grown cucumbers, melons and squash, you might have noticed your plants looking great one day, and terrible the next. There are organic controls for it, but it usually just delays the inevitable.
All this to say that I did harvest pumpkins this week. I planted them to be ready by the middle of October but only as mother nature can do, she made them speed up before they were really ready. What that means for you is, don't hold your breath that these pumpkins will last till Halloween. (They might not last till Tuesday!) You could use them as a practice run for the real pumpkin you get, or you could just stare at them as they remind you of Fall.

This week you will receive, Winter Squash, Beans, Pumpkin (of course), Greens, Lettuce, Onions, Radishes and Potatoes.

Tomato-Palooza!

This past weekend, Farmer Mike opened up the Farm for a rare occurrence...a pick-your-own day!  Thanks to the hurricane's (who we have been thanking profusely every day since she allegedly brought the early arrival of our precious (sorry, we are biased and IN LOVE) baby girl) wet weather and Farmer Mike's absence from the Farm (see last parenthesis), our tomatoes were ready to be harvested or go to spoil.  Rather than waste the gorgeous, delicious remnants of our successful tomato crop, Farmer Mike invited one and all to come and harvest all they could take from the tomato plants.

The weather was less than cooperative, with the skies opening up right around the time that everyone had their picking hands ready.  Thankfully, patience won out and it stopped raining for a bit so that people could harvest away.

Here is the Farm "Chariot" that escorted the pickers to the fields...unfortunately, the "Chariot" was not fully detailed before Saturday's fun:

Here are some close-ups of the tomatoes, dripping with rain.  Thanks, Robert, for really capturing the essence of the tomatoes and the weather in these great photos!

And, the members are hard at work in the fields:

And because I can't resist also sharing with you a few photos of the Farm's newest addition, here is our baby girl, Amelia Taylor Protas, at the hospital with proud Mom and Dad:

She had a little bit of jaundice, so check out her "radioactive" blanket and her cool shades!!

My favorite picture of all time! They hadn't yet removed the little heart-shaped sticker from her jaundice shades, but I think the heart is poetic!

This week you can expect to receive in your share: watermelons, potatoes, red onions, lettuce, winter squash, collards and kale.

Until next time...