There is pork sausage available for order. Look for order forms at your pick-up site or on the farm website at www.roxburyfarm.com
There are also black currents availabe for order from a farm in Columbia County. Look for order forms at your pick-up site and on the farm website.
This week's share includes: salad mix, braising mix, mini cabbage, broccoli, summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers, fresh garlic, scallions, basil and parsley. The fruit share is a quart of strawberries from Yonder Farm (the berries are not organic).
For Columbia County Members Only: There will not be a delivery this week due to the 4th of July Holiday weekend. There will be a make up delivery in November. Look for a postcard in the mail this week to tell you the pick-up date.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Photos from the Farm
The winter squash is beginning to bloom. Soon the field will be full of wild bees visiting the bright orange and yellow blossoms. 
The potatoes are blooming. They flowers are the same the color as their potatoes. The redish/purple flowers will have red skinned potatoes. The white blooms will have white or yellow skinned potatoes.
The potatoes are blooming. They flowers are the same the color as their potatoes. The redish/purple flowers will have red skinned potatoes. The white blooms will have white or yellow skinned potatoes.photos by Johannes Courtens
Week 5 Letter from a Farmer
First of all thank you for the many supportive letters we received from you as a response to Jody’s letter of “Gone to hail.” This week, I have chosen to write about some of our farm methods related to biodynamics. I could highlight all the quantifiable angles: the aspects you can count, measure and weigh. On this farm we rely a lot on numbers and good research and we respect the good science that comes from our friends at Cornell. So, what is it that opened us up to the rather extraordinary exercise of taking cow manure and placing it in a horn, to bury this in the ground over the winter, stir it for one hour in plenty of warm water and to spray this concoction over a field? Is this an exercise of faith and is there any science involved? And what is scientific anyway?
The natural world is always contextual; no creature lives by itself. No tree lives without the soil, sun, moon, birds, rain, bees, worms etc. We consider the farm as a whole to be an organism – a very messy concept indeed, as it includes not only the total farm and surrounding ecology, but also its economy, the community, etc. This goes way beyond our ability to accurately count, measure, and weigh. Therefore, some scientists will ignore an outcome that has too many fluctuating variables. A researcher friend once observed that something else is going on at our farm, and actually on all these biodynamic farms. “Whatever it is you do, keep doing it,” he said. The way he said it implied that he couldn’t quite put his finger on it – something intangible, something you can only feel and experience by walking the farm. Only by understanding the details will we fully appreciate the whole. Maybe contextual science is the “ultimate” science. But this will demand a complete new awareness whereby we can separate feelings from sentiment, and thoughts from garble. I am not ready yet, but I can imagine what it looks like.
The context of this biodynamic farm includes its relationship to the people who depend on it. Roxbury Farm is the result of a shared vision of the farmers and many of the original members. Following a dream or a vision means taking a chance, and our early members were fully aware of that. When we started the CSA, no one had heard of the concept. Following new ideas can be terrifying, but at some point you have to let go and jump. Visions are like dreams and are part of the context of this farm. Dreaming to me means “to sense an emerging future.” Someone who makes an effort to sense an emerging future is probably more likely to accept the idea of putting manure in a horn than someone who wants proof before the act.
When you act on a dream, you act more out of listening to an inner voice than out of calculation. Those decisions create either the greatest delight or the greatest despair, and usually the most memorable experiences. The greatest decisions in my life have been made by trusting the faculties that have little to do with numbers. Here we lean on a different ability – the words intuition, empathy and love come to mind. Fortunately, there is hardly a traditional learning process required: no downloading of information, only the ability to surrender and to develop an open heart and an open mind. (Someone once told me that the mind is like a parachute: it works best when it is open.) A long time ago, an inner voice told me to become a farmer. Since then I have felt blessed and cursed by my job, but I have never doubted that decision; it is a lifelong discovery to understand the purpose of this “calling.” (As I write this, Jody and I are feeling quite a bit of discomfort – I threw my back out and Jody had a minor farm accident – but I am writing this to make a point, not to gain your sympathy.)
Some people associate listening to an inner voice with spiritual or religious matters; maybe true, but even nonbelievers still utilize it when they make the most important decisions in their life. Art and religion cultivate or help us to articulate these experiences. Art might well be the vessel for the modern-day transcendental experience. I happen to have been raised as a Catholic, so I am most familiar with the stories of the Old and New Testament. If I had been raised as a Muslim or Hindu, I would be able to find stories of these experiences in the Koran or the Bhagavad Gita. In my mind, every religion is truthful, as all of them can be a meaningful way to get closer to the divine part of our Self and the world. Good religious practices allow us to open up our minds, hearts, and wills and stop us from listening to the voices of judgment, cynicism, and needless fear.
A Christian community priest once said that going out and spraying the horn manure preparation on the field is a similar act to that of the woman who poured expensive ointment over Christ’s head (Matthew 26 and Luke 14). The rational voice in me speaks like the apostles who scolded the woman for wasting such expensive oil. They could have sold the oil and given the money to the poor. Christ responded to the apostles that they should stop bothering the woman as she helped prepare him for his death. My heart tells me that the earth, its people, and other inhabitants are suffering, and that it needs the blessing of our love as much as our daily cares. We need to develop the woman in us.
From Hildegard of Bingen to Bernadette Soubirous, women have had strong visions or apparitions. In the story of Bernadette, Mary asked her to scrape the ground, saying to her “Go to the spring, drink of it and wash yourself there.” There was only a little muddy water to begin with, enough for Bernadette to drink. At first this water was muddy and dirty as the Grotto was a pigsty, then, little by little, it became clear. In its physical content, the water in Lourdes is really no different than the surrounding springs, so what allows it to heal? When I spray water with just a tiny amount of horn manure or silica in it, I intend for this water to heal the earth and its food. Do my intentions matter for this to have its effect? Am I crossing the line here between pure matter and universal life energy? Do I have to make a choice between facts and dreams? Why can’t I give them both their rightful place, as maybe the tension between the two is often imagined.
I have the dream that food will not only nourish us, but that it will eventually be a healing medium again – and this concept goes beyond “safe food.” My dream is of a world where farms and gardens are integral, vibrant, and diverse; in symphony with all living forms and rhythms. It is a world where people have Self determination. In this world, food will have vitality and authenticity. Food can give us the strength to discover our authentic Self, as eating allows for the spiritual world to whisper in our ears. When we listen closely, we might develop a new story for this planet: one that concludes that our presumed separation from this earth is an illusion. Call me a dreamer, but we have to start somewhere. ~ Jean-Paul
The natural world is always contextual; no creature lives by itself. No tree lives without the soil, sun, moon, birds, rain, bees, worms etc. We consider the farm as a whole to be an organism – a very messy concept indeed, as it includes not only the total farm and surrounding ecology, but also its economy, the community, etc. This goes way beyond our ability to accurately count, measure, and weigh. Therefore, some scientists will ignore an outcome that has too many fluctuating variables. A researcher friend once observed that something else is going on at our farm, and actually on all these biodynamic farms. “Whatever it is you do, keep doing it,” he said. The way he said it implied that he couldn’t quite put his finger on it – something intangible, something you can only feel and experience by walking the farm. Only by understanding the details will we fully appreciate the whole. Maybe contextual science is the “ultimate” science. But this will demand a complete new awareness whereby we can separate feelings from sentiment, and thoughts from garble. I am not ready yet, but I can imagine what it looks like.
The context of this biodynamic farm includes its relationship to the people who depend on it. Roxbury Farm is the result of a shared vision of the farmers and many of the original members. Following a dream or a vision means taking a chance, and our early members were fully aware of that. When we started the CSA, no one had heard of the concept. Following new ideas can be terrifying, but at some point you have to let go and jump. Visions are like dreams and are part of the context of this farm. Dreaming to me means “to sense an emerging future.” Someone who makes an effort to sense an emerging future is probably more likely to accept the idea of putting manure in a horn than someone who wants proof before the act.
When you act on a dream, you act more out of listening to an inner voice than out of calculation. Those decisions create either the greatest delight or the greatest despair, and usually the most memorable experiences. The greatest decisions in my life have been made by trusting the faculties that have little to do with numbers. Here we lean on a different ability – the words intuition, empathy and love come to mind. Fortunately, there is hardly a traditional learning process required: no downloading of information, only the ability to surrender and to develop an open heart and an open mind. (Someone once told me that the mind is like a parachute: it works best when it is open.) A long time ago, an inner voice told me to become a farmer. Since then I have felt blessed and cursed by my job, but I have never doubted that decision; it is a lifelong discovery to understand the purpose of this “calling.” (As I write this, Jody and I are feeling quite a bit of discomfort – I threw my back out and Jody had a minor farm accident – but I am writing this to make a point, not to gain your sympathy.)
Some people associate listening to an inner voice with spiritual or religious matters; maybe true, but even nonbelievers still utilize it when they make the most important decisions in their life. Art and religion cultivate or help us to articulate these experiences. Art might well be the vessel for the modern-day transcendental experience. I happen to have been raised as a Catholic, so I am most familiar with the stories of the Old and New Testament. If I had been raised as a Muslim or Hindu, I would be able to find stories of these experiences in the Koran or the Bhagavad Gita. In my mind, every religion is truthful, as all of them can be a meaningful way to get closer to the divine part of our Self and the world. Good religious practices allow us to open up our minds, hearts, and wills and stop us from listening to the voices of judgment, cynicism, and needless fear.
A Christian community priest once said that going out and spraying the horn manure preparation on the field is a similar act to that of the woman who poured expensive ointment over Christ’s head (Matthew 26 and Luke 14). The rational voice in me speaks like the apostles who scolded the woman for wasting such expensive oil. They could have sold the oil and given the money to the poor. Christ responded to the apostles that they should stop bothering the woman as she helped prepare him for his death. My heart tells me that the earth, its people, and other inhabitants are suffering, and that it needs the blessing of our love as much as our daily cares. We need to develop the woman in us.
From Hildegard of Bingen to Bernadette Soubirous, women have had strong visions or apparitions. In the story of Bernadette, Mary asked her to scrape the ground, saying to her “Go to the spring, drink of it and wash yourself there.” There was only a little muddy water to begin with, enough for Bernadette to drink. At first this water was muddy and dirty as the Grotto was a pigsty, then, little by little, it became clear. In its physical content, the water in Lourdes is really no different than the surrounding springs, so what allows it to heal? When I spray water with just a tiny amount of horn manure or silica in it, I intend for this water to heal the earth and its food. Do my intentions matter for this to have its effect? Am I crossing the line here between pure matter and universal life energy? Do I have to make a choice between facts and dreams? Why can’t I give them both their rightful place, as maybe the tension between the two is often imagined.
I have the dream that food will not only nourish us, but that it will eventually be a healing medium again – and this concept goes beyond “safe food.” My dream is of a world where farms and gardens are integral, vibrant, and diverse; in symphony with all living forms and rhythms. It is a world where people have Self determination. In this world, food will have vitality and authenticity. Food can give us the strength to discover our authentic Self, as eating allows for the spiritual world to whisper in our ears. When we listen closely, we might develop a new story for this planet: one that concludes that our presumed separation from this earth is an illusion. Call me a dreamer, but we have to start somewhere. ~ Jean-Paul
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Photos
Cara, Luke, and Mike harvest sugar snap peas. It takes a fast picker 45 minutes to pick a bucket full. For a full week of deliveries we have to harvest about 25 buckets which means we spend about 20 hours picking peas during the week.
Justin and Wouter harvest broccoli while Jean-Paul surveys the field.
Week 3 Newsletter
This week we want to introduce you to the people who are growing your food and caring for the farm. They are a pleasure to work with and we hope you are able to meet some of them this season.
John Middleton is back for his third season on the farm. We are glad to have a third person to share the weight of managing the farm. John has stepped up to manage the maintenance and upkeep of our considerable fleet of equipment. He also helps to oversee the greenhouse production and has started to take on much of the field work that only Jean-Paul and I used to do. He is also a good teacher and helps us to instruct the apprentice crew on how the farm works. As we write this, he is in Brazil visiting his fiancée, Lidia. Due to visa issues, Lidia won’t be able to join John on the farm until the fall. We look forward to having Lidia become part of the farm crew next season. John and Jean-Paul will take turns delivering the vegetables to New York City.
Justin Wilder joins us for his second season. Justin, along with his wife Sarah and their son Dylan, also lives on the farm. Justin is a Minnesota native and moved to New York when he met Sarah. Justin is also an artist and spends part of the year drawing caricatures at fairs and festivals. We appreciate his hard work and willingness to do what needs to be done. Having people return for more than one season helps us to have a consistency with the work on the farm. Justin, Sarah, and Dylan also care for the pigs on a daily basis. Our new Tamworth boar has been christened Sweet Heart by Dylan for his bright red color. Justin is taking on the Westchester delivery route this year.
Dave and Linda, Jody’s parents, are starting their fifth season on the farm. They joined us from Iowa after they retired from teaching. Linda provides us with a presence in the farm office. She is there on Mondays and Fridays putting together the newsletter and answering your emails and phone calls. She also takes in your enrollment forms and payments. She maintains the member database and keeps track of your membership, fruit shares, and meat purchases. Her work allows us to serve you better. Dave is our resident carpenter, electrician, web man, and driver. This winter he took on the building of the apartment for John and Lidia. He has helped us improve the farm infrastructure with electrical work, building projects, and fencing. He also updates the website each week. The Capital District members will see him on Tuesdays when he delivers the produce.
Cara Fraver most recently has been working for Just Food in New York. She was responsible for connecting farmers to community kitchens and food pantries. This program is called “Fresh Food for All.” She helped to manage the relationship between the farmer and the community kitchen to make sure both parties’ needs were met , which isn’t always an easy task. She and her partner, Luke, decided
that farming was what they wanted to do, and so made the big move from Brooklyn this spring. This season Cara is taking on the greenhouse production and transplanting in the field. We appreciate her attention to detail and positive spirit.
Luke Deikis studied film at Sarah Lawrence University. For the past few years he has been a freelance lighting technician for commercials and movies in the city. While living in the city, Luke and Cara gardened and grew hops to brew their own beer (which we hear is quite tasty). Luke has a talent for construction and is always trying to build a better mousetrap. This is a skill that will come in handy for starting a new farm. We appreciate his ability to look at a situation and see how we can improve what we are doing.
Mike Yund is a Capital District native, but is arriving at the farm by way of California. He moved out to California after college and found he loved working in agriculture. He worked on two farms, doing greenhouse production and managing a market stand at a large farmers’ market in the Santa Cruz area. He decided that he wants to pursue a career in agriculture and wanted to learn farming closer to his family. His aunt is a longtime Capital District member and told him about Roxbury. We are grateful to her for bringing Mike to the farm. His laid-back style is a welcome addition to the farm. His willingness to get the job done with a smile is a pleasure to be around. He is helping Jean-Paul out with hay making by doing the tedding and raking.
Wouter van Nuil is from the Netherlands. He is a student at the agriculture school Jean-Paul attended. As part of his schooling, Wouter needs to complete a five-month apprenticeship. We are fortunate that Wouter chose to do his at Roxbury Farm. While he is working all day on the farm, he is also required to write an extensive report on the farm that includes all areas of production – plant and animal. He comes to the farm with a lot of experience and knowledge. He is also always willing to work at whatever needs to be done and does so with precision and care. Wouter is the youngest of the crew this year.
We are fortunate to have these people helping us to grow your food with such dedication, care, and love for the work. ~Jody
John Middleton is back for his third season on the farm. We are glad to have a third person to share the weight of managing the farm. John has stepped up to manage the maintenance and upkeep of our considerable fleet of equipment. He also helps to oversee the greenhouse production and has started to take on much of the field work that only Jean-Paul and I used to do. He is also a good teacher and helps us to instruct the apprentice crew on how the farm works. As we write this, he is in Brazil visiting his fiancée, Lidia. Due to visa issues, Lidia won’t be able to join John on the farm until the fall. We look forward to having Lidia become part of the farm crew next season. John and Jean-Paul will take turns delivering the vegetables to New York City.
Justin Wilder joins us for his second season. Justin, along with his wife Sarah and their son Dylan, also lives on the farm. Justin is a Minnesota native and moved to New York when he met Sarah. Justin is also an artist and spends part of the year drawing caricatures at fairs and festivals. We appreciate his hard work and willingness to do what needs to be done. Having people return for more than one season helps us to have a consistency with the work on the farm. Justin, Sarah, and Dylan also care for the pigs on a daily basis. Our new Tamworth boar has been christened Sweet Heart by Dylan for his bright red color. Justin is taking on the Westchester delivery route this year.
Dave and Linda, Jody’s parents, are starting their fifth season on the farm. They joined us from Iowa after they retired from teaching. Linda provides us with a presence in the farm office. She is there on Mondays and Fridays putting together the newsletter and answering your emails and phone calls. She also takes in your enrollment forms and payments. She maintains the member database and keeps track of your membership, fruit shares, and meat purchases. Her work allows us to serve you better. Dave is our resident carpenter, electrician, web man, and driver. This winter he took on the building of the apartment for John and Lidia. He has helped us improve the farm infrastructure with electrical work, building projects, and fencing. He also updates the website each week. The Capital District members will see him on Tuesdays when he delivers the produce.
Cara Fraver most recently has been working for Just Food in New York. She was responsible for connecting farmers to community kitchens and food pantries. This program is called “Fresh Food for All.” She helped to manage the relationship between the farmer and the community kitchen to make sure both parties’ needs were met , which isn’t always an easy task. She and her partner, Luke, decided
that farming was what they wanted to do, and so made the big move from Brooklyn this spring. This season Cara is taking on the greenhouse production and transplanting in the field. We appreciate her attention to detail and positive spirit.
Luke Deikis studied film at Sarah Lawrence University. For the past few years he has been a freelance lighting technician for commercials and movies in the city. While living in the city, Luke and Cara gardened and grew hops to brew their own beer (which we hear is quite tasty). Luke has a talent for construction and is always trying to build a better mousetrap. This is a skill that will come in handy for starting a new farm. We appreciate his ability to look at a situation and see how we can improve what we are doing.
Mike Yund is a Capital District native, but is arriving at the farm by way of California. He moved out to California after college and found he loved working in agriculture. He worked on two farms, doing greenhouse production and managing a market stand at a large farmers’ market in the Santa Cruz area. He decided that he wants to pursue a career in agriculture and wanted to learn farming closer to his family. His aunt is a longtime Capital District member and told him about Roxbury. We are grateful to her for bringing Mike to the farm. His laid-back style is a welcome addition to the farm. His willingness to get the job done with a smile is a pleasure to be around. He is helping Jean-Paul out with hay making by doing the tedding and raking.
Wouter van Nuil is from the Netherlands. He is a student at the agriculture school Jean-Paul attended. As part of his schooling, Wouter needs to complete a five-month apprenticeship. We are fortunate that Wouter chose to do his at Roxbury Farm. While he is working all day on the farm, he is also required to write an extensive report on the farm that includes all areas of production – plant and animal. He comes to the farm with a lot of experience and knowledge. He is also always willing to work at whatever needs to be done and does so with precision and care. Wouter is the youngest of the crew this year.
We are fortunate to have these people helping us to grow your food with such dedication, care, and love for the work. ~Jody
Stormy Weather
On Monday afternoon the farm was hit by a severe storm bringing with it golf-ball sized hail and 2.5 inches of rain. We sustained some crop damage and we will see in the coming days how extensive the damage is. Some of the crops you will receive in the next few deliveries will show some hail damage. The peas for the rest of the week and maybe next week were shredded and bruised by the hail. The tomatoes, winter squash, and onions are damaged but should grow out of it in a few weeks. Our fellow produce growers to the north lost most of their crops and think it will be 2-3 weeks before they can have a harvest for their markets again. It looks like a lawn mower went over their fields. The orchards in Kinderhook and Valatie lost their soft fruits and most of their apples. We will keep you updated on the crops in next week's newsletter.
We have already received emails of support and encouragement from members. Thank you for your kind words and good wishes!
We have already received emails of support and encouragement from members. Thank you for your kind words and good wishes!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Calendar of the Soul for the Week of June 16
Week 11, June 16-23
In this the sun’s most glorious hour
It rests with you to know this word of wisdom:
Surrendered to the beauty of the world,
Feeling yourself within your Self, experience this:
The human I can lose itself
And find itself within the Cosmic I.
In this the sun’s most glorious hour
It rests with you to know this word of wisdom:
Surrendered to the beauty of the world,
Feeling yourself within your Self, experience this:
The human I can lose itself
And find itself within the Cosmic I.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
PHOTOS
SAVING OUR SWEET POTATO PLANTS
It has been too wet to transplant our sweet potato plants. The plants (or slips as they are called) come in the mail from a farm in Tennessee packed in peat moss. The slips are thin roots with a few leaves attached. We trim off the leaves to reduce evaporation before we plant them. On Monday we had to dig small trenches in the field and temporarily plant the sweet potatoes until the field is dry enough to plant them permanently. We should be able to dig them up and plant them on Friday or Saturday.
OUR NEW TURKEY FLOCK
Baby Large White Turkeys
Baby Broad-Breasted Bronze Turkeys
It has been too wet to transplant our sweet potato plants. The plants (or slips as they are called) come in the mail from a farm in Tennessee packed in peat moss. The slips are thin roots with a few leaves attached. We trim off the leaves to reduce evaporation before we plant them. On Monday we had to dig small trenches in the field and temporarily plant the sweet potatoes until the field is dry enough to plant them permanently. We should be able to dig them up and plant them on Friday or Saturday.
OUR NEW TURKEY FLOCK
Baby Large White Turkeys
Baby Broad-Breasted Bronze Turkeys
Notes for Week of June 9
THIS WEEK's SHARE
Salad mix, braising mix, spinach, arrowhead cabbage or bok choi, radishes, and turnips
FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH BARACK OBAMA
Your hometown of Chicago is served by Angelic Organics, a local family farm featured in the 2007 documentary The Real Dirt on Farmer John, which Al Gore called “incredibly special.” Small farms that market to local communities are vital components of healthy local food systems. What policy initiatives would you propose to strengthen local food systems? Unfortunately, I have not had time to see the film, but I am very familiar with the great work of Angelic Organics and other community supported farms. These types of farms can provide an important source of fresh fruits and vegetables to inner-city communities that do not have easy access to grocery stores that sell organic foods. Moreover, farms like Angelic Organics that sell directly to consumers cut out all of the middlemen and get full retail price for their food, which increases the financial viability of small family farms.
As president, I would implement USDA policies that promote local and regional food systems, including assisting states to develop programs aimed at community supported farms. I also support a national farm-to-school program and am pleased that the Farm Bill provides more than $1 billion to expand healthy snacks in our schools.
COMING NEXT WEEK (OUR BEST GUESS) salad mix, braising mix, garlic scapes, cabbage or broccoli or bok-choi, zucchini, radishes, parsley, mint and arugula.
FRUIT SHARE: Empire apples
TURKEYS
At 6:10 AM on Thursday, the local post office called (as we had requested) to let us know that the day-old turkey poults had arrived from Iowa. We had to get them as quickly as possible to a warm location (90˚F). Jody dunked each of their beaks in a dish of water to get them to drink. We are raising two varieties of turkeys this year, Large White and Broad-Breasted Bronze. We are trying 30 of each to see how hard it is to raise them. All of the reading we did tells us that turkeys are very sensitive and difficult to raise. So far all 60 have survived and are quickly growing. We will keep you updated on their progress.
Salad mix, braising mix, spinach, arrowhead cabbage or bok choi, radishes, and turnips
FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH BARACK OBAMA
Your hometown of Chicago is served by Angelic Organics, a local family farm featured in the 2007 documentary The Real Dirt on Farmer John, which Al Gore called “incredibly special.” Small farms that market to local communities are vital components of healthy local food systems. What policy initiatives would you propose to strengthen local food systems? Unfortunately, I have not had time to see the film, but I am very familiar with the great work of Angelic Organics and other community supported farms. These types of farms can provide an important source of fresh fruits and vegetables to inner-city communities that do not have easy access to grocery stores that sell organic foods. Moreover, farms like Angelic Organics that sell directly to consumers cut out all of the middlemen and get full retail price for their food, which increases the financial viability of small family farms.
As president, I would implement USDA policies that promote local and regional food systems, including assisting states to develop programs aimed at community supported farms. I also support a national farm-to-school program and am pleased that the Farm Bill provides more than $1 billion to expand healthy snacks in our schools.
COMING NEXT WEEK (OUR BEST GUESS) salad mix, braising mix, garlic scapes, cabbage or broccoli or bok-choi, zucchini, radishes, parsley, mint and arugula.
FRUIT SHARE: Empire apples
TURKEYS
At 6:10 AM on Thursday, the local post office called (as we had requested) to let us know that the day-old turkey poults had arrived from Iowa. We had to get them as quickly as possible to a warm location (90˚F). Jody dunked each of their beaks in a dish of water to get them to drink. We are raising two varieties of turkeys this year, Large White and Broad-Breasted Bronze. We are trying 30 of each to see how hard it is to raise them. All of the reading we did tells us that turkeys are very sensitive and difficult to raise. So far all 60 have survived and are quickly growing. We will keep you updated on their progress.
Week 2 Newsletter
So, when it rains it pours. After a very cold and dry May, June is starting quite differently. The first week of June brought lots of rain and hail and then more rain and very hot weather. We received many local thundershowers that left the fields too wet to plant. Our sweet potatoes are sitting in the barn waiting to get into the field. They came in on Friday after being in a UPS truck for three days. Today we will temporarily set them in the ground as the chances for showers will last through Tuesday night. The fifth planting of sweet corn – while waiting in the greenhouse to be transplanted – has grown 4 inches in the last two days. If we have to wait another day it will be too tall and the plants will break in the process of planting, which will set them back irrevocably. I was planning on cutting more hay, but with such unstable weather I can’t take the risk. So far we have received four inches of rain in one week with more on the way. It will be Saturday before the ground will be dry enough to work.
We were also very disappointed with the first delivery, but at least we did not have to plow anything under, as in other years when we had crops come in too early. We have lost many broccoli rabe plantings because an early May warm spell with lots of moisture can make this crop mature from a small plant into the fullest of flower heads in a week. Our concern now is that all our plantings will come in at once. How much lettuce can you eat in one week?
Even the insects are late this year. Usually the European Corn Borer (ECB) that causes us problems in the early sweet corn can be found in high numbers this time of year. We have been working with Cornell Cooperative Extension on their project to use parasitic wasps to control the ECB. The scientists and extension agents will be hosting a field day on the farm to show other farmers how to identify ECB and how to use the wasps as a natural control method. They want to postpone the field day until the end of June because we haven’t found any moths in the traps and we won’t be able to identify the eggs – two important means of scouting.
On another note: We will not deliver any strawberries this season. We lost them to the weeds. We did not replant them this year for next season’s crop after I did a cost analysis of how much one of those pints actually costs us to produce. To plant half an acre of strawberries
we buy $1,000 worth of plants. We fertilize the field with about 20 yards of compost, which costs about $600. We spend about $3,000 worth of labor on planting and weeding and use another $600 worth of straw to mulch the berries. Given what our average pay on the farm is, it costs about another $2,500 to pick 2,100 pints – and that is if we have a good year. Extra strawberries are picked mostly by the local members who benefit the most from this enterprise. But the wealth is not equally shared; while some of you bring a five-gallon bucket of strawberries home, most of you have to settle for two pints. Those two pints cost you almost $4.00 each. We have had years where you only received one pint, as one week of rain can wipe out all your berries. We know we can do a lot more with $8,000 than to produce one or two pints of strawberries per member. We have increased some other crops this spring, including another planting of broccoli and snow peas; and in the fall, we will add popcorn. When you eat the extra broccoli, or the new snow peas and popcorn, don’t think for one moment that they compare in any way to those delicious strawberries, but realize that we try hard to serve you with a good value for your investment in us.
Talking about money, we are definitely hurting from the rising gasoline prices. Our fuel expenses so far are at 200% of last year's rate. We also had to give our workers a raise, as they simply can no longer live on the wages we paid in 2007 with normal inflation. Inflation for folks like us is more like 15%, as most of our income goes to heating oil, gasoline, food, and insurance. We might need to consider the introduction of a voluntary surcharge if we get in trouble financially as the season goes on. I will put the emphasis on “voluntary,” as some of you are most likely in the same boat as us. We still hesitate – we don't like doing this, as we strive to live up to our commitments. One thing we have done this year is to buy replacement equipment with credit. This allows us to keep more money in the bank – but we have broken our own pledge to never borrow money for equipment. Buying equipment is not an investment, it is the cost of running a farm and equipment depreciates rapidly. Money borrowed from a bank for equipment has led to the downfall of many farmers. We have no intention of joining them, but given the zero percent offers from our local dealer and our need for cash, we have made an exception to the rule this year.
On a more cheery note, our crew this year is fantastic. We are all very much into our work and it is fun to be around such motivated people. Next week we will introduce you to them. ~Jean-Paul
We were also very disappointed with the first delivery, but at least we did not have to plow anything under, as in other years when we had crops come in too early. We have lost many broccoli rabe plantings because an early May warm spell with lots of moisture can make this crop mature from a small plant into the fullest of flower heads in a week. Our concern now is that all our plantings will come in at once. How much lettuce can you eat in one week?
Even the insects are late this year. Usually the European Corn Borer (ECB) that causes us problems in the early sweet corn can be found in high numbers this time of year. We have been working with Cornell Cooperative Extension on their project to use parasitic wasps to control the ECB. The scientists and extension agents will be hosting a field day on the farm to show other farmers how to identify ECB and how to use the wasps as a natural control method. They want to postpone the field day until the end of June because we haven’t found any moths in the traps and we won’t be able to identify the eggs – two important means of scouting.
On another note: We will not deliver any strawberries this season. We lost them to the weeds. We did not replant them this year for next season’s crop after I did a cost analysis of how much one of those pints actually costs us to produce. To plant half an acre of strawberries
we buy $1,000 worth of plants. We fertilize the field with about 20 yards of compost, which costs about $600. We spend about $3,000 worth of labor on planting and weeding and use another $600 worth of straw to mulch the berries. Given what our average pay on the farm is, it costs about another $2,500 to pick 2,100 pints – and that is if we have a good year. Extra strawberries are picked mostly by the local members who benefit the most from this enterprise. But the wealth is not equally shared; while some of you bring a five-gallon bucket of strawberries home, most of you have to settle for two pints. Those two pints cost you almost $4.00 each. We have had years where you only received one pint, as one week of rain can wipe out all your berries. We know we can do a lot more with $8,000 than to produce one or two pints of strawberries per member. We have increased some other crops this spring, including another planting of broccoli and snow peas; and in the fall, we will add popcorn. When you eat the extra broccoli, or the new snow peas and popcorn, don’t think for one moment that they compare in any way to those delicious strawberries, but realize that we try hard to serve you with a good value for your investment in us.
Talking about money, we are definitely hurting from the rising gasoline prices. Our fuel expenses so far are at 200% of last year's rate. We also had to give our workers a raise, as they simply can no longer live on the wages we paid in 2007 with normal inflation. Inflation for folks like us is more like 15%, as most of our income goes to heating oil, gasoline, food, and insurance. We might need to consider the introduction of a voluntary surcharge if we get in trouble financially as the season goes on. I will put the emphasis on “voluntary,” as some of you are most likely in the same boat as us. We still hesitate – we don't like doing this, as we strive to live up to our commitments. One thing we have done this year is to buy replacement equipment with credit. This allows us to keep more money in the bank – but we have broken our own pledge to never borrow money for equipment. Buying equipment is not an investment, it is the cost of running a farm and equipment depreciates rapidly. Money borrowed from a bank for equipment has led to the downfall of many farmers. We have no intention of joining them, but given the zero percent offers from our local dealer and our need for cash, we have made an exception to the rule this year.
On a more cheery note, our crew this year is fantastic. We are all very much into our work and it is fun to be around such motivated people. Next week we will introduce you to them. ~Jean-Paul
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Calendar of the Soul
The Calendar of the Soul are verses for each week of the year written by Rudolf Steiner. He wrote these verses to help the reader to become aware of how our soul life is connected to the natural cycle of the year. We read each week's verse every morning before we start the day. We read it in order to still our minds for a moment as we prepare ourselves for the coming day. We hope that as the year progresses the verses will help us remain connected to ourselves and to what is unfolding in the natural world.
The verses begin the week of April 7-13th. We are now in week 10.
Week 10, June 9 to June 15
To heights of summer skies
The radiant Being of the Sun arises;
It takes my human feeling
Into its own wide realms of space.
deep down and dimly I am made aware
that one day I shall know;
A divine-like being felt your presence there.
The verses begin the week of April 7-13th. We are now in week 10.
Week 10, June 9 to June 15
To heights of summer skies
The radiant Being of the Sun arises;
It takes my human feeling
Into its own wide realms of space.
deep down and dimly I am made aware
that one day I shall know;
A divine-like being felt your presence there.
Pick Your Own Strawberry Farms
Thompson Finch Farm: Ancram, NY (southern Columbia County) Organic Pick Your Own Strawberries and Raspberries and a Farm Stand. Always call ahead to check on picking conditions at 518-329-7578. For directions visit their website at www.thompsonfinch.com.
Indian Ladder Farms: Altamont, NY Pick Your Own Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, and Apples and a Farm Stand. Call ahead at (866) 640-PICK. For directions visit their website at www.indianladderfarms.com.
Stone Ridge Orchard, near New Paltz, NY Sustainably Grown Pick Your Own Strawberries, Pear, and Apples and a Farm Stand. Call ahead 845-687-4379 or visit their website at www.stoneridgeorchard.com
Samascott Orchards, Kinderhook, NY Pick Your Own Strawberries, Blueberries, and Sour Cherries. Call ahead at 518-758-7224 or visit their website at www.samascott.com.
Yonder Farms, Valatie, NY Pick Your Own Strawberries. Open most weekends during strawberry season. Roadside stand is on Route 9 just north of Valatie.
The Berry Farm, Kinderhook, NY Pick Your Own Strawberries and Blueberries and a Farm Store. Call for information at 518-392-4609
Indian Ladder Farms: Altamont, NY Pick Your Own Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, and Apples and a Farm Stand. Call ahead at (866) 640-PICK. For directions visit their website at www.indianladderfarms.com.
Stone Ridge Orchard, near New Paltz, NY Sustainably Grown Pick Your Own Strawberries, Pear, and Apples and a Farm Stand. Call ahead 845-687-4379 or visit their website at www.stoneridgeorchard.com
Samascott Orchards, Kinderhook, NY Pick Your Own Strawberries, Blueberries, and Sour Cherries. Call ahead at 518-758-7224 or visit their website at www.samascott.com.
Yonder Farms, Valatie, NY Pick Your Own Strawberries. Open most weekends during strawberry season. Roadside stand is on Route 9 just north of Valatie.
The Berry Farm, Kinderhook, NY Pick Your Own Strawberries and Blueberries and a Farm Store. Call for information at 518-392-4609
Monday, June 2, 2008
Farm Photos
Mike, Cara, and Luke laying floating row cover on the eggplants and peppers.
The Farm's Black Angus on pasture.
June 2nd Notes for Members
COMING NEXT WEEK (OUR BEST GUESS)
salad mix, braising mix, broccoli rabe, turnips, radishes, and arugula.
FRUIT SHARE: apples
COLD WEATHER NOTICE
The abnormally cold and dry spring has slowed the growth of the crops, resulting in a smaller share the first few weeks. While we have experienced some warm days, the nights have continually been in the low 40s. The crops need warm nights in order to continue to grow. While much of the farm is covered in floating row cover to increase the growing temperature it can only increase it a few degrees. The summer's crops look great under the row covers and will soon make up for the first few weeks of small deliveries. And with injury upon insult we were hammered last Saturday night with a hail storm that damaged some of the salad greens, spinach, onions, peas, early tomatoes and other crops that were not covered with row covers. We will be delivering some head lettuce from Markristo Farm to make up for the shortfall this week .
MEAT ORDERS
We have an assortment of cuts of lamb and pork sausage available for purchase. We have limited quantities of both so we apologize in advance if we can’t fill your order. Look for order forms at your pickup site or online at www.roxburyfarm.com. We will have an assortment of pork cuts and turkey available in the fall and, next spring, more lamb and our own grass-fed beef.
COOKING TIPS
We recommend that you wash and spin-dry the braising mix and store it in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Chop the braising mix and add it to sautéed onions and garlic. Place a lid on the pan and braise for 2 to 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
salad mix, braising mix, broccoli rabe, turnips, radishes, and arugula.
FRUIT SHARE: apples
COLD WEATHER NOTICE
The abnormally cold and dry spring has slowed the growth of the crops, resulting in a smaller share the first few weeks. While we have experienced some warm days, the nights have continually been in the low 40s. The crops need warm nights in order to continue to grow. While much of the farm is covered in floating row cover to increase the growing temperature it can only increase it a few degrees. The summer's crops look great under the row covers and will soon make up for the first few weeks of small deliveries. And with injury upon insult we were hammered last Saturday night with a hail storm that damaged some of the salad greens, spinach, onions, peas, early tomatoes and other crops that were not covered with row covers. We will be delivering some head lettuce from Markristo Farm to make up for the shortfall this week .
MEAT ORDERS
We have an assortment of cuts of lamb and pork sausage available for purchase. We have limited quantities of both so we apologize in advance if we can’t fill your order. Look for order forms at your pickup site or online at www.roxburyfarm.com. We will have an assortment of pork cuts and turkey available in the fall and, next spring, more lamb and our own grass-fed beef.
COOKING TIPS
We recommend that you wash and spin-dry the braising mix and store it in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Chop the braising mix and add it to sautéed onions and garlic. Place a lid on the pan and braise for 2 to 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Week 1 Newsletter
Welcome to the 2008 CSA season!
We had a good winter with many opportunities for reading some of the many books and articles people recommended to us. One book that really grabbed my attention is “The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl” by Timothy Egan. The book tells a story that places much of the responsibility for the dust bowl on the shoulders of the government’s agricultural policy and willful ignorance.
The dust bowl affected land in southern Nebraska, eastern Colorado, western Kansas, a corner of New Mexico, the panhandle of Oklahoma, and northern Texas. This land was a dry, flat, treeless grassland. Stephen Long, who explored this area in 1820 for the U.S. government, wrote “… I do not hesitate in giving the opinion that it is wholly uninhabitable by people depending upon agriculture for their subsistence.” The government disagreed; they wanted this area of the country settled in order to control it. Speculators began buying up land and tempting people to move west promising cheap land that would lead to great riches. The Department of Agriculture encouraged people to begin breaking up the sod and practice dry-land farming using the dust as mulch to encourage the seeds to germinate. The cowboys and ranchers who knew the land pleaded with the homesteaders and government agents to leave the land unplowed.
During World War I the prices for wheat skyrocketed. More and more land was plowed up for wheat. Towns appeared all over the West, propped up by speculation on wheat prices and land. Farmers saw their bank accounts growing on the high wheat prices and borrowed on it for more land and new equipment. Then the Great Depression hit and prices fell. The farmers borrowed more money to plow up more land to pay down their loans. The government gave the farmers loans to keep them on the land (which led to the giant subsidies that are part of our Farm Bill today). As the situation became hopeless, the rain stopped falling. Farms dried up and blew away.
In 1936 alone, more than 850 million tons of topsoil blew away and more than 100 million acres would never again be productive farmland. People were dying from dust pneumonia, their lungs filling with dirt. The only thing left to eat on many farms was the pickled roots of tumbleweed. Dust from Oklahoma blew into New York City and Washington, D.C. causing the street lights to turn on in the middle of the day. Roosevelt finally realized that the government’s policy of plowing up this area of the U.S. was nothing but folly. The government began to buy up farms and move the farmers to land better (con’t p.2)(letter con’t) suited to agriculture. They planned to purchase 75 million acres of land to return it to grass but only purchased 11.3 million acres. Even today some of the land is still sterile and drifting after 65 years of being left unplowed.
The book left me shocked and heartsick. Fertile soil is the heart of any farm. While I assume that most of the farmers in the dust bowl loved their land, they were misled and were naive about the harsh climatic conditions. They blindly trusted the government, not taking into consideration what the cowboys and Native Americans had experienced on the land for hundreds of years before them. Few of them asked the important questions.
The lessons of the dustbowl led to the creation of the conservation service. Farmers were assisted by grants to become better stewards of the land. But while we have come a long way to prevent soil erosion, we continue to embrace new ways of making our riches from the land. In some ways this story reminds me of the brazen introduction of GMO (genetically modified organisms). Again, many people blindly trust the government to protect us from harm. Most of the conventional corn and soybeans in this country have been genetically modified, as they are either Round Up-ready or resistant to insects. When we eat non-organic tofu, soy milk, corn chips, corn syrup, or anything containing non-organic soy or corn, we eat plants that have been spliced with genetic material from other species. The argument is that there is nothing wrong with this because it is largely a sped-up process of what might occur in nature over thousands of years.
What questions should we be asking today? What are the side effects of GMO crops? What happens to the people and animals that eat GMO crops? How many GMO genes find their way into wild plants and onto farms that don’t use GMO crops? And once this has happened, what are the long-term consequences? In my opinion, the modified genes that are finding their way into our wild plants and unmodified crop plants could become the next dust bowl. We have started down a path we might not be able to return from. Once the modified genes have changed the genetic makeup of certain wild plants (as they seem to be) we can’t just undo the damage. It took only a few years to blow the Western top soil away that took thousands of years to create. We are facing a similar dilemma with GMO; the plants on our planet have found their genetic makeup over the course of millions of years of evolution. We are about to change this in a few short years and we have no idea if we will ever be able to turn the clock back on it.
By joining a CSA, you know who grows your fruits and vegetables and who raises your grains and meats. With this we are quietly saying “no” to the government's and universities' willful ignorance on the use of GMO. But our quiet resistance might need to become more vocal, as this concerns not only ourselves but the generations that follow us. The unintended consequences of GMO are beginning to surface and we need to know what they are in order to strengthen our argument against them. The Nature Institute, which is about 20 minutes from the farm, in Harlemville, is publishing the research done on the unintended consequences of GMOs. You can read their studies on their website at www.natureinstitute.org or you can contact them at 518-672-0116 for paper copies of their reports. It is time to join our voices of protest with those of much of the rest of the world who refuse to use GMO crops until these questions are answered.
~Jody
We had a good winter with many opportunities for reading some of the many books and articles people recommended to us. One book that really grabbed my attention is “The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl” by Timothy Egan. The book tells a story that places much of the responsibility for the dust bowl on the shoulders of the government’s agricultural policy and willful ignorance.
The dust bowl affected land in southern Nebraska, eastern Colorado, western Kansas, a corner of New Mexico, the panhandle of Oklahoma, and northern Texas. This land was a dry, flat, treeless grassland. Stephen Long, who explored this area in 1820 for the U.S. government, wrote “… I do not hesitate in giving the opinion that it is wholly uninhabitable by people depending upon agriculture for their subsistence.” The government disagreed; they wanted this area of the country settled in order to control it. Speculators began buying up land and tempting people to move west promising cheap land that would lead to great riches. The Department of Agriculture encouraged people to begin breaking up the sod and practice dry-land farming using the dust as mulch to encourage the seeds to germinate. The cowboys and ranchers who knew the land pleaded with the homesteaders and government agents to leave the land unplowed.
During World War I the prices for wheat skyrocketed. More and more land was plowed up for wheat. Towns appeared all over the West, propped up by speculation on wheat prices and land. Farmers saw their bank accounts growing on the high wheat prices and borrowed on it for more land and new equipment. Then the Great Depression hit and prices fell. The farmers borrowed more money to plow up more land to pay down their loans. The government gave the farmers loans to keep them on the land (which led to the giant subsidies that are part of our Farm Bill today). As the situation became hopeless, the rain stopped falling. Farms dried up and blew away.
In 1936 alone, more than 850 million tons of topsoil blew away and more than 100 million acres would never again be productive farmland. People were dying from dust pneumonia, their lungs filling with dirt. The only thing left to eat on many farms was the pickled roots of tumbleweed. Dust from Oklahoma blew into New York City and Washington, D.C. causing the street lights to turn on in the middle of the day. Roosevelt finally realized that the government’s policy of plowing up this area of the U.S. was nothing but folly. The government began to buy up farms and move the farmers to land better (con’t p.2)(letter con’t) suited to agriculture. They planned to purchase 75 million acres of land to return it to grass but only purchased 11.3 million acres. Even today some of the land is still sterile and drifting after 65 years of being left unplowed.
The book left me shocked and heartsick. Fertile soil is the heart of any farm. While I assume that most of the farmers in the dust bowl loved their land, they were misled and were naive about the harsh climatic conditions. They blindly trusted the government, not taking into consideration what the cowboys and Native Americans had experienced on the land for hundreds of years before them. Few of them asked the important questions.
The lessons of the dustbowl led to the creation of the conservation service. Farmers were assisted by grants to become better stewards of the land. But while we have come a long way to prevent soil erosion, we continue to embrace new ways of making our riches from the land. In some ways this story reminds me of the brazen introduction of GMO (genetically modified organisms). Again, many people blindly trust the government to protect us from harm. Most of the conventional corn and soybeans in this country have been genetically modified, as they are either Round Up-ready or resistant to insects. When we eat non-organic tofu, soy milk, corn chips, corn syrup, or anything containing non-organic soy or corn, we eat plants that have been spliced with genetic material from other species. The argument is that there is nothing wrong with this because it is largely a sped-up process of what might occur in nature over thousands of years.
What questions should we be asking today? What are the side effects of GMO crops? What happens to the people and animals that eat GMO crops? How many GMO genes find their way into wild plants and onto farms that don’t use GMO crops? And once this has happened, what are the long-term consequences? In my opinion, the modified genes that are finding their way into our wild plants and unmodified crop plants could become the next dust bowl. We have started down a path we might not be able to return from. Once the modified genes have changed the genetic makeup of certain wild plants (as they seem to be) we can’t just undo the damage. It took only a few years to blow the Western top soil away that took thousands of years to create. We are facing a similar dilemma with GMO; the plants on our planet have found their genetic makeup over the course of millions of years of evolution. We are about to change this in a few short years and we have no idea if we will ever be able to turn the clock back on it.
By joining a CSA, you know who grows your fruits and vegetables and who raises your grains and meats. With this we are quietly saying “no” to the government's and universities' willful ignorance on the use of GMO. But our quiet resistance might need to become more vocal, as this concerns not only ourselves but the generations that follow us. The unintended consequences of GMO are beginning to surface and we need to know what they are in order to strengthen our argument against them. The Nature Institute, which is about 20 minutes from the farm, in Harlemville, is publishing the research done on the unintended consequences of GMOs. You can read their studies on their website at www.natureinstitute.org or you can contact them at 518-672-0116 for paper copies of their reports. It is time to join our voices of protest with those of much of the rest of the world who refuse to use GMO crops until these questions are answered.
~Jody
Sunday, June 1, 2008
CSA Deliveries Begin this Week!
Welcome to the 2008 CSA season! The first CSA deliveries will begin this week (the week of June 1st) on your regular delivery day. The share will be smaller than normal due to the abnornally cold weather we are experiencing this spring. While we have had some nice warm days the night temperatures have continually stayed in the 40's. The crops need warm night temperatures to increase their growth rate. Most of the farm is covered in floating row covers to help keep the crops warm but they can only increase the temperature a few degrees. The summer crops are looking great and will make up for the smaller shares you will receive this week and next week. We thank you for patience.
The weekly farm newsletter and important updates will be posted each week on our blog on Monday evenings. Check back regularly to keep in touch with the activities on the farm.
The weekly farm newsletter and important updates will be posted each week on our blog on Monday evenings. Check back regularly to keep in touch with the activities on the farm.
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