Shifting Seasons

What a journey the past few years have been. At the end of this last growing season, I decided to leave the farm, after about 3 years of pursuing a dream. There were many things I loved about the experiences I had, but ultimately, it became unsustainable for me trying to run it all by myself, and then financially. I went back to my old job as a caregiver, where regular hours and a steady paycheck feel really nice for a change. The thing I loved the most about organic farming was the lifestyle and the ethic that centered around community, healing and artistic craftsmanship. I still love it. As I work my ‘day job’, I hope to continue to pursue this dream, even though it’s going to look much different for the time being. I want to continue with this blog, and share my journey.

In 2012 I began my adventure into organic farming. I had moved home to Chicago from Kansas City the previous summer, where some of the key events in my life had been watching the film Food, Inc. with a roommate, and a season I spent going out to a farm outside KC, called Our Father’s Farm (harvesthome.org), learning and receiving inner healing ministry. They taught participants how to use their imaginations to encounter Jesus and receive healing for past pain. Those experiences transformed my life and set me on a new course. I fell in love with healing ministry and felt that the healing of the body through clean, nutritious food served within the context of vibrant community naturally would go hand in hand with spiritual and emotional healing. I was already an artist by training and temperament; I loved nature, animals, working with my hands to create and build things. I loved to create environments (usually my home) that were beautiful and lifegiving, for people to feel safe, welcomed, loved.

I began to read everything I could find about homesteading, DIY living, sustainability, etc. I also began to read books and watch lectures by a beyond-organic farmer in Virginia, named Joel Salatin, who is the patriarch of a family farm called Polyface. I was inspired by his description of his farm as a farm ministry where they were seeking to heal people, heal the land and heal the economy. I applied for their internship program, which they joke is harder to get into than Yale. I was one of about 50 people chosen to come out to the farm for a two day try out in December 2012, being interviewed and working with the family; from that group they chose about 8 people to offer the four month internships to. I wasn’t one of the chosen, but wow, that experience is near the top of my list of things I’ve had the honor and privilege of being able to do.

Earlier that same year, I had found a family that ran a raw milk dairy, in the middle of the Chicago suburbs, about 25 minutes from my house. I had walked in off the street one day and asked them if I could come out and help them, and learn to milk. I think they had a skeptical look when they said ok, and told me where and when to show up. I showed up right on time, and the first thing the old farmer who would eventually become my boss said to me was-‘So, you want to be a farmer, huh? Well, there’s this romantic notion about life in the country. We’ll see how long you last. A week, two, we’ll see.’ And then, ‘Do you have any experience with animals? Goats? Sheep? No… Well, I guess we get you fresh then…’ He handed me a brush and said, here, you can brush this cow. If you keep coming, we’ll give you little things to do, and see how it goes. I left afterwards thinking, wow, I better show up on time, every day, because I’m going to have to prove myself. He’s going to have me brushing cows for like a month… So I showed up on time the next day, and he put me back, brushing cows. His wife was milking on the other side of the shed, and said, why don’t you show her how to milk one? He said ok, showed me what to do, and I did what he told me. He said, you’ve never done that before? And then to his wife, I can train her! Then I can retire! Ha! So from that point on, I showed up, Monday thru Friday, at afternoon chore time, and Rick and Kelly taught me how to milk cows. By the next week, I was in charge of milking the cows on one side of the shed, while Kelly milked the ones on her side. Rick began to teach me about farming, cows and milk. I would go home each day with about half a gallon of the most delicious milk I had ever tasted. They ran a business out of their home where they sold $10 a gallon milk to about 400 families. I continued to volunteer when they moved their herd of about 20 guernsey cows further out into the country for better pasture and better facilities. Then, in November, when the young man who they had hired first quit, they offered me the job. So I packed up my life in the suburbs and moved with my dog and kitten into a insulation-less late 1800 farmhouse to live on a farm 20 minutes west of DeKalb IL and milk cows, at 6 am and pm, seven days a week.

To be continued…

 

Seedlings in the Greenhouse

Lots of seedlings are growing nicely in the greenhouse. We’ve got peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces, onions, pac choi, cabbage, fennel, etc.

There are still lots of shares left, if you are considering joining this season.

Newsletter

This year I intend to share a weekly newsletter with farm updates, CSA box contents, recipe ideas, etc.
Here is the first issue…
Enjoy!
PB newsletter (click to download)

2014 Season Photos

February update

When will this cold go away?? Anyway, things keep moving forward here at the farm. The onions are growing and in the next two weeks I’ll be seeding eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower and lettuces. Also, the Khaki Campbell ducks I ordered arrived with minimal losses and are now happy and lively in their new home in the spare bedroom. Look for duck eggs coming sometime around July.

Cookbooks!

I love to cook and I love vegetables, but sometimes I get bored or fall into a rut of making the same veggies the same way over and over. I think one of the impediments to eating and/or enjoy eating vegetables for many people (and also figuring out what to do with everything in the CSA share box, especially if it’s unfamiliar) is not knowing how to cook them in interesting or appealing ways. Now, I know we’re still months away from taking home the first share (can you tell I’m excited? 🙂 ), but aside from seed shopping and crop planning, I don’t have a whole lot to do, so this week I’ve been at the bookstore and the library looking for CSA/Farmer’s Market themed cookbooks to recommend to help you use your shares this summer. I’ve found a handful that I’m excited to share with you and try myself.
Do you have a favorite cookbook? A favorite vegetable recipe?

Vegetable Literacy
http://www.amazon.com/Vegetable-Literacy-Gardening-Families-Deliciously-ebook/dp/B009FKTV7O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390950975&sr=8-1&keywords=vegetable+literacy
This is a beautiful cookbook with lots of delicious looking recipes. It’s organized by vegetable with a description and advice about how to store and use each vegetable. Then it has a few pages of recipes that feature that vegetable.

Fast, Fresh & Green by Susie Middleton
http://www.amazon.com/Fast-Fresh-Green-Susie-Middleton-ebook/dp/B004BXA3J0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390971119&sr=8-1&keywords=fast+fresh+and+green
This is a great cookbook, with recipes organized by cooking method, like roasting, grilling, braising, etc. I like this one because the author shares a lot of information about how use different cooking techniques, which helps add variety and creativity to my cooking.

From Asparagus to Zucchini-a guide to cooking farm fresh seasonal produce by FairShare CSA Coalition
http://www.amazon.com/From-Asparagus-Zucchini-Farm-Fresh-Seasonal/dp/061523013X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390969960&sr=8-1&keywords=from+asparagus+to+zucchini
This cookbook is geared toward using CSA shares, so it contains recipes from various CSA’s around the country, and it’s organized by vegetable. It explains how to store and use each vegetable. This one also has essays about the importance and benefits of sustainable agriculture.

Update

Hi! Here’s a quick update on what I’m up to as I prepare for the upcoming season. I placed the first order for seeds yesterday. There are onions, beets, potatoes, broccoli, kale, fennel, lettuce, among others. In about 2 weeks I’ll begin seeding onions.
I’m also beginning to hunt for CSA/Farmer’s Market themed cookbooks. I want to be able to recommend recipes and cookbooks to help you use your shares each week, and even discover new, creative and delicious ways to prepare your veggies. I’ll let you know what I find!
Also, remember you have until February 15th to get your sign up and full payment in if you would like to take advantage of the early bird discount.

New-Elgin Dropsite-Update 1/23

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that I am adding a dropsite in the Elgin area for this season. So if you live in or around Elgin, you can get your share delivered to Elgin. Exact time and location to be determined… If you would like to have your share delivered to Elgin, just write that in the comment section or the bottom of the sign up slip when you send it in.
Thanks! I’m so excited for this season!
I have a time and location for this drop site…
The Elgin pick up will be on Thursdays from 5-7pm in the Community Crisis Center parking lot at 37 South Geneva St, Elgin IL 60120

Erin

Adventures in Fermentation

The dead of winter is upon us here in Chicago, and since the fields are frozen and snow covered, I’m dreaming of greener and warmer days and finding creative things to do indoors. Recently I’ve been exploring fermentation, especially beverages. I have brewed kombucha in the past, and tried kefir, although that quickly overwhelmed me with its demands for more and more milk each day. I’m particularly interested in fermented beverages because I don’t buy soda, and try not to drink it much, even though I like the taste. So that left me with coffee, water and milk. Coffee and milk aren’t good for thirst quenching, and I get tired of plain water. I read that you could make homemade alternatives to soda, which sounded promising. Then I learned that they have awesome health benefits, and I was sold.

What is fermentation?
Fermentation is a method of food preservation that converts sugars and starches into lactic acid, and prevents spoilage. Also known as lacto-fermentation, this process has been used to preserve food and even enhance its nutrition for thousands of years. Almost all cultures have some type of traditional fermented food, showing that humans have a long history of using fermentation to preserve our food. So it’s kind of a strange experiment we are all engaged in, in the modern industrial world, where our diets are almost entirely devoid of traditionally fermented foods. Many familiar foods now factory produced were originally fermented-ketchup, mustard, relishes, pickles, slaws, ginger ale. But the fermentation process doesn’t transfer well to the industrial food production system that mass produces the majority of our food today. Companies found ways to produce foods on a large scale, often using high fructose corn syrup or vinegar as a preservative, instead of lactic acid produced naturally through fermentation, and pasteurization, which ensures food safety on a large scale by killing all microbes and bacteria, good and bad. but also nullifying the health promoting qualities of the original living foods. Almost all fruits and vegetables naturally have lactic acid producing bacteria on their surfaces… they only need appropriate direction to be successfully fermented and preserved.

Why is it good for you?
Lacto fermented foods contain lactobacilli bacteria that preserve the nutrients and enzymes in food in addition to promoting the proliferation of good bacteria in the intestines. Eating fermented foods on a regular basis can help keep your gut flora healthy, which helps suppress pathogenic microbes that cause sickness and infections. Healthy gut flora also increase the amount of nutrients your body is able to absorb from your food. Lacto fermentation enhances the vitamin and mineral content of many vegetables, and their digestibility. For instance, fermented cabbage has more vitamin C than plain cabbage. They are excellent foods that are almost entirely absent from the modern western industrial diet. Traditionally, they were eaten in small amounts with foods that are difficult to digest, such as meat. In the days before refrigeration, fermentation was a way to preserve food that didn’t require energy or complicated ingredients.

Lacto fermented beverages are very refreshing, slightly bubbly and range from tart to a little sweet. Some athletes even drink them as recovery beverages after workouts, because they contain electrolytes that replenish mineral ions lost through perspiration without the artificial ingredients, not to mention live enzymes, vitamins, minerals and beneficial bacteria.

How do you do it?

Kombucha
Kombucha is a Chinese fermented tea.

Ingredients
Kombucha SCOBY (order online or get one from somebody who already brews kombucha) and starter liquid

6-8 tea bags ONLY plain oolong, white or black tea; don’t use herbal teas…
about 1 gal water
about 1 cup sugar

Boil about a quart of water, add the tea bags and dissolve the sugar, let it steep until the tea is strong. Add cold water to make a bit less than a gallon, and cool the tea down. Remove the tea bags and add the sweet tea to a glass jar with the starter and SCOBY. I like to use sun tea jars because they have a spigot that make it easy to brew continuously. Cover the jar loosely with the lid, place it out of direct sunlight, at room temperature for a week or more. Taste a little periodically it tastes the way you like. The longer you brew it, the more sour it will get. You can do a second fermentation and experiment with different flavors by bottling finished kombucha in another bottle and adding fruit juice or purees or herbs. I like strawberry, guava, lemon, ginger.

Ginger Ale/Ginger Beer
This doesn’t taste just like store bought ginger ale, it’s more tart

Ingredients
14 tsp grated fresh ginger
14 tsp sugar
1 ½ cups water
10 + 20 cups water
3 cups sugar

Make a ‘bug’- In a mason jar set out at room temperature, mix 2 tsp ginger and 2 tsp sugar in 1 ½ cups of water. Shake to dissolve and tighten the lid. Add 2 more tsp ginger and sugar every day for 7 days, shaking each time. The bug should be fizzy on day 7.

Boil 10 cups water, dissolve 3 cups sugar (turbinado, rapadura, coconut sugar, etc) Add 20 cups of cold water, ¼ cup lemon or lime juice and the liquid from the bug. Mix it together, then bottle it. I put it in pint or quart mason jars, filling it up to about an inch from the top, and then close the lid tightly. Leave out at room temperature for 7 days (or more) before drinking. Store in a cool place.

http://www.backtoedenfilm.com/

I wanted to share this link for this film I watched recently. It’s really fascinating.