Cilantro Chutney

The cilantro is starting to come on, and if you are not familiar with it, it's commonly used in Mexican inspired cooking and salsas. Here is a great recipe to utilize this delicious fresh herb. This goes well with rice and chicken or garbanzo beans.
CILANTRO CHUTNEY
fresh cilantro- 2 cups
apples, cored with skins on-1 small
raisins-1/8 cup
cumin- pinch
coriander- pinch
black pepper-pinch
hot pepper-pinch
salt-pinch
vinegar- 2 tsp
Buzz it all up in a food processor.

Garden Update And July Garden Day

Greetings Folks,

We'd like to thank everyone for all of their help these past weeks.
The gardens are looking great and we are on our way towards another productive season.
There is way too much to report on in detail but in a nutshell the major planting is behind us. All of the hot crops are in the ground as are the fall potatoes, lots of potatoes. The 6 varieties of dry beans are up and doing well. The local crow population did their best to eradicate the initial seeding of corn. Because of this we had to replant and cover with floating row cover. Not the most practical prescription for a large planting but certainly helpful.
The late brassicas are in their nursery bed and under row cover waiting to be transplanted in early July.

Formal harvest and distribution is just around the corner. This will happen once we have a critical mass of harvestable veggies. Until then we encourage you to come by often for a fresh picking of greens, herbs, flowers and eggs. As more food starts to come in we will offer it immediately. Stay tuned for more details.

Because the first Saturday in July falls on the 4th we will have the formal garden day on the 11th of July. We will still be in the garden on the fourth most likely harvesting etc..

As you can see from the photos, besides Jim's overactive sweat glands, we now have a yurt. Many thanks go to Louise and crew for all of their generosity and hard effort in making this a reality. The yurt will be used as seasonal housing for guests and as a communal space for farm events and gatherings. We still have some detailing to do but even so it is already a wonderful addition to our project.
Thanks again!

As always stay in touch and please feel comfortable in expressing your thoughts and ideas.

Keep On Keepin' On

Garden Days

Hey Folks,

This week saw another flurry of planting and progress on the farm.
On Friday with the help of a couple of dedicated SLU students we planted more fall bearing raspberries, two more beds of raspberries, two peach trees touted as being hardy down to -25 degrees, 2 chinese chestnuts and we inoculated the mulch around the currants and rhubarb with mushroom spawn. This week we will inoculate more mushie logs adding to the logs prepped last fall. The logs will sit on a crib over the creek on the way to the house. The farm is taking shape to be a virtual eden of diversity.
All of the early brassicas are in and under row cover.

These next weeks will be quite busy prepping for the hot crops set to go in at the end of the month.
If anyone is interested in coming out to the farm on the next couple of saturdays your help will be greatly appreciated.
The word for the next weeks is mulch! mulch! mulch!
We will be in the garden from 8am until noonish.
These days will be a brown bag lunch arrangement, aka b.y.o.

Our first 'First Saturday" workday will be on June 6th.
This will be a potluck. We will start at 8;30am and break for lunch around 12:30ish.
Unfortunately this day falls just after when we will be planting the bulk of tomatoes etc..
But there will still be plenty to do. We will most likely plant corn and beans on this day, weather permitting of course.

We will send out another reminder just prior to the 6th.
We wish everyone a great May and hope to see you in the garden soon.

take good care and stay in touch

Garden Update

Greetings Folks,

We haven't had as much computer time of late so apologies for the lack of updates.
The gardens are really taking shape.
In the last weeks we have planted spinach, radishes, carrots, parsnips, burdock, lettuce, storage onions and leeks. The celeriac and early brassicas are poised to go in this week.
We have also been busy prepping and planting 3 new strawberry beds. These beds are situated right next door to the rhubarb.
We have expanded the asparagus beds and now have over 300 ft planted and mulched.
With the help of a very sturdy bicycle trailer we purchased last fall (it will haul over 300lbs), we have been acquiring manure/bedding from the SLU stables and excitedly mulching the raspberries and blueberries.
This is a fun trip to and from town.
If anyone is interested in joining in on one of these pedal runs you should let us know.
We also planted 24 more fruit trees (apples, pears and plums)These too were transported via bicycle from St Lawrence Nurseries in Potsdam.
On this trip we also brought back 3 chickens. It was quite the load.

You may have noticed another major chunk of ground freshly broken.
This land will be planted with winter squash, potatoes and corn later this month.

Please remember that there are eggs in the large fridge in the front outbuilding.
Take them as you like. The overwintered spinach is sizing up and will be ready for cutting soon. This will be on a you pick basis (with our help). The same will go for the early asparagus.

We will be in touch soon regarding the details for the first of our "first saturday workdays" on June 6th.

Thanks and stay in touch.

What is Food For Thought all about?

Our garden project is an intimate and experimental experience with roots in
community, subsistence agriculture, education and activism.
Based on the CSA model, we offer an immersion into small scale and almost
entirely human powered food production.
Our central theme is to produce a wide variety of food during our short growing season
and then employ traditional methods of preservation to allow for a healthy and diverse
year-round diet comprised of local foods.

Hi Folks,

Despite the flurries in the air and the sugar snow on the ground, the outdoor gardening season is right around the corner. We began seeding plants indoors in early march and all are doing well. We have been hosting students on Saturdays and working on projects such as boiling sap, stacking firewood, doing seed inventories, cleaning tools etc..
By now most of you have responded to our offering for 2009. We appreciate your commitment to the project.
In the next week or so we will be digging spring parsnips and distributing them shortly thereafter. We have eggs available in the small fridge in the front outbuilding. You should feel comfortable in helping yourself.
We will regularly update the blog with all the news that's fit to print and probably some that's not. You can be the judge.
Please bear with us as we go forward with our dream to be part of a community farm. Managing personal lives while living and working in such a public way is just one of the many challenges community farms face. We appreciate everyones patience and understanding.
We are looking forward to this season for many reasons. We hope you are as well.
Please stay in touch, we sure will.

bob and val

Hi Folks,

As we turn the page on another year it is with gratitude that we look back at this past growing season.
The months have come and gone but the garden still feeds us in many ways.

As we think about how the next chapter might read it would be extremely helpful to us
to hear your thoughts regarding what the garden project has meant to you
and what it might mean to you into the future.

Thanks for taking part in the experiment known as Food For Thought.

Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year.

Bob and Valerie

Popcorn Instructions

Hi Folks,

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

We have tested the popcorn and it is ready for popping.
If you haven't already, you could strip the ears free of the kernels either
all at once or in single batch amounts.
If you are new to popping corn on the stove you will need a sauce pan and oil or
butter, we use canola or palm oil. Cover the bottom of the pot with oil/butter and sprinkle in the kernels, not too much, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan and a little more.
The stove should be on high heat and once you hear the popping start you should continually move the pan until most of the popping has stopped. Add salt, nutritional yeast or any of your favorite seasonings. Let us know if you have any questions or comments.

Enjoy!

Garden Update

As the garden continues to wind down, we will distribute roots in bulk as we dig them.
The temperature has dropped enough that storage should not be an issue.
As long as you continue to cull out on a regular basis you should be able to keep on top of any natural spoilage.
Once the roots are out and distributed, fresh greens will be on a "you pick" basis and formal distribution will end. We will give you a heads up when the time comes.

The last of the chickens will be distributed next Wednesday. We will be in touch to organize delivery.
The beef will be processed in late November and will be distributed shortly there after.
All of the turkeys will be butchered on the Monday before Thanksgiving and distributed on Tuesday the 25th. Those wanting a bird for Thanksgiving will be all set and those that do not can either piece or freeze their turkeys whole.
If you have any questions give a shout.

Popcorn and...

Hey Folks,

The popcorn we passed out today could still use some additional curing.
We'd suggest hanging it in your pantry or another dry area awhile longer.
As time goes on, we will pop a few test batches and keep you posted on it's readiness.
Saturday folks will see it in their baskets this weekend.

We also started to distribute brussel sprouts today. Although we've had better success in the past they should still prove to be quite tasty. Plus, there are still quite a few plants in the field.

Can you please let us know if you are up for winter storage cabbage?
As much as we like it, we have heard from a few of you that it's not at the top of your wish list.
Regardless of any previous conversation, please let us know if you are interested or not.

The hogs and lamb are off for processing. We should have most of it back sometime next week.
Please prepare your freezers etc.. Everything will already be wrapped for freezing. We'll be giving you a heads up as soon as we here something further.

Any questions, please don't hesitate to give a holler.

Garden Day Ruminations

We can't think of a better way to spend an October morning then in the garden with friends. Thank you all so much for making days like yesterday possible.
Our collective effort and attitude is a rarity within most food production systems.
While most producers look forward to the completion of the season, I can honestly say that I am
having trouble letting go. Athough there is still plenty of food to be brought in, it's hard to deny that in due time this years garden will be but a memory. However, our relationships will continue to live on and grow.
Fortunately for us the line between one season and the next is blurred even further by the shared security of our winter stores.
So, as we continue to tuck the garden in for its well deserved rest, we are in the position to not only reminisce about this past season, but we can also keep a hopeful eye on spring.
This idea is best illustrated through the fall planting of garlic and shallots. At a time when most vegetation is on the wane, the first of next years crops goes in the ground. The passing of one season and the start of another happens in such elegant fashion that you start to understand that there is no beginning and there is no end. All there is... is us and our connection to this most amazing cycle.

Garden Day October 4th

Apologies for the late reminder. We will be meeting in the garden at 9am for the October "First Saturday Garden Day".
The tasks at hand will be garden clean up, prepping for garlic planting, and harvest.
We will provide a hardy soup. Please bring a side dish, bread or dessert.
A note about upcoming harvests- in light of the recent frosts there will be a lull in garden offerings.
We will continue to offer copious amounts of greens for fresh eating and freezing until we start to harvest the storage crops. We will begin digging once the weather cools off a bit more consistently.
This will hopefully allow root cellars to cool off enough for optimal storage conditions.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us.

Pie Pumpkins

Your pie pumpkins should store well for a while if kept in a dry, airy place around 50-60 degrees. Store apart from apples, which give off gas and will speed the ripening (and then spoilage) of anything else that's sitting close.
If you don't have the ideal spot to store your pumpkins, I'd suggest freezing the cooked pulp. I freeze pumpkin in the quantity called for in recipes I commonly use- pie, muffins, bread, soup. Do it all at once for efficiency. To cook, cut the pumpkins open, scoop seeds, and quarter. Set in a large pot with a steamer basket in the bottom and water just about touching the basket. Steam until soft and allow to cool a bit. Scrape pulp from skin. Measure and place in a freezer conainer or freezer bag with the quantity written on it. When you need some, pull it at least a day in advance to defrost.

Food - A Perishable and Preservable Product

A couple of things regarding some of your food going by. Part of the experience known as FFT is to better appreciate the challenges of being not only a consumer of local, seasonal produce but to also experience some of the challenges associated with being a producer.
One of the responsibilities that may be new to some of you is the post harvest handling of produce.
Within most of agriculture, all post harvest handling is done by the grower and retailer. The consumer sees and buys only the best, already graded and cured product. The items that do not make it through this process and to market are either fed out, sold at discount, diverted to the canning industry, left to rot in the field, or composted.
Our project offers the opportunity to let very little go to waste, thus maximizing effort and resources.
So don't be surprised when things start to go by. A percentage always does and always will.
The trick is to manage these percentages the best we can. Starting with recommended varieties for our region with storage quality, and following that with proper curing techniques and optimal storage conditions will help us manage this process effectively.
Now, this is not to say that there aren't factors out of everyones control. Consider our wet summer. Frequent showers and the lack of sun during crucial periods, such as when alliums are finishing in the field, can make curing and storage difficult and in some cases impossible.
The real safety net in this system is continual quality control and the willingness to eat and or process those things that need to be used first.
In most realms of agriculture, the inherent risk of handling a perishable product is left to the producers and sellers. Operating on speculation, they have little option when faced with spoilage.
At least in our case, we can still eat the unmarketable.
There is usually a way to deal with any item that is starting to go by, either individually or in mass. If you are having trouble in dealing with anything in particular, don't hesitate to ask for some assistance in coming up with a solution for preservation.
Thanks for doing your part.

Remember when....?

Garden Update

We'd like to thank everyone for a job well done yesterday in addition to the great potluck fare and good company!
So many hands, such varied tasks and so much good food.

It is hard to believe that our next "garden day" on October 4th will have us kicking off the next growing season with the planting of the garlic and shallots. How time flies.

A couple of items worth mentioning, it looks as if the fall broccoli and cauliflower are not doing any better than the spring planted crop. The cause is not exactly known. If the other brassicas weren't faring well we would have more of an idea. But the cabbage and related family members are all doing well so it may just not be our year for broccoli and cauliflower. Reports from around the area have also shown mixed results. If you are dead set on freezing broccoli and cauliflower, we suggest you source some from another producer.

The swine and lamb will be headed for processing in early October. If you haven't made your necessary freezer arrangements, we suggest you do so soon.

We will still have edamame soybeans this week. Please let us know if you would like more for either fresh eating and or processing. They will be done for this season by next Saturday.

You may want to check your garlic. We have noticed some soft bulbs. The wet summer may have compromised the storage quality. So processing in oil may be necessary sooner rather than later.
Periodic checking of your storage crops is an on-going task. This is the best way to stay in tune with what you need to use first, etc..

If you need any further instruction or have any questions or concerns please get in touch with us.

Salsa Roja y Salsa Verde

This site contains two of my favorite salsa recipes that are specifically for canning.
http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_e/e-323.html


I sometimes add some corn to the Tomato Salsa (with paste tomatoes) recipe and substitute green tomatoes for some of the tomatillos in the Tomatillo Green Salsa if there aren't enough ripe tomatillos ready when it's time to can. Let us know if you plan to make the green salsa and we can throw in a few green tomatoes when you get your tomatillos, which will come to you like the paste tomatoes- you will get yours as they come on, so not everyone will get them at the same time.
Concerning cilantro, the planting that was timed to be ready along with the tomatoes for salsa is producing beautifully. However, the rainy late summer delayed the tomatoes from ripening when expected. So...they are out of synch! So if you plan to make salsa, we'd suggest freezing some in the quantity needed for your recipe of choice. Here’s how to save Cilantro: Freeze chopped leaves in a flat layer in a plastic zip-lock bag. Do not wash prior to freezing. Remove air, seal, and freeze. Do not thaw before use. To use fresh, wrap cilantro in a damp towel or stand upright in a container with an inch of water, and refrigerate.

First Saturday Workday

Hey Folks - Just a reminder about our next garden day on September 6th at 9am. We will continue the trend of sharing in a potluck lunch afterwards. We are planning on roasting a small turkey and will also provide a bean dish.
The tasks at hand will be the regular Saturday harvest(starting at 8am for the regulars), stripping the dry beans from the plants, weeding, planting another round of fall greens, digging potatoes and whatever else might need attention. Looking forward to seeing you then.

A Soup'er Idea

If it seems you still have some odds and ends of veggies left when it's time to pick up again, OR, if you just want to be able to savor some of summer's glory in the wintertime, you may want to make a pot of soup and freeze it (or pressure can, not waterbath can) in portions that can be thawed for a meal. We often just make a simple vegetable, bean, or chicken soup and then when we pull it from the freezer or pantry, add a cooked grain, noodles or potatoes to make it a meal.

Odd tomatoes, greens like kale or chard, carrots, celery, zucchini, or peppers are great additions to a soup pot.

Edamame Soybeans - Freezing Instructions

The attached site gives helpful instructions (with pictures) for blanching and freezing edamame soybeans. We use recycled yogurt containers instead of plastic bags.
Beans can be removed from their pods after freezing if a particular recipe calls for just the beans. We usually eat them lightly salted right from the pod.

http://agsyst.wsu.edu/blanching_edamame.html