Newsletter #14 – September 18, 2013

Conte  nts of Share

• heirloom tomato mix (~3 pounds) – pinkish=brandywine, big red=cosmonaut volkov, small red=luci, yellow-orange=jubilee
• green bell pepper
• hot pepper mix – Thai hot/birdseye, cayenne (1 bag)
• summer squash and/or zucchini (1-2)
• brussel sprouts (7/8 pounds)
• beet greens (1/3 pound)
• lacinato kale (1 bunch)
• collard greens (1 bunch)
• carrots (1 bunch)
• dill with heads (1 bunch)
• dozen eggs or sprouts

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Final chicken processing of the year, September 21, 7:30am-1, followed by a hearty farm lunch.  We are looking for volunteers.  Please let us know if you are interested.
• If you ordered chickens… Delivery of frozen birds will be coming with your share next Wednesday, September 25.  Please be prepared to freeze or refrigerate your birds immediately, or leave a cooler for us.  Those of you picking up can come to the farm anytime after 1pm.
• We need volunteers to help put up our greenhouse.  Please email or call me to coordinate. (518) 229-1339
• We are looking for your old bed sheets.  No more pillow cases please.  Any sizes. We harvest greens into clean, wet sheets for optimum freshness.  If you have ones you are getting rid of, we are happy to adopt them as long as they are not excessively ripped.
• Fall Gathering for CSA shareholder and Soul Fire friends. Work morning and potluck.  Monday, October 14. 8-1: work time.  1-3: potluck lunch This is a day schools have off, so we thought we take the opportunity to invite you and your families to the farm for a morning of helping out with a project, and an afternoon potluck.  Meet some of the other folks that our food goes to. We will send out an email shortly with more details.
• RETURN YOUR BOXES.  You can leave all these items where you get your share and we will retrieve them each week.
• WASHING YOUR VEGGIES.  We do not extensively wash veggies before delivering them to you.  We will do some washing if there is a lot of dirt on greens and we always wash root crops.  In general, this allows the food to stay fresher longer.  It also means you need to wash your veggies before consuming them.  For greens: fill a bowl with cold water.  Soak greens in water for a minute.  Drain water and repeat two more times.  Dirt will rinse to the bottom.  Bugs should float to the top.

• We are still looking for a delivery van for next season that will accomidate our continued expansion.  If you have any leads on something efficient, in decent shape, and affordable, please let us know!
• If you are a shareholder, you have the option of volunteering 5 hours over the course of the season in exchange for an additional week of food in the fall.  Be in touch to schedule your work with us.
• All of our newsletters are archived on our website, along with lots more, including educational resources and recipes.

Food Justice News – This is a beautiful feature interview Leah did for the Gastrognomes, the blog of Good Food Jobs, where we publicize our internship program.

Leah’s honesty takes our breath away. These days, even as the internet has allowed folks to pour their hearts out more freely than every before, nothing is more inspiring than hearing someone speak their truth. The real key to resonating with your audience is not only expressing honesty, but opening yourself up to vulnerability. Which is exactly what being a farmer means: doing what you love and being vulnerable to the earth.

My husband and I created Soul Fire Farm from the bare earth. We purchased 73 acres in winter 2006 with the savings set aside from my teaching. There was no home, road, well, septic, and only 6 inches of topsoil. Over the years, we put in the hard work and tears required to build our solar, straw bale home and build the soil so it could sustain a crop. We are now in our 3rd market year, having doubled production each year. We have managed to stay “in the black” each year, with money to reinvest into infrastructure. In 2014, we look forward to being able to provide a modest income for two co-managers.   

I am my own biggest obstacle. My impatience, anxiety, and fear have been impediments to living fully actualized in each moment. I certainly have considered quitting – why work so hard for so little material gain? Why struggle when it seems like so many around us are relaxing and letting life pass by? Small windows into the difference we are making in the world have helped me persevere. A shareholder reminds us that if not for our vegetables that she bought with her SNAP benefits, her children would have nothing to eat. A child in residential foster care visiting our farm says, “Thank you for welcoming me into your home. No one has every done that for us before.” My son hoes the soil to cover a furrow of lettuce seeds with great concentration and exclaims at the end, “This is a great day.” That sustains.

Since I am not compensated in money, that is easy to answer. I am compensated with abundant, healthy, fresh food. Hard work in the elements that challenges me and makes me strong; meaningful connection with community and the Earth; the opportunity to pass on important values and skills to my children.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (or substitute gluten-free equivalent)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
• 1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preparation:

Grease and flour 12 muffin cups. Heat oven to 375°.In a mixing bowl, beat the oil with eggs, sugars, and vanilla extract.Combine the flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; add to the wet ingredients; stirring until blended. Fold in the shredded zucchini and carrots.

Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full; sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or granulated sugar, if desired. Bake for 20 minutes.