Urban Homesteading

A Week In The Life [of an organic CSA farmer]…

Posted on July 28, 2009 by Anisa

Take a look at the beautiful bounty in this week’s CSA share, waiting to be washed on my kitchen counter! From left to right there are walla walla onions, carrots, q-ball squash, cauliflower, cabbage, purple bell pepper, pickle cucumbers and red potatoes; and in the bowl: three kinds of squash (zucchini, crookneck and yellow), cucumbers, and a green bell pepper.

This was my first week back up at the farm, and I had Henry and Emmett in tow. Everyone was excited to see Emmett! And Henry had a great time catching toads and playing with the other kids, while Emmett rode in the Moby wrap as I distributed squash and sorted garlic.

This week, in our newsletter from Monroe Organic Farms, Jacquie Monroe wrote up a piece on what farm life is like. They work hard and are quite busy… she only got through two days worth!

I thought you all would also be interested to see what life looks like on our CSA farm:

A week in the life… by Jacquie Monroe

A member once asked what a week on the farm looked like? What was our routine? Well…let’s start with just a couple of days! Our week starts on Sunday at 4:30 or 5 am with Jerry setting his water on those parts of the field that need a little drink. This takes approximately 3 hours. Setting water isn’t like turning on your garden hose. The ditch fluctuates up and down according to users up stream. Once the water is set, he goes back a half hour to an hour later and checks it again. He may have to irrigate fewer rows or start additional rows depending on how much water there is at that time; then checks it one more time before he starts his next project. In the mean time, our employees get going about 6 am. They have gathered eggs, watered and fed the chickens, steers, pigs and sheep. At 8 o’clock, everyone meets at the barn. They take what produce has returned from the Saturday farmers markets and reload a truck. Kyle takes off at 9 am for the Ft. Collins farmers market. He will be there for 5 1/2 hours.

Once Kyle is set and has left, Jerry turns to the four wheeler and checks the field for mature crops. It is at this time when he decides what you will be getting each week. He come to me and gives me a list of crops and how much he believes we have. I take those numbers and apply them to the membership. Sometimes we are limited to what we have, so you will only get one, or he tells me to calculate three different numbers.

Jerry has now moved to either his cultivating tractor or the planter. If he chooses to cultivate, he will do this all day, taking out as many weeds as he can so that the hand hoeing won’t take as long. Planting is a timing thing. If Mother Nature cooperates, Jerry is pretty good at getting you crops on a pretty regular basis. To give you an idea, corn and green beans need to be planted every week; cucumbers & summer squash every three weeks; peppers, and potatoes one time; watermelons & muskmelon every four weeks; carrots, tomatoes and beets three times a summer and broccoli and cauliflower are planted five times a summer. This job requires he get on and off the tractor several times to check to see if the seed is planted at the right depth; making adjustments to the planter as needed.

Meanwhile the guys are digging up potatoes for Distribution on Tuesday. They are stored in a strawbale building. The strawbale building is approximately 20 degrees cooler than the outside temperature! They will set up sprinkler pipe to sprinkle up the seed Jerry has just planted; moving the pipe every three or four hours. This will need to be done every three days until we see a crop. Then it will be switched to row irrigation thereafter. Some of the crew will be hoeing, stacking the newly cut & baled hay and gathering eggs (which will be done at least once more before the end of the day). If there is time, three people will use the tractor and a machine called a Weeder to cultivate.

We take an hour for lunch (Jerry doesn’t come in for breakfast, too much to do & he wants to do it while it is cool!). But before he quits, he checks his water again. If it needs changing, he will do this, checking it again after lunch. Jerry wants a hot lunch so I normally fix him leftovers from the night before; afterward going back to the planter or cultivator.

I get up in the morning and check messages. (I don’t get up nearly as early as Jerry!) Get a bite to eat & read a favorite magazine for an hour. I then sit down to my computer and start writing. Sometimes these newsletters come easily to me and I will be finished by noon and sometimes they will take me all day to write. When I’m done, I count our earnings from the Saturday farmers markets and partially start a deposit, finishing it on Monday after adding Sunday farmers’ market earnings.

While I’m busy making the deposit, I start to make the copies I need of the newsletter. I will answer the messages and if I have time, (between Sunday and Monday), I look at email. It is very low priority for me, especially since I love the computer so much! I can usually find more “important” things to do! Things like laundry. It’s funny how having clean clothes really make you feel good…ha, ha!

Dinner is served somewhere between 5 and 6 pm. Jerry needs to eat early because it will take him another three hours to change his water to new locations. We end our day watching the 9 o’clock news (the weather) and going to bed.

Monday morning at 4:30, Jerry begins with setting his water. This is a daily occurrence. If he isn’t row irrigating, he is irrigating using drip. To conserve water, we use plastic tubing to move water from one place to another. This prevents water from evaporating or soaking into the dirt below the ditch. All of it stored water from reservoirs holding the spring melt off of winter snow or spring rains. We have settling ponds to remove as much of the silt (fine dirt) from the water. Before sending it into our drip irrigation system, there is a filter system that takes out quite a bit more. These filters need to be checked frequently. Anything goes wrong and it will shut down not sending water to plants in need of water!

If Jerry didn’t finish planting or didn’t plant at all, it will have to be done on Monday. If there are any equipment failures, they will be worked on either Sunday or Monday. That includes the trucks too. Trucks are cleaned out from the weekend farmers markets. Any food that is not up to snuff to resell is fed to the animals. They are like dogs, begging for treats, running after the truck!

Meanwhile the employees are doing the animal chores. From my calculations, they will start to pick what is needed for Tuesday Distribution. The harvesting will take up most of their day. Bringing everything into the barn and set up in order they will appear in your bag. Stopping only to move sprinkler pipe.

Monday, I finishing the deposits, make the worksheets out for the Tue. Working Members & finish doing my laundry. Twice a month I pay the bills and Monday is the day I usually run errands for the farm. Jerry always needs parts for equipment; I take the deposits to the bank and go to the Post Office; go to the grocery store and ending the day with a nice meal. In the evening, Jerry and I take a ride on the four wheeler and look at the farm in all its’ glory; getting excited about the next new crop we’re going to give to you!

Categories: CSA, Food, Urban Homesteading | 3 Comments

Independence Days – Weeks 8-11

Posted on July 24, 2009 by Anisa

Well it’s time to get caught up on a few things! I last left this post on E’s birth-day, so while we’ve continued harvesting and eating and what not, I’ve not written it down!

We did get quite a few turnips and raspberries this week. More raspberries than we’ve ever gotten, in fact. There are still a few more ripening up, but I’ve been enjoying what we’ve gotten so far.

My lettuces and spinach bolted, so we’re going to be pulling those, and the peas (both the snow peas and the snap peas) are about done too. So for the last few weeks here’s our report card:

Plant Something – nada (that I can remember)

Harvest Something – Eggs, including the first mini-eggs from the pullets, turnips… lots of them!, our first zucchini, peas, radishes (a handful), raspberries…

Preserve Something – green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, garlic, turnips, onions…

Waste Not– recycling, composting, and another big batch of turnip greens this time. Also, I packed up maternity clothes to return to my friend who lent them to me (I’m putting this in because instead of being wasteful and buying all new clothes for a few months use, I borrowed). We’ve also been eating lots of meals made by friends, and the leftover have been great for lunches.

Preparation and Storage – Rick scrubbed out the “new” freezer. We are solidifying plans for a buffalo (or at least half), as well as mulling over the idea of another pork this fall.

Build Community Food Systems – still spreading the word about the Englewood Farmers Market, Rick worked at the CSA, we shared extra zucchini that was going to go to waste, and we got to try some chicken from a co-op (thanks Genny).

Eat the Food – Since the zucchini are coming on, here’s a recipe from the Great Food Fast cookbook (also on www.marthastewart.com) that uses up a fair amount of summer’s favorite squash. I’m not a big fan of curry, but this was pretty tasty. It can be served warm or cold.

Curried Zucchini Soup

1 TBS olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
Coarse Salt
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp curry powder
1.5 lbs zucchini (about 3 medium) sliced 1 inch thick
1 baking potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1/3 cup sliced almonds (for garnish)

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and 1 TBS salt and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until onions are soft. Add garlic and curry powder and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant – about 1 minute.

Add zucchini and potato, and 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, and simmer 10-15 minutes until vegetables are soft. Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth (don’t be tempted to skip this, it does affect the flavor of this soup). Serve warm, or refrigerate until cool. Top with sliced almonds.

Note that I paraphrased the instructions, since I didn’t want to write it word for word. But it’s pretty basic. 🙂 Enjoy!

Rick also thought that it’d be smart to make a large batch of this soup and freeze it for the winter when you have no zucchini. He’s a pretty smart fella, I think.

Categories: Chickens, Food, Garden, Independence Days, Recipes | 1 Comment

Green Chile & Zucchini Quiche

Posted on July 23, 2009 by Anisa

I had to share this recipe for the best quiche ever! My good friend, Genny, made two for our family for E’s birth, and she got the recipe from someone who made the quiche for her home birth a few months before that.

It was perfect to eat during or after a birth, since it’s high in protein and easily made from frozen (just reheat in the oven)! And I thought it was perfect for summer too, since it is a creative and tasty use of summer’s most over abundant food: zucchini!

We’ve been fortunate enough to be able to use vegetables from the farm, or grown in our garden… the squash, onions, garlic, chiles AND eggs! Rick and I both loved the quiches Genny brought us, and the ones I’ve made since Emmett’s birth as well! We can’t wait to share it with our friends!

The original recipe calls for a crust made with crackers, but Genny used a premade whole wheat crust, and I loved it, so that’s what I used too. Here’s the recipe:

Green Chile & Zucchini Quiche

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 medium zucchini (about 6 ounces)
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs
1/2 pound freshly grated Monterey jack cheese (about 2 cups)
1 cup whole-milk cottage cheese
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained (I substituted chiles from our freezer)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grate the zucchini, preferably using the grating attachment of a food processor. Toss the zucchini with 1/2 teaspoon salt and let drain in a colander for 10 minutes. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over high heat until hot. Reduce the heat to medium; add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Squeeze the zucchini well with your hands to remove excess moisture. Add the zucchini to the onion and cook over high heat for 3 minutes.

Stir together the flour, the baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl until combined. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the eggs until thick and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the Monterey jack and cottage cheeses, the flour mixture, and remaining melted butter to the eggs and beat well. Stir in the zucchini mixture and chiles and pour the mixture into the crust. Bake the quiche in the center of the oven until the top is puffed and golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Set aside at room temperature 5 minutes, cut into wedges, and serve.

Categories: Childbirth, Community, Food, Recipes | 1 Comment

Adventures in Cinnamon Rolls

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Anisa

Early last week, Rick came home talking about cinnamon rolls. They sounded so good, I started craving them myself. I am not much of a baker, but I decided to look for a cinnamon roll recipe that would make something resembling a Cinnabon. I love how gooey Cinnabons are. The recipes I’ve tried in the past always bake somewhat hard, dry rolls.

Well, thanks to google, this is what I came up with. It’s adapted from recipes that I found on this blog and this website.

Rolls:
1 (¼ oz). pkg. yeast
1 c. warm (not hot) milk
½ c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. melted butter
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
4 c. all-purpose flour

Filling:
1 c. packed brown sugar
2½ TBS. cinnamon
1/3 c. butter, softened

Icing:
8 TBS. butter, softened
¼ c. (2 oz.) cream cheese
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
1½ c. confectioners sugar

To make Rolls:
Oven to 400° F
1.) Place yeast and milk in a large bowl about 5 minutes.
2.) Whisk in sugar, butter, salt, and eggs. Add flour; mix well.
3.) Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead into a large ball. Cover; let rise 1 hour.
4.) Roll dough into a 21″ x 16″ wide rectangle, about ¼ inch thick.
5.) Spread the dough with softened butter.
6.) Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over entire buttered rectangle.
7.) Roll carefully from long-side. Pinch the ends.
8.) Using a sharp knife, cut into 1¾ inch wide rolls, making twelve.
9.) Put rolls into greased 9” x 13” baking pan.
10.) Let the rolls rise in the pan for 30 minutes. While dough is rising, prepare the icing (see below).
11.) Bake the rolls about 20 minutes until the rolls are slightly browned and not doughy. Do not over bake.
12.) Remove rolls from oven and let cool about 15 minutes. Cover with icing and serve warm.

To make Icing:
Cream ingredients together with an electric mixer, beating until fluffy.
Spread on hot rolls.

And after about three and a half hours, and a few angry tears on the phone to my mom (I told you, I am NOT a baker), this is what I got:

And after all that – they were worth it! They DID taste just like a Cinnabon! I think with a little practice, I should be able to shave at least an hour off the prep time, and I know that I can do it without the tears… I thought I had killed my yeast with too-hot milk. But they turned out deliciously!

Categories: Food, Recipes | 12 Comments

Pullet Surprise!

Posted on July 12, 2009 by Anisa

Did you know that little chickens lay little eggs? About three days ago, Rick found an itty-bitty egg in the nest box. And one each day since. Either we have one pullet trying on her egg-laying shoes, or they are all gearing up to be omelet producing hens.

We were really surprised that they are laying so soon… it took our hens until the end of August to start laying the year they were pullets, and even then, it was inconsistent and they were really spread out for a long time. We weren’t expecting any for another month or two. Three in a row already this year is pretty exciting!

Here are two of them with an egg from our adult Aracauna (Mayzie). As well as a close up view of one of the newbie eggs next to one of Poppy’s big brown eggs. Quite a difference! I wish I knew which of the Rhode Island Reds were laying them!

The eggs will continue to get bigger over the next year until they are nice and large like the ones our adult hens give us.

Categories: Chickens, Food | 4 Comments

Independence Days – Week 7

Posted on June 26, 2009 by Anisa

Summer arrived this week, and not just on the calendar. It finally got hot.

We had a couple days without rain, and I was lamenting this, because I really love the rain, and because I don’t want it to be really hot when I am in labor at home with no a/c!

On Tuesday, I headed to the farm to do my weekly work on the CSA. I’m glad I did because we got produce for the first time this year! We got peas, red leaf lettuce, purple kohlrabi, turnips, garlic and a zucchini.

We actually got bonus veggies too, since the guy I car pool to the farm with is on vacation in Alaska with his family, he said we could eat anything from their share that wouldn’t keep. So I will refrain from eating his garlic (though it will be hard), and we’ll see if the turnips and kohlrabi make it (though I’m taking the tops). 😉

Here are the facts for week seven:

Plant Something – nothing new went into the ground this week.

Harvest Something – Eggs and our first peas! Besides that, does hoeing billions of weeds count as harvesting?!?!

Preserve Something – Froze two containers of the below soup.

Reduce Waste– or, as I’ve recently seen it called: “Waste Not” – I’m excited to put something other than my ‘usual’ list of recycling, etc. in this category this week. Instead of tossing the tops of the kohlrabi to the chickens as I normally would, I made a soup with them and a left over ham bone that would have otherwise gone to waste!

Preparation and Storage – nada.

Build Community Food Systems – still spreading the word about the Englewood Farmers Market, working on the CSA. Discussed splitting a buffalo with another CSA member as well.

Eat the Food – We’ve been enjoying the CSA goodies and snacking on peas here and there. I’ll have to think up a recipe to share….

Categories: Chickens, Food, Garden, Independence Days | 3 Comments

Independence Days – Week 6

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Anisa

Short and sweet today…

Plant Something – I planted a lot of mellons on the farm this week. Otherwise, I didn’t plant anything here in our garden.

Harvest Something – Spinach, lettuce, a radish, eggs

Preserve Something – Strawberries are on the docket today. I bought a bunch, and if I don’t eat them all first, I’ll try to make some jam. 🙂

Reduce Waste – The usual… chickens, compost, recycling, etc.

Preparation and Storage – This week I signed up for a veggie canning/jam making class in July. I’m actually going to get to go for sure (not just on the waiting list), so I’m very excited about that!

Build Community Food Systems – still spreading the word about the Englewood Farmers Market. Otherwise, nil.

Eat the Food – The stuff we harvested, plus pork as usual. We also used some more of the anchos left in the freezer. Here’s a quick recipe for green chile mayo, tasty on burgers:

In a food processor, put 1 cup of mayonnaise, 4 (or so) garlic cloves, 2 roasted, peeled and chopped ancho chiles, and a tablespoon of lime juice. Process until smooth. Taste, and add more of anything you think it might need. Yum!

Also, a side note, my ‘Independence Days – Week 4’ post was generating a lot of spam for some reason, so I took it down. If you want the recipe I had posted (a pasta sauce), just send me a note!