​8/24/18
Schools are starting, Labor Day is next week, I know that it feels like 
summer is over.  The farm season has it's own rhythm, and in fact each farm will have it's own seasons.  Here at New Morning Farm it is still summer.  So how do we measure summer? We're still planting, watering, weeding, and harvesting all the summer crops: tomatoes, summer squash, cucumbers, beans, and sweet corn.  We've still got peaches, plums, nectarines, and cantaloupe melons to enjoy from our neighbors.  Our summer market, Tuesday, is just gearing up for it's biggest markets.

At the same time, we see the shift towards fall, though it's not here 
yet.  We're transplanting the last of the fall brassicas, lettuce, and 
other field greens.  The potato and winter squash harvests are done and they are curing for storage.  This week, we're harvesting the big carrot planting for the year.  As we squeeze these milestones into our regular work schedule, we can start to say, "That's done for the year."  It's a relief for sure.

Other signs of the shifting season include the later sunrise, and the 
quiet dawn, no more dawn chorus from the birds.  The geese are overhead every morning for their training flights, and the insects chirping whirring and buzzing has replaced the tree and marsh frogs.

At market this week, look for fresh harvested orange carrots! We're 
really pleased so far with the harvest, and the flavor is all carrot 
with none of the bitterness you sometimes get from the supermarket.  The cooler and cloudy days has meant trouble for many crops, but the lettuce is doing great. We'll have the full selection this week from butterheads to romaine. 

Hope to see you there, Jennifer

​Bosc Pear Crumble Recipe

Prep Time 15 mins      Cook Time 25 mins 
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
·    5-6 ripe Bosc Pears
·    1 tsp. cinnamon
·    1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
·    1/8 tsp. ground cardamom
·    1 stick butter 1/4 lb:
·    1/4 cup brown sugar
·    1/3 cup white sugar
·    1-1/2 cups of chopped pecans
·    1/2 cup rolled oats
Instructions
1.  Preheat oven to 375F. Quarter and core the pears and roughly chop them into a medium sized pot. Cook for 7-10 minutes, until some of the juices are released and the fruit is softened. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom, coating the pears with spices. Place into a 8” x 8” baking pan or 9-inch pie plate.
2.  Heat the sugar, butter, rolled oats and chopped pecans over medium heat in a medium sized pot until the pecans and oats are fully coated.
3. Sprinkle the topping over the pears and bake for 25 minutes or less, until the topping is golden brown and the pears are completely soft and bubbling. Another indication that the pears are done is that the skin should be brown and no longer green or yellow. Remove from oven and cool slightly.
4.  Serve warm or cool, plain or topped with ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

8/1/18
Well, we didn't quite get the weather we wanted for the garlic harvest.  Instead of dry and sunny, we received cloudy with 8.6 inches of rain in 5 days!  But the garlic was ready to go, and so the crew worked extra hard in the pouring rain and mud to pull in all into the barn.  It's now hung to dry, with some extra fans for air movement.  Incredibly it's looking okay, even good.  Whew!

We are so thankful the river was able to handle all this rain without flooding any of our fields.  It was oh so close.  8.6" in a week is definitely on par with a hurricane or tropical storm for us.  We do all we can to prepare and manage the risk from these in September and October, using the high ground for the late crops, protecting the soil with strong cover crops, limiting soil disturbance starting in August.  A flood in July would be devastating for many of our summer plantings: beans, corn, summer squash, winter squash, tomatoes, celeriac, lettuce, and the list goes on.  But there was no flood, this time.

On the positive side, the broccoli, cabbage, and brussels sprouts transplants are loving this weather.  They don't really appreciate our normal summer days with highs in the 90's.  Last year we had some similar weather in regard to temperature, and had beautiful broccoli in September.

At markets this week, look out for our own field grown tomatoes! They're quite late, but we are just getting in to our big harvests.  We'll have both heirlooms and standard red field tomatoes.  Do you have a favorite heirloom?
Be Well,  Jennifer ​

​​​Spicy-Sweet Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Prep Time 7 mins  Cook Time  30 mins  
 
Spicy-Sweet Roasted Sweet Potatoes are coated in a spice mixture that is both sweet and spicy and then roasted in a hot oven until brown and crispy.
Course: Side Dish
Servings: 4
Ingredients

• 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place sweet potatoes in a large bowl and drizzle with oil.
3. Add remaining ingredients and stir to coat sweet potatoes evenly.
4. Spread sweet potatoes out on a large baking sheet.
5. Bake 15 minutes. Stir and bake another 15 to 20 minutes.

Thursday, November 1, 2018

​Folks,
 
I know you’re thinking why is he talking about milk?  New Morning Farm does not sell milk of course, and never will, because health dept rules would never allow it.
 
But we buy milk to drink and so do you. And, as an organic farmer I probably know more about the organic milk situation than many of you. So I wanted to talk about it a little bit, (consumer education!) inspired by a telephone call I just got from an organic dairy farmer.
 
Family organic dairy farmers  are having a very tough time these days. Many are going out of business.The price paid to the farmer for milk is disastrously low.
 
The reason for this is surprisingly simple. A few big corporations have developed systems for producing milk very cheaply, on a very large scale, in arid parts of the West (no pasture). These systems drive down the price of milk way below the family farmer’s cost, and this huge flow of cheap milk floods the market. 
 
This is a bad situation for any  traditional dairy farmer, organic or not, but it’s always been assumed that organic dairy farms have their cows on pasture, which is a big cost factor (AND a quality factor).
 
But guess what?  The USDA, in its wisdom, and in light of the huge corporate campaign contributions to politicians who influence USDA policy, has decided NOT TO ENFORCE the organic pasture rules. So huge dairy corporations can call their cheap milk “organic” and get the price premium that only real traditional organic farmers should get, even though those corporate farms don’t use (expensive) pasture.
 
What should you and I, consumers, do about it?
Stay tuned next week.
 
See you Saturday,
Jim.
​