We look forward to meeting you at markets this weekend. We'll be at Sheridan, Chevy Chase, and Dupont Circle. Please check the list below for winter hours.
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Market Locations and Hours
JIM'S NOTES
9/12/19 Dear loyal customers, Last issue I was writing about our prices, and getting into some agricultural economics. To recap, I noted that we have been raising prices recently, out of necessity. After almost 50 years of gaining experience, improving our production systems and creating many efficiencies, we still find we have not really been making a reliable living from our farming. Our competition is mostly in the western US and Mexico, and there farmers have some major advantages, which we will never have here in the northeast USA. The three major ones are climate, economies of scale, and cost of labor. So our assumptions about where our prices need to be have been wrong for a long time. Our costs of production and the huge risks we take every day keep us from “living (farming) sustainably”, as our website brags. If we’re going to stay around for you , our customers, we just have to ask you to pay us a bit more for the food we grow for you. And we’ve been very gratified, as our prices have gone up, to find that you do seem to be willing to tolerate us and continue supporting us, even at higher prices. We appreciate that a lot, and we’ve been curiously accumulating evidence for why it is. The best thing I’ve done to understand it has been to visit our competitors, Whole Foods and other supermarkets. (And btw, if you haven’t noticed, WF, since being bought by Amazon, has lowered prices!). What’s been interesting has been looking closely at the produce in these stores, tasting it, and imagining myself in your shoes, the consumer, and imagining for myself what I would do if instead of eating NM Farm food I had to eat only what I could buy at WF. What a revelation! Everything at the store looks, and is, kinda tired, compared to our stuff! Okra is rusty and limp. Beans same. Lettuce wilty and shredded, tomatoes unripe, peaches hard as a rock, etc etc. You can tell it’s been traveling thousands of miles! You can taste that too. And the whole experience of shopping is nothing like it is at our market. There’s no one knowledgeable to ask questions of! Arrrgh! No one to tell you what’s good today, what in or out of season, how to cook a beet or peel a peach. Confusing price signs, mislabeled produce, a general dearth of information, which can be so important when shopping for what you and your family are going to be eating that day! So I think I now really see and feel what makes our food stand out as fresher, tastier, more colorful, sweeter, crunchier, riper, just generally better, and worth a higher price. And we so much appreciate that you, our customers, see and feel these things too. What a horror to imagine a life where we could only eat from Whole Foods! See you Saturday. Oh wait!—I’m playing hooky again and going to the beach again! But I’ll return next week. Meanwhile, say hi to Adam, the manager, and our friendly crew, and don’t forget your sticky buns! Jim JIM'S NOTES
8/30/19 Hi folks,
What a relief this weather is, huh? Fall in August! We are loving it, and actually for us the good weather started at the beginning of June. After 13 months of too much rain we’ve now had three months of almost perfect growing weather for us, and great weather for markets in DC too (with the one exception of that vicious storm two Tuesdays ago). So our crops are looking great and it should be a good fall for broccoli, kale, lettuce, and so many other delicious fall things. For a while I’ve been wanting to write a few words about prices. You may have noticed that ours have crept up in the last few months and years, and I think that deserves some explanation. For our first 20 years or so I labored (literally) under the delusion that we should keep our prices below the supermarkets. Then Whole Foods appeared, with higher prices and we raised ours a bit, but keeping them below Whole Foods prices. My rationale was that our costs of marketing and transportation were below the stores, and also that we were inexperienced, not well equipped, and that we should not expect our customers to subsidize our lack of expertise and efficiencies. But now, after over 40 years of careful development, investment in equipment and buildings, and diligent improvement in our skills and techniques, it is obvious that we can’t make a reliable, long-term income with the pricing assumptions we made in the past. We are roughly at the state-of-the-art for equipment, techniques and efficiency. We manage our processes well, our labor costs (the highest category) are reasonable, considering that we pay a living wage to mostly American workers. Yet we’ve struggled to make a profit on production. In fact we’ve had big losses in recent years. So we’ve concluded that our costs of production require higher prices if we want to survive financially. The handicaps we suffer compared to our competition in California, Arizona and Mexico are just too great. Those handicaps fall into three categories: First, our climate in the northeastern US is fundamentally horrible for vegetable farming, compared to those dry, irrigated (!) valleys in the west, where it never rains at all many months of the year, and where humidity is low and sunshine abundant. We, on the other hand, have thunder storms randomly, hail sometimes, humidity most of the time, wild temperature swings, and even hurricanes every few Septembers. Secondly, we have terrible economies of scale. On a recent trip to CA I saw, for example, whole fields (acres!) of things like parsley, or spinach, or broccoli, tended and harvested by huge, sophisticated, specialized equipment. By contrast, our little rows (small fractions of acres), look more like a garden, where many jobs must be done slowly, by hand. A bean-picking machine, for example, would let us pick beans so much faster and easier. But we can’t justify the initial cost ($20,000) when we pick maybe a tenth of an acre at a time. Even huge farms still have need of hand labor in some cases, but out there in the west it is accomplished by armies of skilled, low-paid farm workers. And that’s our third big handicap. Our labor costs are two or three times higher per unit of crop, and labor is by far our biggest expense. Well, I’m getting too wordy, and I’ve got a few other jobs to finish today, so I’ll continue this explanation in our next edition. Hope you’ll bear with me. Meanwhile, I’ve got a pressing final topic that I really want to let you know about today. Early September is when so many of our good kids that work at the market go back to school. So this is crunch time for “HR” for us! We need cashiers! It takes ten of them (!) to take care of you on these very busy Saturdays. It’s a fun job that pays well, but you gotta be at least a senior in high school, and willing to put up with all those fussy, demanding customers (juuust kidding!), starting at (gasp!) 6:45 am on a Saturday. If you or someone you know would like that lucrative part time job, please see me at the market. And you don’t need to be a kid! Look at our very best cashier, Susan Cook, and ME. We’re both beyond our kid-years by several decades. (I know, Susan doesn’t look it!). See you Saturday. Jim Jim's Notes 8/1/19
Dear NMF loyalists,
Just writing that salutation inspires me with gratitude! Thanks for reading this and for shopping for OUR food instead of what’s offered by all the zillions of new farmers markets in town, all of which, we all know, are inferior to our venerable NMF! It’s August! Mid-season for us. Best month for corn, tomatoes, free-stone peaches (finally!), and okra. Okra?? Yes I said okra. It loves the hot weather, and we’re having a beautiful crop this year, grown by our esteemed, okra-savvy senior crew member, Caitlan, (trained by our great African apprentice from Senegal, Jack.) Our okra is small as it should be, tender, and green as grass. Some of you may politely ( I hope) decline. It’s not a favorite of some, (only good for gumbo, they say), BUT actually it’s good and interestingly novel as a raw snack with a dip. Decorative, tender, but meaty-textured and never “slimy” when raw, with a mild, pleasing flavor. (I got a few laughs at market when I said out loud “it’s not even slimy, folks”.). Try it! And speaking of wildly popular crops, for you kohlrabi lovers (like me) have you noticed our new PEELERS for your k.r.? Found on line by our biz manager, Shirley, this tool basically solves the only problem presented by the otherwise innocent k.r.! These peelers are wider and sharper and just make peeling kohlrabi a short-lived joy. We sell them for $12. And they’re fine for other large vegetables. Hey, thanks sooo much for your many contributions to the fund for our ten-year-old neighbor, Chase Andrews. Son of star peach grower Chad Andrews, Chase has a bad kind of muscular dystrophy and needs expensive therapy only available in Los Angeles. I’m happy to say that, with your help, we’ve raised thousands of dollars and counting! And many others near us in PA have helped too. So it’s a great cause and a great turnout. Thanks, if you took part, and if not yet, then send us a check written to “Chad Andrews”. You’ve probably heard the sad news that blueberry season is over, but the bright side is that there are many fantastic blackberries to be had this year, grown by our friends and neighbors. For some reason they seem sweeter than ever this year. And raspberries aren’t far behind. One last word about gazpacho. It’s the ideal time of year to make it: all ingredients are in season and you can be the only one on your block to have not only the tastiest, coldest soup, but you can even brag that it’s certified organic! Take a copy of my fave recipe, usually lying around on the tomato table at market. See you Saturday. Jim
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Farm News12/6/19
Farm News
It's really feeling like winter on the farm. No snow to speak of yet, but we're watching the weather carefully. We have gorgeous lettuce and other greens growing in our high tunnels. A high tunnel is an unheated greenhouse with plants growing in soil. The structure creates a bubble of air which we can control over the soil. We're capturing solar energy in the air and soil of the high tunnel during the sunny days, then conserving it to sustain the plants through those cold nights and cloudy days. The capacity of the high tunnels is amazing. After an 18 degree night in our little valley, when I checked all the lettuce this morning, it hadn't even begun to freeze. Our winter greens are amazing plants as well. Lettuce, kale, chard, spinach, (and other greens), with the proper preparations and slowly dropping temperatures are able to freeze (with ice crystals throughout), take two or three days to recover, and be just as good quality as before freezing. They will not only survive, but they will continue to grow! The cold weather also brings a sweetness to most of our winter greens. We were really pleased with the high tunnel lettuce harvest last week, and we're happy to say that we have even more variety this week that is just as tender and beautiful. Lastly, we are reaching the end of the Romanesco Cauliflower. If you steam or roast these little beauties, you wind up with a perfect little edible Christmas tree. Be Well, Jennifer 11/22/19
Happy Thanksgiving!
We are thankful that you choose New Morning Farm to nourish you and your loved ones. You are also the key players that allow us to love and nourish our soils and farm ecosystem, to support our employees and to train organic vegetable growers. Thank you! The Thanksgiving celebration coincides with the end of our field season. This is the time of relief as the farm work slows down allowing time for other priorities. It's also a time when we can truly celebrate all the great work we have accomplished. Since April the team has transplanted over 200 plantings, and we've logged more than 900 harvests. And the best thing? We've been able to share the fruits (and vegetables) of our labor with you each week! This weekend we have the big Thanksgiving Markets. We are excited to bring plenty of Romanesco Cauliflower! It survived a week of lows in the teens, and yet it looks and tastes fantastic. We also have lots of herbs, ginger and turmeric. We have a good supply of all the traditional favorites on Saturday: white potatoes, sweet potatoes, pie pumpkins, butternut squash, onions, carrots, apples, etc. There will also be zillions of pies from Janie and Barb at 350 Bakery: pumpkin, apple, cran-apple, pecan, and homemade vegetarian mincemeat (Jim's favorite). We will not be at markets next weekend 11/30 and 12/01. We take a mini-vacation before returning to markets 12/7 and 12/8. When we do return, Saturday markets will open at 9:00am for our winter schedule. We will also have our first lettuce out of the tunnels after Thanksgiving. See you at Market, Jenni 11/8/19
Hi Folks,
Each year as October turns to November, we plant our garlic to harvest next July. This last week, with the help of the whole crew, all the garlic is planted and mulched with straw, ready to sprout when spring arrives. The planting effort took three tractors, a market truck full of straw, about 300 pounds of seed garlic, and the full crew. First a team on the tractor and transplanter plants and covers each clove. Did you know there is a right side up to plant garlic? The planters take time to ensure the sprouting tip is up and the root faces down. A second team cultivates the edge of the raised beds, killing the weeds growing there. A third team is mulching. We aim to cover the beds with about four inches of straw. The straw mulch helps insulate the beds all winter, slow down the weeds, and then continues to help conserve soil moisture and moderate soil temperature next summer. With luck and careful management, we'll have garlic scapes ready in June, and a fresh crop of garlic in July. Don't worry, while the next crop is growing, we'll still have plenty of this year's harvested garlic in storage for your fall and winter enjoyment. You may have noticed the spectacular brassicas at our markets recently. We've had broccoli, kale, cabbage, and cauliflower among others. This week is peak season for Romanesco Cauliflower. Even next to all it's beautiful relatives, Romanesco stands out with its fractal pattern. It's also a perfect example of a Fibonacci sequence in vegetable form. Amazing as it is to look at, it has a flavor to match. Not quite broccoli, nor cauliflower, Romanesco has a great nutty sweetness whether eaten raw or cooked. We've been enjoying Romanesco raw dipped in hummus or Thai peanut sauce, added to hot soup, or sauteed and drizzled with garlic, olive oil and salt. Yum! See you at Market, Jenni 10/25/19
Farm Update
What a difference a year can make! This time last year, we'd just had a month of cloudy weather on top of flood and rain and more rain. The fall crops were simply unable to grow. Not this year! The sun and fall temperatures have contributed to beautiful fall crops, especially the brassicas. What's a brassica? Many of our favorite fall crops are in the plant genus Brassica including kale, cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, kohlrabi and turnips. These are generally spring and fall crops; especially fall when the frosty weather creates extra sweetness along with great flavor. There is something extra special about harvesting the kale or cabbage patch on frosty morning, each surface is bejeweled and glistening in the sun, and once the frost melts, we're left with wonderful food. Have you considered cabbage lately? We have plenty of beautiful red and green cabbages that can take you all over the food globe. American cabbage salad, or try Asian salad flavors by adding sesame oil to a basic vinagrette. European cabbage rolls, cabbage with sausages, Indian curried cabbage. Where else can cabbage take you? 9/13/19
Farm Update September is a special month on the farm. We are just starting to harvest all the wonderful fall crops, yet we still have all the amazing summer crops as well. We'll let you know about the upcoming fall crops soon, they are growing well and look great. Now is the time to take full advantage of tomatoes, summer squash, cucumbers, beans, sweet corn, and all your summer favorites. They won't be in season much longer. This week we're celebrating green beans! Green Beans are one of the keystone crops for us, and we begin work on the beans in March with the first seeding. Harvests start in late May, and will run through the middle of October with some luck. That is twenty-two plantings of green beans! This week we'll have the Jade variety, a customer favorite, though don't tell our long time bean manger. Caitlan loves the flavor of the Provider variety. No matter which is available, the great flavor and tender texture allow the beans to join in on any dish or recipe. If I need a snack, a handful of beans straight from the field works great. It's even better when I've some hummus at hand. At home, I can't get over beans sauteed with garlic and salt. Add a bit more oil than you think is strictly necessary, smash some garlic, add snipped beans, cook until the color brightens, add salt and enjoy. They also work the next day on a salad adding green garlicky flavor. Jennifer 8/30/19
Our Heirloom Tomatoes are here! We’ve been working toward this point since mid-April. All markets this weekend, we’ll have our very own, field grown Heirloom Tomatoes. You will see pink Brandywines, purple Brandywines, red or green zebra stripes, and bright yellow Valencias. Each has a unique character. The pinks and purples are a great all purpose for salads, sandwiches and so much more. The green zebras, Jim’s favorite, are more tart, great to add zing to a salad or appetizer. The yellows showcase their sweetness and flavor, we eat them like apples on the farm. To hear more, or ask a question, please chat with your market manager! See you at market! Jennifer 8/15/19
Hi Folks! The past few weeks we’ve been celebrating seasonal milestones. This time around I’d like to celebrate a different kind of milestone. It’s still August, and Jim is on vacation! This is Jim’s first August vacation in more than 47 years. It’s pretty much unheard of for farmers to take vacations at the height of the season, but as Jim and I are working toward transition of NMF from one generation to the next, we’ve reached the point where Jim can take an August vacation. Harvesting Growing and marketing are running along smoothly thanks to the dedication of the entire crew. So you can picture Jim lakeside in the shade of a New Hampshire maple tree this weekend, and have all your favorite local foods waiting for you at market as well. If you enjoyed our sweet corn last week, we have another round ready to go for this weekend. It’s a reliable white variety that we’re very fond of. I sampled a few ears last night, and it is beautiful. We’re looking forward to sharing it with you all this weekend. Out in the fields, the dry weather continues, thank goodness. While this means hours of irrigation work, we can control the water we apply through irrigation and then enjoy the results of work well done. To take care of all our crops, there are five people on the crew dedicated to irrigation. Seth, JenR, Matt, Judith, and Burch all schedule their other responsibilities around making sure our 40+ crops get optimal water. Great watering goes a long way to great veggies. Storytime: If you’ve ever visited a working farm, you may have noticed an area holding all kinds of miscellaneous old tools, engines, metal parts, scrap materials, and who knows what. Farmers can be notoriously reluctant to get rid of anything, no matter how small, because it might be useful someday. Growing up on a small farm, I would hear my father’s lament a shortly after Town Cleanup Day, “I held onto that thing for ten years, we sent it to The Cleanup last week, and it would be perfect to fix this.” I’ve been in the same spot, but last week things worked out the other way. Sometime in the distant past… about 8 years ago, we accidentally ordered the wrong part for an irrigation pump. It was too much work to send back, so it stayed on the irrigation shelf. Each year I would explain to the new irrigation apprentices that we had no use for it, and there it sat another year. Well, a couple weeks ago, the priming pump on our big, new irrigation pump broke. It’s a different style from all our other priming pumps. I didn’t think we had a replacement on hand. Without priming, we cannot get water to the irrigation pump nor to the plants. With bright hot weather, even a day’s delay of the irrigation can stress the plants. Before I got too stressed, Seth thought that old piece we had sitting on the shelf might be the same. He tried it out, it fit, and it worked! Hooray! All those years of waiting ignored on the shelf, and that one little part saved the day and the veggies. Later that afternoon, Seth ordered a new spare to sit on the shelf until needed. The End 8/1/19
It’s August! I’m sure you all are saying the same thing. Where is the summer going? The farm seasons march ahead day by day, week by week. After 18 plantings, Adam is done planting sweet corn. The next sweet corn we plant will be in 2020. He is also wrapping up the bean plantings this coming week. Suddenly no big seedings and baby plants to think about. It feels strange after four months of planting beans and corn every week, making sure the fields and irrigation will be ready, wondering if rain will delay the seeding, worrying about seed maggot, crows, and weeds. On the other hand, we’ve more time and energy to enjoy the harvest from the mature plantings! My “To Do” list has shifted from plant beans, to eat beans! Beans are one of my favorite veggies. Corn is right up there too. August on the farm means edible veggies everywhere. There’s no need to carry a snack along, no corner of the farm is without a delicious veggie ready to be picked, plucked, or pulled up and enjoyed. There are a few, okra included, that I almost never eat cooked or prepared during this season. They are enjoyed out on the farm under the sun or while going home through the fields at the end of the day. Of course, we’ll also have plenty to bring to you! See you at Market! Thanks, Jennifer RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Maple-Roasted Acorn Squash
3 acorn squash, unpeeled, halved through the stem, and seeded 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup, plus extra for serving Good olive oil Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Flaked sea salt, such as Maldon, for serving 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 2. Place the squash, cut sides up, on a sheet pan. Place 1/2 tablespoon butter and 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup in the cavity of each squash. Brush the cut sides with olive oil and sprinkle the squash with 3 teaspoons kosher salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 40 to 60 minutes, depending on the size of the squash, until tender when pierced with a small knife. 3. Place the squash on a serving platter. If the halves are too large for one serving, cut each piece in half through the stem. Drizzle lightly with extra maple syrup, sprinkle with sea salt, and serve hot. |
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Everything Starts as a Seed
Jim and Moie Crawford started organic farming in 1972, on rented land, with a little experience, and practically no money. Over the course of 40 years, New Morning Farm grew from a small operation, selling vegetables out of the back of a pick-up truck, to a farm of over 95 acres with several thriving markets in Washington, D.C.
