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News from Farm:
I was out walking the fields on Saturday evening and came upon the above, stunted growth and twisted cupped leaves on our dahlias where we had mulched them with hay from a neighbor's field. Our neighbor grows hay for his cows and uses a herbicide (aminopyralid) that not only kills all the broad leaf plants (basically anything except grass) but it also stays in the fields for years afterwards. The herbicide shows up not only in the hay but also in the manure of the animal that eats the hay. Spread that hay or manure on your fields even after it has been composted, and it will keep on killing broad leaf weeds for years to come. We have heard real horror stories about fields and greenhouses contaminated after applying herbicide laced compost to the soil. Once it is worked into your beds, there is no getting it out! We were so so lucky that we put this particular hay just around the dahlias and not on a food crop. Luckier still is that the hay was just laying on top of the soil and we could remove it. Remove we did and it is now over on our burn pile.
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The idea of a chemical that will stay and kill plants over time and that will move with any plants harvested from that land and keep on killing plants, seems so wrong to me, so shortsighted. It, maybe, solves one problem right now in that one place, but without careful attention, it can spread and create problems in many places and for a long time. Our neighbor couldn't really remember if he had sprayed that particular hay. He thought not so we went ahead and used it. Way too casual an attitude as we now know!
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I don't know what will happen with the dahlias. We have cut them back and hope that the new growth will be normal. We hope that any herbicides that may have leached into the ground will leach out with the rain. We won't grow crops in that field next year except for winter and summer cover crops and hope that by 2023 we can grow healthy plants in the area again.
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Below: The crew working to pick up the mulch. Hot, discouraging work.
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What's available this week??
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We have more summer squash this week for those of you who missed it last week. Also, we, for real, have cucumbers! Last week, we ended up with 0 cucumbers to fill orders but this week, we have already have 60lbs of those crisp juicy delights in the cooler and we will harvest again on Friday. The red onions are beautiful and delicious. We have lots of head lettuce, with the red butter still winning the most beautiful lettuce of the week competition. Bags of triple washed lettuce mix in 1lb and 1/2lb sizes. We have some herbs, bags of basil and bunches of cilantro and parsley. Beets with tops are back in the store and we still have some nice green kale coming in. Gorgeous mixed bouquets, peonies and snapdragons.
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John's Recipe of the Week
| John Loyd is our dear friend, neighbor, CSA worker member and a gourmet Southern cook. His delightful cooking observations and delicious recipe offerings appear here each week. |
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RED ONIONS – These sharp flavored, eye-watering vegetables are from countries in Southern Europe, like Romania and Italy.
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They can be soaked in water for 30 minutes or so, if you want to mellow the bite. Usually red onions are eaten raw and their appearance adds to dishes in which they are used.
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BRUSCHETTA WITH RED ONIONS, MINT, AND PARMESAN This recipe makes enough for 8 to 10, and other breads can be used if you don’t have bruschetta. Thanks to Cook’s.
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2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
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1-½ tablespoons of fresh mint
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3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
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Brush the toasts with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.
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Heat the rest of the oil in a skillet over medium heat then add the onions and sugar and cook, stirring often, until the onions softened, 7 or 8 minutes.
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Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook, stirring often, until the onions are sweet and tender.
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Stir in vinegar and mint and season with salt and pepper
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Divide the mixture evenly among the toasts, then sprinkle with cheese.
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Broil until cheese melts.
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Onion mixture will keep for a week, covered.
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Thanks for reading and best wishes.
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Your farmers, Vanessa and Alex
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Love the flowers. Honor the vegetables. Let the weeds go!
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- Cheri Huber and Ashwini Narayanan
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