Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The blog is moving!
Hi all - I've decided to move our blog to another host - wordpress. You can find our new blog home at www.midnightsunfarm.wordpress.com. I've re-posted some of the more recent posts there already, and will be trying to post more frequently with pictures and stories from the farm this year. Yay!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Heirloom seeds!
This last weekend, Nick and I took advantage of one of our last "free" periods before the season starts to visit his family in Stillwater, Oklahoma (more on that later). Our route home took us through Mansfield, MO, home to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, and also to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.
We've been a fan of Baker Creek ever since last winter, when we stumbled upon one of their beautiful catalogs, which features seeds from thousands of heirloom vegetable, herb, and flower varieties. They collect seeds from people and places in many countries, with the end result being a comprehensive picture of the types of vegetables grown on farms and in gardens worldwide. It was hard to stop ourselves from buying one of every kind of seed they had. In addition to the seeds, the folks there keep some crazy heritage-breed ducks, chicken, and geese, some swell sheep, and a few cute small ponies and donkeys.
"Heirloom" is a buzz word these days for people who talk and write and blog about food - an heirloom variety is just one that has been maintained for a long time - 50 or 100 years or longer. Non-heirloom varieties are, for the most part, hybrids that have been developed by crossing several varieties with various characteristics until a desired combination of traits is maintained - high yield, consistency of size, resilience to shipping, and long shelf life, for example (sorry if this begins to sound like a class in genetics - my dad has taught genetics for 30+ years and I guess it rubbed off on me).
Large-scale vegetable growers tend to grow hybrids that have been developed to withstand being grown and harvested on a large-scale. Small scale growers, like us, can more easily adjust our growing and harvesting practices to a diversity of varieties, which makes growing heirlooms easier for us. The payoffs are numerous - apart from producing cool looking, unique vegetables, we can hedge our bets against pests, disease, and weather conditions by growing a suite of varieties which may each have resistances to a different one of these things, thus ensuring that at least a few varieties of each crop do well. Just like in natural ecosystems, the farm ecosystem tends to be more resilient as a whole if there is a lot of genetic diversity in what we are growing. Similarly, on the worldwide scale, it is important to maintain crop diversity - imagine what would happen if one of the mainstream hybrid varieties got decimated by a new kind of mold or beetle. Finally, from a historical perspective, it is really fun to grow vegetables that have been staples of kitchen gardens for generations!
In short, if you're planning your garden right now, or even if you just like really nice pictures of vegetables, give a look at the Baker Creek website. You will not be disappointed!
We've been a fan of Baker Creek ever since last winter, when we stumbled upon one of their beautiful catalogs, which features seeds from thousands of heirloom vegetable, herb, and flower varieties. They collect seeds from people and places in many countries, with the end result being a comprehensive picture of the types of vegetables grown on farms and in gardens worldwide. It was hard to stop ourselves from buying one of every kind of seed they had. In addition to the seeds, the folks there keep some crazy heritage-breed ducks, chicken, and geese, some swell sheep, and a few cute small ponies and donkeys.
"Heirloom" is a buzz word these days for people who talk and write and blog about food - an heirloom variety is just one that has been maintained for a long time - 50 or 100 years or longer. Non-heirloom varieties are, for the most part, hybrids that have been developed by crossing several varieties with various characteristics until a desired combination of traits is maintained - high yield, consistency of size, resilience to shipping, and long shelf life, for example (sorry if this begins to sound like a class in genetics - my dad has taught genetics for 30+ years and I guess it rubbed off on me).
Large-scale vegetable growers tend to grow hybrids that have been developed to withstand being grown and harvested on a large-scale. Small scale growers, like us, can more easily adjust our growing and harvesting practices to a diversity of varieties, which makes growing heirlooms easier for us. The payoffs are numerous - apart from producing cool looking, unique vegetables, we can hedge our bets against pests, disease, and weather conditions by growing a suite of varieties which may each have resistances to a different one of these things, thus ensuring that at least a few varieties of each crop do well. Just like in natural ecosystems, the farm ecosystem tends to be more resilient as a whole if there is a lot of genetic diversity in what we are growing. Similarly, on the worldwide scale, it is important to maintain crop diversity - imagine what would happen if one of the mainstream hybrid varieties got decimated by a new kind of mold or beetle. Finally, from a historical perspective, it is really fun to grow vegetables that have been staples of kitchen gardens for generations!
In short, if you're planning your garden right now, or even if you just like really nice pictures of vegetables, give a look at the Baker Creek website. You will not be disappointed!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
WInter market this weekend!
It's been a while since our last post! Since then, Nick has been spending most of his time keeping our adult laying hens happy in the cold and snow, and raising 200 baby chickens, who will grow up to become our second generation of layers. The job certainly got harder once the big snow fell and sub-zero weather kicked in, but Nick loves the weather and has nicknamed the 1/4 mile walk out to the hen house (plus sled, often filled with 100 lbs. of feed!) his "workout regime". The chickens seem to be holding out well, too - they are active, their plumage looks good, and their egg production has held fast at about 5 dozen eggs a day. I'll post some pictures this weekend!
If you'd like to see some of these eggs for yourself, then please come say hi at the Glenwood Sunday Market this weekend, 9 am-2 pm, at 6900 N. Glenwood (at the corner of Morse and Glenwood) in Rogers Park. There is sure to be some awesome cheese, meat, baked goods, sprouts, and maybe produce (King's Hill farm, I'm looking at you). In addition, there may be a fun wine tasting fundraiser going on after market, so come on down!
If you'd like to see some of these eggs for yourself, then please come say hi at the Glenwood Sunday Market this weekend, 9 am-2 pm, at 6900 N. Glenwood (at the corner of Morse and Glenwood) in Rogers Park. There is sure to be some awesome cheese, meat, baked goods, sprouts, and maybe produce (King's Hill farm, I'm looking at you). In addition, there may be a fun wine tasting fundraiser going on after market, so come on down!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Choosing a CSA program
Hi all,
Happy new year to everyone! Now that the holidays are over, we're really starting to focus on the coming growing season - ordering seeds, getting ready to receive 200 new chicks, and seeking out good deals on used farm equipment. We've been eating a lot of root vegetables and pumpkins in the past month, and this morning I pulled a renegade kohlrabi head out from our crisper - slightly slimy on the outside but crunchy and delicious once it got peeled. That sucker must have been three months old!
January is also the time that people start thinking about joining CSA programs. I've had several conversations with friends and family recently about this topic. Some people are super enthusiastic about being CSA members - they like being exposed to new vegetables, enjoy the challenge of cooking with new ingredients and feel that it simplified menu planning and shopping to be presented with a pre-selected bag of food every week. Other people aren't thrilled with CSA membership - they prefer to receive vegetables that are familiar to their families and individual cooking styles, or find the weekly schedule too inflexible. Usually, people were more excited about being a member of a CSA if they had the time and inclination to try new recipes and if they already cooked most of their meals at home.
The price of joining a CSA program represents a substantial part of a household food budget, and is usually a one-time expenditure at the beginning of the season (look around, however - there are some organizations, like Growing Power in Milwaukee, that allow you to purchase weekly baskets rather than a season-long subscription). While CSA members do generally receive more for their dollar than they would if they were buying each item separately at market, this is only really a savings if you end up using all the vegetables you receive. A savvy CSA member can make a summer of CSA shares last longer by storing root vegetables and canning or freezing what does not get eaten when fresh. However, smaller households or newcomers to the CSA scene might want to find a farm that offers half shares (smaller bags or a bag every other week), or go in with another family, in order to help match what you buy with what you will actually use.
My mom cut the following article out from the Tribune last week, and I thought it was a really thoughtful take on some of the considerations that one should take in to account before signing up for a CSA program:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-12-29/features/sc-food-1224-frugalista-qa-20101229_1_csa-farms-offer-local-farm
CSA programs are an important piece of the sustainable agriculture movement, but they are by no means the only piece - farmers markets and grocery stores or food coops that sell foods from local farms are also a great option, as is community gardening or container gardening, for people who want to produce some of their own vegetables. As we work towards improving our farm, one thing that we're always thinking about is how best to make produce available to the widest possible range of people. Our hope is that, eventually, everyone with a desire to eat local and organic will be able to find ways to do so.
Happy new year to everyone! Now that the holidays are over, we're really starting to focus on the coming growing season - ordering seeds, getting ready to receive 200 new chicks, and seeking out good deals on used farm equipment. We've been eating a lot of root vegetables and pumpkins in the past month, and this morning I pulled a renegade kohlrabi head out from our crisper - slightly slimy on the outside but crunchy and delicious once it got peeled. That sucker must have been three months old!
January is also the time that people start thinking about joining CSA programs. I've had several conversations with friends and family recently about this topic. Some people are super enthusiastic about being CSA members - they like being exposed to new vegetables, enjoy the challenge of cooking with new ingredients and feel that it simplified menu planning and shopping to be presented with a pre-selected bag of food every week. Other people aren't thrilled with CSA membership - they prefer to receive vegetables that are familiar to their families and individual cooking styles, or find the weekly schedule too inflexible. Usually, people were more excited about being a member of a CSA if they had the time and inclination to try new recipes and if they already cooked most of their meals at home.
The price of joining a CSA program represents a substantial part of a household food budget, and is usually a one-time expenditure at the beginning of the season (look around, however - there are some organizations, like Growing Power in Milwaukee, that allow you to purchase weekly baskets rather than a season-long subscription). While CSA members do generally receive more for their dollar than they would if they were buying each item separately at market, this is only really a savings if you end up using all the vegetables you receive. A savvy CSA member can make a summer of CSA shares last longer by storing root vegetables and canning or freezing what does not get eaten when fresh. However, smaller households or newcomers to the CSA scene might want to find a farm that offers half shares (smaller bags or a bag every other week), or go in with another family, in order to help match what you buy with what you will actually use.
My mom cut the following article out from the Tribune last week, and I thought it was a really thoughtful take on some of the considerations that one should take in to account before signing up for a CSA program:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-12-29/features/sc-food-1224-frugalista-qa-20101229_1_csa-farms-offer-local-farm
CSA programs are an important piece of the sustainable agriculture movement, but they are by no means the only piece - farmers markets and grocery stores or food coops that sell foods from local farms are also a great option, as is community gardening or container gardening, for people who want to produce some of their own vegetables. As we work towards improving our farm, one thing that we're always thinking about is how best to make produce available to the widest possible range of people. Our hope is that, eventually, everyone with a desire to eat local and organic will be able to find ways to do so.
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