Helsing Junction Farm Newsletter Archive

Week 8/August 4-6, 2009

Greetings from Helsing Junction Farm!

Moving Irrigation

We are glad to have that spell of extremely hot weather behind us and to settle back into our normal summer routines.  August 1st is always an important milestone on the farm.  On the pagan calendar, August 1st is the cross-quarter day which marks the halfway point between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox.  It is significant for us on the farm, as it marks a turn from planting and cultivating to harvesting the fruits (and vegetables) of our labors.  We’re going re-run this newsletter because we think it does a good job of explaining the benefits that CSAs are providing for small local farms.  It’s a complicated issue, we’ve been running a CSA program for almost 20 years now and yet it feels as though we’re only just beginning to understand its profound ramifications on our own farm…

As Sue likes to put it, “we’re putting the culture back in agriculture.”  To us, it feels as though we’re helping to create a whole new (or perhaps reinvigorate a very old way) of thinking about food, farms and open spaces.  We often refer to the growth of CSAs as a quiet revolution, because while CSAs address some of the most difficult challenges that have put a near end to small farms, they do so with minimal fuss.  There are no banks or politicians or government subsidies involved:  Just farms and people sustaining each other, a truly simple equation.  Most of all we want you to understand the impact your decision to join our CSA program has made on our farm.
     
CSAs help to support farms in a way that wholesale markets and even farmer’s markets cannot touch.  Here’s why…  First and foremost (though we kind of hate to begin with this reason), CSAs make it financially viable for farmers to farm.  The bottom line is, most small farms go out of business because they don’t make enough money.  (We could elaborate here on why, between govt. subsidies of water and power, the focus on export/corporate farms etc. etc., small farms have become unable to compete in today’s marketplace, but we’ll save that rant for another day.)  Our own experience is that the price farmers (not necessarily retailers) receive for produce has not substantially changed since we began farming almost 20 years ago.  In that time, the price of gas, labor and the myriad of other costs have continued to rise.  If anything, now that corporate farms realize that there is money to be made in organic farming, wholesale prices are now less than what they were 20 years ago.  If not for people’s concern with buying locally from small farms, many more farms would go out of business then already have.  Since the 1930’s census, the number of people calling themselves farmers has declined from 70% of the population to 2%.  Once again, the bottom line is that margins for small farms are slim; most farms are run on unfathomably tight budgets, putting them in an economically perilous position.  People continue to farm for many reasons, but making money is not one of them.  From what we have seen, it is almost inevitable that most small farms will eventually go out of business due to financial problems and the stress and long hours that accompany economic hardship.  
    
Here’s what CSAs do to help short circuit the economic trap small farms are in, and enable farmers and farm workers to make a somewhat livable wage.    
1)    By shipping all produce in bulk, by not processing any special orders and minimally processing the vegetables (i.e. not bagging etc.), farms are able to save on labor.  By saving on labor, farms save money.  
2)    CSAs also save farmers money by helping to cut down on the amount of food that is wasted.  Because we know ahead of time how many CSA members we are going to have, we can grow and harvest only as much food as we need.  In essence, everything on our farm is pre-sold.  This also means that we don’t have to spend a good portion of our summer selling our produce at Farmers Markets, restaurants or wholesaling.  
3)    Which in turn cuts back enormously on our work load.  (No more 12 hour days up and down the I-5 corridor with a truck full of vegetables people may or may not want to buy, not seeing our families etc. etc.)  
4)    Which in turn translates to more time to spend actually farming.  When you combine this with the added income a CSA provides, you have only mildly exhausted farmers, with a little extra time to spend on actually farming and a little extra money in their pockets to spend on farm maintenance.  For instance, we’ve been able to invest in new equipment such as a compost making facility, a sprayer for our tractor and a compost tea maker.  Which in turn has had a huge impact on the health and fertility of our soil.  
5)    By making the commitment to join for the whole season, and by paying in advance, members are helping to create a steady cash flow, something most small farms are sorely lacking.  
6)    We are able to pay our employees and ourselves a living wage, a rare occurrence on a farm.  Like it or not, making a living wage is the backbone of sustainability.  We are financially able to continue farming and our employees come back year after year etc.       

So in short, we want to say, being a CSA member is not just about receiving a box of food each week, but it is also about the large web of ramifications that spiral out from literally putting your money where your mouth is and supporting local organic agriculture in this unique way.  We know that there are glitches, such as receiving produce you don’t like, or sometimes too much of a good thing, but we think it is important to see being a CSA member as a sum of its parts.  We don’t say this to excuse ourselves from those inevitable mistakes, but more to help you see this effort for what it really is:  Support for our farm, for the plants, insects, birds, soil organisms and all of the myriad lives that are affected and spring from this place.   

We’ve had a lot of interest in our K-records/Farm sleep over August 21-23.  We’ve had some questions about the camping facilities and whether or not the festival is child-friendly, which it is.   The camping facilities will be somewhat primitive though.  We will have portable toilets with hand washing sinks, but no showers.  There are no pre-set camping spots, but there is plenty of room to spread out in the fields and orchard.  No fires, alcohol or dogs please!  Cost is $35 per person for the whole weekend of camping and music.  Children under 10 get in free.  Please go to http://www.krecs.com/helsing/ or http://www.lasercave.biz/sleepover/ for more information and directions to the farm.

As a follow up to last week’s newsletter, we would like to add that the reason you haven’t had any onions in your boxes the last few weeks, is that the onions that were in your box in the early part of the season were overwintering onions that we planted in August.  Once the hot weather hit, they go to seed and have to be harvested so there are no onions ready again until early August.  You will see them in your boxes starting next week.  Also, there will be no raspberries this year as the plants all died off in the flooding this winter.  We will be planting more raspberries bushes soon.

This Week's Shares

Recipes

Salad Nicoise:
-Cut 1 pound potatoes into thin slices and steam until just tender (don’t over cook).  Set aside to cool.
-Hard boil 6 eggs and set aside to cool.
-Tip and tail ½ pound beans and blanch for 3 minutes until just tender, refresh and let cool.
-Pit and halve 20 Nicoise olives.
-Slice 1 cucumber in half the long way and then chop into half moon shaped pieces.  
-For the dressing: 
-Soak 3-6 anchovies in water for 5 minutes.  Drain and finely chop. 
-Mince 2 cloves garlic.   
-Place garlic, anchovies, the juice from 1 lemon, ¼ cup red wine vinegar and ¾ cup olive oil in a small bowl and whisk together.  
-Season with salt and pepper.
-Wash 1 lettuce or 2 bunches of arugula and tear into large pieces.
-Lightly toss lettuce with dressing and divide among 6 plates.
-Divide the potatoes, beans, onions, cucumbers and eggs amongst the 6 plates.   
-Top with 2 cans of albacore tuna.
-Divide the remaining dressing amongst the plates.-Sprinkle with a few TBS chopped fresh basil or dill and some salt and freshly ground pepper. 

Pasta with Summer Squash, Arugula, Capers and Goat Cheese:
-Cut 1 pound summer squash into half lengthwise and then into slices ¼ inch thick.
-Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil, adding 2 TBS salt and 1 pound pasta (farfalle or penne would work well).
-Cook, according to package directions until al dente, then drain and return the pasta to the pot.
-While the pasta cooks, add 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil to a non-stick skillet placed over high heat.
-Add half of the squash and cook stirring occasionally until golden brown and slightly charred, about 5-7 minutes.
-Transfer the squash to a plate and then repeat with the remaining squash.  
-Rinse ¼ cup capers under running water and then coarsely chop.  Set aside.
-Zest 1 lemon until you have about 2 tsp zest, and then juice the lemon.  Set aside.
-Then add the capers, lemon zest, ½ tsp black pepper to the pan and mix with all of the squash.
-Stir constantly until heated through, about 30 seconds.  
-Add the squash to the pasta along with 2 more TBS olive oil, the lemon juice, 1 bunch chopped arugula and a handful of chopped basil.  Toss together and taste for salt and pepper.
-Serve with a generous sprinkle of crumbled chevre style goat cheese and some more chopped basil.

Beans with Butter and Toasted Almonds:
-Tip and tail 1 pound beans.  
-Place them in boiling water and cook about 3-4 minutes (they should still be crisp when done).  
-Drain and spread hot beans out on a dishtowel to dry (they’ll continue to cook and dry from the retained heat).  
-Melt 1-2 TBS butter in a sauté pan. 
-Add ¼ cup slivered almonds and cook for about 1 minute over medium heat.
-Add the beans and toss.  Sprinkle with salt and serve warm.

Cucumber and Yogurt Salad:
-Peel and then slice 2 cucumbers the long way.  Remove the seeds with a teaspoon. 
-Thinly slice onto half moons.  
-Finely chop 2 garlic cloves and add to the cucumbers.
-Dress the cucumbers with 2 TBS extra-virgin olive oil, 1 TBS lemon juice, 8 oz. plain yogurt and a few TBS of finely chopped basil or dill. 
-Toss and chill before serving.

Roasted New Potatoes with Pesto and Parmesan:
-Add to the bowl of a food processor, 2 TBS olive oil, 2 cloves garlic and 1 bunch of basil.
-Blend well, then season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
-Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly coat a baking tray with some olive oil.
-Cut 2# of new potatoes into 4ths and place them in a bowl.
-Toss the potatoes with 2 TBS olive oil, salt and pepper. 
-Transfer to the baking sheet and put in the oven.
-Bake for about 25-30 minutes until almost tender. 
-Pour basil sauce over the potatoes and toss to coat.
-Continue roasting until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes longer.
-Transfer to a serving bowl and toss with about ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Helsing Junction Farm
12013 Independence Road, Rochester, WA 98579 | (360)273-2033
helsingfarm@msn.com | www.helsingfarmcsa.com

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