Eating Organicaly on a Food Stamp Budget

Food for the brain of thought!
Great Article!
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_19330.cfm

Top 7 Foods Experts Won't Eat!

Interesting article just came about tonite waiting for the stew to simmer!

I am sure there are more important foods to add to the list like "washed and ready" salad blends at the grocery store which have been doused with preservatives to keep looking pretty in their fancy cello bags, garlic that doesn't sprout this time of year and more.
Here is the link!

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/the-7-foods-experts-wont-eat-547963/

This Week's Offerings/Goodies to those who helped keep this farm going for 2009!

I invite all of you whose shares had ended before this week to still come by and help yourself to one of each winter squash variety and a paper bag of no spray walnuts!

With the early frost that hit us a bit over a week ago, the remaining items I have in the share area are as follows;

I will have a piece of paper at the share area to write your name on to let me know you came and picked up these goodies!

Winter squash: Delicata, acorn, butternut, sweet dumpling and yes more crookneck! See previous post as to what winter squash is and how to cook it in case you have been putting it off til now.
Remember, this type of vitamin packed veggie can wait to be cooked if you keep it in a cool dry place. Some people will use them as holiday dec's for November and then eat them through the winter.
My favorite thing to do with any of them is this:
Clean surface
Poke holes like you would to bake a potato
Bake at 350-375 degrees til outside feels soft and mushy
Then peel and/or cut in to slices, place sections in zip lock bag or a reusable freezer container.
I then take out what I need for recipes or servings as the winter sets in

Walnuts-these are no spray! Directions on previous post

Random tomatoes and bell peppers that escaped the frost.

Feel free to come by and take the amounts that are stated on the daily share board for those who usually pick up at the 72nd farm and are scheduled to end this week.

Accepting 2010 Farm Subscription Contracts!

Now is the time to sign up for 2010 only if you want to save some money!

I have 5 full subscriptions left to sell at the discounted price of 500.00 for a 22 week share.
Pick up will be at Barberton Grange just two blocks south of the ole' Rosemattel's CSA farm on 72nd ave. Day of pick up is Monday and is between 430 and 530. Estimated date to begin pick up of your harvest is May17th. Half shares are 275.00 and your pick up will be a full share every other week.

I started with 8 subscriptions last week so they are going relatively fast at this price.

After the last 5 are paid for in full, the regular price will go up to 600/325 per share.

See the website www.rosemattelscsa.com for sign up info and the list of items we will similarly grow for next season. The only changes we will make to it are any special requests from current and re-upping subscribers. So far I will be adding more leafy greens, beets and more carrots than I did this year. The thousand or so of onions I did this year was still not enough, so will add more dedicated space to them for 2010.

Let me know what your favorites are when signing up!

Sincerely,
The Farmerette
battlegroundfma@yahoo.com
(360) 241-1278

Safe From Montsanto Seed Companies Links

For those of you who may have your own family gardens, here's some info on where to buy your seeds with some research behind the companies and any Monsanto ties. As times and circumstances change some of the companies these blogs list may change. Always do your homework and ask the company yourselves if they do offer GMO (genetically modified organism) seeds for your own peace of mind!

In previous posts I have mentioned Monsanto, a company who wants to rule the seed banks of the world and encourages GMO seed coding.

Whilst I was searching for seeds and such to order that I hadn't saved from this year, I also did some quick searches for non Monsanto seed distributors. Here is what I have found so far.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=824672
and
http://www.patnsteph.net/weblog/2009/02/avoiding-seeds-from-monsanto/

If I find any other blogs about this I will update this post.

Here is a response from Nichols Nursery I receeived today 10/7/09

Hello Brenda,

We do not carry any GMO seeds nor will we ever. We do carry some Montsanto varieties because they are good performers and they have no GMO material and have been around for several years. We are doing trials of these varieties against other new selections to determine if they should and can replace some of our favorite Seminis varieties. It's a multi-faceted dilemma, if we want to be organic gardeners then we often need good disease resistance. Also, the truth is there are companies besides Montsanto who are actively working with GMO material. I'm not even certain Montsanto is the largest but they certainly have a way of being the mote in the public eye. I've had wonderful dealings with Seminis, which was purchased by Monsanto a few years ago. We've worked with this company formerly called Peto Seed for over fifty years. We don't deal with any other area of Monsanto.

Regarding GMO vegetable seeds, they are not presently obtainable except by huge growers who must sign legal documents. I think it is safe to say we're more likely to find GMOs on the grocery shelves than anywhere else. I wish everything that contained GMOs would simply have it declared. I hope I've answered your questions and if you would like me to give you a call to discuss this send me your phone number.

All the best,

Rose Marie Nichols McGee

Organic Bytes, be informed!

Organic Bytes
An online publication that offers information to help you make informed choices on why you support local natural and certified organic growers!
Subscribe to your email easy to do.

The Farmerette

Food Films and Documentaries List

Here are a few movies and documentaries that focus on our US Industrialized food system.
I reccomend everyone who eats!!?!! takes note of the scary consequences of relying on the industrial food system way of feeding the masses. Local is better than anything else. After having the time to watch at least a few of these features, you will be able to make informed decisions where you want your food to come from.

The Real Dirt on Farmer John
The Meatrix

Food Inc.
Fast Food Nation
Food Matters
King Corn

Fresh Shelling Beans

Here are a few links to guide you through the details of fresh shelling beans, and dry shell beans.
Both methods of growing these for yummy eating will be offered through at least the next few weeks of harvesting.

http://www.whistlingtrainfarm.com/4.shellbeans.html

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2005/08/fresh_shelling.html

Cranberry bean featured here!

Green Beans Anyone?

Subscribers get out those green bean recipes cause your getting more than a few servings this week! There are alot of Flat Italian Green beans now.........
They are green, flat, long, and gourmet and yummy.

Here are two of my favorite ways to eat them-
1. Quick boil or steam whole, just until bendy, don't over cook. Let them be bright green, if they are a dull green, they are overcooked. Then I melt some butter and chopped garlic and slather them. To me they don't taste as greeny as a common green bean, more like the richness of an artichoke heart. Some of this week's harvest will have stringy effect due to the immediate bounty I discovered of these beauties. IF the strings are a bug for you, cut the beans in to 1/2 inch pieces.
2. Cut the long gourmet Italian beans in to 1/2 inch pieces, toss in olive oil and cook em real quick on the stove or grill plate til color starts to change. Sprinkle a tad more olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan and sea or kosher salt, enjoy!

Not ready to eat so many different ways this week? Here are two ways to store them for later-
Use the pickling recipe posted earlier on this blog
or blanch them and freeze. Blanching is a process of tossing them in to a pot of boiling water for a minute then drain. Immediately after put them in a bowl of ice water (ice cubes and water together) for 20 sec's then place them in to freezer bags or containers and freeze. The process of blanching makes for a more tender greenbean. When ready to cook toss in boiling water again for a minute to heat up or you can microwave them til done to your liking. One of the great things to having frozen summer veggies to use in the winter is the soups and stews that can be made with them. Don't know about you but for me it is a good feeling to offer my family a wholesome winter meal that has our own produce from that year's harvest. And it tastes better than anything offered from the the store's freezer selection as it has no food miles, no preservatives and was picked and stored at it's utmost nutritional peak!

Pickling Green Beans

When it's this hot, outside I am rarely not!
Follow up on the pickling tour of last week, the 1800 number did get a hold of me two days later and told me to buy a book. I asked her if she had some online info for quick fix, apparently they have to follow the same "by the book, buy the book" guidelines that other gov't agencies chatter about when you call their specialty hotlines. She was nice enough to email me one recipe, though.

Here are some more recipes for pickling green beans and cucumbers:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1650,156184-251197,00.html

I prefer to blanch my green beans first, as it gives them a silkier texture all the way through-The Farmerette

Fun with Rhubarb!

Having harvested quite a bit of rhubarb for shareholders of the Thursday Pick up at the 72nd ave farm, was very suprised as to why a dent wasn't made in it. It is so good for you!
Here is the link to the rhubarb site-everything you wanted to know how to use it.

Today's Summer Harvest, yay!

Finally got to pick those golden yellow squash today! Went through the baby potatoes, some of which I planted that were to tie in with harvest times for the 4th. Festive red white and blue potatoes were eagerly awaiting in the ground, or so I thought. The blue ones, what a pity they have turned out to be. So few of them making it through the growing on for baby size but not enough to really make a difference to the reds pinks and whites. I did get a notice from Johnny's a few months back stating they may have a problem, but I still had hope some would still come through. I always have hope for things. So what I did was harvest some beautiful borage flowers and indicated to a few shareholders that indeed these blue flowers would add the blue needed to make an independence day potato salad. Those flowers, talk about cucumber aroma and taste! How could you not with the baby red celery, large leaf parsley and the Frice's pickles just staring at you in the share area????
Went to fish fertilize the cucumbers, so tiny but not for long. As I was swooshing the sprayer about, on the first green bean row I couldn't believe my eyes. I have green beans coming along. It was like discovering I was winning the lottery after all that time. Some were obviously growing for some time which slows down the production so I picked those suckers off to get more, sooner. Within a week or two those green beans will be in full swing. Last Spring really put damper on enthusiasm and this year, wow it happened like it was supposed to! you know that saying waiting for a pot to boil water, that was last spring and early summer. Just thinking if I just wished it to happen, it still wouldn't.
Last of the spring strawberries pretty much done, blueberries around the corner. Will be doing the Camas FM on Wed and the Woodland on Friday then Yacolt 4th of July Rendevoux for all day and in to the evening on Saturday. The BG market ended up being closed for business that day as I was only going to have like 5 vendors showing up, everyone else was planning on going to it as it was so hey, why not join them!
(PSSST-Check out battlegroundfarmersmarket.org site, will have all the events the market will be doing for the 17th and 18th of July during HD weekend at that end of BG, if you dare!)
Kale'd out yet? Don't fret there is still more til it hits hot for a day or so. It can't last forever!
All the yellow, white, red onions (yes even the WAll'as) are bulbing up nicely.
Great intro to summer harvest, indeed.
Til next time,
The Farmerette!

Plant A Row for the Hungry

Plant A Row For the Hungry

Kale Chips

KALE CHIPS<>

This came from one of Rosemattel's Subscribers-

They are very easy, even I can make them! Wash and dry kale. Tear into pieces, put in bowl with olive oil to lightly coat and salt. “Massage” the oil into the kale. Lay out flat in single layer (do not pile on top of each other) on a cookie sheet. Bake in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 15 -20 minutes til crisp.

Very yummy!

Have a great day!

Cheryl

Recipe Delightful!

Brenda, you might want to pass this along for your cookbook. I didn't know what to do with the kale, but found it is fantastic in pasta. Last night I created this recipe and it was SUPER, my husband is very pleased with the weeds.

http://locavoregon.com/blog1/2009/05/27

-- Wendy Bumgardner
http://walking.about.com

Thanks Wendy!

Plant a Row for the Hungry

Plant a row for the hungry......

Our state of affairs in the local economy is turning the above revelation more true to form in families plights than ever before.

I had looked in to branching out the "Plant a row for the hungry" campaign many years ago when I had founded the BG Farmers Market (AKA old town saturday market). My lack of networking resources back then (and most market days only having one or two vendors besides myself to promote it) prevented me from really taking a stand on it the way I thought I should. 5 years later I have found the campaign more appealing as I carry out my csa farming business to make a living wage.

I am still at a crossroad as to which farm to promote it from and how much time can be spent at the market to make an impact. My work dictates how driven I am to go gung ho on things that really matter. I have been told by one of my Clark College professors that I am a high powered individual as I argued with them my workaholic tendencies to carry on as I felt I needed to for what ever reason I had at the time. Something had clicked in me that it really was okay to want to get so many things accomplished, and that some things could wait til later. This campaign is ready for me to help promote, finally! So I started with a request from one of the sponsors of the program to get started. The package arrived!!!!

Many carrot seeds that are packaged exclusively for this grass roots movement arrived yesterday. Next I emailed the garden writers to find out what to do next. On the two farm locations I had already planned in this year's crop schedule to grow more of the extras for charity reasons. And having over 30.00 pledged to the farm from last year's sponsorship contributions from one of our subscribers I had bought some extra seeds to grow some more common varieties of things to add to a box this year for a mysterious individual not yet designated to give to. I always felt that leading by example is a major way in starting trends of goodness for our community. Now I just need to find others like me to do the same. These seeds can make a difference to those who wish to accept it.

On Glenn Grossman's clark county food and farm blog you will see a posting regarding the plight of the 78th street Research Station. I do believe that if enough of us take that blog seriously and implement anything remotely close to the cause of plant a row for the hungry, the 78th street farm will help with these types of food security issues. Yes, there are other special interest groups that are advocating some extreme opposite ideas of sustainability designed for a very FEW individuals. But to look at the whole site and take in to consideration that this former poor farm has enough room for almost everyone's ideas, plant a row for the hungry there, isn't going to take up the entire area.
Marc Boldt confirmed that an agreement with the County and the Clark County Food Bank Coalition has been signed! Surely this could help those who either do not have time to press this issue with those special interest groups-someone has to be the voice for those individuals who need us to help them when times are tough. It may very well be that those who can help are also those who may need those services yet find self sufficiency in doing what they can do for themselves, ,,,, for right now.

Need some carrot seeds to grow for your local food charity? Let me know!

Antibiotics and You

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/14/173332/209/275/708568

Shopping list for non genetically modified foods featured below

Besides looking for the number 8 on any produce that is genetically modified (example: plu 84212)
use the following guide next time you go shopping!



www.responsibletechnology.org

Welcome to Rosemattel's Blog Central

Hi, if you are reading this you must know by now this blog is under construction. I appreciate your patience as I teach myself how to use this site and what I want on it.
www.rosemattelscsa.com will help answer your questions while we wait!