CSAs and the Peppermint Dragon

CSA sales scares the bejezus out of me. There's a young farmer over in Chelsea who came by my place and was telling me that last year he started a CSA and also had a great deal of low production. After taking their money and doing the best he could, he felt so bad about his lack of productivity that he just couldn't bring himself to try it again this year. His error stemmed mostly from trying to be heirloom-based only but as he was telling me how badly he felt, I almost repeated the same words as to why I cannot bring myself to do this.

As it stands today, I wanted to have a lot more variety this year and I had purchased some specialty melons and eggplant varieties that I intended for a particular restaurant in Sapulpa - and I just never got those items planted. Blackberry cleanup ate a great deal of time from us. And I feel bad enough disappointing one business let alone a whole passle of CSA investors.

I am not sure I can envision my ever feeling like it is ok for me to take money and feel ok about letting them all take the same hit I do for a crop failure or low production. That would sit double heavy on my shoulders and I'd be making refunds - guess I'll stick to the "here's what I have, come and get it" cash method instead of the "I'll promise you the moon (and stars) and full sacks of produce but if I screw up, you get screwed" prepaid method. So am I crazy for thinking this way? I know some of the younger growers can make this decision and let the consequences happen - but for me, it feels like gambling with the CSA money and I don't like what Wall Street did to the American public.

Zuchinni Bread (again???) and more

Yesterday David finally completed the wiring in our produce building - he has one more task and then we get the electric turned on, lights working and the air conditioner running - I am so ready. Picking produce and filling my utility room is getting very frustrating. After having the truck stolen, people seem to think we don't have anything so they have stopped coming out. My tomatoes and squash are piling up so I may have to hit the road tomorrow and there's so much I need to do here that being away from the farm selling is not what I want to be doing.

In getting the job done - a licensed electrician friend of his from work came out and took a look - Byron Lentz is a mechanic at AA, a photographer and a bike rider. That's quite the combo - he and his wife Roxanne were given a bag of tomatoes, some summer squash and a zuchinni loaf as a thank you for their time. Had my computer worked, I'd have downloaded a few of his pictures but there's a glitch - maybe next time.

Here's basically that recipe for the zuchinni bread -
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups natural or brown sugar
1 tsp salt1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
4 oz nuts (walnuts or pecans)
Mix dry ingredients
2 cups zuchinni - I have also used pears, bananas either in replacement or mixed with the zuchinni
3 eggs
1 cup oil or butter melted
2 tsp vanilla1 cup oil or butter - that batch had 3/4s butter and 1/4 oil but most I have used the oil
Finish mixing and divide into pans - makes two loaf pans or can be divided to make smaller yet.

The air conditioner seems to be on the fritz too - all of a sudden. One more bad thing needs to happen to get this run of bad luck out of the way. I don't have a lot of superstitions - she said with a smile. I've never thrown salt over a shoulder or avoided a black cats path but it sure seems that bad luck comes in threes. Ooooo, oooo - maybe having the sign stolen with the truck makes two! Ahhh, I feel better already.

"They finally get it -- why buying from a local, family-scale farm is important,"

I think it might be the fact that I grew up on a farm that I am so connected to the seasons. I think I am the only one in my neighborhood that actually cans Tomatoes, Jams, and Jellies during the season. There are several things I will not buy out of season because they are very expensive and taste like crap. Reuters has a good article about community supported agriculture and people getting reconnected to the seasons.

Eating local.

I posted a link to a Studio Tulsa program earlier that mentions the problems with eating local. The Boston Globe has a good article about the limits of eating local. No civilization has ever been able to completely eat local produce. Since the beginning of cities and and the organization of human groups some of the things we consume have been imported. Caravans and movement of food go back to the earliest books of the bible. So grow and eat what you can locally, but enjoy that fact the you can add black pepper.

It seems there may be more to the story.

It seems there may be more going on with CCD in India then just Cell Phone Towers.

Colony Collapse Disorder????

Is it Cell Phone Towers or Not. The article from India caught me by surprise. This claim was debunked in the United States, and Europe some time ago. In fact I can't seem to find anything newer the 2007 debunking the "Cell Tower" theory. I can tell you about my own experience. Being in an Urban area, my hives are surrounded by Cell Towers, and other sources of electromagnetic energy. My Bees seem to be able to leave and return.

Saving Bees: What we know now.

I was over working in the yard of my Bungalow, and there were Chives in bloom from gardens long past. I notices several Honey Bees working the blossoms so I left the plants for the bees to utilize. The other day I was in the middle of downtown and I saw some insects flying around a elm tree in the parking lot of Trinity Church. After closer inspection I identified them as Honey Bees collecting propolis. I don't know if there is a hives downtown or the Bees are ferrel, but it is a good sign to see so many Honey Bees living in an Urban Area. My hives would be about two miles from where I saw the Bees foraging. I know they are not the right color to be from my Italian Hive, but could be from my Okie mutt hive. Here is a article from the New York Times updating us on Colony Collapse Disorder.