I think of this week and the week in-between.  As I go out and scout the fields, I see a lot of tomatoes, but very few changing color.  I see many little eggplants, ears of corn not yet ripe or filled out, and peppers close, but not yet mature.  It always makes me both excited and anxious.  Excited for what’s close to mature, and anxious because I really want to fill the CSA box with all these wonderful crops.  Typically the week in-between comes earlier, but, here we are, still waiting for these high-season crops at a the beginning of August.  When we look at the forecast, it sure looks like we’re going to have some good growing weather with hot sunny days and nights in the 60’s.

In order to local foods more accessible to more people, there has been a lot of effort over the last few years for farmers markets to accept SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps) through EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer…folks get a card like a credit card).  Our own farmers market in Detroit Lakes got authorized to accept SNAP  about 4 years ago.  It was not a great success.  We tried again last year, but the vendors chose not to pursue it again for this year.  Many felt we were not reaching enough people for all the logistics and effort involved – dealing with credit card companies and the wireless terminal technology does take some effort, much less communicating the program to all vendors at a time of year when everybody’s under the stress of the farm season.  

I’ve always felt that good local food should be accessible to everybody.  Too often the only people at farmers markets or signing up for a CSA have graduate degrees and drive a Subaru or Volkswagen (things which also characterize myself).  So, recently we authorized Lida Farm itself to accept SNAP benefits and got enrolled in a program called Marketlink, funded through the USDA.  Since we were the only vendor authorized at our farmers market, we qualified and now have a iPhone with a card reader and even a wireless printer for receipts – pretty slick.  We will be able to start accepting SNAP at the Lakes Area Farmers Market in DL on Saturdays and also accept SNAP for CSA payments.

For CSA members we’ll be open Sunday for a Pea Pick.  If you would like to pick some more peas, please come on out to the farm anytime from 9 am to dusk.

In the CSA box:

• Green Cabbage
• Kohlrabi
• Snap Peas 
• Radishes 
• Salad Mix
• Beets
• Summer Squash: Most got a yellow summer squash and a zucchini.  You’d use the yellow the same as the green 
• Cucumbers

Well, today it’s official.  We are delivering the last box and coming to the end of the CSA season.  In this last blog post of the season, I typically reflect of how the season’s been.

The farm season started off pretty badly.  We managed to kill off a bunch of plants in the greenhouse when our heater went out, followed by late spring snows, cold weather, and about 3 months of daily rain (or so it seemed).  We planted in mud.  We watched weeds grow in the fields because it was too wet to cultivate.  It wasn’t good at all.

The middle of the summer brought much better weather and we were able to tend to the crops and harvest some things only after pushing the start of CSA back a week.  We were feeling pretty good and getting into the groove of the season, but stress levels went up as the heat increased and rains stopped.  We typically don’t have to irrigate much, but when it got that dry for that long, I did have to start lugging hose from field to field.  Drought conditions did effect the quality of some produce like mis-shaping pumpkins and decreased yield as plants got stressed.  Still, I think we weathered it as well as possible.

Rain started to fall in September and I’d say we’re in good shape for next season. Even though I’m my typical worn out self this time of year, we have to look towards next season to begin a new.  Let me thank you for being with us for the season.

In the box:
Cabbage
Kohlrabi
Little Bok Choy
Spinach
Celeriac: Yes, this is a crazy-looking veggie.  Peel and use in cooking where you would celery – it has the same flavor.
‘Satina’ Yellow Potatoes: People rave about Yukon Gold yellows, but I think these are much better.  Yukons have a terrible yield and there are a bit too starchy or dry for me.
Yellow Onion
Dino Kale
Yellow and Red Pepper
Parsley
‘Red Kuri’ Squash: This is a great flavored squash – I always liken it to a chestnut.  Maree peeled and used in a veggie soup earlier this week.
Pie Pumpkins: I think a couple should be enough for a pie (Maree makes pie, not me, so I’m guessing).  You can use them for decoration, but don’t forget they are food too.  You can always cook down like squash, put into a freezer bag and use later (way better than that stuff in a can).
Farmer-choice squash: Another acorn or delicata.  

I was just thinking about how tired I am and wondering how I did all the things I had to do all summer.  This a natural thought this time of year and so is being tired.  In the middle of the summer I feel like I can move mountains.  Of course, the sun is shining, the days are long, and the growing season is on the upswing.  As we get into fall, you’ll find just the opposite.  The days are shorter, there’s more darkness than light, and everything’s winding down.  It’s not starting a project that’s ever a problem, it’s finishing it, right?  We’ll a farm season is no different.

The end of season around Lida Farm is more than the last two CSA harvests or last couple of farmers markets (that’s next Friday and Saturday respectively).  The bigger challenges are big jobs that I don’t feel like getting to: planting garlic, pulling out the tomato trellis, taking plastic off the high tunnel, shoveling and spreading manure, disking…it goes on.  Well, the longer I wait, the greater chance I do any of these things in really cold weather.

CSA members are still welcome to come out and take tomatoes and peppers for preservation.  There are a lot of both and there’s little chance of me selling them all.  Just come on out and pick what you need – they are in the field closest to the house.

In the box:
Russet Potatoes
Braising Mix: the bunched greens that are a mix of purple and green.  Prepare and use as you would kale.  This pretty much what I do with them too: http://www.elanaspantry.com/simple-braised-greens/  Once made up, you can keep in fridge and add to eggs in the morning.
A Sprinkling of Sage and Thyme
Salad mix
Beets
Carrots
Delicata Squash: The green and yellow-striped ones.  We don’t do these in a water bath like others since their shells are thinner
Butternut Squash
‘Red Cardinal’ Spinach
A Couple Little Red Onions
‘French Breakfast’ Radishes
Celery: This stuff always grows small and stringy for me, so will work fine for cooking – not eating all by itself.
Cherry Tomatoes

I was just reading article in the AgWeek yesterday about robots being developed that will pick citrus crops.  The article framed the need for robots in terms of the immigration debate; since California has such a great need for immigrant labor, robots may be their saving grace.

Immigration besides, my main reaction was “Huh, what are WE here for anyway?”  Maybe I’m just a romantic, but we’ll lose more than employment when robots can do all the labor on farm.  There’s something really beautiful and refreshing about caring for the ground and creation with your own two hands.  Sure, it’s tiring work some days, but a person sleeps really well and the work gives me, at least, a deep sense of satisfaction.

Harvest Party last week at Lida Farm

I’m game for appropriate technology (I use technology all the time – this blog a case in point), but we must also consider what’s lost as well.  I think our culture will be poorer with fewer people working in agriculture with their hands.  One point to consider…if such huge fruit and vegetable operations can’t make it in California without so much imported labor, maybe multiple families with less reliance on outside labor should replace them.  I’m guessing we’d all spend a bit more for summer stone fruit and winter citrus in this scenario, but having more families on the ground building businesses is a much better outcome than a single mega-farm with an army of robots.

In this week’s CSA box:
A quart of tomatoes: Green Zebras (yes, they are ripe when green) and standard Celebrity toms.
A Couple Colored Peppers
Carrots
Spaghetti Squash: It’s best to store all winter squash in warm, dry locations.
A Buttercup Squash: Boy, this variety did not pull through well this year – terrible, since this is the top choice for many.
A Yellow Onion
French Breakfast Radishes
Green Onions
Garlic
Salad Mix