We had our first CSA pick up yesterday which was very exciting and a bit anxiety producing…. But all in all it went really well. We only have ten members, which feels like the perfect amount at the moment. Our first box contained little gem romaine lettuce, pac choi, lacinato and red russian kale, easter egg radishes, salad mix, a bundle of bergamont mint, a garden bouquet of daisies and geraniums, and a pair of beeswax candles that we make through the winter. It was wonderful to have people come out to the farm and know that our produce is feeding their families this week. These first few weeks definitely feel a bit sparse in terms of what we have to offer, so it will be nice when we hit midsummer and all the boxes will be overflowing.
Besides our first harvest day, the last few weeks have been busy with emptying out the hoophouse and planting peppers, eggplant, winter squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and direct-seeding corn, basil, summer squash, and more root crops. Things have been pretty overwhelming, and I’m realizing just how tied to the land farming really makes me. Watering has to be done every day, and an eye kept out for the leaf-miners on the chard and how much flea beatle damage is on the pac choi, and all those daily occurences that cannot be missed. I’ve never been so knowledgable about one spot of land, the kinds of weeds that grow there, the local snakes and butterflies, where the water pools. It’s amazing to see it progress as the land dries out and one wildflower replaces another and the grasses begin to turn brown and produce seed. I’m also realizing that I’m more committed to a place than I’ve ever been. Even if it is just through the season, as it’s quite hard to grow things through the winter here.
We’re planting turnips this year, not because they are companion crops or because we love them, but because I read that turnip and radish seed, planted with clover, will boost nitrogen content. We’re already planting some radish as companions to other plants for pest control which will go to seed, so I decided to plant some turnips as well, and let some of them go to seed. We can practice collecting seeds using turnips and radishes as the test subjects, and then follow up that seed-collecting practice/test with the next one, trying out the clover trick to see if there is really a beneficial effect on the soil.
Anyway, bottom line, we’ll have turnips. Incidentally, bio-intensive farming literature lists turnips as one of the “calorie crops,” a wonder food ranking up there with potatoes in terms of food calorie yield per square foot. So, there are lots of reasons to grow turnips, but one problem—we have no idea how to cook them, and so far we’ve both made it to our 40s with the impression that we don’t really like them much. Or at all. We still have a bag of them in the back of the fridge that came in our organics box by mistake, that we’ve been at a loss how to use.
Friday was my night to cook (our family rotates among the four of us) and I decided to find a turnip recipe that I thought we could stomach, to go along with the rest of dinner as a side dish. Here’s the internet recipe that I thought had the best chance of success. After sampling this dish, I think we are now at an “I like turnips” ratio of 2.5:4.0, and there’s a good chance that with a few repetitions we can raise the ratio to 3:4. There’s one stubborn holdout who probably will never try the things.
Dan
They are turning the dirt and hoping to be successful enough to turn a profit, and to become a valuable part of their communities as suppliers of organically grown food.
Peaceful Valley is giving them a head start by offering them special pricing as part of this Freshman Farmer program.
| Freshman: | |
| New Farms Coming Soon! | |
| Sophomores: | |
![]() | Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA |
![]() | Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT |
![]() | Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA |
| Graduates: | |
![]() | Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA |
![]() | DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA |
![]() | Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA |
![]() | EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO |
![]() | Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA |
![]() | Four Frog Farm Penn Valley, CA |
![]() | Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA |
![]() | Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA |
![]() | Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA |
![]() | Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA |
| Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA |
| DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA |
| Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA |
| EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO |
| Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA |
| Four Frog Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT |
| Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA |
| Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA |
| Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA |
| Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA |