Friends of the farm! Please remember to return your wax produce boxes to the farm. It is important that you learn how to dis-assemble them without ripping or tearing the flaps so we can re-use them. These boxes are close to $3/each now and it would significant raise the cost of CSA if we had to send all new boxes every week to 400 families! We really appreciate it!
We will also take your clean, used egg cartons if you have a stack to leave at the dropsite.
It’s tricky raising farm kids these days. Once upon a time in an agricultural community, all kids were farm kids, or at least the majority. Children were once expected and needed to help on the family farm. In todays world only a very low percentage of children are raised on farms and an even smaller percentage are expected or asked to help on the farms they are raised on. I know many people who were raised on farms and who were expected to work too much. Some people run as far and as fast from the farms they were raised on and never look back. The farming childhood is a delicate and fragile experience. We want them to learn how to work, how to do hard things, and to foster a connection with the land, the animals and the plants. But how do you raise children on a farm and teach them to love it and not run from it? Or at least appreciate it and not resent it.
This has been a subject on my mind since the conception of our Small Family Farm. I dearly hope for our children to grow up and love the farm and look back on their childhood here as a nourishing experience. But those who know me well enough also know that I’m not the sort of mother who is overly doting or pampering. I do expect the kids to do their chores and help with a certain amount of domestic responsibilities. Adam and I are just too busy to do everything for them. I recognize their effort and contributions and when they are tagging along while we’re working or helping for even brief moments, I do my best to make their time spent in the fields enjoyable and fun.
The kids have always enjoyed the social part of the farm. They like to sit with over the lunch hour all of the neat and interesting people helping on the farm. They hang out with the crew members while they’re working. The kids enjoy the social aspects of the crew, the harvesting and getting to eat all of the delicious foods that are grown at their home.
For the first season ever we have our two daughters on the crew for the Monday morning harvest. Our 13 year old is ripe and ready for helping and our 10-year old pretty much does whatever the 13 year old does (and she actually shows more interest in the farm than our oldest). The girls also help for box packing on Tuesday afternoons and our oldest helps load trucks on Wednesday mornings very early on delivery day for an hour. They do get paid for their time the same as other crew members. The last two harvest weeks they had to work in the mud and rain for a short bit and be uncomfortable and cold for a little while before lunch. They hung in there and enjoyed a delicious lunch prepared by Momma Jane!
Our girls bought a horse last Fall around the same time that our neighbors bought a horse. Our horse lives at the neighbor farm and the neighbors give our girls horse lessons and the girls all get to ride horses together with their friends a couple times a week. Our girls are using the money they are earning to pay off the horse they bought last fall. So far they’re 3/5 the way in having their horse paid for in a relatively short amount of time! When the horse is paid for they could start saving for their future.
So far I do believe that our children are learning to love the farming experience. I do my best as their mother to make sure there is balance in their life. They also participate in town activities like soccer, aerial silks, piano, and violin lessons and playdates with friends. As their parents, we hold meal time as a sacred space and make sure that we’re sharing stories from our days, playing games together, reading books together and showing them that farm life isn’t ‘all work and no play’. Mom and dad do work a lot, but it all seems to make sense when we sit together at the table and all of the courses on our plates are made from plants and animals that were raised here on the farm and that they participated in helping to bring to the table.
What’s in the Box?
Pac Choi- The last of the greenhouse grown pac choi this Spring. I loved how tender and crisp everything stayed this Spring with the mild temps. So perfect!
Cherry Belle Radish- The radishes were absolutely perfect this season! They aren’t spicy at all and no signs of bolting yet. A little bigger this week than last week.
Asparagus- One of the only crops we buy ever in the whole season because it wouldn’t be spring without asparagus! Spears R Us out of Baraboo does a really nice job with their certified organic Asparagus!
Red Buttercup Lettuce- Gorgeous, tender, greenhouse grown red-leaf buttercup lettuce. Probably my favorite kind of lettuce of the season!
Spinach- Another generous portion of spinach this week! .77 lbs per member! Wonderful for salads, with pasta, dips or whatever it takes to get your veggie into yo body!
Herb Packs- Thyme, Rosemary, Basil and Parsley. Can you tell which one is which? All of these plants will do best if planted outside in full sun into fertile soil. They will also grow in containers if given a fertile soil mix to grow in.
Recipes-
These turnips could also be used in place of a water chestnut in a spinach dip, egg salad, or simply sliced up and eaten with a home-made sour cream veggie dip!
Raidsh Toast
Pasta with Braised Greens
Home-Made French Salad Dressing
