At least once every season I like to pay tribute to our helpers. They are the behind-the-scenes bodies, minds and souls of our farm breathing life and energy into the work we are doing. Without people willing to do this kind of work, even for 3.5 hours a week, our Small Family Farm would simply not be where we are today. We need people willing to get their hands dirty, work in the heat, work in the mud, and stretch their comfort levels. Lucky for us all, we have a thriving community of helpers interested in deepening their level of connection to where their food is grown and assisting in the movement of community agriculture.
We have a crew of 10 employees working between 1-4 days a week, depending on their own availabilities. These helpers are the backbone of the farm. They have an interest in organic agriculture and they are drawn to work using their bodies and working outside. They have grit and perseverance and loyalty. I am proud and grateful and amazed by each of them. These folks become friends and spend time together outside of work too!
What makes our farm even more interesting is the Worker Shares. Our Worker Shares work a 3.5 hour shift each week earning themselves a Weekly CSA Share in the farm. They are an eclectic bunch of helpers that arrive on their designated day of the week according to the shift they signed up for because they have flexibility with their other jobs. They bring a fresh energy to the crew and their unique backgrounds that gives the rest of us full-timers a lift. Some of them lead fishing trips for a living, some are local artists, cardiac rehab therapists, DNR workers, organic inspectors, archeologists, musicians, teachers, and stay-at-home parents. We have had retired sociologists, veterinarians, accountants, journalists and even others from a longer academic background. You can imagine how interesting the conversations in the field become!
This newsletter was inspired because last Wednesday night as three worker shares and myself were out weeding parsnips together, we discovered that all three of them had Anthropology degrees. It felt like a serendipitous moment. For the first hour we talked about how each of them are using their degrees now and the work they are doing. Simon works for a company called Ashoka that finances social entrepreneurs and Heather knew the historical background of the Indian Emperor of the Maurya Dynasts that ruled most of the country of India from 268-232 BCE. Julia is a corporate trainer using Applied Anthropology in teaching adults and building training programs. We talked about emotional intelligence, and the ‘growth mindset’ verses the ‘fixed mindset’. Three and a half hours flew by!
How blessed are we to have such an extensive array of backgrounds and helpers showing up at the Small Family Farm every week? I love how the ancient art of farming calls to us all. No matter your race, sexual identity, or income, we all long for a connection to our food, the earth and other humans. When this connection is strengthened, so is your spirit and the community at large. I love standing (or kneeling or squatting) in a field with every one of these people handling plants, scraping the earth, and letting the sunshine kiss our skin and wind blow in our hair while we nurture our primal connections together. I also love that I get to share these experiences with you. Thank you for reading your newsletters and for staying connected with us!
Lettuce x 2- Everyone receive two heads of lettuce this week. You may have received either the green buttercup lettuce or the red oakleaf lettuce. These very special Spring varieties of lettuce are so tender and delicious. It gets difficult to grow these fun varieties once the weather gets got. These varieties are not bolt resistant. It’s so fun to share them with you now! Be sure to wash your lettuce leaf-by-leaf to make sure all soil and dirt is washed out of the crevices.
Green Curly Kale- The kale was looking so amazing, we decided to give it again this week. Large bunches of beautiful kale again this week!
Strawberries- 1 quart per member. We grew a variety called Cavendish this year which is a new variety to us. A trademark of Cavendish is that they will have white spots on the strawberries, different from other varieties in the past that need to be picked all red. Cavendish can have white spots on the berry and the berry will still be very juicy and sweet and ripe.
Sugar Snap Peas- .66lbs per member. A hearty giving of sugar snap peas this week! Picking peas takes up lots of time! But we feel that they’re worth every minute of it. Everyone loves to snack on peas. The entire pod is edible. They’re a wonderful addition to salads of all kinds!
Hakurai Salad Turnips- 1.5 lbs per member. We spent a lot of time last week cleaning the tops of the turnips so we could bunch them, so this week we decided to cut the tops off in the field and just wash and bag the turnips. We discovered that we saved a lot of time doing it this way and we were also able to give you all more turnips since we saved so much time not having to clean the greens up.
Kohlrabi x 2- Kohlrabi is the apple of the brassica family. Kohlrabi is in the same family as kale, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower. The leaves can be used in cooking like kale as well. Just peel your kohlrabi with a pairing knife and enjoy the crispy insides with a veggie dip, grated on salads, pan fried, or any way you can dream up!
Bunching Onions- The first giving of bunching onions is always modest. They will continue to bulk up a little and in future weeks they will be a little bigger. You can use every part of these scallions from the roots to the tips of the greens in your salads of all kinds! Yum!
Broccoli- The first broccoli harvest of the season! We are now harvesting broccoli every other day to cut the heads that need to be picked. You and expect more of these summer treats in the next few boxes!
Garlic Scapes– These are the long, curly shoots with a little nodule towards the top. Garlic scapes are the garlic plant’s effort at making a seed head. We snap these off to tell the garlic plant to put more effort into making a larger garlic bulb rather than putting it’s energy into making seeds. Lucky for us all, the scapes are edible and delicious. The edible part is the part from the blunt end up to the start of the nodule. The part above the nodule is of course edible, but it gets a little chewier, I usually toss that part out.
Next Week’s Best Guess: Broccolic, kohlrabi, chard, lettuce, bunching onions, garlic scapes, strawberries, cabbage, zucchini?,
Strawberry and Cream Cheese Pie (no bake) Jillian’s absolute favorite pie EVER!
