[Caretaker Newsletter] Monday, August 22, 2005

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Caretaker Farm is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm supported by its members. To apply for membership, email elizabeth@caretakerfarm.org.

Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 06:51:25 -0400
From: Elizabeth Smith <elizabeth@caretakerfarm.org>

CARETAKER FARM NEWSLETTER  Monday, August 22, 2005  Week #12

This week's distribution manager is Apprentice Kim Feeney

CROPS: Arugula, Beets, Carrots, Cauliflower, Chard, Collards, Corn, Cucumbers, Fennel, Green Peppers, Lettuce, Muskmelons, Scallions, Yellow Squash and Zucchini, Sweet Onions

PYO HERBS: Cilantro, Thyme, Tarragon, Oregano, Chives, Lovage, Parsley, Basil, and Lemon Balm (growing next to "the rock").

PYO VEGGIES: Green and Purple Wax Beans and Collards continue to be plentiful, unlimited, and tasty. (Check in the barn for some recipes.) Check the blackboard for the limit on cherry tomatoes, but the regular tomatoes are in full swing. Please feel free to take them to preserve.

RASPBERRIES: Regular raspberry picking will begin in early September. Every now and then we will invite you for a taste of them if you wish to walk across the river. Check the blackboard.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL. In a few weeks, we will print Membership Forms for the 2006-07 season. Because of the large number of households on the Membership Waiting List, it will be critically important for present members to pledge for the coming season by October 31st.

SAM'S REFLECTIONS:

May Caretaker Farm always be an inclusive community that opens us to life-enhancing communion with the whole of Humankind, and of Otherkind as well.

- Epigram and vision for Caretaker Farm

The dominant food system in America is based on the concept of food security, a system where there is very little connection between the consumer and producer. Another system is based on Food sovereignty’ where food is an integral part of culture, self-reliance, and the sovereignty of local communities.

The concept of food sovereignty has developed as a reaction to the increasing (mis)use of food security. The mainstream definition of food security, endorsed at Food Summits and promoted by large, globalized, agribusiness interests*, talks about everybody having enough food to eat each day. But it doesn't talk honestly about where the food comes from, who produces it, how and under what conditions it is grown. In short, it plays on our fear of scarcity and insecurity and, more importantly, destroys the possibility of creating economic spaces that underscore our spiritual and physical connection to creation and each other.

*Note: Sadly Monsanto and the American Farm Bureau Federation, along with the National Corn Growers Association, U.S. Grains Council, ADM, etc., are planning to use PBS as the mouthpiece for their latest round of industrial agriculture propaganda. If everything goes according to Monsanto's plan, 20 half-hour episodes will appear weekly beginning this September on 300 public television stations across the country and will extol the virtues of Monsanto's, et al, products and preferred farming practices. Not a single group that represents sustainable agriculture or America's traditional family farmers is anywhere to be found. In all, the series promotes a vision that has no room for supporting networks of beloved, human communities.

RECIPES: By Apprentice Kim Feeney

This past week, my friend Kevin was visiting from Boulder, Colorado. He cooks in a restaurant there, and although most of their suppliers are local organic farmers, he could not get over the abundance and flavor of the vegetables grown at Caretaker Farm. On Friday nights in the summer, he cooks for roughly 200 people and he might get two quarts of the Sun Gold cherry tomatoes to garnish the plates, the same as the limit for a share here at the farm, where a family can base several meals out of two quarts of cherry tomatoes! Kevin enjoyed working alongside us at the farm as well as a chance to really taste how good "off the vine" really is. The following are two of his recipes he made during his visit. He cooks "by taste" and not "by measurements" so I will do my best to adapt and do them justice. Kim.

Tomato Raspberry Salad
Serves 4-6

Enough tomatoes to serve 4-6 people cut up into bite sized pieces. We used a variety for taste and visual, so include some orange and red cherry tomatoes as well as regular ones. (Bite sized pieces is roughly the size of a cherry tomato cut in half).

1 TBS ginger minced
1/8 cup of red wine vinegar
1/2 pint of raspberries
Olive oil to taste
Freshly squeezed orange juice
Handful of basil, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Mince the ginger and let sit in the red wine vinegar as you get together the remaining ingredients. Chop the tomatoes mix in on top of the ginger and vinegar. Add the basil and mix. Then add the olive oil, orange juice, salt and pepper to taste. Mix in the raspberries at the end. Enjoy and feel free to modify depending on your individual preference.

Oven-dried Tomatoes and Tomato Oil

Makes roughly 2 pints

Regular sized Tomatoes
Whole garlic cloves
Thyme
Olive oil (any old kind will do, no need to use expensive olive oil)
Salt, pepper
Canning jars and lids

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. We quartered the tomatoes and cut out the seeds. Place these "boats" on a baking sheet and fill the entire sheet with no overlapping. On the baking sheet, spread lots of sprigs of fresh thyme, several whole garlic cloves (4-6 depending on the baking sheet) and drizzle the olive oil generously over the entire pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top. Bake in the oven until they are at the desired dryness. Roughly 4-5 hours but check often because not all ovens are the same.

Pour the finished tomatoes as well as the garlic, thyme and excess oil from the pans into canning jars so the tomatoes reached 1/4" below the top of the jar. Fill the remainder of the jar with additional olive oil and be sure to get the air bubble out of the jar. Seal the jar and hot water bath for 15 minutes or until sealed. Enjoy the tomatoes at any time, but also be sure to use the tomato-scented oil for cooking when you open the jars.