June 2008 Archives

There are a couple of articles circulating on the internet about rising food prices and I wanted to link to them here in case you all aren't reading the same material I am. 

This piece in BusinessWeek explains why we aren't seeing the serious price spikes in prepared/processed food when compared to fresh produce and meat items.  The meats I buy have gone up at least 25% in the last six months, and it looks like next year will be really painful, as most livestock growers are taking their herds to market early because they can't afford to feed them.  That will leave less supply in the pipeline for '09, causing prices to rise again.  Egg prices are also escalating for much the same reason:  feed costs are skyrocketing, so growers aren't adding to their flocks.  Next year, lower supply=higher price. 

The second article I came across today via Dry Creek Chronicles.  It is a more personal story about a family farm in upstate NY and their struggle to bring input costs under control and make their business model work.  If you don't read the first article, please do read this one through.  The profits being made at the corporate level for these agribusiness food manufacturers are profane. 

Our chicken feed has gone up 100% in the 15 months we've had chickens.  When I rolled into the feed store lot last week for my bi-weekly stock-up, I was alerted to another 10% increase that will take hold this week.  This increase is 90 cents worth of fuel surcharges and 10 cents worth of actual feed.  Incredible.  All of you nice people who bought my eggs last fall at $2.00/dozen, let's hold onto the memories because at this rate, we'll never see that low level again.

And it's getting dry up here again.  We've been watering from the pond all week, running the gas-powered generator to fuel the pump to access the water.  If it rains, at least the water is free.  At this rate, we're paying for gas everywhere we look!

So when Publix runs a buy one/get one free on boxed pasta, my advice is to stock up.  Buy me a couple extras, too.  We like the bowtie shapes. 

It was great to meet some nice people last week that follow our little farming venture here at Burns Best Farm.  The movement of people looking for the freshest locally grown produce continues to gain momentum.  As a contrast to what we are doing, Denise pointed our this "major supermarket" advertisement in our local paper:

"Tomatoes on the Vine..... Product of Canada, Peak of Season Flavor"

I had no idea it was already peak tomato season in Canada.  Are they pushing the Canada angle because of the tomato issues here in the US?  I don't mean to bash the megamart but I just have one thing to say:  BUY LOCAL and enjoy the in-season produce being grown in your own local food shed.  The product will taste better, is fresher and keeps money circulating in your local economy.  Do we really need to burn fuel shipping in produce from all over the country?

Here's what's ripe this week(call or email if you want us to hold something for you):

More of our delicious sqush - Pattypan, Zephyr, Round Italian Zucchini

Blackberries from our sixty blackberry plants.  They are large, sweet and juicy.

Early pickings of our blueberries - more production each week.

Peppers - Islander (a beautiful purple pepper), jalapenos, anchos and green bell, (Sweet Italia coming soon)

Garlic - just began our harvest and hope to have some soon.

Lettuce - a few more heads of the Red Summer Crisp

Eggs - always tasty and fresh from our hens.

Heirloom Tomatoes Coming Soon - They are starting to turn color and it won't be long.

Marietta Square Farmers Market Update.  We are going to try and go to the Marietta Square Farmers Market this week.  We hope to see you there!

 

 

That is the title of a very informative article by Melinda Hemmelgarn in this week's Rodale Institute e-newsletter.  She sheds light on the process a "big ag" tomato goes through as it makes it way from field to store and I learned a couple of things in this article that I did not previously know. 

For example, when "hot" tomatoes are brought into the packing house directly from the field, they are cooled down to extend shelf life.  The tomatoes are dumped into vats of cool water to bring down the temp, and while cooling, the warm tomato can take up a small amount of the processing water.  If that processing water happens to be contaminated with bad bacteria, the tomato itself can internalize that bacteria and no amount of surface washing will clean it off.

[Ms. Hemmelgarn is not speculating on the source of the salmonella outbreak; she is simply documenting the system and all the steps involved in getting tomatoes to market.]

We had our two water sources tested last week after the salmonella outbreak story became front page news.  We irrigate with pond water (spring fed pond) and we clean what we grow inside with well water from the tap.  Both sources tested safe.  It's a relief to be able to back up scientifically what we've believed about our water supply, and knowing how we handle other composting inputs, we are confident that tomatoes at Burns Best Farm are solid and safe. 

We're still a couple of weeks away from having seriously large heirloom tomatoes to eat and to sell, but the cherry tomatoes have begun to trickle in and the green fruit on the vine looks great.  We encourage you to find a local tomato farmer/gardener close to you and make them your friend. 

This is the gathering from today's walk through the orchard plants.  There are more blackberries to be picked, but I got stung on my right hand by a Black Hawk helicopter-sized stinging insect and the throbbing pain that shot up my arm caused me to head to the house for relief.  I'm now on injured reserve with a sore and swollen hand and tonight's dinner preparation is in serious doubt. 

But you can see, berry season 2008 is off to a beautiful and tasty start.  (No, we haven't eaten them all yet.....but Eston is trying really hard to see the bottom of that blackberry bowl!)  Cornflakes, anyone? 

We've had a great week at Burns Best with the launch of our farm stand and our first sales trip as a selling vendor at the Greenlife Grocery Farmers Market in Chattanooga (Wednesday 4-7).  Our farm stand customers consisted of good friends, neighbors and supporters the first day.  The second day was more of the same, plus some drive by customers who had seen our signs the day before.  Our signs read "Locally Grown", "Fresh Produce" and "Open".  In a few weeks we'll display the "Blueberries" sign.  The signs are large and easy to read and let the drivers on the well traveled road know what we are doing.   

Who's your farmer?

You hear people say, "I went to my butcher"... "My barber"...."My mechanic"... etc.  How often do you hear people say, "I went to visit my farmer today?"  Our new slogan around here is going to be "Who's your farmer?"  Our goal is not just to "sell" produce but to also build relationships with people - people who will frequent our business and spread the word about locally grown, fresh produce.  It makes us feel good when customers come back and ask us for more blueberries, french filet beans, or cherry tomatoes. 

Yes, you can talk with the people who grow your food.  Ask us how we grow it (chemical and pesticide free).  Ask about the variety.  Ask for ideas on how to cook and slice the product or share a favorite recipe with us.  There are a lot of people that have never seen a pattypan squash - they are round and scalloped.  You can cook a pattypan the same way you cook a yellow crookneck squash.  Pattypan are sweet and Denise makes a great squash casserole with them (see previous post).  If you are in the area on Mondays and Tuesdays, 4-6 pm, stop by our stand at 6141 Three Notch Road, Ringgold, GA 30736.  Pick up some produce for dinner on your way home.  

We have three varieties of squash for sale this week along with two types of lettuce.  I think we'll start to have a few peppers next week as well.  Blueberries and heirloom tomatoes are still a couple of weeks away, but with this 90* heat and the occasional rain shower (thank you Lord!), they might here sooner rather than later! 

See you at the stand!      

    

 

Some of my favorite memories of summertime, growing up as I did next door to my grandparents, involve working with my granny to "put up" the abundant harvest her garden produced.  Now that I'm a mother, I see where Granny was probably doing my own mother a favor by watching me for an afternoon, but she used my curiosity and youthful exuberance to her advantage by putting me to work:  husking corn, shelling peas, snapping beans.  I don't remember her ever paying me money to help with those jobs, but she fed us often and well, so it all evened out in the end.  Plus, I loved her and liked hanging out in her kitchen.

She blanched and froze a lot of her fresh vegetables; I think by the time she was that old, all the canning supplies were a hassle for her to deal with.  Heavy, clunky, and very time consuming.  My mom did the canning at our house (green beans, tomatoes, blackberry jelly and vegetable soup) but Granny stuck to freezing.

This year, with the kitchen renovated and the garden bigger than ever, I made a solemn vow to my husband that I will put away a sizeable amount of our abundance so we can enjoy it in the winter.  Since I made that promise (last winter, when there wasn't enough summer flavor in our freezer) our grocery bills have climbed steadily north.  So beyond just the flavors and quality of our harvest, I'm looking at saving some money by taking our extra and making it work for the months to come.

The summer squashes began to ripen this week and it is my goal to have 12 squash casseroles in my freezer by Labor Day weekend.  I need to take one to a potluck lunch tomorrow after church, so I doubled my efforts and made an extra one towards my goal.  One down, eleven to go.   

On the aluminum foil:  since I only have three pyrex 8 X 8 baking dishes, I can't load up the freezer-bound food directly in the dish.  EB Jackson (home management expert, mom of five, and expat to Hungary to save the lost for Jesus) taught me this trick years ago.  Once the brick of casserole is frozen, it can be removed from the pyrex dish, sealed in a large ziploc bag, and the dish is clean and ready to use again.  I make peach pies this same way, only in a 10-inch round pie plate.  And only when the peaches are sublimely fantastic. When it's time to use the freezer food, put it back into the same-sized pyrex dish to defrost overnight in the refrigerator and then bake and serve.  Voila` and all that. 

Here's my afternoon's work (well, that and bread for the week and washing eggs and washing clothes, and feeding a baby and.....you get my drift.) 

Announcing Burns Best Farm Stand

 

We are pleased to announce that we will be selling our locally grown produce from our farm stand on Three Notch Road.  Please forward this e-mail on to friends you think might want to know about this.

When?:  Mondays and Tuesdays from 4-6 pm

Where?:  6141 Three Notch Road, Ringgold, GA 30736 (look for the signs and market tent)

 Why?:  To give you availability to LOCALLY GROWN, FRESH produce.  (Support your local farmer.) 

 

Be sure to check out our website for weekly updates of what will be coming out of our garden.  This week we have a good supply of Red Summer Crisp Lettuce and Green Grand Rapids Lettuce.  We also have an early and limited supply of summer squash - Zephyr, Yellow Crook, Green Round Italian Zucchini- as well as Farm Fresh Eggs from our pastured hens. 

 Please call us before to check availability.  706-375-1377 (farm); or 770-402-7916 (cell)

Coming Soon (late June/early July):  blueberries, blackberries, peppers, radishes, fresh garlic. 

 Longer term (July):  cucumbers, melons, okra, french filet beans, 30 varieties of heirloom tomatoes.  
  

For several years we have been trying various methods of trellising our heirloom tomatoes.  First we used cages, which are fine for a small garden. Then we expanded and tried hi-tensil wire and then hi-tensil wire with trellis netting from Johnny's.  The netting is nice but it is pretty difficult to recycle.  And, because I hung the netting from hi-tensil wire for the top level support, it sagged too much when the tomatoes came in.  My friend, Bill Yoder, uses electrical conduit as the support, which works pretty well.

This year we are trying a method called the "Florida Weave" which was suggested to me at the Georgia Organics Conference.  With 800 plants in the ground we needed to try something that was fast and easy to set up.  With the Florida Weave, you run baling twine down one side of posts and back on the other side to create a channel for the plants to be supported in.  As the plants continue to grow, you add more levels.  So far the Florida Weave has worked well but I'll know more in a few weeks when the plants get taller and full of fruit.  My plants are currently about 2-3 feet with small tomatoes starting to form.  The following link I found on the internet is a good descripton of the Florida weave:  http://www.foogod.com/~torquill/barefoot/weave.html

Here are a few extra pointers:

• Make sure your rows are straight - plants and posts in line with each other.
• Use hay bale twine (not natural twine).  This was a good tip for me - you can usually find it at Tractor Supply or your local cooperative.
• Keep the levels pretty close together - especially the first two.
• Don't use one continuous weave on a long row - you don't want a single point of failure should it break.  I tie every 2-3 posts, with about three plants between posts..
• Think about salsa and BLT's while you are working.

Here are a couple tomato field pictures for your review.  Thanks to David Spangler for helping me rototill the weeds between rows yesterday.  Good luck with your tomato crop this year!