September is Local Food Month!

According to the USDA, .01% of all the food consumed in the United States is purchased locally. That’s very little and shows just how deeply embedded the industrial food system has become in our society. Almost 100% of Americans are eating food that is transported long distances using large quantities of fossil fuels, and not fresh enough for optimum nutrition. They are also eating herbicides and pesticides along with their food.

By choosing a Farm Share, or CSA, you have taken a stand for your local food system, and all that it entails, including:

• You are closer to the original source, which reduces carbon emissions, fuel consumption, and air/water pollution.
• You get healthier, fresher food.
• Buying locally-grown food keeps money within a community and provides local jobs. This contributes to the health of all sectors of the local economy, increasing the quality of life.
• In a community that produces its own food, consumers are able to influence how their food is grown.  In many cases, it encourages organic practices, that further benefit the environment.

For the month of September, Nash’s Farm Store is celebrating local food, including value-added products made from locally-grown produce, dairy and meats. See nashsorganicproduce.com/events for a list of workshops and sample days.

Above,  the Irrigation Festival Royalty (from left, Queen Katey and Princesses Kaylee, Kristina and Judi) pose for a photo at Nash’s farm to help promote Local Food Month.

Week 9, September 5

Both boxes have: Red leaf lettuce,  basil, potatoes, cilantro, rainbow chard

The Small box also has: Green cabbage, globe artichokes, scarlet runner beans

The Standard box also has: Apples, Napa cabbage, broccoli, rainbow carrots, lemon cucumbers

Rainbow Chard

As omnivore’s, humans need a wide mix of foods to meet our nutritional needs. Lots of veggies have similar phytonutrient and antioxidant properties, but each veggie will have these nutrients in unique combination. Chard has a nutrient profile that makes it a powerhouse among veggies.

Because of this profile, eating chard benefits the cardiovascular system. It also regulates blood sugar, reduces inflammation, and detoxifies your body. It is an excellent source of vitamins K, A, and C, and provides magnesium, potassium, iron, and lots of good dietary fiber.

You can certainly eat the stems, but cut them away from the leaves, chop them into little bite-sized pieces, and sauté with onion and garlic for a few minutes Add the leaves towards the end of the cooking process because they will wilt down quickly. Take care not to overcook. The stems can also be added to vegetable stock or soups.

Chard Galette

A Galette is an open-faced savory pastry, perfect for a dinner party, or for the holidays.

Globe Artichokes

Wash your globe artichokes under cold water and cut off the stems to make a flat base. Remove any tough lower outer leaves and trim any sharp ends with scissors.

Place them in a steamer and sprinkle with a little salt and lemon juice. Make sure there’s enough water in the steamer to last 45 minutes, then cover and steam. When done, it’s easy to pull the leaves from the outside. Drain upside down, and eat them while they’re warm or leave them to cool to room temperature.

Don’t hesitate to use your hands. This is the primary reason kids like artichokes. Only the soft end of the leaves and the “heart” are edible, so grab them and dip into your sauce of choice (we included a couple of ideas in your newsletter for Week 6) and scrape the inside of the leaf off between your teeth. Discard go for another one!

Cut the fuzzy patch off the heart and discard. The heart is really amazing, by itself or dipped into a sauce. You could also add it to a salad with tomatoes, olive oil and mozzarella, or cut it up and put on a pizza.

This weekend, Farmer Nash and his friend Norm Nelson (at left, below) made old-fashioned liverwurst with a hand-cranked sausage press that Nash’s grandfather bought early in the last century. There are two dates molded into the cast-iron—July 11, 1876, and “Patented April 10, 1888.” When Nash’s dad passed away a couple of years ago, Nash had it sent to Sequim from Illinois where he grew up, and where both sets of grandparents farmed. His extended family used to do communal hog slaughters early in the fall and his grandmothers would use this same equipment to make sausages for the entire family.

It was hard for Nash to conceal his joy at using that old sausage press again. The last time he remembered seeing it in use was back in the early 1950s. His family used all parts of the pig, including the skin, head, fat, hooves and internal organs. Nothing went to waste. The fat was turned into soap, including laundry detergent. The skin was fried and salted for cracklins. They made bacon, hams, head cheese and lots of sausages. It took several days, but in the end they all had plenty of high quality protein for the entire year.

Farewell and thank you to Dr. John Navazio

The green kale in your box was developed through years of work by Nash and his team. While they have lots of farming experience, effective plant selection sometimes requires someone with training in classical seed breeding. For us, that person was Dr. John Navazio, former senior scientist with Organic Seed Alliance (OSA). John is leaving the Northwest to take a position with Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Maine. We will miss his vast  knowledge, and his great rock ‘n roll guitar playing! Above, John receives an artist’s rendition of his Abundant Bloomsdale spinach from Micaela Colley, director of OSA (www.seedalliance.org) as a farewell present.

Get those weeds!

Nature abhors bare ground and will cover it whenever possible with vegetation, but if soil has been left bare, or damaged, the plants that move in first are usually what we consider weeds. If left alone, they will be eventually shaded out by larger and leafier plants, but their job is prevent erosion and to fix nitrogen in the soil.

Organic farmers deal with weeds mechanically or manually throughout the growing season and do their best to put down cover crops right after harvest in the fall to prevent weeds from getting a foothold in the fields. Sometimes they deal with a weed by changing their attitude towards it, like with chickweed. It may be a “weed,” but it is edible, and it holds moisture in the soil for all the plants. If the crop can get a decent head start, the chickweed will not have too much of a negative impact, and will die off during the summer, adding organic material to the soil.

Other weeds, like smartweed, aka knotweed, can take over a field and choke out the crop. We were having a problem in the South Wilson field with smartweed, but thanks to a group of intrepid volunteers who came to our farm on Saturday, August 16, as part of the “All in for Farms” event organized by PCC Farmland Trust, we think we got a pretty good handle on it. They came from Seattle and the Kitsap Peninsula and worked for half a day. We are very grateful for their help! In the photo, Stephanie Mosher  of Kitsap holds up a giant smartweed she pulled out of the ground.

The rain the preceding week had the mixed effect of making the weeds grow faster, but the soil was softer and the weeds were easier to pull out of the ground.

If you have friends or family who would like to get some fresh organic veggies, we have a new program where we exchange one box of produce for 3 hours weeding, or other farm work. We offer an orientation and the exchanger can come when they want and work as long or as short as they are comfortable. Call 360-681-7458 for more information.