Week9, May 7-13, 2012, Week 19 of the Year

I don’t think we could ask for better weather and all but the lowest fields have dried enough to plow.  We have squash and cucumbers in the greenhouse and they are ready to get into the lower field.  I was barely able to plow one row, but I hope that after mowing again things will continue to dry out down there.  While we were waiting for the ground to dry we tackled a lot of weeding.  Lots of rain + warm weather= rapid weed growth.  We are officially in the season where weeding is very hard to keep up with.  Rabbits sent me off the deep end this week by eating our beautiful lettuces.  We quickly row covered the lettuces and mowed the perimeter while singing “No where to run to rabbits, no where to hide!” (originally by Martha Reeve and the Vandellas).  Rabbits like mice and other rodents are fearful of open areas, which is called “Agoraphobic”.

EarthDance Upper Field, Spring 2012

We are a little behind on planting tomatoes, but no need to fear.  The biggest issue is stress due to the timing and the size of the cell the tomatoes were planted in.  As we talked about in the greenhouse enrichment session, this stress can translate into reduced yield so we want to minimize stress.  You can also help plants with the stress, including transplant stress by using seaweed.  Think ahead!  Fertilizing the plants in the trays, prior to transplant, is far more efficient that mixing and watering them in with seaweed in the field.  Tomatoes can be caged, trellised, staked, or woven.  Cages have a high initial investment and take up a lot of storage space, but these plant are proven to produce the highest yield/plant.  In addition, I find this method to be the easiest- set it and forget it.   Trellising Tomatoes involves tying them up to a tall beam with vertical strings.  Trellising, staking and weaving all involve pruning- uhhhgggg too much work for our scale in my opinion.  Staking tomatoes involves tying individual branches to a 1″ stake.  The  Florida Weave  method uses a series of stakes and you weave twine laterally back and forth between stakes.  The last three methods allow you plant tomatoes closer together so while caging may lend itself to higher production on a plant you have to plant them farther apart which may mean your production per area is the same.  Please keep in mind to use soft, thick twine for trellising.  While I would love to use a biodegradable product be aware that natural sisal twine will stretch and/or break.

In one last note there is a new people friendly cat near the house.  I believe it is a female and she is long-hair charcoal color.  I suspect she was dropped off at the farm because she seemed to be asking for love and help, unlike the feral cats we have on the farm.  She loves pets and was seen crying outside the back door of the house.  Unfortunately, we have seen this happen before.  In looking through last years notes we rescues another cat “Turnip” last year the same week we saw Indigo Buntings (see Wildlife of the Week).  I would love for somebody to take her home, but at minimum we need to make sure she/he gets fixed.  If the cat stays at the farm we will not continue to feed it in order to encourage hunting and also we do not want to encourage more domestic animals to make the farm it’s home.  We often see two dogs at the farm as well, one is friendly and one is shy.  If you are interested in taken one of the home (one is a reddish, med. hair mix male- very friendly, the other is a female husky who is people shy)  As far as the cat goes we are watching he/her to make sure she doesn’t have kittens before we take further action.  I have attached a picture of the cat we are calling “Bandit” for now since we were weeding ‘Bandit’ Leeks when he/she turned up.

Wildlife of the Week- Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea 

These beautiful, bold-blue buntings are about sparrow sized and can be seen flying from stake to stake  in the field.  These birds, like others love habitat that has an “edge” so where woods meets the field, hedgerows etc.  These birds migrate at night and use the stars to guide them.  Animals have countless natural adaptations that constantly amaze me.  These birds are able to follow stars and also have an internal clock which adjusts their angle of orientation as stars appear to move through the sky over night.  Indigo Bunting feathers are actually brown but refract light to reflect blue, similar to how particles in the atmosphere make the sky look blue.

Indigo Bunting

Many birds learn songs, but these learn songs from a neighbor, not a parent.  Song neighborhoods form wherein all the males in a small breeding area sound the same and the song persists for 20 years with minimal variation.  The Indigo Bunting eats small seeds, fruits, insects, buds, and berries so I am sure they are helping us with the insect pests while enjoying some mulberries for dessert.  While all song and game birds are federally protected in the US, we cannot protect them in their migratory areas and these birds are often captured for pets and hunted in their tropic wintering areas.  Many things in the the US have also reduced the population as well (urbanization, intensive agriculture, reforestation, frequent mowing).  Their population overall is not a concern.  For more information in Indigo Buntings go to http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/indigo_bunting/lifehistory.

Celebrations:

Happy Birthday to Deborah Moulton!

Special Thanks:

To Patricia and her husband for bringing in three loads of compost to mulch with this week!   Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Thanks also to Tim McHale and all his flower fact finding skills- we have almost all the flowers in the field!  Thanks to Tim and Faith LaBeaume for donating 2 gooseberry shrubs.  Maria S. planted these at the entrance of the herb garden.

Needs:

More Kitchen Scraps- come one come all kitchen compostables!  Please share your compost with the farm instead of the trash.  We will take all non-meat, non-dairy items (egg shells okay).  Please be sure to bury any items you put into the compost pile.  There is a fork up there for your convenience.  If anyone has an “in” into getting more scraps through a school or restaurant please let me know.

City Compost for Mulch- We will need mulch throughout the season.  We get mulch from U. City but there are other free pick-up areas around the city.  If you would like to do a mulch pick-up we can arrange for a few folks to meet you at the mulch pile for loading at the beginning of your shift.  Mulch pick-up is not ideal for harvest days, but since we have so many people on Wed. we could try and make it work if needed.  No mulch deliveries on Friday please.

We need a handy person to help with building a bike trainer of sorts for the salad spinner.  Any farmies could of course count this toward farm hours.

Anyone live near Fenton and want to bring house rabbit manure to the farm? This would of course count toward farm hours.

Tomato cages

Push mower fix.  The pull start cord did not retract yesterday.  Anyone know how to fix this?

Most people are unfamiliar with sorrel, the delicious herb EarthDance has available at the Farmers Markets (Schlafly Wed. 4-7pm; Ferguson Sat. 8am-12). If you’ve never given sorrel a try, it’s time you discovered this delightful herb! It has a slight lemony taste and can be used raw in salads or cooked in soups or sauces.

photo from Vegetable Matter

Some Irish historians say that sorrel, not clover, may have been the original shamrock, and that it may have been the arrow-shaped, three-cornered sorrel leaf that St. Patrick used as a model for the trinity. Early Egyptians and Romans nibbled on fresh sorrel leaves after overeating, both for their soothing effect on the digestive system and for their diuretic properties. In North America, 200 years ago, sorrel was eaten as “lemonade in a leaf.” It’s a good source of vitamin C, and used to be taken to prevent scurvy.*

*from Everyone Eats Well in Belgium by Ruth Van Waerebeek

Here are two good sorrel recipes to add to your repartee and wow your friends with your knowledge of this delicious herb!

Penne with Mushrooms and Fresh Sorrel
from The Good Herb by J. Benn Hurley

1 Tablespoon olive oil
12 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, mashed through a press
1 medium onion, sliced
1 small chile pepper
1 cup chopped tomatoes
6 cups hot cooked penne or other pasta, about 3/4 pound dried
1/3 cup minced sorrel leaves

Heat a large sauté pan over medium high heat, then pour in the oil. Add the mushrooms, garlic, onion and hot pepper and sauté for about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and cook until saucy and fragrant, about 7 minutes more. In a large bowl, toss the penne with the sauce and sorrel. Serve warm.

Apple Sorbet With Sorrel Recipe
From Victory Garden

2 cups  apples
2 cups apple juice
2 cups french sorrel, firmly packed

The apples should be peeled and diced into cubes. Bring the apples and apple juice to a boil over high heat. When it boils, turn the heat to medium and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes. Pour the apple mixture into a bowl and refrigerate until it is cold [approximately 1 hour]. Process apple mixture and sorrel leaves in a blender at high speed, until smooth. Freeze according to ice cream machine makers directions for Sorbet. You can also place in casserole dish and freeze in freezer for 2 to 3 hours. Serves 4

Farm Update: Week 8, April 30- May 6, 2012, Week 18 of the Year

Rain, rain, hail, and more rain just consistent enough to prevent plowing and make planting very difficult.  With temperatures reported up to 100F this past week we have really needed to keep plants hydrated.  Rain is better than drought any day, but it is putting us a bit behind on our planting schedule.  This rain and warmth has been great for germination though.  Arugula, carrots, fennel, and beans are sprouting.

Red Lettuce in the Yard Field

We have noticed Powdery Mildew on our Kale and can’t seem to get it to revert to leafing again so  it is time to say goodbye.  The good news is the kales we planted this spring are coming along really great.  We did note that ants killed about 20-30 ft. of our new ‘Redbor’ Kale.  John Wilkerson was generous enough to share some borax based traps with us, and we are working on a longer term solution.  The ants ate the root of the plant thereby girdling it and starving it for moisture and nutrients.  Ants killed almost all of our cabbage and Brussel sprout crop last year before we realized what was going on.  Because they live underground ants can be difficult to control.  Here is a good home remedy that is similar to the Terro available in stores Ant Remedy

You will notice that our newly sprouted beans look like they have been shot up with a shotgun, this is from hungry beetles.  The Spotted Cucumber Beetle is making fast, tasty work of our beans.  Beetles as adults are very difficult to control, for goodness sake they are practically wearing armor.  Their eggs and larval stage is susceptible to Insecticidal soap.  We have decided to start a regular spray time at the farm of Thurs. evenings.  Having a regularly scheduled shift will help us make sure we are getting this done, keeping the weather in mind.  For instance many organic pesticides volatilize or break down in warm temperatures (over 90) and wash off in rain.  To get the most bang for your effort you should plan on spraying pesticides when it can persist on the plant as long as possible unless it is designed to kill on contact (Insecticidal Soap).

Spotted Cucumber Beetles like our Dragon Tongue Beans

Wildlife of the Week- Baltimore Oriole, Icterus galbula 

Evan and I spotted a Baltimore Oriole singing loudly from a tall tree just at the east end of the field this week.  Most folks know that Orioles are nectar and fruit eaters and they (like all the other birds) are no doubt enjoying the bounty of Mulberries the farm has to offer.  These striking orange and black birds like tall deciduous trees near open fields.  Their name comes the Baltimore family of Britain which had the same colors on their family crest.  Orioles prefer the darkest fruits available unlike most birds who are less picky.  The female weaves a nest high in a tree while the male may bring some materials.  They do recycle materials from past nests as well.   The nest has 3 distinct layers of materials, stretchy on the outside for support, the springy on the inside for loft, and finally a downy layer in the interior to lay eggs into.  For more information http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/baltimore_oriole/id

Celebration
Happy Birthday to Chris Bowman this week!

Special Thanks
A very delayed thank you to whomever brought the bag of extra gloves to the farm, they have come in very “handy”, especially during thistle patrol.

Needs
More Kitchen Scraps- come one come all kitchen compostables!  Please share your compost with the farm instead of the trash.  We will take all non-meat, non-dairy items (egg shells okay).  Please be sure to bury any items you put into the compost pile.  If anyone has an “in” into getting more scraps through a school or restaurant please let me know.

City Compost for Mulch- We will need mulch throughout the season.  We get mulch from U. City but there are other free pick-up areas around the city.  If you would like to do a mulch pick-up we can arrange for a few folks to meet you at the mulch pile for loading. No mulch deliveries on Friday please.

We need a handy person to help with building a bike trainer of sorts for the salad spinner.

Tomato cages

Carrots! Carrots! Carrots! We’ve been harvesting plenty of carrots and selling them at the Schlafly Farmers Market on Wednesday evenings, and we’ll be bringing plenty of those delicious carrots to the first Ferguson Farmers Market THIS SATURDAY!

Munching a freshly harvested carrot

If you are at a loss on what to do with all of those delicious carrots, these recipe ideas were shared by apprentice Stephanie Morgan:

Exotic Carrot Salad

Serves four.
Prep time: 10 minutes.

Ingredients:
2 cups grated carrots
¼ cup shredded coconut
¼ cup slivered or sliced almonds, raw or toasted
¼ cup chunked fresh pineapple

Dressing:
¼ cup vegenaise (or mayo)
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon honey or agave nectar
Grated ginger and fresh cilantro to taste
Pinch salt

Simply mix together salad ingredients and top with dressing.

Recipe via Kripalu

If you have access to a juicer, this cool soup is perfect for a hot summer (or spring!) day:

Creamy Carrot Ginger Soup with Lime
Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients:

3 cups carrot juice
1 small, ripe avocado
1/3 cup coconut meat
¼ cup lime juice
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 tablespoon minced ginger
¼ teaspoon cayenne
¼ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons avocado-lime oil for garnish (optional)
Few sprigs of cilantro for garnish (optional)

Directions:

In a Vita-Mix or high speed blender, puree all the ingredients until completely smooth. Taste for seasoning.

Divide among serving bowls. Garnish with a drizzle of avocado-lime oil and a few cilantro leaves in the middle and serve immediately, or gently warm the soup as directed above and then serve.

Recipe via Pure Nutrition

The Open Space Council, one of the oldest land and water conservation organizations in Missouri, will celebrate 47 years of serving the St. Louis region with its Annual Meeting on Thursday, June 7, 2012.

The Open Space Council has been instrumental in EarthDance’s success and EarthDance is being recognized at this meeting for our work to preserve the historic Mueller Farm.

The event will celebrate The Open Space Council’s dedication to conserving public and private lands in the St. Louis region.  The event will take place at the Hilton Hotel in Frontenac, MO and will begin at 5:30 P.M.  All people who are interested in learning about and celebrating the conservation successes of the past year should attend!

The Meeting will recognize outstanding champions in land and water conservation with the Open Space Council Land Conservancy Award and the William C. Schock Water Conservancy Award.  These awards are given to individuals, companies, corporations, or organizations that have made significant contributions to enhancing, conserving, or sustaining our region’s open spaces.

There will be a silent auction, along with live music.  Light jazz and contemporary music will be performed by Mark Grygier and Jilliann Law Grygier.  The keynote speakers for the evening will be Billyo O’Donnell, artist, and Karen Glines, writer.  Both Missouri natives, O’Donnell and Glines will discuss their book, “Painting Missouri” , and the journeys they experienced during the seven years it took to creatively paint and write about their home state.  Missouri is one of the top states in the country with the largest number of counties and what better way to portray their beauty than to visit them and capture their presence on canvases and in words.

Thursday, June 7, 2012 from 6-9 PM

Hilton St. Louis Frontenac Hotel, Clayton Ballroom

1335 South Lindbergh Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri 63131

Guest Speakers: Billyo O’Donnell and Karen Glines

Tickets may be purchased by calling 636.451.6090 or by clicking here!
You may also send a check to:
The Open Space Council
P.O. Box 1468
Ballwin, MO 63022

Please indicate your preference of chicken, salmon, or a vegetarian entree.

EarthDance looks forward to seeing our friends and supporters there!

Week 7, April 23-29, 2012, Week 17 of the Year

Upper Field, Spring 2012

We had both very beautiful and very extreme weather this week.  I was impressed to go the the farm Sunday morning and see that the row cover was not in the next county!  Great job, row cover shift!  The only damage I saw was some holes in the borage leaves, no biggie.  We had two hail storms come through, one with hail bigger than golf balls!  We are fortunate not to have any trees down.  This is a good reminder of how much, in farming, is out of your hands.  In college, fellow students would be offended that biology was lumped into “soft” sciences like psychology, in contrast to “hard” sciences like chemistry and physics.  The difference between the two is that “hard” sciences are based on quantifiable, empirical data, that can be reproduced.  Any science that does not take place in a laboratory has to many variables to accurately account for…. just like farming.  We can have the best laid plans, best varieties for our area, etc… but extreme pest infestation or extreme weather can trump all when it comes down to it.  For these reasons it is always good to be flexible, have a few aces up your sleeve, diversify, and continually re-evaluate how your season is progressing.

All that said,  lets review this season a little.  Last we we talked about some germination issues.  It is important to note when we plant things so 7-10 days after planting we can evaluate germination and replant immediately.  After reviewing our spinach with Miranda (Lincoln County Extension) we feel the heat caused the yellowing and early kaput of the crop we planted last fall.  To accommodate this possibility, in the future we will get some seeds in the ground prior to the apprenticeship starting next year (weather pending).  Waiting on the two-wheel tractor this season prevented us from getting anything in earlier.  I believe we had about 1,500 ft. of spinach planted so this was a big bummer this year.  Over-wintered kale flowering is also another by-product of the pre-spring heat.  We have been trying to cut flowers off the plants to encourage them to revert their energy into leaves… my observation is kale is both tough and determined.  Some of you have asked why carrots have split and I incompletely answered maturity.  Carrots also split from the shock of having dry weather (this winter) to a lot of moisture.  So all in all I believe our carrots have suffered due to the early warm up (faster maturity) in combination with a dry winter and heavy sporadic rains this spring.  Additionally, Miranda and I looked at the carrots and decided that they have Aster’s Yellow, a phytoplasma spread by a leaf hopper.  The good news is that this disease does not persist in the soil.  The bad news is that is means we need to get the crop out so it does not get spread from the carrots to the tomatoes and peppers.  A phytoplasma is an obligate parasite (cannot complete it’s life cycle without exploiting a suitable host) of the plant phloem (which transmits sugars and nutrients throughout the plant) which is transported by the aster leafhopper.  There is no cure for Aster’s Yellow.  By removing the infected crop from the field, we hope to interrupt the cycle of the phytoplasma and eliminate it’s spread to any more of the 300 species it can effect.  The bottom line is may have less to no overwintered carrots for CSA, less overwintered kale for CSA and market,  as well as less spinach than I planned to offer at market.  About 1/2 the carrots we have pulled out of the ground, maybe a little more than half, we cull as seconds or thirds.  Last week we harvested about 330 lb. in an effort to get 110 lb. of firsts for special orders ( Local Harvest Grocery &  360 Rooftop Bar ).  This means we ended up with A LOT (160+ lb.) of first and  second grade carrots, which Molly and Evan tried to sell at Market.  Molly ended up trying to hawk them around town after market, to eventually sell the last 100 lb at a discount to Fair Shares combined CSA.

Harvested- We received feedback from the market that the larger chive bunches last week were intimidating so we opted for smaller bunches at a reduced price.

• Kale, ‘Red Russian’
• Shallot scapes (flower bud & stalk)
• Chard, ‘Bright Lights’
• Carrot, ‘Rainbow’
• Carrot, ‘Nelson’
• Carrot, ‘Purple Haze’
• Spring Garlic
• Sorrel
• Chives
• Garlic Chives
• Thyme
• Savory
• Bachelor Buttons, Centaurea, edible flower
• Chive Flowers

 Wildlife of the Week- Common Nighthawk, Chordeiles minor

As dusk comes over the farm you can sometimes see or hear the Common Nighthawks catching insects on the wing at the farm.  They are part of the Nightjar or Goatsucker family of birds that are crepuscular (more active at dusk and dawn).  This family also includes Common Poorwills Chuck-wills-widow, and Whip-poor-wills, whose names refer to their calls.  They fly with their wide mouths open, catching insects.  They are very acrobatic and kite like in flight with little wing motion, sharp turns, and fast action.  In fact, Howard and I have a stunt kite called “The Nighthawk”.  Once you get an eye for their shape, see the white patch on their wing, or even learn their distinct croaking sound you will probably notice them in your neighborhood too.  This link has less photos than I like but the the call recording is good, check it out http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Nighthawk/id.

Celebration

Freshman Farmy Tina Coleman celebrates a birthday this week!  Happy Birthday Tina “Turnip”!

Special Thanks

To Tim McHale for using his truck to move wood mulch for the Demo Garden.  Also, Ann Owens did a fantastic clean-up at the greenhouse, thanks Ann!

Needs

More Kitchen Scraps- come one come all kitchen compostables!  Please share your compost with the farm instead of the trash.  We will take all non-meat, non-dairy items (egg shells okay).  Please be sure to bury any items you put into the compost pile.  There is a fork up there for your convenience.  If anyone has an “in” into getting more scraps through a school or restaurant please let me know.

City Compost for Mulch- We will need mulch throughout the season.  We get mulch from U. City but there are other free pick-up areas around the city.  If you would like to do a mulch pick-up we can arrange for a few folks to meet you at the mulch pile for loading at the beginning of your shift.  Mulch pick-up is not ideal for harvest days, but since we have so many people on Wed. we could try and make it work if needed.  No mulch deliveries on Friday please.

Newest needs…

Volunteers for Friday Harvest Shift- We’re in need of more hands on our Friday morning harvest shift (8am-2pm) whenever you would be available to help.

We need a handy person to help with building a bike trainer of sorts for the salad spinner.

I finally got the tractor fixed and a bolt broke in the tractor.  I need help getting the bolt part out because it now, again, leaks hydraulic fluid like a crazy.  I have never done this before and need somebody to show me where to start.  For the time being I may need to mow with it leaking, but we really need the tractor to be running consistently.

EarthDance is looking for some hearty hands to help out on the Friday morning harvest shift.

Harvesting Chard - Spring 2011

The Friday harvest shift runs from 8am-2pm. We’d love someone who can work the whole shift, but would appreciate it even if you could only work part of that time. We are looking for folks who can volunteer on a regular basis, every Friday, or every other Friday. Farm amateurs are welcome!

If you can help out on Friday mornings, please contact our Assistant Farm Manager, Evan Winkler (evan@earthdancefarms.org or 330-234-2072)

Ben's Birthday Party at EarthDance

On Sunday, April 30th, EarthDance hosted its first birthday party at the farm! This event was hosted by EarthDance as part of their 2011 Farmers Formal live auction offerings. The winning bidder was excited about the very unique venue for her six year old son’s birthday party. The lucky birthday boy, Ben Banana, and his friends first got to enjoy the fun and silly music stylings of local singer/songwriter Celia. An impromptu dance party began as the kids rocked out to Celia’s music.

Next the five and six year olds ‘dressed up’ as farmers and set out on a scavenger hunt, organized by sophomore apprentice Katrina Gillespie. The excitement was contagious as they anxiously tried to find squash, blue and yellow flowers, ants, alpacas, and the precious birthday cake! While on the scavenger hunt, they came upon Miss Michelle and her friendly alpacas. Holly the alpaca was quite the character, bounding up to the kids and giving them kisses hello. Valerie the alpaca was a little more subdued, but the kids loved petting her soft fur. Meeting the alpacas introduced the kids to our compost pile and how the alpacas help us grow yummy and nutritious vegetables with the help of their “alpaca beans”. They got to examine what types of items are in the compost pile and learn what it contributes to life on the farm.

After the compost pile, the youngsters walked across our 2-acre plot to see how potatoes grow and harvest another root crop… carrots! They dug in the dirt and pulled out their very own carrots, held them up high to march back across the field in a carrot parade, and headed back to the picnic tables, where they immediately washed and chomped them down.

After all those carrots, it was cake time! Kerry Soraci, owner of I Scream Cakes, graciously made and donated an ice cream cake in the shape of the kids’ new best friends…the alpacas! It was a wonderful day on the farm, and lots of fun was had by all! The party guests each went home with a small potted plant provided by Katrina, and photos were taken by Bonnie Thornhill to commemorate their special day on the EarthDance farm.

Tasting just-harvested carrots at the Birthday Party

Asst. Farm Manager Evan selling at Schlafly Market

EarthDance has already been selling at the Schlafly Farmers Market (previously known as the Maplewood Farmers Market) for the month of April. It’s been great to see familiar faces, as well as meet many new folks who have already become regular customers! We will continue to sell at this market, located on the parking lot of Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood, each Wednesday from 4-7pm.

Ferguson Farmers Market

THIS SATURDAY, May 5th, marks the start of the Ferguson Farmers Market season. Come visit the EarthDance booth every Saturday from 8am-12pm. Be sure to mark your calendars for July 14th and visit the market that day for our annual Pesto Festo, a community celebration of local FARMS!

Our Red Russian Kale

Our normal monthly Beers & Cheers will be celebrated with Alive Magazine’s Sips in the City event, Friday May 18th from 5-7pm. Kick off the weekend with a unique happy hour at the popular Culinaria downtown. With a $5 donation at the door you receive a complimentary beer from Stella Artois, Leffe or Hoegaarden and a glass of featured wine. Appetizers from Culinaria will be provided. 100 percent of the proceeds will benefit EarthDance’s sustainable agriculture programs.

R.S.V.P. and view event information on the Facebook event page