Week 15

Yesterday at market Kelly had someone approach our stand and announce that they were vegan and say that they only want to support farms that don't kill or exploit animals and asked if we kill or exploit animals.  To which Kelly answered with one word, yes.  Of course, we don't think of it as exploitation, but I think it was obvious this person wasn't looking to have a conversation on the topic, more of a confrontation and Kelly was probably wise to keep the answer simple.  However, I am always interested at where we draw the line when it comes to killing/eating/using animals and where others choose to draw the line.  It is a fairly complicated topic and one I don't think a lot of people spend enough time thinking about.  For us, our use of animals goes beyond just providing food for ourselves.  It is also a part of our income.  Having pigs allows us to use the land at our house which isn't suitable for growing vegetables.  It is also a method of diversification.  Even if we got rid of our chickens and our pigs we still wouldn't be the farm for the person who talked to Kelly yesterday.  Very few organic farms are, as most use some sort of animal by products in their fields.   We use a product called Perfect Blend in all our fields.  It is a processed, bagged, pelleted poultry manure that we put out when we are prepping beds.  Our onions and corn get side dressed (when the fertilizer is put in a furrow right next to the plant as opposed to broadcast in the field) with feather meal(higher nitrogen then most organic fertilizers).  On occasion we also use a fish emulsion to side dress in our drip line and bone meal as a source of phosphorus. You have probably never thought to ask if your vegetables are vegetarian.  There is a term for farming in a vegan friendly way...veganic, yup, that is a real word.  As far as I know there isn't a farm locally that doesn't use some sort of animal by product in their production system.  At the end of the day we all make choices about what we are comfortable eating and all draw the line somewhere different.  As much as I prefer to only eat meat that either we raise or friends raise I am never going to go to Mexico and not eat taco al pastor on the side of the road.  I don't think it is the most ethical policy, but it is the one I am going with at the moment.

We started hauling squash out of the field last week, earlier than usual.  It comes out of the field so much cleaner when the weather is nice that we just decided to go for it.  All we got to was spaghetti squash but I think we are going to try to get the kabochas this afternoon/evening.  They have soft corky stems that soak up the water.

Finally, I made something really easy and really tasty last week.  If you haven't eaten your kale or don't know what to do with your collards this could be a good choice.  I was skeptical as it was cooking.  I looked so watery and I doubted it would be flavorful.    However, it was great.  It only used one pan and it took a half hour from the time I walked in the door until the time we sat down for dinner.  It is an Anna Jones recipe for a kale, tomato and lemon one pot pasta that has been floating around my house since last summer.  I followed the recipe exactly, which I almost never do, and it was perfect.


Salad Mix
Carrots 
Beets - With the changing weather, roast beets and carrots might be in order this week.
Sweet Peppers
Collards
Cherry Tomatoes
Green Beans - Large Only - Hope to get everyone green beans one more time.
Cucumber - Large Only