June 27 - Waterpenny Farm

News From the Farm:
CSA
Shareholder Newsletter June 27, 2012 Vol. 13, No. 3
Rachel Bynum & Eric Plaksin,
53 Waterpenny Lane, Sperryville, VA 22740
(540) 987-8567
e-mail: [email protected]
Website: Www.waterpennyfarm.com
The shares for the 4th of July will be delivered on Thursday, July 5th since our dropoff locations are closed for the holiday.
Pickups will be at the same times, just a
day later. On-farm shares will be ready at
the usual time on Thursday as well.
Magic Mulching Machine!
We have always mulched the aisles of many of our
vegetable crops with hay, and we’re always pleased
with all the benefits of mulching. Besides keeping
weeds down, holding moisture in, and adding organic
matter to the soil, mulch also reduces erosion, reduces
soil compaction, prevents the spread of disease from
exposed soil, keeps produce clean, and provides
habitat for beneficial microorganisms and insects.
However, while we always enjoy the products of
mulching, we’re much more ambivalent about the
process. Rolling out 100,000 pounds of hay by hand
each year is a dirty, dusty, exhausting job, and
everybody cheers when it’s over. We’ve definitely
improved our system over the years, but last week our
approach to mulching made a great leap forward.
Mulching in action: above, Ben follows behind a bale
being unrolled in an aisle of one of our melon fields,
making sure the hay peels off the bale. “This is awesome!” he said. “I’m watching a bale get unrolled!”
To watch a short video of the unroller in action, and
learn more about our farm, check out our interns’ blog at
http://mulched.wordpress.com/
Roasted Conehead Cabbage (from freshorganicvegetables.com)
This is an easy recipe for this buttery sweet crunchy cabbage.Cut one cabbage in half and drizzle it with olive oil, salt,
pepper and sprinkle with some of the cut up onions or scallions and roast for about 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees. Then
you can sprinkle some grated parmesan cheese on just before
they are done and let melt in the oven. Serve immediately.
John Wilhoit, an Extension Associate Professor at the
University of Kentucky, contacted us late this spring
about coming here to test out his modified hay
unroller for mulching vegetables. While many cattle
farmers use unrollers to feed their cows, they are
designed to fit directly behind the tractor, and thus
don’t help with mulching. Partly inspired by seeing us
present about our farm at the Southern Sustainable
Agriculture Working Group’s conference in
Chattanooga a few years ago, John developed an
unroller that’s off-set to the side of the tractor. This
way, the tractor can straddle a vegetable bed, while the
hay unrolls in the aisle. John and one of his students
drove eight hours from Kentucky to test their unroller
on our farm, and we loved it. We mulched several
fields pretty quickly, and while there was still some
hand work to do, the hardest part of the job had been
done by machine. We’re now looking into getting one
of these made for us, and next year’s mulching will
probably feel completely different.
Meet an intern…
Casin is our second returning intern for this
season. We are glad he’s back with us. He’s
a great worker and helped get us off to a
good start this season. His good humor and
relaxed nature are a great fit for our farm.
Greetings Sharholders,
I am Casin.
I spent the first part of my life in Brunswick
County, VA. The second was spent in Richmond,
VA. The third was in motion across the States to
the Pacific with a home base in Canon City, Colorado with many episodic stops and starts along
the way (Thanks, WWOOFing).
Now I'm back at Waterpenny Farm for a second
season. It was so nice I had to do it twice. I enjoy
doing positive, intelligent work with tangible outcomes, and farming is a great example of that if
done properly.
This year I get to enjoy more of a glimpse into
Eric and Rachel's lives. Not their private affairs,
of course, but a broader idea of how different the
attitude of the farm can be year to year based
solely on a group of transient folks that work for
them and live next door. For them, it is constantly home. For over half of the farm's residents, it is not. Funny to think about.
I speak of the "interns" of course, although some
people don't often prefer that word for varying
reasons. This year's crew is full of smart, pleasant
people and hard workers. I am grateful.
I'm not promising I'll farm forever, but it's the
best thing I've seen so far.
Cheers,
Casin
For many great recipes, including some great
cucumber salads and pickles, as well as cole
slaw (to be made with the sweet cabbage in
the shares this week), and Rachel’s great
grandmother’s tasty squash pancakes, see
our website’s recipes section.
We’d love to have your recipes to share! Email them to us at [email protected]
Moroccan Mint Roasted Vegetables
From Arlington shareholder Eileen Hanning via the Blog http://
www.101 cookbooks.com
... feel free to mix it up a bit. You could certainly do pumpkin or
other winter squash here, or straight potatoes (no cauliflower / radish), or green beans and broccoli in the summer. Asparagus and
artichokes in the spring, etc.
1 lb / 16 oz / 450 g mix of potatoes, cauliflower, and
a few radishes (save the tops)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried mint
1/2 teaspoon red chile pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
toppings: fresh mint, toasted sesame and/or pumpkin
seeds, plain yogurt (seasoned with a bit of salt)
Preheat your oven to 425F / 220C. Wash and dry the vegetables,
then cut the potatoes and cauliflower into 1/4-inch thick slices/
pieces. Trim and quarter the radishes, setting aside the green radish
tops.
Place the dried mint, chile pepper flakes, cumin seeds, and salt in a
mortar and pestle and pound a bit, long enough to somewhat break
up the cumin seeds. Add the ground cumin, cinnamon, and ground
ginger. After that, add the olive oil and stir until combined.
Place the potatoes, cauliflower, and radishes in a large bowl. Pour
the spiced olive oil over the vegetables and toss gently but thoroughly - until everything is equally coated. Arrange in a single layer
on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until everything is cooked
through.
Good as gold: above, see Casin at the end of the rainbow on the farm after a storm on Friday afternoon
Remove from the oven and serve on a platter topped with the radish
greens, a squeeze of lemon and any/all of the other toppings. A fat
dollop of salted yogurt really brings everything together.
Serves 4. Prep time: 5 min - Cook time: 15 min