Spring has definitely sprung out here in Waddell and along with it, the weeds!  Many of you have remarked that you haven't heard much from us lately and it's because I am busily coming up with new ways of combating the weeds at the farm and have settled into a steady pace of planting, irrigating and hoeing in preparation for the summer crops. 

To be a sustainable farm also means providing an environment for the other plants, animals and bugs, so a little tolerance goes a long ways towards being a farmer.  In my little world, we use weeds to help keep the bugs off other plants, and call this a trap crop.  Today, we are using the flowered broccoli and cauliflower to attract the aphids, which then attracts the lady bugs that eat the aphids, and so goes the cycle.  The weeds provide forage for our bees and homes for the little rodents, toads and rabbits at the farm.  It also keeps the dust down. Remember last years' HABOOB?  All those weed-free fields are just waiting for a good wind to come dirty up our air!  (I sometimes wonder if our quest for having everything perfect is killing us and our environment too.)  

But like all good things, too much can be bad and the weeds will crowd out the little plants that we are growing to bring to market, and so weed control, not total eradication is the goal!

So, we have tried several new ways of weeding.  Last year, I invested in a weed burner, which is so hot that it literally cooks the glue off the operator's shoes!  But it works pretty well to give the seedlings a good head start.  We also got a couple new implements and narrower tires which allows me to travel in the tractor over the tops of the plants and scrape out the weeds in the furrow.  

And of course, there is the usual hand hoeing, which can make a real Man (Or Wo-Man) outta anyone willing to take on the task for 6 hours in the sun.  This is such hard work, that OSHA actually decreed it to be too laborious even for laborers except in Organic farms where chemical control isn't an option.  Kinda funny, I think!  

So, next time you think about the neighbor's weeds looking a little crummy in the front yard, maybe it's time to look at things in a little different perspective.  Hey, that "WEED" is performing a function!  And have a little heart for the aphids. They gotta eat too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are like me, the best part of coming to the farmer's market is shopping for things you have never seen before, but actually jumping off and buying an unusal items typically requires a little prodding and maybe a recipe or two, so here's one for Chrysanthemum Greens. 

 

Like other leafy greens, they are high in antioxidant powers, along with Vitamin K, potassium and produce properties that slow the release of glucose into the bloodstream after a meal, which makes it an excellent weight loss agent according to HealWithFood.org

 

Commonly used in Asian dishes, the greens can be eaten small, tasting something like a mix of parsley and celery greens or can also be sautee'd lightly like spinach,  but don't overdo it to keep them from producing a bitter taste. 

 

Here's a recipe I used that originally called for Arugula Greens, but was great with the Chrysanthemums.

 

I used Cherry Tomatoes, Sungold that I have been hoarding really, and parmesan cheese because cheese is always on my menu!  A little croutons could also go well.

 

 

 

 

A quick internet search comes up with a recipe for the greens courtesy of Silver Lake Farms that also looks delicious.  

 

 

Chrysanthemum Greens Salad

1 bunch chrysanthemum greens
1/2 small Japanese cucumber
1 T toasted sesame oil
1-2 T rice vinegar
pinch of sugar (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Wash the chrysanthemum greens. Sprin dry. Remove any woody stems. Compost the stems. Break or chop the greens into bite-sized pieces and place them in a mixing bowl.

2. Wash, but don't peel the cucumber. Slice it very thinly. Add the cucumber to the mixing bowl with the greens.

3. In a small cup or bowl, mix together the sesame oil and the rice vinegar. Add a pinch of sugar, if you'd like. Mix briskly until combined.

4. Pour dressing over salad and toss until all the leaves are coated.

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If you'd like, try adding a little mango, peeled and chopped; or some chopped Asian pear.

Many times I get asked questions about how the signs at our stand differentiate Naturally Grown from Certified Organic and I would like to help clear this up!

When the government decided to start regulating the use of the word ORGANIC, in order to say the word, growers and processors have to be certified by an outside agency.  This process is extremely involved and costs money that many small growers don't have.  Additionally, the regulations became more relaxed in order to allow big Agriculture to become certified organic as well.  

Naturally Grown, on the other hand, is my definition of what consumers believe is truly Organic.  Our version of Naturally Grown uses our diversity on the farm to our advantage.  We grow one row of cabbage, one of Swiss chard, one beets etc.  This means that if the cabbage crop gets ruined, life can still go on because we have other crops to balance it.  And if the cabbage starts coming under heavy pressure from aphids, we allow it to keep growing and designate it a "trap crop".  The  spring brings beneficial bugs as well you cannot have a healthy balance of beneficial bugs without a food source, like aphids.  We also use row covers, which help keep the flea beetles off and induces growth, and keep the crops from suffering freeze damage.  Crop rotation is another tactic, keeping things moving is beneficial to the environment by maintaining balance.  We have no need to spray pesticides because I feel it is better to allow the crop to be eaten in order to maintain the nature's balance.  This is what nature does, and we should be happy to learn from it and let nature show us the way. This is what I feel Organic should be.  Unfortunately, as a grower, I still cannot say I am an ORGANIC farm unless I conform to the governmental regulations and pay  money to do it.

Conversely, a large Organic 40 acre plot of cabbage is always going to be threatened by bugs, in a way that a small row of cabbage will not be.  A large agricultural producer will have so much invested in the growth of a product that to allow bugs to ruin their crop is not practical.  The use of trap crops and rotation is not as easy, and row covers that smaller growers might use is impractical.   Thus, big Ag has convinced us that Organic Pesticides are natural and beneficial to us.  What most people do not know is that Organic DOES allow pesticides on their produce, just certain ones that are considered to be from more natural sources.  It is funny that this is exactly what most people think they are avoiding when they buy organic.  But you need to be aware that under USDA Organic standards, there is a huge list of approved products that IS allowed and the Chrysanthemum based pesticides are still killers.  Remember, if it kills bugs, it is a pesticide. 

In my opinion, it is balance that needs to be maintained, not a bug free, weed free, unnatural environment.  Click this link to see an article on Organic Pesticides and their impact on the environment. Do your own research by gathering information on Rotenone and Pyrethrin as two of the most common Organic pesticides. This is not to say that being from a natural source makes a pesticide completely safe or even harmless. Consider where naturally occurring arsenic comes from and ask if that is something you want sprinkled on your food! Everything has a trade off and sometimes the origins are a little more difficult to understand until you consider the perspective that Agriculture is a heavily subsidized and lobbied industry. 

Conversely, (and you can call me a fence sitter if you would like) I do not believe that GMO crops are always the evil demons that you may think.  For example, corn is almost always attacked by Corn Earworms, making the end result somewhat ugly and if you have ever opened a corn husk to find a worm, you know what I am talking about.  But increasingly, customers want a worm free ear every time.  So the AG industry introduced GMO corn, some of which is engineered with BT (Bacillus thuringiensis)a naturally occurring bacteria which kills the worms when eaten and is completely harmless to humans. This allows for less arial spraying of pesticides, Organic or conventional, and remember, the organic pesticides usually are somewhat less effective, and require more applications and more run off into the soil and water table.  Again, we do not use any pesticides or GMO seeds on my farm, but instead prefer to educate the consumer about the benefits of not so perfect produce, and my purpose for including this information is to help prepare the consumer with information so they can come to their own conclusions independent of some of the hype.

Also, do not make the assumption that ALL organically certified farms use pesticides, just because they can. The smaller the farm, the less likely that the farm will need to use pesticides. And the consumer's tolerance for not so perfect produce will make a difference in the grower's response to bugs in their fields. If the consumers are educated enough to know that the most perfect heads of cabbage are usually only grown with pesticides, maybe they will be more understanding and even start to look for the small little holes that cabbage loopers bring. Because the cabbage loopers are also pretty butterflies and feed the birds, which are beneficial and sing for us everyday!