2018 CSA ~ Week #22/3rd Late Season
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Only two weeks left of CSA after this week’s delivery! If you would like to receive some of our Tomato Sauce or Strawberry Spread delivered to your site before we’re finished, just let us know!
Still time to place an order for the Fill Your Pantry event….just click on the link and you will be taken to the page where you can register to place your Pre-Order. Here are the details:
Pickup Event Details:
Sunday, November 11th, 2018
1pm – 5 pm
Lane County Fairgrounds Expo Halls # 1 and #2
796 West 13th Ave, Eugene
This year you will have an opportunity to meet your farmers because all pre-orders will be picked up directly from the farmers’ booths at the event on Sunday, November 11th, 1-5pm. Please email them if you have any questions.
Credit, Debit, and SNAP accepted for online sales.
WHAT’S IN YOUR SHARE THIS WEEK:
- Pac Choi
- Collards
- Carrots
- Lettuce
- Fennel
- Onion
- Orange Kabocha Squash
- Acorn Squash
- Purple Top Turnips
- Pears
RECIPES:
Roasted Squash w/Sesame Seeds & Cumin
Turnip Gratin w/Thyme & Mustard
Pear and Chocolate Brioche Bread Pudding
Cormlet w/Wilted Greens, Fennel & Olive Salad
Roasted Carrots and Red Onions w/Fennel & Mint
Hope you’ve all had a lovely week so far….life has been good on the farm. Not too much rain, and when the sun bursts through, the warmth and brilliant blue skies bring smiles to our faces. Now that we’re only harvesting once a week for CSA and Markets, we have plenty of time to prepare for the winter months, and fulfill wholesale orders. Lots of carrots and burdock being washed, processed and boxed for delivery. We’re also very busy right now preparing crop for the Fill Your Pantry event, which will be held on November 11th this year in Eugene. If you can’t make it to Eugene, but would still like to have some bulk crop for the winter months, just give us a call to see what’s available, or visit the Fill Your Pantry site.
We’re so pleased to share this photo of long time crew member Steve Knox, holding his brandy new baby girl Autumn Nell. He and his partner, Terah, are doing well and excited to have entered the world of new parents. Steve was home for the first two weeks, but is back to work now. Terah and Autumn are doing well, and we’re all so excited to get to know her and watch her grow. Since Terah and Steve own and run Fog Hollow Farm, offering eggs, sheep and chickens, I’m sure Autumn become well versed in harvesting eggs and feeding the hens. The wonderful life of a farm kid!
FARMER PROFILE:
This week’s Farmer Profile is about Emily and Levy. This is their first year on Winter Green Farm and we sure have enjoyed getting to know them. They have been a great addition to the crew! Emily grew up in Noti, graduating from Elmira High School and going off to Moody Bible Institute in Spokane, WA, where she studied Linguistics. After college she interned in Texas for a bit and then interned in a John Jeavons BioIntensive Agriculture Program in Kenya.
Biointensive agriculture is an organic agricultural system that focuses on achieving maximum yields from a minimum area of land, while simultaneously increasing biodiversity and sustaining the fertility of the soil. The goal of the method is long term sustainability on a closed system basis.
From Uganda Emily went on to Kenya and really began to experience life there. While in Uganda she had been living with missionaries, speaking mostly English and eating more like what she was used to. When she arrived in Kenya she lived a more traditional life there, and it was difficult at first. The diet is high in carbs without much protein, so she was tired much of the time, without much energy. It was also a very hot, dry year and that took a toll. It took about a month to get accustomed to the lifestyle.
Kenya is where Emily met Levy. He was an intern on the farm where she worked and she was intrigued when she saw him milking the goats, as she loves goats. They fell in love in the 10 months Emily spent there and decided to get married. Emily traveled back to the States to save money to go back for their wedding. Her parents were able to travel to Kenya to attend the wedding as well.
Levy is the youngest of 12 children in his family. His family worked hard to farm and provide for their family, raising Maize, cows, sheep, & chickens. For feed for the animals, they farmed Napier Grass, which grows wild and is a high yielding fodder crop with good palatability, highly nutritious especially when young, dark green leaves and less than 1 meter tall. They would harvest it for the animals and it would grow back. Emily didn’t enjoy the harvest very much, as the grass has sharp edges and she would get small cuts in her hands, which the local people didn’t seem to be bothered with.
Levy went to college and studied General Agriculture for 3 years. He taught Agriculture and Swahili in Kenya, mostly at private High Schools. He loves to teach and farm. After Levy and Emily married, they spent another year in Kenya and came back to Noti in December of 2017. They currently live on Emily’s parents property, in Noti where they raise dairy goats, chickens and quail.
Linda: Levy, what was our experience when you first arrived?
Levy: It was December when we arrived, so I thought it was very cold. It snowed that winter and I enjoyed seeing that, but still I thought it was very cold after leaving Kenya where it was 95 degrees and what I was used to. Also, everyone is always in a rush and on time….in Kenya it is not like that, much less stressful. If you set a meeting for 9am, you expect that people will not show up until 11am….if someone says they’ll see you tomorrow, it could be a few days before they show up, and everyone is fine with that.
Linda: What do you like to do when you’re not working on Winter Green Farm?
Emily: We usually have plenty of work to do at home, since we raise dairy goats, chickens and quail. When we’re not working, we like to read and learn new skills, like woodworking, beekeeping and sawmill operating.
Linda: What made you decide to raise quail?
Emily: My Dad is allergic to chicken eggs, so I thought I’d try raising Quail to see if he could tolerate them. He couldn’t, but we really enjoy raising the quail so have continued. They are easy to raise…happy, disease resistant and they grow so fast. Once hatched, they can be laying in 6 weeks and lay eggs very regularly. You can also visually sex the chicks at 3 weeks so you know if they are hens or not.
Linda: What books do you like to read?
Emily: I like to read classics such as Jane Eyre, The Count of Monte Cristo, Ben Hur etc.
Levy: I like to read educational books like gardening or veterinary books.
Linda: Imagine you find the winning lottery ticket worth millions…how would it change your life?
Emily: We would go back to Kenya and buy land, start a farm, and open a school for orphans. Levy loves teaching!
Linda: A Genie appears and grants you wishes….what would you wish for?
Emily: I would want to know every language in the world!
Levy: I would want to travel and visit every country in the world!
Thank you so much Emily and Levy for sharing your lives and adventures with us! We hope that you will choose to come back to Winter Green Farm next season….
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and enjoy your veggies!
Linda and all of your Winter Green Farmers