Getting down to business and the art of "manning up" on the farm

Things have been going amazingly for me lately. I just graduated from the California Farm Academy, finished my job at Food Bank Farmers as the Farm manager and have really moved into forming my own farm business. I am working on all the official paperwork of declaring a fictitious name, getting insurance and working out details of my joint ventures with the two farmers on the Pacific Star Gardens' property. I am finding myself happy to get up in the morning and go to work and really excited about the future. I absolutely love that I am never "late" to work and I can break when I want/need to. There is such a wonderful (albeit dangerous and terrifying) freedom to being self-employed. Nothing bad has happened yet, so we'll stay with wonderful...and cross our fingers.

I've been busy harvesting our fall plot for the Food Bank and School District we're working with. We've sent off turnips, cabbage, lettuce,  and radishes. The harvesting is on quite a large scale to do by hand with only a few people, it's a bit new to all of us so there's a lot of learning happening. I'll share some pictures below to give you a sense of what we've been up to.

This nice crate of Romaine is headed to the packing tables

A sea of lettuce in crates- about 30 minutes of work.

Wooly Bear! Supposed to be a sign of an early winter...

Sorry Mister Toad, but you'll have to hibernate elsewhere...

Rain or shine, the veggies need to get picked (those are my snazzy rain/mud boots)

These beautiful heads of cabbage are off to some hungry bellies!

Turnips at the washing station

All packed up for the Food Bank!

This whole process will probably be a learning curve for quite a while longer. And, I expected that. I think the thing I didn't expect, well, no, I expected it but maybe didn't think it through...is the physical challenges I would face. I mean, obviously farming is hard. I joke all the time we should make a P-90 FARM gym and have people pay for a workout. But, to be honest, physical labor is only about 1/2 of farming. Marketing is usually the hardest on people. Most everyone can work out and get stronger, but if you're not a people person and not good at selling yourself, you're kind of screwed as a farmer.

Considering this, I figured I would have a long time to get farm buff. I mean, I already have biceps that I never did before! That's great! I was always that archetype fat kid that was picked last in sports and couldn't run a mile without throwing up. So, being fit and keeping up is a badge of honor for me. I think what I didn't expect is that it would all happen so fast and I would be challenged so often. One of my latest challenges was pulling drip. Here are some pictures to help you imagine what that looks like:

We use this rake first to clear any crop residue left after mowing. We then set this so it scratches the top few inches up of the soil so we can pull up the buried drip tape.

Here is the tape coming up from the ground. You pull roughly 5ft. of it at a time: walking forward, lifting, walking, lifting. There are usually 3 lines of drip per 200 foot bed. We did maybe 40 beds that day, about 5 hours in all.

A sea of tape from just a few of the beds we pulled. 

 We bury the drip many times as we transplant. It is really helpful in the summer to have water at the root zone of the plants. This also keeps the top layer very dry and helps some with weeds, kind of a dust mulch. It needs to be pulled so we can till the soil and prepare it for a new crop. I am sure there are fancy machines to do this...but as a small farming operation, it doesn't make sense often to buy such specialized equipment, so doing it by hand is the most economic.

So, after 5 hours of  an intense upper body workout, my tiny girly arms hurt. Robert (the farmer who owns the land) said he and the volunteer would finish up and I could "take a break" and help Debbie (his wife). I was so relieved! I was keeping up for most of the time, and that felt great...but I could feel that I was just done and didn't want to re-hurt my back. So I go off to help Debbie. Lo and behold, she is picking up the crates of winter squash from the field and loading them onto the tractor...I guess lifting 70lb crates was using different muscles? I sucked it up, I had chosen this job after all and I wasn't about to be a wuss about it.

This seems to be a common theme recently for me: manning up. I was told when griping about working in the rain and cold and mud and 40mph wind that it would help me grow my "farm cajones". In a mad dash to move things under cover for the rain, we had to move a saw table that was easily 3-400lbs. I lifted it with Adam, the farmer's son, and looked alarmed at the weight. He yelled, "BE STRONG!", and heaved and moved it where it needed to go. I was asked another time to get something out of the bed of the truck. I couldn't open the back end, so I had to climb in on the tire. I am 5'3" and mostly torso, so the truck tire comes about to my hips. I hesitated to consider how to get in, decided on standing on the tire, and struggling to lift my weight with one leg. "You're failing bootcamp!" came a shout in my direction as I hefted myself into the truck. Ugh, I was. All of this was said to me in jest, mind you, no one was trying to hurt my feelings, just give me a hard time.

My soft, squishy intellectual identity that I formed in college was not going to get heavy things lifted, crops picked in the rain, and trucks jumped into. This is a new way of being that I am going to have to get used to living in: where my body is a tool to be honed, trained, and trusted.

 I wish there was another word for it, but it seems that in our vernacular, rising to the physical challenges that are presented to us is talked about in terms of masculinity. It is hard for me to hold this idea in my head as a feminist, but I am no linguist and am not armed to fight this battle so I will take the tiny victory of "manning-up" as a woman to be enough of a triumph.

My new identity is tricky for me to live in. I still dress up on the weekend (when I do get a weekend, sometimes it's just a day) paint my nails, do my hair and makeup, and even wear clean clothes and perfume. By no means am I a fashionista, but I really do enjoy dressing up every now and again. I have had to settle for looking, and smelling, like an Ork most days though. It is interesting to embody those two things: the lady and the Ork. Is it strange for other people to meet me as a lady and believe that I crawl in the mud, jump into trucks, and heave 100lbs tubs of produce? I can never tell as I think most people are too polite to call BS if they think it.

It's who I am though, the soft, squishy intellectual learning to man-up on the farm and loving every minute of it.

Recipe of the Week: Stir Fry

The fall weather is perfect for all things crispy and green. Asian greens are a great compliment to the many root vegetables that are growing also this time of year, and I try to get a good mix into your box. The many types of choi have been stars of your box recently. They're great braised just as normal greens, though the stalks will not wilt quite as much and they make great additions to soups like miso. They are the stars of stir-fry though. Below you'll find a great base sauce for stir-fry from the Moosewood Cookbook and some tips to making a great stir-fry.

Baby bok choi is waiting for your wok!

Basic Stir Fry Sauce

(From the Moosewood Cookbook)

¼ C Soy Sauce

1 ¼ C Water

1 Tbs Grated Ginger

2 Garlic Cloves, minced

1 tsp Sesame Oil

1 Tbs sugar

1 Tbs cider vinegar

2 Tbs Sherry or Rice Vinegar

3 Tbs cornstarch

Whisk all but cornstarch together. Pour over cornstarch and whisk. Add just as everything finishes cooking in your wok or pan and lower heat. Cook until thickened.

*Tips for Stir Fry success:

·      Chop veggies in uniform sizes

·      Cook tough veggies like: carrots, winter squash, turnips- first

·      Add tender veggies like mushrooms or greens last

Serve this delicious dish over rice or noodles. It stays great as leftovers for lunch the next day! 

A seasonal eating pun that is as funny as it is useful

Think eating in season is just for dinner. Nope- the dessert wants in too. But, what if you love pie. All the good pie happens in fall right? Well, don't fret, The Modern Farmer has you covered! Meet, the Seasonal Pie Chart:

Recipe of the Week: Autumn Shepherd's Pie

   As a farmer and veggie lover, I sometimes find my fridge uncomfortably stuffed with veggies and a need to make a big...something...anything...that will get me to eat them not just for dinner but keep me coming back for leftovers days later. Soup is the easy out most times, but I had a stroke of genius the other day (well, night- it was during a rather bad run of insomnia. I may have even dreamt of it) thinking about ways to trick myself into eating turnips-shepherd's pie! This recipe uses equal parts turnip to potato in the "mashed potato" topping, but this mashed potato mix would be great on its own as a side and would take really nicely to roasted garlic. The turnips don't bring their spicy, musty flavors to the potato party when they're boiled. Instead, they impart a woodsy sweetness to the mashed potatoes and if you use the scarlet turnips, they turn a lovely shade of rose! 

These Asian greens would be perfect for your pie!

  

  For the base of the pie, feel free to ad lib with what you like. I used turkey sausage, acorn squash, kale, turnip greens, and red mustard. I also topped the whole thing off with some sage cheddar and bread crumb. The whole thing was delicious and only got better as leftovers!

Autumn Shepherd’s Pie

 1 large onion-chopped

3 C diced squash

1 lb ground meat

1 Tbs fresh Herbs (thyme, rosemary, sage)

1 quart of greens

¼ C flour

1 C milk

3 C diced potatoes

3 C diced turnips

Brown onions, squash and meat until golden. Add herbs and greens until greens have wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Mix milk and flour in a separate bowl and add. Stir meat mixture until gravy is  thick. Pour this mix into a large baking dish. Boil turnips and potatoes together until fork-tender. Mash just as potatoes adding enough milk and butter to cream them. Use to cover meat mixture and bake at 350* to set.

Recipe of the week: Basic Vinaigrette

The days are getting short and the nights are getting cooler. We're all unpacking our blankets and airing out our sweaters and watching the skies for rain. It's my favorite weather; it's also lettuces favorite weather! They love the slightly cooler weather. If it's too warm, they'll get bitter or all together bolt (start making flowers and seeds). It's those chilly nights that make that wonderfully tender, crispy, sweet lettuce. Three's a lot to be had right now- you'll notice it filling out your box. Salad is always a great way to tuck away a lot of your CSA veggies.

But, you've got to keep it interesting! Salad dressing is a really great way to do just that! Here is a really great basic vinaigrette that easily manipulated to make an endless array of salad snazzer-uppers.

Basic Vinaigrette:

3 Tbs Oil

2 Tbs Vinegar

1 Tbs Honey

Salt and Pepper

This is your best friend this season. Feel free to adlib with everything! Use balsamic vinegar, walnut oil, maple syrup instead of honey!  Or:

Creamy Garlic:

1 recipe Basic Vinaigrette

2 Tbs plain yogurt

1 garlic clove

Italian Vinaigrette:

1 recipe Basic Vinaigrette

1 clove garlic

½ tsp Italian seasoning

pinch red pepper flake

Bacon Dressing: 

1 recipe Basic Vinaigrette

1 tablespoon crumbled bacon
1/2 tablespoon minced onion
1 pinch celery seed
1/4 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 -3 teaspoon brown sugar (instead of or in addition to honey)

 Making your own dressing is a cheap and fun way to keep your salad interesting. Though, you can go with my method- just put blue cheese on it.

Farm Box Subscription Details

Welcome Farm subscribers  to Tender Heart Farms! Hopefully you got this all in your email, but I will leave it here as another reference. I also want to put this here for anyone else interested in a veggie box.

I want to thank you first for your support. A farm box subscriptions just isn't a veggie box you pay for every week, it really is a support for the farmer. Being a new farmer, I really need it! I am excited to start on this adventure and look forward to all the things we'll learn together. Sometimes, the adventure will be a new veggie in your box that forces you to learn and try something new. Other times, the adventure will be me hitting the very steep 10 year learning curve everyone keeps telling me exists in farming, and figuring my way through.

I want to share the stories of these adventures with you because I think it's vital that we know where our food comes from, how it's grown, how it gets to us, and how to use it.  I think our food choices are enormously powerful and what we choose to eat affects not only our personal health, but the environment and our communities- be they local or global. I will share a story or two along these themes in your weekly or bi-weekly farm subscription newsletter that will be sent out the day your box is.

Here are the current details for a Farm Box subscription:

Cost: $20
Delivery Days:  Wednesday

Delivery Details: Sacramento will drop off on my porch, Davis MAY BE a home delivery, Elk Grove will be a drop off site, ick up at the farm is an option too!
My info:
Ashley Thomas (wife of Tarra Thomas)

New Farmer in Yolo County, recent California Farm Academy Graduate

tenderheartfarms@gmail.com
(916)318-2663
Produce Details: All produce is grown on Pacific Star Garden's farm (20872 County Road 99 Woodland, CA) or traded in kind for produce from Never More Farms in Arbuckle (not certified organic, but grown organically). All produce from PSG is CCOF Organic.
Payment Details: Cash or check made out to Ashley Thomas is perfect. You may pay weekly at this point or you may also pay ahead, whatever works!

Questions I anticipate:

You went to the Farm Academy?! I didn't know that was a thing!?

Yup! It was amazing. It is an absolute MUST if you're interested in becoming a farmer or know someone who is!
http://www.landbasedlearning.org/farm-academy.php

-How much are these boxes? 

 
$20. You will get at least that much worth in your box. Usually I am overly generous. We try to average the cost of organic veggies from a few markets to find the most fair price for you and us. 

-Do I have to get one every week?

No, every other week is fine! I know it can seem like a lot of veggies to some people, and it can take some time to adjust to eating so many veggies if you're not used to it. We absolutely offer bi-weekly subscriptions. Though, do keep in mind what I put in one box is the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for ONE person for 5-7 days. (I know, I struggle too! Please always ask if you need help loving a veggie or fitting more in your diet!)

-Ooph, $20 is a lot for me right now, but I really want veggies, and I'd really like to support you. 

I totally understand. As a farmer, I make $3-5 an hour so I understand trying to budget what you know you should be eating with what you can afford.  We offer sliding scale boxes and can work out an arrangement to meet your needs. Please talk to me (via email or text is fine!). 

-I really like the idea of eating vegetables, but I am intimidated by cooking them. 

I completely understand that I fill your boxes with varieties, combinations, and amounts of things that can seem odd, if not foreign and intimidating. Please, ask if you ever have questions- they're never dumb! Big deal if you have no idea what to do with a radish, or you've never eaten a beet! I am also willing to help you learn a few cooking tricks if you need it! Just let me know, we'll work it out so you feel confident and happy about your commitment.

-Here is a link to my blog which is filling up with stories and recipes to help!
http://tenderheartfarms.blogspot.com/

-You'll also find a link on the left to my recipe index. All the recipes are categorized under the type of ingredient.
http://tenderheartfarms.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

-What do I do with this box?

Please return it! They're about $2 a piece, and are not included in the subscription price. We re-use each box!

We are currently pushing all our customers to purchase their own re-useable totes to save on plastic and to prevent the inevidable $400 we lose each year because people do forget to get the boxes back. I can also present your veggies to you in a much nicer way! The box should measure 24-28" in length, 14-18" in width, and 6-8" tall. These tupperware type containers can be found at Target, Walmart, Ace, OSH, Home Depot and the like. Please let me know if you have any trouble finding them- I can grab some and you can reimburse me. Also If this is a financial stretch, let me know too and we can work something out.

-You said you have eggs?!

Yup! Lots! We have chicken, turkey and duck eggs for sale at $7 a dozen. Our hens and ducks are about as free range as they come! They live on about 3 acres and are free to dust bathe, chase and eat bugs, nibble the grass, run and fly, and have lots of nesting and roosting sites to choose from. They are not modified in any way (most birds have their beaks clipped ...it's nasty business). Most farmed birds are not treated to kindly. "Free Range" doesn't mean what you think, and even "humane" means they can trim their beaks and pack them pretty tight inside barns...Here is a guide to help demystify the whole thing: 

http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/confinement_farm/facts/guide_egg_labels.html

It's all very confusing, I know. You're welcome to come visit our birds to see for yourself how they're treated. They are not "organic" though they live on organic land. We have to substitute their feed with corn that isn't certified. We can talk more about that if you'd like! 

-OMG, you don't eat duck and turkey eggs...do you?

YES! Duck eggs are amazing to cook with! Turkey eggs have rich yolks and make super-sized boiled and deviled eggs. 

-Do you sell meat birds?

Yes we do! We offer butchering classes too! I understand for many people, knowing where their food comes from is important, and being involved really deepens that understanding. We also have turkeys that are ready! Chickens are $4.50 a pound and Turkeys are $7.50 per pound.

Please let me know if you have other questions. I will update this page regularly as I notice a need to formally address a concern!