The Fair Share Farm CSA Video

For some reason this year the signups for the CSA have been coming in at a slower rate than other years. Perhaps for the better, this circumstance has caused us to review our "marketing" plan and spruce up our image.

So we decided that we should make a video showcasing the wonderful, fun and tasty aspects of our CSA. The first hint to go in this direction was based on comments received at our Jan 22 Core Group meeting (thanks guys). Right on the heels of the meeting we were shown more of the way by the GVOCSA...the CSA in Rochester where we first met. To see their video, click here.

The final inspiration came from some musical and cinematic professionals. Our good friend Jamie Ratcliff (Ernest James) was our first choice for an upbeat fun song.

Lastly, we went to see "The Artist." This modern silent movie convinced us to chuck our script and use text and images to tell our story. We hope you like it and have fun watching.

Remeber, if you want to join the CSA, go to our website, www.fairsharefarm.com and click on the JOIN button.

Kite Flying

Our good friend Bill McKelvey recently visited the farm and told us of a how-to paper he had describing how to take your own aerial photos with a kite and a digital camera. We thought the idea sounded fantastic, and saw it as a great event for a farm day of the future.

Before planning for such fun though, we thought that we should first start taking the steps needed to become expert kite-people. We figured that with all of the scrap materials we have on the farm we could easily construct a kite for no cost.

So...with a little web surfing, some old lath, a peat moss bag, tomato twine, a stapler, and some old rags, we attempted our first kite today. After several unsuccessful combinations of materials (row cover appears to be too thin) we hit it right with the peat moss bag for the kite and old tea towels and t-shirt material for the tail.

The wind was a little weak, but despite that we got the kite up and flying--a successful trial run. Now we will start working on the contraption needed to house the digital camera, and play around with some kite designs and sizes.

If you have kite flying experience we would love to hear from you. We look forward to having some fun with the late-Winter and Spring winds that always cross the farm.

Tom with his kite.

Rebecca launching the kite.

Hello 2012

Welcome to 2012. We are gearing up here on the farm for what we hope is a good year…our 10^th farming and our 9^th CSA season. Hard to believe that it has been that long. Those 10 years have seen a lot of cover crops, compost, hay, straw, wood ash, lime and organic fertilizer added to our soil, and we are looking forward to reaping the benefits of those years of soil feeding. Over the last several years we have begun to see noticeable improvements to the soil, both in its texture and fertility.

In that time period we have also changed the layout of our fields several times. Areas that are susceptible to wet conditions are no longer farmed for annual crops, but have been replaced by perennial plants or laid fallow. We have also been breaking new ground in the areas where we have run the Parker’s sheep.

For some of the poorer soils on the farm we have implemented a system of continual mulching. We cover the beds with a deep layer of hay, and add more several times throughout the season. This mulch acts as a nice “canopy” over the soil surface, keeping it from getting compacted by rain, or dried out by the sun. It also serves to keep down weeds and retain moisture during droughty conditions.

Our electric tractor has proven a boon too, as the disking attachment allows us to easily make “raised beds.”  Put on the cultivator, and it allows us to break up the top couple inches of the soil, minimizing the need to till the beds. These techniques significantly improve drainage, while minimizing disturbance of the worms and other life in the soil.

January Work
This unseasonably warm weather has been a pleasure to work in over the last week. We are lucky to have our intern from 2011, Luke Knutter staying on as a hired hand for a couple days per week. We plan on getting caught up on a few things this winter, ahead of the Spring planting push.

Activities at the farm this week include the 2012 seed and equipment orders, inventorying,  budgeting and planning, cleaning and organizing the barn, maintaining the deer fence, and tractor maintenance. Next week will include more deer fence and equipment maintenance work, as well as planning and site work for our proposed high tunnel. More on that in our next post.

Fields at rest

Rebecca working on the seed order

Rocky at rest

Luke sorting row cover

Thanksgiving Share 2011

The late Fall is here. As I sit writing this on Thursday morning it is 21⁰ F outside and there is a heavy layer of frost in the fields. Through the wonders of modern weather forecasting we were able to anticipate this deep freeze, and have harvested all but the sturdiest of the crops for your Thanksgiving share. We are always happy when we can provide food to the CSA so late in the season---14 items this year.

 With such a large selection of produce, the recipe options are endless. To start with, we suggest perusing the 2009 and 2010 Thanksgiving share recipe suggestions.
We also offer the following suggestions:

Leeks and fennel: Treat leeks like onions and fennel like celery for all of you cooking needs. Use these substitutions in your standard bread stuffing recipe to create a flavorful dish.

Watermelon radish, Hakurei turnip, fennel and broccoli: Start your feast off with this fresh and healthy crudité platter. Cut the radish and turnips into rounds or half rounds. Pull the fennel stalks off the bulb like celery. Cut the broccoli into florets. Make a dip of yogurt, sour cream, olive oil, vinegar and herbs.

Lettuce, spinach, fennel, cabbage and grated beets: Make a nice salad of these oh so fresh vegetables for the dinner table. Or better yet, wait until after Thanksgiving and top the salad with leftover turkey and grated cheese for a hearty chef’s salad.

Beets: Add some color to the normally brown, white and orange of a Thanksgiving plate. Cook your beets whole in boiling water for about 20 to 35 minutes (until just starting to get tender),  cool in cold water and peel. Cut into slices and dress cold with oil and vinegar, or warm in a pan and top with butter, salt and dill.

Sweet potatoes: Good as a savory dish by themselves (mashed or roasted) or in a pie, the options are in your family traditions or on the web.

Cabbage: A fresh cole slaw is always good, especially if you are having smoked turkey or other bbq style meats.

Tomatoes: The tomatoes have been off the vine for over a month, so we don’t expect them to be especially tasty in a salad, but will go well cooked in a stew or curry.

Bok Choy:  We have had these Asian greens under wraps in the field for the last month. It was a pleasant surprise to uncover them and find such large, green plants. They will make for a good stir-fry either side of the Thanksgiving meal, when you need to load up on some green vegetables.

We wish everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving and hope the you are able to share it with your friends and family.

Tom and Rebecca

End of the Season Dinner Thanks

Want to give a heart-felt shout out to all the folks who made our 2011 End of the Season Dinner such a fun success. Ann and Mark Flynn again threw a wonderful get-together, and we can never than Mark enough for procuring so many wonderful raffle items. We raised almost $250 for the veggie voucher fund to help our members who need a little assistance in buying a share.

We want to specifically thank all of the folks who donated to the event. We truly appreciate your support of the Fair Share Farm CSA and the community we are building. As winners of two of the raffles, Rebecca and I are looking forward to our night of dining at Jem Restaurant in Liberty and at the Farmhouse in River Market.

We also want to thank members who contributed items: Fred and Carol Barth, Stacey Cook, the Flynn’s and Coral Wert.

Thanks again to:

Grass Pad

BlueBirdcafe

White Mule Organics

Pryde's of Old Westport

Olive or Twist

JemRestaurant

Mother Natures Health Market

Mrs. Fit Ranch

Harry's Country Club

Green Circle

Farm House

Its A Beautiful Day

Parker Farms

In the Share - Week 24

Looking like it came from the stars, the kohlrabi

Don’t forget!: FAIR SHARE FARM HARVEST DINNER - THIS Saturday, Oct. 29, 4-6 pm at St. James Lutheran Church, 1104 Vivion Road, Kansas City MO

LETTUCE (F/P) 2 for the full shares, 1 for the partials

BULB FENNEL (F/P) We love us some bulb fennel and this crop has turned out well. See Tom’s post for ideas for use if you are new to it.

TOMATOES (F/P) Amazing to all of us, we still have tomatoes ripening in our packing room from the big pre-freeze harvest. Most of the ones you are receiving this week are not quite ripe, so let them ripen on your countertop or in a closed paper bag if you want to speed up the process.

SWEET PEPPERS (F) Also from the big pre-freeze harvest. I am not a huge fan of green peppers, but boy these sweet things have me thinking different.

CABBAGE (F/P) An assortment of types to choose from.

BROCCOLI OR CAULIFLOWER (F)  They are smaller this week. I think all the hot, dry weather has finally caught up with them. Continue to check for any caterpillars we may have missed.

ROOT MIX (P) 2 beets. 2 watermelon radishes and 1 turnip. See last week’s post for more info. on the watermelon radish.

GREENS CHOICE (F) Tat soi, bok choy or Swiss Chard

KOHLRABI (F/P) Fall is when these beauties really shine. Once you peel it thoroughly, you get to the tender, juicy crunch.

HERB CHOICE (F/P) Cilantro, dill, parsley or a dried herb.

ALSO THIS WEEK: Parker Farms shares

NEXT WEEK: You are on your own folks. I’ll bet you will still have some FSF veggies in the fridge and on the counter. If you are ready for more, check out the friendly folks down at the BadSeed Market on Friday nights. We plan to offer, as we have the past few years, a pre-Thanksgiving share to be picked up at the BadSeed Market on Nov. 18. More information will be coming in November.


FARM REPORT

The last week of the CSA season has arrived. It is always bittersweet to say goodbye to the growing season. In the last week, the first freeze marked the end to the tomatoes and other warm-weather plants. On Saturday, the CSA helped remove the tomato plants from the field, a good practice to prevent disease.

Other late fall tasks include planting garlic, mulching perennials and overwintering leeks and collecting the irrigation equipment. All of this we are trying to do this week as the farm team will be changing. Dani Hurst will be leaving us to join her fiancé working on his medical residency out of state. We have really enjoyed Dani’s enthusiasm and thoughtful attention to the work since she joined us in August. Lucas Knutter has been working at the farm since last fall and will be continuing with us through the winter on a part-time basis. Lucas has been invaluable to the farm team for the past year and we hope he will find time for us now and again while he builds a farm of his own on family land nearby.

Our farm crew of four relies on a membership of 120 families. Every one of you pitched in this season and helped make the harvest a success. We succeed as a sustainable business and farm thanks to all of you who have lent your hands to our endeavor. We appreciate all the time, energy and creativity that you gave freely to the farm and the CSA this season. Because of you our farm is a productive, thriving example of what happens when a piece of land is supported by a community of people. Tom and I cannot put into words the depth of our gratitude. Thank you!

I think all of our hard work deserves a celebration!

So join us for the  Eighth Annual Fair Share Farm CSA Harvest Dinner, October 29, 4-6 pm at St. James Lutheran Church, 1104 Vivion Road, Kansas City MO.

Look for your evite in your inbox to see what type of dish to bring to the best potluck you’ve ever attended.

Kids Costume Contest!! Adults costumes welcome!

Raffle for lovely items donated by the best green businesses in town, including: The Farmhouse, Green Circle, Sturgis Materials and the Grass Pad.   Raffle proceeds to benefit the Veggie Voucher Fund. 

Come party down with your favorite farmers and your fellow locavores! See you there.

What to Do With Your Share---Week 24

The end of the regular CSA season is here. We thank you all for the support that you have given us, from helping us in the fields and barn, to working with us to distribute your food. The CSA model is the key to the success that we have seen to date. The reasons are many; helping with cash flow, regularly meeting the people we grow food for, an efficient delivery system, moral support, etc. Thanks again.

The Final Share, 2011
This week’s share has many items that you can keep if there is more than you can handle. The cabbage, kohlrabi, beets, and other roots will keep in the crisper drawer for over a month. The lettuce, herbs and other greens will need more immediate attention.

The fennel will keep too, but we suggest that you use it right now, while it is as perfect as we can hope for. Think of it as celery with more flavor. Fennel slices is a realy nice addition to a lettuce salad. You can add it to a stew, soup, or any other recipe that calls for celery.

Fish and Fennel
We bought some fish the other day so that we could cook it in the manner of a recipe we saw Lidia Bastianich prepare on her show Lidia’s Italy. I believe she used veal for her recipe, and you could also use de-boned chicken, or pork.

Ingredients:
2 large fish filets
2 medium leeks, cleaned
1 medium or ½ large fennel bulb, cleaned and cut into 1 inch slices
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
2 tablespoon olive oil
about 10 thinly sliced lemon rounds, cut in half
1 tablespoon butter
1-1/2 cups dry white wine, stock or fruit juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut dark green top part away from leek. Cut the leeks lengthwise, wash all sand and grit from between the layers. Then cut crosswise into narrow slices.

Cut most of the top off of the fennel, then cut in half from top to bottom. Cut out the root core. Cut into slices.

Dust the fish in flour and fry on high heat with the olive oil. When both sides have browned set aside on a warm plate. Add the butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil and sauté the leeks, fennel, and garlic. Cook on high heat for 2 minutes, and then turn to medium low for 5 to 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

Add stock/wine/juice, bring to a boil. Add fish and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve hot.