Hi Everyone,
1. Mother drops the hammer
Fall certainly didn't creep in quietly in this la Niña cycle. One amazingly two-day "stretch" notwithstanding, our fall has been, as you all know, wet and wetter. Mother Nature has spoken, and who can question one's mother?
It would seem that all this cool, cloudy, and wet weather would have a decidedly deleterious effect on the end of our CSA season. But that really hasn't been the case. Often we have a little let-down the last couple of weeks after the big harvests of July, August, and September. But as we look to our past years' distribution for the end of October, this year we seem to have more produce, and more variety of produce.
It's always a challenge to plan crops to ripen at the very end of the season. But this year we had good success with lettuces and a nice planting of bok choy. We also have a stand of chard/kale/collards that is as pretty as I've ever seen. The carrots and beets just keep on coming, as do the amazing grapes. This season, for the first time, we attempted a fourth rotation of beans. A more propitious fall would have seen a stronger fruit set, but we still managed to have them available for u-pick last week. We were also very pleased to finally get the dried beans on the u-pick list. Hopefully we will get them into the boxes this next week. They aren't all ready yet, but many are.
While on the subject of "dried beans," I would like to issue a word of caution. Dried beans could be a problem for some people if eaten raw. According to our Madison Wisconsin CSA Cookbook, "to avoid digestive problems, do not use shell beans raw." Most cookbooks recommend that the water used to soak dried beans be drained and disposed of. Once the beans are cooked, I know of no concerns except how to get your share if others are eating with you! Wendy and I have been eating this variety of dried beans for several years now, and have found them to be absolutely delicious; just don't eat them raw.
We were quite surprised with the late production of eggplant this year. Our cloche system that was, to be honest, a failure during the earlier season, came through at the end for a good, late harvest. The peppers too continue to produce in abundance and variety. We think they might have done even better with "kinder and gentler" fall weather, but I guess we planted enough of them that we are still able to harvest pretty substantial quantities. We're pleased, too, that the apples have held out so well.
All things considered, this year seems to have had a good ending to the growing season!
2. Thanks for another great season!
As we put the 2007 season to bed, Wendy and I would like to make special mention here of our deep appreciation to each of you who have chosen to use your food dollars to "vote" for not only the personal benefits of eating well, but for a better future for those who will follow after. The quotation I used in the last update ("spending involves a choice about the kind of future we want to have") is still ringing in my ears and my heart. I had occasion to speak this morning with the author of this quote, Dr. Viki Sontag. Our conversation focused on the fact that this statement is true, no matter what you buy. If you purchase food at a chain grocery store whose only value is getting the cheapest food with the least questions asked about the source of that food, well, you have made a choice about the future you want to have for you, your children, and your society as a whole. It's like voting, except that you don't have the option not to vote.
We know that there are many in our CSA who join because it is a good deal for them. But there are also many of you who recognize that you are choosing the future you want to have. We thank you for that choice. We too have chosen to instantiate the kind of future we want to have for our children, grandchildren (our first due in January!), and our society as a whole. We thank you for joining with us in making Jubilee Farm a kind of "first-fruits" in our area—a model that demonstrates that enough people in our community are willing to vote with their dollars to insure a future for their children and beyond, that wasn't available when most of us were growing up. It's great for us to be a part of the fulfillment of that dream, and we believe it is equally rewarding to you.
3. This season's Summer Session Survey
We would be very pleased if you would take the time to complete the survey (included at the bottom of this newsletter) that we have pasted to the end of this update. Please make a copy, fill it out, and return it to us (Jubilee Farm, 229 West Snoqualmie River Road NE, Carnation, WA, 98014. Or you can e-mail it to us at jubileefarm@hotmail.com. We value your feed-back, and I can honestly tell you that Wendy and I pour over the returned surveys for your comments and suggestions. So, please, please, please open, print and complete the survey located at the bottom of this newsletter. This is very, very important to us. Thanks!
4. Sign up for Fall Session ("ASAP," says Wendy!)
It is time. We hope you will all want to continue supporting our farm through the off-season. I'm sure you all know that our belief is that "when we can eat locally, and to the extent that we can eat locally, we ought to eat locally." That is why there is nothing in your main-season share (June through October) that we don't grow right here on our farm. But during the off-season, we can't grow all the food for a box. So we supplement what we have preserved from our farm with what we can't grow in the winter. Wendy has made great strides in finding local sources for vegetables that we can't grow in our flood plain in the winter, and beyond that, for the most local and sustainable food we can find to supplement what isn't grown on our farm or at least locally.
So, if you want to be a part of the off-season CSA, please go on-line (www.jubileefarm.org) where you can register for the Fall Share (and other off-season shares). If you have any questions, drop us a note at jubileefarm@hotmail.com.
5. Why sign up now for next summer?
It's important to us that you sign up now if you plan to be a part of our next year's Summer CSA. We know it's a long way away, but our planning for the Summer Session is not a long way away. Part of that planning involves decisions about how much of what crops to plant next year; the other is the actual purchase of seeds. So it's really helpful to know now if you'll be with us again next season. So, if it is at all possible, please sign up as soon as possible (www.jubileefarm.org) or pick up an application form at the barn.
Wendy and I have been discussing reasons why some members may feel reticent to commit now, and we have wondered if the $100 dollar non-refundable deposit is a problem for people who just don't know for sure if they'll be here next year. To allay these legitimate concerns, we've decide this: we will still ask for the $100 deposit, but we will be willing to refund that deposit for any of you who sign up before the first of the year and then discover you can't be part of the CSA. This requires a bit more bookkeeping, but it's not a big thing for us to do. So, please don't let that stand in the way of you signing up now for our next growing season.
6. Progress in the "transition"
No one said it would be easy; no one said it would be achieved quickly. Nevertheless, we are on our way. Our first year of attempting to farm by Biodynamic standards is completed. Here's what we have done this year in our transition to BD:
7. Snoqualmie Valley APD Flooding Task Force meets
I am pleased that just one year after resolving to attempt to "do something" about protecting our APD (Agricultural Production District) from flooding and development, that the first meeting of a special Task Force appointed by Ron Sims has convened to see what can be done about flooding and other issues that limit the ability of farmers to practice agricultural production in our APD. For that I want to publicly thank Kathy Lambert, each member of the King County Council (all of whom jointly co-sponsored Kathy's legislation to establish the Task Force), and Ron Sims for his willingness to follow through on the direction given him by the Council.
Each of the four farmers named to the Task Force was given five minutes to explain what they see to be the greatest issue(s) in the Snoqualmie Valley APD. Knowing that I could never contain my comments within the five-minute limit, I committed them to writing. Having done that, I thought I'd share my comments to the Task Force with you:
I have farmed in the Snoqualmie Valley APD for almost 20 years. When I started, there were two farmer's markets in our area—Pike Place and University Market. There was one CSA, Clair Thomas' Root Connection; there were no organic, home-delivery services.
Today in our area there are dozens of farmer's markets. They not only actively solicit farmers, but they actually compete with each other to get farmers to participate in their markets. There are many dozens of CSAs, including, within a half mile of my own farm, the largest CSA in the entire United States, with 2,400 members. And there are several delivery services that make weekly deliveries of organic vegetables to many thousands of families in our County.
At the same time, our farm, as I'm sure is the case with others, is contacted almost daily by people representing institutions, restaurants, and marketers of various stripes who want to buy organic produce from us. I have to turn them down because over the last twelve years our CSA has grown from 27 families to 450 families; we just can't handle any more.
In light of all this, I find myself thinking a great deal about the fact that today, out of the 14,000 acres in the Snoqualmie Valley APD, (many of which are wetlands and not farmable), there remain 4,000 acres that could be farmed, but are not being farmed. I can't help but ask, "Why?"
I also think about the fact that one commodity farmer I know leases 1000 of the "farmed" acres in our APD, at a cost of "pennies on the dollar," to grow GMO corn. These crops border both the Snoqualmie River and salmon-bearing creeks. They utilize large amounts of petroleum-based, fertilizer which is highly water soluble. As I think about this, again I find myself asking, "Why?" Why, when the demand for local organic food is so urgent, are 4000 acres being not farmed at all? And, why are (at least) 1,000 acres in our APD being farmed in a way that is, in my opinion, (and the opinion of many others) both environmentally unacceptable and economically wasteful?
I think the King County Council is asking the same questions. When the resolution that created this Task Force was unanimously passed by the Council, several members referred to the incongruence between the fact that they know their constituents want access to local and organically grown food, and the fact that the Snoqualmie Valley APD is operating at minimal production. I think the reason we are here is because they, too, what to know, "Why?"
As one who has been as deeply involved as anyone in the industry, I believe the answer to these questions is summarized in a single word; and, no, it's not "flooding." The word I have in mind is "infrastructure." Our APD is in a flood plain. Development policies of any kind, agricultural or otherwise, are predicated on insurance rates determined by FEMA. DDES has developed policies which are aimed at achieving the best FEMA ratings, (and, consequently, the lowest insurance rates,) possible. This has been accomplished by the enactment of the "zero-rise flood-plain" policy. I have come to believe that it is this policy, which precludes the establishment of all agriculture infrastructure, that has effectively eliminated the possibility for agriculture development in our APD. This is why we have 4000 acres of unfarmed farmland—because no one can farm anywhere, but especially in a flood plain, without some kind of infrastructure.
What can we do to achieve the viability of a local agricultural community that both the public and the King County Council are demanding? What should be the questions before this Task Force?
I think the first question is this: What are the possible options within which the "zero-rise flood-plain policy" might become negotiable for agricultural structures located within the Snoqualmie Valley APD? The second question would be: What is the most practical and effective, and expeditious of these options?
That was my "five-minutes worth." In retrospect, I could have gotten away with more time. But I couldn't be sure of that, and I wanted to be respectful of time limitations, so I kept to my allotted time. And I do believe this is the central issue. Farmers need more than just available land to farm. They must be able to have some quantum amount of "infrastructure"—barns and tool sheds; storage for tractors; cold storage; and washing facilities. I'm convinced that right now the available land in the APD that is lying fallow does so because it can't be farmed without these kinds of buildings. And at present these kinds of buildings are denied by DDES codes and policies. These codes and policies are meant to placate FEMA, and have been successful in so doing: we have the second-best rating for flood insurance that is available.
But is the elimination of local agriculture an "acceptable casualty" of obtaining a better insurance rate? Or, are there ways in which we could satisfy the requirements of FEMA and allow farmers the infrastructure they need to farm? I believe there are, and in upcoming meetings of the Task Force I am hopeful we can explore some of those ways.
8. Helping the needy for Thanksgiving
For many years I have believed that the best thing I can do to promote organic agriculture is to be a successful farmer. Today we are not lacking at all in State, County, University, and a plethora of non-profits that are dedicated to help farmers. But it has still seemed to me (and still does) that what we don't have too many of is examples of successful, self-sustaining farmers. So for years, much to the consternation of others who wanted more of us, we've kept our heads down, working to try to be an example of a successful farm.
With the need to enter the political arena over the flooding issue, and having committed ourselves to doing what we can to mediate between a sometimes recalcitrant local government and the needs of beginning farmers, we have become much more "public" farmers. With that exposure have come a plethora of requests to become involved in various causes and issues. Most of these we assiduously avoid, remembering Kierkegaard's injunction that "purity of heart is to will one thing." But wanting to reach out to the needy in our area in some meaningful way is something we've always wanted to do. Because of our recent public exposure on political issues (I suspect) we have been contacted by the Pike Place Market Senior Services Center to provide and co-ordinate a "gleaning" effort from ours and neighboring farms to provide local, organic produce for their Thanksgiving meal. This will serve as a pilot project for possible future gleaning efforts in our valley for the needy of our area.
Wendy and I are happy to be in a position to do this, and wanted to share what we're doing with you because it is really the Jubilee Farm community that is making this donation. Many of you have donated your shares through us to Hopelink. But insofar as our shareholders all contribute equally to the crops we plant, this gleaning effort is really from all of us. So, let's hope it is successful, and will become a model for many future opportunities to contribute quality, organic food to needy people in our larger community.
9. Buying time while we're "slip sliding away"
What's true for a person may be true for a nation, and for a world. Ancient Christian Tradition has preserved these words: "Don't be deceived, whatever a person plants, that person will also harvest."
It is certainly arguable that we individually, we as nations, we as a world, have been "planting" a variety seeds whose plants are maturing and are soon to produce their fruit. I wish I could make reference here to the noble cultivation of character or compassion or good will. And perhaps one could make such references. But what I have in mind is the havoc we have sown with the delicate balance of our planet, and the harvest we are beginning to reap.
Because it is so easy to see how others have failed at recognizing the need to preserve the "balance" that seems to be required to sustain our existence on earth, let's consider the plight of the city of Bangkok. The city of Bangkok lies near sea-level. This in itself is enough to make it a city at risk due to the melting of the polar ice caps and the consequent rising of the oceans. But in addition to rising oceans, it seems that the land under the city itself, is sinking (not unlike many other major cities, Mexico City comes prominently to mind). The reason for the sinking land is that its people and factories are literally pumping its aquifers beneath the city dry. Layers of clay which have been "mined" of their water becoming compacted, and while the oceans rise the city sinks. It's a combination that everyone agrees will eventually threaten the existence of the city.
The image of the great city of Bangkok causing its own demise by pumping its aquifers dry is a powerful one. It calls to mind a story created by Kierkegaard about a city built on a cliff overlooking the ocean that discovered a valuable mineral beneath the soil. As the mineral was mined there were those who warned that the city's existence was being threatened. But the mining continued. The city was eventually completely undermined, and fell into the sea. Kierkegaard's story was told over 150 years ago.
It is hard for those of us distant from Bangkok and ignorant about its nuances to make judgments that impute blame for what is happening there. It's also easy for those of us without knowledge of the city and without emotional attachments to see and/or even prescribe a list of potential "logical" solutions—new sources of water must be found, water must be rationed, population must be curbed, factories must be closed, water needs to be pumped back into the aquifers, etc. But it is so much harder for us to see that we, too, are "soiling our own nest" And it's even harder for us to see clearly the causes of our actions and the steps we need to take if we are going to preserve our nation and our world for future generations.
I've always appreciated a comment made by Wendell Berry that seems relevant here. Berry was referring to our sending of troops to fight in the Middle East when he said "we have been honest enough to tell our young people that they need to go to war and fight; we have not been honest enough to tell them they will need to learn to live with less." Learning to live with less are words of political suicide. I know of no candidate for public office that has ever uttered those words in a successful campaign. But the fact that a claim goes unspoken does not count against the truth of that claim.
One of the two books I've had time to read since the beginning of this season speaks directly to what its author calls the "Myth of More"—the belief which is implicit in the personal and corporate psyche of most of us that getting bigger is necessarily better, and that obtaining more is the only acceptable path to happiness. Bill McKibben argues that as we gather more and more of the worlds goods we have become less happy, and less satisfied than at any time in our history. But still we race on, trying to accumulate more and more. The business world does the same. A company can make a good profit, but let its stock come in at a nickel less than expectations, and see what happens.
McKibben's book is called Deep Economy, and, as I have said before in another update, I would highly recommend it.
Interestingly, and quite by coincidence, the second book I read deals with the same theme, though from a very different perspective. This book is a novel that has been described to me by two friends as the single best book they have ever read. That, along with Wendy's strong recommendation, provided good incentive to read Wendell Berry's Jayber Crow. I wasn't disappointed, and I doubt any of you would be either; I highly recommend it as well.
Both McKibben and Berry paint a similar picture using very different approaches. The drive to get more is, in their view, inimical to attaining happiness. This thought brings to mind a passage from the Tao Te Ching that I committed to memory long ago, and that often comes back to me:
The five sights blind,
The five sounds deafen,
The five tastes cloy.
The chase, the hunt, can drive people mad;
And their bounty leaves them no peace.
Therefore, those who are wise
Prefer the inner to the outer eye;
They have their "yes,"
They have their "no."
This seems like a good thought with which to end this update, and this Summer Session.
Erick and Wendy
Survey
1. What is the one thing you like best about our farm?
2. What is the one thing that you would change about our farm if you could?
3. What items in your share do you think you get too much of?
4. What items in your share do you think you get too little of?
5. If you plan to rejoin during next Summer Session, what are the reasons you have chosen to do so?
6. If you plan to not rejoin us next summer, what are the reasons for this decision?
7. Do you have suggestions about how we could make our CSA better for you?
8. Do you have any other comments you would like to pass on to us?