Amarosia Organic Garden

The potatoes are busy blooming. You many recall that we are growing 5 different kinds this year. These are the flowers of the ‘All Blue’ variety. All of the others (Carola, Caribe and Russian Fingerling) are also blooming except surprisingly the Norlands which are supposed to be the earliest of the potatoes…

The flowers of the ‘All Blue’ potato

Meeka checking out the potatoes

The Fava beans are also all in bloom. We had a few aphids, so last week Hayden sprayed them with a Seaweed extract (Seaboost) which is supposed to deter them from eating them and introducing disease into the plants. I’m not entirely sure how this works… maybe they dislike the taste!

We have some tiny pods coming on the Sugar Snap peas so we may even have some for the market next week - check out our website which we keep updated with what we will be bringing:-)

Enough sugar snaps for you??!

We are also getting our first blooms on the squash (these will all be male) so as soon as they start to produce female flowers the row covers will be coming off so they can be pollinated by our bumblebees and other helpful insects.

Spaghetti Squash flower beneath the row cover

The cabbage family are all enjoying this rain… as are the weeds! We got in there on Thursday and hand pulled a lot of the bigger weeds out, followed by a quick weeding with the diamond how to whip out the new shoots. Once the plants get established their big leaves should do a good job of smothering out the weeds below… we just need to get them to a good size first.

It is now our 6th week at the Dieppe Market and the other farmers are finally arriving with a few vegetables now (organic spinach, chard, lettuce and radish plus industrially*  grown potatoes, beets and strawberries). We are really proud to have been able to supply the market goers of Moncton and Dieppe with Fresh, Local, Organic produce at a time when very little produce of any kind has been available particularly given that this year has been a very challenging one in terms of weather and many farms are at least one month behind schedule.

This week we were excited to bring the following to the Dieppe Market and and similar selection to the Moncton and Shediac Markets

*I will use the word ‘industrial’ in the place of ‘conventional’ from now on, since having a discussion with our apprentices about how there is nothing ‘conventional’ about the kind of industrial agriculture that has been practised for the last 60 years. I try my best to be polite about the other kinds of agriculture practised locally, but the looks on our apprentices faces when they witness the number of times ‘conventional’ crops are sprayed, reminds me that it is important not to remain silent on these matters, nor to turn a blind eye.

Today it rained, and when it wasn’t raining it poured. Being a Friday we had no choice but to get out there and harvest ready for the Saturday Markets which meant working with rain trickling in places we’d much rather it didn’t.

Shawn and Hayden managed to put on a brave face and kept working after that harvest was complete to install more of the black plastic sheeting we use to create a micro-climate suitable for growing tropical melons in New Brunswick. On days like this it’s really obvious why we need it!

No, we haven’t launched into livestock just yet, but we did take Shawn, Hayden, Brian and Yoshiki to a neighbouring farm which raises sheep according to the Canadian Organic Standards (though they aren’t certified) so that they could learn about some of their techniques.

Jean-Guy Poirier very kindly spent a lot of time with us taking about how he avoids parasites (a common problem in sheep) by breaking the lifecycle of the flies.

They also grow their own grain and hay so that they have organic feed for the sheep, plus they mill the grain to make their own bread. They have even tried their hand at spinning the wool. The lamb is excellent and I feel so much more secure knowing that the animals were raised in a pleasant environment, were shown a lot of care and weren’t exposed to any harmful paraciticides, antibiotics etc.

We all had a great time and are looking forward to visiting again and riding the horses next time:-)

Today we had a big supper of mussels and lots of veggies from the farm to celebrate Yoshiki’s arrival and to wish Eliane and Brian farewell.

Yoshiki is WWOOFing around Canada and will be with us for a few weeks to experience a bit of New Brunswick. He is from Osaka in Japan and is studying Business Management at University. He is interested in the connection between where food is grown and food that is served in restaurants.

I am particularly sad to see Eliane go because now I will be the ONLY female on the farm… except for Samira the cat! This is a real statistical improbability given that most farm apprentices and WWOOFers are female.

It is wonderful that Eliane has an amazing job offer with UNESCO doing something that she is extremely good at and she will probably have a greater impact on the environment by doing this than by weeding our lettuce… so we are just very happy to have enjoyed her company for these few weeks.

We will also miss Brian’s sense of humor, love of nature and excellent pan fried potatoes:-)

Shawn, Brian and Eliane, Rowena, Hayden and Yoshiki with Mika at our feet

Pasta con Rapini

Ingredients

• 3 cloves GARLIC thinly sliced.
• OLIVE OIL to taste.
• 1/2 (or more depending on taste ) cup PARMESAN CHEESE grated.
• Bunch RAPINI coarsely chopped.
• PASTA such as Farfalle or Penne Rigate or Rotini, portion depending on amount of people eating.

Method

Heat OIL and saute’ GARLIC for a minute.

Add PANCETTA and cook until golden brown.

Add RAPINI and saute’ until until desired texture is attained, less for chewy, more for a softer consistency

Meanwhile boil pasta in salted water.

Drain and toss into pot which rapini.

Sprinkle parmesan cheese and toss/mix.

Serve hot.

Parmigiano (parmesan) is easily available at Costco and I buy a block , cut it into pieces and freeze them individually. it does become sllghtly crumbly when you thaw it but the taste remains unaltered. An alternate is GRANA PADANO which is similar to the parmigiano and slightly sweeter and cheaper. Also available at Costco.

Bonnie

[To reduce your food miles even further, you can also buy locally produced Parmesan from Armadale Farms at the Dieppe Market, Olive oil from Hope Farm and the European Deli at the Dieppe Market and fresh pasta at both the Dieppe and Moncton markets!

Thanks to Bonnie Singh, one of our Farm Share members, for this delicious recipe!

Rowena]

This Sunday’s Baskets contained the following; freshly picked and freshly eaten!

Small Basket

1. Spinach

2. Komatsuna

3. Mesclum Salad

4. Napoli Carrots

5. Spring Garlic

Large Basket

1. Napoli Carrots

2. Rainbow Chard

3. Spring Garlic

4. Rapini

5. Parsley

6. Spinach

7. Meslcum Salad

8. Komatsuna

After almost four wonderful weeks at the Amarosia Organic Garden, learning about organic farming and how to produce food respecting the environment - with no chemicals and toxic products, we need to say thank you for all the support we received here but, it is time to go back… Brazil which is a big country in South America is my homeland, it has a hot weather that creates many natural beauties as well as rain forests - Amazon and Atlantic Jungle, the language is Portuguese (the only country that has that as an official language in South America) and the national entertainment is soccer games.

People are very friendly and it is such a nice place to visit!!! I am a science teacher and an author there and I came here to research about organic farming and to write this amazing experience guided by Rowena and her team. However, it is time to leave because UNESCO - United Nations offered me a position in my country to write about environmental educational issues and to help them to have efficient national guidelines for that and I see the possibility to help many other people, mainly kids to understand why should we care about nature.

In addiction, I have to say that my English is emergent from staying last year at the United States learning about environmental education at ACNW. Thus, dear friends at the end of this letter I apologize for possible mistakes while writing and I really encourage you to keep doing your part to help the environment by this precious farmer share program or visiting the market with Amarosia Organic Garden and I would be happy in tell more about Brazil and exchange experiences by email:

eliane.thaines (at) hotmail.com

Also, my partner and great co-author Brian William Bodah is coming with me there to experience new things in Brazil… Best regards, Eliane Thaines

Hayden sorts out the tomatoes and prepares them to be planted, by giving the roots a spray of ‘Seaboost’ a seaweed extract which boosts the plants’ immune systems…

Serge and Brian then plant them in the field. The tomatoes are planted through heavy grade woven black plastic which warms the soil, retains moisture and allows rain to penetrate and smothers weeds. It also reduces the spread of disease by keeping the plants free from splashed soil. In between the rows Brian seeded a mixture of Crimson Clover and oats which will build the soil, suppress weeds and provide ‘insect highways’ into the field for bees and other beneficial insects.

Meanwhile Eliane and Shawn are busy harvesting salad. Eliane is picking the baby lettuce leaves…

…while Shawn takes care of the mustards and Asian greens.

The salad greens are picked, mixed, rinsed and washed, spun dry and then bagged and labeled and stored in the refrigerator ready for the market. 200 bags of salad later…

The carrots are still weedy but about half of the beds have been well weeded now.

Here is one of the smaller piles hauled out of the field to be composted. 90% of that is prickly lettuce, our weed of the week (month!)

Elaine and Shawn have also done  an amazing job of weeding the multicoloured heads of lettuce.

And Brian had the job of picking and squishing potato beetles today (feet for scale)

INSIDE THE BOX

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/444892

TheStar.com | living | Patience pays off with shared farmland

Patience pays off with shared farmland

TANNIS TOOHEY/TORONTO STAR

Peppery French Breakfast radishes in latest delivery from Plan B Organic Farms would not be found in a mainstream supermarket.

Community-shared agriculture scheme reunites people with sources of our food

Jun 18, 2008 04:30 AM

food editor
At Whole Foods, an Ontario-grown cucumber will set you back $4.99. It comes from Healthy Organic Produce Enterprises, an Amish co- operative near Aylmer.

Last week I got a HOPE cuke that weighed in at 1.3 pounds as part of my weekly vegetable box from Plan B Organic Farms. It’s part of its community-shared agriculture, or CSA, program. Since the farm is small – only 25 acres of cultivated land – Plan B owners buy from a network of local farms, some just down the road from their place in Millgrove, north of Hamilton, in order to fill the box.

This spring I paid $450 for a half share – eight to 10 items a week – for about 20 weeks. As Toronto member Andrea Morra pointed out to me, that works out to about $22.50 a week.

Last week I described my initial disappointment with the first box and how I expected more stuff in it. After talking to Plan B owners Melanie Golba and Alvaro and Rodrigo Venturelli, I realized my expectations were not realistic, given the cool spring. In other words, my connection to my food was remote at best. The weather had meant some early crops weren’t big enough to harvest, and boxes were necessarily light because it was the beginning of the season.

Still, my tone struck a chord. Other CSA members wrote to say they were disappointed with the story. Morra, who bought a Plan B half-share plus fruit box ($250) for the first time this year, said she wanted to see the farm flourish “so that my family and our planet can continue to reap the benefits.”

After Morra’s email, I set out on a comparison shop. If I had bought the same 10 items (not organic) at my local Loblaws, it would have cost just under $20. If I had bought the same 10 organic items at Whole Foods, it would have cost about $30. The radishes, at $2.99, would have been more aesthetically pleasing (no dirt or scars), but there’s no way they would have had the same peppery bite I got from Plan B’s French Breakfast variety. Oh, and they came from Michigan or California. In fact, a lot of the produce came from the United States.

So I saved on fuel costs by buying local and I got a bargain. But then there are the intangibles. I received four stalks of green garlic last week, garlic that had been planted specifically to be harvested before the bulbs grew. I couldn’t buy that anywhere else. For the price comparison, I used green onions.

“It was milder than real garlic, but not the same flavour. I just really liked it,” Morra says. “We’re being forced to try things that, as a family, we don’t usually eat.”

At Plan B, Golba says the idea is to price the food fairly, not to make it a deal. It has to cover the costs of labour and administration. But price really has nothing to do with the cost to produce, and that’s because there’s only so much they can charge for a head of lettuce.

The point is I’m getting it fresh. Plan B is exactly 75 kilometres from my house. Some of the vegetables are picked the day before I get them.

I figure I got about nine pounds of food from my box last week.

The asparagus was unbelievable. The radishes rocked. And I, too, loved the green garlic.

All in all, a good deal. But I’ll leave the last word to Morra.

“I think it is important to emphasize to people that when they engage in this better way of life, they need to be patient,” she wrote. “Understanding that local produce has its weeks and eating accordingly is not a bad thing, just a different thing.”

On that note, I regret to inform her that the farm down the road got hit hard by hail last week and the green onions were pummelled. They may not recover. The good news is the strawberries are loving the wet weather. Alvaro and Melanie’s two kids have already been out there sampling the fruit.

khoney@thestar.ca