"Never lose a holy curiosity."
- Albert Einstein

What’s in the standard share:

... and if you have an extra-fruit option:
Blackberries, peaches and strawberries

CALENDAR


Sat. Sep 20 - Fall Equinox Celebration
3pm - 9pm
with the Banana Slug String Band!

Sat. Oct 26 Halloween Pumpkin Palooza
all day.
the Banana Slug String Band will play here too!

Children bring out the Magic. Blessed with beautiful warm weather, the farm hosted another fun-filled and lively Children’s Mini-Camp last weekend. On Friday, eleven families, including our own, set up camp around the fire circle or someplace nearby – wherever the ground was level enough to pitch a tent. After dinner and lighting the fire, Constance led the group for a night walk. The moon, almost full, bathed the landscape in its silver light, bright enough to explore the orchard and hide in the shadows of the trees. As we entered the blackberry and raspberry patch our exploration of the farm became a treasure hunt as we strained our eyes and probed the vines with our fingers to find a few ripe berries. "I got a soft one!" "yummy!" "oh, this one was sweet!" "ergh... sour!" and "jackpot! I found two!!" were the excited calls as we combed the dark vines in search of berries in the moonlight.

Playing Hide-and-Seek turned out to be one of my most treasured moments. Adrian, one of the youngest in the group and so not able to keep up with the older night explorers, held up his arms to me asking to be carried. This immediately made me part of the children's group trying to hide from the adults. As Adrian and I found a good hiding place in the shadow of a peach tree, we detected two soft, ripe peaches dangling in front of us. Consequently, Mom found us in no time after the 30-second count, due to the slurping sounds we made while eating the juicy fruit, suddenly unconcerned with being discovered.

We woke on Saturday to a sunny blue sky and spent the morning harvesting the farm’s summer bounty. More peaches and berries, now easy to spot by daylight, were made into delicious fruit salads and a warm peach crisp. The harvest filled everyone’s baskets with potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, melons, cucumbers, zucchinis, onions, basil... enough to feed us all. Harvesting and preparing the meals together as a group, slowing down and simplifying our lives enough, if just for a few days, made us all appreciate the generosity and aliveness of the land. The simplest things experienced in the present moment always seem to offer an opportunity to reconnect with nature, like savoring a warm freshly-picked cherry tomato, making hideaways in the tall patch of Sudan grass (our summer cover crop), smelling fresh basil, digging and pulling up red and orange carrots, or biting into a freshly-baked pizza topped with just-picked ingredients.

Every time children experience the land on this farm I recognize how much they need nature. Children need to stain their faces with peach and berry juice from fruits picked fresh off a tree or vine as they watch a hummingbird or bee fly and dance around a flower. The truth is we need to experience nature because we are nature. Nature is our ultimate classroom, and children are always ready, right now, to learn from it. With only a few things every child can embark on this lifelong apprenticeship – their sense of wonder, the guardianship of an elder, and a little unstructured time. It is my hope that this farm will always serve as a place where every child, even the ones within us adults, can experience a stronger connection with nature and remember, as John Muir observed, that everything is connected to everything else. – Tom

Notes from the Field
This week we begin our pear harvest. We will have to pick them over a two- to three-week period instead of all at once, since due to a very non-uniform (ratty) bloom each tree has fruit of different maturity on it. Once the pears are harvested they will be chilled for 10 days in order to achieve more uniform ripening. Pears, like avocados, are picked hard and ripened off the tree. All of this means that pears will appear in your shares around the first week of September and their cousins, the Apples, soon thereafter.

Membership Drive
We still have shares available. Please continue to spread the word and let friends, neighbors, co-workers know about our CSA program. We try to always make brochures available in the inside back pocket of your pick-up site binder, so feel free to take a few to give out, or call us and we can send you a flyer to post in your neighborhood's local shop or bulletin board.

National CSA Cookbook
I said I'd talk about this more after I got my copy, so here's the scoop: The cookbook is called "Recipes from America's Small Farms – Fresh Ideas for the Season's Bounty" and was created by two members of a CSA in Manhattan, NY. One happened to be a cookbook author, the other, a book producer, and it was through their own experience of CSA that they realized this book needed to happen. So they contacted CSAs, farmers and chefs from across the country soliciting recipes and stories (this is how I learned about it). But this is not just another collection of recipes. It is a very thoughtfully assembled book that guides you through cooking not only by season but also by vegetable family/type, and is full of useful tips as well as great stories about CSA farms and farmers across the country. It is also a useful reference for cooking with 'what's in the box.' Although the book is now available in bookstores, the authors are offering this cookbook to all CSA members of contributing farms (yes, we have some recipes in there and Live Earth Farm has a sidebar!) at their cost (50% off list) plus postage. This comes to about $10.50 apiece. So if any of you are interested in getting a copy, email or call me and we can assemble a group purchase (see bottom margin of newsletter for contact info). – Debbie

Notes from Debbie’s Kitchen . . . . . . . . Have a recipe you’d like to share? Contact Debbie.

Fellow CSA members John and Wendy Maschino sent me this week's charming recipe, for kids of all ages! - Debbie

Bear Face (open face) Sandwich
serves... as many as you make!

Take one of Tom's Heirloom tomatoes – a big one, 4" in diameter – and cut a 1/2" thick round slice right through the middle. You might get 2 or 3 slices total, depending on tomato thickness and shape. Cut out the stem and growth spots and serve these outside pieces to the adults at the small table, or add them to the bowl of marinating tomatoes and sliced red onion.

For sandwich bread we like Orowheat's "Health Nut." It has the right shape, taste and consistency, but who knows what's in it. It'll be great when Toastie gets fired up again after her long rest!

Take one slice of bread and slather it with 'Best Foods' mayo, or any health conscious alternative if it tastes as good (If so, let me know what that is, sez John)

Center the tomato slice on the bread. Season with lemon pepper, grated parme-san cheese and garlic salt. Sprinkle with chopped fresh basil or oregano leaves.

Now take one of Tom's small red tomatoes and cut off the pope's nose (the pointy end), about 3/4 to 1" diameter. Put it in the middle of the big tomato slice on the bread. That's the bear's nose.

Cut a 1/2" thick slice through the middle of the same little tomato. Cut that slice in half. Place each half upside down and round side out on the two bread bumps at the top. That's the bear's ears.

Use a small tomato wedge shape for a smile and two small pieces for eyes. Make bear's whiskers and eyelashes with small placements of basil or oregano leaves – yes, bears have whiskers too! If you have flowers pinched from the herb, make a ribbon at the top of the bear's head; that was the one tied on by a little girl when the bear was just a cub. Bear really liked the ribbon a lot, and has worn it ever since.

Serve at room temperature.

John says, "I haven't played with cilantro, purslane or shredded cheese on the bear's face yet, but who knows?"

a quickie on Radicchio
We are getting radicchio fairly often, but don't limit it to just a salad ingredient! My hands-down favorite way to prepare it is to cut it in half or quarters through the root end (leave root attached to keep the leaves together), baste it well with olive oil (I use my hands), sprinkle well with salt (the salt is important) and pepper, then grill it 4 to 5 minutes per side, until browned and soft. It is really yummy this way! Serve with other grilled veggies (summer squash is great, grilled tomatoes are great too) and/or along with your favorite spaghetti and sauce! - Debbie

*Click Here* for a link to a comprehensive listing of recipes from Live Earth Farm's newsletters going back as far as our 1998 season! You can search for recipes by key ingredient. Recipe site is updated weekly during the season.