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Happy and Proud Parents
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When it comes to farming I have no expectation that either of our children will feel inspired to make a career of it, but I have to admit it feels extremely uplifting when they do end up following in your footsteps. Constance and I were a little emotional when David, our almost-17-year-old, together with two of his friends, Noah and Rowen Limbach (children of fellow CSA members Sara and Charles), crossed the finish line in the Big Sur Marathon last Sunday. It was 20 years ago when I chose this same race as my first marathon. This is a formidable feat for a teenager; as the saying goes, it takes lungs, legs, and lots of determination. As a junior in high school, David is in the process of looking at colleges, trying to figure out his future and how to engage with the larger world around him. It doesn't matter to us whether David will choose to farm or not; he is, however, choosing to trust in his own ideals and beliefs, to share them and help others to achieve their own. As parents, that's something to be thankful for, And who knows, maybe some of dad's love for farming may still rub off on him someday...

- Tom

  

Picking up the tempo as we start Spring's Crescendo, or, weeds and critters and bugs, oh my!
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With the wonderful warm weather, irrigation is kicking into high gear. Now that most of our fields have been plowed and the first big spring planting is behind us, there is no time to slack-off; the warm weather not only favors the growth of crops, but of weeds as well. Weeds, if left unattended, will easily get the upper hand. They need to be kept under control mechanically (with the tractor) or by hand.

Before a crop gets harvested and delivered in your shares, it is of course also a tasty target for a whole range of critters. To list a few of the bigger ones: gophers and deer. The gophers in our strawberry patch seem to be particularly voracious this year, which means we have to set traps every day.  And although I don't like to put up fences, I had to build a 7-foot one around our newly-planted pear orchard, because the young trees got completely mowed down in a few nights by a large group of deer, and no other deterrent would work. The deer ignored a makeshift fence, a radio left playing during the night, even the scent of mountain lion urine. Nothing worked until we built the permanent fence.

When it comes to insect pests, constant monitoring and early control is key to preventing outbreaks. Some of the insects that are particularly problematic at times are aphids; they are attracted to all of our cole crops: broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale, and cabbage. Our best control is to interplant flowers that attract beneficial insects such as predatory wasps, flies, lacewings, or ladybugs.  This will never eliminate the pest insects completely, since biological control methods depend on an established balance between both pest and beneficial insect populations. I stay away from organic sprays as much as I can, since they throw this balance out of whack. With a healthy beneficial insect population in place, aphid populations stay acceptably low.

In the strawberries we keep a watchful eye out for the two-spotted spider mite which is controlled by timely releases of red spider mites early in the season. The best way to control cucumber beetles, another pest which can be particularly damaging with young summer squash and cucumber plants, is to place row-covers over them, or spray their leaves with a sticky clay like substance (kaolin) until the plants are large enough to fend for themselves.

In recent years a fruitfly, Drosophila Suszukii, has established itself here in the Pajaro Valley, affecting soft-bodied fruit such as cherries, raspberries, and strawberries. Currently no effective organic control method(s) have been identified. The only way to keep the problem to a minimum is through field hygiene, by not dropping any ripe fruit to the ground where the flies are able to breed.

With the onset of warm weather, flea beetle populations tend to go through explosive cycles and devour any young leafy greens belonging to the mustard family, in particular arugula, pak choi, tatsoi, kale, etc; they chew small holes into the leaves leaving them pock-marked. Not the nicest looking when they're "holey", but they are still very edible (i.e. the pests are long gone; all that's left are the holes).

A ladybug munches on aphids in the favas; sweet alyssum rows amid the broccoli; flea beetle damage on last week's Asian green (the lance)

Mechanical cultivation of weeds by tractor

A thin veil of remay (row cover) blankets a planting of summer squash to protect it from squash beetles.

Farming is not a linear process, especially here at Live Earth Farm, where we grow such a large diversity of crops. Nature calls the shots, and as farmers we are asked to adjust and plan our work to harmonize with any range of constantly changing, diverse, and interconnected conditions. Although we anticipate bountiful harvests to supply all of our members throughout most of the season, I am less stressed knowing I can rely on a wonderful network of local organic growers to back us up when we're caught in a production lull, whether it's Far West Fungi with their mushrooms, Santa Cruz Aquaponics with watercress, or Phil Foster Ranches or Lakeside Organics with vegetables. As I hope you know, we always strive to bring you the best the season and the land has to offer. Still, sometimes the pests can sneak by even our watchful eyes. So as always, we welcome your feedback; if you feel you got buggy veggies for some reason, let us know right away, and we will try to compensate as best we can.

- Tom

Share issues? Please let us know right away.
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On the heels of Tom's dialog about organic farming and pest management, this seemed like as good a time as any to remind you of this:

If you ever experience any issues with your share or at your pick-up site - in particular if you feel like you were shorted, or something was wrong - ideally let me know right away. The sooner I know, the more helpful it is, because sometimes I can nip problems in the bud. If I don't hear from you until a week or two after the fact, I am not always able to make up shortages or address problems appropriately. A quick email or phone call is all that's needed; be sure to let me know who you are (and what name a share is under, if you split with someone, for example).

As Tom says, we will do our best to compensate you if there was a problem.

thanks!
Debbie

Spread the word: CSA shares still available!
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Have a friend or neighbor you know might be interested in our CSA? Please continue to let people know that we are still accepting signups for this season, even though it is already underway. Subscription cost is pro-rated at sign-up, so no one pays for any weeks that have already passed.

Taylor is going to see that there are brochures inside the front pocket of every pick-up site binder, so please feel free to take one (or a few) and give them out.

thanks again!
Debbie

Why you want to eat pastured meat chickens (and have you signed up for yours yet)?
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From an April 27 Editorial in the New York Times entitled Hiding the Truth About Factory Farms: "A supermarket shopper buying hamburger, eggs or milk has every reason, and every right, to wonder how they were produced. The answer, in industrial agriculture, is "behind closed doors," and that's how the industry wants to keep it. In at least three states - Iowa, Florida, and Minnesota - legislation is moving ahead that would make undercover investigations in factory farms, especially filming and photography, a crime. The legislation has only one purpose: to hide factory-farming conditions from a public that is beginning to think seriously about animal rights and the way food is produced." (click here to read the rest of the article)

The industrial model of meat production is not a healthy one, and so conventional growers will do everything they can to hide this (as the above legislation demonstrates). Sure, you can pay 99 cents a pound for chicken at a supermarket... but make no mistake, the true price is being paid in environmental degradation, inhumane treatment of animals, the impact on human health, not to mention "flavor-free" meat that lacks in all the nutrients present in properly pasture-raised animals. As Denesse Willey of T.D. Willey Farms says, "people are asking the wrong question. They shouldn't be asking 'why does organic cost so much?', they should be asking 'why is conventionally-produced food so cheap?'.

Enter Sarah and Aurelio Lopez of Surfside Chickens and Lisa Knutson of Pasture Chick Ranch. Both are completely transparent in their operations, and both are dedicated to raising healthy poultry outdoors on real pasture (i.e. not the lip-service of "free range" - those birds never set foot outdoors). $6/lb may sound like a lot, but that is only because we've been marketed to for a couple generations now that being able to buy something "cheap" is the highest achievement. And look where that has gotten us. I would like to add that if you think this is a steep cost, then the solution is to choose to eat less meat, not buy cheaper stuff. Nuff said.

We are very fortunate to have been able to partner with Surfside and Pasture Chick in order to offer you their top-integrity, top-quality meat chickens through our CSA. A small nod of thanks also goes to the developers of Farmigo, our CSA management software, which gave us the ability to manage monthly deliveries of the chickens. We otherwise would not have been able to do this.

There are still pastured meat chicken "Options" available - and still time to sign up for them if you like. The first monthly delivery of chickens will be mid-May, the 18th, 19th and 20th. Remember: one "option" equals one (approx. 4 lb) bird per month, so if you think you will eat more than one per month, you are free to order more than one "Option". The birds are delivered frozen, whole (like a normal 'whole' bird you'd get at the store; i.e. no feet, head, innards, feathers, etc).

If you would like to add a meat chicken option to your subscription, you can do so easily by logging into your account and clicking on "+ Add Subscription" -- this will take you into a 'mini-wizard' where you can step through until you find the chicken option. Then just follow the rest of the instructions and you'll be all set!

Cheers,
Debbie

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(click here for cost and scheduling info)
We'll be engaging campers in creative expression among our 100 organic acres of fruits, vegetables, farm animals, and wild spaces. During the week campers will plant, harvest, and create in the kitchen and beyond; make cheese, make masks, print, paint, and sculpt with natural materials.