working on a farm

so i realize it has been ages since my last post and i am sorry. it has been a busy month socially and my job on the farm keeps me tired.

but i do love it. it is truly what i wanted to do. it is more work than i had in mind though. i never expected farm work to be easy, but some things just seem so time consuming. i never thought about what it was like for a farmer to go to market. i thought you picked some stuff, you took it, you sold it. and this is coming from someone who is relatively educated about local agriculture. it takes us all day to pick produce, wash it, pack it, count it and put it away for market. this is what we do the day before markets. we have to try and anticipate what people will buy at market, how much of everything we will need, does this look good enough to sell, etc. it is quite a process.

the other thing i didn't think about before working on a farm was all the planting. i thought you planted some tomato plants and you were done. there are three different plantings of tomato plants, all spread out so we have tomatoes all summer long to sell. there are also 30 different varieties of tomato plants. so if someone doesn't like garden peach, they can choose amish paste. same goes for head lettuces - we plant four or five different varieties every two weeks. peas, beans, broccoli...multiple plantings of multiple types. makes sense, just never thought about it before.

sometimes the work seems overwhelming, how can we ever get all this done?? but it happens. things get done - plants get planted in the field, weeds get picked, produce gets picked and off to market we go.

i am sort of in charge of one of the markets the farm participates in and it has been an experience. i feel honored they have entrusted me with such a task, representing their farm and selling their products. it is fun to me, actually. the preparation for market is the hard part, once you get there and set up, you just sit back and let people buy. there are several regular customers who i have tried to talk with to let them know i recognize them. i don't want to be a pushy salesperson, but i think people appreciate when i can start a conversation with them about our products.

the weather has been challenging. as a farmer, you are strongly dependent on the weather. today, the soil is too wet to plant in. today, it is too hot to plant lettuces, etc. but on a farm, there is never a shortage of work, so tasks are shifted around.

i have gotten sunburn, tan, lost weight, sweated my ass off (literally), drank so much water and still didn't pee all day, etc...yet i enjoy my work. i have learned so much. i have experienced so much.

american v european food

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8623091.stm

i was suppose to start my new job on monday, but i am stuck in scotland because of volcanic ash and, as frustrating as this is, it is quite cool how nature can still control the world.

while reading about flights being cancelled and passengers stranded, i came across the article above...a slightly different perspective on american cuisine. i am not sure i completely agree with all their comments. while america certainly has more than its fair share of fast food joints and prepared meals, scotland has no shortage of chip shops and full breakfasts. and while scotland's food may taste better and be actual food (less processed food), meals are built around meat and fried foods...lots of fat and not so many fruits and vegetables, though lots of potatoes. and while the majority of americans seem to go for the cheap, prepared 'food' items and we are dealing with the huge health consequences that come with eating this way, america has many great restaurants that are dedicated to real food.

there are several things in the article i found interesting. a point the article makes is that americans don't enjoy the food they eat, they consider it a chore, something they do because they have to. this could be because the food most americans eat is not enjoyable, it is processed crap that our bodies can't digest and in turn making our bodies feel like crap afterwards. the whole process of food is seen as a chore - the shopping, the prep work, the cooking, the eating. people eat as fast as they can to be finished as fast as they can. our whole view of food and eating is distorted. why can't we enjoy searching for good food at the market? why can't we enjoy looking up recipes and trying something new? why can't we sit with friends and family and have conversations around a meal?

the term that waitstaff often use 'are you still working on that?' is a terrible phrase. when i used to wait tables, i was called out on using that phrase by a customer. she said i should say 'are you still enjoying your meal?'

i find it hard to lump scottish cuisine in with general european cuisine. while there are many great restaurants in edinburgh and a fabulous farmer's market, there are a lot of american tendencies - fast food places, large portions, fatty meals, take away sandwiches to eat on the go. i found far less of these things in france and italy. the french and italians seem to take far more time in preparing and enjoying their food.

new adventure

i got exactly what i wanted - a job in the lancaster, pa area in the local/sustainable agriculture scene. perfect! i got a job working on a farm, lime valley mill/farm, just outside of lancaster city for this coming growing season. the pay sucks and the job is only from april-november, but i am so excited about this new adventure. it is a 118 acre farm. they have cows, pigs and lambs for meat, chicken for eggs, sheep for wool and 5-6 acres of produce (fruit, vegetables and herbs). their animals only eat what they grow on the farm. i will be working with the produce - planting, weeding, harvesting, washing, packing and taking it all to market twice a week. awesome.

i got an apartment in lancaster city. though, lancaster is not baltimore, i am looking forward to living in a relatively small city again. i do like city life, though i never thought i would. you can walk anywhere. know your neighbors. have a better sense of community. enjoy the city parks. and in cities like lancaster and baltimore, you can easily get out of the city and enjoy country life. i grew up in the middle of nowhere country where the deer, turkeys, song birds, foxes, etc can still roam free with no worries of being crowded out by housing developments. something i really don't like about the south in general, housing developments and strip malls...nothing unique, nothing local, no community.

the apartment i found in lancaster is pretty cool. i am looking forward to moving in and making it my own. when i was in lancaster looking at apartments, they were all in a similar area and i kept passing this coffee shop. i finally went in to check it out. chestnut hill cafe. i don't love coffee, but i enjoy it sometimes and i like the feel of local coffee shops. i was looking at the menu and looking around to get a feel of the place. i saw a sign that said 'direct trade' and thought that was odd because i had only heard that term from counter culture coffee, where i worked for a year in durham, nc. i kept looking around and saw counter culture everywhere. i couldn't believe it. i am living a block away from a coffee shop in lancaster that sells coffee from counter culture in durham where i used to work. what a small world. my friend said it was a sign i should live in the area. i have a feeling i will be spending a lot of time there.

i am looking forward to living in lancaster again. i am looking forward to working my ass off on this farm. i am looking forward to supporting local, city business. i am looking forward to being close to baltimore. i am always nervous before starting a new job, but this....this is different....this will be awesome.

today's food systems

I am not going to say anything about these two links other than if you care about how we look at food today and how we should look at food tomorrow, you must make time to watch these videos.

This is a really great speech by Jamie Oliver, an English chef who for many years has been really involved with promoting a healthy lifestyle, food wise, for kids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIwrV5e6fMY

This is a great interview with David Kessler and Eric Schlosser about today's food industries.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6213278n&tag=api

julie & julia

I just watched the movie 'Julie & Julia' and it prompted me to write another entry. I am coming to realize my blog is more about food than environmental issues, though I truly believe eating healthy, supporting local farms and sustainable agriculture is very 'green' in it self. It was a very fun movie. As they were talking about recipes, I was looking them up in 'the' book. What Julie did was a really cool idea, I wish I had thought of it first! Julie had an idea, that turned into a blog and experiment, that turned into a book, that turned into a movie. Julia took a class, that turned into a book, that turned into another book, and another, that turned into a TV show.

I need something like that. A class in college that I hated at the time, turned into an independent study on local food systems, turned into a passion to support local farms and farmer's markets and read anything and everything about food systems, turned into.... I'm hoping it turns into working on a farm, that turns into taking some courses in agriculture and eventually turns into owning a farm of my own. Is that a weird goal in life - to own a farm and work on it??

I get excited when I read about jobs that are for farm help. I love the food network - Iron Chef America, Top Chef, Barefoot Contessa. I love to hear about foods I don't know or interesting combinations. My favorite book is 'Food Lover's Companion' where I can look up any and every food term. Something as simple as milk or as complex as coffee. (You will never know how complex coffee is, and also how amazingly interesting it is, until you work for a small company run by coffee geeks, believe me.) I don't know if I love to cook, I am not there yet, but I certainly enjoy it. It is more fun cooking with someone, I feel, or cooking for people, rather than just for myself. I do love going to farmer's markets. I love to meet the farmers and hear them talk about their products and see all the wonderful things that can be grown and raised so close to 'home.'

Julia Child talks a lot about going to the markets in Paris and how wonderful they were. Well, they still are. Even if I am not looking to buy anything, I love walking through the markets in Paris. You have the produce stand, the cheesemonger, the butcher, the baker, (the candlestick maker...ha!) the wine merchant....each has their own specialty and can advice from personal knowledge. How wonderful.

Edinburgh, Scotland has only one market for the whole city, but how wonderful it is. I went every Saturday morning this past summer. I got the eggs from the egg lady. ('These were laid on Thursday and will last four weeks.' Ever heard that in the grocery store??) I got bacon from the pork man. ('Would you like smoked or unsmoked? Lean or fatty? Thick cut or thin?') Produce came from the hippyish, organic stand. ('These beans are so good. This week we picked them and we would eat one and pick one, eat one and pick one. But don't tell the owner!') There was a chocolate stand with this woman and her partner and baby. She made everything - all sorts of chocolate bars, ice cream and the hot chocolate was amazing. Beautiful lilies were for sale and I heard people saying 'oh, we can't buy them now, we aren't going straight home.' The woman selling them said 'no worries, they were cut this morning and will last 24 hours without water.' I ask you, where can you find such knowledgeable vendors, promoting such wonderful products besides at a farmer's market? Needless to say, I cooked a lot this summer and would go weeks without even going to a grocery store.

The US has many great markets, as well. I move around a lot, and unfortunately, don't get to visit markets or cook wonderful meals as often as I would like. I will say this - what happens when you buy a pumpkin in October at a local, organic farm?? You still have it sitting on your counter in February. I can't bring myself to compost it because it it still so beautiful.

Food is a wonderful thing. It brings people together, creates opportunities to try new things and it is healthy for you in its pure and natural state. It is unfortunate what today's food industry has done to destroy that image.

Well done, Julie Powell. You not only mastered French cooking, but you showed us you don't have to be Julia Child to do it (as wonderful as she may be).

venison

So...I know it has been awhile since I have written a blog. I have not forgotten about it...I have been thinking about it a lot, actually, just haven't gotten to it. So here it is...

Over the holidays, my boyfriend and I did some cooking. We make a good team when cooking together because he usually likes to cook meat and I usually like to cook a pasta or rice and vegetable. We were in my parents' house and looking in the freezer for options for dinner. We saw some venison, something we didn't have much experience with, but we decided to try it. It was wonderful! It wasn't gamey, it was moist and flavorful...it was a great steak. You know what helped make it great (besides my boyfriend's 'let's try this' cooking skills)? We knew exactly where it came from...my parents' backyard. My dad shot the deer we were now eating in November on their property behind their house. We watched this deer live - she ate my mom's flowers, she ran in front of their car on the road, she grazed on their pasture with her fellow deer. My dad shot her, hung her, butchered her and froze the meat. That is what we had for dinner.

I know some people think - how can you eat that cute deer you saw in your backyard? It's cruel. What is cruel is how factory farm animals are raised. This deer had a good life - ate a natural diet, roamed free, mated, had offspring and had a quick, clean kill. Deer meat is lean, free of antibiotics and added hormones. The same cannot be said for factory farm animals. Hunting, in general, is not cruel, assuming kills are quick and clean. Hunting seasons have a great purpose...to prevent overpopulation and help wild animals get through a low food period. Deer hunting season is in late November, before the harsh upstate NY winters hit. Hunting a few deer (I don't know the exact number of licenses the state allows) help the remaining deer get through the winter. The less deer there are, the more who can find enough food. Starvation is no easy way to die.

Not only is my dad a great butcher (those steaks were beautiful! try finding a piece of meat that looks like that in the grocery store), but he is not wasteful. It takes several days to butcher the whole deer and a sharp knife and a cutting board is all you need (and a tolerance for the cold). He packages up all the meat he can find. My uncle takes the hide. And it is tradition in my mom's family to have deer heart as 'picky' food Thanksgiving day.

I'll take eating the cute, wild animal in my backyard any day over a inhumanely treated, unnatural animal from a factory farm.