We need our shareholders back on the farm this weekend or early next week…and just to entice you…I thought a visual might do the trick..Broccoli is ready to harvest and it is lovely! Need another visual? Okay…how about Strawberries?

You can choose your pickup days…Saturday May 12th. 9-2pm    Monday May 14  10-12pm    Tuesday May 15th. 4-6pm    Just send us an email and let us know which day works best for you. Thanks, Peggy

It is about time we get back into hosting some workshops around this farm. Everyone has been asking when the farm will open to the public? We are just waiting on some business issue to really open up…but that is not to say we can’t have a little fun here on the farm on the sly…No really I am just kidding..this weekend we are doing our jam making workshop and like every year in the past when we have had this workshop it is so much fun. We talk about all kinds of jams but we will be making Strawberry jam…and the attendee are taking theirs home with them to enjoy. So remember there is limited space email me if you want to come…and bring a friend..it makes for a great morning outing.

On to what is happening on the farm. This past weekend we had our 2nd CSA shareholder pickup…wow there were a lot of people and baskets flying off this farm.

k

CSA Shareholder pickup

It had rained just hours before making for a nice cool morning but a bit muddy in the harvesting. Mark and I spent more time slipping and sliding around on the wet grass..me hitting the dirt a couple of time with bags of kale in hand. April and Viki helped pack baskets and get everyone signed in for their pickup. It was busy…busy…busy for a few hours and Mark and I both couldn’t lift our heads that evening. It was nice seeing the shareholders back on the farm. Now that spring is in high gear and the field is in drifts of greens, reds and…green colors…yes this is the greens season. And the shareholders baskets contained a big bunch of them of all kinds shapes and taste. Lots of salads this week..But that is how it always is during this time of year. Come July we all will be pleading for something green..something leafy..and only basil fits the bill and that just doesn’t make for a great salad. But speaking of salad I am posting a couple of great vinegarrett recipes (check Facebook)  to help add a little spice to those huge heads of red lettuce and romaine that came off the farm this week. Now I understand some of you shareholders are a little over welemed with so many greens and April post can help you as well. But lets talk a little about how this whole farm/eating in season works. Spring time offers the first harvest of anything editable after a long winter of nothing growing. And with that the first crops to break the soil are green leafy vegetables. These are the crops that withstand mother natures fickleness when it comes to frosts and then warm sunny days. Next comes the root and bulb crops like onions, radishes then beets and carrot leading the way for new potatoes. They too can take being slapped around by the weather a bit. There is a reason for these crops to be first to find their way to our plate and these are what grow in our climate in the spring. Sure I would love to have a few weeks of California weather and be able to throw a couple of red tomatoes and few peppers in there too…but we don’t live in California and  just between you and me…I kinda like living where there is 4 seasons not 1. The greens will be moving out before you know it and I for one will be sad to see them go…well until fall when they are back…

So what’s in the basket?

 There are some really fun and delicious items in that basket from Saturday and if you stuck around for the cooking demo you know how wonderful Kale and cannelloni beans with sweet red onions can be…and fast too! Several of you also got a brazing mix this is basically a mixture of mustards, red russian kale and asian greens meant to be sautéed with a little stock or water. Grap those recipes cards while your picking up at the market…that is what they are there for. I personally like to add chicken to this brazing mix and or pasta. You can cook it like we did with the kale during the workshop…a little apple cider vinegar and a dash of sugar takes the bite off these asian greens. Good reason to come to these little cooking  demos…that and we eat what we cook! Love that:)

CSA packing up a shareholders basket

A bag of tender loose leaf lettuce and a bundle of onions and radishes  pictured here…that brazing mix is so pretty….I just want to put it in a jar of water and make a center piece out of it! Now some of you got krohrobi in this pickup…we harvested all that was ready..if you didn’t get one you will get it next time. Love those. 2 huge heads of romaine and red sail lettuces, a bag of kale and a bag of spinach. You also got strawberries with this pickup. Some of you got a few farm eggs again we will get to everybody it just takes time…the chickens only lay so much. Those of you that brought your flower cutters also took home some really beautiful bouquets.. & herbs like parsley, mint and dill. Now for you new shareholders if you didn’t get all of these herbs or flowers or weren’t sure where they were located on the farm..asked we will point you in the right direction..this is part of your CSA and you have to do the cutting. This one bouquet i caught a picture of was extra nice..

  Here are some more pictures of the basket contents and the shareholder pickup:)

 Fresh romaine lettuce…Nothing better for a hearty salad.. or you could go for a spinach strawberry salad…I just can’t seem to make it into the farmhouse from the field with those strawberries!

CSA~ be watching for pickup updates we will need to get y’all back on the before next weekend..

You Can’t Argue with Mother Nature

by April Patel

CSA shareholder & Farm staff writer 

Seasons form the natural backdrop for eating.  All of the world’s healthiest foods are seasonal.  Imagine a vegetable garden in the dead of winter.  Now imagine this same garden on a sunny, summer day.  How different things are during these two seasons of the year?!  For ecologists, seasons are considered a source of natural diversity.  Changes in growing conditions from spring to summer or fall to winter are considered essential for balancing the earth’s resources and its life forms.

But today it’s so easy for us to forget about seasons when we eat.  Modern food processing and worldwide distribution of food make foods available year-round, and grocery stores shelves look much the same in December as they do in July.

What does this mean for you? There’s two ways to answer that question, one with a farm perspective and the other with a personal perspective.  I can’t speak from the farm perspective, Peggy can do that better than I can.  But I can speak from the personal perspective and what I have learned while being a CSA member.

You have to remember a few things.  The CSA basket isn’t a grocery store cart.  You may not get some of everything every single pick up.  Things will run out and there’s no 18 wheeler with mealy, half-frozen, nutritionally lacking replacements when that happens.  The beauty of it is, if the weather is right, more will grow.  Some items you will get an abundance of, like in the springtime it’s greens, in the summer it can be beans, eggplant or sunflower bouquets.  The main point is to be very grateful when there is abundance and learn how to use it to its fullest!

Here are three examples of this from this week’s pick up.  How many of you know that chickens do not lay eggs when it’s cold outside?  Seriously, raise your hands!  When we just came off of a cooling trend before this past pick up it was no surprise that there weren’t many eggs to go around.  A young hen lays one egg a day when it’s warm, period.  You can’t change that.  All the shareholders will get to try the farm eggs at some point.  It just takes a few pickups to get to all the shareholders.  It evens out though it may take a while.

Another example is there was a TON of lettuce this week in the baskets.  We tried to warn you when greens come in, they come in!  I realize even a healthy eater might find the amount of greens in this past week’s basket a daunting task.  Let me tell you how I deal with it.

• One, I freeze what can be frozen for later.  Eat what’s perishable now.  One shareholder said her spinach from the first pick up got slimy before they had a chance to eat it, so they threw it away, been there done that!  Of course it would kill me to do that now, but that’s because I’ve been through it and know how to deal with it.  I wash everything when I get home.  Then I lay everything on kitchen towels to dry.  I pack all the greens between layers of paper towels and slide them into Ziploc bags squeezing almost all of the air out.  Peggy and others have talked about the green bags, they work, too.  But this is how I store all my greens to keep them from going bad and it works for me.  I reuse the plastic bags after the greens are gone, too.
• And two, learn to diversify your pallet and experiment with ingredients and recipes.  In my personal blog post on our pick up I share a way to grill romaine hearts and have it as a warm salad instead of a traditional cold salad.  This would break up some of the lettuce monotony.   Also, you can toss lettuce in with a cold pasta salad.  In addition to fixing sautéed kale with cannellini beans like Peggy did in the workshop, you can make a cold bean salad and toss in lettuce, too.  A veggie sub sandwich loaded with mixed greens, kohlrabi or radishes would be a wonderful lunch during the heat of the day.
• Third, juice it.  I peruse Pinterest regularly for juice recipes.  Every single item you get in your CSA basket will have a recipe somewhere that will teach you how to incorporate it deliciously into a juice.

Let me give you some food for thought about the timing of what is in your baskets when you eat seasonally.  Did you know your body is genetically made to need certain foods at certain times of the year?  Your body adjusts to your climate and desires what it needs nutritionally based on the time of the year it is. If you don’t tend to crave fruits or vegetables in season- consider yourself broken. This will catch up with you eventually in the form of digestive disorders and degenerative diseases. Eat what is harvested locally in the present season, align yourself with nature and keep your body healthy.

For example, in spring when the leafy greens are abundant your body needs to be renewed just like the earth is renewed and refreshed.  All of these greens aid in cleansing the blood, especially the liver, of all the junk in your body that has collected over the past year.  It’s a time to wake up the digestive tract, filter your blood, renew your health, so eat your greens!  And then eat some more!  Greens also help to alkalize the body. A diet high in alkaline foods helps a body to avoid cancer, autoimmune disease and osteoporosis to name a few.

Tip: the cruciferous vegetables that are so abundant in spring have anti thyroid suppressing properties so make sure you cook all of these to prevent harm to your thyroid glands.

Here are my suggestions to make the CSA more enjoyable for you.

1. Interact with the other shareholders and find out how they are successfully incorporating everything into their regular meals.  Ask about on pick up days, comment on my blog posts, be active on the Facebook page, all of these things are there for you so use them to your advantage.
2. Don’t just come to the farm and pick up a basket.  When you get to the farm, leave the world behind and go country!  I can’t tell you how wonderful it is for me just to pull into that driveway.  Before you pick up, go out into the field look and see what’s coming in, what’s gone, what the hands are picking, get your herbs, explore and breathe it in!  I am more alive on that farm than almost anywhere on earth.  There’s a connection there I cannot explain.
3. Have an open mind.  Again, to appreciate this experience to its fullest, be willing to let go of your preconceived notions about gardening, going to the farmer’s market, buying food at the grocery store, and any other concept that hinders your understanding and enjoyment of this process.  Last year, I was upset about tomatoes LOL!  Tomatoes are my absolute favorite food.  I expected the CSA share to have a basketful of tomatoes every pick up, or something like that.  Because in the summer when the stores have tomatoes in season, I can get as much as I want, they are prolific.  I thought the same thing about my CSA share.  I was mistaken.  Don’t let your expectations steal the enjoyment and benefits of every other blessing in that basket!  Embrace it for what it is.

I realize you new CSA members came into this not knowing what to expect, I was the same last year.  And you may be questioning different things.  Let me assure you, it does take a little adjustment getting used to the slow, seasonal food movement.  But I promise you, if you give yourself a little time, patience, and let your curiosity and creativity help you learn and grow through this experience, you will not only enjoy the ride, it will change your life!

If you need some inspiration on recipes or have questions, feel free to check out my blog at An Apple A Day Wisdom.  I also wrote an eBook, Don’t Compost It, Cook It.  I talk about making the most out of everything in a CSA basket and then some!  Ask me about the Madison Creek Farms Coupon Code to receive a discount.

Keep up with farm updates on our Facebook page.

I know you all have heard me say this before…but I can’t help myself…Spring is my favorite time of year! There is so much bounty out there in that field right now I just want to roll in:) The colors and the textures are truly amazing right now. We are getting into the swing of our spring CSA season here on the farm and it is exciting to see the crops coming in and ready for harvest. We hosted our CSA gathering April 22nd and it was wonderful getting together with our shareholders for the spring and summer season. Here is a few pictures from the gathering

Mark cleaning onions and radishes

Now we are moving head first into spring crops…these crops come on fast and are gone just as fast it seems…well maybe just to me because I will tell you hands down spring & fall are the two most bountiful seasons on the farm. I mean sure summer is great with those heirloom tomatoes and peppers but really other then corn, squash and melons there really isn’t that much in the way of diversity like there is in the spring & fall.

Remember at the gathering when I told y’all that you will learn more about where and how your food comes to you through this CSA then you ever thought or want to know?Well, here we go.. starting right here riding these first few weeks of the growing season. A couple of really important  aspects to understand when stepping out of that “grocery store mentally ” you know the training we have all had of when you walk into the food store  and get whatever you are in the mood for to eat…whenever you want it in season or not. That sort of thinking and slow food, locally grown, farm fresh does not go hand in hand…and you may not at first grasp it or even when you do not like it but, I will promise you..you will have a totally different view of how your food is grown, and like my early adulthood waiting tables for a living a much deep appreciation for the efforts that our farmers put forth in bring you and your family good, healthy wholesome organic fresh food. A couple of key things about breaking that grocery store mentality is to understand the crops don’t wait on you or I to be ready for them..When we want them… we are now on Mother Natures time table. We harvest them when they are ready to be harvest (sometimes than mean midnight in the case of okra) and what we do with them after either consuming them now or preserving them for later use is up to us the crops don’t care for human time.

Another key element is that there is only so much of one crop growing at one time or another.

CSA gathering

As farmers that have been doing this for more then a decade Mark and I are fairly good at guessing how much of one crop or another we will need to fill all our CSA baskets…but sometimes like a asparagus or peppers the plant really decides wether or not it has had all the good weather, compost and nurturing to produce a bummer crop or if it is not feeling the love it produces very little..and there isn’t much we can do but sweet talk it and try and counter whatever it needs that it is not getting…but you never can be sure how any crop is going to produce and with that sometimes not all our shareholder will get the same basket as their fellow CSA shareholders every time. I try and remember who has gotten what so next pickup if we still have that crop it can go into the other shareholder who didn’t have it basket. But sometime the early bird gets the worm and sometimes the late to table takes home all the leftovers which at times can be a real haul and sometimes not so much. We will do our best and please remind us if you didn’t get something in your basket you really wanted..but, with that remember there is no warehouse, no shipment coming in from Mexico and there is nothing too fair when it comes to farming…it is all a gamble…and we are at the mercy of what the crop produces and when. I will say though We will do our best and that is a promise…and we play a pretty good hand of cards:) The CSA is about relationships just as much as the food and I’ve never known a good relationship where the people aren’t talking so tell us good, bad and the ugly…we can take it.

Tender sweet lettuce mix

This pickup is really quite wonderful in terms of some of my early favorite spring vegetables (Lord I hope you all got yourselves salad spinners) The greens of spring are coming in and I will tell you…they are down right gorgeous! Mark and I along with our farm crew Viki were all worried sick about the high heat we had in March taking a toll on these tender greens. So far they look wonderful. Kale, sweet lettuce mixes and spinach are all so delicious and the cool weather of early spring sets the pace of how long these greens stay around. Again we have our fingers crossed they are part of your basket for a few more pickups. Mark and I eat out of our own field (sorry krogers and publix keep you bag stuff) so we are pretty in tune when the greens are turning peppery or bitter. But we have also eaten our way through some early stages of this and are kinda used to it sooo…if that happens to you toward the end of spring. Let us know so we can go

CSA gathering

and check the greens. You CSA…your voice is important to us.  I wanted to share a couple of tips on dealing with these tender salad greens. These are not like your head lettuce (your getting those too this week) these require a light touch and even lighter dressing. They tend to bruise easily and wilt at the rising of the hot sun. With that said during this time of year while the greens are coming in it is best to pick your CSA up in the cool of the morning while the temps are not so hot and the greens are well hydrated. If for whatever reason the greens do wilt before you get home try soaking them in some ice water.  Never leave your basket setting in a hot car while you run errands..try to make this your last stop before home. Never leave your basket setting in the sun here on the farm while you are cutting flowers or herbs or letting the kids play. Just sit it off into a shaded corner or asked Jane, or Viki or even me (if you can catch me..i’m fast on my feet during market days harvesting) we can set your basket in the big cooler for ya. Or you can set it in the cooler yourself…it is your farm too.Don’t be shy!

(i know this is a long newsletter…I am sorry..so much to tell ya) Yikes!

Tender lettuces do best when dressed lightly…oil and vinegar or a light vinaigrette is best.

When you get your lettuce mix home…dont wash it throughly until you are ready to use. Just put it in your green bag and leave it open at the end so the lettuce can breath in your refridgerator. When you are ready to use it…put it in your salad sinner and light rinse and spin dry. Don’t over toss or mix your lettuce mix. These aren’t like the ones in those plastic bags in the grocery store. Those are grown to be handled rough and washed in a chorine solution to crisp up the leaves and keep them that way so they can withstand tossing around. Not even going happen here with the delicate babies…nope these are meant to be handled with care and eaten quickly….true love these babies are!

Strawberries

Oh yea…that’s right bring on the berries! These pretty ladies are showing up in our basket this week as well…along with Kale, onions and REAL Important…bring your gloves and flower snips…the english roses are to die for…they want to go home with you…cut them…enjoy them they are amazing! But thorny…just a little warning.(bring gloves:)

English Roses

Okay, that is it…Can’t wait to see y’all on Saturday. If you still need to pay the other half of your CSA share or you haven’t paid your basket fee yet we will be happy to get the books straight. Be sure to check in with Facebook for any updates…and please take a minute while you are there and write a review of the farm it is over to the right side of the page…it really helps the farm. Thanks, Peggy

Asparagus

This is your first pickup this spring and although we have gotten off to a weird..spring weather wise we do have some crops that are ready and more on their way in the next few weeks. Now those of you that have been with us as shareholders in the CSA program know spring crops start our slow and then..they tend to come on in droves..get those salad spinners ready and if you don’t have a salad spinner…run..get one asap…you will thank me for it in May. We have a big wedding here on the farm this Saturday which is why we are hosting this gathering on Sunday. Again mother nature time table here on the farm…crops ready to harvest don’t like to wait. One of the crops is Asparagus. It needs to be cut while the shoots are tight and closed and want to got home with you freshly harvested and not setting in some cooler for days on end. It is so delicious and tender right now I can’t wait to put it into your baskets.

I understand if some of you can’t make this gathering and pickup and for those of you I will also set Tuesday after 4pm aside for you just email me and let me know you need to schedule a pickup for that day.  Madisoncreekfarms@gmail.com

CSA Gathering & Pickup

April 22nd  1pm. 

Madison Creek Farms

1228 Willis Branch Rd. Goodlettsville, TN.

Lunch Menu 

Home made Pimento Cheese  & Pasta salad w/ fresh spinach and black olives

Strawberry-mint lemonade

Lavender short bread cookies

This is an important part (this gathering) starting off your CSA season…if you can make the gathering please try…you will love it and you will have a far better CSA experience because of it. It’s your investment…your food…and your farm. Oh…and did I say…it will be fun? see y’all on Sunday.

Can’t wait to get ya…back on the farm!  Peggy

April

April Patel

CSA Shareholder & Staff writer

  The spring greens

Geographically speaking, you CSA members are all southerners now.  Anywhere in the vicinity of this farm is well below the Mason Dixon Line, so you are all part of the fabric running through our southern heritage.  With this proud, new social label, there are two things I must teach you.  First, when you mention the two words ‘southern’ and ‘food’, one of the top five words that WILL be mentioned is greens, period.  I’d bet my CSA share on it .

True to the planting calendar, greens will be in your first pick-up basket this season.  Most greens are cool weather crops and abundant in early spring and late fall in our CSA baskets.  Greens date back to prehistoric times and are one of the oldest members of the cabbage family.  They originated in the Eastern Mediterranean.

But in the early 1600’s, the settlers got their first taste of greens when Africans started arriving in Jamestown.  During slavery, greens were one of the few crops they were allowed to grow and harvest for themselves.  Over the years, it turned greens into a staple traditional food even after salves were emancipated in the 1800’s.  Cooks kept handing down their greens recipes from one generation to the next.

Spring Brazing Mix

Dark greens are one of the most concentrated sources of nutrition on the planet.   They are a rich source of minerals (including iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium) and vitamins, including vitamins K, C, E, and many of the B vitamins. They also provide a variety of phytonutrients including beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, which protect our cells from damage and our eyes from age-related problems, among many other effects. Dark green leaves even contain small amounts of Omega-3 fats.

The star nutrient in greens is Vitamin K. A cup of cooked greens provides nine times the minimum recommended intake of Vitamin K.  Vitamin K research has found:

• It regulates blood clotting;
• It helps protect bones from osteoporosis;
• It may help prevent and possibly even reduce atherosclerosis by reducing calcium in arterial plaques;
• It may be a key regulator of inflammation, and may help protect us from inflammatory diseases including arthritis;
• And it may help prevent diabetes.

For you low carb, paleo, primal diet folks, greens are almost carbohydrate free.  What carbs are present are packed in layers of fiber making them very slow to digest.  Vitamin K is also a fat-soluble vitamin, so make sure to put dressing on your salad, or cook your greens with oil.

To enjoy your first batch of greens in the most traditional way without making things too complicated, try this recipe from Gina Neely from Down Home With the Neely’s on Food Network.  I have personally tried this one and it’s delicious.

Little tip:  if you don’t have ham hocks, don’t worry!  You can use leftover ham chunks or ham bone from your Easter dinner if you have some left.  Or, you can just use bacon.  Brown up the bacon first then cook the greens in the bacon grease as the recipe states.  Use the crisp bacon pieces to sprinkle over the greens after cooking.

You also don’t have to make this many greens.  We probably won’t be getting that many greens in our baskets anyway.  For the amount of greens we will be getting I would use a pinch of sugar (a teaspoon maybe), enough water to just cover the greens, and a half a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes.  And if you try cooking your greens like this and don’t like them, then we need to have a talk!

CSA Shareholder Spring Pickup

The second thing I want you to know is this is your CSA.  Take ownership of it.  Come prepared to get to know your farm community.  Bring a pen and notepad, seriously.  Go up and introduce yourself to strangers.  Shake hands.  Ask questions.  Open up.  Find out who has tried vegetables you haven’t tried yet and glean some knowledge.  Volunteer recipes if you have a great one to share.  If you don’t know what something is, find out from someone who does.

If you have never tried something-DO IT!  I mean that.  It’s ok if you fail at cooking it.  And it’s ok if you find out you really don’t like it.  But before you completely give up, see if someone else has had your same experience and find out if they can help you learn to like it.

We’re not that different.  No matter where each of us originally has come from, north, south, east, or west, we already have something in common-local, organic, slow food and the love of adventure.  So get out there and have some fun!

Make sure you keep up with the farm newsletters via this blog.  Get the very latest updates on Facebook, including weather interruptions with scheduling, and special events on the farm.

Introduction:  To begin with Mark and I (Peggy) would like to say thank you for sharing this season with us here on the farm. This is a very special place as you soon will find that over the past 12 years we have farmed using organic methods that reach far beyond what the USDA standards are now. This little farm has feed over 35 local families through our CSA program each season and our on-farm market as help to supplement fresh, locally grown, organic produce, free-range eggs, honey, herbs and beautiful cut flowers to hundreds of our neighbors that aren’t shareholders but stop by each Saturday morning during our season. It is quite an accomplishment considering the size of our suburban farmstead. A true testament of how smart sustainable organic agriculture not only is the key to our future but is the only way to save this planet and the health and well being of our children. This is a job as farmers we take very seriously and we are over the top passionate about. The main idea we want you to grasp being a shareholder here on the farm is that this is YOUR FARM…You make of and this CSA experience what you bring forth. If you feel too intimidated to cut flowers or snip new herbs to try then you are missing the whole concept of how this farm’s CSA program works. Bring your kids…bring your friends…spend some time during your pickup to explore the farm and just slow down and take in all of Gods grace and beauty for this is a place of freedom from all the trappings, packaging, marketing and nonsense we as people contend with everyday. We call this slow food…real food…healthy food for not only your body but for you soul and senses. We want you to feel at home here on your farm, to Mark and I you are heroes for you have taken a big step leading by example demonstrating for your local community how important it is to save our green spaces that make Tennessee a beautiful state instead of a line of strip malls and thoughtless building. Instead you invest in our local family businesses that highlight our states history and natural resources, a stand to keep your local dollar in this state where your children go to school and you spend your life, you now have fresh food security for your family that doesn’t depend on the system or stats quo.  So take a deep breath and pat yourself on the back for you can now color outside of the lines:)…lets get this CSA season started!

About the Farm & Farmers: This is a third generation family farm that comprises of 38 acres (6 )of which are in production growing crops from vegetables to flowers. We have beehives, chickens and our barnyard animals. We grow blackberries and strawberries as well as shitakii Mushrooms. Most of the crops are planting into raise beds the are 4 x40 ft. We prefer the raise bed system for a couple of reason the main one of which is limiting the aggressiveness of Bermuda grass growth. The second reason is that this is an intensively planted farm where 3 seasons of crops maybe planting into 1 bed. Most of the planting beds have more then one crop growing at one time throughout the seasons. We use no plastic mulch (plasticiculture) for it is not recyclable in the state of Tennessee once used so it ends up in the land field where it will remain for hundreds even thousands of years. Not what I would call organic, nor sustainable. Because we plant so intensive we have to have control over the soil’s nutrient levels and ph. This is all done using compost that Mark makes though out the year from our farm animals and spent crops. Mark and I started Madison Creek Farms in 2000 growing mostly specialty cut flowers for the local fresh floral markets. In 2002 our son Lucca was born at the time we were the largest specialty cut flower farm in the state for field grown flowers. All grown organically which was unheard of at the time. I come from a farming background my father was a farmer and my mother a blue ribbon winning organic gardener. Mark is from Pittsburgh PA. then onto Mt. Hope W.VA. before severing our country as a veteran in Vietnam in 1970. We both are songwriters and met while we both were staff songwriters for the largest publishing company in Nashville Sony Tree Publishing. You will hear me from time to time talking about touring or preforming and there will be weekends where I am off the farm on tour. That is my life B…I still tour and perform which is part of my love making music. The farm slowly moved into more vegetable crops then flowers over the course of the last 7 or 8 years mostly due to the demand as well as the economy after 2007. We have always grown vegetables along with flowers but it seemed that with opening the farm to the public in 2008 we needed to invest more of our resources in that area. Although we still grow several thousand flowers each season along with the vegetables and herbs…I am a lover of fresh flowers…they feed my soul and are like a feast for the eyes. They also feed those honey bees that make the Flower Field honey in late June…that is AMAZING!  Our CSA program we began in 2006 starting off very small with 15 shareholders to present around 35-40 shareholders. This is a hands in the dirt kinda farm. All work here in the crops are done by hand no big machines…no hydro coolers or conveyor belts or ice washers. We have a small farm crew which are like family we employ each season some of which return to work at the farm season after season. This is a family farm and it is our belief and goal here on the farm to keep our energy and input levels low depending on hard work not machine work that compacts the soil killing our natural living microbes we work so hard to build. We have no desire to replicate the farming models of conventional high energy using agricultural farms. Not even the big organic ones. Our farm is about a lifestyle…about how we want to live…slow, connected, and above all giving back. It is the good life.

The CSA:  Timing…well welcome to world of farm because we are entering Mother Natures time zone. In other words we are always waiting for crops to be ready around here. Most springs our first pickup is mid to late April and that seems to be the case in part this spring. Although I will add that this has been a not at all typical spring for us with record high heat and no winter at all. So these cool weather crops are taking there time waiting to see if they get a break. So it may end up being a late April pickup. You will find we don’t try and do too much in the way of forcing our crops before their time. It almost always ends up negative for both the farmers and the crop when we do. Bugs and low yields aren’t something that keeps this farm rolling. Over the course of the next couple of weeks we will be keeping our shareholders up to date on pickups and what it happening in the field.

* If you are on Facebook …we update our farm’s Facebook page a lot…so head there to get the latest news. If you are not a Facebook user you can always check the farm’s website and scroll down to our Facebook window to see what we have posted. So bookmark the farm’s website.

Once the season does kick in and the crops are ready spring is one of those season to really relish…it is also fleeing so you may find at some point in May you will have a couple of weekly pickups instead of bi-weekly. Just remember to always check our Facebook or website Facebook window for updates and schedule changes.

Now…I want to introduce April who is a fellow CSA shareholder and a writer that will be helping me this year with the newsletters.  I ask her to send me a little bio so you all can get to know her…ps..your gonna love her!

April

April is a single mom, writer, blogger, pseudo homesteader, and southern trained chef at the heels of her grandma.  That’s the ‘professional’ description anyway.  But really she’s a simple girl from rural West TN who grew up poor but loved by her grandmother.  Those two things helped shape who she is today.  Her goal is to teach everyone that there are small things they can change or improve about every day life that will have enormous impact on your spiritual life, your family, your health and the world around you.

“Live simple so that others can simply live.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Along these lines, she mindfully cooks from scratch making delicious, healthy food that nurtures your mind and body. She takes joy and great pride in knowing that each dish and choice she makes in the kitchen produces almost zero waste and gives back to the Earth. You don’t have to have above average income and large grocery budget to make the same choice for your family. You can start making little changes in your choices today to ensure the best quality food for your family while on a budget and not let anything go to waste.  That’s why she joined the Madison Creek Farms CSA during the 2011 Spring Season.  And to hear her tell it, she will always be a member of our little valley farm community.  She comes here to breathe in deep, recharge, and get back to center for a few hours every week.  It’s her added CSA benefit, free therapy, flowers, and people who care about you!

News from the farm By April Patel

Farm Sign

And spring has sprung again, and gone…?

This year it seems we skipped right over spring with temperatures in the field already hitting 97!  I fear we might have a short lived greens crop this spring.  And that my friends, would be a tragedy.  We need cool spring weather for lettuce, peas, broccoli, and all the other cool weather plants.

One of the vegetables you will see repeatedly in your CSA basket this spring and fall is kale.  Kale is a wonderfully delicious green that is a nutritional super food powerhouse.  Kale is high in vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese and fiber.  Kale comes from the same family of green vegetables as cabbage, and is jam packed with cancer fighting, eye healing, organ protecting, detoxifying, immune supporting, and cell building properties.  Kale chips is a recipe that even greens skeptics have learned to love.

Speaking of bountiful spring greens, let me give you a quick tip that will come in handy this season and it’s just two little words that will make a huge impact on your CSA enjoyment, salad spinner!  This is the single most important tool for any CSA shareholder to have in their kitchen. You will be getting tons of greens this spring and again this fall. Without a salad spinner to help clean and dry all these greens, you will not be a happy camper come pick up day.

Washing by hand can be done but it’s a lengthy process that leaves your fingertips very wrinkled and your nails very weak.  Trust me.  I speak from experience.  My first CSA season I went a good month, to a month and a half with no salad spinner.  And now I have two.  I loved the first one so much that when I seen another on sale at Goodwill one day I snatched it up and made my life double easy on pick up day!

Things move pretty fast here for a few months in the spring.  One week the field is bare and the next, not so much.  These two pictures were taken two weeks apart.  From here on out, the transformation will be more dramatic each pick up until summer.

For you new shareholders, whether this is your first CSA experience or you are transferring from another farm, let me just say that Madison Creek Farms is a community farm.  This is your farm.  You are the backbone of the farm and the slow food movement.   We emphasize sharing and connecting to each other, and where and how your food is grown.  First timers, don’t be afraid to ask questions on the farm, join in conversations about different items you’ve never tried, and interact on the Facebook page.

The CSA is about slow food, community food, and being intentional about food choices for your family.  A lot of thought and planning has gone into the crops we grow on the farm.  There is a food heritage carried on each season that is part of our DNA.  If you go with it and not fight it, you will benefit so much more.  That is why eating in season, locally, and trying new things is the cornerstone to a successful growing season for you and for the farm.  The program is about taking risks not only with weather and crops, but with food you normally wouldn’t try.

Our CSA is a slow food adventure.   Thanks for coming along on the ride!

Make sure you keep up with the farm newsletters via this blog.  Get the very latest updates on Facebook, including weather interruptions with scheduling, and special events on the farm.

Thanks April, Y’all  be sure to check out April’s Blog and her new ebook…  An Apple a day wisdom

Spring on the farm

Should I or shouldn’t I?..this is the question or the temptation I have been struggling with the last few days. Should I go a head and take a gamble to plant some of my warm season crops like tomatoes and peppers and such out into the field? The soil is warm enough….the weather is more than warm enough…but it is still early in the season and one good week of cold weather moving back in could spell disaster! Now my summer crops will need a major do over..ugh! With the weather being this warm my main concern is the spring crops are going to be very short lived. They need and want cooler weather to produce. It would be just heartbreaking to see all this work planting and all the money spent in supplies and labor to get these crops planted just to see them bolt before any good harvest.. It has never happened before in the dozen years we have been farming here at Madison Creek Farms…but it has never stayed this warm above normal in the spring either. I think I may wait a few more days…then risk some…SOME.. of my summer seedling, this my buy me some insurance in case we end up having a short crappy spring growing season. At least  I will have some tomatoes and peppers to work with a little bit earlier then normal. If we do get a cold snap…we I still have some backup.

My farmhouse porch is looking like a greenhouse right now with babies all over the place. In the picture are heirloom tomatoes I repotted yesterday along with sweet basil. Right now here on the farm it’s all about getting those crops planted and growing. It looks like it may be an adventurous early season. I am hoping that it will cool back down to at least 10 degrees above normal instead of 20-25.

I am sending out a double post this week the next one is geared toward our CSA shareholders. So don’t be too surprised to find to posts in your in box. Our CSA season is just weeks away from their first pickup which is always exciting…for both of us:)

Peggy & Harry

So here we are barely mid-march and it is 80 degrees outside…not that unusual to have a day or two in early spring that is warm, kicking that spring fever in for most of us..but days on end of 20 degrees above normal and after a winter so mild we never took our coats out of the closet is starting to feel like yes…global warming. Now I know that some people don’t believe that the planet is getting warmer and all that goes with global warming. But as a farmer with her hands in the dirt I can tell you we have seen a change in weather for the last couple of years just here on our farm. Last summer the hottest on record although we did get rain though out the summer and that saved our hind ends from losing our crops. The thing that has me a tinny bit worried about the rest of the month being in the 80′s is that we may not have a cool enough spring for so many of the vegetables we so love here on the farm. Kale, lettuces, broccoli, Asian greens and sugar snap peas…just to mention a few. All very important to us and our CSA…So I am praying for a little cooler weather and some great spring crops.

Speaking of crops…we have started planting up a storm this week. Those sugar snaps I just mentioned.. yep…they are in the ground along with several other of the above mentioned as well. Mark has been extra busy clearing our planting beds and clearing the property as well. His tractor going none stop the last few days. It is all hands in the dirt for the next few weeks and one female farmer on bended knees praying for a little spring.

Chickens running for the field...workday!

Welcome to our 2012 CSA shareholders. Mark and I would just like to say how grateful we are have you all be a part of the farm this season. I hope you are as excited as we are about this spring and the weeks to come. The CSA is now closed to signups for the spring and summer season as we have reached our limit. Now to get down to business… allow me to walk you through the next few weeks for us here on the farm. As we now enter our crazy busy early spring schedule trying to get these cool season weather vegetables planted. We start each season by turning over the beds in the field and giving them all a good layer of compost. You will find around this farm our compost is key to how we grow all these wonderful vegetables, herbs and flower and it is as precious as gold to us. Next we do a little doctoring to our planting beds testing and amending each one. After a season of intense planting like we do here on this farm most of the beds need some sort of mineral or even extra nitrogen amendments. We run a 3 year crop rotation in each bed or I should say we try to rotate the crops never growing the same type or family of crops in the same beds as the last two seasons…sometimes we push our luck when growing space is at a premium.  We grow most of our crops in raised beds which allows us a little better control as well as keeping the field walkable for farm visitors who want to cut their own flowers. We have about 50 4×40 ft beds so this takes a lot of time and effort. All the bed clearing and composting is done by hand. There are no big tillers, huge tractors or nasty black plastic in these beds just pure fresh hummus soil that is filled with microbes and worms!  I can tell you this is a chicken’s dream day when we start turning over these beds…they are in worm heaven! Once the chickens see us working those beds they all come running for they know a easy meal is just waiting.

Now this being a small farm we have to keep our labor cost down and that requires all family members to help out. Lucca our son is not much on wanting to farm but giving the fact he does like to eat it somehow brings him around…for now anyhow.

Lucca & Mark clearing the beds

As far as work goes Mark and I can get an hour or so out of Lucca…but it is 10 minutes more then last year:)  This is a real family farm and just having all of us together working doing something we love really shows up in the product I believe.  Even Joe our lab gives

Lucca a little encouragement. Once the beds are ready to plant that is when the work for me really begins. All these seedings that have taken over the farmhouse get put into the soil and row after row gets a little talking to about what I expect for them…yes I am a little touched…as my mother would say. I do talk to my plants, my chickens and my bees often. The kicker is I believe they understand me:)  Some of the first crops we put into the ground is Kale, mustard greens and broccoli. Lot of lettuce mixes and romaine lettuce, radishes and cauliflower follow. All the above will all be planted this week along with some other early spring things. We have several beds that need repaired and replaced this season and Mark is adding a few new beds to the field. Our honey bees were all out and about today making my weeding of a clover bed precarious at best…after a while I moved on and left the bees to do their thing…i don’t want to get in the way of their sweet honey making nor be on the end of their stinger!  From here on through the season I will be updating the farm’s news blog (here) every  week keeping you updated on all the happenings here on the farm as well as getting you ready for your first CSA pickup date sometime in April. I have asked one of our CSA shareholders who is a writer herself to help me out this season by writing some posts as well. I will be introducing you all to her in the coming weeks.

I hope you all have had a wonderful winter and again thank you shareholders for taking part in the CSA program…Peggy