As they say. . .  It seems I just got home, worried sick about Ellen’s safety, we lost our well (perhaps in solidarity with Helene sufferers) and then spent 3 days in the hospital with Jack. I am always intrigued by Jack’s visits to the hospital which means me going along, bringing food, advocating, playing cards, and sometimes having to put up boundaries when the inevitable offering/coercing to take innumerable drugs happens. One of my strongest memories of this past trip was when Jack was in the bathroom with the door open, I was standing in the room off to the side, and Jack’s irate surgeon came in to yell at Jack (while with his back to the wall and not looking at Jack) for not taking any baby aspirin, which would mean that he would die of a blood clot.

These large hospitals are like a city unto themselves with layers of hierarchical beings, from doctors down to the cleaning staff, employees from all over the world, Nurse Ratchet types, but also quiet renegades and incredibly gifted caregivers. I love to study human nature, and as mostly an observer for three days, I had lots of opportunities. Bottom line, I am so happy to be back on the farm dealing with escapee pigs, buoyant dogs, and crates full of vegetables that need to be processed. Such a culture shock each of Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Normalcy is good.

Special Gratitude this week

Many Hands Feeds Hurricane Survivors
When my mom and I were planning the trip we took down south together to visit family before my work trip in Asheville, NC, she asked me to put in an order for veggies from the farm. We ended up filling up two coolers with an assortment of veggies, and added to that 2 dozen eggs, a frozen chicken and a pound of sausage! Ohh, plus 6 buckets of gorgeous flowers!

I was planning on sharing some with my hosts, cooking some of it up for my retreat participants, and having the rest for my personal use throughout the trip.

As shared in last week’s newsletter, Hurricane Helene came through (about 36 hours after I arrived in Asheville) and decimated not just my plans for my workshops and retreats, but also a vast and significant amount of the infrastructure, homes, livelihoods, and more, in Asheville and the surrounding mountain towns.

As soon as the power went out the morning of Friday the 27th, I started thinking about the coolers of food, the level of ice left in them, and how I could share the wealth.

It is hard to not be able to help when there is so much suffering around one, and there was a lot of that that I witnessed as the news of the level of devastation from the hurricane started coming out to us all…but  delivering these little bites of MHOF nourishment where I could for the next 2 1/2 days I was in Asheville, made me so grateful to be able to contribute in a small way to the health and vitality of my friends who I knew were going to be facing a long uphill climb of recovery. It brought many smiles and lots of gratitude wherever I went.

From bringing the quickly thawing chicken over to one friend’s house to cook up on her gas stove (my hosts had an electric stove and power was out all across the area, so being able to cook was rare), to share with a wider group of people, to getting creative with not having access to a way to cook in general, and making delicious fresh tomato and mozzarella salads, raw kale salads, and other nutrient dense delectables, I was able to feed and nourish several people, myself included, who were in shock and in need of grounding nourishment.

I can’t tell you how many times I silently thanked my mom and all the MHOF workers for this beautiful and nutrient dense produce and food I had stocked in my coolers!

Unfortunately a lot of the flowers started to wilt, but on my way out of town, as I assessed what I had left, I knew I wanted to share the remaining beauty and bounty, and I was able to deliver a bouquet of beautiful flowers and leave several tomatoes and 4 eggs with one friend, 6 eggs with another, and the remaining 9 with another (hard-boiled at the friends house who had a gas stove, and brought to her that way, as she had run out of gas in the canisters she was using with her camping stove, so would need things that were pre-cooked).

At this final stop before I left, I also gave this friend the two remaining buckets of flowers that were still good…and we took the nicest ones and went to her outdoor prayer altar and offered up prayers together for all who’d been impacted. It was not the trip I’d planned for, and what people are facing in the mountains of Western NC and surrounding areas is not what they’d planned for on any level either…but sitting with my friend and enjoying the beauty of MHOF flowers together, as we brought all of the people we knew and loved into our hearts, was the best completion I could have asked for in the circumstances.

I can’t tell you how many times I was brought to tears of gratitude as I witnessed so much of this sharing happening throughout the community in general…and just wanted to share a few words here of special thanks to MHOF for all of the love, dedication, hard work and commitment that goes into growing nourishing veggies, breath-taking flowers, nutrient-dense eggs, and “happy” meat. It made a small but mighty difference in the lives of a few hurricane survivors!

Ellen Kittredge

What is in your CSA Share this week?

Share week of September 30

Best guess for week of October 7. There are only 4 weeks left for the summer share

• Lettuce
• Chard
• Beets
• Arugula
• Collards
• Summer squash
• Rutabaga greens

• An Asian vegetable – at least for some
• Apples
• Radishes
• Turnips
• Peppers
• Tomatoes
• Mint
• Wednesday shares will get those potatoes that we owe them from about a month ago!
• Last week for flower shares – specialty bouquets by Ellen

We are still taking new shareholders – here is where you can sign up  — https://mhof.net/csa-order-form/

Tarps, Tillage and Carbon

by Jack Kittredge

Thoughtful customers and others visiting the farm have sometimes asked about the large tarpaulins we use to cover vegetable growing beds for several weeks before planting. Simply put, those tarps are to prevent sunshine from reaching the soil and stimulating the emergence of weeds. We are experimenting with this as a method to prepare seedbeds without the age-old farming practice of tilling or cultivating the soil before planting.

Despite its usefulness, tillage has two very serious drawbacks. First, it is destructive of soil micro-organisms, particularly fungi, which form vast underground networks that transport nutrients and water to plant roots, enhancing crop quality and flavor. Second, tillage stirs up soil and exposes it to the atmosphere, where its carbon is oxidized and blown off as carbon dioxide. This greenhouse gas contributes to global warming and the violent storms we are experiencing more often now.

A recent study confirms this tillage carbon loss problem. Published September 26, 2024 in the International Journal of Agronomy, the study compared 2 conventional tillage methods, 3 reduced tillage ones, and 2 no-till systems over 13 years on 3 different soil types. Researchers found that “compared to…tillage treatments, the no-tillage condition had more than 30% more SOC [soil organic carbon].” And “Directing farmers to reduce tillage intensity will be an important agricultural strategy to sequester atmospheric carbon into the soil, as well as maintain existing carbon in the soil and increase plant productivity.”

We hope you agree our crops taste great and are glad to be participating in this experiment in better farming.

Volunteering at MHOF

Always taking new folks and always enjoying it

Ellen’s Autumn Cleanse

Every Autumn I offer a 7 Day Food-Based Cleansing Program. This year 1/2 the proceeds will be directly donated to hurricane relief efforts in the areas of greatest need. Here’s a bit about my experiences in the hurricane and a list of places to donate to directly if you’re interested in doing that: https://conta.cc/3zU2kn6

If you’d like to participate in nourishing self and others starting in two weeks time, please do join me! We begin Monday, October 21st. There’s an Early Bird Discount that’s good through the 11th, and if you bring a friend you can both join for less. All details here: https://ellenkittredge.com/7-day-cleanse.php

What can you expect?

• You’ll be eating whole-foods based meals with legumes, fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains and some lean proteins (you can modify for omnivore, vegetarian, vegan as suits you)
• You’ll get a TON of support from me during the group detox via multiple avenues of support and engagement, as well as support from other Cleansers!
• For this cleanse I’ve hired a professional chef to create a delicious book of recipes and a done-for-you meal plan for the week. These include easy to prepare recipes that your whole family will enjoy! He’ll also be offering a cooking class during this Cleanse. Here’s a video where you can meet our Chef for this Cleanse.
• I’m committed to your success. If you need help at any time during your detox program, I’ll be there to support you, answer your questions, and tweak the program so it works for you.

Any questions? Please email me directly: ellen_kittredge@yahoo.com

All Cleanse Details and Registration are HERE: https://ellenkittredge.com/7-day-cleanse.php

Jennifer’s recipe for the week

Cream of Broccoli & Cauliflower Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 medium Onion, diced
• 3 T Garlic Ghee or butter
• 1 gallon of Chicken Bone broth or stock
• 1/2 head of broccoli
• 1/2 head of Cauliflower
• 3 medium Potatoes
• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
• 1-2 tsp of Xanthum Gum
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Remove broccoli flowerets from stalk.
2. Dice stalk in small pieces and put in blender with 2 cups of the broth.  Blend until smooth and set aside.
3. In a large saucepan, saute onion in garlic ghee or butter for a few minutes.
4. Add your potatoes and the all the broth including the blended with broccoli portion.
5. Cook until potatoes are slight tender.
6. Add your broccoli and cauliflower and cook until tender.
7. Add the cream and stir.
8. Add Xanthum Gum a little at a time until desired consistency.

Food available for sale for preserving – be in touch to order

• Swiss chard – $3/lb.
• Kale – $3/lb.
• Collards – $3/lb.
• Peppers – $4/lb.

We are also selling the following preserved foods

• frozen applesauce – nothing added – $7/quart.
• Frozen pear sauce – nothing added – $7/quart – this one is especially good for your gall bladder
• frozen peaches – $6 per pound in bags of around 2-3 bs.
• canned tomatoes – $10/quart.
• Canned tomato juice – $10/quart
• Canned apple juice – $10/quart
• NEW ITEM – cooked, pureed, frozen beets in pints – $6 – good for almost everything – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8565237/; we plan to use it in soups and add it to our super drink everyday

Dan has some items for sale

Potatoes and tomatoes, each at $3/lb. And new this week – winter squash at $2/lb. Contact him at 978-257-2627 or dan@bionutrient.org.

Farm Doins

As I write this on Sunday, last week seems a long time ago. After making cider with Chuk and Cathleen on Sunday. We are getting stores put aside – now up past 100 quarts of canned apple juice

Then the pump died on the well and it only took 12 hours to get it up and running again, but not before we did some hauling of water from the pond

Sorry, Monday shareholders, for your dirty vegetables! Travis Zukowski is fantastic for well and pump concerns! http://petershampump.com/

We also had enough time to plant some parsley and celery in the Clare and blue houses.

Tuesday we finished harvesting our potatoes – check it off the list!

A nice hill of carolas – our best potato variety this year

And Matt, Amanda and Nick moved the pigs without too much trouble, even though they busted through the side of their mobile home.

We were excited to give you carrots again this week for the CSA – second time. Someday growing carrots will get easier!

Thursday Jack went off for a new knee and I spent three days in the hospital. He is home and recovering slowly and nicely.
I had to skip the farm on Friday. Thanks to Leslie, Jennifer and Luke for managing the CSA and the farm on Friday.

Our birthday kids this week – Luke and Leslie on the 3^rd and 5^th

Sunday I took our old laying hens in to meet their maker, and helped Walter and crew eviscerate birds. Another sign that the end of the season is approaching quickly. Soon the young bird will move into the permanent chicken house.

Frost is a coming. Maybe this week!
Julie

Quick Links

Buy meat
CSA pick up information
Contact Julie
Products available right now at the farm
Become a working shareholder
Donate to the MHSC
Links Workshops

Link to buy J and J’s book – Many Hands Make a Farm-
https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/many-hands-make-a-farm/