Politics
There were a handful of us out picking kale on Friday and I asked everyone who they would vote for. It was an interesting cross-section – 2 for Trump, one for Harris, one for Stein and one for Kennedy. What was impressive to me is that we were all talking happily about this and that before we stated our preferences, and also afterward. I am hoping for all of us that we can hold our opinions about politics, share them with others, and stay friends, colleagues and neighbors. I am a strong advocate for diversity of opinion on all matters, wonderful debate, and enjoyable coming together regardless. Perhaps it is the great soil, the wonderful weather, the group lunches, and the healthy food that we raise and share with the world that helps us have regular debates on the farm and grow from learning from one another.
Special Gratitude this week
Last Sunday son Chuk came over and together we made about 40 gallons of cider. I have to say that I am most happy when I am with one of my kids and we are doing productive things together. What a joy he is.
Chuk’s (and my) friend Rocky also was here on Sunday helping us. Rocky is one of those positive and gently persons who are remarkable in the gifts they share with the world. At this time, he is supporting his quite sick wife, yet still keeps his calm demeanor, though I am certain life is really challenging for him. I am grateful for people like him who live the values that I hold so dear. Strength to you, Rocky, at this demanding period of your life.
What is in your CSA Share this week?
Share week of October 28
This is the first week of the MHOF fall CSA
We are excited to serve you in this quick late fall CSA. Here is what we have on tap for you.
- Lettuce – this has been hiding up the row covers
- Asian green – also under the cover
- Kale
- Carrots
- Rutabaga
- Leeks
- Apples
- Pears
- Potatoes
- Winter squash
- Garlic
The Lowly Paw Paw Enters Center Stage
Wow, the orders have been rolling in! We harvested the last of the pawpaws on Saturday and will soon be O/S on our pawpaw puree. Order now for this amazing taste treat. We have agreed that they are reminiscent of a cross between avocado, banana, and mango.
Volunteering at MHOF
Bring it on! We always have something fun to do.
Julie in the NOFA Press
https://mailchi.mp/nofamass/babg?e=c4ec8af003
Jennifer’s recipe for the week
Roasted Squash and Roots served with Sliced Chicken and Bok Choi
Roots are grounding and nourishing, which make a perfect food during the cold autumn and winter months.
Ingredients:
- 2 T Ghee or butter
- 1 small Onion, sliced
- 2 medium Carrots
- 1 Delicata Squash, peeled and chopped
- 2 medium Beets, cubed
- Cardamom
- Onion powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a cast iron skillet, add all of your ingredients and place in oven until all vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
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
- Pureed beets in pints – $6/pint
- Pawpaw puree – $5 for ½ pi
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Childhood Sugar Consumption Drives Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension
One of the major problems with long term human dietary research is that the experimenters cannot control what the subjects choose to eat when not under study. Between forgetfulness and shame at “cheating”, people often do not report exactly what they consume.
Imagine their excitement when a team of researchers discovered that the United Kingdom ended World War II rationing of sugar in 1953 and within that year the nation’s sugar consumption doubled. Although other products such as butter were also derationed in the mid-1950s, none saw such a leap in consumption.
They were able to turn this sharp shift in the British diet into a vivid demonstration of how sugary diets in early life impact long-term health. Combining food surveys and sugar sales from the 1950s with medical records of adults from the UK Biobank database, the team found that people conceived or born after 1953 had much higher risks of type 2 diabetes and hypertension decades later than those born during rationing. The findings, published online October 31 in Science, underscore the sweet stuff’s negative effects in early infancy.
Public health authorities recommend no added sugar for infants during the first 1000 days from conception, a critical window for development. But the pervasiveness of sweetened foods in many countries means babies are exposed to unnaturally large amounts of sugar in utero and after birth. By some estimates, the average pregnant person in the United States consumes more than 80 grams of added sugar daily—about triple the recommended limit for adults—while more than 80% of babies and toddlers have foods with added sugar on any given day.
Of more than 60,000 people studied who had been born between 1951 and 1956. Nearly 4000 of them had developed diabetes and almost 20,000 had hypertension. Among the 60,000, a person’s likelihood of having either condition depended on how many of their first 1000 days fell during rationing, the team found. Someone conceived before but born after sugar rations ended in September 1953 had about a 15% lower risk of diabetes than someone conceived after that, and a 5% lower risk of hypertension. Infants who reached age 1.5 before rationing ended fared even better, with a 40% lower risk of diabetes and a 20% lower risk of hypertension compared with the never-rationed group. The reduction in diabetes risk was more pronounced in women than in men.
Early-life sugar could drive later-life disease in various ways. Exposure in the womb might affect fetal development in a way that predisposes someone to metabolic diseases. Infants eating a sugary diet might also develop a taste for sweet foods, causing them to eat more sugar as adults—an outcome for which her team has some preliminary evidence. The researchers didn’t see an effect of derationing on conditions without obvious links to sugar, such as shortsightedness or type 1 diabetes (which is rarer and mainly genetically determined), suggesting the results weren’t an effect of people born after 1953 being in poorer health or more likely to be diagnosed.
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Creating the Right Physical Environment for Market Gardens
Temperature
There is one cardinal rule regarding soil temperature: the soil’s surface must never be bare.
Let’s consider two facts:
- Bare soil can heat to as much as 140°F at the surface and 110-120°F 3-4 inches down.
- Enzymes are denatured at temperatures over 110°F.
So anytime we have bare soil exposed to sunlight, enzymatic and microbial activity shut down. If we want to develop robust soil microbial populations, we can never have soil exposed to the sun. It must always be covered by living plants or by mulch. I will cover both mulching and cover crops in more detail in a future post.
https://advancingecoag.com/article/window-of-opportunity/?_kx=hdiqVXU9yJz7DYb_ggaMTn_ihS9wkl5sqYkDP5bI_KQ.WdjHWJ
What is your crop’s window of opportunity?
Our goal as regenerative growers is to pack nutrients into our growing crops, so they can resist disease, increase yields, and provide healthful benefits to the people who eat them.
Generally we think that our opportunity to influence a crop’s nutrition starts in the springtime, and continues through the summer until harvest. But with perennial crops, it’s useful to reframe our mindset about this window of opportunity.
Grower Mike Omeg points out that, for cherries, the amount of time before harvest is equal to the amount of time after harvest: about three months. So we have as much time to influence the tree’s nutrition after the crop is actually harvested as we do before harvest. “If we don’t follow a post-harvest nutrient program,” says Omeg, “we’re cutting our window of opportunity to build that next season’s crop in half.”
The same principle applies for many summer-fruiting perennials: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, apricots, peaches, plums, and so on.
The nutrition we apply post-harvest helps the tree recover from the enormous exertion of producing a crop of fruit. The nutrients also get packed into the developing buds which form after harvest, and will be immediately available the following spring to influence the quality of that year’s crop.
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.
Time to order your turkey
We have 13 toms and 8 hens available. Order before it is too late. They will sell out.
Details and to order your Turkey
Farm Doins
The biggest news for us this week was that we finished the 22-week Summer CSA. With 138 members, it is an all-consuming process for almost half the year. Though the fall CSA starts right up today, it is only for 4 weeks and we only have 68 shares. This will open up lots of time to do the myriad other tasks on the farm that must be accomplished. On Monday we started taking down 8 trellises that we are taking off-line. Just 2 are done, but we hope to finish by the end of today.
On Monday we prioritized cover cropping the bare spaces on the farm again, only this time we watered them in – this project led by Luke and helped by the Stetson folks. If I made one big mistake this year, it was to not prioritize getting the cover crops down and germinated. Since the beginning of September, we haven’t had as much as an inch of rain. I kept waiting for a good rain in order to plant the cover crops, but it never came. Then we did cover crop after a small rain in mid-October, and the seeds didn’t take. So, next year, we will work out a way to water in the seeds without having to carry around hoses.
Tuesday’s focus was moving the pigs into their final location. It took us about an hour to get two pigs into the house so that we could move them to the new location. We have some very smart pigs this year!
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After the move the pigs were so exhausted that they didn’t even want to come out of the house until they had a good nap.
The centerpiece of the week was getting the hoophouses prepped and planted to Asians, collards, kale and lettuce for the late fall and early winter. On Friday we almost finished our last house, and finished the job on Saturday.
In the food preservation world, we made 10 – 20 quarts of Bartlett pear sauce each day. We are done and the porch is empty of fruit at the moment.
Wednesday morning prepping lunch, making pear sauce and preserving pawpaws
Julie
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