Rumination
May 26, 2025
Rumination
I know that we all do it from time to time, but for me, the week before the CSA begins, I always fret about whether we will have enough to put into share bags. But for crying out loud (as the sky has been doing in an unrelenting fashion this month), I have not remembered a colder, more precipitation-filled May (the exception being that beautiful first week of the month when everything was idyllic). The flea beetles love this weather, having wiped out the Asian greens, and have been steadily barraging the kale and collards, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli/cauliflower – not to mention the radishes and salad turnips. Too much rain, too much cold, and the shivering little seedlings just don’t have their defenses up yet.
And while I am ruminating, I wonder how I will explain it to the handful of new shareholders, looking at their small produce bag, certain that they have been sold a pig in a poke. It must be somebody else’s fault!
But today (Saturday) Jack and I just got back from about our fifteen thousandth daily walk down the road. As I looked around me on both sides, I saw beautiful oak and maple trees, ferns, some flowering bushes that I didn’t know, spectacular columbines, striking purple flowers, and a chipmunk skittering over a rock. Although most of the walk was in cold raindrops, there was a moment where the sun came out and it warmed my back, and I was sure that sometime soon we would be experiencing wonderful late spring weather. The brassicas will grow beyond their flea beetles, we will be tending tomatoes, and cucumbers, and squash, and the gardens will start to flourish.
But back to ruminating. Clare, where are you when I most need to commiserate! This, too will pass. June 2 will come and go, and we will be back in the 26-week CSA saddle. Really, we have done a spectacular job of preparing the first 5 months of the year for this downshift into the uphill, unrelenting season of the farm.
On Wednesday we prepped for and planted tomatoes and cukes in the Clare house. At the back is a nice crop of peppermint and to the side some wintered-over chard – both crops that will save us the first CSA week.
Expressing Gratitude This Week
Thanks to Nick Casale, our AEA consultant, who answers all my fertility questions. Friday, I met with Nick because I have been experiencing some anxiety about how often parts of the farm were under water this May. Nick always has good ideas for triage when times seem tough, and Friday was no exception. Our potatoes are planted in the lower section of the west field, where the likelihood of excess water is always with us. He suggested that we put together a soil drench mix of 1 part humacarb, 1 part Seashield, and one part rejuvenate to help get the soil into good growing action with humic substances, sea creatures, complex sugars, and biology.
I know by their topography, and in some cases, proximity to large rivers, that many of my farmer friends around the state are suffering much worse than we are. Maybe that drench recipe can provide some help.
Many Hands Sustainability Center – Supporting Food Sovereignty
We are working toward a $2000 account to provide food to the Barre Food Pantry twice per week. We stand in need of $635.
Should you want to support this new venture, you can donate here.
2025 MHOF CSA
We have a couple of videos this week about the CSA.
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CSA members, I will be reaching out to you with everything that you need to know, but not until the weekend of May 31 or June 1. We do a lot of scurrying to get bags all tagged and membership lists for each pickup site organized. If you have held off on joining, please do so as early this week as possible. The office management on this piece is very time-consuming, especially with late arrivals. Thanks for your patience. If you don’t hear from me by noon on Sunday, feel free to reach out – there may be a problem with our contact info.
Vegetable Foci for This Week – What was in your CSA bag?
Grapes, green beans, and leeks are on the remembrance docket today.
We gave out one week of grapes, climbing up our front deck. This is our earliest grape harvest, and they hold together well for a treat. All of our grapes are seeded and are treated with the same weekly foliar nutrition sprays that all of our fruits imbibe – good stuff.
In 2023, we had more green beans than one could believe possible, and not so with 2024, a veritable crop failure. I put my hope in the pole beans last year, and am going back to bush beans this year. Count on them. You know what to do with green beans.
Leek crops are somewhat variable year to year, and we lost most of ours to weeds last year, but not this year. They are all weeded already and soon will be mulched next week. We have 560 linear feet of them in 2025 and should be bringing these beauties to you throughout September, October, and November.
Volunteering at MHOF
Yes, give me a call or email!
Jennifer’s Recipe for the Week: Creamy Asparagus & Potato Soup with Bone Broth
Crafted with intention, this healing soup serves as a warm embrace during times of emotional vulnerability and physical depletion. The combination of bone broth and ghee deeply nourishes and rebuilds ojas, the subtle essence that supports immunity, vitality, and emotional resilience. Asparagus, bitter and astringent in nature, helps clear excess Kapha from the lungs and sinuses while gently detoxifying the liver—a key organ in processing grief and emotional heaviness. Potatoes provide grounding sweetness, soothing Vata imbalances that often arise with stress or sadness. Hingvastak churna kindles Agni without overstimulation, helping digest both food and feelings. This soup is ideal in times of retreat, offering warmth, nourishment, and gentle purification for body and mind.
Get the Recipe at Jen Zen Living
Some Gut Biome Facts From a Talk with Jaclyn Downs
Secretor Status
- 80% of people can secrete antigens into bodily fluids, supporting a diverse microbiome with beneficial bacteria like bifidobacterium
- •.20% of people lack these antigens in fluids, often resulting in a less diverse microbiome, increased susceptibility to gut infections, and lowered levels of vitamin B12 due to impaired absorption.
The FUT2 Gene – Fucosyltransferase 2
FUT2 variants determine secretor status – whether an individual can secrete antigens into bodily fluids.
- They create the prebiotics that feed the probiotics in the gut
- The FUT2 gene encodes an enzyme that is involved in adding certain sugars to bodily secretions like saliva, mucus, and breast milk, influencing the gut microbiome and Vitamin B12 absorption.
- Some gut bacteria use these sugars to stick to the gut wall and thrive. They also use them as a source of energy, which helps them produce butyrate, a type of short-chain fatty acid.
- Butyrate is very important for gut health because it helps strengthen the gut lining, reduces inflammation, and keeps the gut environment balanced.
There are health implications of being a non-secretor
- Auto-immune and inflammatory conditions such as Crohn’s disease, celiac disease, type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and irritable bowel syndrome.
- Non-secretors may have lower levels of butyrate-producing bacteria, which impacts gut barrier function, reduces anti-inflammatory effects, and increases the incidence of gut permeability and infections.
- Non-secretors exhibit a different microbial composition, often with lower levels of beneficial bacteria, and an increase in harmful bacteria like proteobacteria, contributing to gut inflammation.
- Non-secretors are at risk for lowered B12 levels, important for methylation processes essential for health.
Butyrate’s Role in Gut health
- Gut microbes like butyrate are essential for maintaining a healthy mucosal level.
- This is the first line of defense against inflammation.
- Higher levels of butyrate
- Support colon health
- Promote metabolic health
- Reduce inflammation
- Promote gut barrier integrity, offering protection against IBD and colorectal cancer
Key points
- Secretors have a more diverse microbiome and stronger gut immune responses
- Non-secretors may require more aggressive prebiotic and probiotic support to improve gut health and manage associated risks.
Jaclyn Downs’ suggestions for supplementation
- Microbiome Labs Megasporebiotic and Prebiotic
- Resistant starch foods like green bananas, cooked and cooled potatoes, and brown rice
- Increase inulin-rich foods like Jerusalem artichokes, asparagus, and chicory root.
Farm Doin’s
I am truly proud of all of our accomplishments this week. Our preparations are miles ahead of any year in our past, and hopefully, this will accrue to a smooth and productive season in 2025.
Danny and Stu got the first set of 12 paving stones in place in front of our wash table and will finish this project this week. Danny also screwed down the sides of the Clare and orange houses that were billowing in the wind.
Matt finished getting the gravel that had been piled around the farm spread into all the holes that we needed smoothed out. Now we have easy access to the annex and far entrance to the pond field, and the divots and holes in the pond orchard and now flattened out. He also lined the edge of the road where our driveway meets it. Thanks, Matt.
Son Dan came over last week and rediverted the river that was running through the west field off to the side and showed me how to manage so that we have less water there. Thanks, Dan.
Our main team weeded, mulched, and prepped many crops this week, getting the south field into very good shape, and also the back of the north. These crops include the Brussels sprouts, our later onions, first batches of broccoli, cauliflower, and our chard. We replanted some cilantro in a failed arugula area, added Pete Herceg’s gift celery, celeriac, and bunching onions to the edge of our kohlrabi bed, and also planted 2 beds of lettuce.
We prepped and planted some garden beds with dill, arugula, and parsnips and lined the pathways with hay mulch.
Wednesday, Randy and Ruben popped over from NOFA to do some biology testing on our soil and do some reminiscing with Jack about the NOFA soil microbial diversity project that Jack used to manage.
In the greenhouse, we started more chard, kale, and collards against potential crop failures, and started another round of celery and celeriac.
In the world of the perennials, we weeded and mulched all of the grapes, blueberries, aronia, black raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, June berries, and got a good start on finalizing the weeding and mulching of the red raspberries. Over two days, we hoed and weeded around two rows of fruit trees in the pond orchard, and also killed some tent caterpillar families.
Devra and Paula
Julie takes it for the team
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And then so does Paula
Friday, we divided and conquered, and while Leslie, Justin, Devra, and I weeded lots of bittersweet from around our fruit trees, Jim, Amanda, Matt, and Maria plugged our 2025 mushroom logs.
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Saturday, Sophie, Shantel and Alexandria, and I moved the baby layers out to the field, cleaned out the brooder house, weeded and mulched the hardy kiwi with the bedding, and set up shop for the meat birds that arrive next week.
Pray for sun and heat!
Julie
Promoting child labor on the farm
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