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Many Hands Organic Farm and Sustainability Center Annual Letter

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December 2, 2024

Many Hands Organic Farm  and Sustainability Center
Annual Letter
Dear Friends of the Many Hands Sustainability Center,

This year has been our best in many ways. The wonderful weather resulted in abundant early pollination for our fruit trees, longer frost-free seasons for our vegetables, and drier fields for our pastured animals.

Using tarps (background) instead of tillage pre-serves soil carbon, final hoeing prepares seed beds.

The unplanned kelp bounty (we received 14 tons of the stuff in early July) uncovered a potent feed additive for hens, us and the soil. Staff, working shareholders and volunteers seemed especially focused and competent. Many hands do make a farm!

The Many Hands Sustainability Center, our non-profit arm, has been in existence since 2007 and supports our food donation program as well as our small farm research and education work. We are asking for your support.

Among the great satisfactions of small farming – apprenticing in creation, getting plenty of exercise, providing others a valuable product, ceaseless learning and new challenges – is the fact that farms can be community resources. This year we had student groups helping and studying from as close as Clark in Worcester and as far away as Hamilton in New York.

Every work day includes a lunch made with farm food.

WPI drones are measuring moisture in our fields. In the spring there was a student group almost every week. Our flexible staff helped not only make their stays memorable for the students but also productive for the farm in a time of year where there is no end to work.

Jack talks with students who are eager to learn more about small farming and our experience doing it.

Our long-term relationship with the Stetson School in town allows those teens to master simple work skills every Monday all year-long. Many Hands welcomes retired couples who are enjoying a weekly garden date as well as young mothers bringing home-schooled kids out to take on chores. Besides our regular 6-8 paid part time staff, our sometimes reliable and sometimes intermittent volunteers bring at least another 6-8 folks to the farm on a daily basis.

Stetson students help move and stack cordwood, our source for cooking, home heating, and hot water

We continue to grow our relationship with the Woo Community Fridges in Worcester where this year MHSC supporters paid for and MHOF provided 16 CSA shares for 26 weeks. Local residents are often lined up for a chance at our produce.

All ages and abilities are welcome here. We try to find something everyone can do to help.

If food is medicine, then what we put in our mouths largely defines our health. And our nation is not doing a very good job of succeeding at that. Over a third of American youth are overweight or obese; for adults it is more like three-quarters. We need more people growing and eating healthy, simple unprocessed food. Not only do we raise the highest quality food, but we serve breakfast and lunch every work day and send everyone home with a large “share” of food each week. It is our vision that every town should have several active farms of this sort.

Volunteers process food, move chickens and collect eggs

As more of our Central Massachusetts towns become bedroom communities and local businesses are supplanted by mega malls with global outlets, it is important that we retain neighborhood small farms for food security, for good health, and for economic independence.

Our weekly farm newsletter is packed with farming and health information, and often some political comment too. We stay connected with over 1000 folks in this way.

Consider how you can become involved. Your donation is tax deductible. You can send a check to MHSC, 411 Sheldon Road, Barre, MA 01005 or use this link. Or would you like to volunteer occasionally? Thanks for your help!

Sincerely,
Jack and Julie

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The farm looks almost magical on a cool summer morning shortly after dawn.

Quick Links

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Products available right now at the farm
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Many Hands Make a Farm
https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/many-hands-make-a-farm/

Thanksgiving

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First, I must say that this is my most favorite holiday of the year. We are blessed with around 30 Kittredges each year, and have been hosting all of them since somewhere around 1978 or so.

These days Thanksgiving marks the end of the active selling here. The CSA is done after 26 weeks, the turkeys are gone – God rest their souls, the pigs too, and the old layers, and the meat birds. The last of the apples has been processed, and the pears. Thus, this is the beginning of the relative rest period of the farm and the dreaming and actualizing what wonderous accomplishments we can manifest in the new year.

There is a cloud this year, however, and I wonder if you are worried too. Not since the Cuban missile crisis have we been so close to nuclear conflict as we are with the recent escalation on both sides in the Ukraine war. Are calm heads working behind the scenes to keep us from nuclear disaster? It all comes back, for me, to what I can do, to support peaceful relationships in the world I live in, and a lot of praying.

If you find yourself with nowhere to go on Thanksgiving, give us a call and plan to come on over. Dinner is at 2 pm. We would love to include you in our family celebration.

Special Gratitude this week

It is hard to single anyone out this week, as everyone in and around the farm has worked so hard to get us to this denouement. That said, I want to spotlight two people this week. 

Since Jennifer decided to pass on the website, Leslie has become a house a fire getting it changed over to offer our 2025 shares. And when I shared my anxiety over what to do with 66 eggs each day now that the CSA is over for 26 weeks, she jumped into action to set up an egg subscription for the intervening months. And then called all of our egg customers to sign them up. Leslie’s marketing instincts (which she insists don’t exist) are on high alert. Watch out! Thank you, Leslie, for investing yourself so totally. 

Leslie working on the egg subscription language

Marcia is a working shareholder, good friend, and fellow Circle of Song member. As she did when we put on our Clare/Jack party back in June, she appeared as an angel to support the massive house cleaning effort that we undertake at this time of year. This past week she came an extra day, and when I mentioned to her and Jennifer that I needed to consider lunch on Monday, they both jumped to offer to take care of that 12-person detail for today’s lunch. As a matter of fact, Marcia regularly brings a pot of soup for lunch on Mondays. And somehow, between working outside on the farm, she keeps the kitchen cleaned up and organized. I like a clean and tidy house, but it always seems so overwhelming with the constant traffic through here every day. Thanks, Marcia, for having my back on this one.

Luke, Marcia, and Jennifer on the back of the truck

What is in your Fall CSA Share this week?

Special Note to all Shareholders:
Pick up is on Monday this week for everyone!

Fall shareholders please return your share bags to your delivery sites, either today, or in the next week. We will collect them and have them ready for next year.

If you have a moment, could you also take a moment to please fill out the Fall Evaluation. It will take just a couple of minutes.

Fall Share week of November 25
  • Brussels sprouts – sorry, we couldn’t get to them last week
  • Carrots
  • Kale
  • Leek
  • Pears
  • Arugula
  • Rutabaga
  • Potatoes
  • Garlic
  • Cilantro
  • Spinach
  • Collards

What, already time to sign up for next year’s CSA?

Yes, you can get in on some end of the year savings if you sign up by December 31. We have gotten rid of the sliding scale, as it was too confusing to folks, and are back with one price. Production costs for us go up across the board, and we also plan to give our salaried staff a $1/hour pay increase in 2025. And we appreciate early commitment to this venture, which comes to 50% of our budget, and are encouraging you to commit early by offering this discount.

  • Small share: $475 before January 1; $500 in the new year
  • Medium share: $640 before January 1; $675 in the new year
  • Large share: $835 before January 1; $875 in the new year
  • SNAP share: $Small – $425; Medium: $525; Large: $725
Here is a link to the order form.

A New Offering from December to May: Bi-weekly Egg Deliveries to locations in Athol, Holden, Worcester, Gardner and Shrewsbury 

It starts next week on December 2. Sign up now for the best eggs from the happiest, healthiest and completely free range certified organic chickens that you will encounter.

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Volunteering at MHOF

This weekend we hosted Julie as a volunteer. She helped Shantel and me make lard, move birds, sort pork, and get the vehicles ready for the turkey slaughter.

Jennifer’s Recipe for the Week

Butternut Squash Custard

After ordering a whopping 89 pounds of winter squash from Dan, I’ve been on a mission to find creative and delicious ways to enjoy it all. This recipe has quickly become a household favorite for dessert. While I initially crafted it with butternut squash, I’ve since experimented with pumpkin and red kuri squash, so feel free to try it with other varieties of winter squash!

Preserved Foods for Sale

  • Frozen Apple sauce (nothing added) – $7/quart
  • Frozen Pear sauce (nothing added) – $7/quart
  • Frozen Peaches – $6 per pound in bags of approximately 2-3 lbs
  • Canned Tomatoes – $10/quart
  • Canned Apple juice – $10/quart
  • Pawpaw puree – $5 for ½ pint
  • Dried Peaches – $10/pint
  • Garlic powder – $12 for a 2 oz. jar
  • Grape seed and skin powder – $10 for a 2 oz. jar
  • Comfrey, Hemp and Calendula save – $10/jar
  • Bitters tincture – $20 for a 4 oz. bottle
  • Lavender soap – $8 for a 5 oz. bar
  • Peppermint soap – $6 for a 3.5 oz. bar (seconds)
  • Some fresh frozen pork cuts – $15/lb

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AEA Blog | 11.20.24
Balanced Mineral Nutrition for Market Gardens
Soil testing and mineral amendments
By John Kempf 

The previous posts in this series have discussed how to create the conditions for thriving soil biology in market gardens, by regulating temperature and moisture; adding biology through compost, teas, and inoculants; and feeding that biology every day.

The reason for focusing on soil biology is that biology can release nutrients from the soil and make them available to plants. I have previously said that biology can supply 100% of a crop’s nutritional requirements. This is true, with an important caveat: biology cannot supply nutrients that aren’t there to begin with, that is, minerals that are not present in the underlying geology. In such conditions, we may need to add nutrients.

Adjusting mineral profile
To know what minerals are present in your soil, I recommend that market gardeners take 2 types of soil tests.

The first test is a geological assay. Miners use this test to determine the presence of minerals in soil. It will show a complete readout of minerals present in the soil’s mineral profile. They might not yet be available to your plants, but the test will show your soil’s potential for providing plant nutrition once it develops thriving biology to unlock those minerals.

The second test is a more typical CEC soil test. At AEA, we use this test in a limited capacity. We find it useful only for determining the soil’s levels of sulfur, boron, and zinc, and its Calcium/magnesium ratio. Otherwise we defer to the geological assay. Comparing the two tests can determine what minerals are present versus what minerals are available. I only recommend you pull these tests once, as your base mineral profile will not change.

If you’re interested in taking a deep dive into soil tests, I’d recommend my webinar “Soil Testing 2.0“.

Once we have data from soil tests, we enter into the world of fun management questions:

  • Do we need to add minerals to our system, or do we develop biology to release minerals that are already there?
  • Even if a mineral is present in the soil, should we add a small amount to kickstart the soil biology and our plants?
  • Should we apply minerals to the soil or directly to the plants via a foliar spray?

These are manage-able questions produced by manage-able data. Next week, in the final post in this series, we’ll discuss some considerations when designing a foliar nutritional spray.

Paramagnetism
So far, we’ve only talked about minerals from a nutritional, molecular standpoint, but it’s important to consider that the true growth-inducing property of a molecule is the energy contained within that molecule. This is a nebulous subject that I won’t explore in too much detail here. I will simply point out observational data that shows that highly paramagnetic soils support high levels of biology. So you’ll want to add highly paramagnetic rock powders, like basalt, to your soil. You can also add paramagnetic powder to your compost pile–it will have the double effect of stimulating the biology in the compost, and then entering the soil when that compost is added to the garden.

Farm Doins

Today I want to give an individual shout out to all the staff and volunteers at MHOF, beside the two above already mentioned.

To Luke, who was our head sprayer this year, clocking many hours each week managing our foliar nutrition program.

To Paula, who this week has managed the house cleaning, window washing, labeling, jarring operations.

To Amanda, who uses her organizational support services to help us. Here she is talking to a Paypal rep about how to get our “button” in place on the website (there were some moments of frustration!)

Marissa – fast, competent, and irreplaceable
Stu – our class clown who actually can do almost anything on the farm; also our head weeder
Danny – head carpenter and fix it guy with incredible executive skills
Matt – who manages all of our equipment, and pig matters, and who masterminded the Community Fridges project this year
Jennifer – whose calm and competent demeanor saw us through the pork pick up, and dispersal on Friday. A MHOF rock
Nick – no job is too odious, no weight is too heavy – Mr. Over and Above
Shantel, Alexandria, John and Sophie – the stalwart weekend crew. Sophie and John helped get the turkeys to slaughter on Sunday
Jim – head mower, chainsawer and cleanup guy
Jack – the behind the scenes guy with whom I share every decision
I am indeed Thankful!

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

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

 

Hog Slaughter

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November 18, 2024

It does come around each year, and though farming is so much about promoting life and then ending it, sending the pigs off to meet their maker is by far the hardest of all of the endings of life that are on my hands.

Ever since I slipped in the very thick pig manure at age six and ended up on my back in it on our northwestern Illinois hog farm in the late 50’s, I have had a love affair with pigs. This year’s pigs were our friendliest ever. I have a strong memory of coming over to see them in the west field about 2 weeks ago. When they spotted me coming in to see them, all 8 took off at a gallop to come and crowd around and greet me. What can be better than that!

Ricky Adams, when we were getting them into the truck on Wednesday said, “Wow this rarely happens (that they climb into the truck so willingly)” But I got to spend some quality time in their house, encouraging them to take this final journey, and thanking them for their time with us. As they drove away in the big stock truck, I could hear them contently chatting as they moved up the hill and out of sight. I guess the best any of us can hope for is that we will be happy until that final minute of our lives.

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Special Gratitude this week

Our son Dan has been following the path of nutrient density in food for more than 10 years, and was asked to speak at TEDx Boston on Saturday. We made the trek to MIT to hear him, and enjoyed seeing him on the big stage sharing his life’s work in this prestigious setting.

I am grateful to have been Dan’s partner in crime for almost 2 decades as we have practiced so much of what Dan has learned and exposed us to, and as we have shared our path to extraordinary food production.

2024 Summer CSA Members

  1. Please be sure to return your bags to your pickup site
  2. Please take a moment fill out this very short feedback survey. We have only received a few responses so far.

2024 Summer CSA Survey

What is in your CSA Share this week?

Special Note to Worcester Shareholders: This week, you will receive your share on Monday at Elan Vital

Share week of November 11th

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  • Tomatoes
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Carrots
  • Kale
  • Lettuce
  • Leek
  • Pears
  • Arugula
  • Squash/Asian Green/rutabaga
  • Potatoes
  • Garlic
  • Cilantro

What, already time to sign up for next year’s CSA?

Yes, you can get in on some end of the year savings if you sign up by December 31. We have gotten rid of the sliding scale, as it was too confusing to folks, and are back with one price per size. Production costs for us go up across the board, and we also plan to give our salaried staff a $1/hour pay increase in 2025. But we appreciate early commitment to this venture, which comes to 50% of our budget, and are encouraging you by offering this discount.

  • Small share: $475 before January 1; $500 in the new year
  • Medium share: $640 before January 1; $675 in the new year
  • Large share: $835 before January 1; $875 in the new year
  • SNAP share: $Small – $425; Medium: $525; Large: $725
Here is a link to the order form.
A New Offering from December to May: Bi-weekly Egg Deliveries to locations in Athol, Holden, Worcester, Gardner and Shrewsbury 
If you have ever wondered what we do with all these eggs in the off-CSA months, well, it is a cause for nail-biting each year. Leslie had the great idea that we should offer eggs to you who live a fair piece from the farm, delivered to a town near you, to a CSA delivery site. We will be unveiling the program (which starts December 2) very soon, but meanwhile, Jack has a word to say about the price of eggs.
The Price of Eggs

by Jack Kittredge

A good deal was heard during the recent political campaign about the price of eggs. It was, pollsters said, a prime example of the voters’ anger about inflation. It is true, I believe, that the price of eggs has gone up considerably recently. But I wonder if this is not the result of a conscious decision by consumers to eat more of them because they represent a great value for protein, one which had been underpriced for years.

We charge what seems like a reasonable price — $9 a dozen for fresh organic eggs. A little consultation with USDA data reveals that these $9 eggs (converted to pounds to make them equivalent to other protein sources) compare quite favorably with regard to protein to sirloin steak, ground beef (80% lean), salmon, and even chicken. The eggs come out at 1.9¢ per gram for protein, compared to steak (10.4¢), ground beef (10.0¢), salmon (14.0¢) or chicken (3.3¢). For those who care you also get less fat in eggs, 45 grams versus 87 for steak, 80 for ground beef, 56 for salmon, and 62 for chicken.

These are national prices, so your local ones may differ. I welcome you to do the research. I think you will be surprised!

Volunteering at MHOF
Alas, I don’t think we hosted any irregular volunteers this week, but we are still so happy to host you. As we move out of November, volunteer days will only be Mondays and Fridays until we resume with a full work schedule in April and May.
Jennifer’s Recipe for the Week

Leek, Fennel & Carrot Barley Soup

This sweet and savory soup is perfect for the winter months! Root vegetables like carrots provide nourishing, grounding qualities that help pacify Vata. Rich in Vitamin A, they also support Pitta by nourishing the liver and purifying the blood. Leeks and fennel add digestive benefits, while barley—a preferred grain for excess Kapha—acts as a diuretic, adds bulk to the stool, and helps decongest the lymphatic system.

Enjoy this wholesome, balancing soup!

Recipe from a Shareholder

Hi Julie,

I thought you might like this recipe for Kvas. I’ve been using the beets from the CSA to make this and it’s absolutely delicious. It’s actually fermented beets and is super easy. The origin is Eastern Europe.

  1. Wash beets thoroughly and cut into small cubes, approximately ½” square. Smaller is okay too.
  2. Place in a mason jar or other container, preferably made of lead-free glass. I like using a wide-mouth mason jar. Be sure to leave some space between the beets and the top of your container.
  3. Mix two teaspoons of sea salt into 2 cups of spring or filtered water and pour over the beets until they’re completely covered. If you need more water, just respect the ratio of 1 teaspoon salt to 1 cup water.
  4. Cover the jar with a breathable cover. I like using the ring of mason jar lids to secure a paper towel in place (see attached photo).
  5. Place in a cool, dark place and let sit for 5 to 7 days. During this time, the liquid will turn beet red and you’ll see bubbles if you disturb the container. If you don’t have a dark place, you can wrap the container in a towel.
  6. After 5 days, start tasting the liquid to see if it’s ready. Kvas should be slightly sour and a bit effervescent when ready, and a beautiful red.

You can drink the liquid alone, use it in smoothies or add it to soup or whatever you like. To retain the probiotics, don’t mix it with anything that’s really hot. You can eat the fermented beets as they are, or use them in any recipe. If you prefer your Kvas to be more sour, let it ferment for a few more days.

Enjoy!
Joanna

Preserved Foods for Sale
  • Frozen Apple sauce (nothing added) – $7/quart
  • Frozen Pear sauce (nothing added) – $7/quart
  • Frozen Peaches – $6 per pound in bags of approximately 2-3 lbs
  • Canned Tomatoes – $10/quart
  • Canned Tomato juice – $10/quart
  • Canned Apple juice – $10/quart
  • Pawpaw puree – $5 for ½ pint
  • Dried Peaches – $10/pint
  • Frozen Broiler Chickens – $9/lb
  • Garlic powder – $12 for a 2 oz. jar
  • Comfrey, Hemp and Calendula save – $10/jar
  • Bitters tincture – $20 for a 4 oz. bottle
  • Lavender soap – $8 for a 5 oz. bar

John Kempf Ask me Anything from October 15 

Two hours of real gems for growers. John is a remarkable speaker with an encyclopedic knowledge of regenerative farming. If you grow things, I highly encourage you to listen to this.

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AEA Blog | 11.13.24
Cover Crops and Mulch in Market Gardens
Keep your soil covered and feed its biology every day
By John Kempf

In this series, we’re outlining the 6 essential practices for market gardeners and small-scale growers to regenerate their soils and grow exceptional produce. It all hinges on thriving soil microbiology. We’ve discussed the first two steps: creating the right physical environment, and adding biology that has been lost. Today we’ll discuss how to keep that biology fed.

Feed biology every day
There is a cardinal rule when it comes to soil biology: you must feed it every day.

A general principle is that the smaller the animal, the more frequently it needs to be fed. Babies need to be fed every 2 hours, while adults will be fine for 8 hours without food. Now extrapolate this down to the size of a microbe. There cannot be any delay in food supply for your soil microbes, or they will starve.
There are 2 ways that market gardeners can provide a continuous food source for their biology: mulch and cover crops.

Mulch provides food for biology as it decomposes. But I much prefer living plants as a food source for biology. Green, photosynthesizing plants continuously send sugars out through their roots to feed soil biology. Cover crops do things that mulch does not. For example, cover crops can produce soil aggregation much faster than mulch does. With exceptional soil aggregation, you can stick your hand right into the soil as deep as the topsoil layer goes.

Exceptional Cover Crops
Here is a list of cover crops that I believe are the most exceptional in stimulating soil aggregation and developing disease suppressive microbiomes:

  • oats
  • buckwheat
  • tillage radish
  • forage rape
  • annual ryegrass
  • mustard

Mustard is a biofumigant and can help solve nematode pressure, but there is no need to use it in healthy soils.

Oats and buckwheat are strongly associated with both mycorrhizae and phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria, so can rebuild soils that suffer from excessive phosphorus.

You’ll notice this list doesn’t include any legumes. This is for 3 reasons.

  1. Legumes don’t grow quickly enough to meet the fast turnaround time required by market gardens.
  2. They don’t offer the same degree of disease suppression.
  3. Legumes are nitrogen-fixers, and excessive soil nitrogen can oxidize carbon, and actually reduce soil organic matter and increase carbon.

You can use any method to terminate your cover crops: rolling, crimping, even tillage, as long as you get your soil covered again right away.

Now that your soil biology is established and fed, next week we’ll talk about what that biology can actually do for your crop: provide its nutritional requirements.

Dan’s Items for Sale
Potatoes at $3/lb. And winter squash at $2/lb. Contact him at 978-257-2627 or dan@bionutrient.org.
Turkeys All Sold Out
Sorry, if you missed your chance this year!
Farm Doins
This has already gone on too long, so I will keep it short. The pigs went off, we covered a bunch more crops with row cover, gave the fruit trees and bushes their last late season foliar, yanked the rest of the trellises, spread some great fertility and then tarped the now very grassy area for the winter, finished making all the applesauce, made a batch of lavender soap, one of comfrey salve, and started making the garlic powder, made 12 more quarts of sauerkraut, cleaned up some of the hoses, and cleaned up in preparation for the end of season mobile house repairs after the houses all go off-line November 24.
Julie
John turned 23 this week!
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Time to Unite Again

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Jack Kittredge

For most of us this last week has been difficult. As you know, Julie and I had thrown ourselves actively into the election campaign in support of RFK Jr. We contributed money and secured signatures to get him on the ballot here in Massachusetts as an Independent. How could we do otherwise when, for the first time in our lifetimes, there was a presidential candidate who was talking about our worst national problem — the chronic disease epidemic afflicting us all, particularly our young people? He was suggesting the need for a major investigation into its causes and what can be done to end it.

Knowing that food is medicine, we knew that such an inquiry would uncover major problems with the way crops are raised, processed and sold in America. Our whole focus here at MHOF for the last 40-some years has been to raise food which avoids those problems and supports health. How could we not back a man who was sailing directly into that highly contentious debate, willing to endure the vicious attacks it would earn him, in order to restore our public health.

The way Kennedy was driven out of the race, first from Democratic primaries and then, as an Independent, from the final state ballots, is well documented. But he refused to be bitter. He accepted an offer from the Trump campaign to shape food and agriculture policy in a new administration. Now he is in Washington setting out to do exactly that.

This election has divided our nation, our community, our farm and our family. But it is now time to heal those divisions and make the best of the results for the next 4 years. Thanks for your continuing support — which enables us to farm while doing serious research into food quality and where it comes from.

Special Gratitude this week

This week I am grateful for the children who come to the farm. Recently, Michele has been bringing her children to work on Wednesdays. This past week their laughter, engagement, questions, and general joie de vivre put smiles on our faces as they zoomed in to help for a few minutes and then were gone, to play with chickens, pigs, or jump on the trampoline. Kids always remind me to be more child-like and make the most out of each minute.

Marissa looking like a kid too, with Margaret, Anneliese and Jodan

Enjoying the pigs

What is in your CSA Share this week?

Share week of November 4th

This is the second week of the MHOF Fall CSA. We are excited to serve you in this quick late fall CSA. The temperature has been rising to the mid 70’s and then plummeting to the mid 20’s, but the crops keep coming. Here is what we have on tap for you.

  • Arugula
  • Lettuce
  • Spinach – we are very proud of this late season addition
  • Tomatoes – from the basement floor where they have been ripening for over a month
  • Asian green – this is their last week. We picked them all on Friday ahead of the frost

  • Broccoli or cauliflower – we are so happy to continue to have both of these crops.
  • Carrots
  • Leeks

  • Apple – just one each. We finally harvested our last apples on Wednesday
  • Pears
  • Potatoes
  • Winter squash
  • Garlic

Volunteering at MHOF

This week we hosted Michele and family and Petra, a long-term now and again volunteer. They all came on Wednesday and we had probably our most efficient day in weeks.
You are welcome here too! Be in touch.

Petra, Michele, Marissa and Leslie working the leaf job.

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Jennifer’s Recipe for the Week

Veggie Lentil Stew 
A grounding and nourishing soup that provides a little bit of heat and a lot of protein and iron.

Ingredients:

  • 2 large Tomatoes, cored and pureed
  • 1 medium Onion, diced
  • 2 medium Peppers, chopped
  • 2 medium Carrots, chopped
  • 1 cup Lentils, soaked and drained
  • 1 tsp Hingsvastak
  • 1.5 quarts of Chicken Bone broth
  • 2 cups cooked Basmati Rice
  • 3 T Ghee

Optional items for toppings:

  • Avocado slices
  • Mozzarella cheese

Instructions:

  1. In a large saucepan, sauté your spices with onions for 3 minutes.
  2. Add remaining ingredients except the cooked rice. Cook for 50 minutes, until vegetables and lentils are soft.
  3. Add cooked rice and stir well.
  4. Serve hot with your toppings of choice: avocado, cheese, etc..

Chef’s Tips

  • Hingvastak is an Ayurvedic herb that contains hing, cumin, black pepper, long pepper (pepper), ginger, black & white salt, and ajwain. It aids in digestion. It is especially useful in this recipe for Vata types as lentils can be hard for them to digest. Any combination of these spices may be used in the recipe or add any of your liking.
  • This recipe may be made vegetarian or vegan by using veggie broth and coconut oil

Preserved Foods for Sale

  • Frozen Apple sauce (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 approximately 2-3 bs
  • Canned Tomatoes – $10/quart
  • Canned Tomato juice – $10/quart
  • Canned Apple juice – $10/quart
  • Pawpaw puree – $5 for ½ pint
  • Dried Peaches – $5/pint

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I found this important tidbit in this week’s blogpost

https://advancingecoag.com/article/market-gardens-2/?_kx=hdiqVXU9yJz7DYb_ggaMTn_ihS9wkl5sqYkDP5bI_KQ.WdjHWJ  – Adding Biology to Market Gardens

Avoid Nutrient Excesses

One caveat about compost is that it’s important to avoid adding lots of manure-based compost. We have found that the majority of insect and disease problems, including flea beetles and aphids, are the result of nutrient excesses rather than nutrient deficiencies. The most commonly excessive nutrients are Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium, which happen to be particularly concentrated in animal manures. When you consider the large quantities of compost used in most market gardens, using high-NPK manure-based compost is a recipe for disaster.

On the other hand, when we use plant-based compost, it is very difficult to develop excessive levels of NPK in our crops.

Dan’s Items for Sale

Potatoes at $3/lb. And winter squash at $2/lb. Contact him at 978-257-2627 or dan@bionutrient.org

Time to order your turkey

We have only 9 toms available. Order before it is too late. They will sell out.

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Details and to order your turkey

Farm Doins

On Monday we made progress on taking down the 8 long term trellises that have grown too much into grass. That area will be turned back into regular vegetable beds. Just two trellises to go.

It seemed insanely easy to pick the 70 person CSA this week (that is spread over 3 days). It gave us lots of time to do other work.

We harvested 4 big totes of leaves that will be used for mulch,

Prepped and planted two new beds of strawberries using plants from our present patch,

These are leftovers and are free for anyone who would like to have them.
Contact me if you’re interested!

Got started on kelping our hoop houses that we have planted to greens for the fall and early winter. Picked up and sorted a bunch of hoses.

Preserved the last of the paw paws, made 50 quarts of beef stock and 36 quarts of chicken stock, sorted through the squashes again and made 20 more quarts of squash puree, and got started on freezing more kale and collards.

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Jennifer is down-scaling to be able to put more time into her own business and we have been passing around her responsibilities. Leslie and Amanda are taking on most of this work with Leslie taking over major responsibility for the website and Amanda the newsletter. Additionally, Amanda and I are putting together a comprehensive marketing and operations plan for the farm for 2025.

Julie

Pig cuddles

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

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

Politics

/in /by

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:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. 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:

  1. Bare soil can heat to as much as 140°F at the surface and 110-120°F 3-4 inches down.
  2. 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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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/