The First Garden's First Supper

The first produce from the White House kitchen garden has moved from farm to fork. Under the hot sun, kitchen staff harvested the first vegetables, including oak leaf lettuce, red romaine, speckled lettuce, fennel and rhubarb. The lettuces and fennel appeared that evening on the menu for President Obama and his economic advisers, and were billed as "White House kitchen garden salad with spiced Marcona almonds and lemon tarragon vinaigrette." The kitchen staff was "thrilled to use produce from the White House kitchen garden," said White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford. "It is so exciting to see our efforts turn into usable goods.”
Sound familiar? More here.

10 Days In

I had no idea what I was getting in to. 10 days in I can safely say that I sorely underestimated how taxing this program would be. My biceps and triceps and calves and thighs can attest to it. As can the flailing state of the myriad of commitments that I made before moving on to the farm. 10 days in, I can officially say: this program is officially kicking my rear.

If it weren’t for the waking up at dawn, or riding up the steep hillsides that separate the farm, the garden and town, or the working physically for the first time in years; perhaps I wouldn’t be reeling as I am now. And maybe had I been unfazed by those activities; perhaps the working part time producing the movie, the tending to summer dahlias, and the maintenance of my long-standing relationships would have done me in.

Regardless of the reasons, I am exhausted. I am finding myself crawling toward my tent at night, slurring my words, rubbing my allergy stricken eyes and looking forward to cozying up to the hot water bottle that has become my nightly bed guest.

But as I nest down under the multi layered comforters that insulate me from the damp chill, my reasons for exhaustion fade, and all I am left with is the utter contentment that I am exactly where I want to be, doing exactly what I want to be doing. As the little sign in the garden chalet says I am here for a reason.

CASFS Apprenticeship Plant Sale (click image below)

Who Put The Navel In Navel Oranges?

It looks like a bellybutton, but it's actually a second orange. Read more here or listen by clicking on the orange to the right.
Also, here's one to ponder...
"Magic" water...? click here to read more. 

Follow Up 4/21: Just got word from the Bay Area rep that they want to offer a unit for testing at CASFS =*)  I can't wait to see what Jim will think.  

Follow Up 4/22: The answer is negatron!

Westerlies

He called them the westerlies. Winds blown in from the pacific, bringing spring change onto the farm. We lost three tents to the gale force ladies as they swept across the giant meadow that boarders our farm towards the sea. Those who lost their tents bonded immediately with their neighbors, asking to sleep on their floors and borrow extra blankets. Someone lit a fire in the library and those too cold to return to their solitary quarters piled onto the couches and surrounded the wood stove to start their assignments. As I stepped over bodies to cross the room, I had the realization that inside space is limited. It's become blatantly apparent that sharing space isn't an option here- there is no other choice.

After a day of biking up the hill to the garden, skimming cover crops, and protecting apples from codling moths, twenty or so of us are sitting around the tables in the farm center, a guitar strumming softly in the back ground, a mixture of cards and computers on the long wooden table. We don't yet know each-other's intimacies, but we're close by default. Brought together by a common love, and the cold westerly winds that leave no option- but to share. 

Japan's Jobless: Back to the Land

As the global financial crisis sinks Japan into its worst recession since World War II and hundreds of thousands of jobs are slashed in factories and offices, farming has emerged as a promising new career track. "Agriculture Will Save Japan," blared a headline for a business weekly magazine. Farmer's Kitchen, a popular new Tokyo restaurant, plasters its walls with posters of hunky farmers who supply the eatery with organic vegetables. Seeing agriculture as one of the few industries that could generate jobs right now, the government has earmarked $10 million to send 900 people to job-training programs in farming, forestry and fishing. Japan's unemployment rate was 4.4% in February, up from 3.9% a year earlier, but still lower than the U.S. or Europe. Some economists expect the figure to rise to a record 8% or so within the next couple of years. Policy makers are hoping newly unemployed young people will help revive Japan's dwindling farming population, where two in three full-time farmers are 65 or older. Of Japan's total population, 6% work in agriculture, most doing so only part time, down from about 20% three decades ago.
Read the full article here, or click the image to the left to view a slideshow.

"Green Revolution" in India Coming to a Salty End

Farmers in the Indian state of Punjab abandoned traditional farming methods in the 1960s and 1970s as part of the national program called the "Green Revolution," backed by advisers from the U.S. and other countries. Indian farmers started growing crops the American way — with chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, high-yield seeds and irrigation. Since then, India has gone from importing grain to often exporting it. But studies show the Green Revolution is heading for collapse: both economic and ecological.
Read and listen to part one here and part two here or click the image to the right for a slideshow.

Welcome Apprentices!

After living on a farm in Lockport, Illinois, for 73 years, Harlow Cagwin sold his family land to a subdivision developer. Common Ground takes us on a journey exploring the differences and similarities of life in suburbia and life on the family farm. Click on the image above to see and hear more.

Apprentices, you are the future! We're counting on you to help buck this trend. First however, we could use your aid in securing the future of the Apprenticeship with permanent housing for next year's class. Please encourage your friends, families and each other to donate $ and/or time to the Grow a Farmer: Apprenticeship Housing Campaign.

Have something to share with your fellow farmies? The community at large? Want to post on this blog? Email me to set up an account. Happy farming!

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Grow A Farmer Slideshow