Preserving Farmland: America's Top Priority

The Glynwood CenterLast week, the New York Times ran a short editorial entitled "Death of a Farm," on the closing of America’s oldest continually operating farm in New Hampshire - Tuttle’s Red Barn farm.  John Tuttle first started the 240 acre farm in 1632 when he arrived to the New World from England.  Since then, it’s been passed down 11 generations.  To drive home the point of how long ago that was, in 1632, Gallileo was still publishing and was forced, by the Pope, to recant the idea that the earth orbits the sun the following year.  On Tuttle’s Red Barn Farm website, the current Tuttle family cites that the decision to close was borne from an exhaustion of resources including their bodies, minds, hearts, imagination, equipment, machinery, and finances.  Dwindling sales from customers that used to use shopping carts are now spending thrifty using only their hands for what they can afford to carry out.  Implicit in their explanation is the fact that it’s just cheaper to buy your food from the A&P than from a family run farm.  This sad story brought tears to my eyes that quickly dried when I toured the Glynwood Center in Cold Spring, NY this week.

Providing me with more Kleenex (or Seventh Generation facial tissue), though this time for tears of joy, the Hudson Valley is now an area that Obama has recognized as one of the 25 places in the country being considered by the government as a top prioroity area for land protection and the revitalization of rural communities.  US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, as part of the Great Outdoors Listening Tour, was there to learn from people directly involved in finding grassroots solutions to conserving our lands and waters and reconnecting Americans to the outdoors.  The Rockland Farm Alliance, for which Hook Mountain Growers is now an active member of the Board of Directors for the Cropsey Farm, was represented at the meeting on August 6th, 2010.

GLYNWOOD

The mission of the center is simple: to help communities in the Northeast save farming.  This non-profit center’s values are summed up here:

    “Glynwood believes that the rural working landscape is one of civilization’s highest achievements—that a countryside featuring healthy pastures, productive crops, fruitful orchards, well-managed woodlots, and sturdy barns is aesthetically beautiful and emblematic of thriving communities...Glynwood maintains that farming done in harmony with the natural environment can be both economically viable and environmentally sustainable...Glynwood regards food produced, distributed, and consumed locally as beneficial to human health and community, and to the natural environment.”


THE FARM

Glynwood’s unassuming entrance led us on a road to the main farm.  One must drive slowly and mindfully, traversing a bucolic narrow dirt road within the woods that follows a gentle brook.  Immediately you feel a transformation into a miraculous woodland reminiscent of Thoreaus’s Walden Pond.  We passed by one of the many cottages on the property with one being used as the backdrop to a Christmas photo shoot for the clothing company Aeropostale.  It ‘s August and holiday wreaths and mistletoe were strewn at every doorway.  Not so unusual if Christmas is in...Santa Barbara.  Ironically and sadly, it makes financially more sense to rent out your farm for a photo shoot because it sure brings in more money than selling vegetables.  Past the hoopla we met the venerable Dave Llewellyn, the head farmer at the center for a special insiders tour.  We first met Dave at a lecture he gave at the Young Farmer’s Conference at Stone Barns in December 2009.  His lecture sparked our interest in Nutrient Density farming and changed the way we view the soil and food quality.

Dave grows vegetables in two separate areas: one is 3/4 of an acre and the other is 1/2 acre.  Of course, this doesn’t tell you much about the rest of the farm.  It’s 225 rolling pastoral acres are home to the grazing fields for cows, sheep, goats, chickens and horses.  One horse, named Maggie is even being used as a draught horse!  Beautiful young smiling lady farmers in electric tractors whiz by mowing down paths, man (or woman) the CSA distribution center, and make sure irrigation is working.  Ahh, I think I’ve found paradise.  I find out that their grass-fed cattle and poultry are sold to their CSA members and I wish I lived in the area to take part of this bounty. 

As Dave brings us to the growing areas, he mentions that the Glynwood center is in the process of leasing 15 acres in nearby Garrison, NY, for more growing.  We were a little shocked that they couldn’t find that acreage in their 225 acre center, but Dave pointed out that most of the land is rolling land perfect for grazing (and probably grape growing) but not for vegetables.  We found out that Dave has only been doing this for 10 years, prior to that, he was a law clerk.  He then  founded and managed a now defunct CSA in Mahwah, New Jersey with his wife before coming to Glynwood.  His plans for the 15 acres is groundbreaking.  It’s not just 15 acres for growing, but it’s going to be a model for how one can economically start-up and run a farming operation in the Northeast.  A very important mission since, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 40% of our current farmers are now over 55 years old and the new generation of farmers need to be innovative especially faced with energy, climate and water challenges.  Kudos for Dave and the Glynwood Center for promoting sustainable agriculture in this area on a whole new level.

The recent addition to the center: "A Barn with a Mission"

This recent barn addition will house their first boot stomping Barn-Dance gala on Saturday September 11, 2010 which includes a 3 course dinner with the bounty of the Hudson Valley and, of course, dancing.  This is the chance to “revel in supporting Glynwood’s mission to saving farming.”  So if you were moved by the closing of the Tuttle’s Red Barn Farm in NH, don’t wallow in despair, there are still so many things you can do to promote the movement like spend your dollars at the farmers market or at your local family farm or just even coming to the Gala and better yet, if you can, donate to the cause.  And if you're a local Rockland resident, donating to the Rockland Farm Alliance will help two new community farms come to fruition.



Weekly Musings: The Curious Cabbage

Aerial view of the Caraflex cabbageThis growing season has been unusual.  Lilacs blossomed 2 weeks earlier in the spring and the crepe myrtles that are normally late bloomers in August, are already on the way out in mid July.  As other growers and gardeners in our area have confirmed, the sustained heat wave accompanied by a very buggy season filled with cucumber beetles, squash vine borers, earwigs and slugs, has made for challenging growing conditions.  Heat came on early, big and strong this summer forcing a premature end to peas, sugar snaps, lettuces and mustard greens.  Surprisingly, the cabbage, traditionally a cool-loving crop, has managed to form beautifully in the heat with little fuss.  Well, that is, certain varieties of cabbage are doing well.  Napa or Chinese cabbage was devastated by earwigs that set up hotels deep between the leaves and left us with doily cabbage heads that soon after, bolted from the heat.  We are having success with two varieties of cabbage that we picked because of their compact nature.  Many people do not grow cabbage in their home gardens because of the space requirement.  Makes little sense to build 1 story homes on a city block when you can put up skyscrapers, right?  We grew them anyway to experiment and promote a polyculture farm and chose these two varieties: a mini red cabbage and a funny-looking cone shaped pointed mini cabbage called Caraflex. From a small farm financial standpoint it seems crazy to grow things that are so space intensive.  Flying Tomato Farms in South Dakota estimated that with the space, labor, and materials it takes to harvest 15 cabbages from a 25 foot row in their small farm, they should charge $21 per cabbage head to make up for the gross amount that can be made in the same space growing a lettuce mix.  They opted not to charge that amount and instead, viewed the small cabbage harvest as a treat.

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES

As part of the cruciferous family of vegetables, cabbage produces sulfur and nitrogen containing glucosinolates.  That breaks down to form isothiocyanates which may help to prevent cancer by helping to eliminate carcinogens and enhancing the transcriptions of tumor suppressing proteins in the body.  Many of these compounds contribute to the distinctive bitter and sulphur tasting qualities and are decreased with high heat cooking or microwaving.  Summer heat and drought will increase levels of isothiocyanates increasing the bitterness and the cooler temperatures of fall will make for milder tasting crucifers.  There are particular isothiocyanates that can interfere with thyroid function particularly if there is an iodine deficiency which is becoming more and more common with the increased use of sea salt and the demineralization of our soils.

Interestingly, cabbages with open leaves accumulate more vitamin A and C and carotenoids than heading varieties whose inner leaves never see the light of day.  Caraflex is a heading variety and the benefit of these cabbages is their higher sugar content and better storage life.  Caraflex will keep in the refrigerator 8 weeks after harvest.

Recipe: Cabbage and Fennel with Parsley Lemon Butter in Egg Noodles

Serves 2 hungry people

1/2 small Caraflex or Savoy cabbage
1 large fennel bulb, cored
1 large leek, white part only
4 Tablespoons of unsalted butter
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
juice and zest of 1 lemon (Meyer lemon if you have)
3 Tablespoons of parsley or chervil
8 oz egg noodles (I used spaetzle)

1. Cut cabbage, fennel and leeks into thin slices, wash but don’t dry.

2. Cook egg noodles in boiling, salted water and drain.

3. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large wide skillet.  Add vegetables and 1/2 tsp of salt.  Cover pan and cook gently for 10 minutes checking halfway to make sure there is enough moisture in the pan so there is steaming and not browning of the vegetables.  Meanwhile, simmer lemon juice in a small pan until slightly reduced.  Remove from heat and whisk in remaining butter.

4. Finely chop lemon zest with the parsley.  Add half in the butter mixture and the other half to the vegetables.

5. Combine the noodles, vegetables and zest-herb mixture in a large bowl and taste for additional salt and pepper.

 

 Recipe adapted from Deborah Madison's book Local Flavors

Remedy for the Heat: Hyssop, Mint and Cucumber Iced Tea

I've seen bees "sleep" on these Giant Hyssop flowersThis season has been the complete antithesis to the 2009 cool and wet summer in the Northeast.  Last year we remember never having to water our crops after May 25th.  This summer has had more days in the 90's than I can remember.  Lawns in the neighborhood are brown and on the 5000 square feet that make up our micro-farm, we've needed to do twice a day watering by hand, which take up to 2.5 hours a day.  Raised-beds have the benefit of warmer soil earlier in the season but will also dry out more quickly.

Keeping cool has been challenging for some of our vegetables and tender young seedlings.  Use of open well-ventilated light-weight row covers are extremely helpful for this but the bigger challenge is how we keep ourselves cool and still do productive work outside.  The answer is not cranking the AC but a refreshing herbal iced tea made with some important and tasty perennial herbs and our prolific cucumbers.

There are many varieties of hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis) most notably Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) and the type that we grow called Korean Licorice Mint or Giant Hyssop (Agastache Rugosa).  This bushy 4 foot licorice tasting perennial is important in our micro-farm since it's nectar-rich purple flowers are a heavy attractor to bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.  Although the flowers are edible, I leave them to the pollinators.  They also attract the much unwanted white cabbage butterfly that lays its eggs on brassica vegetables.  Cabbage worms are responsible for the destruction of young broccoli and brussels spout seedlings and our organic control has been row covers and manual removal of these critters.

Native Americans have used the hyssop plant leaves as a breath freshener, tea infusion, cough depressant, and like Stevia, a natural sweetener. This plant also self seeds and creates many volunteers that we dig up and transplant to other places.

RECIPE: HYSSOP, MINT AND CUCUMBER ICED TEA

Hyssop leaves

Mint leaves

Filtered Water

Sun

1/4 cucumber, sliced (I used Armenian cucumber)

Optional: thai basil flowers for garnish

Fill a half gallon jar or container heavily packed with leaves of hyssop and mint.  Fill with filtered water, cover and let brew in the full sun for a day.  Add cucumber slices and chill the contents either by refrigerating or adding ice and enjoy.  Once used, you can refill the water and enjoy again.

Recipe adapted from Ethan and Dyami of Appleseed Permaculture

Nutrient Dense Foods: Transplanting and Ensuring Prolific Yields Part 3 of 6

Fennel and Caraflex CabbageSo it’s midsummer, the time around summer solstice, where most of us have planted our summer crops and we’re eagerly awaiting the first tastes of summer: tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and eggplant.  For us here, we’ve been enjoying beets, broccoli, beans, herbs, peas, carrots, fennel, fava beans and kale for some time now but our eyes are on the prize: our fruit laden tomato plants.  After growing, freezing, and canning our own tomatoes we vowed never to eat a tomato out of season and it’s been 6 months now since our last fresh tomato.  Sungolds are the first of our tomatoes starting to ripen and we hover around that plant dreaming of meals where we can showcase these little orange jewels.  But there’s a bit of fear lurking around every time we check on our tomatoes.  It’s a little PTSD from last year’s blight epidemic in the northeast.  I remember the day: July 11th, 2009.  We had the most healthy looking fruit-full tomato plants and the heirlooms with their gigantic beauties were starting their transition from green to yellow and red.  We knew we’d have many hundreds of pounds of tomatoes that we’d hope to bring to the market.  And then it struck, signs of blight in one area of the farm quickly took down 100 of our 120 tomato plants.  We frantically pruned, sprayed the plants with biodynamic equisetum prep, used anything in our means necessary, except fungicides of course, to keep the plants alive and hope that the weather would turn hot and dry which it never did.  Thankfully, we had a great biodiversity of other fruits and we learned to be happy with the 240 lbs we were able to salvage.
Plum Regal Tomato Plants Loaded and Dreams of Marinara Dance in Charlie's Head
This time it’s different.  We have 44 tomato plants instead of the 120 we planted last year.  It is recommended that you do not plant on blight-infested areas for 3 years but since we have such a small operation, that wouldn’t be possible for us.  We decided to limit our tomatoes in the main growing area that was affected and use only highly blight resistant tomatoes like Mountain Magic and Plum Regal and we’d grow our non-resistant heirlooms in the greenhouse and in a small area that was not affected last year.  But it’s also different this time because we're using nutrient dense techniques to increase soil nutrients through drenches and foliar sprays to ensure that the plant is strong enough to resist disease.  This is an absolute corollary to ensuring human health by preventative measures like proper nutrition, exercise and stress management and ultimately a strong immune system to resist diseases like cancer.

We took part in the 3rd series of ND growing with Dan Kittredge at Udderly Wool Acres in Glastonbury CT.  This time it was packed with extremely practical information and field demonstrations.  We were ready to get out of the classroom and get our hands dirty.

Dan measures the electrical conductivity of the soil

Electrical Conductivity

For crops to have access to nutrients needed for optimal growth the soil needs to have the proper electrical charge.  For high brix fruit you need sufficient energy in the soil.  You can measure the soil conductivity with a meter and this is helpful to discern whether or not there is an imbalance in the soil that needs to be addressed.  This is done weekly throughout the season (ideally in the early AM) but it’s most important to do this at transplant time.  Have you ever transplanted something and it sat there for eternity without growing?  I have and it drives me crazy.  If there is low conductivity, it’s a good indicator that there is insufficient nutrition for crops.  You want to see a level of 200 in the spring and 600 when the plant is filled with fruit.  Looking back at last years blight epidemic, there was much less sun which meant less photosynthesis, less sugar feeding the biological life in the soil, and further the constant rain leeched out the soil electrolytes. The high water table then decreased oxygen which asphyxiated the soil biology.  Dan tested his parents (prominent NOFA farmers) soil last year and it showed a conductivity reading of 40-50 in the area of tomatoes.  He did a broad spectrum nutrient drench (minerals, electrolytes, molasses) and the tomatoes survived!  With every transplant we do now, we add a "transplant drench" by the Nutrient Density Supply Company which is a combination of mycorrhizal fungi and microbes, seaweed extracts, minerals and enzymes

Brix Measurements in Plant Sap

In the previous posts on ND growing, brix was a measurement used in discerning how nutrient dense a food was before consumption.   I was referring to the final carrot or fruit, but the sap of the plant's leaves and its brix can be used to determine whether or not the plant is taking up nutrients from the soil and if it is in general a genetically strong plant.  For example, when I was growing eggplant seedlings indoors this spring I noticed that one plant out of 20 sitting in a try was infested with aphids.  None of the other plants were touched which led me to throw out the plant because I knew it was weak perhaps to some genetic variability.  Ideally this should be done before fruit sets and levels should not be below 12.  Early morning is the best time to test and keep a consistent area to test on the plant to minimize experimental factors i.e. the 4th newest full size leaf.  If the measurement is under 12 then it indicates that your plant is stressed in some way and needs your help.

 Squeezing plant leaf sap with a vice onto a refractometer

Beyond this, one can measure the pH of the plant (not the soil, which is typically done) which helps to discern mineral imbalances without having to send off a soil sample for testing.

Farm and Garden Maintenance

Though this may all seem time consuming for the average gardener, it's even more so for the farmer with a larger acreage and even less time.  However, if measurements are made 15 minutes once a week, it's a way to ensure minimal disease (remember insects do not choose to eat strong plants only weak ones), maximum crop yields, and a superior vegetable or fruit in nutrition and in shelf life.  On our microfarm, it can also be quite time consuming as each raised bed has to be treated like a seperate "field'. After the transplant solution, weekly to bi-weekly nutrient drenches to the soil and foliar sprays depending on measurements are done throughout the season.  Foliar sprays are another way to provide plants with nutrition other than through their roots.  Like skin, they absorb nutrition from their leaves as well and the best time to do foliars are at 5 AM or 7 PM (when the birds are out singing).  This way of growning is beyond organic growing.  Though this method of growing is more costly and time intensive to the farmers the viabiliity of seeing ND produce in markets can only be brought there by consumer demand just as the organic food movement did decades ago, it's an important area to explore.  ND food will likely cost more but it's worth it.  It helps when consumers understand the work that goes into their food.  The best way to understand this is to grow your own food, join a CSA and actually get out into the fields and work!  Only then can one really understand and fully appreciate what it takes to bring food to the table.

Farmers doing a nutrient drench in the fields

The Raw Food Detox: Transitioning Back With A Renewed Perspective On Food

Freshly shucked peas. The work it takes makes you think twice about using that bag of frozen peas as an icepack for your knee.Two weeks ago, in an attempt to detox from a suboptimal diet, we began a strict 7 day raw food cleanse knowing full well that we'd be irritable, hungry, weak and likely symptomatic with headaches, dizziness and weakness.  We knew we'd have to overcome it with persistence and discipline.  And we did it!  What's more surprising is that we are continuing with this detox program but attempting  to make it seasonable, local and real world.  The reason is this: we feel better, lighter, trimmer, our sleep is deeper and eating this way has forced us to enjoy and appreciate fruits and vegetables even beyond the level we reached from growing our food for the last 2 years.  It has also forced a sense mindfulness and presence during eating because it has allowed the clear clean notes of the food to shine through unencumbered by extraneous fillers like sauces, bread and elaborate seasonings.  In a nutshell, this was, for 1 week, a vegan, extremely low carbohydrate (but not carb-free) diet.  After the first week we began adding animal meats back in and some more starches.

The Basic Principles:

1. Eat as much raw foods (cooked no higher than 112 degrees) with the larger meals at dinner.

2. Crucial combination of foods.  This was the most difficult for us.  Though I am very aware of how fermentation can occur with certain combination of food types  (I've had several patients with digestive issues get dramatically better) it is VERY hard not to have protein with carbs.  Eggs without bread?  Meats without potatoes? Chicken without rice? 

The food groups to keep apart for 3-4 hours: a)Animal meats, eggs, raw cheese and fish  b)starches (rice, pasta, bread and cooked legumes)  c) nuts/seeds/dried-fruits   d) Fresh fruits.  Non-starch vegetables may be combined with any of these.

This is based on how quickly food leaves the digestive track and I have seen patients experience less bloating and gas with food combining principles.  The principle is that our digestive tracks were not designed to handle complex meals.  Each food type has very specific enzymes produced by the body to breakdown those substances, for example, lipase is made to breakdown fat, lactose for milk sugars etc.  Food combing is not new.  Carlos Gracie, founder of the Brazilian Gracie Jiujitsu, has championed a food combining diet. He lived until the age of 92 and his diet and teachings still live on.Broth made from leeks, pea pods and parsley

Observations.

This is NOT a local food diet.  In fact, I felt quite guilty about consuming a ton of tropical fruits like bananas, coconuts and grapes from chili, apples from New Zealand.  The best I could do were berries from California although strawberries are just coming into season locally but hard to find organically grown. [FYI: Non-organic California strawberries should have a surgeon general's warning.  In 2006, 280 lbs of pesticides (known carcinogenic ones included) were applied PER acre for a total of 9 million pounds].  What we did use locally from our farm was tons of siberian and tuscan kale, peas, sugar snap peas, yellow and green beans, lettuces, edible flowers, tons of herbs, collard greens, kohlrabi leaves, small fava beans, carrots, mustard greens, garlic scapes and celeriac stems.

As physicians who are already very conscious about nutrition and health, especially me, this took us to the next level and showed us that we really had a great deficit in fruits and vegetables in our diet.  I love fruits but I do not go out of my way to obtain it because of seasonality issues, organic availability and shelf life.  Now, I can't stock enough fruit in my house but better yet, our plans for an edible permaculture forest garden will provide us with paw paws (great local substitute for bananas), strawberries, raspberries, black and blue berries, currants, gooseberries, and sweet cherries. There are also plans to install a mini-orchard with apples and stone fruits next year.

So, we continue our quest for optimal eating and growing with a celebratory LOCAL cooked meal with all HMG produce and lamb chops from McEnroe's farm in Millerton NY.   Tonight's menu:

Elixir of Fresh Peas

Herb Salad with purslane, celeriac and parsley leaves, basil and lettuces

Grilled Lamb chops with oregano and lemon

 

ELIXIR OF FRESH PEAS

1 bunch scallions or 2 small leeks including 2" of the greens, thinly sliced
5 large parsley stems with leaves
sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
1 1/2 lbs of fresh pod peas, shelled and reserve the pods for the stock
1 tsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion or young leek
1/2 tsp sugar (optional)
truffle oil, garnish with fresh chervil and chive blossoms

1. Bring 1 qt of water to boil.  As it's heating, add scallions, parsley and 1/2 tsp salt. Add about 3 cups of the pea pods.  Once water boils, lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes then strain.

2. Melt butter in a soup pot and add the sliced young leek/onion.  Cook over medium heat for a minute then add 1/2 cup of the stock.  After 4-5 minutes add the peas, 1/2 tsp salt and optional sugar.  Pour in 2.5 cups of the stock and bring to a boil and simmer 3 minutes

3. Transfer soup to a blender or processor.  Puree.  Serve immediately in small soup bowls, adding a few drops of truffle oil to each bowl, chervil and chive blossoms as garnish

Wine is back. To the Village Vitner of Nyack, we await a celebratory wine tasting you promised! 

 Recipe adaped from Deborah Madison, Local Flavors