2 tunnels and a lot row cover over spring hoops... we've done everything that we can to prepare the farm for the cold weather due in on Thursday. Some crops will survive it under row cover, while others need to be bulk harvested and tucked away into storage for the winter markets. Unfortunately the list of vegetables that must be harvested before Thursday is massive. It's been a tough week/s.
The new shipping container is well on it's way to being fully operational. The lights are going to make it so much easier to work/divide in this cooler. I'm hoping to upgrade the lighting situation in container #1 next Spring
Just a nice view of our production area from the farm road
Ahoy!
If whirlwinds had jobs, they'd be us. We've been racing against the frosty stuff for weeks now. There is still a lot to get through, but there's also a lot that we have been through. We built 7 caterpillar tunnels, covered all the susceptible crops with row cover, filled a lot of sand bags, cleaned/sanitized the new shipping container, installed the AC unit, cool-bot system, lights, pampered Helen's truck with new fluids, tires and pitman arm (again, ugh) and we bulk harvested thousands of pounds of storage crops in preparation for the deep freeze coming Thursday night. The whole crew has been working overtime and overdays to help get the farm through this frigid bottleneck. Over the years that we've been farming, we've kept decent notes of what temperature various crops can endure. We've been using that knowledge to guide our finite efforts to maximize produce available after the frost. Generally, fresh greens will continue to grow in the hoop house and caterpillar tunnels while we supplement them with crops pulled from storage. Our hope is to have a reasonable variety of crops on our market tables all the way through the off season. Ya never know though, whether the weather will wither our wishes. We've done a lot to prepare, and will continue to work our way through the cold. This time of the season is summed up for me with a particular image that's been frozen into my memory: seeing your breath in the cold morning air being illuminated by the light of your headlamp. It's a far cry from seeing paradise by the dashboard lights, but I'll settle for seeing vegetables by my headlamp light. If nothing else, it's a herald of change, and change feels more and more like accomplishment to me. Our watersheds may be divided, but our wills are united. Do as you will winter, and we'll do as we will.
To note:
Saturday Ann Arbor Customers! Ahoy! We are there! I don't know where but we will be there shining and vegetabling!
Our markets this week:
Wednesday: Ann Arbor
Saturday: Eastern Market, Ann Arbor, and Royal Oak
Recipe:
Cabbage can store for a long time under the right conditions, because of it's incredible storage capability it is one of the few green things that we can guarantee to have on on our market table during the "off" season. As such, I'm always on the look out for new ways to enjoy winter's most dependable green. My uncle Joe taught me this recipe years back and it has become a regular in our winter dinner rotation. I hope you enjoy this warming comfort food as much as we do!
Uncle Joe's Cabbage and Noodles
Ingredients:
Food for thought:
With the looming cold weather we had to hit the brakes on planting the garlic. Bulk harvest has dominated our week in various forms, but once the preparations are done for the first real frost, we can get back on the garlic bandwagon. I'm really grateful that we seized the opportunity to work up the ground when we did (nice work Helen), now it's just a matter of finishing cracking the heads and getting those suckers in the ground. We're tired, please don't tell anyone.
Jim writing for the Lake Dividers: Helen, Lizz, Janet, Malcolm, Mattie, Cody, Sean, Alic, Doug, Kathryn, and Shana!
Good for the Earth, Good for the Farmers, Good for the People. The Trifecta of sustainability. Good for the earth: Taking care of the natural world is a important, after all, it takes care of us; Good for the farmer: We believe farmers should have livable hours and livable wages; Good for the people: We believe in food equality and bringing our produce to market at an affordable price and keeping it accessible is important to us.
If whirlwinds had jobs, they'd be us. We've been racing against the frosty stuff for weeks now. There is still a lot to get through, but there's also a lot that we have been through. We built 7 caterpillar tunnels, covered all the susceptible crops with row cover, filled a lot of sand bags, cleaned/sanitized the new shipping container, installed the AC unit, cool-bot system, lights, pampered Helen's truck with new fluids, tires and pitman arm (again, ugh) and we bulk harvested thousands of pounds of storage crops in preparation for the deep freeze coming Thursday night. The whole crew has been working overtime and overdays to help get the farm through this frigid bottleneck. Over the years that we've been farming, we've kept decent notes of what temperature various crops can endure. We've been using that knowledge to guide our finite efforts to maximize produce available after the frost. Generally, fresh greens will continue to grow in the hoop house and caterpillar tunnels while we supplement them with crops pulled from storage. Our hope is to have a reasonable variety of crops on our market tables all the way through the off season. Ya never know though, whether the weather will wither our wishes. We've done a lot to prepare, and will continue to work our way through the cold. This time of the season is summed up for me with a particular image that's been frozen into my memory: seeing your breath in the cold morning air being illuminated by the light of your headlamp. It's a far cry from seeing paradise by the dashboard lights, but I'll settle for seeing vegetables by my headlamp light. If nothing else, it's a herald of change, and change feels more and more like accomplishment to me. Our watersheds may be divided, but our wills are united. Do as you will winter, and we'll do as we will.
To note:
Saturday Ann Arbor Customers! Ahoy! We are there! I don't know where but we will be there shining and vegetabling!
Our markets this week:
Wednesday: Ann Arbor
Saturday: Eastern Market, Ann Arbor, and Royal Oak
Recipe:
Cabbage can store for a long time under the right conditions, because of it's incredible storage capability it is one of the few green things that we can guarantee to have on on our market table during the "off" season. As such, I'm always on the look out for new ways to enjoy winter's most dependable green. My uncle Joe taught me this recipe years back and it has become a regular in our winter dinner rotation. I hope you enjoy this warming comfort food as much as we do!
Uncle Joe's Cabbage and Noodles
Ingredients:
- Cabbage: 1-2 small heads
- Oil or butter
- Salt
- Pepper
- Large shell noodles or egg noodles
- soy sauce
- chopped bacon
- crumbled sausage
- Cook 1 package of your favorite noodles
- finely shred your cabbage, drop it into a pan with hot oil, stir frequently
- add a dangerous amount of salt and an equally dangerous amount of fresh pepper
- The cabbage is done when it starts to brown, take it out and mix with your noodles
- drizzle oil over the cabbage and noodles to your tastes/financial restrictions
- This recipe is frequently done with some form of pork mixed in, but I think the fried cabbage and oil really do a more than adequate job scratching this guy's savory itch, to each their own though.
Food for thought:
With the looming cold weather we had to hit the brakes on planting the garlic. Bulk harvest has dominated our week in various forms, but once the preparations are done for the first real frost, we can get back on the garlic bandwagon. I'm really grateful that we seized the opportunity to work up the ground when we did (nice work Helen), now it's just a matter of finishing cracking the heads and getting those suckers in the ground. We're tired, please don't tell anyone.
Jim writing for the Lake Dividers: Helen, Lizz, Janet, Malcolm, Mattie, Cody, Sean, Alic, Doug, Kathryn, and Shana!
Good for the Earth, Good for the Farmers, Good for the People. The Trifecta of sustainability. Good for the earth: Taking care of the natural world is a important, after all, it takes care of us; Good for the farmer: We believe farmers should have livable hours and livable wages; Good for the people: We believe in food equality and bringing our produce to market at an affordable price and keeping it accessible is important to us.
- Looking to join our CSA or renew your membership? Find more details here. The basics? Open an account with us, get a bonus, and use your account to purchase produce with us at any of our markets. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to ask.
- We are accepting workshares both on the farm and at market. Please email for details.
Here are the other 5 caterpillar tunnels in our "downtown" fields. We incorporated some lessons from our attempts at winter greens production last year to make these tunnels more sturdy. 8ft T-posts at the ends anchor the plastic, and we doubled down on the ropes between the hoops. We bent our own hoops and cut our own rebar to cut down on cost. That scrappy approach enabled us to build 7 total tunnels this season.
All of our fields have names, some are funtional and somewhat unimaginative (midtown1,2,3, downtown 1,2 etc) while others have a little more flair. This field was named Asgard after the the difficulty of the journey required to reach it. It's a 10 minute hike SW'ly from HQ over dangerous terrain, and even than it can it only be accessed if the person seeking it truly believes that it can be found. Winter growing can be elusive
Fresh From the Field!
Greens:
Arugula
Bok Choy!
Collard Greens
Kale
Microgreens!
Mustard- Especially sweet this time of year
Radicchio- A delicious bitter green. Here is some info from The Spruce Eats. Great added to salads (our green variety is stand alone delicious). Ours are looser heads than you may have seen before, yet just as fantastic.
Salad Mix- the last week for a while
Spinach
Tatsoi
Tokyo Bekana! Loose leaf bok choy lettuce
Pea Shoots
Swiss Chard
All manner of deliciousness:
Broccoli- Last week
Brussel Sprouts!
Cabbage
Napa cabbage
Carrots- Rainbow and regular
Sweet Baby Celery- it is small but so, so delicous!
Bite sized celery root
Fennel
Garlic- For me, these juicy cloves go in just about EVERYTHING!
Kohlrabi- petite treats back along with the staple economy-sized.
Onions- All types, sweet and pungent, yellow and red!
Potatoes- May be limited
Fingerling potatoes- May be limited
Peppers- friers and bells- a few more weeks. Get 'em, freeze 'em, pickle 'em. LOVE THEM
Daikon Radish- White- Chinese type and the spiciest of the three, Purple, and green Korean daikon
Watermelon Radish
Sweet Turnips
Purple top turnips- Excellent for roasting!
Wintersquash! Delicata, dumpling, and acorn! Butternut Squash and pie pumpkins!
Herbs: Yet to be seen what herbs will be available.
Cilantro
Dill
Mint
Oregano
Rosemary
Sage
Thyme
Parsley Coming Soon:Rutabaga
Turnabaga!
This weeks Markets:
Wednesday: Ann Arbor
In the same location as the Saturday market, the Ann Arbor Wednesday Market is a little more laid back. If you don't want to fight the crowds. come out on Wednesday and take the chance to talk with all your farmers, chefs, and artisans.The Ann Arbor Market is located in the Kerrytown District at 315 Detroit St, Ann Arbor, MI Find us there May thru December, 7 am to 3 pm.
Saturday: Ann Arbor, Detroit's Eastern Market, and Royal Oak Market
The Ann Arbor Market is located in the Kerrytown District at 315 Detroit St, Ann Arbor, MI. The market runs from May thru December, 7 am to 3 pm and January thru April from 8 am - 3 pm.
The Eastern Market in Detroit is located about a mile northeast of downtown. It covers about 43 acres, bounded by I-75 on the West and Gratiot Avenue on the South. It runs year round from 6am – 4pm
The Royal Oak Market is an indoor market located at 316 E Eleven Mile Rd, Royal Oak, MI 48067. It runs year round from 7am - 1pm.
Greens:
Arugula
Bok Choy!
Collard Greens
Kale
Microgreens!
Mustard- Especially sweet this time of year
Radicchio- A delicious bitter green. Here is some info from The Spruce Eats. Great added to salads (our green variety is stand alone delicious). Ours are looser heads than you may have seen before, yet just as fantastic.
Salad Mix- the last week for a while
Spinach
Tatsoi
Tokyo Bekana! Loose leaf bok choy lettuce
Pea Shoots
Swiss Chard
All manner of deliciousness:
Broccoli- Last week
Brussel Sprouts!
Cabbage
Napa cabbage
Carrots- Rainbow and regular
Sweet Baby Celery- it is small but so, so delicous!
Bite sized celery root
Fennel
Garlic- For me, these juicy cloves go in just about EVERYTHING!
Kohlrabi- petite treats back along with the staple economy-sized.
Onions- All types, sweet and pungent, yellow and red!
Potatoes- May be limited
Fingerling potatoes- May be limited
Peppers- friers and bells- a few more weeks. Get 'em, freeze 'em, pickle 'em. LOVE THEM
Daikon Radish- White- Chinese type and the spiciest of the three, Purple, and green Korean daikon
Watermelon Radish
Sweet Turnips
Purple top turnips- Excellent for roasting!
Wintersquash! Delicata, dumpling, and acorn! Butternut Squash and pie pumpkins!
Herbs: Yet to be seen what herbs will be available.
Cilantro
Dill
Mint
Oregano
Rosemary
Sage
Thyme
Parsley Coming Soon:Rutabaga
Turnabaga!
This weeks Markets:
Wednesday: Ann Arbor
In the same location as the Saturday market, the Ann Arbor Wednesday Market is a little more laid back. If you don't want to fight the crowds. come out on Wednesday and take the chance to talk with all your farmers, chefs, and artisans.The Ann Arbor Market is located in the Kerrytown District at 315 Detroit St, Ann Arbor, MI Find us there May thru December, 7 am to 3 pm.
Saturday: Ann Arbor, Detroit's Eastern Market, and Royal Oak Market
The Ann Arbor Market is located in the Kerrytown District at 315 Detroit St, Ann Arbor, MI. The market runs from May thru December, 7 am to 3 pm and January thru April from 8 am - 3 pm.
The Eastern Market in Detroit is located about a mile northeast of downtown. It covers about 43 acres, bounded by I-75 on the West and Gratiot Avenue on the South. It runs year round from 6am – 4pm
The Royal Oak Market is an indoor market located at 316 E Eleven Mile Rd, Royal Oak, MI 48067. It runs year round from 7am - 1pm.
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