LDF News: Farm Potluck on the 29th!

Weedy or not, these onions are going for it! If you can believe it, we have cultivated these 4 times, scuffle hoed them 3 times, and hand weeded them once. What?! How are there so many weeds? Well, we have generously been adding to the weed seed bank for several years. Add that to the millions of weed seeds that stay viable in the soil for decades and there you have it. 

All this physical weed management is one of the main jobs of the organic farmer. To do that without reducing soil stability is the key. This means to compensate for all this soil disturbance, we need to add lots of organic matter through cover crops and reduce tillage where possible.

I would love to go through and hand weed them one more time but we just don't have the time for it. I think we can manage one more tractor cultivation before we have to let the world have its way. Whether we pull that off or not, they have a good enough start to make bulbs. The weed competition will determine the size.

A close up of our thriving onions. I never feel like we have enough but when harvest time comes, we're up to our chins. If you are going to be up to your chin in a vegetable, onions are a good one. They are a good first ingredient to most sautees. 

This is a beautiful time of year on the farm. Things look a little more orderly before the weeds that survived the gamut grow to the tree proportions they prefer. The squash planting looks exceptional. And there are boatloads of squash on each plant. We are going to be stuffed with squash. 

While the cucumbers need to be trellised, they are doing great. Each plant is loaded with impending fruit.

The potatoes popped up in earnest last week, Now they are screaming to be hilled. Hilling also helps knock back the weeds, so that's good. 

Holy milk snake batman! Clare snapped this shot and she said this lengthy reptile refused to budge when she passed by. As a size reference, our bed tops are about 4' wide. So this snake, however improbable it seems as I type this, iss probably close to four feet long!! What an honor to share our home.

Milkweed buds. I love this plant in all its stages and forms. 

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Ahoy!

​​Who want to come out and see where your food is grown? Come out to our Farm potluck on Sunday, June 29th then! We haven't done it in years but we are aiming to this year! It won't be fancy but it will be as beautiful as the wild world. Please RSVP via this form to help us get an idea if you will be here. If you forget to RSVP, please don't let that keep you from coming. 

In other news, there is a green heron building a nest somewhere close by. We've hear its song (lol) and seen it flying by with nest material. And I think the crow babies hatched too. So lots of new bird life happening around us. 

All the cover crop we seeded is up and that is wonderful. I can't tell you how good it feels to be back on the cover crop train. These last few years, I couldn't quite get the timing down to get it right. It seems like, despite everything going on, this is the year for some things and for me, cover crop success is one of them. Thank you world. 

Hope to see you at the potluck!

Cheers,
Helen
she/her/hers

Potluck details!
Farm Potluck, June 29th!
Pleases come out to Lake Divide Farm and see where we are growing your vegetables. Hopefully most of the crew is here as well and you can meet the determined, lovely people doing the work. I haven't had a collection of people out to the farm for a long while and I am not the best host. What I know is that it's the people that make the party, so hoping you can come out, share a meal, and bask in the greatness of the summer light. 


Who is invited: Lovers of Lake Divide, along with their family and friends. It is a family friendly event!
No dogs please. I love them too.

Time: 4p to 8p
Address: 12638 Mount Hope Rd., Stockbridge, MI 49285
Parking: In marked areas. Carpool if possible.

Schedule:
Eating as hungry and as food arrives
Farm tour from 530p to 6p
Activities

• Bonfire
• Yard games
• Chit chat!
• Playing in sprinklers

What to bring:

• A dish to pass or beverage
• Your own bowl and cutlery- we will have paper plates and silverware available if needed (not to worry at all)

Things you may consider bringing:

• Camp chair
• Yard game
• kids bike
• Kids swim suit

Things to know:

• We are a working farm and have a lot going on! Kids should be attended.
• Stay on the two track and in the aisles.
• Don't go in the barns! They are not safe.
• There are great natural areas around here. Make a day of it and go to the Waterloo Recreation area.
• Stockbridge has a renowned "pump track" if you like to do that kind of thing. 
• Lots of great swimming lakes (Portage Lake, Silver Lake) and lots of great birding. 

 
In this email:

• Generally important notes
  • Farm Potluck June 29th at 3 pm! RSVP here!
  • Our crew slots are all populated now, but 
  • A link to our Stockbridge Community Outreach Project
  • Notes for members (or potential members!):
    • Find a copy of the 2025 membership agreement here.
    • Now offering $100 CSA memberships with a $10 bonus.
    • If you shop with us regularly, consider signing up for our farm membership (CSA). This is the perfect time to do it as it offers maximum support to us and the most opportunities to use your balance over the course of the year. 
    • Consider giving the gift of food to someone in your family or friend. It's a great gift for those that want to eat local fresh food but don't know how to get started. 
  • Here is link to our Social Justice page on our website. It is a list of resources to keep active in effecting positive social change. Keep your  chin up. 
• Fresh From the field
• Recipe: Roasted Hakurei Turnips and Radishes
• Member Info- 
  • << Test Your Balance >><< Test Balance >>

<< Test Special Note >>Fresh From the Field- 
Greens:
Broccolini
Head Lettuce
Kale
Micros: Types to be seen!
Pea shoots
Spinach

Herbs
Catnip!
Chives
Mint
Oregano
Sage

All Manner of Deliciousness
Green garlic
Kohlrabi
Potatoes from the Yoder's
Snap peas (limited)
Squash! (not yet!)
Spring Radishes!
Purple Daikon Radish
Sweet turnips
Purple Top Turnips
Zucchini

Coming Soon
Beets (?)
Cabbage
Parsley
Scallions

Farms we are collaborating with:
When something sold by us is grown by another farm, we will always label both to support them and so that you can make informed decisions. 

Not all the farms we are working with are certified organic. If they aren't, you better bet we know them well enough to trust their growing practices. This is both because we have asked them about how they care for their land and what materials they use, but also because we are friends. We have asked each other questions and shared information and resources over the years. We know most of them well enough to have had dinner together and to call to share family news. This collection of family farms are our community and our colleagues. We are proud to know them and to work with them. 

Almar Orchard, Flushing, Certified Organic
Cinzori Farm, Ceresco, Certified Organic
HillTop Greenhouse and Farms, Ann Arbor. They supply the eggs from free range, happy chickens.
Jacob's Fresh Farm, Dexter
Sunnyside Produce, Homer, Certified Organic
Titus Farms, Leslie 
Yoder Farms, Leslie

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Roasted Hakurei Turnips and Radishes

From Just a little bit of Bacon

Sweet Hakurei turnips and young radishes are tossed with olive oil and roasted with their greens in this simple and satisfying side dish.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch radishes
• 1 bunch Hakurei turnips, or other mild salad turnips
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

1. Move the rack in the oven to the lower middle position. Place the roasting pan in the oven.
2. Preheat oven to 425F.
3. Slice the greens off the turnips and radishes.
4. Scrub the turnips and radishes well to remove all the dirt and grit from the vegetables, and rinse the greens repeatedly until they are grit free. If you left a little bit of the stem on the radishes and turnips, make sure you clean around it well since dirt collects there. I find scraping around the stem as I wash cleans it up nicely.
5. Cut the turnips and radishes into wedges. Halve the small ones, and quarter or sixth the larger ones.
6. In a large bowl, toss the vegetables with 2 tbsp of olive oil and 1/2 tsp of salt. Pour the vegetables into the roasting pan, arranging them so most have a flat side down in the pan.
7. Roast for 15 minutes, stirring and turning the vegetables at 7 minutes.
8. Dry the washed greens to remove most of the water. Roughly chop the greens into bite-sized pieces, then toss them in the large bowl with the rest of the olive oil and the salt.
9. Pull the roasting pan out of the oven, turn and stir the vegetables again and then make a space for the greens. Spread out the greens in the space and return the pan to the oven.
10. Roast for 5 minutes more

Notes

• What is a bunch? One bunch is about 1/2 - 3/4 of a pound of turnips or radishes.
• Choosing the Produce: Try to pick bunches with nice, green leaves since you will be eating them as well. Pick through the leaves once you have cut them from the vegetables and remove any yellow or brown leaves.
• Crispier Veggies: If you want the vegetables and greens even darker and crispier, roast for 2-3 minutes more, but watch the pan carefully since they can go from beautifully brown to burnt rather quickly at this point.
• Doubling: To double the recipe, use two roasting pans so you don't crowd the vegetables.