Wk 30 | Summer 12   CSA NewsletterTues | Sept 24
Tractor, Field, Hoops & Sky

Call/text Robin at 708-370-8017 if you have questions about your delivery tonight. 
Notes from Chris  


As we enjoy a week of perfect fall weather, you'll also be enjoying our last delivery of summer crops in our last box of the summer share. We've included most of what you need to make salsa, save garlic. We had planned to pack it, but our supply is particularly low this year after a couple rough years of garlic growing. We need at least 100 pounds of garlic to plant enough for next year, have only 150 pounds left, and so are putting on the brakes for now to assess the situation. It may turn out that we buy new garlic seed (which is just garlic) and change the variety we grow to a tougher, more northern adapted type. I'll have to figure that out by garlic planting time--late October for us. 

 
Mostly, these newsletters are about produce, weather/climate, and news from the farm. This week I'd like to focus on the people here who make things happen. Part of the reason I want to do that is that I'm finally, finally feeling as though we have the "family" necessary to make this farm the (economically) sustainable entity it needs to be so that I can live the sustainable life I want and need to live. Because farming doesn't pay well, and because farm work is something very few people in our culture aspire to, we have a very hard time finding long term, dedicated people who are willing to develop a professional attitude and skill set. After all, one can make more money in most any other profession with the same effort and skills, so why bother digging in the dirt for less? We all know the answer to that, but, when it comes down to it, money talks; if you can't pay your bills, it doesn't matter how much you otherwise like your job.

We've got a very good crew now. Not super experienced, but people with good attitudes who work hard, and many of whom are likely to come back next year. That is huge. Turnover and training kill us every year, and keep us in the ranks of McDonald's more than in the league of experienced professionals. This year, more than ever, I've focused on continuing to look for and hire more/new people, even when we seemed to have a sufficient crew. "Sufficient" ain't good enough, I made myself remember, and so I kept seeking out the best I could find. We need about 5 leaders/managers to be able to run the farm efficiently and allow me the opportunity to get away from the farm on occasion in summer. In 21 years of farming, I've had a total of 4 weeks away from the farm in summer. For someone who absolutely lives to backpack and see mountains and wildflowers above tree line in July/August, not ever being able to get away that time of year is excruciating.

Scott is our overachieving, hard-working, memory challenged, most experienced employee/field manager. He came to us last year, lives in the farm house, and had the greatest variety of responsibility of any employee--too much really; he could use some help--and I think it's on the way. Mark and Brady are the local people I've always wanted to find, but rarely do. Both were born and live in nearby Monticello, possess a great work ethic and multitude of skills, and have a great attitude about work and getting done whatever needs to get done. It seems there is a great chance they'll be back next year, and they will very much help Scott with everything from field/kitchen/information/ crew management to fixing a broken hose when necessary. Marie and her daughter, Sophie, are also from a nearby Evansville, have been our steadiest field workers all year, and are a beautiful, fantastic presence for all our crew. We've not had enough good women at the farm for a few years. They stuck it out early this year when they were the only women around, and that probably helped us a lot in retaining the next few hard working women we were lucky enough to attract. Now we've got much better balance and the crew is much better as result. Will, who worked with us last year, and his good friend Colin, have been the backbone of our CSA packing and delivery efforts all year. They oversee the packing of boxes, and have delivered them to Chicago every single Tuesday and Thursday since April. They also have been driving market tomatoes down to Chicago very early on Saturday mornings. That kind of stability is huge. Paul, who came to us full time in June, is our multi-talented bookkeeping, field-observing, information-managing, worker-managing freak of nature. He still has one year left on his contract as administrator of a local, alternative school. I'm working hard to get him to be one of our 5 leaders down the road when his obligation to his school is up. Ben is a young man who was with us a few years ago, has struggled and come out on top of some substance abuse issues, and turned out to be a fantastic field worker. He's picked and touched more tomatoes around here than anyone. Dawson gave up the chance to play Olympic hockey to do something she felt more productive and useful to the world, which for now means working for us. Next year she'll lead our seeding/ germination/heated greenhouse efforts and otherwise be a fantastic, energetic field presence with great energy and a great attitude.

That was the longest paragraph, and this is the longest newsletter, ever. I need to stop even though I've omitted a few important workers who haven't been here as long, but who are still very important and who will hopefully come back next year. Together, they comprise what I consider to be my family, and it feels better than ever. In fact, that last sentence made me cry. 
                                                                                                -- Chris  
Questions? 
Call Robin (in Chicago), 708-370-8017 | Chris (farmer/owner), 608-712-1585
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Click links below for info
IN THE BOX
 
Tomatoes
(Slicers and/or Romas)
Tomatillos | Onions
(Jalapenos 
and/or Anaheims) 

jalapenos red w/cracks
Ripe, red Jalapenos


WHAT'S COOKIN'

When the dust settled on our salsa-making for the season, we had enough tomatillos left to get some into the CSA boxes so you can make your own fresh salsa if you're so inclined. Here's our simple Roasted Tomato Salsa recipe to give you a start. And if salsa's not on your agenda, I'll repeat a tried and true recipe for Tomatillo Chicken Stew--a customer favorite. 
 
Chicken Tomatillo Stew




 
Extra Produce | Maple    Syrup Sunflower Oil 
Raw HoneyPastured    Chickens Organic Eggs 
Stone-Ground Flours, Corn Meal & Pancake Mix | Blue Corn Tortilla Chips Our Salsas, Soups, Preserves & More | Chocolate Sauce    Seasonal Cookbooks
 
Be sure to apply multi-jar discounts when you purchase our jars!
 
 
 
honey 1lb

sunflower oil 17 oz
 
   Tomato Mountain Farm  |  N7720 Sandy Hook Rd   Brooklyn WI 53521