Labor of Love

Turning on any radio station, news station, or social networking site you cannot escape hearing about the damage of Sandy. Our hearts go out to the areas most devastatingly effected by this super storm, as they are calling it. New Jersey in particular, the home state of some of us at Eight Mile Creek Farm.

Not nearly as damaging, but just as devastating, Sandy swept through Westerlo Monday night bringing with her fearsome winds. Nature can truly humble us when we witness how easily it can tear down manmade structures in nothing short of an instant. But with that humility comes great teachings on the importance of preparation, especially on a small business where the land is your income.

In the days before Sandy was to arrive, having learned from Irene just last year, we prepared for the storm as much as possible. It takes much more preparation than one might expect, having to secure structures, such as the high tunnel, greenhouse, and barns that we rely on for our farm production.  In addition, care must be taken to make sure all the animals have shelter or are in a safe spot, and have extra food and water.

In this week following  Sandy's wake of havoc we are all, more than ever,  aware of the destruction such storms wreak upon our world. I am sure everyone can understand from their own reference point how  frustrating it is to witness a storm like Sandy sweep through this country just a year after Irene, a storm we were told is a once in 500 years occurrence. All you can do is try to learn from the last time, which is why it was that much more unnerving that despite spending days earnestly preparing  for what you know could very well happen, you are still left  with significant damages.

But at Eight Mile Creek Farm we try to keep healthy minds along with our healthy soil, animals, and people. We want to inform our readers of the damages done and expenses amassed, but we also want to focus on the positive. Sandy without a doubt put financial strain on our small family farm, but looking past that we see that all our healthy animals survived in good form, we ourselves were left unharmed, and even the majority of our hardy produce survived the winds and rain. If we could not marvel at our Hon Tsai Tai, left still standing with its delicate yellow flowers intact, while our hay tarps, made to withstand varieties of weather ( not to mention that they were secured with wire), were ripped to shreds like a sheet of paper, then we may have long ago decided the challenge of farming wasn't worth the costs. But that is not nearly the case for us. The challenges are worth the end result. We are driven by these small miracles that keep the farm running, and reinforce our own beliefs in what we are doing.

What Sandy has taught us is that there will always be challenges presenting themselves on the farm; things most often out of our control. Whether it be tropical storms, blight, droughts, or any other weather pattern nature tosses our way, we will undoubtedly be faced with difficulties both seen and unforeseen, but from those challenges arise new lessons in preparation and prevention. Organic farming is an art where the farmer must be ever adapting.  And even in the face of total loss and destruction in storms like Irene and Sandy, we find ways to pull through and continue our mission. Our mission which we believe wholeheartedly in. Our mission to transform the broken food system we have created in this country, giving people the option to choose healthy foods from a sustainable system.

Below are listed a few of the damage costs accrued during Sandy. We have listed them simply to inform our readers about the unseen costs involved in an organic farm of our intimate scale.

Damage Assessment From Sandy:

·         High Tunnel: The West facing wall of the high tunnel accrued about $1,000 worth of damage, with winds exceeding 70 mph ripping the center zipper clear off, leaving it unrepairable and left open to the elements.

·         Hay Bales: Due to the inadequacy of the tarps designed to cover our hay bales and protect it from water damage, the hay was left exposed to the rain and wind for the better part of Sandy. The tarps, pricing at about $300 a piece, and covering almost $6,000 worth of hay meant to last into the winter to feed our cows, were affected. The tarps are virtually destroyed, being shredded at the ends, leaving it difficult to re-secure them again. Any wet hay is at risk of molding, potentially causing issues with the cows, not to mention the immediate loss in money with what hay will become unusable.

·         Greenhouse: The end wall of the greenhouse had shingles torn off, blowing out insulation and plastic.

·         Barn Roof: The shingles were torn off the roof, littering the ground below, exposing the interior to leaks.

·         Electricity: Some of our barns suffered loss of electricity.

·         Row covers: Our row covers were displaced and torn in the strong winds, leaving some unusable.

If there is one thing that farming has taught us, it is that when things are looking their bleakest, life has a way of turning around. Once again our faith has been restored and we have the courage to persevere.

Seasonal Farm Fresh Foods

     As we witness the annual transition of the seasons we never cease to feel the excitement of what change can bring. The coming winter months are, of course, associated with changes that bring challenges, but with these also come opportunity. The wonderful colors of Autumn have already befallen our lovely Eight Mile Creek Farm and just as swiftly dropped to the ground to give way to frost and freeze. What that means for us is not only colder and shorter days, but the start of our CSA four week season extension! This is the exciting opportunity of winter; that is, to see what Eight Mile Creek Farm can bring to the Fall/Winter table.

We encourage everyone interested or curious about our four week season extension to visit the official farm website, eightmilecreekfarm.com, and download a copy of the new Fall contract and see for yourself what a great opportunity this is! Winter may be settling in, but that does not mean you have to stop eating farm fresh foods!

     Through the use of our High Tunnel which provides protection against cold weather, or row covers in the garden which also provide cold protection to our crops, Eight Mile Creek Farm is able to continue producing cold tolerant varieties of produce. Many of these vegetables also keep extremely well in cool storage, making it possible to have fresh organic produce throughout the bitter winter months. Our four week season extension is one way to continue to take advantage of all we have to offer, and at the end of the extension Eight Mile Creek Farm provides monthly boxes of fresh foods! But there is one final option, and perhaps the best option! Visit us in person at Eight Mile Creek Farm and purchase our produce, meats, eggs, and other value added products directly from our farm. We truly and whole heartedly encourage everyone to come see where their food is coming from first hand. Our mission, aside from providing quality, healthy foods, is to inform and share the experience of our farm with anyone who wishes to take interest. We simply ask that you call ahead to confirm that someone will be around the farm to be your guide and assist you in purchasing our products! (The farm's number can also be found at our official website). Whether you wish to buy or simply take a look around, come over and see it all for yourself!

     One of the small blessings of joining a CSA, such as ours, is the opportunity to experience food according to the seasons again. Instead of eating foods all year long with no regard to their seasonality, (because the globalization of our world has made seasonality virtually obsolete) a share in our CSA (especially our fall/winter shares) gives you a chance to eat fresh foods that abide by the seasons. After all, it is a relatively recent phenomena that one can eat any other way than with what the seasons bring at any given time. And indeed many cultures still value the use of the seasons for defining their cuisine.

     There is no doubt an experimental component to eating with the seasons if you have become accustomed to yearlong availability of most things, however it can offer a chance to get creative in the kitchen! Weekly newsletters also give great recipes for that week's items, so there is no need to fret if you haven't a clue how to cook something!

     Unfortunately Westerlo has already experienced a hard freeze as well as a frost or two. As you may expect there is a noticeable change in the landscape of the farm for this reason. The frost has taken our tomatoes and they no longer hold a rainbow of beautiful heirlooms. Our Korean Perilla Leaves

pictured to the left have wilted into an unrecognizable form. The shining stars are now rows and rows of cold hardy greens, heads of cabbage, root crops, and winter squashes. It weighs heavy on the heart to say goodbye to the summer vegetables, but we take comfort in the abundance of winter crops and the promise of a renewal of growth come Spring!  

     On that note, what you can expect to find from us through this winter are turnips, rainbow carrots, Red Leaf Lettuce, Acorn and Butternut Squash, Korean Cabbage, Cabbage Rod, Baby Bok Choy, Daikon Radishes, Baby Red Onions, and other vegetables are expected to be ready! And as always Eight Mile Creek continues to have our certified organic meats and eggs available. We hope to see you all on the farm very soon!

Bountiful Tomatoes

     When is the last time you ate a conventional tomato, purchased at your local Hannafords, Shop Rite, Price Chopper, or other homogenized, standardized, predictable food store? Hopefully you have the luxury, and the taste, to purchase local organic tomatoes. Was the tomato red? Round? Maybe plum shaped? How about pink and yellow tie-dyed, black and red-orange, mahogany colored, or vibrant green and yellow? Chances are if you purchase conventional tomatoes you are  not only missing flavor from your tomato, but you are missing out on the chance to explore a world of tomatoes unknown to the average tomato consumer.

      As you know, Eight Mile Creek Farm is a diversified farm, and just a small sampling of this diversity can be recognized in the incredible variety of tomatoes alone. The colors, shapes, sizes, tastes, and names of the tomatoes on this farm are enough to keep you interested and excited from week to week.  It feels like falling into a child's fairy tale storybook where everything is unique and different than anything you ever experienced before, but satisfying in each characteristic they offer. While most people in the world today take advantage of just 150 different plant species for their daily nutrients, there are some ten thousand plant species which have been utilized by humans for food since the advent of agriculture (Costa 2010:92). So where are the other 9,850 plant varieties? This is why farmers such as Pam are crucial to preserving age old varieties that have been removed from the order forms of large food corporations. Chosen for their adaptability to long shelf lives, conventional plant species have been favored while heirloom varieties have been left to disappear just as those who farmed them before us. So through purchasing heirloom varieties you are making a decision to support biodiversity versus a homogenized monoculture. 

     This season has been particularly bountiful for the tomatoes on Eight Mile Creek Farm. It is not every year that we see such plentiful and beautiful tomatoes. The dry, intense heat of the summer we have experienced here in Westerlo, NY is less kind to the green crops, but as all things in nature have a way of balancing out, the tomatoes have really stepped up to the plate, so to speak, and offered themselves as an abundant crop of the season! Our tomato blessings of the 2012 season have been encouraged by this sort of weather. It allows for varieties, such as the heirlooms, which normally have a longer crop season, to ripen quicker and more fully, while reducing the risk of blight.

                Our heirloom tomatoes this season are exceptionally storybook like with their vibrant colors and phenomenal taste! We have seen the most beautiful array of Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Green, Japanese Black Trifele, Valencia, Striped Germans, Brandywine, and Indigo Rose tomatoes which may give the phrase "taste the rainbow" a new meaning. In addition to the heirloom varieties, Eight Mile Creek farm has bushels and bushels of Roma tomatoes, Tomatillas, and varieties of Cherry tomatoes, including grape, Tomatoberry, and Sungold cherry tomatoes.

      Flavor. If nothing else, these tomatoes offer its eater a truly delightful mouthful. Conventionally produced tomatoes have been picked before they are ripe and  forcibly ripened later down their trail to various supermarkets and food chains. Ethylene spray is applied to these conventional tomatoes to ripen them in large cold-holding units, manufacturing ripeness instead of letting them develop full term and produce the most flavor possible. For this reason, what you get when you bite into a non-organic, or at least non-local, tomato is a watered down semblance of what a tomato should be.  You will not miss the difference when you try a local organic tomato picked ripe from the vine. It's easy to forget that tomatoes do have flavor, and you will have lots of flavor with all our tomato varieties!

      When you hear the term "vine-ripened" it will take on a whole new aura when you understand the difference between a grocery store tomato and a locally grown, organic tomato from a farm such as ours. So next time you see "vine-ripened" tomatoes on a menu, take a minute to appreciate the natural order of things and the simplicity of nature's course. Whereas the tomatoes from Eight Mile Creek Farm travel within less than fifty miles, a corporate tomato, as Carol Brandt refers to this commercialized commodity, will cross not just town borders, but state borders, and very often country borders, giving a large timeline between when that tomato was picked and when it finally arrives on your plate. If you are interested in learning more about the life of a conventionally grown tomato and its implications for globalization and commercialization, Carol Barndt's book, Tangled Routes, is a wonderful source to pick up! 

      We here at Eight Mile Creek Farm hope you have all had the chance to indulge in the flavor and variety of this year's tomato crop! Here is one of our personal recipes for those lovely tomatoes:

 

Roasted Heirloom Cherry Tomato Soup

*You can substitute any type of tomatoes for this recipe

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 Spanish onions, peeled and halved

4 Lbs. cherry, roma, or heirloom tomatoes (about 6 1/2 pints)

8 cloves of garlic

3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt

freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup basil leaves

8 cups vegetable or chicken stock

6 oz goat cheese, sour cream, or fresh ricotta cheese

 1 oz. Balsamic Vinegar

Heat oven to 375°. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in large, heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Place onion halves cut-side down in skillet. Cook until caramelized, about four minutes on each side. Set aside 1/4 Lb of tomatoes for garnish. Place remaining tomatoes, caramelized onions and garlic on two rimmed baking sheets. Drizzle with remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil, or more as needed. Season with 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Place roasted tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil and chicken or vegetable stock in a large heavy bottomed saucepan. Simmer, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes. Puree soup in a blender in batches if necessary. Season with remaining 1/4 tsp salt and pepper to taste. Cut reserved cherry tomatoes in half. Serve in warm soup bowls garnished with goat cheese ( sour cream or ricotta if preferred), halved cherry tomatoes and a balsamic vinegar drizzle. 

*Refrences

Costa, Terma.

2010 Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat. Layton: Gibbs Smith.

Welcome To Our Diversified Organic Farm!

     Hello from Eight Mile Creek Farm, where we offer a world of benefits to our fellow eaters in Albany County and beyond! Welcome to our new blogging endeavor on the farm! Through this blog we hope to inform, educate, and perhaps entertain our readers with accounts from the farm. In effect, much like the farm itself, this blog will be a diversified (and perhaps organic) experience, offering news from the field, broader themes for consideration regarding local organic farming and the like, and other useful tips, recipes, and accounts of Eight Mile Creek Farm.
 

     Eight Mile Creek Farm is tucked away in the Helderberg Hills of Albany County, snuggled up against a backdrop of the not so far Catskill Mountains. It resides in the town of Westerlo to be exact. The farm takes its name from the creek which runs through the back portion of the property, the Eight Mile Creek. The Farm has been in operation since 2005, but the land this farm is managed upon and the surrounding area has a rich agricultural history that goes back much further! Pamela Schreiber McSweeney has revitalized the land which this farm sits upon, and has worked tirelessly to restore it to a working farm as it had been up until the 1950s. The original house and barns, which are still incorporated into the Eight Mile Creek Farm operation, were erected in 1835 by Dutch settlers. Like our farm today, the original owners of this land practiced diversified forms of farming. The importance of this land, this soil, is almost too great for words. We at Eight Mile Creek Farm believe that the soil is the foundation of the farm. Soil health is constantly improved upon. This is accomplished by rotation of livestock through the fields, cover cropping, composting, crop rotations and soil testing. This makes for the highest quality of grasses for our animals and the most nutrient dense vegetables for our customers.

      Pam has successfully obtained, and continues to maintain, her USDA organic certification, approved through the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA), providing quality and healthy foods for her customers as well as her own family. Using methods such as cover cropping, composting, and crop/livestock rotation, Eight Mile creek takes pride in its mission to restore and preserve the health of the land and environment, in addition to providing healthy foods to the surrounding communities. 

     Not only health and environmentally conscious, Eight Mile Creek Farm is committed to sustainable agricultural practices, focused on using nature as the model for the farm and reducing purchased inputs. Sustainable food and agriculture, according to Terma Costa (2010: 7), refers to "food and farming that doesn't compromise the production capabilities or health of future generations. Such systems take the natural world into consideration, and view the positive health of the environment (soil, water, air, flora and fauna, mammals, etc.) as critical to achieving a truly sustainable food system". So when you purchase from our farm you can be assured that everything has been done in full consciousness of the health and vitality of the environment, the animals of the farm (as well as the wildlife that is teeming from the land's natural forest growth), and those who come to enjoy our fine products!

     There are many things you will find on this farm, but equally important are the things you absolutely will not find in use. Eight Mile Creek Farm does not use synthetic chemicals, pesticides, hormones, medicated feeds, antibiotics, or unnatural practices for keeping livestock. Our cows graze acres and acres of our fields, kept on rotational schedules to allow natural re-growth of our fields. Our eggs are cage-free, and our chickens given only the best quality waters and feed. And our pigs...well they get to be pigs! With over 100 varieties of vegetables, melons, and herbs in our gardens in addition to our certified organic beef, pork, chicken, and eggs, we invite you to share in the bounty of this land and join our farm family!

     Applications for CSA share signups (or if you would simply like some further information on the CSA contract) can be found at the Eight Mile Creek Farm official website at http://eightmilecreekfarm.com. In addition, visit Pam at the Schenectady City Hall Farmer's Market on Thursdays from 9-1:30, or purchase Eight Mile Creek Farm chicken and eggs from Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany or the Niskyauna Consumers Cooperative in Niskayuna. For an alternative farm to plate experience check out the online farmers market, Farmie Market, where you can have Eight Mile Creek Farm CSA shares delivered right to your door! But most of all, to show your support for Eight Mile Creek Farm, visit the farm itself and start a healthy dialogue! Visit our onsite Farm Store  to receive continued benefits of fresh produce, meats, and eggs that will be sure to please and nourish you and everyone you share this alternative consumption experience with!
 

 Happy Eating!

* Refrences

Costa, Terma.

2010 Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat. Layton: Gibbs Smith.