A Sample Newsletter looks something like this:

SYLVANUS FARM CSA NEWS Todd Elliott & Sarah Paulson 5980 Salt Lick Rd Burkesville, KY 42717 270-433-6068 cell 270-459-0992 sylvanusfarm@hotmail.com

Delivery Schedule, Saturdays; Nashville UU, Morgan House Lot: 9-10:30 am

SYLVANUS FARM DEFINED: SYL (as in Sylvia) VAN (as in our delivery vehicle) US (we who enjoy veggies) Sylvanus: “In Roman mythology, the divine protector of woods, fields, cattle, etc…his characteristics were very much the same as those of the Greek Pan.” –Bulfinch’s Mythology

WEEK #: 9

CLIMATE UPDATE: Our new life in the Dust Bowl; See Farm News Below

CHICKEN ANYONE? We are encouraging our interns to do a poultry experiment during the next couple of months. Leah and Rajesh will be raising a flock of meat birds in a mobile grazing unit they will build on our farm. We will take them (the birds) to a local processor and have them USDA inspected just as we do the beef. They will be grass fed with grain to supplement their diets, so will therefore be extra good meat. We expect these to be available in about two months. If you are interested in purchasing chicken, we are curious to know it. I estimate that the chickens will sell for about $2-2.50lb. Please mention it to us in the next few weeks if this sounds like something you would like to purchase from the CSA on a regular basis.

IN THE BOX THIS WEEK: Carrots Potatoes Beets Cabbage Green Beans Green Onions Garlic Summer Squash Chard Choice of: Fennel or Eggplant Basil Dill Cilantro Parsley

We had an informal carrot tasting in the garden this week to compare the heirloom and hybrid varieties in terms of heat tolerance. Of the three remaining rows, only one of them is coming to you this week. We have unfortunately determined that Scarlet Nantes and Nevis carrots (which were raved about in the catalogue) seem to turn to soap when exposed to warm temperatures. As with a fancy wine tasting- some choose to spit their samples. After one carrot (the Nantes) caused Rajesh to involuntarily spit his sample, we felt certain that his review would represent the group. So the hybrids actually won this tasting- but we will continue to test other heirloom carrot varieties.

RECIPES Another fennel idea; Last week I braised a fennel bulb in butter and white wine for about 15 minutes, then removed it from the heat and added fresh grated parmesan cheese and salt and pepper. It was delicious.

FARM NEWS

The garlic is finally all harvested and peeled. The tomatoes have been strung again and some of the onions are drying in the solar dryer we call the spring garden. A shade house structure made of cedar on the east side of our house is nearly complete and ready to protect the young fall crop seedlings from the summer sun. Compost has been spread on much of the fall garden and the melons and okra have been hoed. About 10,000 gallons of water have been hauled and dripped through gravity fed hoses to our thirsty plants.

This week we approached the final chapter of the spring garden with a perspective we have never had before. Most years, we would be so excited to begin harvesting and consuming the abundant summer fare that crops that have grown less appetizing (like soapy carrots, bigger beets, etc..) would be plowed under and be replaced by a temporary summer cover crop. This time, we harvested the remaining beets and stored the best in the root cellar. The rest of the beets went into a trench in the garden which can be dug up later to feed the cows. We plan to do the same with the carrots and will cover the trench in soil and straw. We plan to sell our bull soon and move up our appointment for the next beef we plan to process thus removing two of our mouths (big loud-mouths in this case) to feed.

Walking through the dusty ground looking for anything that might mean quality human or animal food gives us an interesting reflection on those who have suffered before us (like farmers during the Great Depression) or those who suffer now in the world in climates or with hazards far less forgiving than our own. We will likely continue to survive and enjoy most of the abundance to which we are accustomed. We will irrigate and we will likely be fed and so will you. Perhaps this dry time is very temporary and the dry June will give way to a wet July. Yet thinking about potential hardship is a very valuable insight. How can we reduce waste? How can we use the food we have, manage the water resources, help to support the needs our neighbors and larger community? Sometimes humans are best when we are in a crisis- such as the strangers faces that appear from nowhere to push your car on a city street during a blizzard. When a temporary crisis stretches into a longer period of suffering will our selfishness creep back? As the climate continues to change in ways that we cannot yet predict because of the actions of people like ourselves, will we meet this challenge and creatively use resources for the wellbeing of everyone?