Welcome to Harvest Week 16
Farmer John Writes: New Zealand and the Checkered Refrigerator

New Zealand was one of the 18 countries I toured with the film about my life and farm, The Real Dirt on Farmer John. One day, in Christchurch as I was walking on an errand mission, I ran into a young, wiry man who was conscientiously sweeping the sidewalk in front of a gardening store. He wore a black and white checkered vest. I said, “your vest reminds me of my refrigerator back home.”
He said, “I think I know who you are.”
I said, “You might.”
“You’re the guy in that movie.”
“Yeah, and your vest looks a lot like my black and white refrigerator back in Illinois,” I reiterated.

“Let me tell you something about myself,” he went on. “I was at an ashram for years. I was fanatical about my diet. I ate only vegetables and fruit, then only fruit, then only melons, then only muskmelons. I ate only muskmelons for two years.”
“You were a muskmelontarian, ” I offered.
He leaned into his broom and gazed at me. “My parents came to visit me and they hardly recognized me.  They were very concerned. I was mostly just a skeleton. They persuaded me to leave the ashram. I ended up going to Australia. There, I happened upon a meeting sponsored by the Weston Price Foundation and Sally Fallon. It was all about eating what our distant ancestors would have eaten, fermented things, dairy, and meat, lots of meat. It made so much sense to me. What had I been doing with my life, eating only melons?!”

He continued, “right after that, I became a full-fledged meat eater. I came back to New Zealand and I saw your movie. I thought, I’m going to use this movie to introduce people to healthy eating. So, I had a screening of your film for about 75 people, trying to help them get on track with their diet.”

Sally Fallon announced at the Good Food Festival in Chicago a couple of years back, “if my butter isn’t thicker than the slice of bread I’m eating, then I’m not getting enough butter.”

I remember several years back in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, when about 14 of us decided to go out for dinner. We’d get to a restaurant, and two people would object because of the flies. We’d get to another restaurant and someone else would object because there were no vegan dishes; another restaurant smelled of fish. This went on for well over an hour. Once, we even got all the way into the restaurant and sat down, and our water glasses were filled by the waiters, and two people decided that the vegan dishes were maybe going to be tainted with meat broth, so we all filed out of that restaurant. I was ashamed. It was all about the food, and not at all, it seemed, about us being together.

What people choose to eat, and often recommend that other people eat, is an interesting phenomenon. My wife Haidy and I met a vegan recently, name of Ashley. She had studied at a vegan-promoting institute for two years. Part of the curriculum was studying the many diets out there that do not promote veganism, studying the logic, the research, and the testimonials by people who allegedly heal themselves with fatty beef, organic salmon, or slabs of butter.

Ashley said, “there are a lot of diets out there that are hard to argue with. One of the hardest things in my course was seeing things from the other point of view.”

Haidy is on an auto-immune paleo diet designed for people with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Haidy reflected recently, “one of the worst things about this diet is how it limits social life, being out in the world, enjoying a range of food with others.”

Rudolf Steiner said, on this issue of the personalized diet, “the more we are compelled or advised to have some extra kind of food — or altogether anything special — the more unsocial we become. The significance of the Last Supper is that Christ gave the same to all of his disciples and not something special to each one. Making it possible to be together as human beings when eating or drinking has a great social significance, and anything that might tend to repress this healthy tendency should be treated with some caution.”

Makes me want to eat a cookie with my friend.

Please return your Vegetable Boxes and Mesh Bags to your Delivery Site. This helps the farm out a lot.

Shareholders Write
Hi Shelly,
I do need to say that this year’s boxes have been a lot of fun.  Last year’s drought was our first year and comparing those boxes to this year has been great.  You were able to pack the boxes very well last year (considering the circumstances).  But this year the size / quantity of the items has been…. just a lot of fun.
Thanks so much!
~Maria

The family has enjoyed these bi-weekly boxes, glad I heard about you.
~Kyle

Storage Tip
…I wanted to pass along to you and any other CSA members who are looking for ways to store their produce.  My husband and I invested in the Tupperware fridgesmart containers last summer and have had a lot of success with them keeping our veggies fresh much longer than they would otherwise.   We’ve had kale and other lettuces last the two week period between our deliveries!  Here’s the link about them:  http://order.tupperware.com/coe/app/prod_detail.show_detail?fv_item_number=p10048446000&fv_user=DIST
Thanks to you and all the farmers/helpers for all their work!
~Julie

The Weather This Past Week
Hot and rainy. Let’s call it balmy.

The Crops
Splendid fall crops, wherever we look: spinach, arugula, head lettuce, rutabaga, potatoes, parsnips… Your box will be very full for the rest of the season.

The Crew
My, do they get the work done!

Upcoming at the Angelic Organics Learning Center
Have you ever thought of starting YOUR OWN FARM?
Stateline Farm Beginnings Application Period Has Been Extended
The Stateline Farm Beginnings® Application and Information Packet for Year 9: 2013-2014 is still available and the packet is available online!
All SFB applications must be postmarked by October 4, 2013.
Our Stateline Farm Beginnings® program will help you build a strategic business plan and will connect you with experienced farmers in the CRAFT network. We are pleased to say that 72% of our Stateline Farm Beginnings® graduates are currently farming!
The information in this packet provides you with a draft program schedule for Stateline Farm Beginnings, graduate web pages, a list of the 2013 CRAFT Field Day workshops, the Land Stewardship Project Farm Beginnings® fact sheet, and an application form.
Please feel free to share this information. If you have any questions about the application or SFB sessions, please send an email to email hidden; JavaScript is required.

Box Contents
Please Note: this summary is written before you receive your box—please be aware that some guesswork is involved. As always, be sure to thoroughly wash all of your vegetables.

Salad Greens – Lettuce
Brassicas – Broccoli
Fruiting Crops – Heirloom Tomatoes, Sweet Dumpling Squash, Acorn or Spaghetti Squash, maybe Radishes
Root Crops – Potatoes, Beets
Cooking Greens – Pac Choi
Herbs – Cilantro
Alliums – Onions