I haven't written in a while, last week was pretty crazy. I spent this evening making pastas, cutting up melons (which were either cracked or partially moldy on the outside - I told you that farmers keep the imperfect stuff for themselves), and making pumpkin bread. During this time, I had a lot of thinking to do, but my mind kept revolving back to this idea of patience.
Patience is required on a farm. Patience for late spring so the fields can be tended, patience for the last frost so the fields can be planted. Patience for rain, or patience for heat. Even more patience for when the food will be ready. Trust me, when you look into a field and see acorn and butternut squashes, melons and corn, things that take awhile to ripen, it is so hard not to go pull one off the vine (or husk), cook it, and gobble it up. But it won't be good, the flavor will be missing, the quality not there. It won't be everything that you picked it for, because in farming, it takes time, and though patience isn't always easy, the fruits of your labors are worth it.
Well, lately, I've noticed a strong sense of losing my patience. I have no patience for other people (that was evident in the last farmer's market post), no patience for myself, and a lack of patience for my husband. As I looked back and read my last farmer's market post, I realized I wasn't being patient with people. You see, my wise father-in-law told me that instead of getting frustrated, I should take the time to educate people about why our food is more expensive and why it is important that they eat organic, sustainably grown food. I realized I wasn't giving the people of Green Bay time to realize how important it is to eat local, delicious, biological food. I mean, we don't live in San Francisco - it takes time to change. Well, last week, I decided to take really take on this patient and educational approach.
A woman came up to me and asked about our Swiss Chard - she had heard about it on Dr. Oz. I explained how delicious it is, and some various ways to use it in recipes. She asked how much for a half-pound bag, and I responded "$3.75." She said, "Wow, really, is it worth that?" That was my chance - the door was opened. I explained the price, and also explained how most greens, like Swiss Chard, kale, and lettuce, are very vulnerable to pesticides and chemicals, as they are absorbed right into the leaf - it can't be washed away. I tried my best to be sincere and patient, and thought I did a good job. Well, when I finished my little speech, she said, "Well, Dr. Oz recommended eating Swiss Chard, but he never said a word about it being organic or local, so I'm going to pass." While it was tempting to shake my head in frustration, I didn't. I decided to stay patient - because maybe in a week she will come back. And if not, at least she will eat non-organic Swiss chard, which is better than eating no greens at all.
I also haven't been very patient with Luke lately. I have been jumpy and over-reactive, largely because I'm stressed from combining the work of farming, and school (especially when adding an AP course). Luke wasn't ready to leave at the time I had told him because he needed to check the greenhouse and feed the chickens - I was so frustrated because in my mind, we were running late, again. However, I know in my heart that I need to be patient because he is working so very hard for us, and I need to appreciate that.
I am trying to take a new initiative - a call for patience - in my work, on the farm, and in my marriage. Just as I must be patient for the underside of the acorn squash to turn orange before picking it, I must learn that not everything can happen at the moment I demand it, and that in life, most things are worth the wait!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
That's right...keep walking.
Just got home from the farmer's market - sitting down with a nice, stiff mixed drink and going to do a little blogging. Tonight was alright at market, but alas, I must vent - because tonight people drove me nuts.
You see, at farmer's markets, you are trying to sell your food. I know, mind-blowing. But seriously, the pricing varies from vendor to vendor, but the goal is to sell your delicious-home grown, local produce to the people of the area. As farmers, we aren't out to get anyone or rip anyone off - but rather, to sell the food that we (well more Luke) grew. Now with any farmer's market, the customers are going to compare your food to others, and I get that. Not an issue. But some people have a way of throwing in these comments and remarks that just drive me absolutely bonkers.
Lesson 1: yes, prices vary, but you don't need to be rude about it. Case in point: the little old lady on the scooter. While she hasn't visited us in a few weeks, she stopped by every week last year, and the better part of this summer so far. She seems like she will be a sweet old lady, pulling up in her scooter. But every week, it is the same story. She asks us about one item, typically the fruit. Last year it was the blueberries, every single week of August. She says, in a raspy voice, "how much for the blueberries," and I reply (so sweetly and innocently, of course), "$3.00/pint." Her response is so identical each week that it is almost comical, almost. She would take her left hand off the scooter handle, wave at me, scoff, say "too much" and drive away quickly. It takes so much will-power in my body to not yell out to her when she drives up "mam...everything we sell is too much - keep moving." Anyway, I don't do that, every week I just smile and say "$3.00/pint."
To continue lesson 1, I must stay that our food is produced organically (though not certified organic), and this does make prices higher because it is more expensive to produce and more time-intensive. However, the added cost will pay off in the long run because of the decreased health issues in the future (I firmly believe this). Regardless, several people a night will comment on or scoff at our prices, and after awhile, it gets old! Last week, one lady came up and said something along the lines of "Are you kidding me? 75 cents for a cucumber, that is ridiculous." I thought Luke was going to jack her in the face, I had to hold him back! No, I'm kidding, but seriously, when she walked away, he said to me, "I'm so sorry, I'll give it to you for a quarter. I can sell 4 of them and have a whole dollar! Seriously, its like, hello, trying to make a living here." And that is just it - 75 cents for a cucumber isn't that much. We have to sell a lot of them at that price even to get it to add up. I will let you in on a little secret - farmers are not rich. I know, shocking, but true. So it would be awesome if people would just have some understanding for the work that we do and the hours we spend busting our butts in the heat so that they may enjoy a few cucumbers.
Alright, so you may be reading this and thinking, what is this chick complaining about - people have the right to comment on prices. Well, yes, they do, but people also have the right to carry concealed weapons in some states. Just because you have the right, doesn't mean you necessarily should. It really does get old. One lady came up to buy zucchinis, and said "2 for $1.50? You can get them 2 for $1.00 down the road." I responded with, "well, then you just walk on down the road and buy those." She looked at me like I was a bitch, and walked away. I couldn't really believe that I had said it, and Luke was like "did you really just say what I think you said?" I apologized, but he didn't care, he said that if he had more balls he would respond like that to people as well. It wasn't necessarily the nicest thing to say, but it did feel good.
The next part you need a little background information on, and that is, farmers really only want to sell high-quality food. Trust me, Luke brings in piles of vegetables for me to use that don't meet the quality requirements, so I get bunches of deformed carrots, mangled beets, green potatoes, mushy strawberries. However, no matter how cautious you are, sometimes, an imperfect fruit or vegetable may sneak through. Last year, in September, we were selling our watermelons. We had eaten several of them, and so had my parents - they were all delicious. At the farmer's market, we cut one in half so people could see how deliciously ripe that they were. We sold a lot of watermelons. Well, one couple came marching up with a watermelon that we had sold them, and it was white and pink on the inside, not ripe at all. This was an honest mistake - typically if some of the patch are ripe, then they all are. Well, this couple was irate and they weren't afraid to show it. It was like they thought that we had purposely only cut the one ripe watermelon in half and that we had x-ray vision to see into the other un-ripe watermelons, know they weren't ripe, and then intentionally rip people off. Even after we gave them a refund, they were not satisfied. They had to be inconvenienced to drive back down there, return the watermelon, and waste their time (which they didn't seem to notice that they themselves were doing as they were ripping us a new one). So, lesson 2 - forgive the farmers if your produce might not be perfect - trust me, the mistake was not intentional.
Anyway, I just needed to blog about this because my frustration was mounting every time people complained or gave me a snarky comment. Now that I have it off my chest, I can start fresh next week, put on my smile, and say, "Yes, they are 75 cents each, but I promise you, they are worth it."
You see, at farmer's markets, you are trying to sell your food. I know, mind-blowing. But seriously, the pricing varies from vendor to vendor, but the goal is to sell your delicious-home grown, local produce to the people of the area. As farmers, we aren't out to get anyone or rip anyone off - but rather, to sell the food that we (well more Luke) grew. Now with any farmer's market, the customers are going to compare your food to others, and I get that. Not an issue. But some people have a way of throwing in these comments and remarks that just drive me absolutely bonkers.
Lesson 1: yes, prices vary, but you don't need to be rude about it. Case in point: the little old lady on the scooter. While she hasn't visited us in a few weeks, she stopped by every week last year, and the better part of this summer so far. She seems like she will be a sweet old lady, pulling up in her scooter. But every week, it is the same story. She asks us about one item, typically the fruit. Last year it was the blueberries, every single week of August. She says, in a raspy voice, "how much for the blueberries," and I reply (so sweetly and innocently, of course), "$3.00/pint." Her response is so identical each week that it is almost comical, almost. She would take her left hand off the scooter handle, wave at me, scoff, say "too much" and drive away quickly. It takes so much will-power in my body to not yell out to her when she drives up "mam...everything we sell is too much - keep moving." Anyway, I don't do that, every week I just smile and say "$3.00/pint."
To continue lesson 1, I must stay that our food is produced organically (though not certified organic), and this does make prices higher because it is more expensive to produce and more time-intensive. However, the added cost will pay off in the long run because of the decreased health issues in the future (I firmly believe this). Regardless, several people a night will comment on or scoff at our prices, and after awhile, it gets old! Last week, one lady came up and said something along the lines of "Are you kidding me? 75 cents for a cucumber, that is ridiculous." I thought Luke was going to jack her in the face, I had to hold him back! No, I'm kidding, but seriously, when she walked away, he said to me, "I'm so sorry, I'll give it to you for a quarter. I can sell 4 of them and have a whole dollar! Seriously, its like, hello, trying to make a living here." And that is just it - 75 cents for a cucumber isn't that much. We have to sell a lot of them at that price even to get it to add up. I will let you in on a little secret - farmers are not rich. I know, shocking, but true. So it would be awesome if people would just have some understanding for the work that we do and the hours we spend busting our butts in the heat so that they may enjoy a few cucumbers.
Alright, so you may be reading this and thinking, what is this chick complaining about - people have the right to comment on prices. Well, yes, they do, but people also have the right to carry concealed weapons in some states. Just because you have the right, doesn't mean you necessarily should. It really does get old. One lady came up to buy zucchinis, and said "2 for $1.50? You can get them 2 for $1.00 down the road." I responded with, "well, then you just walk on down the road and buy those." She looked at me like I was a bitch, and walked away. I couldn't really believe that I had said it, and Luke was like "did you really just say what I think you said?" I apologized, but he didn't care, he said that if he had more balls he would respond like that to people as well. It wasn't necessarily the nicest thing to say, but it did feel good.
The next part you need a little background information on, and that is, farmers really only want to sell high-quality food. Trust me, Luke brings in piles of vegetables for me to use that don't meet the quality requirements, so I get bunches of deformed carrots, mangled beets, green potatoes, mushy strawberries. However, no matter how cautious you are, sometimes, an imperfect fruit or vegetable may sneak through. Last year, in September, we were selling our watermelons. We had eaten several of them, and so had my parents - they were all delicious. At the farmer's market, we cut one in half so people could see how deliciously ripe that they were. We sold a lot of watermelons. Well, one couple came marching up with a watermelon that we had sold them, and it was white and pink on the inside, not ripe at all. This was an honest mistake - typically if some of the patch are ripe, then they all are. Well, this couple was irate and they weren't afraid to show it. It was like they thought that we had purposely only cut the one ripe watermelon in half and that we had x-ray vision to see into the other un-ripe watermelons, know they weren't ripe, and then intentionally rip people off. Even after we gave them a refund, they were not satisfied. They had to be inconvenienced to drive back down there, return the watermelon, and waste their time (which they didn't seem to notice that they themselves were doing as they were ripping us a new one). So, lesson 2 - forgive the farmers if your produce might not be perfect - trust me, the mistake was not intentional.
Anyway, I just needed to blog about this because my frustration was mounting every time people complained or gave me a snarky comment. Now that I have it off my chest, I can start fresh next week, put on my smile, and say, "Yes, they are 75 cents each, but I promise you, they are worth it."
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Excuse me - what do I have to clean off the eggs?!?!
There are just some lessons that you need to learn as a farmer's wife. Some come harder than others. Now, I learned this lesson a while ago, but I never posted about it, because it might be a tough lesson for the readers as well. So, brace yourself, this one might be tough for some of you to swallow (kind of like finding out the ingredients in a hot dog).
Having chickens is fun - it is great, actually. Fresh eggs are so much better than store-bought eggs, there is just something about them. They are healthier too. Here is a fun fact for you! Look at the color of the yolk on your eggs - the paler yellow it is, the more cholesterol the yolk has, and the less healthier the egg. Our chicken eggs, when we crack them open, have a deep yellow orange yolk. That means the chickens are healthier! You see - our chickens are pasture-raised, so they move around more, and they eat stuff off the ground, like grass, or other veggies that we give them, and bugs, or even mice! This varied diet and exercise is so good for them, and then it makes their eggs healthier too. Next time you crack an egg open, check out that yolk - it is your own indicator of the quality of the egg. Deep orange/yellow is what you are looking for.
Now, off that tangent - the lesson. I'm a biology teacher, and in college, I learned that chickens only have one orifice (or opening) where materials exit their body, called the cloaca or vent. It is the only opening that materials exit a bird's body. I never really thought about this, until I started living on our farm. You see, that means, the opening that the eggs come out of, is also the opening that the bird's wastes come out of. To put it shortly, there is typically a little "poo" on the eggs!
You learn this lesson when you first go to take the eggs out of the coop, and they aren't very clean. Now, stop right there, don't let your imagination get the best of you - it's not like they are completely poop-covered eggs. But, there is little bits, here and there. Now, some eggs are spotless, you know its a good day when the eggs are all clean. But, others, require a little cleaning.
When we first had chickens, Luke would clean all the eggs up - and he was good at it! Now, I frequently here the statement, "Mel, can you go clean the chicken eggs for me?" Oh brother, it isn't fun. Scrubbing poop off an egg probably isn't any one's idea of a good time. A lot of industrial companies bleach the eggs, but this isn't good for the egg- because egg shells are porous membranes, which means chemicals can go in (or out). Plus, bleaching the egg starts to break down the shell, hence, it gives the eggs a shorter shelf-life. No, the best way to clean an egg is to just use good old-fashioned paper towel, water, and a little scrubbing power.
Well, sometimes I am a little over-zealous with my scrubbing, and I make a mistake. For example, today, there was one pretty dirty egg, and I had it almost spotless, one tiny more spot. And then, I pushed to hard and broke the egg into pieces - it is very frustrating! That happens rarely though, and it is all part of the business I suppose. But still, cleaning eggs isn't the funnest thing in the world.
And since I'm talking about eggs, I'm going to go ahead and give you another little fun fact! Eggs do not need to be refrigerated when they are fresh! We take them out of the coop and put them on our counter! They are just fine this way - nothing wrong with it! They stay very good! People are used to having them refrigerated, so they think it is gross. But, refrigerating eggs actually decreases the shelf life! Once they are refrigerated, they have to stay that way! So don't go taking your eggs out of the fridge - but if you ever go buy eggs from a farm, don't be freaked out if they aren't in the fridge, because they don't need to be. And, peeling farm-fresh hard-boiled eggs can be difficult, so the best thing to do is put a tiny bit of vinegar in the boiling water. Then, they peel like a charm!
Alright, some of you may be reading this and still can't get over the fact that bird feces is on eggs. But don't get all freaked out and over-react - you have been eating eggs your whole life probably, and it never bothered you before, in fact, you never knew. You learn something new every day. It is all part of the natural process of life, and the eggs are all cleaned when you get them, so there is nothing to worry about. In fact! We rarely clean the eggs we use - you crack them and compost the shell anyway, so there is no reason for us to clean them up (unless there is hay on them, we take that off). So, if I could get used to this, you should all be able to! Just being thankful you aren't the person cleaning them...
Having chickens is fun - it is great, actually. Fresh eggs are so much better than store-bought eggs, there is just something about them. They are healthier too. Here is a fun fact for you! Look at the color of the yolk on your eggs - the paler yellow it is, the more cholesterol the yolk has, and the less healthier the egg. Our chicken eggs, when we crack them open, have a deep yellow orange yolk. That means the chickens are healthier! You see - our chickens are pasture-raised, so they move around more, and they eat stuff off the ground, like grass, or other veggies that we give them, and bugs, or even mice! This varied diet and exercise is so good for them, and then it makes their eggs healthier too. Next time you crack an egg open, check out that yolk - it is your own indicator of the quality of the egg. Deep orange/yellow is what you are looking for.
Now, off that tangent - the lesson. I'm a biology teacher, and in college, I learned that chickens only have one orifice (or opening) where materials exit their body, called the cloaca or vent. It is the only opening that materials exit a bird's body. I never really thought about this, until I started living on our farm. You see, that means, the opening that the eggs come out of, is also the opening that the bird's wastes come out of. To put it shortly, there is typically a little "poo" on the eggs!
You learn this lesson when you first go to take the eggs out of the coop, and they aren't very clean. Now, stop right there, don't let your imagination get the best of you - it's not like they are completely poop-covered eggs. But, there is little bits, here and there. Now, some eggs are spotless, you know its a good day when the eggs are all clean. But, others, require a little cleaning.
When we first had chickens, Luke would clean all the eggs up - and he was good at it! Now, I frequently here the statement, "Mel, can you go clean the chicken eggs for me?" Oh brother, it isn't fun. Scrubbing poop off an egg probably isn't any one's idea of a good time. A lot of industrial companies bleach the eggs, but this isn't good for the egg- because egg shells are porous membranes, which means chemicals can go in (or out). Plus, bleaching the egg starts to break down the shell, hence, it gives the eggs a shorter shelf-life. No, the best way to clean an egg is to just use good old-fashioned paper towel, water, and a little scrubbing power.
Well, sometimes I am a little over-zealous with my scrubbing, and I make a mistake. For example, today, there was one pretty dirty egg, and I had it almost spotless, one tiny more spot. And then, I pushed to hard and broke the egg into pieces - it is very frustrating! That happens rarely though, and it is all part of the business I suppose. But still, cleaning eggs isn't the funnest thing in the world.
And since I'm talking about eggs, I'm going to go ahead and give you another little fun fact! Eggs do not need to be refrigerated when they are fresh! We take them out of the coop and put them on our counter! They are just fine this way - nothing wrong with it! They stay very good! People are used to having them refrigerated, so they think it is gross. But, refrigerating eggs actually decreases the shelf life! Once they are refrigerated, they have to stay that way! So don't go taking your eggs out of the fridge - but if you ever go buy eggs from a farm, don't be freaked out if they aren't in the fridge, because they don't need to be. And, peeling farm-fresh hard-boiled eggs can be difficult, so the best thing to do is put a tiny bit of vinegar in the boiling water. Then, they peel like a charm!
Alright, some of you may be reading this and still can't get over the fact that bird feces is on eggs. But don't get all freaked out and over-react - you have been eating eggs your whole life probably, and it never bothered you before, in fact, you never knew. You learn something new every day. It is all part of the natural process of life, and the eggs are all cleaned when you get them, so there is nothing to worry about. In fact! We rarely clean the eggs we use - you crack them and compost the shell anyway, so there is no reason for us to clean them up (unless there is hay on them, we take that off). So, if I could get used to this, you should all be able to! Just being thankful you aren't the person cleaning them...
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