Weekly
Weeder
Weekly
Weeder
Olin-Fox
Farms Volume No. 7 Issue No. 28 September 6, 2006
www.olinfoxfarms.com Summer Season Week 9
STANDARD REMINDER
Please be sure to wash your weekly share thoroughly before serving. To preserve freshness, it is NOT ‘table ready’ (i.e., pre-washed). We deliver your Olin-Fox Farms’ produce right from the fields to ensure highest quality.
This Week's News From the Farms
Well, with last week's fervent request for variations of the rain dances, could be that someone may have overdone it. With 9 3/4 to 12 inches of rain in some areas, to 60+ mph winds and the loss of power and phones, the Northern Neck was once again on its own. Pulling together as the community has done in the past, the last few days were reminiscent of Hurricane Isabel─with another tree down across the driveway, 8 to 10 more along one of our newly reopened nature trails, and the flooding in downtown Reedville. The Richmond Times Dispatch reported that the Northern Neck was the hardest-hit region in the State. Considering the enormous punch the storm did pack, I guess we were very lucky that feisty Ernesto was downgraded to a ‘mere’ Tropical Depression.
After speaking with the other growers, the overall assessment revealed structural and crop damage had been minimal, considering the severity of the storm. We'd like to add a special thanks to David and Carolyn Scarbrough for the use of their generator which kept our refrigeration units running and enabled us to extend the farm pickups for our members throughout the Labor Day weekend. We hope all of you weathered the storm as well and, with each one that blows through, we continue to explore more ways and proactive measures to help us become better prepared and to protect against loss and damage.
In other news, the CSA presses on. As promised, the series of Farm Profiles begins this week. These brief overviews will familiarize you with the farms in our CSA, beyond just knowing their names and locations. Of course, we hope to have expanded versions with pictures on the website … in due course. Stay tuned!
For our debut, this week’s inaugural farm profile turns the floodlights on Olin-Fox Farms, founded in the summer of 1997 by John Cooper, eventually to become the epicenter of the CSA. Although we began modestly with very few outlets for our crops, from the enthusiastic response we did receive, we were convinced people in the area would support a supplier of good, fresh locally-grown produce. Then, after 2 years of working various regional Farmer's Markets and with a couple restaurants and stores buying our produce on a regular basis, we discovered the wonderful CSA movement through the Internet.
Intrigued and favorably impressed with this concept, we launched our own CSA in 1999 [“forming a direct connection between those who work the land and the local community … putting the farmer’s face on food”] and, like many others before us, struggled for a number of years. We soon realized that you can't grow it all. We also discovered that, by spreading out the growing areas throughout the region, it would be less likely that all the crops could be adversely affected to the same extent by the typical challenging problems all small family-owned and -operated farms face, such as extremes of weather (drought, frost, hurricanes, etc.), plant diseases, and crop failures.
By 2004, we made the next logical, evolutionary step and started networking with other organic, natural and sustainable growers in and around the Northern Neck to form the Family of Fine Farms. Now, with more than 10 farms and independent fruit growers, we are able to offer more than 200 varieties of produce annually. The only exception to our “truly locally grown” produce is naturally grown citrus from Florida.
Olin-Fox Farms Membership Event: Saturday September 9th, 10 am to 2 pm.
Visit with members of our Fine Family of Farms, including Canning Farm who will have their "home-raised beef without added hormones, antibiotics, or feed additives” for sale. See the August 23rd edition, Vol. 6,
Weekly Weeder, September 6, 2006 Page 2
Issue# 26 of our newsletter for further details). Come visit us and the turkeys! Refreshments and light snacks will be served.
Locusville Plantation Music Festival
The Locusville Plantation 4th Annual Music Festival is Saturday, September 16, from 1 to 8 pm. For more information, contact Sharon and Miles Coursin at 804-462-0002, or Olin-Fox Farms at 804-453-4125.
Crop Report
The ravages of recent severe weather has seemed to run the entire gamut from drought to torrential rain and high winds. This week's share is lighter than previous week's bountiful baskets, but we growers are proud that we are surmounting the weather obstacles to provide you with your weekly share. Crops on the way out for this season are tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. Coming attractions soon to be making their way into your weekly basket feature such perennial favorites as green beans, okra, sweet potatoes, and apples. More varieties to be added in the coming weeks, to include lettuces, Arugula, and those peppery rascals super-high in life-force energy, radishes.
In Your Produce Basket This Week
Sweet Potatoes, Onions, Okra, , Green Beans, Garlic, Basil
For Those With Fruit Shares: Peaches
Recipe
My new favorite way to eat okra is so simple and easy that it almost can’t be called a recipe. All you have to do is wash the okra, put it in an oiled baking dish, sprinkle it with seasonings, and bake it. The beauty of this is that no cutting is involved, so you never come in contact with the dreaded slime! The okra come out slightly crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and they’re perfect finger food (like green French fries, but don’t use ketchup). Even people who say that okra is not their favorite vegetable will love these. For me they’re the perfect side dish or light lunch—super-easy, fat-free, and delicious.
Ingredients:
about
1/2 pound of small, whole okra per person
salt to taste
pepper
to taste
olive oil spray
First, start with the smallest okra you can find. Larger okra tends to be woody, which wouldn’t work in this recipe.
Preheat the oven to 450 F. Spray a shallow baking dish with olive oil, add okra, and season to taste. Give the okra one quick (1/2 second) spray with olive oil, and put them into the oven. Bake, stirring every 5 minutes, until okra is browned on all sides, about 15 minutes. Serve hot out of the oven.
You can also jazz these up with spice blends such as garam masala, curry powder, chili powder, Creole seasonings, or jerk seasonings—whatever your taste demands. But simple salt and pepper is amazingly good and allows the fresh flavor of the okra to shine through.
Newsletter
and Recipes by Ethan Brent, Official Newsletter Focalizer
Bon Appetit!