Summer Food

Summer on the farm is one of my favorite times. 

Not only is it hot as "balls" here, which I LOVE.

But it is also filled to the BRIM with fresh produce. 

YUM. 

This week is one of my "weeks off" where there are no campers asking me questions about the kinds of cows we have, or tugging on my sleeve asking me to go check out the goats with them. 

Unfortunately... living away from the farm for a while has given me limited knowledge about the names of the cows and the sex of the goats. 

Last week I told one of the campers that we had a cow named blossom, when really, that certain cow has been dead for over 7 years. 

Last week I also told a few campers that the goat Buckwheat that we fed every morning is a male. 

Good thing those campers weren't here THIS week to see Buckwheat the "male" give birth to TWO beautiful babies. 

Oops. 

Anyway, this week I have been making lunch. A lot of lunch. 

Every day the interns, farm owners and farm kids sit down to lunch together. Usually, each intern has a day that they cook for the crew. (about 15 people usually.) well, because I didn't feel like making tomato boxes for 7 days straight I made myself  a chef at every meal prepared this week. 

The sad bit is that I can't find my camera at the moment so I didn't get to capture any pictures of the incredible meals that I made this week, but I will explain a few of them for your drooling pleasure.

Monday:

Fried Green Tomatoes

Corn Chowder

Cheesy Bread

Lemon cucumber salad

Peach and Strawberry cobbler

Wednesday: 

Homemade tacos

Gazpacho

Watermelon fresca

Full belly farm beans

Rice

Peach salsa

Ice cream with frozen fruit toppings

Thursday:

Corn fritters

cucumber salad

Jalapeno poppers 

Peach salsa

watermelon, melon salad with mint

chicken salad

grape juice

... 

You get the point. 

Everything was the best I've every had. 

I love cooking with fresh produce that I don't have to pay for but sometimes have to pick.

I couldn't ask for a better place to be in the summer.

Because this post is missing some pictures I'll add some in... 

pictures of my farm. 

Some that you may have already seen, but I don't care. 

Bad roommate.

I've never had a bad roommate. My last two were pretty superb and even on this trip I have been blessed with friendly travelers and hunky Germans. So, last night was a new one for me. It was horrible. It brought back memories of living in the same room as my sister. But worst. It was a horrible, no-good, very bad roommate experience. Last night I was feeling very run down and crappy. I decided to call it a night at 7 and turn in with my oranges, tim tams and the hobbit. Well, about 10:00 my roommate... Let's call him Jo, came in and started to tell me all about his next adventure, which included traveling around the south island with his "Internet girlfriend" not making this shit up. It wouldn't have been a problem but then he tried to convince me to go with them to save money. After I politely declined, he started to watch shows on his lap top. Without ear phones. Then he left. And right as I was dozing off to sleep, he came back into the room with a steaming plate of food. The smell of which began to upset my already queasy stomach. Then the chewing began. No lie, he made his way through TWO ears of corn. The sound of munching could be heard through my I-pod. He finally got into bed. (oh, did I mention he took the top bunk above me... Even though there were two empty beds on the other side of the room. ) then around 1:00 I woke up from a restless half awake half asleep state to hear him climbing down the bunk, opening the window and a bunch of really heavy breathing. Well, at first I was just curious why he was standing behind the curtains with his head out the 6th story of a building. Then, our room began to smell like smoke. My roommate Jo was hanging out of our room, at 1 in the morning, smoking a cigarette, hiding behind the curtains. If that wasn't enough, his alarm went off at 5:30 and he began an hour long, LOUD process of packing up all of his gear. My dear roommate Jo is gone now. But I have a feeling that I will remember that little turd for a while.
Ahhhh hostels and the journey bring.
Anyway. Pictures. Here are some more updates. Xxoo

Eating local.

A Poem

 (sort of)

Define Local:

Local.
To me it’s always been to easy.
Eating food from a hundred mile radius?
Maybe for some…

But
For me it it was something different entirely.

 Local was about eating from one of the farms in my valley,

That way, not only would I know that it was local,
But I would know that it was grown well,
The workers were treated fairly
And the farmers lead good lives.

Eating local was more than about eating local food.
It was about supporting a local economy...

My family,
Making smart decisions about what I was putting in my body,
and
Putting those who I loved first.

Now that I live far away from my family’s farm,
The ideas I had around eating local food are beginning to slip.

Paying for enough food is becoming my first priority.
Convenience is beginning to trump sustainability.
And

It breaks my heart.

Food is becoming yet another thing that I treat with a rushed attitude.

'There is no time to go to the farmers market!' 

 I tell myself.
'Does it really matter if this apple isn’t local?'
I ask myself.

Will it really make a difference?
This one bite?
Does it really matter

If I go for

One meal?

One day?
One week?

One year?

Without thinking about the location my food was grown?


My friends do it all the time!
They buy bananas with out a care!
The munch on strawberries when they want, 

Not a fear in their mind about pesticides.

 Or the fact that they are out of season.

So, why must I be burdened with the idea 

That everything I eat is somehow connected

To a bigger picture?

That what I eat is

Somehow going to matter?

But then I remember…

The difference is I KNOW the difference.
I know it does matter.
Every bite matters. 

And 

 I couldn’t truly stop caring if I tried.

The fact that I can’t get a bowl of rice and chicken from Panda Express without wanting to cry…
Makes me realize I will always have a different connection with my food than most of the world.

I know a different way.
I know that it is possible if I try hard enough.
If I care enough.

So, that is my new goal.

Local.
From farms that I know.
Local.
Supporting a local restaurant, grower or baker.
Local.
Where I can feel safe and good about the food that I put in my body.

That is my new definition of local.

And it is one that I hope that I can continue to live by.

What The FFA Taught Me. A Rant.

 Dear FFA,
You should be happy that I didn't know shit about agriculture in High School or you would have had a MUCH bigger problem on your hands.
Love from, a very peeved past FFA member.


When I was in high school I was part of the largest youth organization in the nation. The FFA or, Future Farmers of America helps create leadership opportunities for individuals in high school. It is a great way to meet new people and helps to create leaders in chapters and schools around the United States. I was the president of our chapter, attended national conventions, state conventions and conferences around the state. I met new people and gained confidence in my speaking skills. In my small high school it is one of the only clubs available and continues to be popular among most of the students. Although I learned many valuable lessons about myself and feel more confident in front of large crowds because of the FFA activities I was involved in, I also have many complaints about this organization and because I didn't notice these as much while I was involved in the program... I am going to rant a bit and tell you some of the lessons I learned that now make my blood boil.

You see, while the FFA is an organization full of great leaders and strong individuals it also goes against most of my morals when it comes to ANYTHING to do with farming. This organization is supported and backed by companies that can control the information that the student leaders are taught, and then repeat to chapters all over the United States as the "truth" about agriculture and farming. This goes for agriculture teachers as well, although I was very fortunate to have open minded agriculture teachers in high school, I know that is not the case in most places around the nation. With large companies such as Monsanto and Bayers Environmental Science giving the students "plugs" on the great deeds that their companies are responsible for, it is only natural that students involved in the FFA only see large scale farming as the future of food.

While I grew up hearing my parents stance on subjects such as Genetically Modified Organisms and pest and weed control, in high school I never had the valuable information that would allow me to voice my own opinions. I want to make it clear now, that I do not take my views on these subjects from my parents. While some individuals follow their parents stances on politics and religion blindly from a young age, I knew that I wanted to have the resources and information in front of me before I came to any conclusions about what I believed. To this day, my religious views differ from my parents an enormous amount and I can safely say that my stand on farming hot topics are now backed with knowledge and my own personal beliefs.

So now,
In short blurb form because it's more fun and because this has been an extremely long post already...

THINGS THAT THE FFA TAUGHT ME. (THAT I NOW UNDERSTAND TO BE... DUMB)

You taught me that what my parents do, would not work to feed the hungry.

You told me that it is our responsibility as a great nation to feed the rest of the world.

You taught me that availability trumps sustainability.

You taught me that environmentalism and agricultural-ism can NEVER co-exist.

You taught me that bigger is better.

You told me that my families work was a joke.

You told me that animals were born to be slaughtered.

You taught me that the future of food could be thought up in a test tube.

You taught me that what you eat is not necessarily what you teach.

You taught me that to grow, government subsidies are the way to go.

You taught me that our farm workers are illegal.

You told me that rice, corn, and soy are the way to GrOw.

You taught me that feedlots are fine.

You taught me that pests need -isides.

You told me that seeds can be controlled, and owned.

You told me that THEY were the enemy.

You taught me that we need to inform the public.

Well- that's what I am doing. I am informing the public that there is another way.
Because, dearest FFA, as much as I am thankful for you, and for where you have gotten me...

I fear for the future of agriculture in your hands.

My connection to food.

In my Urban Garden class we were asked to describe our relationship/connection to food. Although my connection is much longer and fuller than what I wrote here, it had to be less than 400 words and this is what I came up with. 

My connection to food. 

I have lived on a 300-acre organic farm for the last nineteen years of my life.

The changing seasons have shaped me as much as they have the fruits.

I pray for rain, not because it makes me happy, but because I know it will make the plants grow.

I grew up surrounded by bounty, kindheartedness and sustenance.

I have studied the earth as much, if not more, than my textbooks.

I know what it means to live sustainably, to live naturally and to grow from the earth.

I am constantly craving strawberries, watermelon and cucumbers because I know how they are supposed to taste.

I know milk doesn’t come from a store, and believe it is my duty as an agrarian to inform others of that fact.

I am a farmer’s daughter, a future gardener and a current chef.

I love food and because of that, I know that I will always share a special connection to where it comes from. 

The earth is my home.