Is This Farming?

Hello friends!

I’m only writing a short portion of the weekly email because I’m all taped and gauzed up. I’m sure you’re just dying to know why, right? OK, I’ll tell you. It’s a bad case of poison ivy. I am pretty darn allergic to it. In nature, there’s a word for sensitive people like me: dead. I mean really, if it weren’t for modern living standards, I’d have been left behind as the tribe forged ahead into new territory very early in life.

And it turns out that little Ben is also quite allergic to poison ivy. (I’ve passed along my sensitive skin to Ben and my sneezy allergies to Noah. I’m so generous.) So anyway, Ben picked up poison ivy last week only to turn into Quasimodo just in time for our oh-so-special Day Out With Thomas (the Tank Engine) event with grandma and grandpa. Yep. Ben’s face swelled up to the extent that he could hardly see out of his right eye. It totally changed his look – now we know what he’ll look like if he ever puts on too much weight!

So the doctor hooked him up with some steroids. I’m usually pretty conservative about medicine, preferring to suffer. But with a 4-year-old, it’s completely unreasonable. He couldn’t sleep (thus, nor could I!) for 3 nights because of the itching. Benadryl did nothing for him. Post-steroids he got better rather quickly, although not in time for the Thomas thing. (He was an unbearable crab ALL DAY.) By the way, it was an awesome event – I’d HIGHLY encourage you to check it out next year. It’s in Union, Illinois at the Illinois Railway Museum, which itself is awesome. They have so many working trains, from electric street cars to Metra-style double deckers. And the Thomas train that they brought in was great. Although there were thousands of people/kids/strollers there, it did not feel crowded or unpleasant.

That’s that. I’m going to turn it over to Bill now while I let the effects of Benadryl x2 + beer take hold. I plan to sleep well tonight! And here’s Bill …

Ben replaced Noah as the miniature farmhand this week because Noah’s now in kindergarten. It was nice to have Ben help. He talked non-stop all day long and in the process said a few funny things. He got to use hand shears after he told me, “Daddy, I’m 4 years old. That’s old enough to use the clippers.” He used them for his first time harvesting basil. When we were done harvesting the basil, he looked at me and said “Daddy, is this farming?” I assured him that we were indeed farming, and he seemed to be very happy about that. Ben also got to see a locust emerging from its shell (if that’s what it’s called!).

Noah had his first day of kindergarten today. We all rushed up to the bus and I took pictures of him getting on for the first time. Mercy looked in at all the kids on the bus and realized that we were playing the part of the dorky parents escorting their capable child onto the bus. The bus driver thought it was funny, though.

We will be bringing Bartlett Pears and Asian Pears this week along with our Russian Osh Kirgizia watermelons. If we have time to pick them, we will also be bringing in some grapes. They are deep purple wine grapes and they do have seeds, but they also taste really good. The purple skin and the gel around the seeds help make them a nutritious snack.

I started to water yesterday with my new high flow drip tape. I managed to get a few newly seeded beds of radish, arugula, lettuce, choi, and turnips to sprout by running the pump for 6 hours. I also have been watering head lettuce, so I will have more head lettuce this week despite the hot dry weather.

Last week was the best market we have ever had – even better than the gold standard Thanksgiving market. Thank you to everyone that came out to support us. We did notice a serious drop off in the Tuesday market this week. We assume it was related to kids starting school, but we hope that once the school-year routine sets in, people will have time to come get their vegetables. You can come by any time before 6 p.m. and still find a decent selection of the finest veggies in town!

Have you tried the pints of cherry tomatoes yet? They are truly fantastic. There are six varieties in almost every pint, all selected for flavor. There are sungolds (bright orange), which are one of the best tomatoes we sell. There are also red cherry, a wild cherry tomato from Mexico (the tiniest of the 6 varieties), yellow pear, red pear, brownberry (a brown cherry tomato with a great, unique flavor), green gage (bright yellow with a ping pong ball shape), and a red grape tomato variety. We have to painstakingly harvest all of these varieties because they split so easily. All in all, a pint of cherry tomatoes is like party in your mouth. We’re including a classic picture of Ben glowering over the pints of tomatoes. He’s reached that charming age where he grimaces for all photos.

I was fortunate to have my in-laws in town this past week. My mother-in-law was here for a week, which was great for the boys. She took them everywhere – swimming at Anderson Pool was the highlight. Noah was even brave enough to go down the big water slide alone! Grandma Sue (as the boys call her) is also a great farmhand. Mercy’s brother Nelson also came up for a day. He’s a foodie and remarked, as we were eating cooked, salted soybeans, “Did you put butter on these? Because they taste like butter.” There’s a testimonial. Be sure to try some this week!

Here’s what we’ll be bringing to the market this week:

Soybeans
Green Beans, Yellow Wax Beans, and French Filet Beans
Eggplant
Beets (Traditional, Golden, and Chioggia)
Kale
Parsley
Basil
Swiss Chard
Summer Squash/Zucchini
Cucumbers
Carrots
Garlic
Bulb Onions
Leeks
Radicchio
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Okra
Head Lettuce
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Watermelon

Bill’s now delivering to the Garlic Press in Uptown Normal on Tuesdays and to Common Ground in downtown Bloomington on Saturday mornings. So if you miss a market or just run out of veggies, head to Common Ground! And if you need the veggies prepared into a fabulous meal, Garlic Press is right down the road.

We’ll see you at the Downtown Bloomington Farmers Market on Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. – noon. BRING YOUR BAGS!! We’ll also be at the Trailside Market in Uptown Normal, every Tuesday from 3:30 – 6:00 p.m.

Please let your friends know about the blog. We plan to put out the email sign-up sheet during the market season again. Call us at 467-9228 or email us at blueschoolhouse@yahoo.com if you have questions.

Thanks!
Mercy Davison