Hello!
The boys have returned … let the chaos begin!! Seriously, they are SO LOUD. And I think they grew while they were gone. It was probably from all of the horrifying snack food they were able to eat – are there growth hormones in Oreos? (The first night, I called to see how they were doing. Noah said, “It’s great, mom, but I have a little bit of a tummy ache.” I asked him what he’d been eating, and he said, “Well, there were some M&Ms, grapes, and hot chocolate.” Hmmm. Sounds puke-ifying to me.)
They did have an amazing time. If you have 5-7 year olds in your life and need tips on what to do in St. Louis, call me. They went up in the Arch (where Ben accidentally smacked some guy in the face while he was talking with his hands – the guy asked my parents if Ben is Italian!), visited Grant’s Farm, went to The Magic House, saw Ice Age 3 (the movie – I think it was the third one), swam at the public pool, and took a trip down to Johnson’s Shut-Ins and Elephant Rocks (where my dad started referring to Noah as Sir Edmund Hillary) in the Mark Twain National Forest (Missouri). They are covered in scratches and mosquito bites but otherwise seem to be unharmed. The worst part is the readjustment to life on the boring and awful FARM! Oh yes, they were immediately taken down to the field where they had to ... help pick tomatoes. Call DCFS; it’s child abuse if you ask them. Ha ha.
It’s great to have them back, of course. Ben is already saying hilarious things. It’s so interesting to hear his thought process right now. At 5 years old, he has given a lot of thought to life, death, and “spirits.” I’m not sure where he’s getting this, but he recently announced that “you can’t kill a spirit … you can only melt them.” Heh? He was so earnest that we had to cover our smiles.
Here’s another good travel idea for you … Plow Creek Farm in Tiskilwa, Illinois, 8 miles south of Princeton (http://www.plowcreekfarm.com/). It’s a wonderful U-Pick berry farm where they use little or no chemicals. The farm is part of an intentional community affiliated with the Mennonite faith. It’s quite a hike – probably 2 hours from Bloomington-Normal – but it’s worth it for excellent blueberries. We’re going tomorrow and then again later in August for red raspberries.
If you’re looking for a night out at a restaurant, we heartily recommend Chef Leo’s in Peoria on Monroe Street in the same building as the Peoria Bread Company. Leo uses a lot of local food, and the dishes are tasty. Check it out.
And if you’re looking for a fun local thing to do, join us this weekend at the Normal Theater for Food Inc. I believe we’re going on Sunday night, but it runs on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as well. The movie website is at www.foodincmovie.com. They’re serving local organic popcorn and potentially Pepsi Throwback (with real sugar!). See you there!
So on to actual farm news (or the Mercy version of farm news). The onion harvest has been a humongous success this year. Notwithstanding the amazing patch of weeds that grew up around the onions, Bill and the farmhands were able to harvest two entire wagonloads of storage onions and beautiful Walla Walla onions (2000 pounds!!). I helped one day, and it was a lot like an Easter egg hunt. Bill had to whack the weeds back with a scythe first – very Grim Reaper of him. The last onions to harvest are the “candy onions.” Bill expects to get another wagonload’s worth.
Noah is going at the tomatoes like a little pro. When he didn’t know that I was listening, I heard him in the tomato row muttering, “I’m gonna get you, sucka!” to an unsuspecting tomato. He is a little carbon copy of Bill sometimes.
Harvesting tomatoes is one of the dirtier activities. It turns your skin green and grinds dirt into the smallest cracks in your skin – you basically look like a dirtbag for weeks. There’s no scrubbing it off. Pete, the farmhand, said it’s the worst part of harvesting tomatoes. He was lamenting how dirty his hands were the other day when Bill decided to start blaming him for all of the dirt (about 10 pounds of sludge) in the bottom of the wash tub. Pete did not think that was funny.
I am happy to report that Bill and the coons are at an impasse. Bill has successfully protected one bed of corn, which he will be bringing to the market this Saturday!! The coons are already checking out the next bed, of course. It is starting to ripen, and Bill needs to get the electric fence over to that bed ASAP after harvesting your corn for this weekend. It’s such a battle. Bill also has a new set of potential varmints to deal with – the wild turkeys are eating the oats in the potato bed. Of course, there’s not much he can do about that because turkeys are just too cool.
We’re also bringing some mushrooms this weekend. They are unbelievable. I really count them among my favorite things to eat – turn the cap upside down, brush on olive oil, good balsamic, salt and pepper and then grill them for about 10 minutes or until the edges start to get a bit crispy. I can make an entire meal out of them.
This Saturday will be another crazy-great harvest. This is the most diverse and plentiful time of the farm season. We hope to see every one of you this weekend, because we’re bringing a boatload of food. Here’s what we’ll have …
Tomatoes
Sweet Corn
Okra
Eggplant
Leeks
Poblano Peppers
Green Bell Peppers
Cucumbers
Green beans
Dragon tongue beans
Summer squash
Potatoes
Carrots
Shallots
Fennel
Kohlrabi
Swiss chard
Head Lettuce
Beets
Onions
Garlic
Kale
Collard Greens
Basil
Parsley
Broccoli
Radicchio
Cabbage (Red and Green)
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call us at 309-467-9228. You can also email us at blueschoolhouse@yahoo.com, although during the farm season we can’t guarantee that we’ll be checking the email as often as usual.
Best,
Mercy
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