Newsletter November 27th
Laguna Farm CSA
1764 Cooper Rd., Sebastopol, CA 95472 info@lagunafarm.com
Office phone 823-0823 i Barn phone 823-0824
November 27 and 29, 2007
From Farmer Scott
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Farmer/ Fix-it man Scott has been working on dialing up the salad washing system. With the winter temperatures lowering the water to ice cold levels, I installed an on-demand water heater to temper the first wash tank (this is where the extensive barehand work of picking out unwanted material, such as weeds, occurs). This will make things more comfortable for the person washing. In the second tank, where we do a final rinse and mix, I have installed an ultraviolet water treatment unit to further treat the ozonated water, so that it will be EXTRA free of unwanted microbes. This is because I believe most people assume the salad is a ready-to-eat product. I personally eat directly from the bag, but if you want to be sure there are additional treatments, you could choose to wash the salad again for your own use. Pretty much all well water has good and bad microbes in it, and city water, depending on the treatment (which mostly consists of chlorine treatment) can also be questionable. We have had an ozone system on the water for many years, but I wanted to know that the final water would be impeccably sterile, so I have gone to direct treatment of that water. Salud.
In your box today:
From the ever-colder fields of the farm, our “beyond organic” salad mix, kale, broccoli, Delicata squash, fennel, and radishes on Tuesday or turnips on Thursday; also, pomegranates from Fresno or apples from Sebastopol.
The fennel bulb (not the same as the common fennel growing wild, or naturalized, from the Mediterranean) is an enlarged underground stem, and is highly aromatic. Mix it with other vegetables, such as potatoes, tomatoes and onions, for a surprise flavor twist. It’s great in potato salad!
Pomegranates are steeped in legend, most widely known being the Greek myth of Persephone, who was consigned to spend part of each year in the Underworld after eating pomegranate seeds while she was there. The juice from the inner translucent capsules, or arils, contains one of the highest known sources of antioxidants, as well as large amounts of Vitamin C and potassium.
WE DON’T HAVE TO TELL YOU ABOUT EATING LOCAL…..
….because you already do. So you know that eating local is a smart way to effect environmental change in your community; it helps cut energy usage and pollution by reducing the number of miles your food travels. It is also more healthful because your veggies and fruits are allowed to ripen longer and produce more nutrients. And eating local fosters a deeper connection with the origins of your food and the people who helped produce it. According to a recent survey from the Hartman Group, more than 75 percent of consumers would like to know more about where their food comes from. As usual, you’re way ahead of the crowd.