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Wood
Prairie Farm
The
Seed
Piece Newsletter
Organic
News
and
Commentary
Friday,
March 20, 2015
Volume 21 Issue 6
Enjoy Receiving The Seed Piece?
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support our continuing
educational
work which includes The Seed Piece.
Thanks!

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In This
Issue of The Seed Piece:
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The Winds
of Change.
Beautiful Street Artist
Mural Heralds The Peoples’ Resistance Against Industrial Agriculture
and GMO Food. A promising sign of the peoples'
steady march towards victory over the death culture of GE
crops is the growing tide of artists drawn to the cause of food
sovereignty. This stunning
mural is the work of talented Los Angeles-based
graphic designer 'Mear
One' (a.k.a. Kalen Ockerman).
Meanwhile, our friend, Steven Druker,
is out with his powerful new book, Altered
Genes, Twisted Truth which you will not want to
miss! Steve will be in Maine this Fall to deliver a Keynote Address at MOFGA’s
famous Common Ground Country Fair – see you
there!
And please don’t miss the article with
details our new parcel Tracking
Number System. From here on out, if we have your
email address, you will automatically receive the Tracking Number for
your order as it ships from our Maine farm.
The Spring is still young and there is
still plenty of time to order your Organic
Seed Potatoes, Organic
Vegetable Seed, Organic
Cover Crop Seed and Much Much More from our Wood
Prairie webstore. Or Call (800)
829-9765 and we’ll be happy to help you!
.
Jim
&
Megan Gerritsen & Family
Wood
Prairie Farm
Bridgewater,
Maine
Click here for the
Wood Prairie Farm Home Page.
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Altered Genes, Twisted Truth.
Earthshaking new MUST READ book by courageous Steve Drucker.
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Game-Changing
Altered
Genes, Twisted Truth Book Released Today!
BREAKING
NEWS! JAW-DROPPING NEW BOOK WHICH EXPOSES HISTORY OF
FRAUDULENT APPROVAL OF GE CROPS BY U.S. FOOD & DRUG
ADMINISTRATION (FDA) HAS BEEN RELEASED!
Steven Druker's landmark book, Altered
Genes, Twisted Truth promises to be a real
game-changer which blows out-of-the-water false Biotech propaganda that
GE foods are safe. Last month, Steve appeared on our day-long
GMO
plenary session panel at the Missouri Organic Association (MOA)
Conference in Springfield MO. His bold
and well-documented presentation stunned the audience made up of
Missouri farmers and consumers. Citing secret internal
documents obtained from FDA files in a lawsuit discovery procedure,
Steve explained the serious
concerns of the FDA’s own scientists over the safety of GE food were
swept under the carpet and willfully ignored by political leaders with
a set agenda to promote GE food.
This Alliance for Natural
Health-Europe article
captures the revelations. "...US lawyer Steven Druker argued
that 'contrary to the assertions of its proponents, the massive
enterprise to reconfigure the genetic core of the world’s food supply
is not based on sound science but on the systematic subversion of
science and it would collapse if subjected to an open airing of the
facts'...Not only has Druker used his razor-sharp legal mind to come to
grips with the available science, he’s also been able to crystallise
its many weaknesses and show how it can be used subversively to make
the case for GM foods. Even more importantly in my opinion,
Druker shows how the
science is both corrupt and fraudulent...Supporting Druker
at the press conference was Jane Goodall PhD...she spoke of her deep
concern for the release of GM crops worldwide, their potential effects
on the environment and the difficulty of detecting such effects after
the event."
Here are some of Dr. Jane Goodall's powerful words
from the book's Foreword. They lend valuable perspective to
the monumental nature of this new book: “Without doubt one of the most
important books of the last 50 years...I shall urge
everyone I know who cares about life on earth, and the future of their
children, and children’s children, to read it. It will go a long way
toward dispelling the confusion and delusion that has been created
regarding the genetic engineering process and the foods it produces....Steven Druker is a hero. He
deserves at least a Nobel Prize.”
Please follow Jane's admonition. Order
and read this great book and then help spread its truth far and wide.
Thanks!
Jim & Megan
Click
Here for our Wood Prairie Farm Certified Organic Vegetable Seed.
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Special
Offer: FREE
Organic Potato Fertilizer.
We carefully blend and bag our Organic Potato Fertilizer
right here on Wood Prairie Farm according to our own tried-and-true
organic recipe. We’ve found this fertilizer really
works! So,
how do you know if your garden soil needs additional organic fertilizer
– or – is it sufficiently fertile already?
In our experience, most garden soils will benefit
from our Wood
Prairie Farm Organic Potato Fertilizer.
Not only will you get higher
yields, but also
higher quality, better
taste and earlier
maturity comes from soils which have been properly
fertilized with valuable organic materials. The exception to
needing organic fertilizer is a very rich garden soil which has been
under long term organic management.
If you are wondering
whether your soil will benefit, here’s a simple experiment
which will tell you if organic fertilizer is worth buying. Do
keep as many variables as possible the same – soil type and richness,
variety of potato and amount of watering. Plant half of your potato crop
(half of each variety) without fertilizer. Plant the other half with our
Wood Prairie Farm Organic Potato Fertilizer placed 2”
below where the seed piece is planted at a rate of 1 lb. per 10 row
feet or 0.1 lb. per hill. Record written notes so come Fall
you will remember what you did. During the growing season,
observe the health and color of the potato plant. Then at
harvest carefully measure the yield from each half. In most cases the half receiving
our organic fertilizer will have the superior harvest.
If that is your experience, it will confirm the real benefit of adding
fertility.
We’ll help you conduct your experiment
this year. Get a FREE 3 lbs Sack of Wood
Prairie Farm Organic Potato Fertilizer (Value $9.95) when
the amount of goods in your next order totals $45 or more. FREE
3 lbs Sack of Wood Prairie Farm Organic Potato Fertilizer offer
ends Midnight Monday, March 23, 2015.
Please use Promo Code WPF 454.
Your order and the FREE 3 lbs Sack of Wood
Prairie Farm Organic Potato Fertilizer must ship by
5/5/15. This offer may not be combined with other offers. Please call
or click today!
Questions?
Call Wood Prairie Farm (800) 829-9765.
Click
Here for Our Wood Prairie Farm Organic Maine Certified Seed Potatoes.
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Organic
Potato Fertilizer. Learn How to tell if your garden needs
it. |
Caleb Gerritsen. Movin'
them doggies Maine style. Watch this video and notice the wind blowing
the snow around yesterday.
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Move
'em On, Head 'em Up!
Sometimes just keeping up with shipping orders
seems to approach the work of a cattle drive and keeping them stray
‘doggies’ herded and headed for market.
Those of us who grew up as kids
watching black-and-white Westerns on television in the early 1960’s
will remember the iconic weekly show Rawhide.
While the episodes are long forgotten, not so the memorable Rawhide
theme song, sung and made
famous by cowboy-sounding Frankie Laine.
Yesterday we shipped out a pallet of
organic seed potatoes destined for another family farmer. Megan
took a video (1:45) of the truck- loading process.
It was a cool day, noontime and about +18ºF. Son Caleb, in
snowsuit, is driving our 4WD Mastercraft rough-terrain
forklift. Everyone will be able to see our
still-building-piles-of-snow - another 20” has fallen since
Sunday. If you look real close you can see this winter’s
incessant wind blow the powdery snow into airborne horizontal
flight. You will also see our furry friend, old-timer
Snowball – our Great Pyrenees – for whom cold weather has
never been a problem.
Now, as always, we send smaller parcels
out by the U.S. Post Office and Fedex, and a few by UPS.
However, this week we reached a milestone on Wood Prairie
Farm. This
week we went live with our long-awaited New Electronic Tracking Number
System.
Here’s how it works: If we
have your email address, once your parcel ships from our farm you will
receive an automatic notification via email. Included in that
notification email will be your package Tracking Number. Simply cut & paste that
Tracking Number into any browser (such as Google) and you can then
track the progress of your order as that ‘doggie’ leaves
chilly Maine, bound for warmer destinations. Let us know what
you think!
Jim & Megan
Click
Here for Our Wood Prairie Farm Certified Organic Cover Crop Seed.
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The
Best Potatoes for Chips & Roasters.
Here’s an
intriguing article from the United Kingdom. It will most
definitely help motivate you to plant
potatoes so you can reap a delicious harvest. The real
treasure and fun will be found by growing your own supply of exceptional potato varieties,
digging them fresh and cooking them right away.
Many of the varieties the author mentions are hard
to find in the USA. However, two of our best-tasting
varieties – Yukon
Gold and the heirloom
Rose Finn Apple are mentioned as excellent
varieties for eating fresh from the garden.
"If you want delicious potatoes, something you’ll
be glad you wished for, you
need to think with your cook’s hat on. And now’s the time
to do it. Chips, potato dauphinoise, roast potatoes, potato
salad, Lyonnaise potatoes, creamy mash and buttered new potatoes. These are the seven best reasons
I can think of to grow your own potatoes."
Megan
Click
Here for Our Wood Prairie Farm Organic Maine Certified Seed Potatoes.
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"Treat them Gentle". We'd
tell our youthful hand pickers to treat potatoes with the same care you
would give eggs. This author wrote a good article but could use a
reminder on handling. |
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Recipe: Delicious
Black Bread.
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/3 c warm water (105 - 115F)
1 tsp natural cane sugar or brown sugar
2 T cocoa powder
2 T finely ground espresso beans
1/4 c molasses
3 tsp caraway seeds, plus more for topping
3 T unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 tsp sea salt
2 c coarsely grated potatoes
(2 medium)
1 1/3 c rye flour
3 1/4 c bread flour
or all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
olive oil for baking sheet
2 T buttermilk or milk
In a large mixing bowl whisk the yeast
with warm water and sugar and set aside until foamy.
In a small saucepan over med-low heat,
combine the cocoa, coffee, molasses, caraway, butter, and salt. Stir
constantly until just melted. You want the mixture to be lukewarm when
adding to the other ingredients.
Combine the grated potatoes and
molasses mixture with the yeast mixture in the large mixing bowl. Add
the flours, and stir until you've got a soft tacky adhesive dough. Turn
the dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead for
about 5 minutes, adding flour as needed, until the dough is
elastic and springy. You can also do this step using the dough hook on
your mixer.
Shape the dough into a ball, rub with a
bit of olive oil and place seam-side down into an oiled bowl. Cover and
allow to rise a warm place for 1 -2 hours. Gently press down, with a
closed fist, across the surface of the dough. Turn dough out onto
counter and shape into a round loaf. Place on a very lightly oiled
baking sheet , then cover loosely with a cloth. Allow to rise a second
time in a warm place until nearly doubled in size, about an hour.
Uncover, brush with buttermilk, sprinkle with a dusting of flour, 1 tsp
caraway seeds, and use a serrated knife to slash an 'X' deeply across
the dough (do your best not to deflate the loaf). Bake for 20 minutes
at 425F. Lower heat to 350F and bake for another 20 - 25 minutes.
Remove from oven and place bread directly on rack to cool. Megan.
Makes one extra-large loaf.
- Megan
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Delicious
Black Bread.
Photo
by Angela Wotton
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Our Mailbox:
Catastrophic Drought & Co-Existence Fraud.

Catastrophic
Drought.
Dear WPF.
Nothing we
can't grow ourselves.
VA
WWW
WPF Replies.
California's drought will effect all of
the country. We have good friends who farm in the West and California.
It is a grave situation. The drought is extreme by every measure.
This year's early, extremely hot weather has exacerbated the drought by
increasing evapo-transporation. The situation is approaching
potentially catastrophic levels for family farmers whose margins are
tight even in a normal year thanks largely to our 60-year federal Cheap
Food Policy. They deserve our understanding.
Jim.
Co-Existence Fraud.
Dear WPF.
Anti-GMO, Biotech Factions Clash
at Food Summit. My favorite analogy is still if
one neighbor is painting their home purple & the wind carries
it to neighbors house & whom is responsible for the mess to
clean up...How can GMO ever be non-invasive to organics? Where is the
common sense, just give me the info so I do not wonder any more
& so I can choose my own way to eat healthy. Thank you for all
you are doing.
CC
WWW
WPF Replies.
Here's the good news: Longtime OSGATA
Treasurer Isaura Anduluz of New Mexico attended this meeting in North
Carolina. She
represented the peoples' interests. Isaura is
intelligent, has rare backbone, integrity and resolve. She has served
as an appointee on USDA Secretary Thomas Vilsack's 'AC 21 Committee.'
AC 21 has been attempting to grapple with the intractable GE
contamination issue. Isaura was the lone
AC 21 member to file an official dissent to
AC 21's first Report. That action took courage. Sadly, with their
unholy alliance on display, the Federal government/industry continuing
strategy appears to be to ignore the GE contamination problem and pin
their false hopes on the fallacious notion of 'Co-Existence'.
'Co-existence' is an illegitimate
concept because it falsely claims that GE farmers and nonGE/organic
farmers can farm side-by-side in harmony. The concept ignores the
biological reality of GE contamination via wind-born GE pollen-spread.
Incredibly, 'Co-existence' proponents deny that GE contamination is a
real problem and that GE contamination has had any economic impact. The collapse of the organic
canola industry in North America has been due to GE contamination. In
the real world, such an organic industry collapse can not be explained away as 'no
economic impact.' It is bold and preposterous to ignore
the clear historical fact of organic canola's collapse. This single
example should illustrate to everyone how the deck has been stacked
against the organic community.
Furthermore, it is immoral and
unconstitutional to ignore the private property rights of organic
farmers who choose to grow on their own farms clean food and seed
without GE technology and who want the crops grown on their farms for
their own families and customers to be free of Biotech's patented and
flawed GE technology contamination. It is noteworthy that before
becoming USDA Secretary, while Mr. Vilsack was Iowa Governor, he
received the Biotech Industry Organization (BIO) 'Governor of the Year'
award.
We're sorry if Secretary Vilsack finds
the organic community's refusal to abandon our rights and our concept
of food sovereignty as inconvenient or disagreeable. However, we will
not back down. And we don't want the Big Boys - from any corner - to
sell us out in our determination to protect the peoples' interest.
Jim.
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Wood Prairie Farm Quick
Links
Jim
& Megan Gerritsen
Wood
Prairie Farm
49
Kinney Road
Bridgewater,
Maine 04735
(800)829-9765
Certified Organic, Direct from the Farm
www.woodprairie.com
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