|
|
Wood
Prairie Farm
The
Seed
Piece Newsletter
Organic
News
and
Commentary
Friday April 04, 2014

|
In This
Issue of The Seed Piece:
|
Blanketed
with Snow and Seed.
Full
Seed Ahead. Outside,
Northern Maine is still blanketed with two feet of snow in fields and
woods. But the subzero nights of March - and even last week -
have now passed away as the calendar has turned to April. The
Weather Office in Caribou offered assurance that our perception of
winter’s enduring cold was not simply imagined. It turns out
March 2014 was the coldest March ever observed since Caribou began
keeping records in 1939. To top that, we’re now told it’s
official: the four wettest years ever recorded in Aroostook
County, since 1939 anyway, have occurred in the last five years.
Inside our cool potato storage and packing shed, we are fully engaged
and consumed with shipping seed. With the help of neighbors –
and
thankfully this week also our college workers due to Spring break - we
are immersed in the seed business. These are the busiest shipping weeks
of the year. Every day hundreds of boxes of seed potato
orders
provide traction on still icy roads to the trucks of UPS, Fedex and the
Postal Service who back up to our dock to haul parcels away to gardens
and fields south and west.
This also is sap
season and the below freezing nights and above freezing days are
causing the maple sap to run. At nearby Bradbury
Maple Farms
our neighbors and friends are working hard in season. The
evaporators are burning steady and hot, generating huge plumes of
billowing steam as the water is boiled off to make this year’s crop of
Maine maple syrup.
Here in Maine, these are our traditions, watching Winter
turn into Spring.
Jim
&
Megan Gerritsen & Family
Wood
Prairie Farm
Bridgewater,
Maine
Click here for the
Wood Prairie Farm Home Page. |
New Report From Big Sur.
How
does one convey a clear sense of what went on during those thirty-five
hours of collaborative group discussions held last January in Big Sur,
in the event known as the Agrarian
Elders Gathering? That daunting
literary task was tackled and skillfully completed with grace and
insight by Noël
Vietor, a young, depthful and talented observer to the week-long
proceedings. Noël’s
marvelous twenty-two report, entitled Agrarian
Elders Conference Summary
offers a fly-on-the-wall glimpse into what was on the minds of the two
dozen seasoned organic farmers who met for the first time ever to
discuss the future promise and challenges of organic farming.
In due course, the Agrarian Elders Gathering wil be the subject of a
book by Agrarian Elders Gathering organizer and farmer Michael
Ableman. Additionally, filmmaker Deborah Koons Garcia is
moving
forward with her documentary film of the event. Previous films of
Deborah include the acclaimed The
Symphony of the Soil and The
Future of Food.
Jim
Click
Here For Our Wood Prairie farm Organic Vegetable Seed.
|
Agrarian
Elders
Gather in Big Sur
to Discuss the Future of the
Organic Community [Click on Photo to Enlarge]. In January two
dozen farmers, each with a minimum of 30-50 years of experience as
organic
farmers, met for five days of discussions at Esalen in Big Sur,
California.
First row (kneeling, left to right): Barbara
Damrosch, Four Seasons Farm, Maine; Anne
Lazor, Butterworks Farm, Vermont; Bob
Cannard, Green String Farm, California; Eliot
Coleman, Four Seasons Farm, Maine; Nash
Huber, Nash’s Organic Produce, Washington; Frank
Morton, Wild Garden Seed, Oregon; Steve
Decatur, Live
Power Community
Farm, California; Middle row: Shirley
Ward, Esalen Farm, California; Hui
Newcomb, Potomac Vegetable Farms, Virginia; Jack
Lazor, Butterworks Farm, Vermont; Betsy
Hitt, Peregrine Farm, North Carolina; Tom
Willey, T &D Willey Farms, California; Susan
Tyler, Whaelghinbran Farm, New Brunswick; Jake
Guest, Killdeer Farm, Vermont; Michael
Ableman, Foxglove Farm, British
Columbia; Dru Rivers, Full Belly
Farm, California; Jim Crawford, New
Morning Farm, Pennsylvania; Gloria
Decatur, Live Power Community Farm, California; Back row: Deborah Koons Garcia, Filmmaker,
California; Jim Gerritsen, Wood
Prairie Farm, Maine; Norbert Kungl,
Selwood Green, Nova Scotia; Don Bustos,
Santa Cruz Farm, New Mexico; Warren
Webber, Star Route Farms, California; Jean
Paul Courtens, Roxbury Farm, New York; Amigo
Bob Cantisano, Heaven and Earth Farm, California; Michael Murphy, Founder, Esalen,
California.
|

Dr. Arden Andersen. Medical
doctor and solid agronomist at the top of his game.
|
Must WATCH
Interview! Dr. Andersen By Dr. Mercola.
Last Fall, five of us from
Wood Prairie Farm attended the three-day soils school in Bangor, Maine,
taught by renowned agronomist, Dr.
Arden Andersen.
Not only is Arden exceptionally knowledgeable on the topic of soils,
but he is also a medical doctor who teaches good nutrition is the basis
for soil and human health. It was a great course.
Arden is interviewed by Dr. Mercola in this new
MUST WATCH video interview (39:45) Biological Gardening—A Food Growing
System That Easily Beats Genetic Engineering.
The interview serves as a primer teaching how a gardener or farmer can
grow nutritionally dense food, and how our own health - and the
planet's health - depends on it. "First, fundamentally, understand food
is about health. It's about the nutrition necessary for human health.
Disease, weed and insect problems are all about a lack or imbalance of
that nutrition in the soil and in the crop. And if we are really going
to address those fundamental things - the nutrition, the soil health
issues - then we actually do solve the weed, disease and insect
problems at their fundamental level. So we can continue to build
nutrition in the soil...It's the consumer that really holds the power.
Every day you and I as consumers vote at our grocery stores with our
dollars. That's where the power is. What the industry doesn't want the
people to know is that genetically engineered crops are toxins. We're
not talking about a belief system difference...We talking about
fundamental toxicology. GMO products are toxic. They are foreign
proteins that are proven to cause inflammation."
Jim & Megan
Click
Here For Our Organic Wood Prairie
Farm Seed Potatoes.
|
And Yet Another
Interview: Jim Gerritsen on 'C The Power' Radio.
Just as we were finishing up packing a large seed potato
order
early this afternoon, it was time for me to take part in a fun radio
interview conducted by Cheryl Greenlee and her ‘C The Power’ program
broadcast live from Palm Springs, California.
The
hour-long interview has already posted online in the program archives.
Cheryl’s and my conversation was wide-ranging and fully reflective of
my background as a farmer. Topics we covered included growing potatoes,
organic farming and how organic growing mitigates climate
change.
We spoke about concentration and control in the economy by large
corporations and what individuals can do to make our world a better
place. We also discussed what we each can do to create new
opportunities for young organic farmers plus novel ways for people
everywhere to get their hands dirty from gardening even if they don’t
have their own back yard.
We hope you will give Cheryl’s program
a listen.
Jim
Click
Here for Our Wood Prairie Organic Cover Crop Seed.
|
Good Maine Spuds. Plenty
to talk about.
|
Notable Quotes:
Chief Louis Farmer Describes the Three Sisters.
|

Outsanding
Oatmeal Date Cookies.
Photo
by Angela Wotton |
Recipe:
Oatmeal Date Cookies.
1-1/4 cups whole
wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea
salt
3/8 tsp. ground cardamom
4 oz. (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 cups rolled
oats
1-1/2 cups chopped, pitted Medjool dates
Heat the oven to 350˚F. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda,
salt, and cardamom.
In
a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and both sugars
on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add the
eggs and vanilla, and beat until combined. On low speed, mix in the dry
ingredients until combined. Using a wooden spoon, fold in the oats and
dates until evenly distributed.
Drop rounded tablespoons of
dough about 2 inches apart onto two ungreased cookie sheets. Bake,
rotating the sheets and swapping positions halfway through, until the
cookies are firm and golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the sheets to
cooling racks and let sit for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies directly
to the racks to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough on
cooled cookie sheets. Makes about 40 cookies.
-Megan |
Special Offer: FREE Cobrahead Hand
Weeder.
Success comes from knowing what to do and then
having the
right tools to do it. As Maine farmers, we are not much impressed with
celebrity, position or riches. However, if you want to get
our
attention, go ahead and set a well-designed tool out in front of us
like
the Cobrahead
Hand Weeder. The Cobrahead –
which comes in short-handled
and long-handled
versions – is an effective precision weeder based on a proven
traditional design which utilizes high quality long-lasting modern
materials. The Cobrahead represents outstanding workmanship and is a
reasonably priced tool you can expect to hand down to your kids.
Here's your chance to earn a FREE Cobrahead Hand Weeder
(Value $24.95) when the amount of goods in your next order is $70 or
more. FREE
Cobrahead Hand Weeder offer ends Midnight Monday, April 7, 2014, so
better hurry!
Please use Promo Code WPF1174.
Your order must ship with FREE Cobrahead Hand Weeder
and entire order must ship by 5/8/14. This Offer may not be combined
with other offers. Please call or click today!
Click
Here for Our Wood Prairie Farm Organic Gardening Tool Section.
|

Cobrahead Hand Weeder.
The steel fingernail.
|
Our Mailbox: Super
Corn Root Worm, Numerous Calamities, Hot & Humid.
Doing It Right.
Dear WPF.
Very good. You seen this fella? https://www.cornucopia.org/2014/03/voracious-worm-evolves-eat-biotech-corn-engineered-kill .
My question
is those "new" root worms, how damaging to your organic crop
are
they? Or are they just a rootworm, same as before?
VP
World Wide Web
WPF Replies.
We are organic farmers who do grow organic seed
corn. Our
organic production practices free us from problems with the corn worms.
Now Biotech has ALWAYS
had a problem with telling the truth. This
article I wrote in our 'Seed Piece' newsletter 17 years ago explains
"outside experts" - those not employed by Biotech - were predicting
insect resistance to transgenic Bt in 1996. They are 'super' corn root
worms in that the stupid transgenic Bt application has allowed the root
worms to develop resistance to Bt. I've always heard - here in Maine
anyways - that corn root worm is only a problem if you DON'T rotate,
and
instead have corn following corn. By rotating crops - and EVERY organic
farmer rotates - you break up the insect cycle and starve out the corn
worms. GE crops dumb-down farming and temporarily allow farmers to
practice bad farming and get away with it. But in the end the piper is
paid and society would have been far better off to encourage good
farming from the outset.
Jim
Numerous Calamities.
Dear WPF.
It's
been a while since we've talked. I have listeners asking/complaining
about having to purchase/apply for a "Grower's License". Is this
sweeping or is it only through Monsanto seed products? I would assume
this would be a trick to later hold the farmer responsible for numerous
calamities.
BS
World Wide Web
WPF Replies.
I know that certain seed companies - including
those owned
by Monsanto - are using contract law to gain new control over varieties
they sell. It goes something like this: "By the act of opening this bag
of seed you are agreeing to abide by our Grower Licensing Agreement."
The Grower Licensing Agreements may contain draconian language which
greatly disadvantages the farmer. Farmers should be very wary and very
skeptical of the details and pitfalls contained in these Grower
Licensing Agreements. If I were in their shoes, I would immediately
investigate seed alternatives which did not contain a Grower Licensing
Agreement.
Jim.
Hot & Humid.
Dear WPF.
I
have general questions about your potatoes. I live in S. Florida where
it's hot and humid, the central a/c in my house runs 24/7. When I buy
non-organic potatoes at the grocery store, they come packed in a clear
plastic bag. I usually purchase what's called Idaho potatoes. I take
them out of the bag and put them inside a wood cabinet that's designed
for storing root vegetables.Many times these potatoes show green color
directly below the skin when I peel them.
VP
Tampa, FL
WPF Replies.
Potatoes which have a green tint have been
improperly handled in the
store and are suffering from "Lightstruck Greening." Potatoes are
tubers and in the presense of light the tubers will green up and
experience an increase in Solanine, which comes across as a bitter
taste. Green potatoes should be discarded and not eaten.
Jim.
|
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
|
|
|
|