Wood
Prairie Seed Piece
e-Newsletter
Organic
News
and
Commentary
Friday,
April 22th 2016
Volume
24 Issue 09
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In This
Issue of The Wood Prairie Seed Piece:
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Observing
Tradition.
The
Railroad Reaches Northern Maine. Prior to the
railroads being established in the 1890s, Northern Maine was a wooded
wilderness only occasionally broken up by scattered and newly-cleared
potato fields amid very modest settlements.
The railroad brought about a
revolution of growth which allowed Maine potatoes an efficient way to
get to East Coast markets and for supplies and new settlers to be
ferried in.
Photographer Isaac Simpson –
born in 1874 - captured the wild Northern Maine on the cusp of
turn-of-the-century progress and development. As
Spring works to warm up and dry out the ground, we hope you will watch
and enjoy this wonderful documentary film made up of Isaac’s authentic
photographic work which humbly documented the frontier life before it
came to be tamed.
.
Jim
&
Megan Gerritsen & Family
Wood
Prairie Family Farm
Bridgewater,
Maine
Click here for the
Wood Prairie Family Farm Home Page.
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Isaac Walton Simpson. A
man of many talents and remembered for his respectful photographs of
people in northern Maine's Frontier. |
The Maine
Frontier: Through the Lens of Isaac Walton Simpson.
Stunning photographic documentation of the East’s last
frontier – Northern Maine - was captured over one hundred years ago and
for all time by Isaac Walton Simpson. Isaac lived
in the town of Amity, south of Houtlon. He possessed a broad
spectrum of talents but is most remembered for his extraordinary
photographs taken of everyday working people toiling in Northern
Maine’s harsh and isolated wilds.
Several years ago, Maine Public
Television aired this fascinating film created from a compilation of
Isaac’s black and white photos, The
Maine Frontier: Through the Lens of Isaac Walton Simpson (56:26).
We think you will enjoy taking the hour to watch
this magnificent and educational production.
Jim & Megan
Click
Here for our Wood Prairie Organic Maine Certified Seed Potatoes.
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Special
Offer: FREE Certified Organic tillage Radish Cover
Crop Seed.
The other day Jim took a call
from a customer who wanted to know what the best cover crop would be to
plant before potatoes. He explained that on Wood Prairie Family Farm,
in the year before potatoes, we plant a cover crop of Organic
Buckwheat in mid-June. Then 7-8 weeks later, we
turn that Buckwheat under and plant a brassica-family cover crop as a
biofumigant - to clean up the soil - like Organic
Tillage Radish.
We'll make it easy for you to
experiment with Organic
Tillage Radish Cover Crop Seed! Earn yourself a FREE 4 oz. Sack of Organic
Tillage Radish Cover Crop Seed (Value $5.95) when the
amount of goods in your next order totals $35 or more. FREE 4 oz. sack of Organic
Tillage Radish offer ends Midnight Monday, April 25.
Please use Promo Code WPF 485. Your
order and FREE 4 oz.
Sack of Organic Tillage Radish Cover Crop Seed must ship
by 5/6/16. This offer may not be combined with other offers. Please
call or click today!
Questions?
Call us at Wood Prairie Family Farm (207) 429 - 9765.
Click
Here for Our Wood Prairie Family Farm Organic Cover Crop Section.
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OSGATA's New Policy on Organic Plant
Breeding.
GE Seed Need not Apply. Organic
plant breeding absolutely excludes genetic engineering.
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Notable Quote: Vandana Shiva on
Peacemakers.
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Recipe: Crispy
Smashed Roasted Potatoes.
12-15 small Dark
Red Norland or Yukon
Gold potatoes
Sea
Salt
1/2 c extra-virgin olive oil
Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with at least an inch of
water. Boil, reduce to simmer, and cook until the potatoes are
completely tender and easily pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes.
Place the cooked potatoes on a clean dishtowel. Let them drain and sit
for a minute or two. Fold another dishtowel into quarters, and using it
as a cover, gently press down on one potato with the palm of your hand
to flatten it to a thickness of about 1/2-inch. Repeat with all of the
potatoes.
Cover a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil; put a sheet of
parchment on top of the foil. Carefully transfer the flattened potatoes
to the baking sheet and let them cool completely at room temperature.
If working ahead, refrigerate for up to 8 hours.
Heat oven to 450 F. Sprinkle the potatoes with about 3/4 tsp salt and
pour olive oil over them. Lift the potatoes gently to make sure some of
the oil goes underneath. Roast until they are crisp and deep brown
around the edges., 30 - 40 minutes, turning over once gently with a
spatula halfway through cooking. Serve hot.
Serves 8
Megan
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Crispy
Smashed Roasted Potatoes.
Photo by Angela Wotton.
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Our
Mailbox: Forces Opposed and Seed to Seed.
Forces Opposed.
Dear WPF.
I
am concerned that some how GMO Labeling will get to the Supreme Court
and GMO labeling will be ruled unconstitutional. Monsanto and the other
GMO food like producers and suppliers always seem to prefer profit over
health of Citizens.
PC
WWW
WPF Replies.
The forces opposed to GMO Labeling -
Monsanto and
Grocery Manufacturer's Association (GMA) - lost in Federal District
Court their attempt to stop the Vermont GMO Labeling law from taking
effect. Of course they are appealing. The word is the opposition is
expecting to be defeated again in the US Court of Appeals. This is why
they are putting everything they have into buying themselves a victory
in the Senate. So far that's not working for them either. Once GMO
Labeling takes effect in VT on July 1 - and across the nation - it will
be hard to put the genie back in the bottle. We spent a lot of time and
effort using constitutional lawyers to perfect the language on the GMO
Labeling laws in Maine, VT and CT to withstand Court challenge.
Ultimately, the people have a right-to-know and even SCOTUS justices
and their families eat food and will want to avoid GMOs and labeling is
the way to achieve that desire.
Jim
Seed to Seed.
Dear WPF.
Hi Jim,
So my cohort of students are on their way to
making a plan
where our farms begin to move towards more of a seed to seed
enterprise. One crop is dried beans which on the face of it should be
easy. Other then worrying about damaged seed from threshing, it seems
that some seed borne diseases might be of concern.
I also see that you sell dry beans and I assume that you grew
them yourself. What do you do to make sure that the seed is clean?
Hints? Suggestions? This may not be the last time you hear from us.
SM
WWW
WPF Replies.
By the book
the very best Bean seed can be grown in the West where the dryness
minimizes fungal pathogens. But here we are in the moist East Maine
growing both organic seed potatoes and seed beans. Yes it can be done
well.
We invest in the soil with long
rotations and good biological inputs. We grow good healthy crops and
monitor for disease pressure. We grow out our own seed and monitor
performance in future year test plots. We have the advantage of
regional adaptation in what we grow.
After all, regional production is how
all seed has been grown for 10,000 years.
Jim.
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Jim
& Megan Gerritsen
Wood
Prairie Family Farm
49
Kinney Road
Bridgewater,
Maine 04735
(207)
429 - 9765
Certified Organic, Direct from the Farm
www.woodprairie.com
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