Share Week 9

Beets, green beans, lettuce, kale, turnips, potatoes, green onions, cucumbers, zucchini or summer squash, parsley, dill.

Newsletter Week 9

A strange thing happened at Wellspring this past week: we had to turn on our irrigation system for the first time this season. After all the rain we’ve had, irrigating our fields has just not been necessary.  Thankfully, we had our system set up and ready to go; all that was needed was to turn it on and give your crops a much needed drink.

The dry weather has allowed us to get into areas formerly too wet to weed.  Working hard, we’ve cleaned up the fields and they are looking stellar.  Come out and see for yourself!  While here, walk the trails and enjoy the beauty of this place.

We hope you’ve enjoyed the abundant amount of kale we’ve given you thus far. While we realize that kale is perhaps not the most sought after vegetable, I think I can speak for the rest of the crew in saying that it should be!  If you only eat one vegetable, many claim, kale should be it.  It has the highest protein content of any of the green vegetables, as much as whole milk and far fewer calories.  It blows almost any other vegetable out of the water where vitamin A is concerned.  Tons of vitamin C too.  And it keeps a long time. Read more about kale on the World's Healthiest Foods website.  Keep it in a plastic bag in the fridge, or blanch for 3 minutes and freeze for later use. Despite its nutritional superiority however, this powerhouse, around since the time of the Greeks and Romans, continues to be underappreciated in the US: the largest user of kale here is Pizza Hut, but they don’t even serve it to be eaten.  Since it keeps so well, they use it to decorate their salad bar!

After a frost, kale gets deliciously sweet (you’ll receive some then too, don’t worry!), and my body seems to crave it. Right now however, I’m craving parsley, which you’re receiving for the first time this week.  My working theory is that both vegetables have high amounts of calcium, and that most of us — myself included — don’t really get enough calcium in our diets. It’s no wonder, as continuous use of ammonium-containing fertilizer, such as is used in conventional agriculture, accelerates calcium loss from soil. No calcium in your soil, no calcium in your veggies!

-Jeff Schreiber

A Day in the Life of Wellspring

Volunteers from the Milwaukee Diocese:

Packing the shares:

The lower fields and greenhouse:

Newsletter Week 8

First, we'd like to sincerely thank those of you who contributed to our Flood Relief fund. As Mary Ann said in her addendum to last week's letter, the excessive moisture this season has hit us harder than I have let on in these letters. While we've reserved the best of our produce for you, our shareholders, other aspects of Wellspring's Garden Program--such as our farmers' market sales--have suffered. Your support is greatly appreciated!

As we move into the summer and a larger variety of crops, I often get inquiries as to the best way to store the vegetables you receive. This information is taken primarily from How to Keep Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Longer with Less Spoilage by Tracy Frisch. "Suitable temperature and moisture," Frisch writes, "and the separate storage of incompatible types of produce are the keys to keeping fruits and vegetables fresh and attractive as long as possible."

Thus, knowing the temperature and moisture level of your fridge and its various compartments is a good first step. A plastic bag is generally a good bet for veggies requiring moisture, though having some kind of air flow--and avoiding condensed moisture or freestanding water--is ideal. Here are some general guidelines for common vegetables:

Cold (32 degrees F) and Humid (95%)

lettuce and other leafy greens, root crops such as beets carrots radishes turnips, broccoli, brussels sprouts cabbage and cauliflower, peas, leeks, scallions

The above are "ethylene sensitive" which means they should be kept separate from "ethylene producing" such as apples, pears, peaches, plums, cantaloupes and apricots.

Warm (45-50 degrees F) and Humid (95%)

beans, cucumbers, potatoes, summer squash, zucchini, eggplants, peppers; these too are ethylene sensitive

tomatoes, avocados, honeydew melon require the same temperature and humidity but are ethylene producing

Warm (55 degrees F) and Dry (65-75%)

onions, pumpkins, winter squash

-Jeff Schreiber

From Marissa (the blogger): Food Network has a thorough article about storing produce at

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/ck_cg_storing/0,3175,FOOD_29737,00.html

Share Week 8

Lettuce mix, collards, kale, beets, carrots, potatoes, fennel, beans, zucchini and basil.

Share Week 7

Carrots, beets, chard, beans, lettuce mix, radishes, fennel, scallions, cilantro.

Appeal for Flood Relief

Dear Garden Shareholders,

We need your help.  Though we have not dwelt on the topic, Wellspring has suffered from the spring flooding and summer rainfall.  Just when we think it will become dry enough to work the lower garden beds we get another deluge.  This affects half our tillable garden space.

All of April, most of June and into mid-July the lower garden has been flooded or too muddy to farm.  This cuts into our productivity and represents a substantial loss to the Garden Program.  Normally we need 5 acres to grow a hearty share of produce for you--our CSA shareholders, supply produce for two farmers' markets and maybe a few restaurants.  We have cut out everything this year but the CSA and one market.  Shareholders, you come first and get the best of the garden produce.  

Now here's where you come in.  Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is based on the notion of a partnership between grower and consumer.  When the farm has a bad season, subscribers share the burden.  When the crops are in abundance, shareholders reap the bounty. Fortunately in these 21 years as a CSA we have had more bountiful than lean years and never a total disaster like some farms in Wisconsin.

At our board meeting last week we decided to ask for your help.  We anticipate a $7,000 loss this year mainly because of the floods.  We are not eligible for FEMA and insurance is too costly.  We are asking our shareholders to please pitch in and donate toward flood relief.  If everyone could give $50 or more that would get us very close to our goal.  That said, anything you can give will be helpful.  Since Wellspring is a non-profit your gift is tax deductible.  The gift is completely voluntary.

As a CSA we like to at least break even.  Absorbing a financial loss is not good business.  This is only the second time since 1988 we have asked our shareholders to help.  The last time was the flood of 2004.  This year's flood damage is just as bad and lasting longer.

Please help if you can.  We deeply appreciate your support.  

-Mary Ann Ihm

Newsletter Week 7

We hope you're enjoying your summer!  Our transition into summer crops this season has been a bit delayed from all the rain and cool weather.  The first are just starting to ripen: summer squash and zucchini, cucumbers, potatoes and beans--you'll be receiving them soon.  As for tomatoes, they are still a few weeks off but looking nice.  The crew here has spent the past few days stringing up the ungainly plants and pruning them so your tomatoes will be plump and beautiful.  We're hoping for some nice ones again this season!

Some items of business: it is sometimes difficult for us to get useable feedback from our shareholders about their CSA experience at Wellspring.  Our end of year survey will typically yield such results as 50% of respondents claiming they received too many beets, and 50% claiming they didn't receive enough!  So this year we're trying something new.  In the next couple weeks you may receive a call from one of our board members.  He or she will ask you some brief questions about your experience.  Your feedback is much valued and will be used to serve you better into the future.

You're receiving carrots for the first time this week.  Afghanistan has the largest variety of carrots so scholars believe it to be the country of origin for this vegetable.  Originally carrots were two colors: purple and pale yellow.  Europeans preferred the purple variety as they were milder in flavor, but they also stained pots and soups.  The Dutch set about developing a better yellow variety and by the mid-18th century our familiar orange carrot was born.

Later in the season we'll be "topping" your carrots, but for now enjoy the greens.  Remove them as they'll dehydrate the carrots, wash and chop for salad.  Or, add them to a stir fry or dry them for later use in winter soups.

-Jeff Schreiber

Share Week 6

Beets, peas, cabbage, fennel, kale, leaf lettuce and dill.

Newsletter Week 6

An article on the airwaves this past week highlighted the work of Roger Doiron, whose organization Kitchen Gardeners International is "one link in a loose chain of partisans who are neither conservatives nor liberals but locavores. They want to think global, eat local. Very local. As in their front and back yards," writes Ellen Goodman.  Doiron is pushing for edible landscapes everywhere from governors' mansions to schoolyards to empty urban plots.  But his biggest push?  He wants the current presidential candidates to pledge that they'll turn a piece of the 18-acre White House grounds into an edible garden.  Doiron's plot is meant to highlight our increasingly troubling food situation: rising costs -- 45 percent worldwide in two years, international food shortages while corn is grown to power cars, weird spinach and tomatoes. And, as we at Wellspring can attest: devastating floods which have ruined many Midwestern acres for the season.  We Wellspringers would be gleefully happy if we were put out of business because everyone decided to grow their own food, as Doiron hopes; but for the green thumb-less, small local farms like Wellspring are the next best thing for the conscious consumer concerned about food issues.  Thanks to all our shareholders, worker and community shares, and volunteers who make local agriculture possible!

-Jeff Schreiber

Share Week 5

Beets, cabbage (in some shares), fennel, radishes, leaf lettuce mix, peas, scallions, garlic, kale, dill, lemon balm, and mint.

The mint and lemon balm and bunched together for tea-making purposes.  Just soak in a pitcher of water and leave in a sunny spot (like a window sill) for several hours--all day, even.  You can throw some regular or green tea bags in there as well.  After it has steeped, remove the herbs and tea bags and refrigerate the tea.  It's quite refreshing on a hot day and has been enjoyed by the staff at Wellspring.

Newsletter Week 5

News From the Farm

The waters have receded and the mud is slowly drying up in the lower gardens.  Perhaps with another week of dry weather we can get into these beds to till and prepare for planting.  We are grateful to have half our garden on higher ground.  It's hard to believe that we are in July already and into the 5th week of the CSA with 19 more weeks to go.  Hope you are enjoying the produce.

On Monday, Wellspring was the site of a CRAFT workshop.  CRAFT is an acronym for Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training.  Farms with interns in Southeast Wisconsin and Northern Illinois get together throughout the season to visit other farms and learn from them.  Our garden manager, Jeff, took nearly 30 guests on a tour of Wellspring's gardens, greenhouse, interns' residents, post-harvest handing areas, and harvest shed which is our walk-in cooler keeping your vegetables fresh when harvested.  After the tour and discussions, we enjoyed a potluck meal under the large maple tree on our lawn.  It was a beautiful day and always stimulating to share stories and ideas with other farmers.  We heard many comments about the beauty of the Wellspring grounds.

We are grateful to those of you who are saving brown paper grocery bags for us.  We use these on the Thursday harvest for local shareholders.  Also, thanks for letting us know when you will be on vacation and not able to pick up your share.  However, we still have some shareholders not picking up their produce.

We enjoy our worker shares and community shares who help with the harvest on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  There's a real feeling of community and fun while being productive together.  Thanks, helpers!

Wellspring is having an Herbal Workshop on Saturday July 12 at 2:00 pm.  Phyllis Heitkamp, a master herbalist, will be teaching about medicinal herbs, lead us on an herb walk, and guide us in making a natural remedy of our choice to take home.  Registration is due by July 10.  The fee is $25, but $20 for Wellspring or Riveredge members, made payable to Wellspring.  For more information, please call 1-(262)-675-0195.

Also, please pencil in another Saturday at Wellspring.  September 13 will be our Harvest Fest and Taste of Wellspring event.  Local chefs make a gourmet meal from Wellspring's own garden produce.  On top of wonderful food there will be hay rides and live music, so it is an event not to be missed!  Money raised will benefit the Garden Scholarship Fund with which we train interns in sustainable farming and gardening.  Hope to see you on the farm this season!

-Mary Ann Ihm