Welcome To Fisher Farms, since 1933tag:www.fisherfarms1933.com,2008-05-19:/content/22008-11-14T19:28:58ZFood, news and musings from inside the outsideMovable Type Open Source 4.1Re-toolingtag:www.fisherfarms1933.com,2008:/content//2.932008-11-14T19:27:01Z2008-11-14T19:28:58ZMaria Fisherhttp://www.fisherfarms1933.com
There is supposed to be big rain tomorrow - so Dane will NOT be at Matthews and I am teaching Science Camp tomorrow - so I will NOT be at Charlotte either. The next week we WILL BE AT BOTH MARKETS and will have all manner of wonderful things; Red Cabbage, Greens, Lettuce and Sauce! Just perfect for your Thanksgiving Feast!
First I want to say sorry for not having a letter the last two weeks. As some of you know, my winter job was in mortgage and that business has gotten too slow to support us during the winter months. I have been planning and plotting as to what might carry us over to spring and so far have not come up with any good enough answers. That had me too down to share fun-farm stories. I am not alone. Time to re-tool. Long term, I plan to get my Psych degree and go into private practice part time in Salisbury. That will fit well with the farming activities. I turned in my application to Pfeiffer University today and planned out how to best work through general education classes quickly (3 sections of Physical Education, Philosophy, Political
Science..) Short term income plan is still a work in progress. As Dane goes to work each morning as a Professor, I am reminded of how Fred Astaire's partner, Ginger Rogers, danced when he danced, but backwards and in heels.
I have been spending a couple of hours a day working on the farm. Planting things and taking down stakes. If I run the radio - my truck battery runs out. So, there is much quiet at the farm. Core', our super-dog, comes to spend time with me (and smoosh my plants). She sits in front of me trying to lick my face until I give her a good massage. Then she finds a patch of long dry grass, paws it a little, turns around once and settles down for a long sun nap. I have been wearing a quilted, grey over suit - like a mechanic. I wear one of Trish's crochet hats and a baseball cap under that. Two work gloves, extra socks and one of Gregori's sweatshirts tied around my neck like a scarf complete my outfit.
Dane and I have been putting up a glorified cold frame that we can hunch down/ almost-stand-up in. Yesterday, when it rained, I planted seeds under the cold frame/ tent and felt like I was under the poof of a wedding dress. Core' liked it under there too.
Shout out:
If you are looking for reasonable gifts this year - you will find the local craft scene is very rewarding. Yorkmont Art Barn, Charlotte Tailgate Market Artisans and Galleries in NODA all have hand wrought, quality treasures that Wal-mart or Macys simply don't carry. Before you go and plan your long-line, florescent-light excursion the day after Thanksgiving - consider the short line, fresh air, and trustworthy experience of keeping the economy local and inspiration alive by shopping at the farmers markets and at the Galleries in NODA (Lark & Key - hint hint.) The gratitude you experience on all ends of the activity will be greater than what Wally-World can deliver. Their stock is up already.
Maria Fisher
fisherfarms1933@gmail.com
704-239-1719
FAX 866-302-4023 www.fisherfarms1933.com ]]>
JIT Sauce 2008 - Just Righttag:www.fisherfarms1933.com,2008:/content//2.922008-10-25T16:41:35Z2008-10-25T16:43:51ZDane will be at Matthews with Collards Kale Radishes Mustard Greens Tot Choi Tomatoes Sweet Potatoes/ Yams 2008 Sauce Pumpkins Maria will be at Yorkmont with Collards Mustard Greens Tot Choi Mustard Greens Tomatoes Yam Fingerlings Sauce 2008 Pumpkins Marcel...Maria Fisherhttp://www.fisherfarms1933.com
Dane will be at Matthews with
Collards
Kale
Radishes
Mustard Greens
Tot Choi
Tomatoes
Sweet Potatoes/ Yams
2008 Sauce
Pumpkins
Maria will be at Yorkmont with
Collards
Mustard Greens
Tot Choi
Mustard Greens
Tomatoes
Yam Fingerlings
Sauce 2008
Pumpkins
Marcel will be at Davidson with
Renn Bee Farm Honey
Collards
Tomatoes
White Sweet Potatoes
Pumpkins
Sauce 2008
A wave of relief went through me as the last drops of hot thick sauce dripped into our final jar. For me, it meant the last messing around with tomato season 2008. For Lenore and Peggy, it meant the end of 20 straight hours of cutting, boiling, pouring, capping, taking trash out, mopping floors, and freezing ourselves in a windowless room of loud kitchen equipment. Lenore and I packed all the jars into the trucks, treated ourselves to hot lentil soup with ham in downtown Asheville, and then hobbled ourselves through two art galleries. On the drive home (2 trucks for all the tomatoes) I listened to loud loud loud music and called everyone I knew who would put up with me. We got home at 8 pm and slept the sleep of the Just. Just done. Just shoot me. Just get up in the morning and go to the farm and see what else needs doing.
I have not tasted a cooled jar yet. We got home Thursday and yesterday was about getting ready for today. But from what I tasted at the kitchen - it is right.
This story needs more details and you will get them - but for now - know that Sauce 2008 is here.
Vote. Early & Often. ]]>
best farm picture this weektag:www.fisherfarms1933.com,2008:/content//2.912008-10-19T23:44:58Z2008-10-19T23:46:08ZMaria Fisherhttp://www.fisherfarms1933.com
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Off to saucetag:www.fisherfarms1933.com,2008:/content//2.902008-10-18T14:54:36Z2008-10-18T14:56:48ZMaria Fisherhttp://www.fisherfarms1933.com
I am writing on my mother in laws computer late this morning because my computer needs virus scrubbing and shut down several times before I gave up on it. So this will be short sweet and un-edited.
Dane-Matthews
radish
Beautiful pink tomatoes
Collards
Kale
Beans - he spent all day yesterday in the rain getting these up.
white sweet potatoes
pumpkins pumpkins pumpkins
Maria-Charlotte
Beefsteaks
collards
white yams - fingerling style
pumpkins
Marcel-Davidson
Renn Bee Farm Honey
Sungold cherries
Beefsteaks
Pinks
Fat White Sweet Potatoes
Collards?
Invitation:
NEXT WEEK LENORE AND I ARE LEAVING TUESDAY EVENING OR EARLY WEDNESDAY TO GO TO ASHEVILLE AND MAKE SAUCE. WE ARE SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY TO USE THE FACILITY. IF YOU WANT TO JOIN US, PLEASE SEND ME AN EMAIL TO fisherfarms1933@gmail.com WITH YOUR NAME AND PHONE NUMBER. WE EXPECT TO MAKE ABOUT 1000 JARS. IT IS PHYSICAL WORK. FOR EVERY EXTRA PERSON I HAVE IN THERE, IT COST ME $100. I CAN NOT PAY YOU AND THE COST TOO - BUT FOR THE EXPERIENCE, YOU ARE WELCOME. MUST HAVE A EXTREMELY HIGH TOLERANCE FOR BAD JOKES. WRITE TODAY.
"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?" - Eleanor Roosevelt ]]>
Kinard's mighty tractor rescue servicetag:www.fisherfarms1933.com,2008:/content//2.892008-10-11T15:15:56Z2008-10-14T02:19:22ZDane will be at Matthews with: Collards/ Kale Beefsteak tomatoes White Yams - fingerling and large White half runner GREEN BEANS Squash Maria will be at Yorkmont with: Kale Beefsteak Tomatoes White Yams - fingerling Little bit of Okra Small...Maria Fisherhttp://www.fisherfarms1933.com
Dane will be at Matthews with:
Collards/ Kale
Beefsteak tomatoes
White Yams - fingerling and large
White half runner GREEN BEANS
Squash
Maria will be at Yorkmont with:
Kale
Beefsteak Tomatoes
White Yams - fingerling
Little bit of Okra
Small amount of Heirlooms
Canners
White half-runner GREEN BEANS
Marcel will be at Davidson (welcome back!) with:
Renn Bee Farm Honey
Pink Girl and Pink Heirloom Tomatoes
Beefsteak Tomatoes
White Yams - fingerling
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes
Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Yesterday, Cass and I were sorting and grading all the tomatoes in the barn when Kinard, my father in law drove by on his HUGE tractor, covered in slick mud. He stopped looking mighty proud and proclaimed loudly, "Maria, I just dragged your husbands vehicle out of the mud back there...Where shall I send the bill to?" Between Dane and I, this is our SIXTH - yes, SIXTH time getting our truck stuck in the mud this season. We have dragged it out 2 times with Kinard's 4 wheel drive truck, 1 time with the neighbors tractor, twice with our own small tractor and this last time with Kinard's big tractor. The first and second time we called Kinard right away - because Kinard is smart about anything practical. Plus, he is retired. He is most likely to be home. The third and fourth time we tried to hide it from Kinard - because we did not want to be told that getting our truck stuck up was stupid and impractical. (We know that already.) That's when we discovered that almost-3-year-old Gregori is a TATTLE-TALE GOSSIP!!! And Kinard knew of our stuckness. One time, we managed to hide it from both Gregori and Kinard. So, we were meek and ashamed only to each other. This last time I freely told Nathlyn - who told Kinard - who drove his HUGE tractor 5 miles over to our farm to rescue us - again. If wishes were fishes, I would cast a net for an on-farm gator with a bin to haul tomatoes in - and maybe a bigger tractor. Can't complain about the rain through - that's good.
Community:
My mom and I were talking about general office politics. I am not good at office politics. So I find myself enormously grateful for our community of generous and good-natured, service oriented and business savvy farmers. I find myself continuously uplifted by the beautiful, thoughtful people who support the farmers markets. (Especially during the latest gas shortage, "I had only a little bit of gas - so I came to the farmers market! You all work so hard!" - Me?? What about you???) People send me intelligent and wonderful emails. Have me reading great books. Tell me the best recipes. It is an honor and deep joy to see people Saturday mornings. I love it. Over and over. The Chefs are all on their toes. Working hard, gracious, usually HILARIOUS to talk with, down to earth and smart. I worry to make sure everything is perfect for their creations. Sometimes, when I am needing inspiration, I go over to the artists barn and take a very quick peek at all they do and I love that too. If you are reading this - you are part of this amazing community. We have something special - no? Enormously grateful!
"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?" - Eleanor Roosevelt ]]>
Citibank, Wells, Citibank, Wells, Citibanktag:www.fisherfarms1933.com,2008:/content//2.882008-10-04T13:56:48Z2008-10-04T14:06:44ZDane will be at Matthews with Beefsteaks GORGEOUS GREEN BEANS Pumpkins White Yams and Sweet Potatoes Maria will be at Charlotte with Beefsteaks Some green beans White yams Stacey, a bright college student, will be at Davidson with Beefsteaks White...Maria Fisherhttp://www.fisherfarms1933.com
Beefsteaks
GORGEOUS GREEN BEANS
Pumpkins
White Yams and Sweet Potatoes
Maria will be at Charlotte with
Beefsteaks
Some green beans
White yams
Stacey, a bright college student, will be at Davidson with
Beefsteaks
White yams
Some pink tomatoes
Some green beans
Subprime mess
In my winter job I have been a mortgage officer for the last 8 or 9 years. I never made a giant book of business. You have to chase people around all year round to accomplish that. I never asserted myself as the go-to person for mortgages. I figured if they knew and trusted me and my work ethic, things would fall into place. That was a stupid assumption. But it takes a little over a decade to get over myself I guess. So, I watch with great interest as the bill got signed last night and as Wachovia looks for a new owner. I also watch with concern as I see people pull back a bit on eating out. I got laid off from being a corporate-money-grubbing scientist many years ago and remember going home and taking long naps for a while. (naps??! mmmm!) I wonder if people are taking a pause to reevaluate what is important to them. Perhaps as they sit for a while - in a gas line.
During my transition from science to mortgage I kept a diary and I remember noting that I could skimp on about every item except the experience of very fine dining. I had a Russian client that I had done a large amount of work for and he took Dane and I to a place in St. Louis where I had my first truly beautiful meal. Of course, Dane and I paid for ourselves and I was shocked at the price tag. But I smile at the meal today as one to bring to my rocking chair as a favorite replay for when I get too old to do much else. (Does that still happen?)
Go spend beyond your means? No. Absolutely not. But when you reevaluate your choices - consider what brings you the most memorable happiness per dollar spent. Our web site has some of the best places to go in town: www.fisherfarms1933.com
Weather - With my past history of corporate avarice and amorality, (not really) I can say with no remorse that my current occupation of working in the sunshine, listening to birds and enjoying wide skies with vivid fall colors sure beats sitting in under florescence in an office or laboratory. Sure I have to lift heavy things and endure muscle complaints. Big deal.
Mark Hibbs, Renaissance Chef
I have been meaning to write about Mark all summer. At the beginning of the summer - I did not have enough to write about. I could not figure him out. Sure - he owns one of the best restaurants in Charlotte, Ratcliff On The Green. He comes to market every Saturday and buys real local food - no skimping or replacements. But what about the real Mark Hibbs? So I watched all summer long for hints as to who this man is. This week I got my answer. This is one of the most dedicated and passionate man I have ever met. He is deeply rooted in reality and faces all things well beyond "can-do". He meets every circumstance with "I will." And he does! He brings his community along with him. Mark is the Chef who stood with us out in the POURING rain at Tuesday Tailgate this summer. He is the one who rides me about not lowering my prices to other Chefs giving me flack. He is the one who brings his kids to market. He is the one who is friends with the farmers actually going to their farm and having dinner with them at their house. He farmed enough himself to know EXACTLY what to ask for from the field. He knows how hard he can push the field. I call it precision farming when I have to grow something for a special event for Mark. But, I like it. I thought Alice Waters coming to Charlotte was going to kill me last year. He wanted the tomatoes just so. But he said she loved his Gazpacho that he made with our tomatoes. He shares the success. Which surprises me because I know that Marks food is several cuts above. The man could probably make anything taste spectacular. But he INSISTS it be local, fresh and perfect. (He really lets me know when our quality doesn't meet his expectations. - which is RARE.) When I have had the opportunity to eat some of his food - I notice that it is "Bright". Excellent. The passion and talent of a Renaissance man shines through. Yet, when all is said and done - Mark is the one making sure his restaurant works at the most operational level too. He shines, his food shines. He does the work and cuts no corners. He demands all around him do the work and cut no corners either. Unfailingly - his best is for you.
"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?" - Eleanor Roosevelt ]]>
To save gas...tag:www.fisherfarms1933.com,2008:/content//2.872008-09-27T14:06:51Z2008-09-27T14:09:02ZDane will be at Matthews with: The last of the Kobacha Squash The most perfect green beans Heirloom and Pink tomatoes Gorgeous Beefsteak tomatoes Pumpkins Sweet Potatoes and or White Yams Maria will be at Charlotte with: Best of the...Maria Fisherhttp://www.fisherfarms1933.com
The last of the Kobacha Squash
The most perfect green beans
Heirloom and Pink tomatoes
Gorgeous Beefsteak tomatoes
Pumpkins
Sweet Potatoes and or White Yams
Maria will be at Charlotte with:
Best of the season Beefsteak Tomatoes
Pumpkins
White fingerling sweet potatoes
Marcel will be at Davidson with:
Perfect Beefsteak Tomatoes
The best of our Pink Tomatoes
White Fingerling Sweet Potatoes
Red skinned and white fleshed Sweet Potatoes
Renn Bee Farm Honey (Local!)
Farm life:
I go 45 mph everywhere I go. As a side benefit, I save gas. But the truth is that I am hunting puffball mushrooms on the roadside. I found 6 this week. Pulled over and picked up 3 and gave 1 to Gregori's babysitter. Thursday, I was looking so hard to find some more, but was covering the same trails going to and from the babysitters, home and farm. The farm has surged in production of tomatoes and we have been spending every possible moment taking care of it all. Home late Thursday night - I left the dehydrator in the back of my truck bed thinking that I could get it out in the morning. Friday morning, running late, I put Gregori into his seat and threw open the truck gate and sat there for a moment figuring out how to wrap my arms around the large dehydrator so I could lug it without dropping it. I looked down and cried out "OH NO!" Trampled under my feet was the biggest, most perfect puffball mushroom - all white and in pieces! Haste makes waste indeed!!
Ann - Daddy's Girl Goat Dairy
Those in Davidson and those who go to the Tuesday Tailgate Market get to experience a rare treat in Ann, owner of Daddy's Girl Goat Dairy. She raises truly organic, 98% non GMO fed goats and uses their milk to make flavored goat cheese. It is truly lovely. She is a true homestead farm. Which, as I faintly understand it, means that most everything she sells comes off of her farm as the labor of her own hand. Because she is so strict in her interpretation of organic, her goats sometimes will produce less milk than the state average. Only recently, she has been getting some other organic curds to create her cheese - but she let's you know honestly which cheese came from where. She makes a blend that is wonderful.
She forages. She is a true mushroom hunter and will come to market with a variety of neat looking mushroom edibles if it has rained earlier in the week. She picks of persimmons to sell. She picks up the hazel-nuts from trees. She will very occasionally rob her all natural bees for purely organic honey. She brings all kinds of neat herbs she finds in her fields and uses them as decoration at her stand.
Shy at her core, but outspoken in nature, Ann loves good conversation and nice wine. I like having my stand near hers and consider her one of my most treasured friends. I think she is a brilliant woman, who lives her beliefs, treats her animals extremely well (she is a trained masseur and massages the goats), and she knows more about the land and living off of it than any other person I have met. Every time I talk with Ann for any length of time, I learn something I never knew before. Like how to hunt for wild puffball mushrooms in unexpected places...
"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?" - Eleanor Roosevelt ]]>
My Sunshinetag:www.fisherfarms1933.com,2008:/content//2.862008-09-20T02:39:09Z2008-09-20T02:41:26ZAt Matthews, Dane will have: Newly dug BIG FAT Red Sweet Potatoes!! TONS of Beefsteak tomatoes Some Pinkgirl Tomatoes Few Heirlooms WHITE YAMS!!! At Charlotte, Maria will have: Some Okra TONS AND TONS of Beefsteak Tomatoes!! Few Sungold cherry tomatoes...Maria Fisherhttp://www.fisherfarms1933.com
Newly dug BIG FAT Red Sweet Potatoes!!
TONS of Beefsteak tomatoes
Some Pinkgirl Tomatoes
Few Heirlooms
WHITE YAMS!!!
At Charlotte, Maria will have:
Some Okra
TONS AND TONS of Beefsteak Tomatoes!!
Few Sungold cherry tomatoes
WHITE YAMS!!!
At Davidson, Marcel will have:
Beefsteak Tomatoes
Pinkgirl tomatoes
Sungold Tomatoes
Red and White Sweet Potato
WHITE YAMS!!!
DRIED TOMATOES (few)
And LOCAL RENN BEE FARM HONEY!
This week it rained again on Tuesday. The forecast had said 30% chance of light showers. At 6:30 am - the air was clear and it looked like a promising day. Marcel and Cass came to help harvest at 8:00 am and by 9:00 am they were running into the barn, hard-won produce in hand and soaking wet and cold from the last 30 minutes of non-stop downpour. Those two are amazing. I was packing for the day's deliveries and wondering how badly our produce would melt in the third big rain event in 2 weeks. We just paid the well off the day before and were looking at the last big crop to meet operational expenses through spring. It would create hardship to lose the crop at this point. All day Tuesday, I was glum. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were sunny and dry and the plants bore out their best and most abundant crop yet. Go figure. The tomatoes are FAT and JUICY. Gas prices aside, you would be remiss to not get while the getting is good. And, trust me, it is GOOD right now!!
My Mother-in-Law
I would be remiss if I did not mention my mother in law as one of the key players in making Fisher Farms work. Her full name is Sarah Nathlyn Fisher - but she goes by Nathlyn or Maw Maw. She was born and raised in Faith, NC - just down the road from where she lives in Salisbury. She is a little over 25 years old (with some in the bank). She has the charm/old-school kindness/work ethic that were popular in the 50's. She always looks put-together and her house and kitchen are perpetually immaculate.
A housewife in the traditional sense of the term - she almost always has some form of food preparation going on in the background. "Come on in, I have okree cooling so I can freeze it!" Or "Look at this big pile of lima beans I spent all day shelling! My thumb is plum wore out!" Or "I just put up 100 ears of sweet corn to eat this winter! My locker is full!!" Or "I just canned 26 cans of tomato juice for vegetable soup this winter! Kinard did not want them to go to waste!" She shakes her head. "Like we don't have enough!" (Dane and I are part of the problem on the last one.)
Then for summer fare she is frying squash and frying okra and slicing tomatoes on top of cottage cheese and breaking green beans for canning - oops! Winter prep again. Her whole summer gets cooked, canned and frozen away in the abundance of a well maintained southern garden. I think she is a saint. Early in our marriage, Dane came in with a bunch of produce from his garden and instructed me to "put it up". I did not know what "put it up" meant, but it sounded like it might be work. I laughed at him and went back to my cross stitch. It was his garden, not mine! Many years have passed and I have taken on some more of the gardening and now find myself too busy to "put it up." But Nathlyn, she does it all. When we eat at her house, limas are always perfect. Vegi-soup, sweet and fresh. It is embarrassing. Gregori won't eat my cooking. I have to take him over to Nathlyn's at least 3 times a week. It is the only reason he grows. When he comes, she welcomes him cheerily and offers him something to eat. Fisher Farms would not run without Nathlyn. Maw Maw is a great cook and a great woman.
Maria Fisher
fisherfarms1933@gmail.com
704-239-1719
FAX 866-302-4023 www.fisherfarms1933.com
"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?" - Eleanor Roosevelt ]]>
More Raintag:www.fisherfarms1933.com,2008:/content//2.322008-09-13T05:02:48Z2008-09-17T05:14:48ZAt Mathews, Dane will have: Beefsteak Tomatoes Heirloom Tomatoes Kobocha Squash (one of these days I will spell this right.) Butternut squash Green beans (few) Okra (few) ROMAS - We picked over 800 lb of ROMAS - most of which...Maria Fisherhttp://www.fisherfarms1933.com
Beefsteak Tomatoes
Heirloom Tomatoes
Kobocha Squash (one of these days I will spell this right.)
Butternut squash
Green beans (few)
Okra (few)
ROMAS - We picked over 800 lb of ROMAS - most of which is going to a well-planned Italian family making traditional sauce - but we have lb left over.
White Yams
At Charlotte - KARYN AND CASS will be running the stand as I am teaching science today. They will have:
Beefsteak Tomatoes
Chocolate cherry tomatoes
Kobocha squash (few) (this is the end of that crop)
ROMAS!!!
White Yams!
4 bags of dried tomatoes - small bags - yes, I am getting started on that again.
At Davidson, Marcel will have:
Beefsteak Tomatoes
Sungold cherry tomatoes
White yams
Renn Bee Farm Local Honey!
It started to downpour Wednesday morning and I sent Cass home and took Gregori to the barn to start the big clean as per Dean Mullis's good recommendation in his newsletter. Rain poured down. I sorted through tomatoes and tossed the rotten ones into the woods and the smaller ones into a bin to freeze for falls sauce-making trip. The good ones got neatly stacked back into boxes for market. I got about a quarter of the way through all the boxes when I noticed 2.5 year old Gregori was up to his thighs in a big puddle, laughing at the rain, pushing plastic bins into the middle for "boats", and pushing his toy trucks through the underwater revving "Vroom! Vroom!" For a kid who has grown up so far in drought conditions, he sure knows how to enjoy himself when it rains!
When he got done, I wrapped him up in old t-shirts and let him sleep in an old easy chair while I continued cleaning. Rain still poured down. About 3pm, he woke up and I figured I should feed him and myself , so we gave up on the day as far as field work was concerned and went home to watch Thomas the Train. Dane went out to the field and said it was too wet to work in anyway. Fine. One day lost. OK.
Thursday morning I called Cass and Marcel and told them to wait until afternoon to work. In the meantime, I collected up all the tomatoes I had been freezing and took them down to Howells Motor Freight in Charlotte. They have a big freezer and I keep the extras there until I go to Asheville to make sauce. I like the owner there, Chad. We chatted about how many pallets I would use and how long they might be there and about how Sungold cherry tomatoes are addictive. He told me that his facility is storing tons and tons of Halloween candy getting ready for our collective sugar high! Wow!!! How fun is that??? Halloween was already getting started! I guess I should have known, we start pumpkins way ahead of October - but I never put that much thought into it. As usual, I rode away from Howells Motor Freight inspired by commerce and wondered how many more tomatoes I could freeze before November and still get the field work done. With this rain, the numbers are smaller than the usual burgeoning amount.
Thursday afternoon/evening, Dane, Marcel, Cass and I picked until it was dark out and starting to sprinkle again. Marcel and Dane left before the sun went down and Cass and I sat out there and loaded my truck up with the 800 lb of Romas and the other Beefsteaks. Cass went home ahead of me and I mentally made plans to take a good hot shower when I got home as I drove out of the field up towards the barn. Then, a serious error. I slowed down going up a hill and started to slide backwards. I threw in into reverse and tried to find some friction to make the hill - but it was too late - down the hill I slid getting deeper and deeper into the mud. The second time in two weeks. A ton of tomatoes on my truck bed, there was no way I was going to get out of this one. I called Dane - but his phone was out of juice. I should have called Cass, or my father in law - but I decided to hoof it home and just have a longer day.
An hour later and a third of the way home, Dane called me and had a fit. He came to pick me up and we drove over to his parent's house to pick up another truck for me to drive. We were vociferous and his parents guessed what happened without much effort. Friday morning my father-in-law came out with his four wheel drive and pulled my truck out of the mud. Cass and Marcel laughed and laughed as my truck got covered bumper to bumper in thick mud from his spin off.
Shout out - I am waiting for Marcel to go eat at Ratcliff on the Green so I can write about Chef Mark Hibbs. In the meantime - just know that it is Marks birthday today and we are lucky he was born!
Tailgate - There is the Top-Chef Tour there today. We tried to work it so we could have a stand there and be part of the fun - but with the rain and mud adventures and me teaching today instead of running the stand - we decided to read about it in the papers. I regret that. I think it will be really really cool. You should go.
"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?" - Eleanor Roosevelt ]]>
Raintag:www.fisherfarms1933.com,2008:/content//2.332008-09-06T13:20:53Z2008-09-17T13:23:20ZDane will be at Matthews, Maria and Cass at Yorkmont, Marcel and Stacey at Davidson. Matthews: Beefsteak - big ones from new field Heirlooms - the most we have ever had White Yams - divine Orange Sweet Potatoes Acorn Squash...Maria Fisherhttp://www.fisherfarms1933.com
Matthews:
Beefsteak - big ones from new field
Heirlooms - the most we have ever had
White Yams - divine
Orange Sweet Potatoes
Acorn Squash - I may have the name wrong on that
Koobocha Squash - I definitely had the name wrong on that last week.
Charlotte:
Beefsteak - tons and tons of them
Heirlooms
White sweet potatoes
Orange sweet potatoes
Acorn squash
Koobocha squash
Okra
Davidson:
Beefsteaks
Sweet Potatoes
Renn Bee Farm Honey - from Marcel Renn!
Rain:
Tuesday Dane told me there would be 65 mile an hour winds on Saturday. I ulcered over it for 2 days. We picked tomatoes. I tied up plants. I mulled over what to do with extras since we have more tomatoes now then we have all season long. Good ones too. I decided to freeze them en mass for sauce if Saturday was a sad bust and we all kept working. Dane, by far the fastest picker, discovered that he can pick piles of tomatoes at sunset and I can go through with a headlamp on and pick them up into boxes. The third night in a row we did that and I got home at 10 - I started to switch into a strange space between gratitude (it is nice quiet time under the stars) and "whatever" mode. By Thursday afternoon the threat of big big rain had dissipated and I was OK with any outcome. Friday, when we started packing the barn into our trucks - I was amazed at the amount. My camera is full of pictures from last May, otherwise I would have taken a photo - but it was full full full. As are now our trucks. A little rain this morning according to the forecast. That is not so bad.
"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?" - Eleanor Roosevelt ]]>
Swoop and Divetag:www.fisherfarms1933.com,2008:/content//2.342008-08-30T13:23:30Z2008-09-17T13:26:26ZMaria Fisherhttp://www.fisherfarms1933.com
Maria will be at Charlotte.
We are not setting up Davidson - We will be back next week.
At Matthews (go early) Dane will have:
Beefsteak tomatoes
Heirloom tomatoes
White and Orange Sweet Potatoes
Small amount of summer squash
Kabotha Squash
At Charlotte, Maria will have:
Beefsteak and Heirloom and Cherry Sungold Tomatoes
White and Orange Sweet Potatoes
Unshelled Limas
Field Peas
Kabotha Squash
Three Skies and Dragonflies:
7 pm. The sun in thinking about going down. Shin deep in cool water, I bend down to pick a fat tomato from the bottom of a vine in our second newest field. Cracked. I throw it up out of the rows - away from Dane who is picking further up the field in the "dry" part. We are getting out as many tomatoes as we can before anymore bursting of rain or tomatoes occurs. It is quiet. There are no neighbors running distant motors.
There are three skies. Hanging low, left-over rain clouds surround us in blue-grey. Like an orphaned wispy fog. Above, relieved/light/puffy clouds are glaringly bright with heavenly glow - pink, bright white, tinged behind with purple-grey. Even higher above a deep and perfect azure sky is reminding us that this too, shall pass.
Feeling the humidity, we sweat and work as fast as we can. Insects are emerging as the sun descends. In the distance, a cloud of thirty bats come out and start swooping and circling over our older fields. First, they are 100 feet up and a couple acres away. Then they get closer and lower until they are right above our peach orchard just above the field we are in. Upon closer view, I can see that they are not bats, but I can not tell exactly what they are. I ask Dane. "Rain crows." He says. "They migrate now and for the next month." "They might be eating insects." They swoop and dive looking remarkably succinct and graceful against the three skies; wispy, heavenly and azure-blue. "Look at that!" I told Dane. And at the level of peach trunks a hundred dragon-flies swarmed below the rain crows. Eating mosquitoes. Also swooping and diving, but in a smaller pattern.
Clouds; rain, bird and insect. Surreal.
Trish:
Trish is the Charlotte Farmers Market Matriarch. She takes time to know every vender and has been there for more than many seasons. She sells homemade crocheted, felted and sewn items. Every year I go and investigate her display looking for what I am going to buy for Christmas. Every year, she has something new and fun to look at. This year she is making felted handbags with interesting buttons/earrings that she has saved over time. Her use of browns inspires me. She has baby items and all manner of hats and scarves for adults. When I wear her stuff, I feel very VERY stylish.
I am waiting for her to start making yoga-matt carriers - but with her schedule of having her hands busy producing new stuff every spare minute, she has not been able to work that in yet. I know she will. She was Vera Bradley before Vera was. She puts a bible verse on every tag on every item.
She sings. She sings at Christmas at the stand and sells at the same time. It is my most favorite Farmers Market experience to be near her when she sings. My second favorite is to be near her when she tells a happy story. Her eyes sparkle. She adores children and comes to see Gregori every time I have him there. I love Trish. And her stuff is so good, I would buy it every year even if I did not love her. But the love there, in her stuff, makes it that much better.
Maria Fisher
fisherfarms1933@gmail.com
704-239-1719
FAX 866-302-4023 www.fisherfarms1933.com
"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?" - Eleanor Roosevelt ]]>
Free Timetag:www.fisherfarms1933.com,2008:/content//2.352008-08-23T13:26:39Z2008-09-17T13:28:21ZMaria Fisherhttp://www.fisherfarms1933.com
SWEET POTATOES!!! Orange and White! - We ate some last night. YUM YUM!!!
Heirloom and Beefsteak Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes - Chocolate Cherry
Okra
Green Beans
Squash
At Charlotte Maria will have:
SWEET POTATOES - see above.
Beefsteak Tomatoes
Sungold cherry tomatoes (few)
Cucumbers
At Davidson Marcel will have:
Beefsteak and Old Timey Pink Tomatoes
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes
Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes
Renn Bee Farm Honey! (He is a beekeeper and tells me it takes him forever to brush their teeth since they are always eating sweet things. A problem for sure.)
Priorities:
Saturday after market I am dazed and could happily wander about doing aimless things until sundown if left to my own devices. Dane comes back focused and gets a great deal of farm work done Saturdays post-market. Knowing that Marcel is going back to teaching school at the local high school I have concluded that my days of aimlessness could possibly come at great cost of untended plants and lost future harvests. In prevention of future disaster, I asked Dane what I should do when I get back Saturday. I recited the list of un-dones: tie up plants, take down stakes and plants in the old tomato field, dehydrate tomatoes, process tomatoes for sauce, tie up and stake and weed the backyard Sungolds, mow the lawn, do the dishes, make real food, clean the house, laundry(!), pick grapes and make jelly for CSA, market our HUGE future crop of Beefsteaks??? He said - none of that is important right now. All energy should be put towards transplanting late fall and winter crops. Oh. I guess I will do that other stuff in my free time.
Maria Fisher
fisherfarms1933@gmail.com
704-239-1719
FAX 866-302-4023 www.fisherfarms1933.com ]]>
Measuring Worthtag:www.fisherfarms1933.com,2008:/content//2.362008-08-16T13:30:39Z2008-09-17T13:34:04ZDane will be at Matthews, Maria at Charlotte Yorkmont, Marcel at Davidson. At Matthews, Dane will have: Beefsteak tomatoes, Old timey Pink tomatoes, some heirlooms Sungold and Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes Okra Squash Green Beans At Charlotte, Maria will have: Beefsteak...Maria Fisherhttp://www.fisherfarms1933.com
At Matthews, Dane will have:
Beefsteak tomatoes, Old timey Pink tomatoes, some heirlooms
Sungold and Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes
Okra
Squash
Green Beans
At Charlotte, Maria will have:
Beefsteak tomatoes
Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes
Canning tomatoes
Cucumbers
* Someone asked me to pick Romas - I did that. Please come and get them.
* Several people have asked for dried tomatoes - this weeks batch did not meet my standards. Please be patient and get some next week.
At Davidson, Marcel will have:
Beefsteak Tomatoes
Old Timey Pink Tomatoes
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes
Honey from his bees!
Cucumbers
* Chef Mark Hibbs will be the Chef at Davidson. A treat!!
The Question of Worth:
I am reading "Animal Vegetable Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. I have the last 75 pages to go, which in days of my youth and leisure would take me a short time to knock out. Now, I will be lucky if I can get it done by the end of September. Dane is back to being a Professor and although he is killing himself coming out to the field as much as he can, the fact is that fall crops are mine to harvest for the most part. Of course we are blessed to have the strength and good sense of Marcel combined with the youth and good nature of Cass (I'll tell you about Cass later.) But even with their full efforts in the mornings - there is much left undone and it is my daily obsession to try to make choices that will make the most effective use of my time while paying back the well loan and tractor payments for the year. Dane is better at making those sort of choices.
In the meantime, I keep thinking about references in the current press to the higher-than-grocery-store prices at the farmers market. Really? I decided to go check it out for myself. Tonight after harvest, I went to Food Lion to see how much tomatoes were per pound. $1.99 for a perfect 4 inch tomato. Greased. Shiny. Orangey Red. I had thought they were $2.99 - but that pricing was for hot house tomatoes. We don't have a hot house. Not sure why anyone would buy those now (Redundant? Hello. It's been hot out there this summer!) So I bought a grocery store tomato to see if there was a taste difference. As soon as I paid for it, I wiped the grease to one side and took a bite. "I own a tomato farm" I explained to the cashier's raised eyebrows. She nodded. The tomato was OK. I looked at the label. I knew the grower as a local large scale supplier. I went out to the parking lot, grabbed a freshly harvested tomato out of my truck (Ruby red. 3 inches. Ungreased.) and sat there under the street-light with grocery store tomato in one hand and our tomato in the other. Field-warm and A/C cold. I closed my eyes as I stood there biting each one and tasting slowly. Could I tell a difference? The nicely dressed lady in the car behind me thought I was nuts, one tomato, then the other - there WAS a difference! What was it exactly? Then I remembered what Barbara Kingsolver wrote about a Village's sign she had seen in Italy, "You can taste our dirt!", it proudly proclaimed. Our SOIL was what I could taste in our tomato - the taste of our soil through the basic tomato taste. It tasted like it smells; fresh, yummy, real, nurtured. I love the smell of good soil. I kept tasting, there was something else different too. I could not place it as a taste like sweet/sour/salty etc., but more as a surprising vitality that I can not describe - but that is definitely there. An extra dollar for vitality? Sure. I do not know how it got there, but I am not going to apologize for what I consider to be an immeasurable worth.
The Quiet Activist:
Pam is one of my favorite customers that comes to market every week. She brings an orange collapsible basket and special bags to pack her tomatoes in. Lately, a lot of people are bringing their own bags - which delights my environmental sensibilities tremendously! And Pam was one of the first. What I really like about her is she reuses the same paper bag over and over until it is soft and leather-like. When the top frays, she trims it a bit and keeps on reusing until it is completely expired. Wow! Total commitment! She is a wonderful cook and has written me emails with rocking tomato recipes in them. A couple weeks ago, she surprised me with a water bottle that is insulated and has a good wide mouth perfect for powdered Gatorade/ well water concoctions. I use it all the time and have found that I have used less (only one) plastic Gatorade bottles. Modest and soft spoken. She rides a bike. Her carbon footprint is a size 2 on a big day. But what I love about her is that every week she pulls out that worn paper bag and fits more good food into it. Without fail, her act of caring makes me think and has me smile. I want to be like that.
Maria Fisher
704-239-1719
FAX 866-302-4023 www.fisherfarms1933.com ]]>
Neighborly Lovetag:www.fisherfarms1933.com,2008:/content//2.372008-08-09T13:36:06Z2008-09-17T13:44:47ZDane will be at Matthews Maria will be at Charlotte Marcel will be at Davidson Really red ripe Beefsteak, deeply blushing Pink Girls, and butter-colored summer squash. At Matthews, Dane will have: Really red ripe Beefsteak, deeply blushing Pink Girls,...Maria Fisherhttp://www.fisherfarms1933.com
Maria will be at Charlotte
Marcel will be at Davidson
Really red ripe Beefsteak, deeply blushing Pink Girls, and butter-colored summer squash.
At Matthews, Dane will have:
Really red ripe Beefsteak, deeply blushing Pink Girls, and butter-colored summer squash.
Tender green beans
Heirloom tomatoes - Gregori, Black Brandywine, Mecklenburg
Old timey yellow tomatoes
And an assortment of squash/ zuchs.
At Charlotte, Maria will have:
Really red ripe Beefsteak, deeply blushing Pink Girls, and butter-colored summer squash.
Heirloom tomatoes - Gregori, Black Brandywine, Mecklenburg
Cherry tomatoes - small amount compared to normal.
An assortment of squash/ zuchs
Cucumbers
Cantaloupes - Charentais and normal kind
At Davidson, Marcel will have:
Really red ripe Beefsteak, deeply blushing Pink Girls, and butter-colored summer squash.
Maybe some of his local honey?
Neighborly love:
We have one neighbor at the farm that I never made friends with for the last 10 years. Yesterday he rode by on his shiny lawn mower (shiney? How does one do that?) and I waved a big lazy wave because Dane and I had just finished packing both trucks and were just sitting around talking for a minute (discussing how we needed market help that it was too late to get anyhow.) He came over and we gave him some tomatoes, squash, cukes, cantaloupe and news of our other neighbor's new baby.
We asked about his invisible white cat, Cotton, who you can see miles away crouching to catch mice. Cotton was fine. He asked about our roving happy dog, Core', who has been visiting him. We bragged, "Core' is doing a great job of keeping the snakes out of our way!" Our neighbor got wide eyed. "I KNOW!" he said, "I killed TWO Copperheads this year in MY yard!" We all laughed and I promised him a bonus tomato for every extra copperhead he killed and I silently promised Core' more breakfast burritos in the mornings. Good dogs help make good neighbors.
Shout out - I have to go back and see who is next. You will have to wait until next week to see too. In the meantime - Check out Kathleen Purvis's article on Rosemary Pete this week. Great stuff!
"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?" - Eleanor Roosevelt ]]>
Society Peopletag:www.fisherfarms1933.com,2008:/content//2.382008-08-02T13:45:33Z2008-09-17T13:48:18ZDane will be at Matthews Maria will be at Charlotte Marcel will be at Davidson At Matthews Dane will have Gregori, Mecklenburg, Yellow and New Black Heirloom tomatoes Beefsteak and Old Timey Pink tomatoes Sungold Cherry tomatoes Yellow Banana Zucchini...Maria Fisherhttp://www.fisherfarms1933.com
Maria will be at Charlotte
Marcel will be at Davidson
At Matthews Dane will have
Gregori, Mecklenburg, Yellow and New Black Heirloom tomatoes
Beefsteak and Old Timey Pink tomatoes
Sungold Cherry tomatoes
Yellow Banana Zucchini
Yellow Patty Pan Squash
Yellow Straight Neck Squash
Pickling cucumbers
Charlotte will have:
Tomatoes: We got the lions share of the reddest ripest Beefsteak Tomatoes,
Old timey Pink Tomatoes, Gregori, Mecklenburg and New Black Heirloom Tomatoes.
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes and Black Cherry Tomatoes
Squash and Zucchini - no patty pans, but we got straight neck squash, koosa, and yellow banana zucchini.
Pickling and Mediterranean Cucumbers
Davidson will have:
Sungold Cherry tomatoes
Lovely Pink tomatoes
Beefsteak Tomatoes
Mediterranean Cucumbers
Maybe some of his Honey?
A Gleaner is a person in your neighborhood...
This week Marilyn Marks who works for Society of St. Andrews (People who glean farmers fields and distribute the food to other people who can use it.) came to the Tailgate Market and reminded me who she was. (I am the worst to remember names and faces. Although I can probably tell you your whole life story once you remind me who you are.) She was there as a customer buying tomatoes. Wisely, she picked the heirlooms. "Hi Maria, I'm Marilyn Marks." (She knows my weakness. She is nice about it.) "Hi Marilyn!!! So happy to see you! Are you harvesting much this week?" (She actually came to our farm and gleaned some tomatoes last year to check us out - I guess we passed.) "Why yes I am!" She grinned. "I am going to be gleaning at XXXXX (insert large tomato farm name) tomorrow!" "You are?!? They grow shipping tomatoes!" *Ting!* The light in my head went on. "Hey! I have some shipping tomatoes - you want to come and get them?" "OK!" She said "Let me see what I can do." I was elated. Our vine ripened shipping tomatoes were good, in fact, above average to eat. Just not good enough for our stand. I hated to see the vines so full with big round pink tomatoes having no place to go.
That evening I got a call from some one with a 463 prefix in their phone number. That's the number for the people in our town. "Hello, is this Fisher Farms?" "Yes, it is. Can I help you?" "This is XXXX with Society of St. Andrews and I would like to come glean your field tomorrow and bring it to the soup kitchen in Norwood and the homeless shelter in Albemarle." (Oh boy! Someone was coming to take the tomatoes away!) "OK, sure!" "Good." He said businesslike. "What time should I come over and how do I get there?" I gave him the address and time. Once we agreed on everything I had to ask him..."So, I see you have a 463 number. Where do you live?" He paused - "Two doors down from you. I'm your neighbor." At once I thought about my un-mowed lawn. "My neighbor! Wow! Hey - uh - sorry about my lawn and all. And, uh, sorry I don't know your name." "That's OK - I don't mind." "Uh. Thanks. OK - see you tomorrow then!" My neighbor came and spent all (hot) morning picking over 420 pounds of tomatoes. He said that the people had been asking for tomatoes and that many were having to scramble because they had garden failures. Garden failures? Yes, no irrigation. I thought about our well as I picked and gave him 50 big squash/zucchini. I apologized for the size. He said that the chef at Norwood's soup kitchen grew up with scarcity and knew what to do with big squash. I invited him to come back and he said just give him a call. After he left to deliver I thought about how he worked his tail off getting that food out of our field. I was touched and grateful and could not have been happier.
I love Society of St. Andrews. Most farmers at the markets we go to are active contributors to Marilyn's group. I don't think most farmers have a gleaner-volunteer as a next-door-neighbor. That is just my extreme good fortune! BUT - I know that if you wanted to volunteer too that Marylyn would find a place for you. Here is her email address. sosawnc@endhunger.org
I hesitated to write this. But the way I found out about the Society of St. Andrews was through a newspaper article which I clipped and carried around with me for a year before I called and persued the relationship. I am very happy I did.
Maria Fisher
fisherfarms1933@gmail.com
704-239-1719
FAX 866-302-4023 www.fisherfarms1933.com ]]>
