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Wood
Prairie Farm The Seed Piece Newsletter Organic News and Commentary Friday August 08, 2014  |
In This Issue of The Seed Piece: New Gallup Poll Says Almost Half
of Americans Seek Out Organic Food.
The Courageous and Inspiring Scientist Dr. Tyrone Hayes. .Notable Quote: The Dalai Lama on Aspiration. Recipe: New Potatoes with Lemon and Chives. Special Offer: FREE Copy of The New Maine Cooking. Mailbox: Little Seed Balls and Sticky Dough. This edition of the Seed Piece can be found in our Seed Piece Archives. |
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Echoes of Fall. 
Maine
Moose. (Maine State Museum photo by Billy
Hathorn). We commonly
see moose on Wood Prairie Farm in the Spring and then again as the
weather cools down in the Fall. Conditions here in Northern
Maine have turned dry. We’re grateful to have the two
irrigation ponds we dug in the years before it turned so wet this last
decade. We have begun irrigating our crops.
Even with our dry soil, while out rouging potatoes this morning, we came across fresh moose tracks – but no moose to be seen - crossing our potato field. Yesterday morning we had a cool start at 49ºF. Once we slip into August, we get hints of the cooler weather that is around the corner. Crops are doing well and growing fast. Potatoes have lost their blossoms and tubers are bulking up nicely. Wheat and oats are drying down. Ears on seed corn are filling out. Carrots and parsnips are newly weeded and look good. The hay field now has nice white clover regrowth and our Dexter cows are enjoying luxuriant grazing. School starts up in a week – yes, early up here by design so that the students can get off the three weeks to help farmers during the Potato Harvest Break which begins every year just past mid-September. .  Jim
&
Megan Gerritsen & Family
Wood
Prairie Farm
Bridgewater,
Maine
Click here for the Wood Prairie Farm Home Page. |
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| New Gallup Poll
Says Almost Half of Americans Seek Out Organic Food. A landmark poll released yesterday by the Gallup organization for the first time detailed American attitudes towards eating organic food. This is the first organic polling data Gallup has ever pursued in its “Consumption Habits” survey. Slightly less than half of all Americans – 45% - actively try to include organic foods in their diets. These numbers are very significant and lie substantially higher than past assumptions. Patterns emerged in the polling which showed organic food’s greatest strengths are among the young, those in the West and residents of big or small cities. The concise Gallup polling report makes for very interesting reading. Contrary to the dismissive propaganda of self-serving partisans from Industrial Ag and Big Food, organic food is growing in importance to more and more Americans. As we gain a better understanding of food and its impact on the wellness of our families, to a steadily increasing segment of our citizenry, organic is understood as the gold standard for good eating. Jim & Megan Click Here for Our Wood Prairie Farm Certified Organic Specialty Potatoes For Your Kitchen. |
 Seeking Organic Food. Nearly half of Americans search out organic. |
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 Dr. Tyrone Hayes. Standing up for the people.
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The Courageous and
Inspiring Scientist Dr. Tyrone Hayes.
Back in February Dr. Tyrone Hayes gained wide spread and well-deserved notoriety in a powerful article in The New Yorker magazine. Dr. Hayes is the scientist with remarkable integrity who has stood up to Biotech giant Syngenta which launched a vicious character assassination campaign - one fully documented - against him because of his damning research on their herbicide, Atrazine, and his refusal to bow to their pressure. Recently, Carol Grieve of Food Integrity Now conducted a must listen interview (33:20) with Dr. Hayes. The inspiring and modest Dr. Hayes provides first-person insight into base corruption within Industrial Ag and the gross collusion and dysfunction of revolving-door 'regulatory' agencies like EPA. This interview is not to be missed! Jim & Megan |
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 New Potatoes with Lemon and Chives. Photo by Angela Wotton |
Recipe:
New Potatoes with Lemon and Chives. 10 to 12 whole new potatoes (about 1 pound) 2 T butter 1 T snipped fresh chives 1 T lemon juice 1/8 tsp sea salt 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper Scrub potatoes thoroughly. Cut potatoes in halves or quarters. In a large saucepan cook potatoes in a small amount of boiling, lightly salted water for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Drain. Add butter, chives, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to the potatoes and toss gently to coat. Makes 4 servings Megan |
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| Special Offer: FREE Copy of The New Maine Cooking. Maine farmer Jean Ann Pollard’s The New Maine Cooking is a cookbook you will want as a constant companion in your kitchen. Read this excerpt from Maine Organic Farmer and Gardener Editor Jean English and you’ll quickly learn why this cookbook is so compelling.
"With the emphasis on local, seasonal foods that has joyfully
grown in recent years, her book is a welcome addition, providing
creative and delicious ways to use those foods. From the beautiful
cover to the easily read seasonal recipes and the helpful index, The
New Maine Cooking will inspire users to feast on daylily
blossoms and
fiddleheads from their own landscapes, to serve up New Potatoes in
Fresh Lemon using potatoes from their own gardens, to incorporate fresh
farmers' market produce in Cuban Black Beans, and to support local
fisheries by serving Classic New Maine Fish Chowder." |
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Little Seed Balls. Dear WPF. Hi folks, I'm hoping you can tell me something about the little seed balls that are now growing on my potato plants. Is there any way to use them? Last year I squeezed the little seeds out of the balls and dried them. This spring I planted those little things and nothing happened; there must be a way to use them, is there one you'd care to share? DR WWW WPF Replies. Yes, each of those seed balls contains 80-100 tiny true potato seeds which are a cross between the mother plant bearing the seed balls and pollen from a father plant. If properly dried and stored, the seeds may be started indoors late winter then planted outside in the garden akin to tomatoes. Do note they are very slow growing so start them early . Jim. Sticky Dough. Dear WPF. I received my box of wheat bread, yum! I'm curious though, I made a batch tonight and it was really sticky. Is the 16 oz. water direction correct? It seemed like too much. Thanks. JP WWW WPF Replies. Yes if using a Bread Machine 15oz or 16oz is the correct amount of water to use with our bread mixes. Some modern measuring cups are not very precise, so you might find an alternate and see if your results vary. Megan. |
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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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