Ayurvedic Medicine?

On my way to the farm I caught a very interesting radio program on the People's Pharmacy.  It was about how what you eat is what you are or letting your food be your medicine.  The guest who is a practitioner of ayurvedic medicine and a neurologist, was mentioning that what you eat changes your gut bacteria.  That is simple enough, however she then went on to state that your gut bacteria then send signals to your brain to create desires in what you eat.  So depending upon what you have been eating and what is living in your gut you might be creating a feed back loop that could either be beneficial or downward spiraling.  I still don't know much about ayurvedic medicine but it makes a bunch of sense that our eating habits can have big consequences or payoffs.  Here is a link to the program if you would like to give it a listen.  http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2016/04/21/show-1033-how-to-stay-healthy-with-principles-of-ayurvedic-medicine/

The Pope Prays for Steed Farm

Well, he is praying for Steed Farm as well as every small farm and farming family trying to cultivate the land.  I was a bit surprised and very grateful that for the month of April, Pope Francis asked the world to pray for small farmers.  The USDA categorizes small farms as those that make below $250,000.  We definitely fit well below that category and we always welcome prayers for our farm.  I'll let the Apostleship of Prayer summarize the global intention of the pope...

 Seventy-two percent of the world’s farms are less than 2.5 acres in size.  In the U.S., 90 percent of the 2.1 million farms are considered small, family farms, and many of them are struggling.

Though prices have gone up in supermarkets, the income of farmers has not. As a result, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the largest job loss of any occupation is farmers. When the small farms go out of business, often large agri-businesses acquire the land and create greater potential for ecological damage and health risks. For example, a single fast food hamburger may contain meat from more than a hundred different cattle.

For Pope Francis small farmers are essential to caring for the earth and safeguarding it for future generations. He said that “in the work of farmers there is the acceptance of the precious gift of the land which comes to us from God, but there is also its appreciation in the equally precious work of men and women, called to respond to the mandate of tilling and safeguarding the land (Genesis 2: 15).” 

Agricultural workers should receive a just wage. As the pope said, “The labor of those who cultivate the earth, generously dedicating time and energy to it, appears as a genuine vocation. It deserves to be recognized and appropriately appreciated, also in concrete economic policies.”

With the coming of spring, we pray for those on small farms who are busy planting. May they not only have an abundant harvest this year but also “receive a just reward for their precious labor.” 

Thank you Pope Francis for your recognition of our work and thank you everyone who prays for us!

Week 20, Season 2015 - 16

Things are heating up in the field and the weeds are taking over the row middles again.  This is when growing produce organically starts to get even harder than it already is in west central Florida. Our transition time should be better than last year and we will have a few lean weeks of produce.  Squash and zucchini are looking good and should start to harvest next week.  Cherry tomatoes are also looking good except for a few plants out in the field.  There are a few small green tomatoes already on the vines.  Green beans are almost ready to flower and cucumbers in the greenhouse are starting to produce the first stages of fruit.  Potatoes harvested last week for the first time this season and taste great.  Two varieties of corn had to get replanted for poor germination.  The southern peas also had poor germination and will not produce a crop as I had no more seeds and it will be too late in the season to order and plant them. We might get a crop of eggplants from the same plants that we had from the fall.  I pruned them back and see some flowers since it has warmed up.

Our strawberries are being eaten again over the last few weeks. I hate to keep loosing them each week as these are super popular in the share baskets.  I put another strand of hot wire next to the ground last week thinking that the animal that was eating them was going under the electric fence.  Things looked good all the way up to Wednesday and I thought we were on track to harvest for Saturday with nothing being eaten.   Until I checked them today (Friday) and again everything that was ripe was eaten again.  Now I think that it might be coyotes going over the fence.  I found what look like dog tracks on the watermelon rows and around the area right next door to the strawberries.  I honestly  have no clue what is eating them.  We caught two possums and the problems stopped for a while and I thought we solved the issue.  I am thinking about changing the layout of the fence to protect the fruiting plants instead of the growing area.  Maybe if I run strands directly over the plants this might deter the animals.  I have spent a bunch of time and effort on this issue with minimal payback and I hate to waste more time taking down the fence and rearranging it again but I am almost at that point.

Here are some pictures from the farm and beyond.

Guatemalan orchid no bigger than my finger tip. Amazingly these flowers get pollinated.

A broken pipe flood irrigates the field.

Planes practice over the farm for airshow

A pre-vermin picture of our strawberries!