As farmers we have a pretty intimate relationship with food. Beyond the fact that we grow food in order to create an income for ourselves, we also delight in eating all sorts of food both plant and animal - especially ones that we grow ourselves. On this farm we raise over 30 different crops. Each crop has it’s own unique qualities including nutritional content, fertility requirements, pest vulnerability, weather adaptability, market demand, economic return, and ecological impact. The truth is that on any given farming year there are crops that we love to grow, and then there are the crops that we simply have to grow. We have our favourites and I would be lying if I said that peas and beans fall under that category for myself. Having said that, the only thing tempering my enthusiasm for peas and beans is that they are among the worst economic contributors to our farm. By all other measures however they are the most amazing crop we grow. Peas and beans not only provide us with high quality protein for our diets but they also do an amazing job of building soil life, improving soil structure, conserving water, and fertilizing our fields! They are a truly amazing plants.
Peas and beans are part of the “legume” family of plants. Other familiar legumes include lentils, chickpeas, peanuts, soy, clover, and alfalfa. Legumes that have edible dried seeds (e.g. peas, beans, peanuts, lentils, etc) are part of a sub-family of legumes known as “pulses”. Pulses comprise the single most important protein source across the world. Without pulses, the world’s population could not be sustained. It is a fact is that there simple is not enough arable land on this planet for every man, woman, and child to eat meat every single day. Eating meat is certainly a dietary choice but it is also a privilege!
In honour of what pulses contribute to the world in terms of both human nutrition as well ecological biodiversity, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses. Click here to watch a 4 minute video celebrating the power of the pulse!
Those of you who garden have likely witnessed the sheer excitement of watching a bean plant spout. There is no other crop that literally jumps out of the soil with as much force as the bean. Bean sprouts are like little explosions in the garden. In the same way that beans are a powerhouse food, they are also powerhouse workers with the ability to push through hard clay and run their roots deep into the Earth. The deep taproot which legumes possess give them a strong ability to seek nutrients from the depths of the soil while being able to find adequate moisture even during times of drought. Crops with extensive root systems also improve the soil by creating “tunnels” for which water, oxygen, nutrients, and microbes to travel freely. Furthermore, after the crop has been harvested and the plants tilled back into the soil the crop residue provides a highly nutritious meal to the microbial soil life. Legumes are hard at work until the bitter end. Best of all, the legacy of a legume crop is an inevitable boost to subsequent crops grown in the same location.
The boost to subsequent crops is the result of a natural process known as “nitrogen fixation”, which literally takes nitrogen from the air and fixes it in the soil where it can be utilized by the next crop. Nitrogen is the nutrient responsible for leaf growth on plants. Plants with a robust leaf structure are more easily able to photosynthesize the sun’s energy, which in turn enables them to grow a bigger and stronger root system. Stronger roots mean that the plant can absorb nutrients and water from the soil more efficiently. This is the essence of plant vigor. Therefore adequate Nitrogen in the soil helps to create a positive chain-reaction of overall plant health.
Legumes are able to fix nitrogen in the soil only with the help of a specific group of bacteria that live and feed along the roots of all legumes. These bacteria are called “rhizobia bacteria” – or root bacteria. If the bacteria is not naturally present in the soil it can be added at the time of planting. Doing so is the best way to get the most value out of a legume crop. Rhizobia bacteria can add as much as 200 lbs of Nitrogen per acre to the soil. To put that into context, conventional farmers typically add around 100 lbs of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer per acre to produce their crops.
Legumes are an enormously important component in any organic farming crop plan. With the help of rhizobia bacteria growing legumes on the farm is an opportunity to literally take Nitrogen gas from the atmosphere and convert it to a solid form underneath the soil. This is nothing short of magical. Knowing this potential, organic farmers thoughtfully rotate their crops across the farm in a sequence that maximizes the positive impact that legumes have on the soil.
Pulses are among the least expensive staple food items in the grocery store – dried beans, peas, and lentils for example are crops that we as small farmers can't begin to compete with on price. Similarly, green peas and beans are crops that take an enormous amount of labour to harvest, which makes them a bad crop choice from a strictly economic point of view. But the virtues of pulses and other legumes are many, as are the virtues of Community Supported Agriculture which helps us to increase biodiversity on the farm by growing a wide range of crops regardless of their economic potential.
Last Friday we had the folks from Roots To Harvest come out to the farm and take down 600 feet of pea trellis that we grew this years crop of sugar snap peas on. Pea season is now over for us as we move into beans. On Monday we had our regular crew plus a couple of extra folks help us pick over 400 lbs of beans for the CSA. Not only am I pleased with the excellent quality peas and beans that our soil has produced this year, but I am especially excited for what these crops have done for our soil and the impact they will have on the subsequent crop. Hooray for pulses!
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This is a photo of the roots of a pea plant. Notice the "nodules", or clumps along the roots. This is actual nitrogen fixed by hardworking bacteria!
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Both the bumblebees and our honey bees are hard at work these days foraging on all sorts of flowers
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Marcelle and Nikki packaging beans for the CSA. Each share gets 2 lbs of beans this week!
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Partners in good food!
Kenya: Kichwa Tembo
Kenya - Kichwa Tembo
This coffee comes from the Masai Mara region of Kenya near the Kichwa Tembo Wildlife Preserve. This coffee is known for its very full body, incredible sweetness and complexity – living up to its Swahili translation of ‘elephant head.’
Tasting Notes: Very smooth profile, deep body with a medium-long finish.
This week's bread from
Both Hands BreadPeasant Bread (yeasted)
Sifted whole wheat flour, water, unrefined sea salt, yeast.
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Green Beans Amadine
Be sure to cook the butter very slowly so that it doesn’t burn!
INGREDIENTS
- 1/3
cup sliced almonds
- 3
tablespoons cold butter cut into pieces
- 2
teaspoons lemon juice
- 2
pounds green beans, stem ends trimmed
- 1/2
cup water
-
Salt
INSTRUCTIONS
- Toast almonds in large skillet over medium-low heat, stirring often, until just golden, about 6 minutes. Add butter and cook, stirring constantly, until butter is golden brown and has nutty aroma, about 3 minutes. Transfer almond mixture to bowl and stir in lemon juice.
- Add beans, water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to empty skillet. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until beans are nearly tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove lid and cook over medium-high heat until liquid evaporates, 3 to 5 minutes. Off heat, add reserved almond mixture to skillet and toss to combine. Season with salt. Serve.
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Garden Feature
Green Beans
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Almost all of us have memories of green beans from childhood. Some of us remember sprouting a bean seed in a Styrofoam cup in school, or snapping the tops off the beans with our grandmothers to prepare the beans for preserving. I remember the bean picking. Long rows of green and yellow beans, squatting in front of the plants and thinking how easy it was to plant the seeds but how much harder it was to take the beans off the plants. My brothers and I wondered what my mom was even going to do with all those beans and knew she wouldn’t notice if we threw a few at each other that afternoon. This is one of my earliest gardening memories and a job that still feels like a chore. Luckily, I have more experience and people to help pick and bag the beans for the CSA so you don’t have to. So far it’s been a good year for hot weather crops, including beans! Enjoy.
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Dilly Beans
Makes four 1-pint jars
INGREDIENTS
- 2 lbs green beans, trimmed and cut into 4” lengths
- ½ cup diamond kosher salt
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
- 1 TBSP whole peppercorns
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 cups fresh dill, stems and leaves chopped coarse
- 3 cups white vinegar
- 3 cups water
- 6 TBSP sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
- Fill large bowl with ice water & bring 6 litres water to boil in large pot over high heat.
- Add green beans and 2 TBSP salt and cook until beans are crisp-tender but still crunchy at the core, about 1 minute.
- Transfer to bowl of ice water and let sit until totally cool, about 2 mins. Drain well.
- Distribute garlic, peppercorns, and pepper flakes between the jars, then pack the beans into the jars so that they don’t come above the rim of the jar.
- Bundle dill in cheesecloth and tie with string to secure. Combine sachet, vinegar, water, sugar, and remaining salt in a large pot and bring to a boil. Cover, remove from heat and let steep for 10 minutes.
- Discard dill sachet and bring the bring to boil again.
- Pour brine over beans to cover, add lids and allow to cool at room temperature then refrigerate.
- Let beans sit in the fridge for 1 week before eating. Can be refrigerated up to one month.
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Farm tour this Sunday August 21st 2-4pm
The farm is in full swing right now and we are making one last pass through all the fields to kill weeds before we begin to hit the peak harvest season (September). The hot weather coupled with our new irrigation system has put our crops in a great spot. Come check it out!
Please be advised that Sleepy G Farm has a NO DOG policy. Please leave pets at home
Next farm visit: September 18th
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NO PICKLING CUKES THIS YEAR
We are very sad to report that we will not be able to fill pickling cucumber orders this season. The hot and humid weather has caused a blight which is severely affecting our cucumber yield. We are very sorry for any disappointment this causes you!
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