Harvest Celebration Continues
Crop Talk: September 29, 2014 
The Newsletter of Great Country Farms
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U-Pick, U-Play, U-Grow


Week 18 CSA Shares
New This Week: Carnival Squash 
This week's box includes broccoli, winter squashes such as carnival (acorn variety shown on left above) and amber cup (shown on right above), sweet corn, Candy crisp apples, potatoes,  green beans.

 

Note: if you plan to enjoy the farm's other attractions after picking your you-pick share, please bring a cooler for those items so they don't spoil in your car.

 

According to Epicurious, "if you breed an acorn squash with a sweet dumpling squash, and you get a carnival squash. While the carnival squash's exterior resembles both of its relatives', its yellow flesh is mellow and sweet. Use it wherever acorn squash or butternut squash is called for in a recipe."

 

Try thisBaked Carnival Squash with Smoked Bacon and Rosemary

 

  

1 Carnival squash (acorn or hokkaido)

Salt and black pepper to taste

100 g Smoked bacon, diced

50 g Olive oil 

1/2 tsp Dried rosemary

2 Garlic cloves, minced

1/5 tsp Nutmeg

1 tsp Sugar


 

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Cut squash into halves, scoop out seeds and fibers, and cut each half into two chunks. Place them cut-side up on a shallow baking tray. Sprinkle some salt and black pepper.


 

Dice the bacon and combine with olive oil, rosemary, garlic, nutmeg and sugar in a bowl. Divide the mixture among the carnival chunks. Bake in the middle of the hot oven for 25-30 minutes.

 

 

Fall Harvest Festival Continues

Duck Swinesty Pig Races run at 11:00, 1:00, and 3:00, and performances by P-Rex, the pumpkin-eating dinosaur, devours pumpkins at 12:00 and 2:00. 

 

The other white meat rounds the last turn and digs for home.

 

And...

 

Nathaniel Davis, a singer-song writer from the Washington area who has recently released his first album, will perform at the farm on Sunday, October 5 from noon to 3:00.

 

take me away - nathaniel davis
take me away - Nathaniel Davis
Plus...

pumpkin-picking, apple-picking, cider doughnuts, pulled pork barbecue, hamburgers, apple-walnut salads, and the Boulder Crest corn maze.

Corn Maze at the Great Country Farms
A-mazing!

Farming News
From the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

FDA's Revised Food Safety Rules for Farms Respond to NSAC's Concerns

 

     On September 19, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued revised proposed regulations aimed at ensuring a safe food supply under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).  FDA is inviting a new round of public comments to respond to its revised language on several key provisions with significant implications for farmers and food businesses.

     "FSMA represents a major change to our farm and food system, and it is extremely important for FDA to get these regulations right," said NSAC Policy Specialist Sophia Kruszewski.

     FDA's original proposed regulations, issued in 2013, included several highly problematic requirements that would have put many sustainable and organic farmers out of business, dampened the growth of local food systems and innovative supply chains, and undermined efforts to conserve critical natural resources.  In response, NSAC  and the sustainable agriculture community undertook an extensive public outreach and education campaign on the proposed rules, resulting in thousands of comments to FDA from concerned farmers, food entrepreneurs, and consumers.

     In large part due to that comment campaign last year, FDA announced that it would reexamine several critical areas of the FSMA proposed rules that have major potential impacts for sustainable farming, which are included in the revised language released today.

 

Read more here.


 

New GE Corn and Soybean Varieties Approved
 

     The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) approved three new genetically engineered (GE) crops for commercial sale in a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) Record of Decision (ROD) published on the agency's website on Tuesday, September 16.

     APHIS approved three petitions from Dow AgroSciences to grant nonregulated status to a 2,4-D-resistant corn plant and two resistant soybean plants.  The agency received roughly 10,000 comments on the draft EIS, and has received petitions in opposition to the deregulation signed by approximately 240,000 people.  Now that the crop varieties have been approved, the 2,4-D herbicides to be used in conjunction with the crops must be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before the products hit the market.

     The use of 2,4-D-resistant crops could lead to a 200 to 600 percent increase in 2,4-D herbicide use nationwide by 2020.  This is particularly troubling in light of a recently published U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study showing that pesticide concentrations in a majority of the country's rivers and streams in urban, agricultural, and mixed-land use watersheds currently exceed aquatic-life benchmarks.  APHIS did not consider increased herbicide use in its analysis, explaining that it will fall under EPA review.


 

Read more here.

Farm News
Wounded Warrior Corn Maze
Now Open

Join us to celebrate the first anniversary of Boulder Crest retreat for wounded warriors in Bluemont with  our annual Corn Maze.  
About Corn...

A number of people have asked whether our corn comes from genetically modified seed. The answer is no; neither is our corn treated with pesticide or fungicide, which means it's as close to nature-made as possible. It also means it's more vulnerable to worms and mold than engineered corn or sprayed corn. That damage is usually confined to the tips of the ears, which can be broken off.

In The Market This Week
 Apples $1.29/lb
Sweet Corn $5/dz or
$6/ 2 dz
Potatoes $.89/lb
Variety of winter squash $.89/lb
Green peppers $2.79/lb
Okra $2.89/lb
Asian pears $1.29/lb

 

CSA  Bonus
September 
6 u-pick apples
Check in the market for in store items
Fall Harvest Seasonal Bonus 
Come pick a pumpkin of any size and take home corn stalks to decorate your home.  This seasonal bonus may be picked one time between Sept 27th and October 31st.

1 Bundle of Corn Stalks 
1 Jack o Lantern Pumpkin
*
CSA Bonus Ticker
Week 18: $4.25 
Year to Date: $101.60
 
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