Hard to believe it, but snow flurries don’t lie . . .

 

We have arrived at the last delivery of Henry’s CSA produce for 2008 . . . see below for the list of what’s in your share, and bring along some extra cash or a check so you can stock up with EXTRAS (we don’t want you to have to suffer through the tasteless vegetables in the grocery store).

 

Morton and Eureka members, if you want any of the Extras, please send an email to henhiroko@netscape.net, letting Henry know what you want, plus your phone number and the best time to reach you.  He’ll call you back and make an arrangement for you to come get your Extras next M, T, or W.

 

 

In Your Share This Week

Your choice of roots:  Chioggia beets, daikon, burdock, sunchokes, radishes

1 quart of Japanese turnips

1 bunch of arugula

3 Heads of Lettuce

2 Bunches of Choi

1 Quart of Potatoes

(and a partridge in a pear tree)

(just kidding!)

 

 

A la Carte EXTRAS – last chance until next May

Burdock

Potatoes

Sunchokes

Celery Root

Garlic

Popcorn (Red, Yellow, Black, and White)

Pears (but no partridges)

 

We have certainly enjoyed having you as our partners during this somewhat challenging year. As you’ve seen, neither wind nor rain nor snow nor flood can stop Henry from his self-appointed task, which is to get the tastiest vegetables possible to your table each and every week for 26 weeks each year.

 

To guarantee that you get them again next year, please bring along a check for $390 tomorrow, and give it to Henry.

 

 If you forget, or if you live in Morton or Peoria, mail it to Henry and Hiroko Brockman, 432 Grimm Road, Congerville, IL  61729.   Please also send a quick email (henhiroko2@netscape.net) letting him know the check is in the mail, and apprising him of any change in your preferred email for notices concerning next year. 

 

If you choose not to sign-up for 2009, that’s fine too.  Just let Henry know yea or nay, so he can start working his way down the waiting list of people wanting to be new members in 2009.  

 

b

 

FARM NOTES:  Giving Thanks 

(for Food Notes, look at the Notes in the Archive, or in your CSA Cookbook)

As we wind up yet another year, the bittersweet feelings return. There is sadness that the season of growth is over, and that green life will soon sink into black earth--but at the same time, there is the quiet sense of completion, and of satisfaction, plus a tinge of amazement at the recuperative powers of the land.  (If you had looked out over the 5-acre lake that our fields became in mid-September, you’d know what we mean by recuperative powers!)

The sense of completion and satisfaction we feel stems in large part from the partnership between you, our CSA members, and the many hands that work the soil, plant the seeds, hoe the long rows, mulch the potatoes, stake the tomatoes, and harvest, harvest, harvest . . .rain or shine, biting cold or brutal heat, to bring good food to your tables.

Those hands include Henry’s and Hiroko’s, their children Asa’s, Zoe’s, and Kazami’s, our parents Herman’s and Marlene’s, and those of farmhand extraordinaire Matt Ericson. Also this year’s interns Daniel and Rebekah, as well as assorted drop-in interns including Josh, Brenda, Adrienne, and last year’s intern Courtney now and again. A special thanks goes out to our neighbor farmers Bill and Mercy Davison who stepped up when the flood laid us low, and to Bob and Renee ... and so many others. All these hands create a beautifully simple and perfectly transparent food chain that links us to each other and to the earth.

If you’ve made it to Henry’s Farm Tour and Potluck in October (or even to the website, www.henrysfarm.com), can close your eyes as you’re eating and picture the oak-hickory forested hills surrounding the rich bowl of bottomland that nourished the vegetables that are nourishing you.

Producing and eating good local food is a wonderful way to connect with the world that sustains us. Like all the best pleasures, the pleasure of a real meal is based on knowledge. We don’t give you “happy meals”, but “real meals.” Through these Food & Farm Notes, and through talking with Henry, you know the true cost of this food, the precise sacrifice of time and energy it entails. And you can rest assured that your meals have been fully paid for, with no environmental or social justice debts outstanding.

The diversity and beauty of Henry’s Farm mirrors the diversity and beauty of nature. And as a closing benediction for this season with you I offer Michael Pollan’s reminder: “We eat by the grace of nature, not industry, and what we’re eating is never anything more or less than the body of the world.”

At this Thanks-giving time, we give heartfelt thanks to all of you who enable us and all our local farmer friends and neighbors to do what we do. 

 

As you sit with your loved ones this Thanksgiving and count your blessings, join us in our Brockman Thanksgiving Tradition -- count up the number of local foods on the holiday table, and give thanks!

 

Keep warm, eat well, and be well,

Henry, Hiroko, Asa, Zoe, Kazami and all the others at Henry’s Farm

 

 

b

 

 

P.S.  K Read the great article about Henry and the planting of your next year’s garlic  in the Peoria Journal Star

 

Plus  K Henry’s bringing lots of Storage Vegetables (and popcorn and pears) for the coming weeks and months. Don’t complain about having to shop at Jewel -- bring your checkbook or extra cash and stock up!

 

PLUS K Find out what Henry does all winter and all year round (and support The Land Connection) by purchasing the Farmer-Annotated (mostly Henry-Annotated) 2009 calendar “A Year on The Land.”      With this calendar on your wall, you’ll know exactly what Henry is doing each week of the year – when he orders next year’s seeds, when the massive seed order arrives, when the first tomato seeds are planted in the greenhouse, when they are transplanted to the field, when they are mulched and trellised, and when to expect the first tomatoes  . . .  and much more.

These calendars make great holiday gifts, so buy some for all the gardeners and food lovers in your life.   For a preview, and to order, go to http://www.thelandconnection.org/get_involved/calendar.cfm

 

Thank you!

b