Saturday, May 21, 2011

Saturday at Farmer's Market: Strawberries and Wild (but not "Organic") Oyster Mushrooms

Today we setup for our third week at farmer's market. We brought our potted plants, such as blackberry, raspberry, currant, and elderberry, as well as many of Melissa's native, medicinal, and/or tea herbs such as wild columbine, echinacea, and mints.

This Saturday was the first day we brought strawberries to the market. We had a modest but significant harvest (about 14 quarts). We priced them at $4 a pint and $6 a quart, which is a dollar above our other vendor-farmers, who get $3 or $5 for conventionally grown berries. At the beginning of market, a fellow farmer admired our berries, and assured me that asking for more for organic was a good thing to try. It worked well, and we were out of berries before market was halfway over.

We also brought some wild-harvested oyster mushrooms. It has been so rainy this spring, and there have been many days when it was too wet to do anything in the fields. This is the perfect time to go be in our forests, admiring the spring flushes of fungi, and carefully collecting edibles. I was happy to find a massive sycamore stump that was loaded with oyster mushrooms near the bank of the Kentucky River. The mushrooms were brought to market, and several pounds are bound for the dinner plate tonight in Frankfort and the surrounding area. It feels nice to share the bounty.

We had to change one of our signs at market this week, due to the wild-harvested mushrooms. One of our market signs says "Everything's Organic", which has been true until today. The mushrooms are not certified organic, so we had to take down the "Everything's Organic" sign and label the mushrooms as "wild". In order to market mushrooms as organic, a farmer/harvester can abide by the reasonable rules laid out in this document, which I find very interesting:



As a summary to the article above...in order to say our wild-harvested mushrooms are organic, we must submit a process of harvesting to our certifier, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, and it must show that we are enhancing the natural system where the mushrooms are found. I'm impressed by this area of the organic standards, and I find it inspiring. It is another reason why I like to participate in the National Organic Program (NOP). I understand that the rules have many limits and sometimes are abused, but in so many cases, they are so entirely useful. Wild harvesting is just the latest area I have discovered where they are useful, because they really do have ecosystem health in mind.

The NOP is also very useful when it comes to seeds. No genetically engineered seeds are allowed in organic production; the organic seed market is a powerful mode of protecting strains of seeds from genetically modified genes. Another way seed users benefit from the NOP: Seeds that are kept within the evolution of organic farms pass on the traits of thriving within a biodiverse and natural ecosystem, not traits of doing well with generous applications of synthetic chemicals. I'll write more about organic seed production as the season goes on. . .for now, it is Saturday afternoon, I have returned from market, and I slept very little last night. Naptime.

2 comments:

  1. The gods tempt people for which they are most weak. Artificial Intelligence will create desire in people's minds for the following sins:::
    1. Alcohol
    2. Drugs
    3. Preditory "earning"
    4. Homosexuality
    5. Gambling
    6. Something for nothing/irresponsibility (xtianity)
    7. Polygamy/superiority over women/misogyny (Islam)
    Much like the other prophets Mohhamed (polygamy/superiority over women/misogyny) and Jesus (forgiveness/savior), the gods use me for temptation as well. In today's modern society they feel people are most weak for popular culture/sensationalism, and the clues date back to WorldWarII and Unit731:TSUSHOGO.
    It has been discussed that, similar to the Matrix concept, the gods will offer a REAL "Second Coming of Christ", while the "fake" Second Coming will come at the end and follow New Testiment scripture and their xtian positioning. I may be that real Second Coming.
    What I teach is the god's true way. It is what is expected of people, and only those who follow this truth will be eligible to ascend into heaven as children in a future life. They offered this event because the masses have just enough time to work on and fix their relationship with the gods and ascend, to move and grow past Planet Earth, before the obligatory xtian "consolation prize" of "1000 years with Jesus on Earth" begins.

    Your job as a future mother is to learn the god's ways and to help your child understand despite the negative reinforcement and conditioning of today's society. Without consciousous parents the child will have no hope, and may even exaserbate their disfavor by becoming corrupted in today's environment.
    Your ultimate goal is to fix your relationship wiith the gods and move on. You don't want to be comfortable here, and the changes in Western society in the last 100 years has achieved just that.
    1000 years with Jesus is the consolation prize. Don't be deceived into thinking that is the goal.

    The Prince of Darkness, battling the gods over the souls of the Damned.
    It is the gods who have created this environment and led people into Damnation with temptation. The god's positioning proves they work to prevent people's understanding.
    How often is xtian dogma wrong? Expect it is about the Lucifer issue as well.
    The fallen god, fighting for justice for the disfavored, banished to Earth as the fallen angel?
    I believe much as the Noah's Flood event, the end of the world will be initiated by revelry among the people. Revelry will be positioned to be sanctioned by the gods and led for "1000 years with Jesus on Earth".
    In light of modern developments this can entail many pleasures:::Medicine "cures" aging, the "manufacture" of incredible beauty via cloning as sex slaves, free (synthetic) cocaine, etc.
    Somewhere during the 1000 years the party will start to "die off", literally. Only those who maintain chaste, pure lifestyles will survive the 1000 years. They will be the candidates used to (re)colonize (the next) Planet Earth, condemned to relive the misery experienced by the peasantry during Planet Earth's history.
    If this concept of Lucifer is true another role of this individual may be to initiate disfavor and temptation among this new population, the proverbial "apple" of this Garden of Eden. A crucial element in the history of any planet, he begins the process of deterioration and decay that leads civilizations to where Planet Earth remains today.

    Only children go to heaven. By the time you hit puberty it is too late. This is charecteristic of the gods:::Once you realize what you have lost it is too late.
    Now you are faced with a lifetime to work to prepare for your next chance. Too many will waste this time, getting stoned, "Hiking!", working, etc.

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  2. Can I join this farm? danielestuart@juno.com

    Daniel E Stuart
    275 Shiloh Rd. SE
    Corydon, IN 47112

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