upcoming events
field notes
Ancestral Archery Workshop Monday, August 12, 2013 9 a.m. - 11 p.m.
This program will offer a first look into the world of ancestral archery, including lessons on sourcing and making bows and arrows from local materials, in the days before composite materials. The class will culminate with instruction and creation of an arrow that participants can take home with them.
Volume 18 | Number 6 | August 6 & 9, 2013
Ecosystem Farm at Accokeek www.accokeekfoundation.org
Hello CSA Community,
Hooked on Fishing
Thursday, August 15, 2013 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Participants learn how to set up a rod, including knot-tying and attaching tackle. The program will include casting practice, angler ethics, catch and release, and safety, before actual fishing begins. Intended for kids 8-15. Chaperone required. For details on any event, please visit www.accokeekfoundation.org.
We are further blessed these last few days by cooler weather, a little bit of needed rain, and some gorgeous summer breezes. We have begun to witness some slowing down of our high season crops, as perpetual picking and pest and disease pressure takes its toll. But we have also begun our fall plantings, and I look forward to the transition. Don’t worry, the succulent melons and second tomato plantings are beginning to come to fruition, and there will be plenty of opportunities to continue to relish summer! Here is a reminder to everyone that our greeters are off this week and we will be having our “Farmer Happy Hour,” when all or some of the farm crew will be available this week to visit with all you lovely CSA members. Please come and spend some time with us! love and high tides, Farmer Becky
Ecosystem Farm Manager Rebecca Cecere Seward Farm Apprentices Alex Binck, Holli Elliott Farm and Garden Coordinator Daniel Michaelson Volunteers Rosemary Zechman, Amanda Truett, Tom Ellwanger, Mary Lynn Davis, Yvonne Brown, Terrance Murphy, Ethan Carton, Cairna Bode
joyous reunion smiles remind of days ahead walk the path of grace
301-283-2113.
Finding the Heart of Food By Rebecca Cecere Seward There are many ways that food nourishes us. The pure enjoyment of eating, sitting down with the purpose of sharing a meal with others, or anytime that we eat to receive a nutritional benefit, we are nourishing our bodies and hearts with food. The vegetable plants that we have culturally decided to grow and eat contain a number of beneficial phytonutrients, many of which translate into the widely recognized “alphabet vitamins.” To name a few of our relevant examples, tomatoes and watermelon contain lycopene, an antioxidant that can contribute to skin and heart health. All the orange vegetables (squash, sweet potatoes, etc.) contain beta carotene which is also an antioxidant and contributes to healthy cell development and regeneration. Both of these are carotenoids, and another carotenoid is lutein, great for the eyes, and present in zucchini, greens, and blueberries. As antioxidants, they can all help your body scavenge the free radicals that it comes in contact with through exposure to natural and synthetic chemicals. There is even some evidence that many antioxidants can have anti-carcinogenic properties. We all know we should eat our veggies but, according to a recent New York Times article, we should also pay attention to our varieties. In the article, published in May 2013 by Jo Robinson, it is suggested that we have bred our vegetables to be high-sugar, high-starch, and low-nutrient. Most wild foods high in nutrients have a bitter or an astringent flavor in addition to their abundance of phytonutrients. So while we were breeding out the bitterness for the most delicious vegetables: “the more palatable our fruits and vegetables became, however, the less advantageous they were for our health,” says Robinson. When we place our seed orders at the farm, I try to pick seeds that have the words “open-pollinated,” or “gene pool,” or “organic,” as compared to the hybrid varieties that have been generated in a lab. This is because I like to support the farmers who spend years working towards a new variety, or breed through generations for one trait or another. But the consequences
of nutrient loss in the less hardy hybrid varieties is not a factor I had thought much about. I’m glad that we choose our heirloom and traditionally bred varieties, that they have their own wildness and old-timey nutritional benefit. I am glad that we are working with the best stock we can get when growing the food you feed yourselves and your families. But I would add an element that does not classify as a nutrient in food science, and that is our best intentions and love in the food we provide for you every week. I will admit that I do talk sweetly to the vegetables, and we feel connected to these fields as we prepare their bounty for you. As we nourish the soil and crops, I hope you all are able to eat these healthy foods with joy! Excerpts taken from “Breeding the Nutrition Out of Our Food,” by Jo Robinson. Published May 25, 2013 by the New York Times.