If it's green, it's a bean

Its that time of year when fruits and vegetables are coming on in full force. One of the veges that there always seems to be a surplus of is green beans. This happens when you grow a large garden of them, as well as if like us, you grow between 50 and 150 acres of green beans annually. As a result, green beans are something that we never have a shortage of. When I open my deep freezer to see what to make for dinner, if its in there and its green...its a bean.

You'll notice this machine on the front page of my blog. This is a green bean harvester. We planted about 50 acres of green beans today, June 30th. They will be ready for harvest around August 30th. Green beans take about 60 days from planting till harvest. In a good year, we will harvest 200 bushels per acre. Thats a lot of green beans!

Green beans were one of the vegetable crops that was easy for us to diversify our farm because we can use the existing equipment that we already own. It would not be cost effective for us to grow green beans if we need to buy specialty equipment in order to grow them. We are fortunate because the company that we grow green beans for brings in the harvesters so our main job is to plant and tend the crop until harvest.

Green bean harvester picking fresh market green beans destined for the grocery store.

All our green beans are grown for the fresh market in the Washington DC, Baltimore, and MidAtlantic region. This is a perfect example of a family farm supplying fresh produce to the grocery store, but whose face you never see. Many of us produce growers grow for certain brands or certain companies but because they are supplied through a distributor, the customer at the store has no idea that the produce is actually locally grown by a family farm. I think that is one of the biggest mistakes customers make at the grocery, assuming that because its not from a farmer's market or farm stand, that it must have been shipped in from afar. In season, that generally is not true. Most grocers source locally and regionally in season.

There are specific uniformity, size, and shape requirements for fresh market green beans. If the beans don't make the grade for fresh market, then they end up at the cannery and are processed into canned green beans.

I have several very distinct memories of green beans growing up. Picking green beans was a chore my older sister and I hated. It was always hot and it was always tedious. We didn't appreciate the homegrown aspect of our parent's garden back then. It was just one more chore we had to do. Another is sitting by a farm pond snapping beans. Down the road was a neighbor who had a pond fed by an underground stream that was open to the neighbors to use. It was the pond where I took swimming lessons as a child. It was also the pond I remember snapping green beans with my mom and my 4H leader. Finally, my mom is famous for canning her "dilly beans". We LOVED these spicy pickled green beans as kids and it is one of the things I love to can when our green beans are ready. I taught my daughter this recipe and has entered them in our county 4H fair.

So I want to share with you a couple recipes to help use up that surplus of green beans that you have from your garden or maybe your neighbor dropped off on her way by (like mine did this evening). Like I said, we just planted green beans today, so I have none of my own but was the welcome recipient of a generous neighbor today!

Fresh picked green beans with our own farm raised ham and potatoe for dinner tonight! YUM!

Ingredients:
2 pounds green beans, snapped
4-5 cups chicken or turkey stock
4-6 potatoes, cubed
1 tsp minced garlic
1 pound cured ham, cubed
1 stick butter or margarine
salt to taste (or add Old Bay for some kick)

I use turkey stock left over in frozen containers from Thanksgiving. Stewing the carcass of the turkey will give me many quarts of stock to use throughout the year for various dishes. Bring the stock to a boil. Add the ham and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes. The stock plus the ham add a wonderful flavor to the veges. Add the potatoes, green beans, garlic, salt, and butter. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are soft. We eat this as a main dish even on a hot summer night.

My favorite green bean recipe as I said above is "Dilly Beans". This makes 8 pints.
Ingredients:
4 pounds of green beans, whole
1-2 cloves garlic per jar
1 head fresh dill per jar
1/4-3/4 cayenne pepper per jar depending on how hot you want them.
3 cups of water
3 cups cidar vinegar
1/4-1/2 cup salt

Stuff bottom of jars with seasonings. Add green beans lengthwise, leaving 1/4" head space from the top of the jar. Combine water, vinegar and salt in a pot and bring to boil. Pour boiling hot over beans, leaving 1/4" head space. Adjust caps loosely and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Let beans stand for at least 2 weeks before tasting to allow for flavor develoment.



This is all I have left of last year's Dilly Beans. Hope they last till the this year's crop comes in!

Enjoy the bountiful harvest this season!

CNN Visits the Farm!

So this was an exciting week for us on the farm. We had the opportunity to host Dana Bash, Senior Political Correspondent for CNN on our farm. She was doing a story on the Farm Bill and wanted some farmer perspective. Due to our proximity to Washington DC, its not unusual for us to have reporters, foreign visitors, and other groups or individuals wanting to come talk about one aspect or another about farming and agriculture. Since the Farm Bill is currently being discussed in the Senate, it was timely for this interview to occurr. Dana Bash with CNN however, is probably the most well-known media person we've ever hosted on the farm, besides politicians themselves.

Dana Bash and her camera man interviewing my husband Hans.

We always get first time visitors to drive a piece of equipment.

Here Dana Bash does a good job helping us bale hay.

So you may be wondering what the big deal is about the Farm Bill? The Farm Bill is the policy and budget by which most all our food and agricultural production is based. It is a 5 year policy last revised in 2008 so 2012 is the year of its revamping and it is currently creating a lot of discussion with politicians and the media. The vast majority of the funds allocated in the Farm Bill are for food & nutrition programs for the poor,  underserved, and child nutrition like school lunch. The remaining funds go to farm payments, conservation practices, crop insurance, specialty crops, and other agricultural titles. As you can see from the pie chart below, food stamps and child nutrition make up 73.3% of the current 2008 Farm Bill spending.

One of the hot topics and what brought CNN to our farm is the issue of direct payments to farmers. You can see by the pie chart above under the Commodity Programs Title, that direct payments make up 10% of the current spending in the 2008 Farm Bill. Direct payments have been in the Farm Bill since the 1930's. Direct payments have for years been consider the safety net over which we farmers operate. In a vast number of years, the income from farming has often been below the cost it takes us to actually grow the crop. But to ensure a stable food supply, the federal government has essentially underwritten the "floor" of our food by providing direct payments to farmers. In the last 4 or 5 years, grain prices have been good and farm income has improved so there is less need for direct payments, thus the discussion of doing away with them while still providing a farm safety net through enhancing the crop insurance title. There are farmers on both sides of the coin with regards to the issue of direct payments. You'll hear in this video clip aired on CNN that we are in agreement that direct payments should not be part of the 2012 Farm Bill. Our opinion is by giving up direct payments is doing our part for fiscal responsibility to lower the US deficit. We do however strongly advocate for improved crop insurance. 2011 was one of our worst years on record and we would be deeper in debt if we had not purchased crop insurance coverage.

Click the link below to go to the story and CNN video clip:

CNN Farm Bill News Report From Our Farm

So if you watched the video in the link above, you heard my husband say we receive $35,000 annually in direct payments. What you didn't hear that got cut out of the interview was that he continued on to say that the direct payments we receive are used to implement conservation practices to improve the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed where we live. Let's be clear, direct payments are not pocket money for farmers to go spend. They are re-invested into the farming operation.

Here are some examples:
1. The insurance premium we pay out of pocket for our crop insurance policy on an annual basis surpasses the amount of the direct payment. That does not include our specialty crops like green beans, tomatoes, and winegrapes which are uninsurable in Maryland.
2. The conservation tillage equipment we purchased for protecting our soils from erosion and improving water quality was more than double and triple what we receive in direct payments.
3. The precision agriculture technology we purchased which decreases our fertilizer applications reducing the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus we apply to our fields surpassed what we received in direct payments.
4. Our fuel bill for our fleet of trucks and tractors to get the crops planted, tended, harvested and delivered well surpasses the compensation from the direct payment.

Farming is not a cheap business. It takes capital to grow your food. If you appreciate your safe, healthy, and economically priced food, it is due more in part to the smart efficiency of today's US farm families, and less due to the direct payments of the Farm Bill. That simply gives the Federal Government way too much credit. Let's give credit where credit is due, to the hard working farm families like mine who work to provide you with safe and nutritious food for your family, often inspite of governmental policy and regulations that make farming a challenge.

Does Size Matter?

I got you with that title didn't I?

Ever since my trip to New York City with CommonGround, something has been bugging me. Does the size of my farming operation (or anyone else's farm) really matter? When asked by magazine editors we met with what type of farm my family operates,  I usually replied, "we are a 2,000 acre diversified family farm growing grains, hay, fruits, and vegetables." To which I generally got the response "Wow, that's BIG!" I guess I really had never given it much thought. It doesn't seem big to me. Its a family farm. Period. Does it matter what size it is?

Apparently, to some, it does. Big denotes bad in some circles. To us, its a business our family runs. The second generation, my husband's father and uncle, were wise investors in land in our area back in the 50's and 60's. Thus much of the land we farm is owned by members of the family. According to USDA, 98% of all farms in the US are family owned. USDA also defines "small" versus "large" farms based on sales of crops as opposed to land mass. Your a "farm" according to USDA if you earn $1000 or more from your land. That's not hard to do for a active gardener with a small roadside stand, or for goodness sake even a 4H'er who sells their 4H livestock at the end of the season. It has nothing to do with the number of acres farmed or number of animals raised.

Here we are...the board of directors for a "large" family farm. (note sarcasm)

Big also denotes "corporate" in the minds of others. Our family farm is "incorporated" which is simply a means of separating the business from personal assets for tax purposes. I guess that makes us one of those "corporate" farms. Most farms are structured as businesses these days, because that's what they are, businesses. While you may have some romantic notion about farming, let me reassure you, its a heck of a lot of hard work and sacrifice. I think the romance stems from what is perceived as a nice lifestyle. But in reality, the farm will not stay in the family unless it stays in business. A farm will only stay in business if it is profitable.

Farms come in all shapes and sizes. Size does not matter. Size does not define "good" or "bad". We value our land and the food we grow on that land. Whether we had 10 acres or 10,000 acres, we're doing all we can to ensure that the food we eat is safe and nutritious... because the food on our plates at home, is also your food, the food you buy at the store.

It's SHOW TIME!!

Yesterday kicked of the start of the 4H Livestock shows for our family this year. Both my kids have been involved with 4H since the age of 5, when they were eligible to become "4H Clovers". They started exhibiting bunnies and as they got older, switched to other animals. My son shows pigs and my daughter shows pigs and sheep. They both belong to the "Farm to Market Livestock Club" which is the name of one of the many 4H clubs in our county.

My daughter showing her "spot" breed hog at yesterday's 4H livestock show.

What the kids learn from their 4H animal project is invaluable. They learn all aspects of animal science from nutrition to husbandry to health to genetics. They also learn financial management because they have to keep track of all their expenses and all their income from fair prizes and auction sales in order to complete their 4H recordbook at the end of the year. Most importantly, it teaches them responsibility. The animals are THEIRS. They must take care of them on a daily basis. I may be a mean mom, but my kids lose their iPods and internet access if they do not get their chores done in the morning before school. Their animals are their primary responsbility and therefore come second only to school work.

4H'ers must be knowledgeable about their animals. Here the judge is asking about the various parts of the pig like "Which part does the bacon come from?" or "How much feed does your pig eat per day?" or "How much protein is in your pig's feed?"

In order to do well, their animals must have the proper rate of weight gain, maintain good health, and be trained and worked with. In the pictures above you see the judge in a blue striped shirt. My daughter who is showing must be able to handle the pig in the ring, keep the pig moving so that the judge can evaluate all aspects of the pig, follow proper showmanship techniques, and answer the judges questions about her animal in order to place well.

The lambs must be trained to walk the show ring and hold a show position that best exhibits their features such as length of body or musculature.

 

So by now, you may be wonder why I've not posted any pictures of my son from yesterdays' livestock show. That's because he wasn't there. In addition to being in a 4H livestock club, he is also in our county's 4H Marksmanship club. He had to choose between a livestock show and a rifle match yesterday.

He chose the rifle match!

If you are not familiar with 4H, then you need to check it out. 4H is not just cows and cooking. 4H is a youth development program, administered through USDA. Kids have "projects" that they choose and learn skills needed to complete that project along with leadership, public speaking and community service. There are all kinds of projects including cows and cooking but also rocketry, marksmanship, environmental science and a plethora of other projects youth can choose from. It is not just a rural youth program for farm kids but is also on military bases, after school programs, and urban areas as well. Call your local county extension office to find out about your local 4H programs. It is one of the best youth programs available for kids ages 5-18. 4H was a formative part of both mine and my husband's lives and we are thrilled that it is a legacy that we are passing onto our children.

My BFF’s: Water & a Thermometer

Odd title I know but I think you will get the gist of what I’m talking about… food safety! I have to say, I have never walked into a grocery store, farm stand or farmer’s market and felt concerned about whether or not the food I’m looking to buy is safe. The one thing that does cross my mind is whether or not the person(s) before me had washed their hands before choosing produce. That’s why water is my best friend in the kitchen. All raw produce that hits my kitchen counter gets well washed. Is it because am I concerned about pesticide residue? Emphatically – NO! I am concerned about the person who used the bathroom without washing their hands before grocery shopping, going to the farm stand or visiting the farmer’s market. Uugghh! Yucky topic I know but reality check here… how many of you have left the bathroom without washing your hands?

Stay with me here, I’m not trying to discourage you from buying fresh produce. I’m trying to illustrate one of the many ways that bacteria can be present on your food and why it is so important to wash all raw produce before eating it. That includes melons which can have bacteria on the rind and which you spread inside to the fruit by cutting the melon without having washed it first. Bacteria can be present from not only people who don’t wash their hands, but from the soil where it was grown, or if it wasn’t kept and stored at a temperature below what bacteria can grow at. Wash, wash, wash is my motto. Here is a video clip from the USDA about safe handling of produce. His opening line hits the nail on the head... Wash Your Hands!!

So a little about pesticides and food safety,

I’m a producer grower. We grow tomatoes, green beans, and winegrapes. These crops make up nearly a third of the acres we farm. This may explain why I am not concerned with pesticide residue. I am the chemical applicator on farm. I hold a commercial license to do so for which I studied long and hard and sat for a lengthy exam to qualify. I’m required to take continuing education credits every single year to maintain that license. I drive the sprayer, mainly for the grapes. I apply only what is needed, when it is needed, and no more than what is needed. I scout and used Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to determine the threshold at which a spray might be needed. We strictly follow the Pre-Harvest Intervals (PHI) for every thing we apply. Every chemical we use, whether organic or conventional, have “pre-harvest intervals” on the label. The pre-harvest interval is the time that must elapse between when the chemical is applied and when the crop can be harvested. This ensures that any residue will be below what the EPA has determined is safe. The label is the legal requirement by which I have to comply. As I have said before, my kids eat what we grow. I am going to put their health first above all other things. To that end, I am entirely comfortable with the fact that our food is safe, which may explain why I’m personally more concerned about people who don’t wash their hands than I am about pesticide residue.

Remember early on when I blogged about “the dose makes the poison”?  Much of what I use for sprays are nutrients – sulfur, copper, manganese, zinc, etc… You probably have these in your multi-vitamin and at that dose, those nutrients are beneficial. Applied in larger doses, those same nutrients are able to control for mildews and fruit rots in various fruits and vegetables. Some times they are organic. Some times they are synthetic. Either way, I am practicing good agricultural procedures, ensuring that our crop is safe to eat.

So onto my other best friend – the thermometer. I use 2 – one in the fridge and one to test the temperature of the food I’ve prepared. I keep our fridge at around 36º F. The FDA recommends below 40º F to ensure food is kept at a temperature below which bacteria can grow and thrive.

I also regularly use a food thermometer to check the temperature of food I’m preparing. I’m actually pretty much a stickler for checking temperatures.  I think it stems from being a dietitian working in both the hospital and nursing home setting. Both places have patients or residents who are already ill or have weakened immune systems and therefore must avoid food borne illness at all costs. Therefore checking food temperatures is almost second nature to me after having practiced in the clinical setting for so long.

My two favorite ways of cooking are using a slow cooker in the winter, and the grill spring, summer, and fall. When grilling, I want to be sure that the meat I’m cooking has reached the minimum internal temperature. USDA recommends all meat – beef, pork, lamb, and veal be cooked to an internal temperature of 145º F,  ground beef, pork, lamb or veal to 160º F, and all poultry to 165º F.  My favorite grilling recipe I will share with you at Thanksgiving time. It is a grilled turkey that has been brined first for 24 hours. If you want the recipe sooner than November, message me J

The USDA defines the “danger zone” as the temperature between 40º F and 140º F which is the ideal range for bacteria to flourish. Food should spend as little time as possible within this temperature range. So when reheating foods, heat it up to 165º F and when cooling food, cool it as quickly as possible to 40º F or below.  Below is a link to a Food Safety Fact Sheet from USDA.

USDA Food Safety Fact Sheet

I know that how we grow our produce on our farm is both healthy and safe and am entirely comfortable with my children eating it. I hope you know that by me as a mom keeping my kids health as THE first priority, I am therefore as a woman farmer also keeping your health as first priority. Now, all that I’ve said is not going to necessarily keep you from getting a food borne illness but it will reduce your risk. Your strategic plan – Step 1 wash it, particularly if it is raw produce you’ll be eating; Step 2 – check the temperature of cooked foods. I hope we share the same BFF’s!

Enjoy the fresh produce and grilling season!

Finding Our CommonGround

I just returned from a 3 day trip to New York City volunteering for an organization called CommonGround, (www.findourcommonground.com) a group of farm women whose mission it is to tell folks about what we do (and don’t do) on our farms. Our goal is to connect the face of America’s farmers with the food you all buy from the grocery store. There is a misperception that the food you find in the grocery store is grown by “corporate” farms. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Here is a picture of our “corporation”:

Do you know that 98% of all the farms in the US are family owned & operated?  The bulk of the food you buy at the grocery store, unless it was imported, was grown by an American farm family.

So back to my trip to New York City. Each day was filled radio interviews and deskside meetings with magazine editors, all to promote agriculture and family farms. We got some really interesting questions but three in particular standout to me: During one radio interview, the radio personality asked “So are you the anti-organic agriculture organization?” Oh my goodness no! While I’ve blogged about the similarities between organic agriculture and the way we farm, I believe there is a market for both agricultural systems. My point however, is that studies have not shown that organic farming produces safer or more nutritious foods. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a review of 50 years worth of data which though limited, did not show a significant difference in nutrient value between organic and conventional foods. The nutrient content of food is derived from the nutrient value and quality of the soil. Sustainability is not based on a cookie-cutter system, nor does one farming system “lay claim” to certain practices as being “theirs”. We de-certified our organic ground specifically because it was not sustainable for our operation. I can’t stress enough – you cannot have a cookie-cutter system that applies across all farms. We do not believe in plowing and the susceptibility to erosion that plowing creates. Soil is our farm’s greatest asset. We need to keep it and build it, not expose it and erode it. For that reason, we no longer farm organically. We do use both organic and synthetic chemicals to control for pests and diseases. To us, that is the measure of sustainability, not whether something is organic or conventional. Its a balance of economics and environment, not an either-or situation.

The other episode that surprised me was when I was at our booth at the Editor’s Showcase, which is a tradeshow for editors. A woman approached our booth and said that she no longer ate meat since she watched a video of inhumane treatment of livestock. I responded by asking “You do know that does not represent the majority of family farmers and is not the “norm” for livestock farmers, right?” She said “No, really?” She honestly appeared to be utterly convinced by a single video that the bad apples in farming were representative of all farmers. I am not going to sit here and tell you that all farmers are doing the right thing, just like not all doctors, lawyers, police, or teachers are doing the right thing. But a few bad apples do not represent the entire profession. It was a message that repeated itself several times. Honestly, these were sincere, well-educated people who seemed to have been totally swayed into believing that what they saw on a video was the standard treatment of farm animals. How sad that folks are so disconnected from the farm that they will believe misinformation about an entire profession.

I feel fortunate to have been asked to attend this outreach effort on behalf of CommonGround. If what I said helped one person understand where their food comes from and the faces behind American farmers, then I will have accomplished a great deal.

Another interesting question that came up frequently – who funds you? CommonGround is funded by checkoff dollars from soybean and corn farmers. What this means is that when a farmer sells corn or soybeans, a portion of the sale price of each bushel goes into a fund that pays for research, marketing programs and promotion of those commodities. So American farmers are funding their own progress and programs. A really recognizable use of checkoff dollars is the “Got Milk” mustache campaign, which is a dairy funded checkoff program. It is the soybean and corn farmer checkoff dollars that support the programs of CommonGround, but the women in the organization are all volunteers. CommonGround is funded by farmers, it is our message that we are communicating, and no one else's message.

To find more information about your food and who grows it, I encourage you to visit CommonGround’s website www.findourcommonground.com and watch some of the videos made by other farm women who are also volunteering their time to educate folks about food and farming. It is a great resource to learn about your food.

Every Day is Earth Day On Our Family Farm

My daughter is great about asking questions that lead me to blog. (Remember, she was the one who ask about green french fries?) Today after church she says, "Mom, its Earth Day, why didn't we celebrate?" My response? "Honey, we're farmers, we celebrate Earth Day every day!"

OK, so that sounds rather corny, but really, that's the way it happened.

So let me tell you why our farm celebrates Earth Day every day. As stewards of the land, we have numerous farming practices that preserve and improve our soils and protect our environment.

Let me share some of our conservation efforts with you:

1. Our farm voluntarily took over 100 acres of farm land out of production and put them into conservation practices. These acres are adjacent to woods, ditches, ponds, waterways, and streams. This leads to less sediment and nutrients from getting into the water. It takes sensitive acres and takes them out of production protecting the larger environment around them. Not only does it improve water quality, but it also provides enhanced habitat for wildlife.

2. We installed grassy waterways and buffers larger than required. This enhances filtration of the water through the field to a wider buffer and further limits the likelihood of nutrients reaching the waterway.

3. Part of our farm is across from the town cemetery. The corner of that field is very low ground and not productive. We planted it in wildflowers and warm season grasses which when in bloom, will be free for the picking.

4. We take tissue samples of our crop foliage to determine the nutrient status of the crops (sort of like you getting a blood draw at the doctor's to check your cholesterol and other health indicators). This allows us to prescribe a "diet" for the crop that it needs, no more, no less. It allows us to target certain nutrients the plant needs. While many people take a multi-vitamin "just in case" (which by the way leads to higher nutrients in the water too), we feed a specific diet to our crops based on the results of the plant tissue analysis.

5. I have previously blogged about our new "GreenSeeker" technology. We used this technology recently in our small grains (wheat and barley). The GreenSeeker detects the chlorophyll in the plant tissue and tells us what the nitrogen needs of the plant are. We reduced our nitrogen application by 7-15 pounds per acre using this technology. This application is called "variable rate" meaning the technology senses when less is needed and cuts down on the amount of fertilizer applied as you travel across the field. This may not seem like alot of savings in fertilizer, but when you add it together with the total number of acres, it is quite a savings in the total amount of fertilizer applied.

6. RTK is an auto-steering system that we have in our tractors. The Earth Day advantage of RTK is that it guides our equipment with "sub-inch" accuracy, virtually eliminating all overlap in seed and fertilizer applications and preserving precious resources and enhancing our environmental control systems.

7. Cover crops are probably our largest contribution to land stewardship and therefore Earth Day. These are often called "green manure". We put over 1000 acres under cover in the winter. Cover crops are planted in the fall and are designed to take up any left over nutrients remaining in the soil after the previous crop is harvested. Instead of just leaving the field fallow for the winter, cover crops bind the nutrients and immobilize them in the plant. When we burn down the cover crop in the spring, those nutrients become available to the spring crop that we are currently planting.

8. No - Till is probably our second largest contribution to land stewardship and Mother Earth. 90% of our land is not worked up at all and the other 10% is either in permanent perenial crop such as the vineyard or we use conservation tillage equipment to prepare the soil. Using no-till, we do not work the ground up but plant directly into the plant residue left over from the previous crop. The Earth Day advantage of no-till farming is that you do not expose the soil to the risk of erosion.

So Happy Earth Day! Our family farm is celebrating it by continuing to be good stewards of the land we have, doing all that we can to leave it in better condition for the next generation.