Morning Song Farm News

This morning I received an urgent email from CCOF, (California Certified Organic Farmers), our certifying agency. Maybe I'm overreacting, but it seems like if this passed at the Federal level, it would pretty much be game over for those that oppose consuming GMO food. Here it is: Dear CCOF Member, We need your help to stop a dangerous pro-GMO bill that undermines organic agriculture and the organic label! On Thursday, the House of Representatives will vote on HR 1599, otherwise known as Deny Americans the Right to Know (DARK) Act (HR 1599). What Does the DARK Act do?  This bill: Stops states and counties from regulating GMO crops to protect organic farmers from GMO contamination. Organic standards prohibit the use of GMOs. Undermines the organic label by allowing GMOs to be labeled as “natural,” which is a label with no regulatory meaning that causes unfair competition in the marketplace. Halts all efforts to require GMO labeling. Please call you...

Everything in our boxes this week is identifiable except perhaps the sapotes, upper right in the photo image above. Like avocados, they need to soften after harvest; they will not soften on the tree. Like most subtropical fruit, they are best left unrefrigerated. Leave on your counter until they are slightly soft when pressed and then cut open as you would an avocado. The white, creamy flesh is delicious! Some people enjoy the skin, which is slightly bitter. Others scoop out the flesh and toss the very thin skin. You can also scoop out the flesh and freeze, and add to an ice cream recipe or smoothie. Enjoy!

As the crew arrived this morning to finish our Wednesday harvest and pack our CSA boxes for deliveries, more than one remarked that it doesn't feel like ordinary weather today. As in, "Hawaii without the ocean."   Unbelievably humid, the air is so heavy and still, the farm's normal tree-branch wind chimes have been silenced.    Farm cat leader, Samee, pictured above, has melted in the heat into his Not To Be Trespassed Spot. Such a friendly looking guy, surprisingly, he loses his stuff entirely if any other cat gets near the area in the farmhouse that he has carved out as His And Only His. Don't mistake that relaxed expression. He has no flexibility regarding his stated territorial rights. More than one guest here in our farmhouse has leaped out of bed, certain a cat was being eaten alive by a coyote, only to discover Samee expressing his displeasure at a fellow cat's unwelcome venture into his linened turf.