Crop list: Cosmic Mix, Radish, Turnips, Romaine Lettuce, Kale or Collards, Summer Squash, Tomatoes, Shell Peas, Basil

Last week I wrote a bit about how Biodynamics affects the plants. This week I want to talk about the importance of animals on a Biodynamic farm. We strive to minimize off farm inputs, to do this we must create our own fertility. We have cows, pigs and chickens to achieve this goal.
When I was apprenticing, I worked on a farm where the owners were vegan. Because of this choice they did not want animals on the farm. But all they did was plant and extract. There was no giving back to the soil. Their yields went down.They decided to get seabird guano from Argentina to try to rebuild the nutrients in the soil. All I could think of was people on rocks harvesting bird poop to be sent to America. Then I discovered Biodynamics!
Our critters are all integrated into our farm plan. Other then providing meat, milk and eggs our animals give the farm so much more. 
The cows spend much of their time on pasture. They fertilize the pastures as they graze. Eventually the pastures will be turned into garden. The grass and manure build up the soil for years before we move the garden through again.
As the cows are grazing, we move the chicken coop through the pastures. We fence them in and they eat bugs, grass and seeds. After the chickens have been in an area it looks decimated. All the grass is scratched and eaten to the soil level. There is chicken waste about. But after a couple of weeks of water and rest, it comes back and is the most lush and green spot on the farm. It is amazing. The chickens spend the winters in our greenhouse. Eating weed seeds, bugs and fertilizing the future tomatoes!
Our pigs are also on pasture. We put them in places when we are ready to turn the pasture into garden. They dig up the grass roots, eat lots of weeds and save Jed lots of tractor time, and of course, they are adding fertility to the soil all the time!
 In the winter the cows choose to stay close to the buildings once the snow gets deep. Every spring we clean up the cow yard and sheds. All the bedding and manure is put into a big pile and this is the beginning of our compost pile.
The compost pile is another key element in Biodynamics and next week I'll let you know why our compost is extra special! 

PRESS: OH MY! We made the Planet Jackson Hole three times this week!!! ...and it is all good news!
Writer Andrew Munz came to check out the workshare scene read more here: planetjh.com/2016/07/20/well-that-happened-kind-cultivation/
Jackson Foodie Annie Fenn talks Farmer's Market etiquette here: planetjh.com/2016/07/20/the-foodie-files-farmers-market-savoir-faire/
 And possibly the best article I have ever read about the farm here: planetjh.com/2016/07/20/redneck-perspective-sustainable-crimes/
​We are almost out of bags! Bring bags to the pick up!!!


Beef Available! 
Check the coolers at your site. I attached a list of prices and cuts to your email. If you know you want something, please email me and I will send it over for you. You can also tell your site hosts you have a request and I will send it the next week. We purchased 2 cows from Lifeline. They are packaged with our label because we brought them to the butcher live and for us to sell them they needed a label...and well, we are Cosmic Apple! It is really just the legalities of selling USDA inspected meat. More info then you need, but we want to be completely honest about what we have!

Find recipes for this weeks share here: www.cosmicapple.com/recipes.html
Bring Bags to pick-ups!
Wash Your veggies!
If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend!
Missed shares are forfeited for the week. 
Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets!
The Driggs Market is Fridays 9-1.
The People's Market is Wednesdays 4-7.
Jackson Market is Saturdays 8-12.​

Crop list: Cosmic Mix, Kale, Dill, Oregano, Fresh Garlic, Maybe Sugar Snap Peas, Tomatoes

Last week I mentioned we had our annual Organic/Biodynamic (BD) inspection. It went great! Since I brought it up last week, I want to elaborate a bit on what Biodynamics is. Cosmic Apple is proudly certified Biodynamic through Demeter. To attain this we have to meet the standards set by Demeter Association. If you are curious you can peruse the standards here: http://www.demeter-usa.org/downloads/Demeter-Farm-Standard.pdf
 I will focus mostly on the plants and how they relate to BD agriculture.  Biodynamics acknowledges a connection between the heavens and the earth. The influence of where the moon is in the zodiac affects the plants. When the moon is in a certain position it is beneficial to work with a certain plant. Salad mix, head lettuce, Kale and other plants which we are seeking to reap the leaves from benefit from being weeded, planted, or harvested on “leaf” days. Or days when the moon is in a “leaf” or water sign. Carrots, spuds, onions and garlic like Root days. Tomatoes and squash prefer fruit days. Broccoli, sunflowers and such like Flower days. This is how the zodiac relates to plants:
Water or Leaf- Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio
Fire or Fruit- Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
Earth or Root-  Taurus, Virgo, Capircorn
Air or Flower- Gemini, Libra, Aquarius

When we are planting in the spring, we follow the Biodynamic Calendar. As the season progresses, we try to transplant and weed on the “correct” days, but sometimes our schedule does not allow us to wait until it is a fruit day, we just need to tend to the greenhouses while we have time!
We harvest your veggies as we need to, so we can get them to you as fresh as possible. There will be days in the wash station where everyone will be commenting on how gorgeous the kale (for example) looks, it just seems to be glowing. Later we will realize it was a leaf day, and yes, all the leaf crops looked great!
Our favorite Biodynamic Calendars is by Maria Thun. She has done many studies which she documents with photos every year. She has compared Biodynamic practices and organic practices. The differences in the photos are stunning. The plants which are tended to in rhythm with the heavens thrive. Thun also studied the keeping qualities of plants. We try to harvest storage crops like garlic on root days, because it keeps better. She found jams made on fruit days required less added sugar to preserve!
It may seem hippy dippy to some, but Biodynamic Agriculture began in the 1930’s in Germany, not an era or place I think of when I think “hippy”! We feel Thun’s (and other’s) experiments prove the credibility of this system. It also makes sense to work with what you have and to try to minimize off farm inputs.
There is so much more to Biodynamics, books have been written about it! Summing up what it includes in paragraphs is futile! The subtleness of biodynamics is astounding, and like many before me, I may spend a lifetime studying it before I really begin to grasp its potential. In the coming weeks I will write about different parts of a Biodynamic Farm.

We are almost out of bags! Bring bags to the pick up!!!

​What do you want me to write about in the newsletter?
Give me a topic or ask a question! Email me your questions, or call and leave them on the answering machine if you want to be anonymous, we don't have caller ID!

​Along with lots more veggies coming in the future, we will soon have Cosmic Apple Pork available. Certified Organic, pasture raised, milk fed, as good as it gets​ pork. I'll let you know as soon as we have it!
Beef Available! 
Check the coolers at your site. I attached a list of prices and cuts to your email. If you know you want something, please email me and I will send it over for you. You can also tell your site hosts you have a request and I will send it the next week. We purchased 2 cows from Lifeline. They are packaged with our label because we brought them to the butcher live and for us to sell them they needed a label...and well, we are Cosmic Apple! It is really just the legalities of selling USDA inspected meat. More info then you need, but we want to be completely honest about what we have!

Find recipes for this weeks share here: www.cosmicapple.com/recipes.html
Bring Bags to pick-ups!
Wash Your veggies!
If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend!
Missed shares are forfeited for the week. 
Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets!
The Driggs Market is Fridays 9-1.
The People's Market is Wednesdays 4-7.
Jackson Market is Saturdays 8-12.

Crop list: Cosmic Mix, Radish, Turnips, Swiss Chard, Basil, Cilantro, Head Lettuce and Maybe Tomatoes

 We have our annual Organic/Biodynamic inspection this week! Every year our certifying agency sends an inspector to the farm to make sure we are growing pure food for you! We spend a day with him or her, showing them the farm and going over records. They look at all of our inputs. Seeds, animal feed, bedding, medications, dish soap, seasonings we add to our meats, new animals purchased, born and butchered, plant start soil mix, water samples. Anything they or we can think of. We trace a cut of meat backwards thru our system via paperwork. We look at distribution of veggies and follow a head of lettuce back to a seed receipt! We have share records, harvest records, transplanting records, garden maps, seed starting records and finally a receipt from a reputable seed company!
We have been at this for so long now (20 years!) our record keeping is second nature. I do like that someone comes and goes through our farm with a fine tooth comb. We have the best of intentions for the food we grow, but I like having someone check in on our practices. We also have someone we can call if we have a sick animal to find out if there is an approved medication before we save an animal, with conventional treatment, but loose it's organic certification. We always choose saving a life, but sometimes the local vets (understandably) don't know of other options.
The inspectors are usually great folks who we would like to spend more time chatting with, but we try to remember the hourly fee for them being here! They've been to so many farms and are a wealth of information. They work hard to make sure each farm earns the Biodynamic or Organic label. We have heard some tales of people faking it and being caught. Inspectors will peek in trash cans, to see what was disposed of before their arrival, look in sheds and pay very close attention to what they are seeing in a field!
There are 2 routes to go when getting certified. One is to go through a state's USDA program. Inspectors from Idaho would do the job. BUT we go through an independent inspection agency. The Demeter Association is in Oregon. They are accredited by the USDA, to issue certificates. We like them because they have higher standards then the USDA!  Check them out here: www.demeter-usa.org/index.asp
Being certified via Demeter is the gold standard in Organics. They like us, believe farming should heal the earth, not just extract from it. Familiarize yourself with their label, and support it when you can!

What do you want me to write about in the newsletter?
Give me a topic or ask a question! Email me your questions, or call and leave them on the answering machine if you want to be anonymous, we don't have caller ID!

​Along with lots more veggies coming in the future, we will soon have Cosmic Apple Pork available. Certified Organic, pasture raised, milk fed, as good as it gets​ pork. I'll let you know as soon as we have it!
Beef Available! 
Check the coolers at your site. I attached a list of prices and cuts to your email. If you know you want something, please email me and I will send it over for you. You can also tell your site hosts you have a request and I will send it the next week. We purchased 2 cows from Lifeline. They are packaged with our label because we brought them to the butcher live and for us to sell them they needed a label...and well, we are Cosmic Apple! It is really just the legalities of selling USDA inspected meat. More info then you need, but we want to be completely honest about what we have!

Find recipes for this weeks share here: www.cosmicapple.com/recipes.html
Bring Bags to pick-ups!
Wash Your veggies!
If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend!
Missed shares are forfeited for the week. 
Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets!
The Driggs Market is Fridays 9-1.
The People's Market is Wednesdays 4-7.
Jackson Market is Saturdays 8-12.

Crop list: Cosmic Mix, Radish, Broccoli Raab, Turnips, Sugar Snap Peas, Garlic Curls, Mint and Kale or Collards
For me summer starts when the sugar snap peas come in. Crunchy,sweet and refreshing. It is always fun to have some texture after cooking greens for so long! And the turnips! yum, crunch on! We now begin the transition from spring crops to summer crops. Enjoy the garlic curls this will be the end of them until next year! 
 For the last 3 weeks or so our energies have been on weeding as much as possible. Now we have to strike a balance between weeding the future crops and picking what is ready now! For some reason those weeds are really persistent! The peas I mentioned...they take a long time to pick! And they will be quickly followed by beans and squash and all kinds of exciting things! Eventually we will only be able to harvest (as fast as we possibly can!), there will be no time for anything else!
I want to give a great big shout out to all the workshares!!!! These are the folks who are planting, harvesting and WEEDING your veggies! They are volunteers and they rock! The farm would not work without them. If you know a workshare, they deserve your gratitude, a high five or a hug (or a cold beer or coffee)!!! They sign up for 5 hours one time a week for 6 months. No small commitment. I love the energy the workshares bring to the farm. They are eager to learn, ready to help and fun to be around. Jed and I learn from them every year. I am blessed my children are growing up in an environment where volunteering is normal. These folks give to our community on many levels, and I am grateful. So, just to be clear...
YAAAAAAY WORKSHARES!!!

​Along with lots more veggies coming in the future, we will soon have Cosmic Apple Pork available. Certified Organic, pasture raised, milk fed, as good as it gets​ pork. I'll let you know as soon as we have it!
Beef Available! 
Check the coolers at your site. I attached a list of prices and cuts to your email. If you know you want something, please email me and I will send it over for you. You can also tell your site hosts you have a request and I will send it the next week. We purchased 2 cows from Lifeline. They are packaged with our label because we brought them to the butcher live and for us to sell them they needed a label...and well, we are Cosmic Apple! It is really just the legalities of selling USDA inspected meat. More info then you need, but we want to be completely honest about what we have!

Find recipes for this weeks share here: www.cosmicapple.com/recipes.html
Bring Bags to pick-ups!
Wash Your veggies!
If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend!
Missed shares are forfeited for the week. 
Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets!
The Driggs Market is Fridays 9-1. The People's Market is Wednesdays 4-7.
Jackson Satuday markets start 7/9.
​