Meet this week’s Mac veggies:
(Photo coming as soon as I “fix” my computer!)
- Cucumbers — The first of the summer fruits! There is nothing more refreshing than eating a cucumber on a hot afternoon. Now that we have cucumbers, we just need some hot afternoons. (For sweetest flavor, peel the skin off before eating!)
- Cabbage or cauliflower
- Broccoli
- Chard
- Lettuce
- Fava beans — We finally tried it ourselves and can attest to the fact that whole roasted or pan fried fava beans taste delicious! The keys to success are relatively high heat, salt/spices, and thorough cooking so that bean inside is soft. The outer pod gets slightly crispy — yummy! If you’ve been daunted by the work of fava beans, this is for you!
- Carrots
- Summer squash & zucchini
- Sweet onions — This is the last of the over-wintered onions, but soon we’ll be harvesting our spring planted crop!
Last week, I dropped my cell phone on the dirt. It wasn’t a hard drop, but it also wasn’t the first, or the tenth, or even the hundreth drop. Either way, it was the final fatal drop, breaking the monitor and requiring Rusty and I to spend Monday morning getting a new phone.
Meanwhile, our computer’s disk space is once again maxed out to the extreme, making basic functions challenging. I’m starting to think it’s time to actually invest in new, more powerful computer.
I realize some people are very excited about upgrading technologies, but honestly, I don’t enjoy spending money on new versions of gadgets I already have. I’d be happy to keep using the same phone and computer for the rest of my life, as long as they kept working. I find myself frustrated each time I have to upgrade because of the waste it represents and also simply because it requires me on some level to learn a new device or system.
Casey is even less patient with the need to replace things than I am. Every year, he complains when his shoes or clothing wears out, insisting that they should last longer than they do. I have to gently remind him that shoes wear out so that our feet do not, and it is only by wearing that they work. Of course, it would be wonderful if his shoes could be repaired rather than replaced, but we’ve found rubber footwear to be the best around irrigation water and mud on the farm. And, so, we sigh and buy another pair.
Even though we understand the theoretical purpose of some types of items wearing out and others simply becoming obsolete as digital technologies evolve, we still long for a life filled with truly durable repairable goods. Computers and cell phones are truly useful technologies, and our farm has benefited greatly from the organization, communication, and marketing power they can provide … but on our rough and tumble farm, they seem so breakable and impermanent.
In contrast, Casey had an intimate experience with durable farm technology this week, as he drove our newly purchased Case combine for five and a half hours (at 6 mph!) from its old home to our farm.
Yes, we purchased a combine! For those of you who aren’t familiar with this relative new farm technology (developed in the early 20th century), this one behemoth machine does three tasks in one as the farmer drives it through the field: it harvests grain/seed, threshes it (i.e. breaks the seed from the chaff), and then winnows it (i.e. sorts the seed and chaff away from each other with fans and wind). It also moves the resulting straw and lays it back on the ground in tidy “windrows,” ready for baling. Combines are used for harvesting everything from vegetable seed to wheat to grass seed. We bought it for harvesting cover crop seed, dry beans, and grains.
Anyhow, we didn’t buy one of those new shiny extra large combines that are most common in fields (and these days, on the roads) in Yamhill County. Instead we bought an oldie but goodie (we hope) built in the ‘60s, with a slightly smaller 10’ header and 1100 hours of solid work behind it. Casey made the final decision after calculating that the cost of the combine ($1200) would be less than buying cover crop seed for our new land this fall. Since we have a field of cover crop oats ready to harvest, he figured it could pay for itself in one year! (This plan assumes that all goes well with our first trial run and the seed is clean enough to sow!)
Even though the long, slow drive home was intense (Casey agreed with another farmer’s assessment of a similar trek, describing it as “a slow motion emergency”), we are excited about everything this machine represents for our farm. It will hopefully allow us to more efficiently grow and harvest larger scale grain, bean and seed crops. But, it also represents the kind of tool we love: the kind that stands up over years of use and is infinitely repairable.
Although we have yet to really put it to use, even as an almost antique it stood up to a very long drive (with one stop to turn the brakes off, which were stuck and smoking ominously). The moving parts are all accessible, replaceable, repairable, and the body is made out of thick steel.
The most common reaction to seeing it in action is that it resembles a classic “Rube Goldberg machine,” with lots of turning belts and metal parts and different compartments all moving at once. It’s quite goofy looking, but the accessibility of the parts makes it feel like a machine designed for farmer tinkering and maintaining.
The goal of its design wasn’t necessarily to be pretty, compact, or fast (or quiet for that matter) — instead, it is all about practicality for the task at hand and keeping the thing going. I imagine that over time, repairs have been made on this combine in every condition — in a nice dry pole barn in the winter and also under the hot sun in the middle of a dusty field (by a harried, anxious farmer).
I suppose it’s no surprise that we would feel an affinity for a machine designed for farmers, but given how many shovels we’ve broken over the years, we’ve found that not even all farm equipment lives up to our ideals of durability and strength. (We joke that Casey should be a hand tool product tester, since he seems capable of breaking almost every tool eventually.)
Casey and I have been called Luddites in the past when we complain about newer technologies and their planned obscolence and flimsiness, but I don’t think that’s a valid accusation. We like technologies that are appropriate for the task at hand and that work. Cell phones, while they annoy us when they break, work well for our lifestyle — we are rarely working near a phone line, and it enables us to communicate from the field.
But we’re not necessarily quick to jump on every new bandwagon or try every new technology (digital or mechanical). I suppose that we, along with many farmers before us, are conservative by nature. We like tools that are practical, necessary, powerful, and allow us more independence. Sometimes new technologies (especially digital ones) seem to further tie us to the energy grid or financially bind us to software developers elsewhere.
To that end, I made the hard decision this week to (for now) forgo employing a neat new online-based CSA organization software. Right now I am 90% sure we are not going to use it.
I had mentioned the possibility of this software to several of you, but after more investigating and consideration, I’m reluctant to add to my existing list of websites and programs that need to be updated and nurtured by me (already having a blog, farm website, farm email, Facebook presence, Quickbooks, etc.) It’s funny how it might seem that a new piece of software will save time, but sometimes it just doesn’t. I think it’s a good, powerful piece of CSA software (and expensive), but I’m going to try to keep going with the technologies we already have.
Choosing when and how to buy machines or adopt new technologies is a constant discussion on the farm. Machines use fuel, require maintenance, cost money to operate, can be dangerous … digital technologies can suck time, cost money to operate, can be frustrating to use, can become obsolete.
This week is just one time when we had to weigh the potential benefits with the potential costs on every level, and this time we decided in favor of the old and clunky technology (the combine) and against the new and cutting edge technology (the CSA software). Sometime soon we’re going to sit down with our budget for fall and next year, and I imagine we’ll be discussing all of these goals and ideals again and again during that process.
Of course, anytime we spend money, we risk making the “wrong” decision (as in, not the best for our purposes and farm), and we have made wrong decisions in the past, costing us thousands and thousands of dollars … which is why we’ve learned to be highly analytical and in some senses slow to act (we often know what we want long before we actually buy, waiting for the moment when we feel that we actually need it).
We certainly don’t begrudge such conversations, however. We feel very blessed to have the resources to buy appropriate technologies, and we also feel very blessed to live in a community and region rich with farming information, equipment, vendors and supplies. When we decided we wanted to buy a combine, there were many easily available in our price range in nearby locations. What fun!
If I haven’t said it enough yet this year, we live in a great place to farm, and we are so looking forward to branching out as we expand our farm in new directions on the new land! Enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla
