Brix Bounty Farm

CSA Member Work Days

This season we have decided to offer a chance for our members to gain a deeper connection with their veggies by inviting you to monthly work days on the farm.  Every month we’ll celebrate the joy of agriculture by welcoming folks onto the farm on the final Friday of the month.  Our work sessions will happen rain or shine to give you a true taste of farming.

We’ll be continuing our CSA Work Days this coming Friday, February 24th with two optional work sessions:
Friday March 30th – 2:30-4:00 and
Friday March 30th – 4:30-6:00

For folks interested in joining us for one or both sessions we kindly request that you RSVP via email or a phone call by Friday at Noon.

We have decided to welcome folks of all ages to join us, but request those interested in working with their young children (5 -10 yrs.) to consider joining us for the mid-afternoon session from 2:30 to 4:00 PM. For those members who have expressed an interest in joining us in the fields; these sessions will allow for folks to gain a deeper understanding of what steps we take to grow delicious food for our community.

The afternoon’s tasks will vary throughout the season and be highly dependent on weather conditions and our field priorities; this week’s work may include seeding greens in the greenhouse, renovating beds in our new greenhouse, & continued brush work along the field edges and in the bramble patch.

We would ask folks who are joining us to come prepared to work and roll up their sleeves, get a little dirt under their fingernails.  Please dress accordingly; the springtime offers a lot of raw weather days and as the sun’s strength dies down the late afternoon can become chilly.  Layers and something to break the wind are especially valuable, as is a water bottle to help keep you hydrated, and good solid footwear.

We are really looking forward to our first full season trialing BioNatural’s Blooming Blossoms bio-inoculants.  They have 2 different soil application products and a foliar product; all 3 are focused on harnessing the capacity of Azotobacter to fix Nitrogen.  They are just one of many folks marketing biological inoculants; you can see a list of other suppliers on the new Bionutrient Food Association website.

Their NutriFoliar  has proven to actually “fix” Nitrogen directly on the leaf surface.  We have been pleased to secure our supply through Crop Services International in Michigan; Juneau Sales in Minnesota is another supplier.

We’ll report back later this season with details (and hopefully some pictures) of our results.

10 Reasons Why a Brix Bounty Farm CSA Membership May Be Right For You

A Series Written and Published by Brix Bounty Farm
(“10 Reasons Why” Series Archive)

Reason #4 – Nutrient Density and High Brix – Better Flavor and Nutrition

by Derek Christianson

At Brix Bounty Farm our priority is growing high quality vegetables with an emphasis on nutrition and flavor.  This commitment to quality has put us on a journey toward high brix crops; noted for their pest and disease resistance and top notch flavor (see What is Brix for more about Brix).  What does it take to grow nutrient dense vegetables?  A deep commitment to caring for the land, the full-spectrum of trace minerals present in our soils (critical for the plants enzymatic systems), and healthy and robust soil biology which is the key to providing plants minerals in their ideal form.

The process to restore health to worn our soils doesn’t happen overnight; as we are working with natural systems we must remain patient.  Each season we strive to achieve a higher level of quality with our production.  Overtime we expect the flavor of our crops to continue to speak for themselves as more and more consumers reconnect with delicious local vegetables.  In concert with better flavor will be higher levels of “bionutrients” – minerals, proteins, fats, plant secondary metabolites, and more; all delivered through real food.

Our commitment to quality includes an emphasis on producing crops with high levels of trace minerals often lacking in conventionally grown produce.  One small example of this is our commitment to amending our soils with small amounts of selenium (in the form of sodium selenate).  Selenium is a trace mineral which has been linked to heart health; in the past century low soil selenium levels were connected to high levels of heart disease in parts of China and Finland.  In fact, the Finnish government even took the step of mandating the addition of selenium to crop fertilizers in their country.  In America farmers who work with livestock include a focus on selenium levels because selenium is considered a necessary nutrient for livestock.  It has not however been proven to be critical for plant health; as a result many growers focusing on produce don’t test their soil’s selenium levels.  We have tested our soils, and like many soils in the northeast our selenium levels are less than adequate so we have decided to take action by applying soil and foliar applications of selenium in 2012.

This is just one of the many actions we take at Brix Bounty Farm to provide our community with deep nutrition… and why we feel investing in a Brix Bounty CSA Share is a great investment in your health.

At the recent SEMAP Ag & Food Conference I had the pleasure of catching Carl Brodeur of Arborcare present a workshop on Actively Aerated Compost Tea (AACT).  Carl did a great job presenting some of the basics and keys to utilizing compost tea.  Below are a few of the resources his highlighted in his presentation as well as additional links which may be of interest.

• *Microbe Organic (Tim Wilson) – http://www.microbeorganics.com/
  

• http://www.microbeorganics.com/#So_You_Wanna_Build_A_Compost_Tea_Brewer




• It’s Tea Time with Tad Hussey – http://www.gardeningwithmicrobes.com/teaarticle.shtml

• Importance of Water Quality with Compost Tea – http://www.simplici-tea.com/water_quality_article.htm

• “Compost Tea:  Promises and Practicalities” by Elaine Ingham – http://www.acresusa.com/toolbox/reprints/Dec03_Compost%20Teas.pdf

• CompostWerks – http://www.compostwerks.com

• EarthFort – http://www.earthfort.com/home.html (vendors of Elaine Ingham’s audio recordings and other resources)

• Earth Tea Brewer – http://www.composttea.com/22gallon.htm

• Orner Farms – Vermicompost – http://ornerfarms.com/composttea.htm (Carl recommended Ross Orner as a good supplier of very high quality compost for compost tea)

• Soil Food Web New York – http://soilfoodwebnewyork.com/indexoriginal.html

• Vortex Brewer (developed by Steven Storch – who presented at Soil & Nutrition in February) – http://www.vortexbrewer.com/

• Yahoo Groups – http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gardening_with_compost_tea/messages