"Life lives on life. We all eat and are eaten. When we forget this we cry; when we remember it, we can nourish one another."
- Jack Kornfield

What’s in the box this week:

... and if you have an extra-fruit share:
Berries, and a bag of mixed fruit

What's Up on the Farm
We had a visitor from Uzbekistan tour the farm last week. Uzbekistan is a republic of the former Soviet Union, now independent for more than 10 years. Irin is a soil scientist and teaches Organic Farming in her country. Through a translator she told us how conventional agriculture in her country has impacted the environment in ways similar to this country, such as creating soil erosion and desertification due to the build up-of salt in the soil. Her objective is to empower small communities and families to become self-sufficient by growing their own food and applying bio-intensive and organic production techniques. She loved the taste of our Sungold cherry tomatoes and of course our strawberries. At the end of her visit she placed a traditional Uzbekistan hat on my head, which looked something like what a priest would wear -- square, with hand-embroidered motifs on all sides. It sure is encouraging to know that alternative farming is spreading to all reaches of the Earth.

Of Interest
Are we ready to join a revolution? John Robbins, author of the well known bestseller "Diet for a New America," has just published a new book titled: "The Food Revolution." I heard John speak about his new book, and he has a very empowering and compelling message. He calls on us to become more conscious about our food choices, and his book is filled with well researched information on which to base our dietary choices. He explains how our eating habits can have a tremendous impact by creating a reality where we cherish and care for our environment and conserve nature instead of destroying it. He addresses the impacts of popular diets, genetically modified foods, and Mad Cow disease on our health, and the benefits of healthy alternatives. In his introduction he says, and I quote: "...I don’t care whether you call yourself a vegetarian, a vegan, or an asparagus. I care whether you live in accord with your values ... whether your food choices ... bring you health, uphold your spirit, and help you fulfill your true nature and reason for being alive." I haven’t finished reading the book yet, but it sure calls for a revolutionary and new way to approach our relationship to food and the world. I encourage everyone to read this book. It confirms many aspects fundamental to Community Supported Agricuture (CSA).

Member to Member Forum
From your editor: Hi everyone -- this newsletter was composed and prepared a week early because I will be out of town during the window of time I normally have for doing so (however I will be back in time to receive my copy on Saturday!). But that is not the key issue I need to alert you to. As you know, I prepare an electronic version of this newsletter every week and post it to the web (as well as update the recipe database with the new week's recipes). Both the newsletters and recipe database are on a separate server/website from Live Earth Farm's. The concern here is that for the last week (or more?) my ISP has been failing catastrophically, which means you have not been/will not be able to connect to them until they correct the problems they have been having. Also, I will not be able to post the newsletters for weeks 15 and 16 until after I get back from my trip, at the earliest, because I cannot access my website/server either. We are in the process of changing ISPs, and so between the current ISP's failures and the transition to the new one, your ability to access both newsletters and recipes may be impaired, if not downright impossible. But hopefully for not too long of a stretch! Note: Live Earth Farm's website is NOT affected by this, just the newsletters/recipes. I will let you know when the situation is rectified. Meanwhile, I apologize to those of you who cannot access this information (such as the great photos of the bread oven-building process on Week 14's newsletter!).

If you wish to communicate something to the rest of the CSA membership, or start a dialog among members on a particular topic, you may use this forum to do so. To submit something to be included here, please contact the editor (see below) by Sunday to get it into the following week’s newsletter.

Crop of the Week
Peppers: Peppers are members of the Solanaceae family, along with other relatives such as the tomato, eggplant, potato, and tomatillo. They are native to Central and South America, and their use dates back to 5000B.C. The hot peppers have had a major influence in both the Asian as well as the South and Central American cuisine. Among our Mexican workers there is not a dish that goes without the added spice of hot peppers. Even "Chewy," one of our farm dogs, who begs for a piece of their tacos, is getting used to their hot sauce. Most of the intensity of a hot pepper resides in the seeds and inner ribs. Remove these to reduce heat, retain them in cooking for the full blast. This year we will have a selection of hot Thai, Jalapeno, Serrano, and Habanero peppers. Among our sweet peppers, which will turn beautiful colors of orange, red and yellow (at which time they will also have the best flavor), we grow mostly Italian and Romanian varieties, which are characterized by their more elongated and pointy shape. Hot peppers and red sweet peppers also have an exceedingly high content of both Vitamin A and C.

Notes from Debbie’s Kitchen . . . . . . . . Have a recipe you’d like to share? Contact the newsletter editor.

Here is a lovely recipe from "The Gardener's Cookbook" by Kathleen DeVanna Fish. I picked it because, not only did it sound great, but it uses a lot of this week's box ingredients: carrots, summer squash, tomatoes, red onion, garlic, chard... and if Tom has the ability to add fresh oregano to our boxes, all the better! - Debbie

Tuscan Vegetable Soup
serves 8

4 tbsp. olive oil
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 yellow squash, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 red onion, diced
1 tsp. garlic, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
4 C chicken or vegetable stock
3 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
1 C cooked white beans
2 tbsp. fresh oregano, roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 bunch Swiss chard, chopped
freshly grated parmesan

Sauté the cut vegetables in olive oil until they are clear. Add the garlic, bay leaves, and stock. Bring soup to a simmer. When vegetables are tender, add the tomato pieces, white beans and oregano. Adjust the seasonings to taste. Before serving, add the Swiss chard and, if desired, freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Oh my gosh, look at all this room I have left [in the paper version of the newsletter]! Enough for another recipe. Let's see... here's another one from "Gourmet Vegetarian Feasts" by Martha Rose Shulman. Looks easy. Uses lots of carrots. The author says, "This is a very simple French salad, and one of my favorites."- Debbie

Carottes Rapées (Grated Carrot Salad)
serves 4 - 6

2 lbs. carrots
2 tbsp. chopped chives
1-2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp. wine vinegar
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 tbsp. olive oil (or part olive oil, part safflower oil)

Grate carrots fine, either with a hand grater or a food processor. Toss them with chives and parsley. Combine lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, mustard salt and pepper and mix well. Whisk in oil and toss with carrots. Serve at once or chill and serve, tossing once more before serving.

*Click Here* for a link to a comprehensive listing of recipes from Live Earth Farm's newsletters going back as far as our 1998 season! You can search for recipes by harvest week OR by key ingredient. Recipe site is updated weekly.