"Summertime,
and the living is easy." - Ira Gershwin
"Farmers are sweating, and plants are rejoicing." - Farmer

What’s in the box this week:

... and if you have an extra-fruit share:
it will be either 2 baskets of strawberries - OR - 1 basket of strawberries plus 1 basket of raspberries. Check for signage saying which (see "please read"), and read about berry issues under "What's Up on the Farm"

Sat. Jun 23 - Summer Solstice Celebration.
the Banana Slug String Band will be playing this time for sure!
4pm - 10pm

Sat/Sun July 28&29
Wood Fired Bread Oven Building project

Sat/Sun Aug. 4&5 - Children’s Mini Camp,
10m Saturday - noon Sunday. Optional early arrival Friday night. (See Member to Member Forum in the 5th Harvest Week's Newsletter for details!)

Sat. Sep 22 - Fall Equinox Celebration,
3pm - 9pm

Sat. Oct 20 - Halloween Pumpkin U-Pick,
all day

We welcome everyone to join us for our Summer Solstice Celebration this Saturday June 23rd, from 4-10pm. Kids, don’t miss the Banana Slug String Band, who will play your favorite rock 'n earth tunes! It’s a potluck, so bring a dish to share, a sweater (although we’ll have a bonfire to keep us warm it can get chilly at night), instruments and stories... but most importantly bring yourself, family and friends to celebrate the beginning of SUMMER!! Directions for how to get to the farm are on our website: liveearthfarm.net. And speaking of the website... our newsletters are now available online! So those of you who want a preview of 'what's in the box' can click on the Newsletter link from the website. Newsletters are generally posted and available for perusing by Monday evening of each harvest week.

Everyone please read: We've been getting complaints from members who signed up for an extra fruit share that fruit has been missing. Two things seem to be happening: 1) IF YOU HAVE NOT SPECIFICALLY SIGNED UP FOR AN EXTRA FRUIT SHARE (see check-off list) PLEASE DO NOT TAKE FRUIT THAT IS SET ASIDE NEXT TO THE BOXES! That fruit is only FOR MEMBERS WHO HAVE SIGNED UP AND PAID FOR AN EXTRA FRUIT SHARE. And 2) if you ARE already signed up for an extra fruit share: PLEASE CHECK YOUR NEWSLETTER AND/OR POSTED SIGNS INDICATING HOW MUCH FRUIT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO TAKE. THIS CHANGES FROM WEEK TO WEEK and sometimes members mistakenly assume that what they got last week, they'll get this week. This is an honor system, so please be mindful so that everyone gets their fair share! If someone is picking your share up for you, PLEASE be sure to explain this system to them. If you currently don't have but would like to receive an extra fruit share, please call us in advance to sign up. And do please still let us know if you are not getting what you signed up for.

Reflection on the Summer Solstice: The longest day of the year marks the zenith of the sun. The power of the sun is at its peak and so is the fertility of the earth. As the fields are baking in the heat, the earth absorbs and transforms it into life-nourishing gifts. We can align ourselves with these energies in a deep and real way. Our own inner fire gives us the will and strength to grow and bring things to fulfillment. The rhythm of the season teaches us patience. As someone once said, "The fruit is green until it’s ripe and you just can’t rush it." As we watch the flowering and fruiting all around us we experience the generosity of the Earth. The Summer Solstice is the perfect time to celebrate and honor this bond and understand the delicate balance of the planet.

What's Up on the Farm
We are low on strawberries this week due to heat stress, however apricots will be in next week's shares! The heat here on the coast is a mixed blessing. Some of our crops thrive in the hot sun such as cucumbers, tomatoes (tried the first cherry tomatoes last week -- mmmm !!!), and green beans. But the strawberries and raspberries are currently stressed and much lower in production than normal due to the lack of fog, which has kept temperatures consistently higher (in the low to upper 80’s), instead of the usual 60-70’s. Many of the strawberries are sunburned (and therefore must be culled), plus the plants themselves, stressed from the heat, aren't producing as much as they could. As a result, we will not have enough strawberries for the standard share this week (only the extra fruit share). Patti from Gonzales Orchards in Hollister (I will write more about them next week) called me to ask if we'd be interested in getting some of her organic Blenheim Apricots, since, (and I quote) "we are swimming in Apricots!" Of all the apricot varieties, Blenheims are the best. Gonzales Orchards is picking them this week, so the apricots will be available for us next week. New this week: freshly dug Fingerling Potatoes... petite, but absolutely delicious. Look for recipes on our website.

Of Interest
Hello fellow CSAers, Kristin again. As promised, I am reporting back from my recent trip to Stockholm to witness the signing of the international treaty on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). As you'll recall from my note of a few weeks ago, the POP treaty targets 12 POP chemicals for elimination. POPs are a class of chemicals which are toxic, persist in the environment, accumulate in the body fat of humans and animals, concentrate up the food chain, and can be transported across the globe. Nine of the initial 12 chemicals tar-geted by the treaty are pesticides.

The treaty -- now known as the "Stockholm Convention" -- was signed in late May by 91 countries and the European Commission. The signing was exciting because the treaty represents the first time the international community has made a commitment to actually eliminate an entire class of chemicals. This is the first time we've said "these chemicals are too dangerous, and we simply should not have them in the world, anywhere."
Of course treaty signature is just the first, largely ceremonial, step. (We saw much ritual back-patting and heard many elegant speeches in Stockholm). The real work lies ahead. First, the treaty must be ratified by 50 countries before it goes into effect. Many of the groups following the process have challenged governments to have 50 ratifications by fall of 2002. The U.S. State Department says it will submit the treaty to the Senate before the end of this year.

Next the treaty must be implemented: laws put into place around the world, phase-outs enforced, transitions made to (hopefully more sustainable) alternatives. An important part of implementation also involves the addition of new chemicals for elimination under the treaty. An international Scientific Review Committee will consider adding many additional pesticides and other chemicals, some of which (such as the pesticides lindane and endosulfan) are still in widespread use on farms here in the U.S. and in many other coun-tries around the world.

It will be a battle to get these new chemicals on the list (the nine pesticides on the initial list have already been banned in most in-dustrialized countries for many years). But at least now we have a tool to do it, and we also have the beginnings of a shift away from the presumption that toxic chemicals are innocent until proven guilty.

Member to Member Forum
Correction: The dates for the wood-fired oven building workshop are July 28-29 NOT August 28-29. (oops! my fault!! - editor) For more information call Charles Limbach at (831) 663-1161 or e-mail him at 4winds@dedot.com.

Remember, if you wish to communicate something to the rest of the CSA membership, 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
Watch this space next week for info coming on the herbs we're starting to get in our shares!

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

Members Mike and Vivian Skripek (from Scotts Valley) would like to share a recipe they say is similar to a potato-leek soup, but which uses lots of greens (and also potatoes, which we're getting for the first time this week!). They say, "It got the approval of a 4-yr old, a 6-yr old, a 9-yr old and a 64-yr old... and we enjoyed it too!" - Debbie

New Favorite Green Soup
from " The New Laurel's Kitchen"

1 onion or 1 bunch scallions
1 tbsp. oil or butter
2 or 3 potatoes, cut up (we used 3 big russets - M&V) (Since the fingerlings in our share are small, I'd suggest using several - Debbie)
6 to 8 cups chopped fresh greens (we used chard & spinach - M&V)
broth or milk
salt & pepper

Saute onion in oil until very soft. Add potatoes and water/broth to cover. Cook potatoes until tender and peel if you desire. Add greens and simmer until they wilt. Puree all. Add broth or milk to thin and extend as desired. Salt and pepper to taste.

*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.