Dear CSA Shareholders,

Today's share should have included the following: Two plus pounds of gravenstein apples, a simpson elite green leaf lettuce and a bronze arrowhead oak leaf lettuce, 3 bulbs of garlic and a large ailsa craig onion.  Vancouver shares and one farm share received a bunch of carrots, the other farm shares received a about a half pound of broccoli.

GRAVENSTEIN APPLE CRISP.  Gravensteins are good pie apples.  If you are not so ambitious as to make a pie with them, here is our favorite apple crisp recipe.

Peel, core and slice apples to make 4 cups.  Place apples in a greased pie plate or oven proof casserole.  In a bowl, combine one third cup flour, one half cupped packed brown sugar and one quarter cup butter or margarine (not a lowfat margarine spread).  Work it with a pastry knife or your fingers until the ingredients blend to a grainy texture.  Add a cup of oatmeal to this mixture and toss.  Sprinkle the mixture on top of the apples.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes.

A NOTE ABOUT YOUR APPLES.  The observant  CSA member may notice a white powdery residue on your apples.  Don't be alarmed.  This is a kaoline clay product called Surround, approved for use on organic farms to prevent worms in apples.  It poses no threat to humans.  A google search indicates that it acts primarily as a repellant and is not particularly harmful even to insects.

A NOTE ABOUT YOUR PRODUCE IN GENERAL.  As farmers following sustainable farming practices while not becoming certified as organic, we find our selves doing a little dance to describe our produce and our farming practices.  "Organic" is a popular term that conjures a heathful image, but unless we certify, we are not allowed to use the term to describe our produce.  At Hunters' Greens we have always used the phrase, "produced without the use of pesticides or synthetic fertilizers."  Perhaps the use of Surround requires an exception to this phrase, although it appears to be more of an insect repellant than a pesticide (the suffix "cide" means kill), and despite the fact that if we were certified organic, we would be permitted to use the product.

So is this a monumental change in our practice or philosophy?  We don't think so.  In the past our non-use of organically permitted pest control products is partially an economic and philosophical decision to accept the damage that pests create.  Over a diversity of vegetable crops, such damage has never had a significant impact on our success.  And that is the beauty of vegetable growing.  You can grow lots of different kinds and move them around, keeping the pests guessing as to where their favorite will show up next.

Sadly, such tricks aren't possible on perennial fruits like apples.  Trees don't move very handily.  In the past, much of our tree fruit has been unusable due to extensive pest damage.  So this year we're broadening our approach a little and exploring some low environmental impact approaches to improving our fruit.  We hope you approve.