Those beets we keep sending in the boxes…do they just sit in the corner of the veggie drawer for weeks until they are limp and wilted, good for nothing except the compost heap, all because nobody will eat them if you fix them? Customers will tell us, “Um, beets? NO one in our household will eat them besides me!” Now, growing up I didn’t like things like beets, kale, or other green things either. For me, the only thing to do with beets was paint my plate, lips and face with them, until my mom caught sight of it and then I still had to eat them, which I did with great reluctance. (As a child, I discovered that if you plug your nose when eating foods you can’t stand, you can’t taste them as well so they’re easier to swallow!) My sister, however, loved beets and sometimes she was nice enough to eat mine for me. Today, I eat beets, along with many other veggies, probably largely due to my mother’s persistence in getting me to eat my veggies.

Good food should be something one enjoys! Often, certain veggies are an acquired taste and it takes time before we are to the point of enjoying them. If your family has recently made the switch to healthy eating, the transition of changing your diet to one that includes home-cooked meals with more fresh vegetables can be a bit of a challenge.
A balanced diet is important when it comes to your personal health but it can be doubly important in children. What your child is eating now is laying the foundation for later in life, and your behavior and attitude about food is making an impression on them every time you sit down at the dinner table.
For a three-year-old, a plate of veggies may not seem very exciting. Changing perception can go a long way in getting your children to eat healthy and balanced meals. A plate of veggies that is colorful and topped with a homemade cheese sauce can be very fun. Incorporating the flavors s/he is familiar with and enjoys may be the difference between food introduction failure and success, and first impressions are very important when it comes to introducing new foods.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again! This rings true in the food world. Remember, taste buds do change over time. Also, by trying different ways of serving up the veggies, they may finish the entire serving the second or third time, despite having a declared hatred for it! The secret is to either make the vegetables tasty or go completely unnoticed. Serving up veggies on their own may not be that appetizing, but as soon as you throw a good dressing into the mix or pile them into a tasty casserole, you can enjoy watching as they are happily devoured!

Consider grating or chopping veggies to make them go unnoticed. Broth-based soups are a nutritional wonder and when puréed many things that have difficult textures are easier to swallow.
In summary, when it comes to changing your family’s eating habits, Moms, you are the ones who make it happen. You are changing your families’ futures for the better, and doing an awesome job!

Cheers!
Marty, for the Klesick Family Farm

You could make jam to store your berries; in fact, that’s a very good way to preserve the harvest. But if boiling, sterilizing and waiting for those lids to “ding” isn’t your thing, then let me suggest a few other ways to prolong the season’s bounty.

First things first. You come home with (or you get delivered to your door) a delightful load of fresh fruit. In order to ensure that your produce will stick around for more than a couple of days, the best way to store these fragile gems is to carefully transfer them to a shallow Tupperware container that is lined with paper towels. Cover the top of the berries with more paper towels, then place in the fridge until ready to consume or preserve. It is very important to note that you should only wash your berries before you are ready to use them.

If freezing is the final destination for your fruit, simply place on a baking sheet in a single, even layer. Slide into the freezer and freeze until the berries are solid little berry popsicles (which, by the way, also makes a great healthy snack). Once completely frozen, place in Ziploc bags and label the bags with the date. Freeze and dream of fresh blueberries in your pancakes all year long.

Homemade fruit leather makes a healthful snack and contains much less sugar than the store-bought varieties. Dozens of recipes exist online for specific measurements but the general idea is to puree whatever fruit you are planning to turn into leather. Cook in a sauce pan with a bit of water, lemon juice, sugar (to taste) and cinnamon, if you wish. Simmer until slightly thick, strain with a fine mesh strainer to remove any seeds then place on a baking sheet lined with microwave safe plastic wrap.

The layer of fruit should not exceed 1/4 inch in thickness. Place in an oven set to 140°F and let dry for 8-12 hours or until the fruit leather is no longer sticky. Store in an airtight container.

Finally, may I also suggest fruit purees. Simply blend your fruit in a food processor or blender with a touch of sugar (optional), freeze in ice cube trays then store in an airtight container. Thaw individual cubes for a fresh fruit sauce, an addition to yogurt or granola, or add to a blender, still frozen, to whiz up a healthy smoothie with banana, orange juice and yogurt.

by Ashley Rodriquez
Chef, food blogger, and full-time mom. Read more of her writings at www.notwithoutsalt.com

Come on out to Stanwood and Silvana over the next few weeks.  July 31st is the Silvana Community fair; it is free, fun and not commercialized.  The following weekend August 6th,7th, and 8th  is a

fun packed three days with a carnival, farm animals, lots of vegetable and other homemade entries, music and vendors.  Our farm sponsors and volunteers at the Franklin Hanson Threshing demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday, come by and visit.

Then on August 21^st we host the Klesick family our old fashioned farm days.  I love this day, a chance to connect with many of you directly.  Our team is planning an incredible day of festivities, with farm Olympics and tug o wars (dads vs. the kiddos, dadsvs. the draft horses) and water balloon tosses.  We have gunny sack races and hay rides, our own potato digging and historical farm demonstrations.  Del Fox meats will be on hand serving some great food and we will have some summer fruit and veggies for sale as well.

Mark your calendars and come and experience the Stanwood area where

there are a whole lot of farmers and a whole lot of fun.

As a farmer, I need to be a full-time lobbyist for common sense. The USDA and folks in Washington D.C. can create a lot of extra work for us small farmers! One seemingly little law or rule change can seriously impact our lives, farms, and future.  Currently, there is one such proposed bill going through the US Senate and also a rule change being considered for beef cattle and grazing with the USDA.

I’ll admit that I barely have enough time to run the farm, let alone the country! I rely upon a few key groups to highlight the big concerns that require a little more attention. I pay attention to the Cornucopia Institute and American Farmland Trust as my primary sources of information when it comes to healthy food and farmland preservation.

While I am busy raising food, the folks in Washington D.C. are busy making life a little more interesting. Currently, there is a food safety bill going through the US Senate that will do nothing, in my opinion, to improve food safety, but it will certainly be easier for the large food processors and large farms to comply with. Why do most laws seem to benefit the large mutinational corporations?

The same goes for the USDA. Currently, the USDA is considering allowing certified organic beef cows an exemption that allows them to be raised for up to 120 days in a feedlot. This is a rule that is purely being considered to make it easier for feedlot owners to be able to label their animals as certified organic. As a farmer who is concerned for the animal’s welfare and the environment, the feedlot is the last place I would send my animals! (Granted, there are seasons when animals need to be confined, like during heavy rain storms and the wetter months, to protect the grass and grazing pastures during their vulnerable stage.) But this loophole is not designed to protect the environment, it is so the feedlot owners can “finish” the beef before harvesting them in a conventional way and still get the benefit of using the organic label.

I am firmly committed to the “Know your Farmer, Know your Doctor, Know your Mechanic” concept.  The more people with whom we have relationships, the more tangible and authentic the service and/or products will be! This country is too big to expect Washington D.C. to manage or micromanage everything. Somehow, some way, we the citizens need to have more input, and it needs to be at the local level. 

I have posted these two e-mail alerts I received from the Cornucopia Institute on our Box of Good blog: http://blog.klesickfamilyfarm.com/. As a farmer I can respond, but to really affect change I need voters to “chime” in and support local, sustainable farming!  These laws and rule changes affect me as a farmer and my livelihood, but they also affect your health and, potentially,

Stephen, the now big brother to our little Joanna Prayse, is my farm helper.  (Now, I really think he is helping mom by helping me, but nonetheless, I enjoy spending time with him!) Stephen, like most of my children, and probably like many of your children, loves to work with his daddy. 

The other day, when I was doing the initial pruning on the Honeycrisp and Chehalis apple trees, Stephen was working alongside me. When pruning trees, the first thing I do is decide what branches are going to stay and then I start cutting. I always make up my mind before I start pruning. I want to prune the branches so that light will be able to get into the tree canopy to help the fruit ripen. I also want to consider places for my ladder to get close to the tree. Even though I won’t need a ladder for a few more years, I need to leave an opening for them now while the tree is still establishing fruit bearing branches. So, you see, a little training now will be helpful later…which is why Stephen is my helper. Training trees and children will not happen unless I am hands on.

As I was pruning, Stephen was asking, “When is it my turn?” I was able to find branches that he could prune for me on most trees. I try and let him actually prune the tree, involving him in valuable work, not busy work. We were finishing up the Honeycrisp apples when I snapped this picture of Stephen pruning the tree. We had picked out a good branch to prune. I stepped back to capture the moment as he cut the branch, and just as I was finished taking the picture, I realized that Stephen had cut a branch that I wanted to keeeeeep!!! All is not lost. The tree will grow another branch and, most importantly, it was a very good cut.

Tristan