Jenny-Jack Sun Farm "good food news"

Summertime both makes and breaks a southern farmer. The food, colorful and rich in both taste and tradition, invites intrigue, slows down meals, and charms us enough to covet the alluring flavors year around. Market customers abound in furious anticipation week after week for a tomato that tastes as it should or a bag of beans and squash picked fresh, unspoiled by long hauls across the country. Like a hitchhiker energetically rallying a trucker to slow down, summer invades our bodies passionately pleading to be fed by the season. At no other time during the year do we eat with such resolve. Spring, fall, and winter all have tremendous capacity to please the discriminating palate but at no other season do folks frequent our farm table like June, July, and August. So it is in this season, serving us days sweltering, sultry, and sanity-sucking, that we must constantly barge into the bountiful fields and snap, pluck, slice and prune our way to baskets and bins brimming with belly booty. This is the making it part; the hustle of harvests pads our income, producing enough greenback fat to keep us content during the leaner, calmer, less-excitable other months. As a working farm, we need summer’s romance because like clockwork southern folks slingshot a slow cooked meal with sliced tomato right up the contentious priority ladder, and although it comes at a cost, we’re thankful for it. The breaking part of that first sentence is obvious if you step outside for a sweaty second or glance apprehensively at parched pastures colorless as the dead of winter. It’s the dulling burden of heat on top of humidity on top of life-zapping dryness. And it goes on each day altering behavior, quelling satisfaction, and unplugging the idealistic fuel tank we farmers sure as hell need for combustion. Undoubtedly, summer’s swift roundhouse to the forlorn face accompanies the trade; a life lived laboring outdoors should occasionally expect to dwell at the extremes. I am in no way probing for pity. But I do find it relevant to express consequences attributed to the suffocating heat and deadening drought as it matters immensely to eaters and producers alike. A few unfortunate associations with this year’s summer weather glut: the glaring drain of time, energy, and money spent every other hour, seven days a week until dark, turning on and off the farm saving irrigation valves, pig and crop fencing cemented into the ground not from poured concrete but accumulated rainless days, and the poor pigs, unable to sweat, need a daily hose shower, so one of us circles their paddocks each afternoon offering relief. We rely on summer cover crops like sudangrass, iron clay peas, and Sunn Hemp to add organic matter, nitrogen, and fertility to our soils, but this year there has not been adequate enough rain to germinate and effectively grow these crops to proper maturity, paralyzing our featured and favored fertility input. These are certainly not breathtaking natural disasters that devastate in a second; we’ve thankfully steered clear of such damage. Nonetheless, the persisting, bruising prod from such a soulful, special season is taking its toll on our bodies and our soils and our animals, and biting our tongues and pushing through is about all we can muster.

Wednesday On-Farm Market What to expect this week on the table: Carrots, Malabar Spinach, Summer Crisp Lettuce, Arugula, Basil, Okra, Yard Long Beans, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Sweet peppers, Hot Peppers, Garlic, ‘Sungold’ Tomatoes, ‘Juliet’ Tomatoes, Beefsteak Tomatoes(only a few left), Heirloom Tomatoes, No EGGS, NO microgreens from Jean this week. Farm made items: Kale Kimchi, Comfrey-Aloe Cream, Elderberry Tincture, Ginger Tincture, Turmeric Tincture, Holy Basil Tincture, Jacksauce (fermented hot sauce) is back!

Farm Pork: Sliced, smoked ham, link & patty sausage, ribs, neck bones, bacon, lard. White Oak Pastures beef marrow bones and roasts, Comerford Farms(Lagrange) ground beef ALSO, Sue Batistini IS BACK with her delicious breads and snacks (hurray!) Turntime Farm (Ellerslie): Pasture-raised whole Chicken, www.turntimefarms.com for more info!

This market tends to be small but festive; folks shop while catching up with old friends, exchange recipe ideas, talk with the farmers and chef, and stroll through the fields where all the produce is grown. We would be honored to be a part of your weekly good food grazing routine. Pictures of the Week

Holy Basil vibrantly growing bushy between peppers and heirloom tomatoes. Today, we will be cutting this beautiful, medicinal plant that attracts countless pollinators to this portion of our farm. We will then use the leaves for tincture and tea. Holy Basil (a.k.a Tulsi) is the most revered medicinal herb in Ayurvedic medicine.

Action Shot! Not to worry, no chickens were harmed. We had a temporary chicken jailbreak the other day, a breach in the lightweight, flimsy fence. In moments of livestock disorder such as these, Harold reminds us of his worth. While maybe not being the most patient, gentle, or systematic, he does usually help herd in the right direction.

The ‘Green Zebra’ tomato is an intriguing, productive heirloom variety that is acidic and complex to

the taste buds and artful to the eyes.

Where to find our produce and products: Our produce may be found at: Market on Broadway in Columbus from 9-12 on Saturdays On Farm Market Wednesdays from 9-12 We have a 120 member CSA with drop-off locations in Lagrange, Columbus, and On-farm. You can also find our produce on the menu of Food Blossoms Catering out of Hamilton. Take good care, Chris and Jenny