Spring Planning Recipes: by Dennis Fisher and Joe Fisher
A few changes will be taking place when the Belfast Farmers'Market opens for the season next month. We are changing the Tuesday times so that the market will be open all three days (Tues, Fri, and Sat.) at the hours of 9-1. We are also adding quite a few new members, mostly produce growers but also a honey producer and a few people who are making prepared foods. This should greatly improve the range and amounts of goods available at market. We will still be in the Reny's Plaza parking lot behind the Damariscotta Bank.
The late start to the planting season this year has resulted in innovative behavior on the part of farmers. Actually last season was very early, so it's hardly a fair comparison, but there will probably be about a month's difference in pea planting times this year.
Some farmers are trying to melt down the snow pack using compost, which is dark and warms up well when spread on snow. I've seen this work, where a patch of ground intended for early planting was spread with a light layer of compost. The surface of the snow over the bed sank rapidly until is was bare ground, while the surrounding area was still a foot deep. Since there is probably not much frost penetration under the snow this year, the technique might produce a useable bed a few days early.
I have heard of, but not witnessed, farmers plowing their fields- not with an earth plow but with a snow plow. All I can say is that I would be very reluctant to do this on my own fields, but I wouldn't mind watching from a distance. Another practice is actually tilling the snow under, which is supposed to cool and moisten the soil for the following season.
Ed Hamel, one of our members who plows his driveway (not his fields) with a horse drawn drag plow told me that he had to give in and hire a plow truck to move the snow when his horse Dakota was overwhelmed by the white stuff. As it turned out, the truck couldn't move it either.
The other day I helped plant spring greens in a hoophouse still buried in snow. We decided on the plastic Earthway push seeder instead of the steel-and-wood Planet Jr. because it would be easier to carry while slogging through the slushy melting drifts. We dragged the roll of row cover to the hoophouse on a toboggan.
A friend of mine got a start on the season by building a 20 x 50 greenhouse right on top of the snow. He checked the site with a transit, set his posts and hoops, laid the plastic cover, melted the snow and started planting.
At Peacemeal Farm, they are saving fuel this season by building two small hoophouses inside their big greenhouse as germination chambers. The furnace vent and thermostat were run inside the hoophouses so that the larger structure didn't have to be directly heated. Cold hardy seedlings like onions occupy the tables outside the chamber and tender plants like peppers are growing inside. Later, the hoophouses will be set up outside the greenhouse to harden off seedlings.
Here is a good way to use some of those canned and stored vegetables from last year, to get your shelves ready for the harvest of 2001.
Sauerkraut Soup1 large onion, chopped
1-4 garlic cloves, chopped
pound pork, diced
3 strips bacon, chopped
1 pint fresh sauerkraut, drained
1 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup dried tomatoes, chopped
teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon caraway seed
1 quart chicken broth or vegetable broth
Fry bacon until clear. Remove bacon, add onions and garlic and fry until wilted. Remove onions and garlic; fry pork until it loses pinkness. Remove pork, add sauerkraut, fry until wilted. Add broth, caraway, paprika, onions, garlic, bacon, pork, tomato sauce and dried tomatoes. Simmer 45 minutes or until sauerkraut is soft.
The Belfast Farmers'Market will open Friday, May 11 at Reny's Plaza. Come to the market and bring a friend!