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Gozo-Mano Farm CSA Newsletter, Meiners Oaks, California,
27 February 2008

IF you happen to drive by one of our farms and you observe someone spraying crops at the end of the day be not overly concerned. Its only kelp. Maybe a little Neem. A dose of bacillus Thuringiensis, perhaps, or some sort of approved soap. We even make our own potions when the moon is just so, out of weeds and flax and molasses. Even organic farmers are allowed to spray , but its what’s in the tank that matters. We got issues out there once in awhile. Take the aphids. They have begun to inhabit the chard, kale and collards. We have observed their populations grow over the past few weeks and wondered if some beneficial insect ally or Act of Gozo would rescue the poor things. I counted the ladybug larvae on the chard today and realized that there was no way for them to gain the upper hand on the aphid. The rain helped to wash the buglets off, but face it, its Spring and stuff has got to live. The birds are doing their thing, the myriad winged creatures are all abuzz, but today we recognized that we had reached the tipping point. Indeed it is time for change.

There are many products that have been approved for use on organic farms that we do not use. These materials are in solution with what are known as inert ingredients. These inerts as they are called are secret synergists and nefarious chemicals that pesticide companies use as carriers to fill up the bottle of stuff. They are considered proprietary so the manufacturers have been given a bogus exemption by the USDA and the EPA. We asked them to divulge the ingredients long ago, but it was so hush-hush only the Chinese know. The active ingredient might be a mere tincture obtained from a humble chrysanthemum, providing pyrethrum, for example, which is only 2.5% of the total mystery. We solve this puzzle by not using these materials. We blow the aphids off with water or soak them in kelp and molasses. You see, the target critter breathes through its pores, so if you gum up their shell with sticky stuff they are nearly just as doomed as they would be if Lannate ( its bad) was applied. We also keep planting crops once older plantings are reaching that point where they are tired out and susceptible to infestations. We also scout on hands and knees to really get in touch with that modest universe at our feet. There we observed today aphids that had been parasitized by a wee wasp that flies around laying her eggs on the aphids heads. The baby wasp pupates on into the host, lunching away in the noonday sun. Here we decide to only spray kelp but no soap because we want to allow the wasps to proliferate. Patience in the past has paid well. In the past I have much enjoyed watching the big red wasps going from lettuce to lettuce looking for loopers, occasionally hauling off the wriggling prey to a nest of sleeping young, who, when they awake, will find lunch ready for them.

This week’s recipe is offered by Leslie Davis:

beet salad
3 large beets (or a whole bunch of small ones), roasted, steamed or boiled
1 bunch kale, steamed
1 large carrot, shredded

into a salad bowl, cut up beets into chunky pieces, chop the kale a bit, grate in the carrot, add the dressing.

dressing
blend:
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic
1 large clove garlic
some chopped up parsley or basil
salt and pepper

*top with toasted pumpkin seeds