More about helping Japanese Farmers

Back in June, the Orange County Optimist club youth organized the Walk the Farm fundraiser to help Japanese farmers affected by the earthquake and tsunami last April. See the post publicizing this. I stopped by the OCO website for further news about the project.  They have met and identified two groups that they would like to help. 

This is Takao's strawberry greenhouse after the tsunami.  Of his original cooperative of 28 small family farmers, four were killed, 19 are missing and presumed dead, and the remaining five have reconstituted their coop.  They plan to farm again, when they are able.  Right now, much of the farmland is covered in salty water and the money will be used for living expenses until they get back on their feet.

They are also considering helping a cooperative of peach growers that cannot sell their fruit due to radiation concerns.  If they don't continue to water and take care of the mature peach trees, they will die.  It takes electricity to run the water pumps and electricity takes money.  Moreover, the farmers need to cover their living expenses while waiting until it is safe to sell their peaches again.

It's not too late to donate to OCO.  They are a US-based non-profit and all donations are tax-deductible.

Become a gleaner

Image of Jean François Millet's painting, the Gleaners, courtesy of USC.

Gleaning is the practice of salvaging food after the commercial harvesters are done.  For instance, my high school biology class took a field trip to a vineyard to glean grapes left on the vine after the mechanical harvesting was done.  We used the grapes to ferment some wine for our microbiology unit.  In Millet's day, peasants used to glean to stave off starvation.

Today, farmer Glenn Tanaka donates his leftover harvest to the food banks fun by South County Outreach and Families Forward in Irvine.  Together, they provide fresh produce to up to 350 families in need.

Do you want to help farmer Glenn help hungry families?  Sign up to glean on a Monday or Wednesday afternoon this summer.  This is a great way to teach your kids where their food comes from, and to be mindful of others who may not otherwise have access to clean and healthy food.

Find out more about gleaning at Tanaka Farms.  Up to 25 helpers are needed for

• Wednesday, June 1, 3:30 pm
• Monday, June 6, 3:30 pm
• Wednesday, June 8, 3:30 pm
• Monday, June 13, 3:30 pm
• Wednesday, June 15, 3:30 pm  

RSVP to Glenn@TanakaFarms.com

Keep forgetting to sign up? This is your reminder!

Tanaka Farms is instituting a new system for CSA signups, which should make it much easier to plan ahead and pay for your boxes. Here's what you need to do:

1. Go to the Tanaka Farms CSA website.

2. In the lefthand column on that page, click the first link, "Farm 2 Table Connect."

3. Set up an account for yourself (userid, password, contact info).

4. Sign in and sign up for the January boxes. There will be a slider menu asking which group you're affiliated with (I ticked "Lincoln Elementary").

5. Pay online with a credit card, and your boxes will be paid and reserved.

Delivery is still in the usual place and time. If you pick up your boxes at Neighborhood Grinds, tick the "Adams MS" box in the slider menu.

Your school coordinator is still your school coordinator. She just won't be juggling forms and checks so much.

Schools need a certain minimum to use this service, so please encourage first-timers or even your neighbors to join the program--current happy customers are the best advertising.

IMPORTANT: Your January boxes MUST be paid for by DECEMBER 27.

Announcing the Adams School CSA Program!

Effective November 2010, Grace Peng will be running the Adams Middle School CSA program.  You can email her at adamschoolcsa@gmail.com.  Email the Adams CSA coordinator for the current monthly sign-up form or download the latest form from the Adams PTSA CSA website (on the right hand side, under Resources) or download the November 2010 form on Google Docs.

Deliveries continue to occur on Thursdays.  When Thursday falls on a holiday, delivery will be on Tuesday.

UPDATE 10/22/10
Madison PTA is looking for another volunteer to coordinate their CSA program after October, 2010.  Do you want to help out Madison PTA?  This is your chance!

The Madison School CSA program will continue under the direction of Aisha Qaasim.  You can email her at madisonschoolcsa@gmail.com.

You can subscribe to either program* and pick up at Neighborhood Grinds.  Just be sure that, when you drop off your sign-up form and check, you let the NG staff know which program you are in so they put it in the correct envelope.  Make checks payable to Adams or Madison PTSA.

Lincoln subscribers continue to drop off their forms at the Lincoln school office and pick up their boxes at the school.

* While the status of the Madison program is in flux, you won't miss a single week if you sign up for the Adams program.

"Just about perfect in every way"

The online local news site Redondo Beach Patch has a story about the Madison/Lincoln Tanaka Farms CSA programs this weekend. Reporter Joe Galliani interviewed Philip Jun at Neighborhood Grinds, and took photos of a box's contents, and explained how the program works and how others can join in. "As much as I love and use our local Farmers Market, this mutually supportive relationship between the farm and elementary schools is just about perfect in every way," Galliani declares.

Smaller Size Boxes

Tanaka Farms has introduced smaller sized boxes for smaller families.  They will cost $20 ($18 to TF, $2 to the PTA).  We've been getting the larger boxes ($25/$5 split).  The smaller boxes will contain produce staples.  The larger boxes will contain everything in the little boxes, plus specialty produce (Kohrabi anyone?).

In order to gauge interest, Tanaka Farms will deliver a sample small box with our regular delivery on April 22, 2010.  Come by Neighborhood Grinds on Earth Day, April 22, to check out the boxes.  If there is enough interest, I can accept orders for the smaller boxes starting in May.

Oct 15 Box

What might be in your Tanaka Farms box on Oct 15?

~ Japanese Turnips ~ Baby Carrots ~ Broccoli ~ Spinach
~ Red Leaf Lettuce ~ Cucumbers ~ Radishes ~ Russett Potatos
~ Romaine Lettuce ~ Cilantro ~ Oranges* ~ Apples*
~ Squash ~ Blue Lake Beans

* grown by other area organic farmers

Farmer Tanaka has posted some sad news on his blog.

10/13/09

I know that the produce that everyone has been receiving lately has not been up to par and I would like to apologize for that. Some of our crops are being harvested a little early because of an infestation of beetles that we are having a hard time controlling without conventional chemicals. Harvesting a crop early is not usually a problem, but with the heat that we were having, they wilted very quickly while in the box waiting to be picked up by you at school.  Believe me, I know how bad a wilted head of lettuce can look or a limp bunch of carrots. Very unappealling.

Also, I know that the boxes can sometimes look empty. We do try and make the retail value come out to at least $25 and most of the time it is more than that. But there will be times when items are small and do not take up a lot of room to make the box look empty or maybe we are actually short on value. If you have a garden or have had any experience growing vegetables, you can appreciate how difficult it can be to have a plant produce the amount of produce you want when you want it! Just as two children of the same age mature at different times, so do crops.

Please remember that this CSA program is not only about receiving produce from a local farm to consume but it is also a learning experience for our children. Explaining the production cycle and the different seasons and how it affects what we eat.

I appreciate your patience and understanding. I hope that you will all continue to support your school and Tanaka Farms as we work through this period. I guarantee that your boxes will be better!

Farmer Tanaka

This is an important lesson for kids.

I once watched a swarm of locusts eat my entire garden in Boulder, Colorado in a single afternoon. I missed my homegrown tomatoes, but I still had the supermarket. Just imagine the calamity of an insect infestation if we didn't have cash and had to live on only what we could grow and gather.