The farm's Week 9 Share - Big Beautiful Tomatoes!

You say tomato, I say yum...










Shiro Plums – Beechwood Orchards, Biglerville, PA
White Freestone Peaches – Beechwood Orchards, Biglerville, PA
Tomatoes- Linvilla Orchards, Media PA
Cucumbers- Lancaster County
Eggplant- Viereck Farms, Swedesboro, NJ
Basil- Flaim Farms, Vineland, PA
Yellow Onions – Lancaster County
Jalapeños- Lancaster County
Pasta – Superior Pasta, Philadelphia PA
Boltonfeta Feta Cheese – Hidden Hills Dairy, Everett, PA
1/2 lb. Amish butter

Not only did I get the Amish-style butter this week, I chopped it. My job at my farmshare shift this week included chopping logs of Amish butter into 1/2 lb patties. Mary, the founder of the farm, accompanied me to the community kitchen at St. Michael's Lutheran church that Greensgrow renovated and therefore has access to. I felt like I was in the company of greatness. There were so many questions I had for Mary. For one, "How did you start something like this?" She was the one asking the questions though. What kind of music did I want to listen to on Pandora? I chose Grateful Dead and then changed it Rolling Stones, with all these hippies around, I didn't want to be the Lady GaGa girl. Anyway, Mary was telling me that some punk kid chose a death metal band the last time she was at the kitchen, which sucked for her of course. She went on about how this kid had the nerve to ask for filtered or bottled water. What a spoiled brat!

As Mary jumped around oiling the radiators with WD-40, I thought about this for a while. I had a Brita filter at home. I generally wanted to stay away from Philly's Finest if I had the choice. I told Mary maybe this dude had issues at his house because of Philly's notorious sewerage problem whenever it rained more than a couple inches. Mary said this kid was elitist.

What kind of breed was she? What's her school of thought? The whole reason I was at this farmshare was because I generally cared about what I put in my body, Not just water, but the fruits, vegetables animals... where it came from, what kind of pollutants came in contact with it... That's also a reason why I haven't eaten any meat or poultry within the last 5 years. Is organic produce and animal products elitist? How much of this operation is a service to the community, how much is healthy food, and how much is sustainable agriculture?

I didn't work up my nerve to ask. I didn't want to be the elitist center city girl. But next time, I'm going to ask her what she thinks about organic farming and organic produce.