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Bass Root Farm Mission - We aim to nourish our local community by producing nutrient dense food while striving to be good stewards of the land using sustainable and regenerative farming methods. We want our farm to be a site for learning, sharing, and cultivating wellness, an ideal place that provides a rich quality of life for all living things.
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Notes from the Farm, Issue 17
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Farm Update. Happy Holidays from our family to yours! The garden has been put to rest and our high tunnel crops are at their slowest growth stage during this dark time of the year. December and January on the farm is a time of inward reflection on what has transpired over the course of the past year and planning for the next. We are thankful to you for making our 2023 season the best one yet. Whether you supported us through our CSA or at the farmers markets, we value your patronage and support of our farm. We look forward to building on this success with a larger CSA and continued focus on soil-health and production of nutrient-dense food.
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The Importance of Nutrient-Dense Food. You may be hearing or reading more about “nutrient-dense food” and wonder what this means. The simple answer is it’s any food that has concentrated amounts of vitamins and minerals that we need for optimal health. This often translates into food that is whole, has great flavor, and makes us feel good!
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Unfortunately, much of the food in our society lacks essential nutrients, is over-processed, and leaves one feeling lousy. The added sugars and starches in a lot of processed foods trick us into eating them, leading to malaise, inflammation, and other health concerns. One important practice to follow is to read the ingredient labels of any processed food. If you are not familiar with the “additives” in the food, are you willing to eat it? How often have we blindly eaten food without knowing, or at least understanding what was in it?
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Many health-conscious people strive to eat well by purchasing fruits and vegetables from the grocery store. Unfortunately, conventional and some organic produce is not that nutrient-dense, often lacking proper concentrations of vitamins and minerals. Many of these vegetables are a particular variety bred and grown for shelf-life, rather than flavor and nutrient-density. Grocery produce comes from all parts of the globe and must travel great distances without spoiling. As a result, the perfect looking tomato at the store tastes nothing like the one you get at the farmers’ market.
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Another concern is the impact synthetic chemicals (i.e., fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides) have on conventional produce and the environment. When plants are grown with these additives, they become dependent upon artificial inputs for their macronutrient needs, limiting their natural relationships with the soil ecosystem. Did you know that approximately 95% of all the produce bought and sold in the US is conventional?
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Yet there is hope and a way to find nutrient-dense food! Buy it from a local farmer following natural and organic practices! At our farm, we pay attention to the health of our soil, balancing the nutrients with compost and natural amendments so that our crops have what they need to grow. We want our customers to enjoy eating our produce because it tastes great and maintains and improves their overall health. It’s a commitment we make to you and to Mother Nature.
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AcresUSA EcoAg Conference. The off-season is our opportunity to attend farming conferences to learn new practices and connect with fellow growers and land stewards from around the nation. In early December, I (Michael) attended the AcresUSA Eco-Ag National Conference in Covington, Kentucky. It was exciting to meet and learn from some of the leaders in the field of regenerative agriculture. The resounding message I took away is that our food system is dependent upon healthy soils; if we do not take care of soil using regenerative farming practices (e.g., use of cover crops and avoiding the use of synthetic chemicals), our nation will be unable to produce quality, nutrient-dense food. In 2024, our farm will continue prioritizing the health of our soils by balancing nutrients based on soil tests and using a greater quantity of cover crops. (Cover crops are non-cash crops grown in a garden bed to help in the sequestration of minerals, provide roots in the ground to hold onto organic matter and soil, while continually feeding the many microorganisms.) For more information about AcresUSA, please visit https://www.acresusa.com/
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CSA 2024 Registration Now Open! If you have enjoyed our produce and are looking for a weekly supply of fresh vegetables during the growing season, we invite you to join our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. We have small and large shares that are 3 or 6 months in length. We grow a wide variety of vegetables, so you will experience eating delicious produce freshly harvested when it’s in season. Members are sent a weekly email with their share’s offering and are allowed to make substitutions, based on preference and availability. There is no work requirement to be a part of our CSA, and you have the option to postpone your share if going on vacation. We provide members with recipe ideas and tips on working with unfamiliar vegetables. We also offer farm tours and look forward to hosting farm-to-table dinners. This is a wonderful way to eat healthy why supporting a local farm in your community. We look forward to being your farmers! To learn more, please click on the button below.
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Keep in Touch! Thanks for reading this newsletter. If you would like to keep up with us on a more frequent basis, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram (@bassrootfarm).
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