Chrozicle Issue #625

"...I watch the world shimmer inside this globe of a summer night, 
listen to the wobble of her spin and dive. It happens all the time, waiting for you to come home..."

Joy Harjo
"Summer Night"

Summer is the time when the seeds we sow, both literal and figurative, truly begin to display the full effects of the efforts and energy we have cultivated since winter and early spring. In the case of Oz, the fruits of our most earnest efforts have been so bountiful! This is a time to really step back, soak in the power of the sun and indulge in the rewards of all the love and hard work that runs through ourselves, sun and water to the soil, and finally to the wonderful produce that comes full circle back to us. 

The staff and apprentices in our amazing community of Oz Farm have put so much into this process, and we thank you as our extended community for being a part of it in your support of our efforts and helping make such a wonderful summer crop possible. Now, we are reinvigorated to continue our work and keep our eyes and hearts open to the growing excitement of the coming harvest season, as well as seasons to follow! 

With love and appreciation for all you,

Eric Schneider
Maintenance Manager

Rosa, Helen, and Amanda sinking their hands into the soil on a planting morning.

Chrozicle Issue #624


Thank you once again for supporting Oz Farm through our CSA program; you are the bread and butter of what we do here on the farm and we are so joyed every week to provide you all with what we got. This week’s box is a bit experimental, with a curveball or two to spice up your favorite meals. More on that in a sec… 

 

First, a bit of an update. The theme of the week here at Oz is really change and transition. One of our head farmers, Jordan, is back from a trip and we are stoked, refreshed and optimistic. Some fields are getting mowed and prepped for new rounds of veggies, winter crops are on our minds and in the plans, different goodies are cycling through our tables at the markets (with tomatoes not far behind). The sun’s coming out more, people are getting married, and we gazed in awe at a pink, purple and green sky behind a double rainbow the other night. Basically, it’s never not exciting or beautiful here. 

 

In the boxes this week, keep an eye out for the purslane and the sugarloaf chicory. The purslane is a nutrient-dense sort of succulent-looking thing that grows here at Oz that we eat all the time, either as a snack by itself, added to a salad, or made into a salad on its own (it’s a bit like lemongrass). 

 

The sugarloaf chicory is a bitter green which means it’s almost unbearable to me (I have a sweet tooth), even though it’s called sugarloaf. The trick is going to be using it as a sort of wrap or braising it up with other good veggies. If you wanna get creative, try using it in the pasta recipe that I’ll include below. 

 

Also in the box this week is a bouquet of holy basil, or tulsi basil. This basil has been known for its health benefits that can be found online, or if you sit with it for a while it might just let you know. Throw it in a vase or a big cup with some water (don’t put it in the fridge!) to preserve, and to have the room smelling heavenly.

 

Thanks again for all the love and support! We always love seeing everybody at the markets and in town. 

 

Till next week,

Jacob, Apprentice

Our Apprentice Jacob showing off some radishes! He’s become quite the root veggie reader this season.

Chrozicle Issue #623

Dear members and supporters of Oz,

 

As farmers, we are in fact not so much “growers” of food as caretakers of the soil. The soil is not  static, uniform dirt, but rather an ecosystem thriving with life -  bacteria, fungi, algae, worms, nematodes etc. Plants, including the food we grow here at Oz, are just one node of this larger web that depends on everything else. 

 

For the last hundred years, fossil-fuel based tractor work has dominated the relationship between farmers and soil (conventional and organic), most foundationally in the realm of tillage. Tillage is essentially the preparation for planting through mechanical mixing of the soil that leaves a bare surface to plant into. The mechanics, the speed and the convenience are powerful and necessary in some sense to feed an ever-growing human population. The power and ease of it can also be blinding to larger consequences. 

 

We are now taking a closer look at those repercussions – disturbance and destruction of the soil ecosystem large and small, dependence on fossil fuels, the release of carbon from the soil, compaction, erosion and nutrient runoff, and endless growth of “weeds” that are just trying to cover the soil back up in its natural aliveness. Our human ideas are habitual and shortsighted in the belief that we can dominate the land and find a better way to work than the systems evolved over two thousand million years. 

 

I, too, have been trained over the last decade in the “conventional” organic methods of growing food. I have run a tractor over many fields, watching an entire ecosystem taken out in a matter of minutes through the disturbance of soil with a powerful machine. I, too, am grappling with how do I examine my conditioned understanding of farming methods, unlearning and relearning with a wider understanding and attentiveness to soil, plant, and ecosystem health? It’s easiest to go with the flow, go with what we know, but the renegade spirit here at Oz has inspired a turn onto the path of no-till, a hot and controversial subject right now in the agricultural community. 

 

At Oz this season we are beginning to practice no-till agriculture, a system in which we try to leave the soil undisturbed as much as possible while continuing to feed and care for it. We cover fields with silage tarps to occultate, allowing the crop residue to break down underneath while simultaneously germinating “weeds” that die back without light, creating a bare planting surface with less long-term weed pressure. The apprentices run a broad-fork through the soil before planting to aerate and open without pulverizing the natural structure (and they get a good workout!). We are playing with cause and effect, keeping our senses open, paying close attention to everything, and making lots of mistakes along the way! There are no instant results in farming, and not a whole lot of results to report on yet;  we are at the beginning of a new chapter and our invitation is trust, to witness the unfolding over many seasons. 

 

This land holds a rich history of friends and farmers that endeavor to breach the norms and together create a path to explore and sustain our connection to the land and greater community. Through no-till agriculture we are striving to understand how to harmonize with the natural systems that nourish the growth of soil, plants, and people. Thank you for your support of these endeavors in myriad shapes and forms. Please take a moment to appreciate the soil this week as you roast up the roots!

 

Katy  

Oz Farm Manager

The Domes in the summer sun.

Chrozicle Issue #622

Today is the Fourth of July, Americas Independence Day. Since breaking ties with the monarchy we’ve pressure tested democracy and became a thriving nation. What if some of the independence we celebrate can have unanticipated consequences? The little boxes we live in and the nuclear families that inhabit them can turn a palace into a prison if we independently drive our cars into our garages.lock up our doors and close our blinds. I love my independence more than anything but the reality is that we are all interdependent on each other as neighbors on this earth.

Depression and anxiety can grow out of control if our independence is out of balance with our interdependence. Isolation was a picture painted by our culture as connected to affluence and the success of our nation. In other cultures around the world interdependence is the root to people’s well-being. Research shows that people with high levels of social support seem to be more resilient in the face of stressful situations. They also have a lower perception of stress in general and have less of a physiological response to life's stressors.

Thinking of the Fourth of July celebrations this last weekend, it was a celebration of community coming together, not independently but interdependently. It’s my growing edge right now to reverse learn my culturally ingrained habits of independence and ask for help when I need it, lean on my community and make connections with the people that feed my spirit.

Here’s a couple quotes I'm pondering right now:

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. ” - African Proverb

“Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being.” -Mahatma Gandhi

“The fundamental law of human beings is interdependence. A person is a person through other persons.” -Desmond Tutu

- Dean

Our Fourth of July float, lovingly driven by our friend Dylan, reminding everyone to Eat Local (but don’t eat the locals!)


Chrozicle Issue #621

Nestled between the redwoods and the apple trees; I write to you as one of the many new faces here at Oz.

It seems we’ve collectively adopted this space to care for from some amazing land stewards before us, whose energy is interwoven throughout our little container.

As we live and work together, we’ve become a part of a team, that’s truly blossoming into a family.

During the day our key focus is tending to the land, seeing what she needs from us in order to continue to provide. In return we’ve been not only nurtured and provided for by the wealth of food growing out of the ground, but guided into community.

Every evening we gather around the table, sharing more than just food. Slowly cracking our hearts open and sharing our stories of who we each are and what journeys we’ve had to land us in these seats sitting across from each other.

As the seeds we’ve planted continue to grow into little energetic forms of nutrition, and we continue to share our stories and recipes, I’d like to thank those before us.
Including most (if not all) of you, who have loved and supported Oz farm way before I showed up.

Thank you,
Roza

P.s. try making hash browns out of turnips instead of potatoes.
It will not disappoint.

Rosa with the garlic harvest. Did you know each clove is a garlic seed?


Chrozicle Issue # 620

The farm is full of so many new faces. With two new Farm Managers, five new apprentices, one new Maintenance Manager, and myself - the Nonprofit and Apprenticeship Manager- this brand new team has been spending our days getting to know the land, community, and each other. We can't wait to meet you all too and get to know you as neighbors and friends who we are growing this special food for.

Our sweet team has been spending our days working with intention- we plant seeds with reverence and hope, we learn about the biology of soil and what it needs to thrive, we notice the plants' response to irrigation, climate, and row cover, working to create the right conditions for the farm. We have been getting to know companion plants, building high tunnels for our heat-loving summer crops, chasing after gophers and watching in awe at the herons who have come to the farm to help. We spend our days reminding the farm dogs to "Stay out of the field!", checking in on each other and learning together the best way to do our tasks - from big plant-out days to exciting harvest days. We sing lots of songs (on the good days!), do lots of yoga (all the days!), eat together every evening, and most importantly, grow delicious, nutritious food. 

The gift of being land stewards is not lost on any of us. I wake up every morning to the sounds of birds and wind through the trees, watch the fog roll out while the tea kettle warms, take a long and beautiful walk to the farm fields, and check in on all of our new and old plantings along the way. In a world where so few have the opportunity to witness such startling daily beauty, I try not to take this special land for granted. Our mission at Oz is to get more folks deeply into the fold. How can we educate and mentor the next generation of farmers and land tenders? How can we grow intensively with high quality on small plots of land so the rest can be preserved as forest and habitat around us? How can we welcome little ones to the farm to learn how to be seed keepers and soil healers? How can we help bring the counter culture to the tables and homes of those who need it? How can we grow Oz into an impactful and fruitful education center for all?

I'm pretty excited to steward these big visions. We couldn't do it without you!

Hope to connect with you all,
All the best and most farm fresh,
Amanda Mahaffey, Apprenticeship and Nonprofit Manager

The sunny, straw-cob solarium. Earthen materials, for the win!


Chrozicle Issue #605

“In this food,

I see clearly the presence 

of the the entire universe 

supporting my existence”

A meal verse by Thich Nhat Hanh

The current heat wave that’s baking the Pacific Northwest has got a lot of us thinking about global weirding and our impact on Mother Earth. It seems as if some of our degenerate habits could be creating unhealthy consequences for our communal home. 

“Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.” 

-Epicurus

Wastefulness is a deplorable habit us humans have which has negative consequences on a planet with finite resources. People in parts of the world are starving while hoarding of wealth creates artificial food shortages wasting food. 

Wasteful people can be akin to someone who shakes the Apple tree so all the fruit drops to the ground both ripe and unripe. This wasteful Apple eater collects only what he wants and leaves the rest to rot. This metaphor can be transposed over many criminal activities conducted by man in his attempt to satiate his thirst for wealth and power. 

I’m very excited about Oz Farm's transition into the not-for-profit space. I like to think of Village Oz (the 501c3 we formed last year) like a bee collecting pollen from a flower. This bee neither harms the flower or its fragrance but gathers the pollen to make sweet honey. We should expect people to make legitimate use of nature and hold ourselves accountable for our own footprints on this pale blue dot, the only world known so far to harbor life.

As Gary Snyder says “the test of the pudding is in the eating!” There is strong ethic behind the food we grow at Oz and your support helps us continue to turn flowers into honey and seeds into food!

With patience,

Dean

This year's apprentices are growing their own plots to share food with local families in need. The plots are thriving and Caroline is excited to share her first harvest of beautiful radishes!

This year's apprentices are growing their own plots to share food with local families in need. The plots are thriving and Caroline is excited to share her first harvest of beautiful radishes!

Chrozicle Issue #603

I’m writing to you as one of this year’s farm apprentices. My journey to Oz started with a simple question inspired by the movie, Office Space – “If I had millions of dollars and the freedom to be whoever I wanted to be, what would I do with my time?” The answer was to become a farmer. Up until that point I had done all of the things I thought I was supposed to do. I earned my Masters, landed a good job, had great friends, and bought a cute house. Yet at the end of the day I was missing the fulfillment that comes with following your true passions that give life purpose and meaning. So I gave it all up and started from scratch to do something I had absolutely no knowledge in whatsoever. And it’s been the best decision I’ve ever made. Being a farmer means being able to observe how the world works and how each piece fits and works together. I’m able to serve and connect with my community in a way I wasn’t able to before. And I’ve learned all kinds of things about the world I didn’t know before (sweet potatoes and potatoes are totally different???). The apprentice program at Oz has given me such a special opportunity to explore my interests and learn in an environment that is always learning and growing. I couldn’t be more grateful to be part of this season and to learn from the incredible geniuses who make Oz the special place it is. Thank you for supporting Oz in a way the makes the apprentice program possible. Your box was filled with lots of love and gratitude.

-Caroline

Our whole apprentice crew up early with smiles to start today's CSA harvest! From left: Ellen, Cody, Katie, Natalie, Caroline

Our whole apprentice crew up early with smiles to start today's CSA harvest!
From left: Ellen, Cody, Katie, Natalie, Caroline

Chrozicle Issue #602 - Farmer Gratitude from Abby

I’m writing to you as the current Oz Farm Retreat Manager, a role I’ve evolved into after my years of being a farmer here at Oz. I do miss the field work (occasionally, haha) but mostly I feel an immense gratitude for the hands of the farmers here at Oz. Since they aren’t likely to brag about themselves I’m here to do it for them. Farming is hard work. Growing fruits and vegetables doesn’t fit neatly into an 8-5 schedule and there’s almost constant curveballs and lessons. Each day I see this crew come together in the field to accomplish the admirable task of growing mine and your sustenance. Through a thoughtfully planned weekly schedule they manage to plant, weed, observe, tend, harvest, and deliver an incredible amount of food and I kid you not, they do it with a smile on their face! I have watched this year's apprentices help each other investigate and solve problems- like making sure the sprinklers are working even though it’s almost bed time. I have watched them harvest and eat new foods they’ve never had the pleasure to enjoy- you can cook a radish and it actually tastes delicious?! And I have watched them bond over their time in the field and on the porch, sharing beers after work. When you support the farm through the purchase of produce you support the growth, health, and experience of everyone who gets to participate in the process of farming. So with that, I thank you, and them for making it all work.

Abby Stoner

Apprentices Caroline and Katie hard at work tending their personal plots where they learn crop planning and help grow for donation

Apprentices Caroline and Katie hard at work tending their personal plots where they learn crop planning and help grow for donation

Chrozicle Issue #601 - Seasons Greetings from Farmer James


Hello and welcome to the 2021 Oz Farm CSA. We're so happy to have you all onboard for another bountiful year of harvests. Looking ahead into 2021, we're not exactly sure what the future holds, as currents of social, economic and political change course through our communities and throughout the world. The confusion and difficulties we've seen, especially in the last year, are like a lens, bringing into focus what really matters to us, what our hearts really need. We need to take good care of ourselves, feed ourselves with healthy food, healthy thoughts and attitudes, and make our best effort to care for those around us. We need to care for the earth, the Mother of us all, the ground on which all our lives depend. As humans we seem equally capable of creating paradise, where earth and plants and animals function harmoniously to support each other, and of creating something like hell. Part of our mission here is to offer a glimpse of what paradise could look like. We are a small group of people committed to caring for the land, caring for eachother, and providing something valuable to our community. For us the path to paradise is neither easy nor straightforward; there is so much negative energy to overcome, so much suffering to counter, so much ecological destruction to reverse. But nothing worthwhile was ever accomplished without serious effort, so we don't give up. And, having the support of folks like you, folks who are willing to contribute to our mission, support us financially and involve yourselves in the rhythms of our farm life, makes all the difference. I sincerely hope that this CSA box brings you and your family joy, this weekly dose of the healthiest, freshest, cleanest ingredients on earth. Perhaps the pleasure of sharing good food with people we love can remind us of the immense goodness of the human heart.

-James

Our 2021 Oz Farm Apprentices! From left to right: Ellen, Caroline, Katie, & Cody

Our 2021 Oz Farm Apprentices! From left to right: Ellen, Caroline, Katie, & Cody

The “Pay It Forward” Apprentice plots are underway 

We just finished putting up the fence around this new field so the vegetables our apprentices will grow can go to their intended place - local families, rather than local deer! 

This new field is at the top of the hill, near the entrance of Oz, and it has never been used for vegetable production until now. 

We are lucky that our neighbors and friends, Jesse Hanna & Katrina Coffman, have rotationally grazed their Belted Galloway cattle on this land for the past couple of years, contributing to soil fertility and reducing soil compaction. 

Our apprentices will manage these plots with low-till practices, but we used the tractor to plant spring cover crop - a mix of alfalfa, hairy vetch and buckwheat. This cover crop will help further improve soil fertility and texture, so that our apprentices can plant into healthy, receptive soil come May 2021. 


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