Wow! Hot, Hot, Hot and Harvesting!

I went to the farm this morning and it was amazing!
Everything is growing robustly. Really! There is even a 5 inch watermelon developing. So much basil, the largest tomatoes I've ever seen, lots of blooming flowers attracting the good bugs, everything!
I thought I'd go for an hour and ended up staying for hours..It go so hot though that I almost passed out biking home. Luckily, I could cut up the cucumber, mix it with aloe vera and use it as a cooling face mask.
Anyway,
Here is a pic of the harvest from today:
Eight little carrots
.5lb of pineapple sage (I'm making tea out of it). It is so large it needs to be harvested. Please come and harvest some).
1 lb of basil
4 cucumbers
14 Nardello peppers

Bees and Pix

Hi,
Here is a picture of our beautiful cilantro and the nasturtiums with sugar snap peas.

Also there are two bee demonstrations happening: tonight (thursday at 6pm) and tomorrow morning (Friday at 10am).
Here is a great youtub of the bee waggle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7ijI-g4jHg
Lastly...go see the movie, Queen of the Sun tonight at Cinema Village. It got great reviews and its closing tonight...all about bees, GMO's pollination, seed saving, importance of people planting in their communities, etc.

Times at the farm, nutrient test results, recipe for quinoa salad and bee talk

If anyone is interested in making up time or just being at the farm.
I can be there the following times. Please email/text me that you are coming:
Friday (6/17) afternoon:
1:30 (Bee talk at the hive...very exciting!)
Monday (6/20)
1:30
Wednesday (6/22)
1:30

Alissa and Adrian's test results (thanks to Massiel)
Phosphorus: abundant
Potassium: No precipitate (this is interesting since I don't know if this was the fertilized or unfertilized, I look forward to reading about it on your blogs!0.

Recipe for Quinoa salad, this isn't exactly the one I had today, but similar:
Quinoa Salad with Spinach, Raisins, and Walnuts

1 T olive oil

2 T minced red onion

1 garlic clove, minced

1 c quinoa, rinsed (rinsing is to remove the bitterness from the seeds)

1 ½ T golden raisins

1 ½ T dried currants

1 2/3 c water

1 c frozen chopped spinach, thawed

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

¼ c toasted chopped walnuts

2 T chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

1-2 T good quality extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

3 oz feta or goat cheese

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil to medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until soft. Add the quinoa and continue to sauté for another minute or so. Add the raisins, currants and water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and allow to cook until water is nearly absorbed, about 10 minutes. Stir in spinach and cover again and let cook another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, walnuts, and parsley. Season generously to taste. Drizzle olive oil over and stir in. Serve chilled or at room temperature, topped with a bit of feta.
http://tastyeatsathome.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/quinoa-salad-with-spinach-raisins-and-walnuts/

Homework on Seeds:

To make it digitally easier, I've posted this handout on-line. Please read pages 69-74 and write a short essay that summarizes the reading that includes three questions.
http://www.oaec.org/sites/default/files/A-Handful-of-Seeds_0.pdf

Love the bees! And the Radishes!

Hi,
We harvested five radishes six

heads of lettuce, the lolla rossa and buttercrunch. We observed the bees, weeded and drew. All in all, very pleasant! We were all impressed with the work of the bees. Now that we know each bee will make about 1 teaspoon of honey in HER lifetime and that she has to make about 10 one-hour flights into the field each day visiting up to 10,000 flowers just to make that small amount we will savor every drop of honey we eat from now on!

This is a great clip from Microcosmos showing the ants/aphid relationship and a ladybug:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut90wbLRqac

Here is another clip from the BBC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43id_NRajDo&NR=1

I really recommend you watch the whole Microcosmos movie and will grant you two hours of make up time if you do!

Making up time

I know we discussed it today in class, but just in case here are your opportunities for making up time. Please remember to post a journal and picture on your blog for every time you make up.
The Farm:
Any afternoon, Thursday(6/9), June 11th and 12th. Also, during Regents Week, we can discuss next Tuesday 6/14.
Washington Square Park: Water the woollies!
Any appropriate events highlighted on the Food Systems NYC website: Check it out as there are cool and interesting things taking place!

http://www.foodsystemsnyc.org/events