The Avalon Organic Gardens, Farm, and Ranch Report

Greetings CSA members and friends,

This was a very exciting week; we harvested our first melons.  They were very hard to find under a massive growth of native Amaranth, Johnson and Bermuda grass that the rain inspired to impress everybody, but it was worth it. A special event took place at Avalon Gardens over the weekend.  We were the host to the Somos La Semilla Conference. Many key leaders in their own communities from Ajo, Tucson, Green Valley, Amado, Tumacacori, Nogales, Patagonia, Sierra Vista to Douglas/Agua Prieta met to continue and discuss how to improve the growing, distribution, usage and education of local foods. Several important decisions were made:
Somos La Semilla will continue its work with their website and other outreach programs. A mission statement was proposed and much of the information will be made available soon on its website http://somoslasemilla.org.  Information is also available there about our last conference in February in Dragoon.
We will launch our outreach with the Somos La Semilla Santa Cruz Valley Organic Farm and Garden Tour on Sunday September 12th. More info and a flyer will be coming soon.
Also, many other educational events are planned.
Our Tubac FarmStand last Saturday had its best sales since starting last September 2009. Thank you for all coming and supporting local organic foods.
Another observation is very promising: The grasshoppers are few, so we hope that this is a very good sign for the next months to come.
So many new exciting changes in the gardens every week . I encourage all of you to come for a tour or visit. If you are a CSA member you are welcome to visit often if you like since it is your garden, too. If you like to join us for our weekly community workdays (once a week from 5:30-7pm; day of the week varies) give us a call. Last week it was about 50 of us harvesting, seedsaving, weeding, mulching and much more. This week its going to be on Thursday evening.

See you soon,

-The Avalon Gardens Family

CSA Harvest List:

• Beets w/Greens
• Okra
• Garlic
• Basil (lots for making Pesto or other sauces)
• Onions
• Summer Squash
• Eggplant
• Cucumbers
• (new) Canteloupe
• (new) Hot Peppers (Jalapeno/Serrano type)

Vegetable of the Week: Cucumbers

Cucumbers were thought to originate over 10,000 years ago in southern Asia. Early explorers and travelers introduced this vegetable to India and other parts of Asia. It was very popular in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece and Rome, whose people used it not only as a food but also for its beneficial skin healing properties. Greenhouse cultivation of cucumbers was originally invented during the time of Louis XIV, who greatly appreciated this delightful vegetable. The early colonists introduced cucumbers to the United States.

The flesh of cucumbers is primarily composed of water but also contains ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and caffeic acid, both of which help soothe skin irritations and reduce swelling. Cucumbers’ hard skin is rich in fiber and contains a variety of beneficial minerals including silica, potassium and magnesium.

Cucumber Recipes

A few quick serving ideas:

• Use half-inch thick cucumber slices as petite serving “dishes” for chopped vegetable salads.
• Mix diced cucumbers with sugar snap peas and mint leaves and toss with rice wine vinaigrette.
• For refreshing cold gazpacho soup that takes five minutes or less to make, simply purée cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers and onions, then add salt and pepper to taste.
• Add diced cucumber to tuna fish or chicken salad recipes.

Tzatziki (Greek Yogurt and Cucumber Sauce)

3 cups Greek Yogurt (or regular plain yogurt, strained)
juice of one lemon (about 3 Tbs.)
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 medium cucumbers, seeded and diced
about 1 Tbs.  salt for salting cucumbers
1 Tbs. finely chopped fresh dill (can substitute mint leaves for a slightly different version)
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

If you don’t have Greek yogurt, strain plain yogurt. Peel cucumbers, then cut in half lengthwise and take a small spoon and scrape out seeds. Discard seeds. Slice cucumbers, then put in a colander, sprinkle on 1 T salt, and let stand for 30 minutes to draw out water. Drain well and wipe dry with paper towel.

In food processor with steel blade, add cucumbers, garlic, lemon juice, dill, and a few grinds of black pepper. Process until well blended, then stir this mixture into the yogurt. Taste before adding any extra salt, then salt if needed. Place in refrigerator for at least two hours before serving so flavors can blend. (This resting time is very important.)

This will keep for a few days or more in the refrigerator, but you will need to drain off any water and stir each time you use it.

Farmers Market Tucson(Thurs.) / Farm Stand Tubac (Sat.) Harvest List

• Beets
• Arugula
• Baby Leaf Hot Red Mustard
• Hot Peppers (Jalapeno/Serrano type)
• Daikon Radish
• Fresh Garlic
• (Verdolaga) Greens
• Fresh Onions w/greens
• Okra
• Eggplant
• Fresh Elephant Garlic
• Summer squash
• Asian Noodle Beans
• Basil

Sustainable Agriculture News:  UN Expert: Agroecology Outperforms Large-Scale Industrial Farming for Global Food Security

July 8, 2010

• Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – United Nations, June 22, 2010
  OHCHR
  

BRUSSELS (22 June 2010) – “Governments and international agencies urgently need to boost ecological farming techniques to increase food production and save the climate,” said UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter, while presenting the findings at an international meeting on agroecology held in Brussels on 21 and 22 June.

Along with 25 of the world’s most renowned experts on agroecology, the UN expert urged the international community to re-think current agricultural policies and build on the potential of agroecology.

“One year ago, Heads of States at the G20 gathering in Italy committed to mobilizing $22 billion over a period of three years to improve global food security. This was welcome news, but the most pressing issue regarding reinvestment in agriculture is not how much, but how,” Olivier De Schutter said .

“Today, most efforts are made towards large-scale investments in land – including many instances of land grabbing – and towards a ‘Green Revolution’ model to boost food production: improved seeds, chemical fertilisers and machines,” the Special Rapporteur remarked. “But scant attention has been paid to agroecological methods that have been shown to improve food production and farmers’ incomes, while at the same time protecting the soil, water, and climate.”

The widest study ever conducted on agroecological approaches (Jules Pretty, Essex University, UK) covered 286 projects in 57 developing countries, representing a total surface of 37 million hectares: the average crop yield gain was 79%. Concrete examples of ‘agroecological success stories’ abound in Africa.

In Tanzania, the Western provinces of Shinyanga and Tabora used to be known as the ‘Desert of Tanzania’. However, the use of agroforestry techniques and participatory processes allowed some 350,000 hectares of land to be rehabilitated in two decades. Profits per household rose by as much as USD 500 a year. Similar techniques are used in Malawi, where some 100,000 smallholders in 2005 benefited to some degree from the use of fertilizer trees.

“With more than a billion hungry people on the planet, and the climate disruptions ahead of us, we must rapidly scale up these sustainable techniques,” De Schutter said. “Even if it makes the task more complex, we have to find a way of addressing global hunger, climate change, and the depletion of natural resources, all at the same time. Anything short of this would be an exercise in futility.”

The experts gathering in Brussels identified the policies that could develop agroecological approaches to the scale needed to feed the world in 2050. They based their work on the experiences of countries that have pro-agroecology policies – such as Cuba or Brazil – as well as on the successful experiences from international research centres such as the World Agroforestry Center in Nairobi, and on the programmes of La Via Campesina, the transnational peasant movement, which runs agroecology training programmes.

“We can scale up these sustainable models of agriculture, and ensure that they work for the benefit of the poorest farmers. What is needed now is political will to move from successful pilot projects to nation-wide policies,” the UN Special Rapporteur said. In conclusion, he announced that he would ask the Committee on World Food Security – what should become in time the ‘Security Council’ for food security – to work during its October session on the policy levers to scale up agroecology. “This is the best option we have today. We can’t afford not to use it.”

(*) The international seminar “The contribution of agroecological approaches to meet 2050 global food needs” was held in Brussels on 21 and 22 June. Convened under the auspices of the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Prof. Olivier De Schutter, it brought together agroecology experts, decision makers at national and international levels, and representatives of farmer organizations.