It's dry. After 3 years it seems we might have our first real dry period on the farm, but we aren't counting on it. I recall years past when all the hills were brown and the weeds were somewhat easy to control. That has not been the case until recently. The last three years have proved extremely challenging to get ahead of the weeds and bush but now we have a window of opportunity. 

Fortunately our CSA is there to help bail us out again, so we used funds to upgrade our weedwacker, pole-pruner, and tractor mowing parts to get back on top of the "green wall". This is the break we have been waiting for! 

However, all the dryness means watering is extremely crucial for our plants, chickens, and ruminants. Some borderline fruit trees have died but so have many of the vines holding down the more healthy ones, so we are trying to uncover more and more of the farm that has been obscured. 

Matt and Jacob have been doing a great job staying on top of our watering, which simply cannot take even one day of neglect. Fortunately we have several wells on the property and all of our pumping is done using 100% solar-powered pumps, so no fossil fuels are being used to create your nice crunchy, juicy cucumbers!

Last week I mentioned we were looking to hire some help and we got it this week with the addition of Jaleel Yearwood to our staff. This young man is a product of Frederiksted and he was first exposed to us through our participation in the VI Department of Labor's Youth Summer Experience Mentorship program several years ago. He was a stand-out performer in farming and we are proud to have him join our team today as a paid member. You will hear more about him in a later issue of the newsletters, so stay tuned!


Thanks for supporting your food community,

Nate

WTF (What's That Food)? 

This week's strange food item: Chaya

Also known as "mexican" or "tree" spinach, Chaya was listed by the National Academy of Sciences as one of the most "underexploited" food plants in the world. This native to central america and the caribbean has very high levels of protein, calcium, iron, and carotene, & Vitamins A, C, & B. It is also easy to grow and can resist drought (iguanas, however, are a different story). It cooks like collards and can be used like spinach after being boiled. Add your favorite spices  after boiling, draining, and chopping into strips -Nate recommends turmeric & curry!

**Chaya must be cooked (boiled) for 10 minutes before it should be eaten in quanitity**

 ·In a study completed by USDA, chaya leaves were found to contain substantially greater amounts of nutrients than spinach.

Another sorta' strange food item: Okra

Planted in March, ready now. The Okra has been under attack of our dear deer. Working with fishing line to keep them out of the fields did not work out long-term. Deer are too smart and will just figure a way out. So another fencing plan and ivory soap is in process.

Other than the deer situation, the Okra has a good life here. It does enormously well. Originally it is said to come from Africa brought to America by slaves three centuries ago. It is part of the same family as hibiscus and cotton and it's scientific name is Abelmoschus esculentus. Okra is also commonly known as lady's finger or gumbo.

Okra can be stored in the fridge in a paper bag, perforated plastic bag or wrapped in a paper towel for 2 to 3 days. Frozen it can survive for about 12 months.


How to use it:

These varieties can get long and still be tender. Okra tastes great raw, marinated in salads or cooked on its own. At the farm we also pickle it. To pickle it, use the small Okra and put it in a Vinegar-Salt-Pepper solution as whole. Feel free to experiment with seasoning like Dill.

Get more info on Okra

Recipes

Chaya-Papaya-Pan
by Patrick

You need: 
Bag of Chaya (NEVER EAT RAW)
1 green papaya, 1 onion
1 garlic head
a pinch of salt, pepper & paprika (hot pepper)
oil

Directions:
Boil Chaya in hot water for 10 to 15 minutes!

1. Peel and slice papaya, onion and garlic. (add turmeric for a kick)

2. Saute garlic, onions and papaya in oil.

3. Add seasoning and chopped chaya when papaya is soft and cook for a few more minutes.   

Enjoy while hot!


Okra-Red Wine by Patrick

You need:

Okra
Garlic
Wine
Sea Salt
Oil

First heat a pan with oil. Then add the sliced garlic and let it unfold its flavor. Add the Okra. Heat it for a few minutes, add the sea salt and mix with the red wine (only as much as the Okra can soak in). Let sit for a minute and serve warm. Some cheese and herbs (Basil) may be added on top (Mozzarella/ Parmesan).


It is delicious with couscous or rice.
Nadja thinks that it can be used as a tomatoe sauce substitute for example on noodles or pizza. 

Meet the Farmer...

"Hello my name is Cinnamon and I am a Boer goat. I am one of the most characterful and hungry animals on the farm. I think the grass on the other side of the fence is definitely greener than where people want me to hang out usually. I also think that one should cross fences and borders some time anyway, just to see new things and to visit old friends at their places or in the fields.

My ancestors actually made a move like this. They came over from South Africa. And I am sure they came here because Ridge to Reef Farm has Moringa like in South Africa. It's simply my favourite food!!

When I hear the branches cracking it only takes a milisecond until my mouth is filled with saliva. Then the call is to run fast, faster than the sheep, Pipen the donkey and of course the rest of the goats. I'm sure will know what I talk about the day you will have Moringa in your CSA bags!"

~ Nadja, former apprentice


PO Box 2903 - Frederiksted USVI 00841 - www.visfi.org - [email protected] - 340 220 0466
Ridge to Reef Farm @ the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute

Farmer of the week
















The Week's Harvest
Okra
Sunflower Sprouts
Eggplants
Green Bananas
Malabar Spinach
Beans (not much thanks to the deer)
Asian Greens (higher heat tolerance)
Cucumbers
Peppers
Basil 


We need your help, we need your hands!

Volunteer at Ridge to Reef Farm

Farming with a small crew trying to provide organic and local food for a big community isn't always easy. You can help us by joining our VOLUNTEER days every Saturday from 7:30 am to 11:30 am. A group cooked lunch with mostly ingredients from the farm will be the reward for hungry farmers and gives the opportunity to lean back and relax.

Bring your family, bring your friends and enjoy spending time in nature, having fun by being part of a great vision. We gladly welcome every person who finds the way up to the farm!


THANK YOU HOSTS!

Pick-up times

Polly's at the Pier Frederiksted, St. Croix 
Wed 3:30-5:30pm

Barefoot Buddha Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 
Thurs 11:30am-1:30 pm 

Miriam's Restaurant Christiansted, St. Croix 
Sun 4 -5:30pm


M2M (member to member)

We invite you to take part in the creation of our weekly newsletters.

Share your recipes and pictures, your experiences with the R2R Farm or your thoughts on sustainable farming matters.

We then will do our best to fit it in and share it in one of our upcoming newsletters.

We look forward to your responses!


Wishlist 

Got some things laying around we can re-use in the CSA

• Mongoose traps
• compost toilets
• egg cartons
  
• shallow, sturdy plastic trays for upcoming tomato harvest
  
• milk crates
  
• coolers
  
• zip-locks
  
• popsicle sticks
  
• tarps

• any working garden tools
  
• generator, chainsaw, weed-eater
  
• carpentry
  
• sign-making
  
• massages :)
  
• your CSA bags
  
• feedback

Like kids again, we are climbing and swinging from trees, harvesting for our CSA food "village." The summer is bringing many fruity delights that we are so excited to share along with the veggies and herbs you need to compliment each week for a summer of local organic food.

Lest week we re-perfected the art of throw-the-stick-with-the-rope over the tamarind tree, heavy with its sour fruit, longing (we think) to be reincarnated as an Indian cuisine dish. We are running around the many passion fruit plantings we have made and picking them up into 5-gallon buckets like an easter egg hunt. We reached high with pickers for mangoes, but so far a lackluster mango season left us with only enough for a well-earned lunch. 

The fields are full with plantings of various herbs and veggies to feed us all this season, and we are not the only ones noticing. The deer, doves, and trushees are moving in hard. Apparently we forgot to account for their "shares" in the season! The deer are mauling your beans! Fortunately, we have enough for everyone -although we prefer they eat the GRASS instead to make our jobs easier:)

We are using some of the CSA money you have provided to us right away: We ordered new PTO drives for our wood chipper and for two grass cutters, which will be used to create more compost. In a setback, our tractor's grass cutter met an ancient unfortunate strip of metal fencing hiding in 8 feet of grass that shattered the drivetrain and twisted the rest just like a Swizzler.

Our next purchase, other than more cutter parts, is a new seed order and pole saw so we can reclaim our many hedgerows of moringa and mixed fruit plantings. We are also paying the VI Honey Man to relocate two massive bee hives at my house next to the large CSA row crop fields. This will help greatly with higher pollination rates and hopefully result in some honey harvesting too! We'll see how much it yields, as we don't want to take all their family's food.

Finally, we are seeking a professional grower to help Patrick keep up with all the food as we try to expand the market. After seeing a tremendous demand for our organic CSA shares, we feel more confident that we can carry another employee who can help us push over the threshold it takes for the next big steps in food production for the USVI. There's still a long road ahead, but as farmer Jacob says, "It's a marathon, not a sprint." 

We are off to another great season, and it's all due to you and your investment in the USVI's local sustainable food chain.

In Ripe Appreciation,

Nate and the Ridge to Reef Farm Crew

WTF (What's That Food)? 
This week's strange food item: Lip Stick Tree (or Achiote), Bixa orellana

The strange red pointy pod in your bag this week is a regionally native plant used for thousands of years in food. Inside each pod is a collection of small red forming seeds. The coating around the seed portion produces a red dye, which is one of the most well-known safe food colorings in the world. Ever wonder how many latin-cuisines get their red, such as rice and pork? This is the stuff! 

One word of caution, however. It is a dye, so watch it an your clothing when you handle it. You will see it on your fingertips if squeeze them. Since does wash out, this is a perfect and completely safe and edible skin coloring, which gives it's common name "lipstick bush." It is wonderful for face painting with kids, with its nice rosy red hue. So if you're feeling adventurous, you can feel free to play with your food here! Mix with a little egg white for a high-quality non-toxic body paint!

Info on Lipstick Bush's Many Medicinal Uses

Recipes

Achiote Paste

Achiote paste, favored in Yucatán and Oaxacan cuisine, is made from the slightly bitter, earthy flavored, red annatto seeds, mixed with other spices and ground into a paste. Achiote is a distinctly colored and flavored mainstay of the Mexican kitchen.

A typical preparation mixes:
1/4 cup annatto seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon oregano
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 whole cloves
1 teaspoon salt
5 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 cup bitter orange juice (Seville) or 1/3 cup white vinegar

Grind the spices (annatto, coriander, cumin, peppercorns, oregano and cloves) in a spice mill or with a mortar and pestle. Blend the ground spices with the salt, garlic and the bitter orange juice until it is smooth. Rub the mixture onto chicken, pork or fish and let it marinate for 4–6 hours then cook as usual. Or use the achiote as an ingredient in another dish.

The paste is dissolved in either lemon juice, water, oil or vinegar to create a marinade, and marinated or rubbed directly upon meat. The meat is then grilled, baked, barbecued or broiled. Sometimes it is added to corn dough to create a zesty flavor and color in empanadas and red tamales.   
-from Wikipedia

Meet the Farmers...

Chris and Tony have been two of the volunteers that made their way from Salt River to the farm this week. They helped preparing beds, weeding and gathering mulch. 

Their motives? Both of them like the idea of growing own food and they want to be part of it. Chris adds "we're really helping out history. People have been wanting to grow food here for hundreds and hundreds of years. We are doing what all those people fromt he past tried to do." 

We are thankful for their attitude and their presence.


















~ Nadja, former apprentice

From the field...

We accomplished to set up the last sets of trip tape in the fields. 

After about three hot and dry weeks, the weather provided us with enough rain so we didn't have to irrigate the past couple of days. 

We accomplished to set up the last sets of trip tape in the fields. Shelli managed the chickens, secured their fences so Mongoose have less chances of getting to them and also prepared their beds with the freshly harvested guinea grass. One can observe that the chicken's are really satisfied with her.

Moreover, this week was educational for us. Our potting shed became the venue for a crafting research project of Andrew Petran, a grad student at the University of Minnesota. He says: "Crafting is really trendy at the moment and it has been a wild success." Luckily he shared his knowledge about crafting tomatoe scion onto wild eggplant roots. This method could help St. Croix's farmers to produce more weather acclimated tomatoes. A success would lead to more tomatoes for you!

~ Nadja, former apprentice


PO Box 2903 - Frederiksted USVI 00841 - www.visfi.org - [email protected] - 340 220 0466
Ridge to Reef Farm @ the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute

Farmer of the week


Shelli, chicken savior of the week
 
The Week's Harvest

Cilantro
Basil
Tamarind
Eggs
Green onion
Sunflower Sprouts
Passion Fruit
Bean bundle
Lipstick Plant Pods
Salad Mix
Green Banana
Okra
Eggplant
Cucumbers


We need your help, we need your hands!

Volunteer at Ridge to Reef Farm

Farming with a small crew trying to provide organic and local food for a big community isn't always easy. You can help us by joining our VOLUNTEER days every Saturday from 7:30 am to 11:30 am. A group cooked lunch with mostly ingredients from the farm will be the reward for hungry farmers and gives the opportunity to lean back and relax.

Bring your family, bring your friends and enjoy spending time in nature, having fun by being part of a great vision. We gladly welcome every person who finds the way up to the farm!


THANK YOU HOSTS!

Pick-up times

Polly's at the Pier Frederiksted, St. Croix 
Wed 3:30-5:30pm

Barefoot Buddha Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 
Thurs 11:30am-1:30 pm 

Miriam's Restaurant Christiansted, St. Croix 
Sun 4 -5:30pm


M2M (member to member)

We invite you to take part in the creation of our weekly newsletters.

Share your recipes and pictures, your experiences with the R2R Farm or your thoughts on sustainable farming matters.

We then will do our best to fit it in and share it in one of our upcoming newsletters.

We look forward to your responses!


Wishlist 

Got some things laying around we can re-use in the CSA

• Mongoose traps
• compost toilets
• egg cartons
  
• shallow, sturdy plastic trays for upcoming tomato harvest
  
• milk crates
  
• coolers
  
• zip-locks
  
• popsicle sticks
  
• tarps

• any working garden tools
  
• generator, chainsaw, weed-eater
  
• carpentry
  
• sign-making
  
• massages :)
  
• your CSA bags
  
• feedback

Dear CSA Summer Season members,

We are thrilled to bring you a consecutive season of Community Supported Agriculture here in the Virgin Islands! 

Here at Ridge to Reef Farm, we work very hard every week to make sure you get a taste of what local organic food is all about. Our main mission here is quality: for you, for our shared environment, and for our communities on all three islands and as one Territorial family.

This CSA is different than most, as you will certainly see this summer, because not only do we have seasonal veggies, but we have fruits and roots and much more to make your kitchen a place of flavor and freshness.

You will see a variety of things every week, and I promise the more you volunteer with us the more you will see! Check out the volunteer opportunities on the right-side column of this newsletter and come lend us a hand for a half day. The phrase "many hands make light work" never made more sense than on our permaculture farm.

Although eggplants might not be too unfamiliar to most, it's our WTF item this week because we grow many of the heat tolerant varieties, which tend to have more flavor than those you see in the supermarket. Not only are the varieties choice, but they are still cooling from the sun, just picked for you.

Remember, the CSA is a shared-risk investment, and we expect there to be losses as well as new fruits from our labors. Already, there has been one casualty -tomatoes. A late spring blight has already reduced them to withered stems. We had our doubts already, but this confirmed that this year is a tough year for certain diseases on nightshades. However, the eggplants are doing wonderful!

This is the first ever CSA in a summer season for the Virgin Islands, so we embark on a journey together toward new frontiers of local food as a community! Without you, this would not be possible.   

We wish you and your kitchen the best CSA season, and we hope you remember to share trying our weekly recipes on people. Tell them it's local and organic, and that there will be a lot more of it coming the in the future, due to the fact that you are supporting it today. Trust me, Frandelle knows what to do with eggplant! Her recipe below is a winner that always has us coming back for more when she brings her dish to us at the farm:)

Thank you for being a food lover and advocate. We were pleased to have so many returning members and the new ones we will get to know. The waiting list is deep, and already we are thinking of how we can make the CSA meet the needs of more Virgin Islanders!

How do you think we all can make this happen? 

to the health of all we,

Nate

WTF (What's That Food)? 

This week's strange food item: Eggplants

Also known as aubergine, melongene, brinjal or guinea squash (Solanum melongena), eggplants are part of the nightshades family. It is closely related to tomatoes as well as potatoes and is native to India.

The eggplants that you are holding in your hands have already been planted in January and now they have been harvested just for you. 

We are growing four different varieties at the moment. They are called "Traviata", "Rosa Bianca", "Black Beauty" and "Listada di Gandia".


How to use it:

It is used in many Asian and Eurpean kitchens. So there a multiple ways to prepare them. Eggplants can be sliced and deep-fried, then served with or without yogurt as in the Turkish cuisine.

It can be roasted in its skin until charred, so the pulp can be removed and blended with other ingredients, such as lemon, tahini, and garlic, as in the Middle Eastern dish baba ghanoush.

The fruit can also be stuffed with meat, rice, or other fillings and then baked. 

Salting, rinsing and draining of the sliced fruit (known as "degorging") reduces the amount of oil absorbed during the cooking.

Recipe

Eggplant Casserole 
by Frandelle Gerard

You need:
2 lbs eggplant, peeled, cut into 1inch pieces
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
1/4 cup diced red pepper
4-6 basil leaves - thinly cut
1/4 cup grated parmesan 
1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese 
2 eggs beaten
1/2 cup itallian bread crumbs
1 tsp butter
1-2 large tomatos thinly sliced
salt to taste

Steam eggplant until tender, drain and mash. Add butter, scallions, pepper and basil. Mix well then add eggs and bread crumbs and mix.
Butter a baking dish, line pan with sliced tomatoes, add eggplant mixture. Top with sliced tomates, top with cheeses.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 20-30 min or until cheese is lightly brown. Serve and enjoy.
(This receipe is inspired by The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas 1972 - no copyright infringement intended.)

Meet the Farmer...

"Hello my name is Sarah Waffle Woofer Feather Foot. I am a Buff Pullet Bantam. My ancestors came from a province which was known as "Banten Province" and was once a seaport in Indonesia. Europeans liked our size and just took us with them on their sail boats. And now you see, I ended up on St. Croix on a farm with a few others of my sort. I am a trader now: I exchange my eggs for food.

So, if you receive any small eggs, they came from me! Remember it comes from by far the cutest of all the chickens on the farm,... and one of the smallest. "

~ Jess, farm staff

From the field...

The crew is constantly removing weeds and vines from the fruit trees and vegetables that are grown on the farm. Nate gave and is still giving the farm property a hair cut on the tractor while it is nice and sunny.

Cowitch or also known as Mucuna pruriens (scientific name) tries to take over the farm property. Pruriens is a Latin word and means "itching sensation". For a reason; Its seed pods grow little hairs that fly through the air and produces itchiness on contact. Even though it can have great medicinal value we are trying to ban this invasive plant from the valley.

Apart from weeds, there are also animals and bugs that we are dealing with at the moment. Pest pressure is high and deer is getting through our fencing to have a snack here and there. Mongoose are still stealing eggs and attacking chickens from time to time.

Some plants are thriving nontheless. Passion fruits and mangoes are ripening every day. Eggplants and peppers are fruiting and beautiful flowers are covering the farm. The weather is perfect for working in the fields and on the tractor.

~ Nadja, former apprentice


PO Box 2903 - Frederiksted USVI 00841 - www.visfi.org - [email protected] - 340 220 0466
Ridge to Reef Farm @ the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute

Farmer of the week






Jess our master of the kitchen and landscaping in the process of getting bedding for our lovely chickens.


The Week's Harvest

Eggplants
Green Bananas
Green Papayas
Ovations Greens
Sprouts
Okra
Mangoes
Cucumbers
Passion Fruits
Malabar Spinach
Pepper
Basil



We need your help, we need your hands!

Volunteer at Ridge to Reef Farm

Farming with a small crew trying to provide organic and local food for a big community isn't always easy. You can help us by joining our VOLUNTEER days every Saturday from 7:30 am to 11:30 am. A group cooked lunch with mostly ingredients from the farm will be the reward for hungry farmers and gives the opportunity to lean back and relax.

Bring your family, bring your friends and enjoy spending time in nature, having fun by being part of a great vision. We gladly welcome every person who finds the way up to the farm!


THANK YOU HOSTS!

Pick-up times

Polly's at the Pier Frederiksted, St. Croix 
Wed 3:30-5:30pm

Barefoot Buddha Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 
Thurs 11:30am-1:30 pm 

Miriam's Restaurant Christiansted, St. Croix 
Sun 4 -5:30pm


M2M (member to member)

We invite you to take part in the creation of our weekly newsletters.

Share your recipes and pictures, your experiences with the R2R Farm or your thoughts on sustainable farming matters.

We then will do our best to fit it in and share it in one of our upcoming newsletters.

We look forward to your responses!


Wishlist 

Got some things laying around we can re-use in the CSA

• Mongoose traps
• compost toilets
• egg cartons
  
• shallow, sturdy plastic trays for upcoming tomato harvest
  
• milk crates
  
• coolers
  
• zip-locks
  
• popsicle sticks
  
• tarps

• any working garden tools
  
• generator, chainsaw, weed-eater
  
• carpentry
  
• sign-making
  
• massages :)
  
• your CSA bags
  
• feedback

ou helped us:

- to employ Jacob, Matt and Jess.

- repair farming equipment.

- buy tools.

- supply healthy and organic food.

- to execute our mission "Seeding beneficial relationships to inspire abundance, creativity, and joy"

Since this was our first round of CSA we would extremely appreciate your feedback (best via email) in order to offer you the service you deserve!

Your opinion is important to us!

Chickens are not only entertaining our guests as well as us and eating centipedes, no they are actually working much more. Aside from laying eggs, they cut grass and weeds, they they loosen the soil by scratching and they fertilize with their feces. All of these skills are made use of in the so-called chicken "tractors". 

Tractors basically are moveable coops without a floor and are used to manage our little workers' efforts. In the tractors they are able to apply their skills and do the work that usually is attributed to a modern farm tractor. 

This can lead to prepared soil and enhanced growth of later planted crops and trees.

From the field...

Alison Gilbert arrived yesterday and will be part of our crew for the following 3 weeks. She has been participating in the Summer Youth Program at Ridge to Reef Farm in 2009 and found her way back to paradise.

The crew is planting and seeding for the next CSA season. A rain cover for seedling has been built.

Bold rooster Johnson had to listen to Patrick's reasoning and was sent back to his ladies behind the fence. 

~ Nadja, apprentice

PO Box 2903 - Frederiksted USVI 00841 - www.visfi.org - [email protected] - 340 220 0466
Ridge to Reef Farm @ the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute

The Week's Harvest

Beans or Cucumbers
Lettuce Heads
Kale or Collards or Swiss Chard
Carrots
Eggplants
Jalapeno Hot Peppers
Green Bananas
Green Papaya
Tomatoes
Cilantro
Basil

Farm Recipes

Papaya Noodles
by Nadja

You need:
Green Papaya (peeled)
Eggs
Vegetable Oil (for frying)
Whole Wheat Flour
Noodles
Soy Sauce
Milk
Olive Oil
Onions
Salt, Pepper
Chili

Directions:

1. Cut the peeled papayas in slices and boil in hot water until consistency softened. Bring water for noodles to a boil and cook acc. to package instructions.

2. Sift papayas. Heat vegetable oil in a pan. Put half of the slices of papaya first in mixed eggs (seasoned with salt and pepper), then in flour and then fry in pan from both sides.

3. Heat olive oil and stir-fry onions. Add battered papaya slices and heat for a moment.

4. Put soy sauce, a bit of milk, chili in a pot and thicken with a little flour. Then add noodles and rest of sliced papayas.

5. Serve noodle mix with battered papaya-onion mix on top. Enjoy.

THANK YOU HOSTS!

Pick-up times

Polly's at the Pier Frederiksted, St. Croix 
Wed 3:30-5:30pm

Barefoot Buddha Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 
Thurs 11:30am-1:30 pm 

Miriam's Restaurant Christiansted, St. Croix 
Sun 4 -5:30pm


M2M (member to member)

We invite you to take part in the creation of our weekly newsletters.

Share your recipes and pictures, your experiences with the R2R Farm or your thoughts on sustainable farming matters.

We then will do our best to fit it in and share it in one of our upcoming newsletters.

We look forward to your responses!


Wishlist 

Got some things laying around we can re-use in the CSA

• egg cartons
  
• shallow, sturdy plastic trays for upcoming tomato harvest
  
• milk crates
  
• coolers
  
• zip-locks
  
• popsicle sticks
  
• tarps

• any working garden tools
  
• generator, chainsaw, weed-eater
  
• carpentry
  
• sign-making
  
• massages :)
  
• your CSA bags
  
• feedback

Farmers always have to think a season ahead, and as we enjoy the last few weeks of this season we are already tasting what's to come next. With some purple and yellow orbs already leading the way, there are plenty of falling passion fruits forecasted for CSA season II. Passiflora is one of those fruits that I think in Latin means summertime fun. Oh, and "here come the smoothies." Ever had a banana passionfruit mango surinam cherry smoothie?" It is the Ridge to Reef summertime breakfast!

Summer is the time when we have the most variety of the season and we can't wait to see the seasonal progression of the upcoming weekly bags loaded with certified organic local fruits and vegetables. 

Summer is also the time when we get to be kids again, and welcome campers from across North America and St. Croix. They will again be converging on Ridge to Reef Farm for a Caribbean farm-life living experience. 

At our CSA Appreciation BBQ we got some wonderfully sweet local watermelons from a neighbor farmer and saved their seed to attempt a late summer crop for season II. No promises, but we are excited to try it out despite the pressures on cucurbits that time of year. 

We still have ample room in the CSA for Season II for returning members! If you have not registered and wish to do so, please do it this week before we promote the CSA season II publicly. We did have some problems with the sign-up form last week, but it is fixed and accessible at: http://ridgetoreef.csasignup.com/members 

Finally, we invite YOUR feedback about this season. Instead of a questionnaire, we thought we would ask for a simple paragraph of your experience in your own words. Also, all suggestions for improvements and what to keep are always so immensely helpful! If we can share your feedback on our website and marketing, please let us know. After all, you are a charter member of the Ridge to Reef Farm CSA program, and your input will shape the direction of our CSA for years to come! Please send your feedback to [email protected]. 

Special thanks to those who came out and rocked with us for the Farm-B-Q and Big Guns Rock, the show was great and so was the food! Thanks to Tahirah Abu-Bakr and Pablo Reyes for the BBQ casseroles, roasted pork, and Jessica Erwin for some amazing cooking! Also, thank you members who came to eat with us in our kitchen. We look forward to seasons of growth together!

Passionately,

Nate

Member 2 Member 

THE RECORD - 13 CSA ingredients, one meal!

by Diana and Rustin Cameron

CSA Use-up Curry
 
CSA Bounty                 We use stems, peels, and all unless noted
Tat Soi                         Entire bunch, shredded
Mizuna                        Entire bunch, shredded
Bok Choy                    I had only rind left, sliced thin
Green Tomatoes         The more the better, sliced thin!!!!
Pole Beans                   Entire bunch, sliced thin lengthwise ‘julienne’
Green Papaya              1 Peeled, deseeded, then shredded
Basil                              Entire bunch 
Turmeric                       Large hunk, pealed
Lemon Grass                Blended paste from previous week, 1 Tbsp?
Green Onion                6 Whole (we include roots and all) 
Chilies                          2 Deseeded, stem removed 
Sugar Cane                  As simple syrup from previous week, 1 Tbsp?
Moringa Powder          sprinkled in ~ 1 Tbsp

Non-CSA Ingredients
Ginger                           Medium hunk, pealed
Cumin                           A good bit
Cinnamon Stick          A good bit, grated on micro planer
Curry                             A good bit, I used green paste 
                                        but to each their own
Coconut Milk              3 Cups
Garlic                            10 Cloves, peeled then minced
Red Onion                    1 Large, peeled then sliced thin
Garbanzo Beans          2 Cups, cooked
 
Optional
Chicken                           1 lb, sliced thin * 
Brown Rice                     To serve curry over


Basic Methodology 
To make the sauce, blend until smooth: Basil, Turmeric, Lemon Grass paste, Green Onion, Chilies, Sugar Cane syrup, Moringa Powder, Ginger, Cumin, Cinnamon, Curry, and Coconut Milk.  Set sauce aside.    
 
In a big deep skillet heat a splash of oil on medium heat.  Sauté veggies until soft. I went Red Onions and Garlic till soft.  Added Pole Beans and Green Papaya cooked covered until soft. Then added Green Tomatoes and Garbanzo Beans for a few minutes before adding Tat Soi, Mizuna, and Bok Choy along with the Sauce. Finally reducing to simmer until everything was nicely thickened and cooked together. Throw over brown rice & eat. Also surprisingly tasty served cold either over rice, in a wrap, or on a salad of lettuce.  
 
*If you are adding chicken: Pour just enough blended sauce over sliced raw chicken to cover and let sit for 30 minutes to marinate then cook chicken in small batches spreading pieces out in the pan so they are not crowded. Brown for a few minutes on each side. When the chicken pieces are cooked and no pink remains, remove from pan. Use the same pan to cook the veggies as above but add the cooked chicken and remainder of the sauce back to the pan at the same point you add the last batch of veggies.
 
Oh yes, my personal waffling statement: I have a hard time with recipes.  Cooking uses so many of my senses but often bypasses my brain so at the table if there is an enthusiastic reception and the question of, “what’s in here” I am reduced to checking my cutting board to investigate what went in the pot.   Thus all elements are estimates, and most likely results are not exactly replicable, isn’t that nice?  We just ended up loving this dish and were so excited that it could represent such tastiness from all our CSA odds and ends lingering around the kitchen. Cheers! 

From the field...

We had some nice showers the last week which releaves our irrigation needs but along with the rain and clouds come difficult times for our alternative energy system.

Nearly 100% of the corn germinated. We received a new part for our seeder that was broken which will help us to sow seeds much faster. The Earth Way Push Seeder is a relatively inexpensive tool but saves us an immense amount of labour time.

We're steadily progressing towards a veggie field for the second CSA season. [and the mangoes are on their way!]

~ Nadja, former farm apprentice


PO Box 2903 - Frederiksted USVI 00841 - www.visfi.org - [email protected] - 340 220 0466
Ridge to Reef Farm @ the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute

Member Emily Graci gets the first course of watermelon, banana chips, salad, and more all laid out by Tahirah Abu-Bakr, Jess Erwin, and many others at the CSA Appreciation Farm-B-Q last Saturday.

Pablo Reyes, part time R2R staffer and VI Agriculture Dept.''s chief butcher, keeps the our farm raised pig (from Solomon's farm) and goat (ours) legs spinning for the CSA Appreciation Farm-B-Q. The rest of the goat became an amazing traditional VI goat water!

The Week's Harvest

Tatsoi
Lettuce Heads
Cucumbers
Bananas
Malabar Spinach
Swiss Chard
Papayas
Tomatoes
Beans
Basil
Cilantro

Farm Recipes

Chaya Quiche
By Nadja (based on the "Joy of Cooking")

You need:
For the dough:
½ cup chilled butter plus 3 tablespoons lard
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
5 to 6 tablespoons cold water

For the topping:
2 cups milk or cream
1 cup shredded cheese
1 onion, chopped in cubes
3-4 eggs
bunch of Chaya (boiled for 15 minutes), cut in slices
salt, paprika, nutmeg


Directions
1.    Mix the ingredients for the dough and spread it out in a buttered form. Make sure that you have dough standing out on the sides so the liquid topping will stay inside. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 F.

2.    Beat the eggs and mix it with milk and the seasoning.
Get the dough out of the oven and put the egg-milk mixture on top. Add the chopped onion, the sliced Chaya and the chredded cheese. Put back in the oven for about 30 more minutes. Check on it when it starts to smell good. Serve warm or cold. Enjoy.

THANK YOU HOSTS!

Pick-up times

Polly's at the Pier Frederiksted, St. Croix 
Wed 3:30-5:30pm

Barefoot Buddha Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 
Thurs 11:30am-1:30 pm 

Miriam's Restaurant Christiansted, St. Croix 
Sun 4 -5:30pm


M2M (member to member)

We invite you to take part in the creation of our weekly newsletters.

Share your recipes and pictures, your experiences with the R2R Farm or your thoughts on sustainable farming matters.

We then will do our best to fit it in and share it in one of our upcoming newsletters.

We look forward to your responses!


Wishlist 

Got some things laying around we can re-use in the CSA

• Mongoose traps
• compost toilets
• egg cartons
  
• shallow, sturdy plastic trays for upcoming tomato harvest
  
• milk crates
  
• coolers
  
• zip-locks
  
• popsicle sticks
  
• tarps

• any working garden tools
  
• generator, chainsaw, weed-eater
  
• carpentry
  
• sign-making
  
• massages :)
  
• your CSA bags
  
• feedback

This judges at Taste of St. Croix had a dish we are sure they will remember for a long time. As they received the dish, in came all the parts: a whole pumpkin opened at the top like a jack-o-lantern, a bamboo tray with coconut shell cups containing fresh ingredients, a bamboo insulator with red-hot stones, tongs, safety glasses, and directions.

Caledonia Stone Soup by Nate & Tahirah Abu-Bakr

1) Put on safety glasses

2) Remove the pumpkin lid (which contained fresh local red snapper broth)

3) Add first 2 coconut cups containing fresh hand-sqeezed coconut milk and sliced kaffir lime, grated ginger and turmeric, and finely chopped lemongrass

4)Add red hot Caledonia stones (just pulled from the fire) from container with tongs into pumpkin until water boils, then cover and let simmer for 3 minutes

5)Remove pumpkin lid, let steam off, then add diced heirloom cherokee purple tomatoes and malabar spinach to finish

6)Serve with ladel into coconut cups, enjoy! 

We have to admit, we were surprised and elated to hear our names over the loudspeaker as first place winners, especially with such fine restaurants Savant and Tutto Bene in 2nd and 3rd place in the category! We are sure that with our farm-grown creation the judges really got a true taste of St. Croix!

Thanks to all the help -Jessica, Shelli, Patrick, and Nadja for making this laborious dish a huge success! 


SEASON II SIGN UPS UNDERWAY!

We are ready for another season starting May 30th, are you? However, we have had some website issues with the re-registration process. Many of you have been seeing a notice that you have already been enrolled in the CSA. Sorry if you are one of those having issues! Our beloved web geek Simon is on the case!

TIPS:
*Make sure you are not using the upper left hand "mailing and waiting list" sign-up. That is not for you, you are already on that list. Instead, click the radio button and follow the steps provided.

*Go ahead and make your payment, even if you are having problems with the sign-up. Payments are what secures your spot, and we can help you later make sure that you are properly entered in the web system after we have our expert see why there have been so many difficulties. If you make a payment, please let us know via email. After Sunday, we will be releasing remaining spots to the waiting list, and the following week to the general public, so please make sure if you want to stay joined that you do so this week. :)

Experience paradise...

The following excerpt is from an article written by a volunteer, a former Permaculture student and our friend. He and his buddy have experienced the farm for about 5 months last year. We invite you to enjoy this delightful article and the video taken during a Permaculture class and experience the farm through their eyes.

 
Home is Wherever Things are Green,

by Ron Valle

            I was treading water in the warm and oily pool at the Riviera in Las Vegas, nursing a hangover and a Miller Lite when my friend Corey suggested that we move to his folks’ place in the Virgin Islands. We had just broken out of college, were unemployed, and hadn’t much structure to our foreseeable future. Moving to a small chain of islands I didn’t even know belonged to the United States sounded like a great idea, as most ideas do in Vegas. I doubt I took Corey very seriously that day. But somewhere during the long, dry, sobering drive back to Southern California I committed myself to making this half-baked pool fantasy a reality. And what do you know; I did.

        I arrived on St. Croix in mid September, 2011. For the first few days the island was racked by rain storms and Corey and I were forced indoors, reading and watching TV and not doing all the things I pictured myself doing (snorkeling in glassy bays, drinking pink-colored rum drinks on sunlit beaches, dancing with pretty island girls, surfing on sea turtles - all the things you’d picture too). Once the rain had let up, Corey told me he had volunteered us at a local farm.

Now neither of us had any real farm experience and I wasn’t too keen about waking up at 6 a.m. to jump into some potentially very back breaking labor, but we had been cooped up for a very long time, and I was curious as to what an island farm might look like. So we woke up at 6 a.m. and Corey’s uncle Roy took us in his stick-shift truck from our place on the East End to the heart of the rainforest.

After a near two hour drive through morning traffic and getting aggravatingly lost on the precariously pot-holed “roads” of the Cruzan rainforest we finally arrived at the Ridge to Reef Farm. It was one of those days that can only be described as beautiful. The sky was blue, the storm clouds had abated, the ground was moist and springy, and everywhere everything was green. Not just any green though – this is not the green you use to paint the walls of your house or the green which little golf balls bounce across. It was a deep, vital green, and it seemed to shimmer like a jewel as the wind made the tall forest canopy sway and breathe. I was unprepared for this because I had never thought of a farm being, well, vivid and gorgeous and wild! All the farms I’d ever driven past Stateside seemed like landscapes out of the First World War, with their expanses of rigid, entrenched vegetable rows and the mud and dung wastelands that are cattle ranches. Ridge to Reef meets none of these descriptions, so much so that when I show friends and family pictures of the place they ask me, “Enough jungle, where’s the farm?”

It was a Wednesday, so Nate and Shelli set us to work harvesting. (If you have not met Nate and Shelli yet, you will, and you’ll be glad.) I suppose we were technically harvesting, but it felt more like gathering, like our nomadic non-agrarian ancestors who understood the difference between receiving from the earth and taking from it. It turns out that gathering is about as back-breaking as I thought it’d be. For four hours we scampered about, hunching over beds of salad greens, stretching up to the boughs of mango trees, lopping off coconuts, and plucking chaya and dinosaur kale and a great many other things I’d never heard of. But come lunch time we were treated to an incredible meal composed of, yup, everything we’d spent the morning gathering. Sated with good food and good company, we went back and quickly finished gathering what we needed for the day’s orders, and then Roy was there with the truck, and then we were back on the Eastside, and then we were reclining in the warm waters of Miss Bea Beach, letting the good ol’ Caribbean sea bathe and nourish us in ways no casino pool could ever have.

            Corey and I returned to Ridge to Reef many times after that and lent our services as often as we could. We would always return home sweaty and beat but proud of whatever small accomplishment we may have made on the farm, be it leaving a bean patch without weeds, having dug a new bed, or having defeated a hostile invasion of cow-itch. The people we met on the farm became our friends and soon we weren’t so much working on the farm as we were hanging out, with machetes in our hands and seeds in our pocket. I guess the long and skinny of it was that I fell in love with the place. Memories of the nights spent amidst the choir of frogs, crickets, and laughter while the fireflies (or are they Jumbies?) waltz through the jungle remain among the fondest in my life. And it makes you stop and wonder, why? Just what exactly about this place inclines one to be so happy? The atmosphere, the delicious food, the pride in having raised that food, the genuine good-nature of all contributing, the funny sounds the chickens make? It is all of these and more, but all of these sprout from the central tenets of the farm – cooperation with the earth that promotes peaceful and healthy lifestyles. It is a farm that does not provide only physical but also spiritual, mental, and emotional nourishment. It promotes good living. How many farms can lay claim to that?

            Since returning to California I have taken a job teaching science programs to children in Los Angeles County. I have also been hired to help with the start up of an organic community garden which will provide a living classroom for children to learn about horticulture, permaculture, and the joy of producing your own food. It is my hope that every child who enters that garden will leave with some glimpse into what I witnessed every day on St. Croix. I will return many times in my life to the Ridge to Reef Farm, and when I do I will hear the wind breathing through the canopy, smell the rich soil, see the thriving, emerald sheen of all the living things around me, and feel a deep sensation of having returned to one of my many homes.



















VISFI: Plantin' Seeds

 by Corey London Clark.

Please watch here or in our facebook group.


Thank You, Corey and Ron!

We cannot repeat it often enough. Please visit us, stroll around, talk to us or stand side by side with our farmers and feel the soil in your own hands. We are also happy to receive comments, pictures, videos and anything you want to share with us.


From the field...

The heat has come, hot and dry, which was causing our farmes to sweat even more while they were planting 700 row feet of corn yesterday. Since the handseeder broke, they used the traditional hand-seeding technique.

Mongoose are continuing to terrorize our chickens and to eat their eggs. The farm crew is on the watchout, though and we are catching about 2 of the mongoose in our only trap daily. this makes mangoose traps our most wanted these days.

Saman trees are flowering and the first ripe mangoes fall from the trees. The goats are energetic and innovative, trying to find a different technique to get to the other side of the fence almost every day.

Our small hummingbird friend in the process area still overlooks our work while breeding its two little eggs.We are excited to see them hatch soon!

~ Nadja, former apprentice


PO Box 2903 - Frederiksted USVI 00841 - www.visfi.org - [email protected] - 340 220 0466
Ridge to Reef Farm @ the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute

The Week's Harvest

Cucumbers
Boc Choi
Moringa Powder
Tomatoes
Beens
Malabar Spinach
Green Bananas
Green Papayas
Radishes
Basil

Farm Recipes
Stir fry bok choy and mizuna

recommended by Ria

You need:

- 3 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
- 4 teaspoons Asian sesame oil, divided
- 3 1/2 teaspoons unseasoned rice vinegar, divided
- 1 14-to-16-ounce container extra-firm tofu, drained
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 4 baby bok choy, leaves separated
- 12 cups loosely packed mizuna (about 8 ounces) 



Directions:

1. Whisk 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, and 1/2 teaspoon vinegar in bowl.

2. Stack 2 paper towels on work surface. Cut tofu crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick slices; cut each slice crosswise in half; arrange tofu on paper towels and let stand 10 minutes. Pat top of tofu dry.

3. Heat peanut oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu and cook, without moving until golden brown on bottom, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer tofu to paper towel to drain, then place tofu on sheet of foil and brush both sides with soy sauce mixture.

4. Wipe out any peanut oil from skillet. Add 2 teaspoons sesame oil and place skillet over medium heat. Add green onions, ginger, and garlic. Stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add remaining soy sauce and 3 teaspoons vinegar, then bok choy. Toss until bok choy wilts, 1 to 2 minutes. Add mizuna in 2 batches, tossing to wilt before adding more, 1-2 minutes per batch.

5. Season greens with salt and pepper. Add tofu to skillet. Toss gently to blend. Transfer to platter.

Read more

THANK YOU HOSTS!

Pick-up times

Polly's at the Pier Frederiksted, St. Croix 
Wed 3:30-5:30pm

Barefoot Buddha Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 
Thurs 11:30am-1:30 pm 

Miriam's Restaurant Christiansted, St. Croix 
Sun 4 -5:30pm


M2M (member to member)

We invite you to take part in the creation of our weekly newsletters.

Share your recipes and pictures, your experiences with the R2R Farm or your thoughts on sustainable farming matters.

We then will do our best to fit it in and share it in one of our upcoming newsletters.

We look forward to your responses!


Wishlist 

Got some things laying around we can re-use in the CSA

• egg cartons
  
• shallow, sturdy plastic trays for upcoming tomato harvest
  
• milk crates
  
• coolers
  
• zip-locks
  
• popsicle sticks
  
• tarps

• any working garden tools
  
• generator, chainsaw, weed-eater
  
• carpentry
  
• sign-making
  
• massages :)
  
• your CSA bags
  
• feedback

This week is one of the most active weeks in VISFI history at Ridge to Reef Farm. This past weekend we welcomed 34 Danes to stay at the farm several weeks for an experience in personal growth while living on a working farm. Tomorrow we feature two dishes in the Taste of St. Croix, one really hot, and one really cold. Then on Saturday we have the Virgin Gourmet Premier featuring Chef Theo Gumbs and a full-out concert! Not to mention our three weekly CSA pickups and VI Locally Grown markets this week, we are truly busy bees. 

Sometimes I wonder how we get it all done, and I instantly think of the amazing crew we are lucky enough to have here. We ask a tremendous amount from them, and they deliver in a range of tasks and creative projects that most farms would never venture into. Of course we are all here because of the efforts and hearts and souls of the many people who created VISFI, many of whom still help out, such as Joe and Ben Jones, John Vining, Stewart Weiss, Mallory Jenkins, Chad Sheraw, Jay Bost, Kate Lincoln, and the list goes on. Our course our community is who sustains us -our members in VI Locally Grown and now the CSA... to you all we send a heartfelt message of gratitude!

While some areas of business locally are struggling, our line of work is becoming more and more important every day. We plan to expand -we must expand to offer the enhanced opportunities for our staff and island community need. We are glad to be increasing the size of the CSA season II and hope you continue to join us in these times of growth.

Of course, the biggest indicator is the farm. The fields are at new levels of production and some of our slower crops are coming in, like tomatoes! They are benefiting from the netting and good weather for growing, and to see their beauty come forth brings much joy to our hearts!

Please, if you see a member of our farm give them some big ups for their colossal efforts. If you don't see them, or even if you do,  pass along the notion to all the other farmers, chefs, promoters, restaurants, and everyone else in the territory working their butts off to make this a better place.

The times they are a' changing. We've been asking for this day, and now it's time to deliver.

Good medicine,

Nate

PS Tickets are on sale at Polly's, Starfish Patisserie, and Riddims for Saturday's food & music jam!

WTF (What's That Food)? 

This week's strange food item: West Indian Locust

After having hung nine months on the tree the locust finally is falling down, so you can enjoy it. 

West Indian Locust is widely spread in the Caribbean, Central and South America and due to its seed pods' appearance and smell also well-known under the name "Stinking Toe", "Old man's toe" and "stinktoe"...

Even though the smell is not the best for everyone, the pulp in the seed pod is deliciously sweet. As Nate puts it "when the crisp, pungent smell hits a stinking toe veteran's nose, it activates the salivary glands". We hope you enjoy it, it is a specialty!


How to use it:

We selected two wonderful recipes to use the Locust pulp. Chef Tahirah also suggests it as an additive in your morning cereals, milkshakes and smoothies. 

Meet the Farmer...

Nate Olive, farm director

Also known as trail name “ Tha Wookie”, Nate spent  years hiking and writing about the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and the American West Coast Trail in the last decade when not in St. Croix helping start the programs at VISFI. He definitely had enough time to think about everything, about the past, the present and future adventures [and food]. I wonder whether at this time he had pictured himself being here on St. Croix, sharing the rainforest with his wife, a loving crew that describes him as a “charismatic visionary,” as do many animals and farm guests from all over. 
 
Nate is the soul of Ridge to Reef Farm. He is a teacher, a mentor, a friend and a caring father of our small farm family. If you believe his facebook page, what he does all day long is digging holes and praying for water. Whoever has come up to the farm and driven our roads (currently being re-surfaced), knows where he could have been digging.

However, from our point of view his job description cannot be reduced to digging and praying. Nate takes on the challenges of management and at the same time helps out in the fields wherever and whenever he has the chance to do so, putting in administration and "dirt" time every day. As if this is not enough, he is currently also putting energy in writing his doctoral thesis on sustainable geotourism development in insular areas called "Islands without Pyramids".

When he is not working for the farm, there is a good chance that you'll find him playing banjo, singing his song "Paradise is never easy" or taking awesome pictures of the world around him. If you are a lucky snorkeler, you might be able to discover his red hair blinking under water amidst colorful fishes and sea turtles from time to time. If not, have a look on the beach Volleyball field next to his wife Shelli. Still not lucky? I guess, then the "Wookie" doesn't want you to find him.

Nate, wherever you are, we definitely are thankful for you as a supporting friend and the work that you do for your family, the farm and the world.

From the field...

This week we welcome 64 additional helping hands on the field. Claus Marquart Jorgensen, director of the danish folk school "HÖJSKOLENDK", arrived on the farm with with 32 students in the age of 18 to 30 for the second time this year. They are here for personal growth and at Ridge to Reef Farm learn about sutainability through voluntary services like making compost, gathering mulch and harvesting.

Beside this exciting arrival last Saturday, the farm crew is still competing with the brids on who keeps the tomatoes.The netting is becoming more and more.

Gaia garden is now full, so that we started to further expand there and in the swales.

Passion fruits can be found in various stages at the moment. In the form of a flower, green little fruits and the first ones are even starting to fall.

Mango trees are doing funny things, only approximately half of our trees are fruiting. So we only expext a small flush of mangos pretty soon and hopefully a bigger later in the season.

Isn't spring time a wonderful time?.

~ Nadja, former apprentice, staff


PO Box 2903 - Frederiksted USVI 00841 - www.visfi.org - [email protected] - 340 220 0466
Ridge to Reef Farm @ the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute

The Week's Harvest

Chaya
Mizuna
Cucumbers
Pole Beans or Okra
West Indian Locust
Carrots
Tomatoes
Radish
Basil
Cilantro

Farm Recipes

West Indian Locust Parfait
by Chef Tahirah Abu-Bakr

You need:
2 ½ tablespoons flour
2/3 cup cane/ natural sugar
1/3 cup locust Powder
2 ½ cups coconut milk
2 egg yolks – beat – (set egg whites aside)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
 
Directions:
Combine flour, sugar, locust powder and milk – stir – add and cook custard over double boiler – over boiling water – stir constantly – add beaten egg yolk – continue to cook until it thickens – now whip egg white – add salt and then fold together into the mix – set to cook. – put in freezer trays or bowl until frozen – serve in tall glosses.
Topper: whip cream, grinded chocolate, or fresh fruit.


West Indian Locust Juice 

You need:
3* West Indian Locust (unshelled)
1 cup brown sugar
1tbs nutmeg
1 gallon water

Directions:
Blend stinking toes with one gallon water. Add nutmeg and brown sugar. Serve with ice.

Source: www.jamaicans.com

THANK YOU HOSTS!

Pick-up times

Polly's at the Pier Frederiksted, St. Croix 
Wed 3:30-5:30pm

Barefoot Buddha Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 
Thurs 11:30am-1:30 pm 

Miriam's Restaurant Christiansted, St. Croix 
Sun 4 -5:30pm


M2M (member to member)

We invite you to take part in the creation of our weekly newsletters.

Share your recipes and pictures, your experiences with the R2R Farm or your thoughts on sustainable farming matters.

We then will do our best to fit it in and share it in one of our upcoming newsletters.

We look forward to your responses!


Wishlist 

Got some things laying around we can re-use in the CSA

• egg cartons
  
• shallow, sturdy plastic trays for upcoming tomato harvest
  
• milk crates
  
• coolers
  
• zip-locks
  
• popsicle sticks
  
• tarps

• any working garden tools
  
• generator, chainsaw, weed-eater
  
• carpentry
  
• sign-making
  
• massages :)
  
• your CSA bags
  
• feedback

VERONICA ALWAYS BRINGS HER OWN CLAY POT to Bush Chef, which she sets over her "three stone" and pushes in the logs as they turn from red hot to white ash in the center. She cooks in homemade coconut milk instead of water, with a mix of farm vegetables, roots, wild plants, and herbs to make a masterful vegetarian ital. All the while she smiles and tells stories, and listens to others' as well as she tells her own.

She has already taken us across the farm's property and told us the uses of many plants. Even the weeds have uses. In less than a quarter mile, we saw about every cure needed to open a health clinic, a grocery store, and pharmacy. Now we are all taking in the aroma of her cooking, along with the other participants in the 2012 Bush Chef.  

Chef Theo Gumbs was another featured chef who showed he was no slouch in the bush at all. Working over the fire and with his team of helpers, he offered up brilliant displays of farm food and mahi, combined with his brand of seasonings and lemongrass oil. My favorite, which went VERY fast, was the bamboo pressure cooked mahi with our farm's coconut, thyme, rosemary, and hot pepper, combined with his pan sear seasoning. 

Other highlights were a below-ground steam-pit cooker with veggie wraps, a pumpkin soup boiled in it's own shell with hot rocks, and the biggest sneaker hit of them all -BBG mongoose. That's right. Free-range chicken-egg-fed organic local mongoose. Thank you Chris Fletcher for the daring dish, which was undeniably incredible to the few of us who tried it. Believe it or not, even one vegetarian crossed over not to miss the rare opportunity.  The crossover was NOT Veronica! No worries, you won't be getting any mongoose in your bags any time soon. But you will get eggs. Put it on your calendar for next year, Bush Chef is the first weekend in March!

The farm is now bursting with food, so please enjoy the greater than usual harvest you are getting this week. By working with chefs, farmers, conscious eateries like Barefoot Buddha and Polly's at the Pier, we can succeed in the goal of making organic local food a part of everyday life in the USVI for those who want it.

~ Nate

CSA SEASON 2 DATES AND REGISTRATION !!

The summer season will start on May 30th and run for another 3 months. We are adding 15 spots to the CSA, but they should go fast with our deep waiting list.

-CSA members have first option to partake in the summer season.

-Registration will be open this week on Sunday April 15 and all members will have one week to sign up before the registration is open to non-members. 

-The contents of the CSA will be similar to the winter, although some varieties will be changed and fruit will be added, like grafted mangoes, & passion fruit.

COMING UP

April 21 - Virgin Gourmet Premier Release Party & concert. The television series presents its first syndicated show that will air on TEMPO, featuring the star Chef Theo Gumbs & R2R Farm. Advance tickets $35 at Riddims, Starfish, and Polly's at the Pier.

April 28 - Pig Roast and acoustic music with Big Guns Rock at R2R Farm. Local food and music combine again for a seasonal outdoor feast, with local food sourced from the farm and other producers from St. Croix.

May 25-38 - Organic Yoga Retreat - Yoga and Slow Food combined. CSA members including Yogi Marshan Sam and community organizer Sarah Haynes bring you our first ever Yoga retreat on the peaceful farm.

And don't forget, there is a standing invitation for you to take a farm stay and/or volunteer with us. Come out and visit YOUR farm. 

WTF (What's That Food)? 

Heirloom GREEN Tomatoes 

Green tomatoes, (Solanum lycopersicum) are not the strangest thing in the world, but here a lot about tomatoes that most people did not know, much less, unripe. Let's start with the basics:

Q: Is a tomato a vegetable or a fruit?


A: Well, as history shows us, it depends on who you ask. For instance, the US Supreme court ruled once they were vegetables. However, to be botanically correct, they are indeed fruits.  In fact, they are berries, because one's pericarp (the flesh you eat) is all produced by single ovule per fruiting body. [Ed. note -Proving government knows less about our food than we do]

Q: Tomatoes are European in origin, right? 

A: Actually, evidence clearly shows they are from South America, probably peru. They were a mainstay in the Caribbean before they travelled east. So, one might say, they were more Crucian than Italian. However, literature suggests the diversity of heir-loom tomatoes that we offer, such as Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, and German Striped, were bred to greater extent in cooler climates outside of the tropics. As we have seen, organic tomatoes are loved by ALL, including birds, viruses, and thieves. Hence the Crucian farmer saying I've heard more than once, "Ya go always plant tree! One fa' you, one fa da worm, an' one mo fa da tief!" 


Q: Are Green Tomatoes poisonious? 

A: We suggest not to eat them raw when green, unless pickled. However, there is little evidence that they would do anything bad to you. In fact, some research on animals (unfortunate, yet revealing) showed that the active of 2 present glycoalkoloids, tomatine, was not absorbed by the animals. In fact, they had the curious effect of removing bad cholesterol from the bloodstream. I don't know if that would counterbalance the effects of frying them! Cooking with them is safe and very common across the southern US, so please check out one the recipes.

On a final note, the imported tomatoes in markets are usually harvested green and then gassed to induce artificial ripening. That is why imports taste, as one customer put it, "like cardboard."  Michael Pollan called the genetically modified tomatoes "a notion of a tomato." Our REAL, green tomatoes are to be used as green tomatoes. They will not ripen off the vine. But soon, they will be ripening ON the vine, especially that we have (most of) our BIRD NETS up! So, we are giving you a product that priceless -you can't buy what we have to share it in any import store in the USVI. We hope you will savor them as we do, green and ripe. 

Solanum lycopersicum


How to use it: Fried, baked, pickled, souped, relished -there is along list so here are  21 green tomato recipes.

Meet the Farmer...

Shelli Brin-Olive, Tourism & hospitality, farm co-owner

Shelli Brin-Olive has found her passion in more ways than one at Ridge to Reef Farm. A third generation "Frenchie" from Hull Bay, Shelli takes full advantage of the opportuity to explore, live out, and share her agricultural heritage as a native Virgin Islander. 

As the farm's Tourism & Hospitality manager, Shelli is often that bright smiling face that visitors first see when they come for a tour, farm stay, or educational program. Housing our staff and visitors is quite a task, and in between her compelling presentations she is often seen trucking around the farm, tending to the needs of those who visit her farm -a truly dedicated hostess!

Her Grandfather instilled a contagious good-nature in her father, and was often already making his way over the spine of St. Thomas with his donkey cart loaded with produce by the time the morning horn would blow from arriving cruise ships. He also instilled dedication to his crops, exemplified by his habit of sleeping with his mattress on top of harvested pumpkins to keep them safe from critters. 

Today, using her B.A. in tourism, Shelli speaks passionately about nature and agriculture and how people can help preserve the unique qualities of her home islands while improving their own health. But perhaps most of all, she likes to laugh and have fun, enjoying the fruits of her childhood and remembering one of most important lessons -to share. A lot!

Shelli also makes her own line of bamboo earrings, candle holders, and more. Many of these are now on display at the Ridge to Reef Community Center. She also offers taste tours for groups of all sizes, including cruise ship visitors, groups visiting St. Croix, and locals wanting to reconnect with nature and agriculture.

Thank you Shelli for all the hard work you put in for the honor of yesterday, benefit of today, and promise for tomorrow!

From the Fields

Recent rains again have saturated the soil and resulted in a grass explosion, keeping the valley lush and us on the weedwacker, mower, hoes, and hand pulling plants in the place (AKA weeds). The good part is all of our plantings have been taking off, as you can see in the huge lettuce heads this week and the tomatoes, which look ready to burst into ripeness. 

We are also seeing the first passion fruit of the season dropping from the forest canopy. We have planted so many more this season, it should be an amazing passion fruit season. We have three varieties varying in sour and sweetness. Some perfectly yellow, others splattered with purple and red hues. 

The mongoose have been on full attack, and at a time where our only trap was run over by a car. Our chickens are defending themselves well, but we are losing around 20 eggs, or 15% of our optimal daily production. We should have our new cages in soon, until then we have fortified our movable chicken tractors although the mongoose are very hard to keep out. The eggs are precious!

We re really excited about all the plantings for our next CSA season starting May 30th, expanding our plantings every day! I mowed around some old sugar cane plantings, which we are planning on expanding for more consistent sugar production.

"Working" in this valley is an amazing experience! It's hard work, but as they say, if you do what you love, you never have to work a day in your life.

-Nate


PO Box 2903 - Frederiksted USVI 00841 - www.visfi.org - [email protected] - 340 220 0466
Ridge to Reef Farm @ the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute

The Week's Harvest

Arugula
Cucumbers
Papaya
Tatsoi
Mizuna
Basil
Bananas 
Pole Beans
Heirloom Green Tomatoes

Farm Recipes


Southern Fried Green Tomatoes
-Erin's Award Winning 2006 Bush Chef Recipe

You need:
1-2 Sliced Heirloom Green Tomatoes
3/4 cup Buttermilk
Corn Meal (look for non-gmo)
1/4 cup Flour
Salt & pepper to taste
Other dried & cropped seasonings
Vegetable oil, deep or light fry

Directions:
Basically its a mixture of corn meal and flour or panko (a little more corn meal than flour), salt, pepper, whatever fresh herbs you have.

Dip seasoned tomato slice in buttermilk (if you have, much better than milk...add a little hot sauce in there if you want), then dip in cornmeal/flour or panko mixture, then set on a rack until you fry in vegetable oil.

Also good if you dip in cornmeal mixture, then buttermilk, then cornmeal again. after you fry them, set them in a warm oven until you serve. 

The aioli we made was a mixture of stuff that we kept adding to until we liked it....but basically its just mayo with a bunch of herbs.....yummy!!

Serves 4

Preparation time: 20 min. 

THANK YOU HOSTS!

Pick-up times

Polly's at the Pier Frederiksted, St. Croix 
Wed 3:30-5:30pm

Barefoot Buddha Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 
Thurs 11:30am-1:30 pm 

Miriam's Restaurant Christiansted, St. Croix 
Sun 4 -5:30pm


M2M (member to member)

We invite you to take part in the creation of our weekly newsletters.

Share your recipes and pictures, your experiences with the R2R Farm or your thoughts on sustainable farming matters.

We then will do our best to fit it in and share it in one of our upcoming newsletters.

We look forward to your responses!


Wishlist 

Got some things laying around we can re-use in the CSA

• egg cartons
  
• shallow, sturdy plastic trays for upcoming tomato harvest
  
• milk crates
  
• coolers
  
• zip-locks
  
• popsicle sticks
  
• tarps

• any working garden tools
  
• generator, chainsaw, weed-eater
  
• carpentry
  
• sign-making
  
• massages :)
  
• your CSA bags
  
• feedback

THE BIRDS ARE LINING UP for tomato season, which is oh so near. While mowing around the CSA production fields I gathered a hat-full of the first ripe tomatoes. They are not yet ready in amount for the CSA, but the pearly-eyed thrashers (trushees) are all over it. We are about to erect taller trellis superstructure to offer more protection and more room for the plants, who have vegetating very nicely.

The smell in the rows is intoxicating, and this time of year always reminds me of the first garden I ever remembered as a child, in our neighbor's backyard. We could use some help this weekend maintaining them if you want to offer some volunteer time on the farm to help us start filling these bags in the coming weeks with a lot more of the red color spectrum! Contact [email protected] if you can come this week, from 8:30am-12 Monday Tuesday or Wednesday.

CSA = People x Gastronomy x Visiting the Farm

Each week you have been introduced to an R2R farmer here, yet there are others as well who are an integral part of this CSA. This past week we were honored to have come stay at our farm the lovely Sandra and Israel Gonzalez, of Sandra's Farm in mountainous Adjuntas, Puerto Rico.

Those of you who are in our coffee share have been getting the closest organically grown and mindfully processed beans around. They took a farmstay vacation here in the Hawk's Nest, and brought with them 20lbs of beans picked and roasted only days ago! We suggest taking a tour of their farm and impressive roasting process if you are ever in their area (soon offering farm stays). You can even help them pick beans on their farm, as we did for our Honeymoon (although we ate most of what we picked!).

We are working on perfecting our coffee packaging and delivery, and thanks to the farmers and your suggestions we are excited about this fresh new batch for the CSA! One tip Sandra and Irsael offered for our members is to use glass jars with rubber seals to ensure maximum freshness, and store in a dark cool place. The also suggested to use a french press and to always warm milk before adding, so it blends well with the brew.

Once roasted in Aduntas, Sandra and Israel immediately vacuum seal their coffee in large bags with a specialized air vent you see on other coffee roasting bags. The vent keeps out oxygen but lets out gasses that slowly exude from freshly roasted beans (the amazing smell released when squeezed). We keep the beans vacuum sealed or in a glass jar until delivery, to uphold the integrity of our local coffee. They are only one island over, working for the VI CSA and their employees every week. As Israel observed, "[Coffee] Farmers learn quickly that their bean pickers don't work for them. It's the farmers who work for the pickers!"

~Nate Olive, Farm Director

COMING UP

April 21 - Virgin Gourmet Premier Release Party & concert. The television series presents its first syndicated show that will air on TEMPO, featuring the star Chef Theo Gumbs and R2R Farm. 

April 28 - Pig Roast and acoustic music with Big Guns Rock at R2R Farm. Local food and music combine again for a seasonal outdoor feast, with local food sourced from the farm and other producers from St. Croix.

May 25-38 - Organic Yoga Retreat - Yoga and Slow Food combined. CSA members including Yogi Marshan Sam and community organizer Sarah Haynes bring you our first ever Yoga retreat on the peaceful farm.

And don't forget, there is a standing invitation for you to take a farm stay and/or volunteer with us. Come out and visit YOUR farm. 

WTF (What's That Food)? 

NOT this week's strange food item, but worth talking about for other weeks since this week is so "normal": Chayote 

Few fruits get stranger looks from than Sechium edule. "Is that a deformed mango?" "A small papaya?" or.... "OH my God! You have chayote!" Those who know it, often love it, so please allow us to introduce you.

Also known locally as christophene, chayote does not need to be replanted each year, as it is a perennial vine in the cucurbitaceae family, along with squash. In fact, chayote can be cooked in most situations as you would cook a squash. However, squash needs an annual replanting, which requires labor and soil disruption. Chayote, for this reason, is an especially sustainable plant for the tropics. Also, because it seems invincible to bugs and diseases here, requires no special effort or pesticides. Yes, even organic farms sometimes use "organic" pesticides, like neem oil, which actually can kill many beneficial insects, so we like anything e don't have to spray.

Because the plants are not fully adapted to domestication, their seeds can sprout while the fruit is on the vine. It has both male and female reproductive organs, but it needs the help of a wild bee or wasp usually to make the necessary connections. They can be planted by burying the entire fruit!


How to use it:

First of all, PLEASE USE GLOVES when handling peeled skin, as a sap can be slippery and then create an elmer's glue -type sticky substance on your hands that can last for some hours. Some do not even peel the skin it at all, but we do.

Imagine a squash, but reduce cooking times drastically as chayote cooks quickly and one of he nicest things about it is the crispy texture is retains when cooked. It has incredible flavor-soaking properties, so be imaginative with your seasoning as otherwise it is bland. You can also make shavings of the raw fruit like a papaya salad. Let us know what you come up with.

Meet the Farmer...
Jessica Irwin, farm apprentice

Smell fresh-baked banana bread on your trip to the farm? There's a 90% chance that it's the handiwork of the apprentice extraordinaire, Jess!

Jessica "Jess" Irwin is from Missouri who worked as a landscaper for Columbia's Parks and Recreation Department. She now has relocated to St. Croix to gain organic farming experience. She chose Ridge to Reef Farm as her place to trade her work for education on growing organic food crops from a list of places around North America.

What Jessica likes most is learning about tropical plants and seeing all the unfamiliar fruits and plants found in the region. Every day she is learning new things and applying them with her strong contributions to the Virgin Islands CSA! 

Another favorite thing is to harvest your basil. "Yes, definitely, it smells fresh and wonderful", she says. In fact, Jess had been behind all the basil harvest this season. 

In addition to harvest, she takes care of seedlings, watering and harvesting and weeding when needed. She is an incredibly fast and thorough weeder, actually one of the best this farm has ever seen. 

One of her other best talents is culinary. She is a leader in the kitchen, fusing foods into creative baked goods and has a gift for making sure our local produce and meats are not wasted. Much of the "B" grade produce gets used as she helps keep the staff fueled with her creative and sensitive cooking style that we ALL appreciate! imagine, for a moment, her crispy thin basil-infused pizza crust with roasted malabar nut basil pesto, sprinkled with mozzarella and topped with the first tomatoes of the season! 

Looking to the future, Jess says she hope the CSA can expand in membership in the near future.  She may get her wish. Season II starts May 30th and there will be 15 additional spaces available in addition to the current level.

Jess is committed to finishing this season through autumn and hopefully longer. Thank you Jessica for your kind, consistent, and delicious work! 

From the Fields

Irrigation has arrived!

We have been on standby to plant additionally in the swales for some time now.  While awaiting a massive shipment of drip line and fittings from California we have focused much of our time and energy in our Gaia garden.  However, finally the shipment has arrived and this past week has had a major focus on opening up large beds in the swales past our tomatoes,  peppers, and eggplants.

Also, in a reaction to last week’s heavy rainfall much effort has gone to beating back the bush with weed whacking and mowing.  This has worked out perfectly in supplying us with the mulch we needed for the new beds.  It seems daily that more and more food is going into the ground and after yesterday’s pollarding of the fruit tree lines and banana grove the farm is looking great.  There is certainly plenty of excited energy here with our vision of production appearing closer each day.

-Matt Johnson, Staff



PO Box 2903 - Frederiksted USVI 00841 - www.visfi.org - [email protected] - 340 220 0466
Ridge to Reef Farm @ the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute

The Week's Harvest

Lettuce heads
Bok Choy
Mizuna
Kale
Green onions
Basil
Papaya
Bananas
Eggs

Farm Recipes
Curried Coconut Papaya Chayote
~ Shelli, Inspired by Angletta Pascal

You need:
1 1/2 cups fresh coconut milk
2 cups diced green papaya
1 cups diced chayote (WEAR GLOVES WHEN HANDLING TO PREVENT SLIGHT CAUSTIC AFFECT)
2 tablespoons curry power
1 teaspoon minced tumeric
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Directions:
Saute onions & green papaya until papaya gets soft. The add chayote & other seasons, mix to cover chunks with seasoning. Both chayote and papaya really soak up the seasoning! 

Once soft, add coconut milk and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add some whole hot peppers before this step for optional extra seasoning. Do not overcook, or chunks can lose firmness.

Serve hot, but let cool slightly first, as papaya and chayote can really retain temperature heat even when the rest of dish is only warm.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 25 min. 

THANK YOU HOSTS!

Pick-up times

Polly's at the Pier Frederiksted, St. Croix 
Wed 3:30-5:30pm

Barefoot Buddha Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 
Thurs 11:30am-1:30 pm 

Miriam's Restaurant Christiansted, St. Croix 
Sun 4 -5:30pm


M2M (member to member)

We invite you to take part in the creation of our weekly newsletters.

Share your recipes and pictures, your experiences with the R2R Farm or your thoughts on sustainable farming matters.

We then will do our best to fit it in and share it in one of our upcoming newsletters.

We look forward to your responses!


Wishlist 

Got some things laying around we can re-use in the CSA

• egg cartons
  
• shallow, sturdy plastic trays for upcoming tomato harvest
  
• milk crates
  
• coolers
  
• zip-locks
  
• popsicle sticks
  
• tarps
  
• any working garden tools
  
• generator, chainsaw, weed-eater
  
• carpentry
  
• sign-making
  
• massages :)
  
• your CSA bags
  
• feedback

WOW! We are officially at the halfway-point of our CSA, and there is still so much more to come. Already we are planning out our next season, projected to start May 30. We want you to know first as you hear about our upcoming plans that you pioneering CSA members will have first option to buy in to the spring/summer season. Soon, we will release the deadlines for the next season and the exciting crops that are in the pipeline for summer, especially those fruits already budding. The VI food revolution is ON, and you are making it happen.

I want to inform you of what our growing food community is up to, because there is a lot going on you can take part in, so add these to your calendar.

April 7 - Guest Chef Slow Down Dinner at Ridge to Reef Farm. 6 creative courses prepared by a top chef in the territory (TBA) on the farmhouse porch.

April 21 - Virgin Gourmet launch event and reggae concert. The television series presents its first syndicated show that will air on TEMPO, featuring the star Chef Theo Gumbs and R2R Farm. Artist Niyorah and friends will be performing a solar show at the Ridge to Reef Community Center, during the  week of the St. Croix Food and Wine Experience!

April 28 - Pig Roast and acoustic music with Big Guns Rock at R2R Farm. Local food and music combine again for a seasonal outdoor feast, with local food sourced from the farm and other producers from St. Croix.

May 25-38 - Organic Yoga Retreat - Yoga and Slow Food combined. CSA members including Yogi Marshan Sam and community organizer Sarah Haynes bring you our first ever Yoga retreat on the peaceful farm.

And don't forget, there is a standing invitation for you to take a farm stay and/or volunteer with us. Come out and visit YOUR farm. 

This year has been dedicated to the spirit of Ellen Nettles. She had a passion for promoting local food, and that has been a large part of our success up to this point. We think she would be proud. Above, you see the sunflowers we planted with her father Jim in her memory. As we move forward, we carry with us the passion and dedication of Ellen and all those many hands that have created the community basket we are able to share today.

In Appreciation, 

-Nate Olive, Director

WTF (What's That Food)? 

This week's strange food item: Sugar Cane

Yes, it's another one of the fantastic dicot grasses AGAIN! They are so weird. This one is a special one, especially here in the Virgin Islands. Sugar Cane, in the genus Saccharum, refers to over 35 different species. Did you know sugar cane is the world's leading crop, even more than corn?

No other crop has changed the face of the USVI like this one. Treated like currency, it was the gold or oil of the day when St. Croix was the top cane producer in the region. Not a lot of people know it, but because St. Croix does not get too much rain and has flat lands(which waters down the sugar), it became the best place to grow the highest sugar concentrated cane in the eastern Caribbean. Of course, it's value led to the brutal Danish slave trade and the nearly complete deforestation of the Virgin Islands. In the process of hundreds of years of one crop, the USVI lost topsoil, and even the running waters that gave St. Croix it's Taino name, Ay Ay, which means "the river," now just an ancestral memory.

Today, we are using sugar cane to plant breaks in our living hillside terraces. It is an easy crop to grow here, requiring no additional irrigation and when grown sustainably, and a real treat from a long day in the field. Once king, it is now a valuable member of the more diverse food village. It reminds us of the permaculture principle: Diversity = Stability


How to use it:

Sugar cane can be processed until raw sugar, crushed to make a raw simple sugar fluid for adding into cooking (cut into small chunks  if you are contemplating the blender), or just peeled, quartered, and chewed for a ready-to-eat treat. Of course, you could make rum too, but that is a different story!

Meet the Farmer...

Jacob Collums, farm apprentice

Surrounded by cows, pigs, horses, chickens, ducks, geese and quails he gained his first farming experiences. On his father’s hobby farm in Oklahoma he helped out on the fields and figured that he really liked what he was doing there. During college he spent time on his teammate’s cattle ranch and when he ended up with a Master of Biology last year, his desire was to become fully involved in organic farming in Colorado.  However, this was before he went on a vacation to Jamaica and got infected with the love for the Caribbean.

Following his heart, he started to search online and found our website. He directly applied and got an email from Nate a few days later. One week later he was sweating in the fields with us and cuddling “Sugar” our runt baby goat (in the beginning of January). Since that time 

Right now his goal is to do the best and as much as he can for the farm. “Helping this farm grow is helping myself grow at the same time and I’ll see where it will take me.” Maybe one day he will leave this “place of serenity and peacefulness” and share his experiences on his own farm back home with the rest of his family. We appreciate all the contributions of Jacob, and essential person of the CSA and much more!

"From the Fields"

All the rain we’ve been getting has certainly been beneficial in one way: the plants are taking off! The excess moisture seeps into the soil and increases the plants ability to absorb minerals and nutrients. Our garden area called Gaia Trellis, where we have several beds of crops is producing heavily now. Greens onions, collards, swiss chard, radishes, chayote, arugula, bok choy and lettuce wave happily in the light breezes that blow down the alleys. These long beds were done in a ‘french intensive’ method of planting densely to maximize space use.

The Gaia trellis gardens are also beautiful example of how the farm uses agroforestry practices to create microclimates optimal to growing conditions. Fruit or nut trees strategically planted along crop beds bring coolness to the intensity of the sun, give a crop themselves, and can even contribute to the health of the soil. Common trees we use in agroforestry include coconut and banana palms, mango, papaya, meringa, Malabar chestnut, and ylang ylang.

~ Julia, R2R Graduate, Intern


PO Box 2903 - Frederiksted USVI 00841 - www.visfi.org - [email protected] - 340 220 0466
Ridge to Reef Farm @ the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute

 
The Week's Harvest

Lettuce
Collards
Arugula
Green Bananas
Green Onions 
Moringa Flowers
Bok Choy
Mizuna
Papaya
Sorrel Hibiscus
Cucumber
Sugar Cane

Farm Recipes

Sweet Sorrel Hibiscus Tea

You need:
6 cups filtered water
5 oz. whole sorrel flowers (arils)
1/2 c. fresh lime juice
peeled, diced, crushed sugar cane, to taste

Directions:
Bring water to a boil. Remove from heat. Add hibiscus blossoms and allow to steep, add crushed cane and resulting cane juice, keep covered.

When cool, add additional sugar or honey to taste, and lime juice. Mix and chill for a refreshing tea!

Preparation time: 10 min. 

THANK YOU HOSTS!

Pick-up times

Polly's at the Pier Frederiksted, St. Croix 
Wed 3:30-5:30pm

Barefoot Buddha Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 
Thurs 11:30am-1:30 pm 

Miriam's Restaurant Christiansted, St. Croix 
Sun 4 -5:30pm


M2M (member to member)

We invite you to take part in the creation of our weekly newsletters.

Share your recipes and pictures, your experiences with the R2R Farm or your thoughts on sustainable farming matters.

We then will do our best to fit it in and share it in one of our upcoming newsletters.

We look forward to your responses!


Wishlist 

Got some things laying around we can re-use in the CSA

• egg cartons
  
• shallow, sturdy plastic trays for upcoming tomato harvest
  
• milk crates
  
• coolers
  
• zip-locks
  
• popsicle sticks
  
• tarps
  
• any working garden tools
  
• generator, chainsaw, weed-eater
  
• carpentry
  
• sign-making
  
• massages :)
  
• your CSA bags
  
• feedback

Paradise is never easy. This is true especially on a farm, where we are always dealing with the cycles and stages of life. Many of the plants we raise are not from here, so we have to hold their hands the entire way to the harvest bag. When you consider that most Virgin Islanders have a stateside taste preference for crops that were bred and developed for temperate environments, we really have our work cut out for us on these islands. Fortunately, the CSA allows us to introduce you to crops that may be unfamiliar but are no less tasty and actually usually more nutritive. 

Not only are many of the crops out of place, but so are most of the "wild" animals. Did you know that the largest native terrestrial mammal in the USVI is a bat? A few steps up from that are the mongoose dem, brought in hundreds of years ago to control those little critters in between (you know, the one chewing on your electrical system as you read this). They also like to chew on our chickens, and seem to prefer our eggs as a premier delicacy. And then there is Odocoileus virginianus, the deer.

We more often see the signs of the deer than the deer itself: Like those beans you were supposed to get -now beanless, leafless stems. The cassava that now are little nubs in the ground. The cinnamon trees we tried but were munched like candy. They eat everything they can. It can be the most frustrating thing as a farmer to see a crop wiped out overnight. We even sometimes invent new curse words sent out like arrows.

So, what was I going to do the other day, when, while mowing on our new CSA tractor implement I came across a young fawn trapped in vines alongside the road. Of course the beans came across my mind, but compassion won out. After all, they are our brothers and sisters. Let her go, and she'll eat the crops one day, I thought. But I had to give her a chance to prove me wrong. So with the help of Julia we removed about 120 ticks and gave her water before putting her on the side of the road as the deer could not even stand up on her own. We felt proud. We did a good thing. It even got plastered on Facebook before I got home. "Awww!"

It was hours later, when I went back to check on the deer to see if she had went on her way, that I saw a wild dog run out from the bush. I know that was not a good sign. I found her warm, limp, headless body in the same spot as I left her. I made sure that every part left was used in honor and appreciation. It was a hard loss that left me questioning my heart, but all in a typically standard unpredictable day of farming. 

We bring forth and take away life every day. But we are fortunate to have life at all, on this absolute miracle of a planet. The feeling reminds me of my teachers' Apache teacher, Stalking Wolf, who said about losing a deer, "When you feel the same way for a single blade of grass that is ripped from the earth, only then will you begin to understand the spirit-that-moves-through-all-things."

Life comes and goes like the tides. We give thanks for it and all of creation. Paradise may not be easy. But is worth being.

Mahalo, 

-Nate Olive, Director

WTF (What's That Food)? 

This week's strange food item: Lemongrass

A native of Malaysia and India, lemongrass, or Cymbopogon, is firmly rooted in the traditional and fusion cuisine found in the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean. We often don't think of grass as a food, but one sniff of lemongrass reminds us of the wide range of medicinal and culinary uses. Remember, bananas and bamboo are grasses too, so join us in appreciation of this monocot treasure!

No morning in the USVI would be complete without bush tea. Lemongrass is a favorite ingredient for it's energetic quality. Blend it and strain along with a hefty bunch of guinea grass, and you have the famous chlorophyll drink extremely popular in Rastafarian diets that is anti-carcinagenic, anti-oxidant, and it helps build red blood cells with a flush of available vitamin K, C, folic acid, protein, iron, and calcium. 


How to use it:

Lemongrass, in nearly every application, is pounded and/or roughed up to break the cell walls of the plant, thus releasing the juices easily discernible by the strong, crisp clean aroma (that mosquitos abhor!). One favorite use of ours is a Thai lemongrass soup. You can use the stalks or the leafy tops. It goes great with the peppers in this week's bag! hint, hint

Meet the Farmer...

Matt Johnson, farm full-time worker

Up from Hampton, Virginia, Matt had little exposure to farming. Instead, he grew up fishing with family and friends along the Chesapeake Bay which shaped a love for the water (especially salt water). 

This passion for the ocean and desire to explore marine life is what brought him down to the Caribbean over 2 years ago. After sailing over 3,000 miles throughout the Lesser Antilles he came to visit the farm and made the decision to stay on St. Croix staring into our fire ball last August. Looking back now he says: "Sometimes it’s hard to believe how I got here.” 

Matt became a farm friend and family member before he even thought about getting his hands dirty.  He was drawn to us by a young, beautiful girl that opened his eyes to a whole new world of planting, weeding, preparing beds and the lifestyle that comes with being part of Ridge to Reef farm. His admiration for the soil developed quickly and after the first of the year, he came to the farm with the intention to help in the fields for a week. “That week mysteriously turned into 3 months” and who knows if he will ever leave this valley after all.

“I enjoy almost everything about living up in the rain forest. It is a work-hard-play-hard situation. We put in solid hours sun up to sun down and then come together for great company in the community center every night. One really has to make the conscious decision sometimes to simply sit, observe, breathe, and reflect on the great life we live up here.  There is always something amazing going on, and it has certainly been a pleasure to get to know the incredible people that the farm attracts through either educational programs, volunteers, farm stays and the local friends of Ridge to Reef.  After finishing a degree in criminal justice, time overseas with the Army and working as a sailor I am now proud to say that I am farming every day and I’m very pleased with life right now.“

Prepare the field, put food in the ground and harvest. Easy, no? At Ridge to Reef Farm we put a lot more thoughts into the food production process. We base our work as best as we can on Permaculture Principles.

So, let us give you a short introduction and hopefully inspire you to read up on it and integrate it into your personal lives. 

Care for the earth, care for the people and fair share are the three ethics that build the foundation for permaculture design.
 “Permaculture is a global movement that started in Australia, under the leadership of Bill Mollison who systematically studied ecological systems and showed how we can adopt the principles of nature to creating sustainable societies. In the beginning permaculture meant- permanent agriculture. Now it has evolved to mean- permanent culture.

Permaculture is a design system based on the three ethics and principles mentioned above which can be used to establish, design, manage and improve all efforts made by individuals, households and communities towards a sustainable future.
















The so-called permaculture flower is a systematic diagram of how we can achieve sustainability by altering the specific areas of our lives."

These two images are great for giving you a brief overview. Good sources to fully understand and to receive ideas on how to implement Permaculture in your life though, are books by Bill Mollison or Sepp Holzer (two of the most well-established Permaculture experts in the world).

Additionally you can take part in one of our Permaculture workshops that are offered several times a year. Either participate on a Permaculture week-end and or in the several-week-long Ridge to Reef Beneficial Farmer Training Programs.

Ridge to Reef Farm loves to share its knowledge.


PO Box 2903 - Frederiksted USVI 00841 - www.visfi.org - [email protected] - 340 220 0466
Ridge to Reef Farm @ the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute

 
The Week's Harvest

Cucumbers
Lettuce
Chard, Collards or Kale
Arugula
Chaya
Green Bananas
Lemongrass 
Moringa Flowers
Bok Choy
Thai hot peppers
Eggs

Farm Recipes

Sojne Phool Baati Chorchori (Moringa oleifera flowers cooked in mustard paste)

recommended by  Rita Lutchmeesingh

Introduction: Sojne Phool is used in making dishes different in part of India, it tastes somewhat similar to wild mushrooms. This Bengali recipe is made with mustard paste and cooked in a covered pot

Sojne Phool Recipe:
Preparation time 20 minutes
Cooking time 10 minutes
Difficulty level: Easy

You need:
Sajne Phool plucked (2 cups)
One large Potato( or try green banana): Diced into small cubes
One medium Tomato, chopped
Mustard Oil: 2 tbps
3 to 4 Whole Green Chilli, slit halfway
Mustard Paste- 2tbsp
Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
Red Chilli Powder-1/2 tsp
Sugar ½ tsp
Salt to taste
100 ml Water

Directions: 
1. Pluck the Sojne Phool or the Moringa flowers from its stalk carefully. Make sure to remove all stalks otherwise it will add a pungent and bitter taste. 

2. Wash the flowers thoroughly and keep aside.

3. In a Kadai (pot), put all ingredients except water and fold well. Note that this should be done even before heating the Kadai on the burner.  

4. Now bring  the Kadai (pot) with the mixture on a gas top, allow it to heat it up, stir well.

5. Cover the Kadai with a lid and slow down the heat, cook for 10 minutes. Check in between and add little water if necessary to prevent burning at the bottom. (Ideally it should be cooked without adding water.)

6. Check seasoning when the flowers look tender and cooked well.

7. Serve with Rice and Daal (lentils, peas or beans).

THANK YOU HOSTS!

Pick-up times

Polly's at the Pier Frederiksted, St. Croix 
Wed 3:30-5:30pm

Barefoot Buddha Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 
Thurs 11:30am-1:30 pm 

Miriam's Restaurant Christiansted, St. Croix 
Sun 4 -5:30pm


M2M (member to member)

We invite you to take part in the creation of our weekly newsletters.

Share your recipes and pictures, your experiences with the R2R Farm or your thoughts on sustainable farming matters.

We then will do our best to fit it in and share it in one of our upcoming newsletters.

We look forward to your responses!

Thanks to the pre-pay model of the CSA, we all are going to get a lot more food . The past two weeks we have been able to spend $700 on hydrologic repairs to our front end-loader, which we have been using to repair the roads needed for delivery and open up some bushed-in garden areas. All of the inherited equipment here is old and well used, and some is more fit for the scrapyard than the crop field. so we are rebuilding and fixing our tractor attachment fleet with the flush of funds among other critical improvements.

Last week, we purchased an $1,900 bush cutter, which hooks up to the back of the tractor and has already enabled us to open up 2 additional acres for vegetable production, in a matter of hours! This is so important, since it saves our staff's valuable time (and backs) so we can be doing more seeding and harvesting than weed control. It also gives us an abundance of mulch from the tall guinea grass that can grow up to 6 inches in a week! This mulch will be used to cover bare soil around plants, while retaining moisture around the plant and suppressing weeds. Not to mention it adds in organic matter, which is the key to growing organic food!

Not only are tractor parts and fuel expensive to keep and maintain, but insurance packs a wallop too. Our bill due this month was over $5000 for the year, and without the CSA, I have no idea how we could have paid our first installment. Land rental alone is one of our largest expenses!

This week we are going to spend around $500 for new hand tools and safety equipment for the chainsaw. They will come immediately useful in the Sierra Club volunteer vacation which starts on Saturday. During their stay of 2 weeks we can get all that newly cut grass gathered and spread around our acres of new plantings with their help. You are invited to help too.

Ridge to Reef Farm is a completely customer-supported, family owned farm. We currently have no government funding for food production. Our only investors are you, our other customers with www.vi.loccallygrown.net, and our donation dinners. The tourism market also brings in funds with our educational advocacy programs. 

The Virgin Islands CSA is more than a name. You are really supporting your local organic farmers. We hope that the support we offer in return to you each week in the form of healthy food is well received and enjoyed by your body, mind, and spirit. Without you, well, we'd be lost up to our necks in grass! 

In good medicine,

Nate, Farm Director

P.S. It was great to see CSA members spend some time at the farm this week. Remember shareholders, you all are always welcome here to enjoy YOUR farm. 

WTF (What's That Food)? 

This week's strange food item: Tatsoi

Tatsoi is a member of the Brassica rapa family and commonly known as spoon mustard, spinach mustard and rosette bok choy. It is native to China and has been cultivated in Japan for centuries. This Chinese cabbage is considered an ancient green. 
 



How to use it:
Mix with lettuces and other greens and drizzle with dressing or vinaigrette. Steam, wilt, lightly stir fry or sauté and serve as an accompaniment to chicken, fish, or other proteins. You can also toss it in soups for flavor and texture at the end of the cooking period or use it as a garnish.
We recommend to use it quickly and refrigerate it. 

Meet the Farmer...
Julia comes to the farm from the northeastern US where she grew in the quaint colonial neighborhood of Spring Glen in Hamden, CT. As a girl, between playing soccer and baseball with her brothers and catching frogs in Johnson’s Pond, she had dreams of being a marine biologist.
 
Since a young age she has had a special connection with nature, in particular plants. “Her eyes sparkled when she talks about plants,” says Shelli Brin, who also lives and works on the farm. Besides spending time taking care of plants, Julia enjoys going for long walks around the property’s trails listening to the wind.
 
After attending the University of Vermont, Julia worked on a medicinal herb farm in the ‘northeast kingdom,’ a very beautiful part of the state. There, she discovered her love for agriculture and sustainable systems within the framework of local culture. Because she is of French heritage, born of a French father and American mother, quality of food and quality of life are very important to her. On the farm, she frequently cooks, creates new recipes, and delights in the flavors and aromas of fresh, organic foods.
 
She has goals of one day owning and operating her own small herbal business, using wild plant medicines as well as cultivated ones. In her spare time she likes to run, explore, read, sing and write poetry.

http://thejuliadventures.blogspot.com/ 

From the field...

The fields have been a busy place since our CSA began, and now that we are about a quarter way into the season, the pace has not slowed a bit! Farm intern Jacob and Jess and part-time worker Matt have been putting in some long, dedicated hours weeding and preparing new beds, planting new seeds and transplanting hundreds of small potted vegetables and herbs into the ground.

Our first ripe and juicy tomato came in on Saturday and was shared among the farm staff. More are ripening every day! Soon, the staked tomato plants will be heavy with the round, reddish fruits. Did you know tomatoes are technically a fruit? [and technically classified as berries, Ed.] This is because, like fruits, tomatoes develop from the ovary in the base of the flower and also contain the plants’ seeds (like raspberries and blueberries). Besides tomatos, the eggplants are bearing as well. Each little eggplant is beginning to plump out its dark, silky body.

We’ve also recently seeded more bok choy, tatsoi, dill, green onions, squash, sunflower seeds. The cucumbers we had planted in a succession at the beginning of the CSA season have unfortunately been fighting a losing battle with a pesty green worm that has been chomping down vigorously on the plants leaves. Even with an organic fertilizer and natural pesticide, we’ve been unable to fight mother nature on this one. You win some, you lose some. Until next time! 


PO Box 2903 - Frederiksted USVI 00841 - www.visfi.org - [email protected] - 340 220 0466
Ridge to Reef Farm @ the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute

The Week's Harvest

"Tango" Head Lettuce
Radishes
Chard or Kale
Arugula
Chaya
Tatsoi
Green Bananas
Basil
Moringa Flowers (edible raw or cooked -EAT does battered & fried... really tasty!)

Farm Recipes

Tatsoi/Arugula/ Basil Pesto
by Chef Brian

You need:
Walnuts
Tatsoi/Arugula/ Basil
Garlic
Onion
Salt & Pepper (& Chili powder)

Directions:
1. Roast the walnuts in oil or butter

2. Use mortar and pestel to grind/stomp tatsoi/ arugula/ basil, roasted walnuts, garlic and onion until you get a smooth paste.

3. We suggest to enjoy it on bread, noodles, pizza or on the side of a salad.

THANK YOU HOSTS!

Pick-up times

Polly's at the Pier Frederiksted, St. Croix 
Wed 3:30-5:30pm

Barefoot Buddha Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 
Thurs 11:30am-1:30 pm 

Miriam's Restaurant Christiansted, St. Croix 
Sun 4 -5:30pm


M2M (member to member)

We invite you to take part in the creation of our weekly newsletters.

Share your recipes and pictures, your experiences with the R2R Farm or your thoughts on sustainable farming matters.

We then will do our best to fit it in and share it in one of our upcoming newsletters.

We look forward to your responses!


Wishlist 

Got some things laying around we can re-use in the CSA

• egg cartons
  
• shallow, sturdy plastic trays for upcoming tomato harvest
  
• milk crates
  
• coolers
  
• zip-locks
  
• popsicle sticks
  
• tarps
  
• any working garden tools
  
• generator, chainsaw, weed-eater
  
• carpentry
  
• sign-making
  
• massages :)
  
• your CSA bags

• feedback
  

I remember just 10 years ago you'd be hard pressed to find a cucumber or carrot on St. Croix that wasn't shipped from 2000 miles away or grown locally but sprayed with anything that would keep the worms at bay. Thankfully, times are changing fast. 

The food desert I remember is slowly being replaced day by day by more and more ways to get local and sustainably grown food, but it's not only the farmers who deserve credit for this fertile ground. Enlightened restaurants, markets, chefs, transporters, and home consumers are the links in the chain that make it flow, to name a few.

Here at Ridge to Reef Farm we transformed the former "Creque Slow Down Dinner Experience" into a guest chef series, which we now affectionally call Guest Chef Slow Down Dinners. Originally inspired by the global Slow Food movement, the evolution of this dinner series now includes appearances from the top chefs in the region, such as Brian Wisbauer, Tahirah Abubakr, and Theo Gumbs, as they meet our seasonal selections of organic food. The monthly dinner series here was listed as a top 25 thing to do in the Caribbean by ISLANDS Magazine. Our local food partner Grow VI with Barefoot Bhudda has made an annual event with their own version.

No other place that I know of routinely has as many chefs, farmers, home consumers, and other key players all together to honor and celebrate food to such a peak. Ever since R2R opened the farm gate to all these special people at once, I have learned more about food than I ever expected. It's sort of like our laboratory to see just how far we can take a pumpkin or a lamb or a miracle fruit into a realm beyond words, where texture, taste, and spirits can take us to new places.

Whether it be the next R2R Farm Guest Chef Slow Down Dinner on April 7th, a restaurant that serves local food, or around your own table at home, please join me in raising your glass for the people who make up the supply chain of slow food in the USVI. 

When you embrace the slowness of food, the Founder of Slow Food International Carlo Petrini said, "You reassess the elements of consumer culture, and in rural knowledge, you discover surprisingly simple solutions to problems which speed has made complex and apparently insoluble." It sounds like something we all need to me. What do you think?

In good, slow medicine, 

Nate Olive, Farm Director

WTF (What's That Food)? 

This week's strange food item: Moringa

"Moringa: a supermarket on a tree
Imagine a tree in your backyard that will meet most of your 
nutritional needs, purify your water and take care of you 
medicinally?"

How to use Moringa flowers:

Moringa oleifera flowers are considered a delicacy in many places.They are often mixed into other foods. You can mix the Moringa flowers in salads or fry the flowers in Moringa oil and eat the fried Moringa oleifera flowers as a snack. Especially popular is Moringa oleifera tea. The flowers sit in hot water for at least five minutes to let the distinctive flavor brew. The Moringa flowers tea is considered to have nutritional benefits and to be a powerful medicine.



















For more info on Moringa check out the following video:

Meet the Farmer...

Nadja Hofmann, farm apprentice

My days at Ridge to Reef Farm as an apprentice are numbered. During the last six months I have been receiving insights into all the different parts that the farm is involved in. I have been out in the fields, represented the farm at locally grown market, served at Guest Chef Slow Down Dinners and looked behind the scene of managing such a creative farm business.

I have seen the slow season where only three people lived on the farm and am still experiencing the season full of programs with a growing number of staff. Most of all, I had the chance to experience a community the whole six months, no matter how many people shared this valley at a time. I experienced how supportive, understanding and loving my new home is. The fact that money is not the most important matter at the farm but the well-being of the people that work here and live around us has been proven to me several times. I cannot tell how happy I am that such a place exists in a world where materialistic point of views seem to prevail and how glad I am that I have found a home and a family here.

I hope everyone of you can feel the love that goes into the produce you are receiving every week, and I hope you will have the opportunity to come and meet your farmers one day to get a glimpse of the world that we are living in.

You might be able to sign up for language classes with the sheep, goats, chickens or if you are really lucky with our donkey Pipen. I took all of their classes :-)

From the field...

Hold up! Wait a second! Come on over here! And slooow dowwwn! What am I talking about? Ridge to Reef farm’s Guest Chef ‘Slow Down Dinners’ of course. Usually twice monthly we invite the community to our farm for a 5 course chef-prepared meal using primarily produce from our land. The different backgrounds of the chefs are as diversified as their cooking styles and are an attraction in themselves.
 
On a typical Slow Down Dinner day the chefs arrive early in the day to scope out what ingredients they can use. With ease and flow, chefs set to work around noon chopping, dicing, soaking, and preparing the many colorful ingredients on the kitchen counter. When finally, the evening rolls into the valley, 20 to 50 guests make their way to the majestic mahogany community center for a twilight candle-lit setting.

Last week was my third slowdown dinner and though the tastes were dramatically different from the previous ones, the ambiance was similar. After the plates are set and the flowers arranged on the tables, it is time to relax and socialize. I really enjoy the conversations over good food with people I have never met before and I've really come to appreciate the community that the farm draws around itself. What a merry time it is!

~ Julia Meurice, former R2R student


PO Box 2903 - Frederiksted USVI 00841 - www.visfi.org - [email protected] - 340 220 0466
Ridge to Reef Farm @ the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute

The Week's Harvest

Cucumbers
Ovation Greens*
Pink Lady Radishes
Arugula
Lettuce Mix
Green Bananas
Purple Top Turnips
Basil
Moringa Flowers
Eggs


*Ovation Greens:
This week's CSA box contains a bag of greens: a great combination of both mild and spicy ingredients. It includes Red Mustard, Mizuna, Tatsoi, Kale, and Arugula.

Farm Recipes
Pickled Cucumbers & Turnips

by Jakob

You need:
Cucumbers & Radishes
Onion & Garlic
Vinegar & Water
Black Pepper

Directions:
1. Wash and cut cucumbers, turnips, onion(s) and garlic.
2. Fill a closeable jar with water and vinegar (half/half).
3. Add chopped up veggies and black pepper into jar.

Let closed jar sit in the fridge for at least a few hours. Then enjoy.

THANK YOU HOSTS!

Pick-up times

Polly's at the Pier Frederiksted, St. Croix 
Wed 3:30-5:30pm

Barefoot Buddha Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 
Thurs 11:30am-1:30 pm 

Miriam's Restaurant Christiansted, St. Croix 
Sun 4 -5:30pm


M2M (member to member)

We invite you to take part in the creation of our weekly newsletters.

Share your recipes and pictures, your experiences with the R2R Farm or your thoughts on sustainable farming matters.

We then will do our best to fit it in and share it in one of our upcoming newsletters.

We look forward to your responses!





Wishlist 

Got some things laying around we can re-use in the CSA

• egg cartons
  
• shallow, sturdy plastic trays for upcoming tomato harvest
  
• milk crates
  
• coolers
  
• zip-locks
  
• popsicle sticks
  
• tarps
  
• any working garden tools
  
• generator, chainsaw, weed-eater
  
• carpentry
  
• sign-making
  
• massages :)
  
• your CSA bags
  
• feedback
  

Perhaps marine biologist Sylvia Earle said it best when she ruminated, “The question of today is not will we let nature slip through our fingers, but rather will she will let us slip through hers?”

Clearly, when we act in protection of the environment we are really protecting the people who depend on it. Consider that more than 25% of the world’s fisheries depend on coral reefs. Consider next that a Caribbean-wide study by the Royal Academy of Sciences found that the top two reasons for coral destruction, more than global warming and over-fishing, were 1) Unsustainable shoreline development and 2) Conventional agriculture. Consider again, if you may, that the Journal Science reported that organic mixed-crop agroforestry sequesters more carbon and promotes more water-and-air-cleansing soil biotic activity than even wilderness areas and perservation park lands.

So, with your CSA you are doing more than keeping your dollars in your local community -you are contributing to the conservation of the USVI’s environment and its people with every meal. 

Here at Ridge to Reef Farm in Caledonia valley, we follow the Hawaiian practice of “Ahu Pua’a,” where we take care of our watershed as keepers of the headwaters while providing for the needs of our islands. Well, at least we try our best. We are just people after all, and nobody’s perfect. But together, we are more than people -we are a community. With local organic food production, we live a life where people and nature are one.

Eat slowly. Eat intentionally. Let our healthy land become part of your body. Listen inside.

And after that, let us hear from you -how was your first week? Your feedback will help shape our CSA for weeks and seasons to come!

Good medicine,

~ Nate, Director

WTF (What's That Food)? 

This week's strange food item: Turmeric

Turmeric comes from the root of the Curcuma longa plant and is native in Indonesia and South India. Traditionally it was called "Indian saffron" because of its deep yellow-orange color. It has been used as a healing remedy, textile dye and condiment.

How to use it:

Turmeric can be enjoyed raw or as a powder.

In order to make powder, boil it, dry it and grind it into a very fine consistency.

Powder should be kept in a tightly sealed container in a cool, dark and dry place (if available). Fresh turmeric should be kept in the refrigerator.

Fresh turmeric as well as powder can be used in salad dressings, rice and curry dishes. It also is a great spice to complement recipes that feature lentils.

Meet the Farmer...

Patrick J. Boulger, farm manager

Patrick started his farming career as a child in his father's backyard garden in California. Nonetheless, he had to wait until he was 20 to finally put his hands into Ridge-to-Reef-Farm soil.

Back then he was a student in the Ridge to Reef Beneficial Farmer Training Program where he specialized on Agriculture and Solar Systems (see in the Video below).

Because he just could not get enough, he stayed for the rest of the year 2009 and took an apprenticeship to further expand his knowledge about our valley and the plants as well as animals that live in it. Subsequently he headed further north to  Athens Georgia where he filled the position of assistant manger at Roots Farm. That is where he worked his first CSA. 

After having had a small farming break, he rediscovered his love for dirt and plants and came back to his current home, St. Croix, in last October. Now says he enjoys combining "different skill sets, knowledge, experience and intuition in order to create delicious and healthy food with the help of Mother Nature and a super motivated farm crew."

From the field...

After the first CSA week and some dry days, Patrick was finally able to get on the tractor and work the eight 100 foot rows out in the swales/ fields. To get to the fun part of planting the crew had to further prepare the beds with forks, rakes and hoes.

This is when Matt felt like a princess planting sunflowers all over. I am sure that transplanting eggplants and peppers was not less fun for him and the rest of the crew.

Apart from playing princess in the fields and weeding, the farm crew had a catch-chickens competition. Everyone who has been up at the farm knows that sometimes this is more than necessary (even though the chicken situation is becoming better every day). In order to improve it even more, "Chicken Exodus" plans have already been made. More about that in later editions.

In addition you can look forward to green onions, boc choi, tatsoi, more radishes, kale, collards, a variety of cucumbers and flowers and much more that have been seeded last week and are nourished by the gentle rain we had the last few days.

To be continued...

~ Nadja, apprentice


PO Box 2903 - Frederiksted USVI 00841 - www.visfi.org - [email protected] - 340 220 0466
Ridge to Reef Farm @ the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute

The Week's Harvest

Cucumbers
Lettuce
Radishes
Chard, Collards or Kale
Arugula
Mizuna or Tatsoi
Green Bananas
Green Papaya
Basil
Turmeric
Eggs

Farm Recipes

Green Papaya Salad with Turmeric
by Julia

Makes 6-8 Servings
 
You need:
3-4 medium green papayas (papayas with orange spots are ok too)
2 cloves of garlic
4 small turmeric roots
4-6 basil leaves
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 tablespoons apple cider or balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
 
Directions
1. Peel away tough outer layer of papayas. Once you reach the light colored flesh, keep peeling fleshy layers into a serving bowl until you reach seeds.

2. Peel and chop basil, garlic and turmeric roots very fine then add to papaya.

3. Pour on live oil and vinegar, add a dash of salt and pepper.

4. Toss with hands to blend flavors and let sit for 10-15 minutes for flavors to soak in. Enjoy! 

THANK YOU HOSTS!

Pick-up times

Polly's at the Pier Frederiksted, St. Croix 
Wed 3:30-5:30pm

Barefoot Buddha Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 
Thurs 11:30am-1:30 pm 

Miriam's Restaurant Christiansted, St. Croix 
Sun 4 -5:30pm

M2M (member to member)

We invite you to take part in the creation of our weekly newsletters.

Share your recipes and pictures, your experiences with the R2R Farm or your thoughts on sustainable farming matters.

We then will do our best to fit it in and share it in one of our upcoming newsletters.

We look forward to your responses!

Lately, it seems the Virgin Islands have been reflecting with growing intensity the larger story of the world -a painful fall of unsustainable industries, governments, and widespread unrest. Yet these things are not to dread. Instead, they harken an inevitable return to the realities many have forgotten -especially when it comes to food. 

Community Supported Agriculture is an evolution of thinking. You are no longer a "consumer" in your relationship with this food. With your investment you have pledged to be an integral part of your food system, showing your trust and commitment to us farmers, and to the nature that sustains us all. You are healing humanity and the earth by the way you eat, one season, one week, one meal at a time. 

The weekly bags of food we deliver won't feed you for the entire week. They are meant to augment your local food supply and inspire you to eat foods that are organic with a high life-force energy. We have selected the best organic crops to give you a variety of raw and cooking options. This variety will expand throughout the season, and we are so excited you will get to enjoy it as the season unfolds.

Thanks again for taking part in the VI CSA Winter Season. As we dial in our delivery process, please feel free to leave feedback and come see us at the farm!

~Nate Olive, Director

WTF (What's That Food)? 

This week's strange food item: Chaya

Also known as "Mexican" or "tree" spinach, Chaya was listed by the National Academy of Sciences as one of the most "underexploited" food plants in the world. This native to central america and the caribbean has very high levels of protein, calcium, iron, and carotene, & Vitamins A, C, & B. It is also easy to grow and can resist drought (iguanas, however, are a different story). It cooks like collards and can be used like spinach after being boiled. Add your favorite spices  after boiling, draining, and chopping into strips -Nate recommends turmeric & curry!

So why has this not become a major crop? Echonet.org explains, "One consideration with chaya is that it should not be eaten raw. It contains cyanogenic glycosides, which can lead to cyanide poisoning. These are inactivated and released as a gas by frying or boiling for 10 minutes. (We discard the cooking water, but that is not essential.) Brief stir-frying is not adequate cooking." read more about Chaya

**Chaya must be cooked for 10-15 minutes before it can be eaten!!**
 ·In a study completed by USDA, chaya leaves were found to contain substantially greater amounts of nutrients than spinach.

Meet the Farmers...
Ellen E. Nettles 

Ellen's vibrant spirit arrived on St. Croix 11/3/11 as an intern to help us launch our CSA this winter. She already had made farming experiences and she had a vision that sharing community sustainable agriculture practices are key to realizing a peaceful, cooperative, abundant, and enlightened society.

When we lost the connection to her physical body through the Annaly tide pools on December 8th, a strengthened spirit of community and purpose awakened for many of us, unifying our vision at Ridge to Reef Farm and in our local Frederiksted community.  She taught us to appreciate each moment in life. This first CSA delivery is manifestation of that shared vision and a lot of hard work. Ellen planted many of the seeds you will enjoy and her spirit lives strong.

We dedicate this year of CSA to Ellen Elizabeth Nettles.

From the Field...

 It is impossible to describe the sensory explosion that greets you upon arrival at Ridge to Reef Farm. What a place! I arrived on the island a month ago but it feels like much longer. Having come from a small CSA in Connecticut before departing for warmer soils, I was expecting the usual hum and buzz that comes with living on a working farm. But nothing could prepare me for the experience and learning during my stay within this beautifully and intentionally designed landscape.
 
First of all, did you know that papayas can be eaten while they are still green? Or that coconut water is delicious in soups? If you aren’t already amazed listening to this: banana plants are actually grasses, and their squishy light, yellow peels are edible! Every day I discover something new. Time at the farm seems to slow down if not stop entirely, although the work certainly doesn’t! 
 
I am part of the Ridge to Reef Empowering Community Pathways program which is a month long intensive training on a diversity of topics relating to cultivating food, sustainability and empowering community. In total we are 6 people helping to care for our crops, animals and landscape. The shared labor and the good company keep the jokes coming and the laughs rolling.

~Julia Meurice, Ridge to Reef Pathways Program 

   



PO Box 2903 - Frederiksted USVI 00841 - www.visfi.org - [email protected] - 220-0466 
Ridge to Reef Farm @ Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute

The Week's Harvest
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Radishes
Carrots
Arugula
Chaya**
Green Bananas
Green Papaya
Basil
Thyme
Turmeric
Oregano
Welcome gift (CSA bag)

**IMPORTANT: Please refer to the WTF section of the newsletter for cooking instructions!!!


THANK YOU HOSTS!

Pick-up times:

Polly's at the Pier Frederiksted, St. Croix 
Wed 3:30-5:30pm

Barefoot Buddha Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 
Thur 11:30am-1:30 pm

Miriam's Restaurant Christiansted, St. Croix 
Sun 4 -5:30pm

Farm Recipes

Chaya-Papaya-Pan
by Patrick

You need: 
Bag of Chaya (NEVER EAT RAW) 
1 green papaya 
1 onion 
1 garlic head 
oil
a pinch of salt
pepper & paprika (hot pepper)

Directions: 
Boil Chaya in hot water for 10 to 15 minutes! Peel and slice papaya, onion and garlic. Saute garlic, onions and papaya in oil. Add seasoning and chopped chaya when papaya is soft and cook for a few more minutes.   

VI Banana Fries 
by Shelli 

You need: 
Green bananas
frying oil
Salt & Chili Powder/Paprika/ Nutritional Yeast   

Directions:
Peel bananas off with your hands. If not possible cut them off with a knife. Start heating the oil to fry the bananas and slice the bananas. Add your favorite seasoning and enjoy!

CSA Bag Re-use

As a bonus in the CSA, each member receives a free reusable CSA tote bag to keep at the end of the CSA. It is important that you return your bag clean each week to the CSA pick-up representative, so we can re-use.

This allows us to minimize waste and avoid using cheap plastic grocery bags that have a habit of ending up in the ocean. The reclaimed nylon material will last for years!

Forget your bag? We will still give you another one, although there is a $10 fee for lost bags. And yes, you can also buy extra, as they make great gifts while supporting organic food in the USVI!