November 16, 2011 - Morning Song Farm

Another Thanksgiving Week Reminder

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I know I posted this last week, but I want to just circle back and say it again: to avoid the Wednesday holiday traffic next week, we are doing a marathan harvest on Tuesday and splitting the OC/San Diego deliveries into two trucks, but both on Tuesday. That doesn’t make any difference at all to San Diego subscribers who receive their shares on Tuesdays anyway, but Wednesday subscribers will be picking up a day earlier!

On a related topic: Morning Song Farm will actually be shutting down from Tuesday evening until Saturday for the Thanksgiving holiday. I haven’t actually taken a day off in years, not even when I’ve gone out of town with my daughter. I bring a laptop and an I-phone and continue my office and customer service work unabated. This holiday will be different as my partner, Lance, has suggested that all computer connections and phones will be checked at the door as we exit for 4 days out of town. Actually, I think the word, “suggestion” is a little light footed. Maybe “decree,” would be closer to the truth. Well, be that as it may, I look forward to this little 1965 Thanksgiving, despite my teenagers’ threats to report us to CPS for electronic starvation.

Harvest Ticket Nov. 15-16

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Sorry, I’m having printing problems today and can’t post our normal image ticket until later. But I thought I’d post the ticket, sans images right now:
Below is what went into the large share, then a slash, then what went into the small shares: x/x

Carrot Bunches: 1/1
Beets, tops removed, 2 pounds/1 pound
Green Beans: 1.25 pounds/.75 pounds
Swiss Chard Bunches: 2/1
Pink Lady Apples: 2 pounds/1 pound
Mizuna leafy green: 1/0 on Wednesday, 1/1 on Tuesday
Limes: 9/6
Sprouts: 1/1 clamshell
Pineapple Guavas: 2 pounds/1 pound
Parsley: 1/0 on Wednesday only
Arugula 1/0 on Tuesday, 1/1 on Wednesday

Radish Sprouts have Hairy Roots, Not Mold

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Yes indeed. Although we’ve only had one inquiry, I think it’s worth posting about in case other subscribers were worried and just tossing our sprouts. Lots of people who have tried growing radish sprouts have thought that their radish sprouts had sprouted some weird white mold. See the photo at left. Those hairy white things are actually tiny root hairs, not fungus. After 5 days, the root hairs of each seed combine in a kind of mat. A mat of healthy, white, root hairs; not fungus. Not mold. If we harvest sooner than 5 days, there isn’t enough leafy green to classify the sprout as, well a sprout.
Sproutpeople.com makes this comment in their tech section intended for growers, in response to a complaint by a new grower that her radish sprouts were moldy:
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“99.9% of you aren’t seeing mold–you are seeing root hairs. If you are browing broccoli, radish, or another brassica or grain, and you see this “fuzz”, just before you rinse that is ROOT HAIRS. Just rinse–and they fall back against the main root. You won’t see them again until your next rinse. Dont’ feel bad–you are the 2,247th person to make this mistake this year :)”
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From rawfoodtalk.com:
“Radish sprouts have those fuzzy sprout tails…radish seeds are a bit large–they’re very common in mixes, so that’s probably what they are. The little hairs lie down when they’re wet, so look at them before you rinse, and look again right after.”
“The “mold” on my sprout mix was caused by the daikon radish which after about three days start to show microscopic root hairs which typically start to show just before rinsing; when the sprouts are at their driest. These collapse back against the roots with the rinsing process. Many newbie sprouters apparently mistake these roots for mold! Well, at least if I am an idiot, I am not alone.”
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