This week we are harvesting:

• some tomatoes, but the plants are dying back
• eggplant, a lot of these are coming in
• peppers, sweet and hot and medium hot
• zucchini and summer squash
• green beans
• edamame
• sweet potatoes
• seminole squash (technically a pumpkin, but similar to butternut squash)
• cilantro, parsley, and basil
• salad turnips
• salad mix, braising mix, arugula

Dirk will demonstration proper oil press usage, explain optimum conditions for oilseed pressing, explain the use of different types of seeds and nuts in oilseed presses and answer any questions that you may have in regards to the use of the Komet press.

The half day workshop will take place on Saturday, September 18th from 11:00am – 3:00pm at Piedmont Biofuels Industrial in Pittsboro, North Carolina. We will be trialing a variety of seeds including muscadine grapeseed, sunflower seeds, canola and cottonseed. Participants will see hands on work with the Komet DD85 and CA59 seed presses. We also have the option of working with CCCC’s new Oil Filterpress.

There is no cost to attend this half-day workshop, though we do ask that you RSVP to chris@biofuels.coop by September 10th if you plan to attend as we will limit the number of participants to no more than 30.

Doors at 7:30, music begins promptly at 8pm.  tickets are $5 in advance and $8 at the door.  Get your tickets here.  Delicious wood-fired pizzas will be served.

Come out and enjoy a beautiful night on the lawn here at Piedmont Biofuels.  Check the Late Shift page for more details.

Back then it was 1000 gallons of B100.  Today it was 850 gallons of B20.  I’ve never been much of a B20 fan.  I remember one occasion when Matt and I were working a booth at a Guster concert and I was badmouthing the band for not running on B100.  Little did I know the lead guitarist was in the booth at the time. He went away furious.

Shutting up may not be my strong suit.

It’s been awhile since Piedmont played “Fuel Attendant to the Stars.”  We generally pass up the opportunities because of all the petroleum that’s involved.

But for some reason we took tonight’s Jack Johnson show.  It could be because he’s a great guy.  It could be because he means it. And it could be because I was trying to impress Elenore-a friend of mine in New York City who was supposed to join me for the fill.

I’m thinking she would have hated it.  Filling a tour at Walnut Creek involves a bunch of driving.  We had too much B100 on the truck to make the blend level work out, so Arlo and I dropped some product off at Larry’s Beans.  We then bought 960 gallons of petroleum diesel at a truck stop near Clayton.

That alone involved a long time in the hot sun, choking back petroleum fumes, which always give me a headache.

Wet hosing trucks is arduous and painful.  Slow and hot with a lot of attention to not spilling. Elenore would have hated it.

As we were working away-Arlo on the clipboard recording vehicle numbers and gallons received, and working the hose reel for me, a Frisbee landed at our feet.

And suddenly there was Jack.  He was out throwing Frisbee with the band.  He stopped and said hello, and thanked us for filling up his tour.  Later Arlo slipped over with an unused meter ticket. Jack autographed it for him.

Later we learned that Jack  stopped by the Piedmont booth where McCayne and Sam were working, got his picture taken and reflected on the work Arlo was doing.

I accidentally pulled some booth duty myself; showing up filthy from hoses and smelling like petroleum.  We shared the booth with the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance (SBA)-or perhaps better put-they shared their booth with us.  I was glad to hear Moya cutting on petroleum so that I could take the night off.

I had a good talk with Tanner of the SBA.  He’s a seasoned veteran of the concert circuit, and I learned the SBA has partnered with Reverb to arrange a whole bunch of biodiesel for the rock stars.  One of the interesting things about having the SBA involved is their commitment to providing locally made fuel to the stars.

I have to say that it is a big logistics commitment to fuel a tour.  Tonight we had a couple of buses that were awfully full before we arrived.  Which means I came home with several hundred gallons of B20 on the truck.  Fortunately McCayne and I are about to do some farm fills and will easily be able to find homes for the left over petroleum.

I passed through the Control Room around 10:30.  Greg was there.  He was surprised to see me hanging up the keys so late at night.  He seemed happy to hear we had filled up Jack Johnson.

I have mixed feelings.  Arlo pointed out that if we didn’t do it, the buses would fill with straight petroleum diesel, and 20% is better than nothing.  And I have to hand it to Reverb, and the SBA, and to Jack Johnson. Five years later they are still trying to roll the sustainable biodiesel boulder up the hill.

And I do like seeing Piedmont’s assets deployed.  Most Saturday nights our rolling stock is collecting dust.

Who knows?  I should say there was also the concert.  It was good lounging about with Bob and Camille, and Tami and my daughter Jess got to take in the show.  Perhaps a good time was had by all, and there are a few more gallons of biodiesel being burned in the world…

One of the many beautiful things about Community Supported Agriculture is the way that it opens the door to the world of agriculture, plants and their fruits to adults and children alike. Children are most expressive of the grounding and life that this experience imparts.  As a mother of two young children and a long time CSA employee and advocate, I have watch my own children and many others enjoy the their time on a farm that is a little their own.  As distribution manager at a CSA in New York, I watched children jump out of the confines of their seat belts each week and run towards the distribution center, looking often first for the cats that prowled the barn, then wandering among the produce with parents, asking about new vegetables, and then often taking to the fields to harvest with their own hands extra beans, cherry tomatoes, basil or flowers. When school groups came to the farm for tours, I had children tell me that they hated spinach only to then eagerly try a fresh spinach leaf they were able to pick themselves, declaring it delicious.  Or, pulling up carrots with such excitement that one would think they were upside down ice cream cones stuck in the soil!  Their excitement was palpable and they wanted to get their hands on every plant, picking and tasting for themselves. This phenomenon carries over into the kitchen, where children who are involved in preparing food or a meal are more likely to eat it with excitement and enjoyment, even if it contains some of children’s less popular vegetables.

These images are ones that I need reminding of as my oldest, now five, grows in independence and, hence, pickiness about what she will allow into her mouth.  As shareholders at the BioFarm we give our children the beautiful experience of obtaining their vegetables from a real farm, and add more blessings to this experience by involving them in the preparation of those vegetables in our home kitchens, the place where families used to gather and spend much quality time together. Families may involve children in baking sweet treats, but rarely involve them in preparing savory foods, something they are very capable of doing and enjoying with some supervision and a little instruction.  Even very young children can snap beans, tear lettuce, mash potatoes, cut with a cookie cutter or plastic knife, wash vegetables and mix with a spoon. Older children, especially if involved in the kitchen from a young age, can prepare many simple recipes by themselves and even invent some recipes themselves!  You may want to make a family recipe together, sharing family stories as you work, and, hence, preserving the heirloom recipe and stories.

Involving our children in our kitchens builds their self-confidence and creativity, encourages them to try new foods and teaches them cooking skills that will serve them throughout their lives.  I worked for a number of years with college students who were serving in a soup kitchen.  I was surprised at how many of these students did not know how to cook or even cut up vegetables.  In this age of convenience foods and busy life styles, cooking is a lost art and families cooking and eating together is a dying culture. In an increasingly fragmented world, this culture is worth preserving for the health of our relationships with each other, with our food and with our earth.

Below are a few recipes that are easy for kids to help prepare and enticing for them to eat.  There are numerous cookbooks for children, many available from the library, and countless online resources for kid-friendly kitchen fun.

The following recipes are from the cookbook, Kids Cook 1 – 2 – 3, Recipes for Young Chefs using only 3 Ingredients, by Rozanne Gold.

Grape Tomato Skewers with Pesto Dip

(You will need 8 long frilly toothpicks.)

8 cherry or grape tomatoes

¼ cup plain yogurt

1 tablespoon pesto

1. Wash the tomatoes and dry them with a paper towel. Spear each tomato with a toothpick.

Place on a plate

2. In a small bowl, mix yogurt and pesto thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Place in a small bowl and dunk the tomatoes.

Serves 1

Crunchy Fried Tomatoes

4 medium-size firm tomatoes  (red, yellow or green)

1 cup stone ground yellow cornmeal

Vegetable oil for frying

1. Wash the tomatoes and dry well. Slice off the top and bottom ends.  Cut each tomato horizontally into 3 thick slices.

2. Place the cornmeal on a flat plate. Dredge both sides of each tomato slice in the cornmeal, pressing down lightly. Make sure the cut surfaces are thickly coated (sides will not get coated).

3. Heat ¼ inch of oil in a large skillet. When hot, carefully add the tomatoes in one layer – you may want some adult assistance here.

4. Cook over medium high heat for 2 minutes on each side, or until crispy and golden brown. Do

not overcook, as you want the tomatoes to retain their shape.  You may need to do this in two batches, adding oil as you go.

5. Drain the tomatoes on paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Serves 4.

Green Beans Almondine

1 pound green beans

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons sliced almonds

1. Wash the beans and trim the ends.  Using a small, sharp knife cut the beans in thirds across the

width. You may also leave the beans whole.

2. Choose a saucepan large enough to hold the beans comfortably.  Add enough water to fill by two-thirds and bring the water to a boil with a teaspoon of salt.  Add the beans and cook for 3 – 4 minutes if you’ve cut them, and 5 – 6 minutes if you’ve left them whole. Drain them immediately into a colander. Pat dry with a paper towel.

3. Put the butter into a saucepan in which the beans were cooked and melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the almonds and cook just until they take on some color, about 2 minutes. Then add the drained beans and ½ teaspoon salt, and cook for about 2 minutes, tossing until the beans are coated with butter. Add freshly ground black pepper and serve. Serves 4 or more.