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Persephone Farm

Sustainably Grown Vegetables & Flowers – Indianola, Washington

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Cornucopia…

September 4, 2015 By Persephone

Persephone Farm Corn

CORN in everyone’s CSA boxes this week—the variety is known as “bodacious”! Some of you may wonder, why does locally grown corn cost more? You’ve probably seen it—this time of year the market is flooded with cheap corn. Much of it comes from large, far-away farms, raised on cheap land with subsidized water and transportation costs. The production of this corn relies on heavy inputs of artificial nitrogen fertilizer, much of which ends up in streams and rivers. In some cases, these large farms contaminate aquifers with nitrate pollution. Large tractors cause erosion and compaction to produce those 10/$1 ears in the supermarket. There is a loss of biodiversity and wildlife habitat associated with hundred- and thousand-acre commercial corn production. We are just beginning to understand the real cost of industrialized corn.

Of all the crops we grow, corn is by far the heaviest nutrient feeder, really taking a toll on our fragile soil. It requires many loads of compost before and after planting. The sheer square footage required to grow sweet corn, which only produces two ears per plant (with only one of them full-sized and marketable) takes up a sizable portion of our limited irrigation water.

All this said, we love fresh corn as much as you do! We even love to grow it. Walking through the leafy rows, squeezing each ear for fullness, is one of the pleasures of farming. The miracle of pollination is nowhere more evident than in each individual corn silk attached to a single kernel, which, in order to swell and sweeten, must be touched by pollen grains falling from the pointed tassels above. Incredible! And the taste of a just-picked mouthful of golden sweet corn… we all know that joy. CORN. It’s what’s for dinner.

— Apprentice Rachel (excerpted from our weekly CSA subscriber email)

Photo: Leslie Newman

Filed Under: CSA, Farming Info Tagged With: corn

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Farmers Market

Visit us at the Bainbridge Island Farmers Market
Saturdays, April – Nov, 9am–1pm

In Memory

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Doin’ repairs! A little bit of crew leader appre Doin’ repairs! A little bit of crew leader appreciation - Jeremy has been doing a lot of rad repairs around the farm, including bird-proofing our greenhouse, building a new swarm box in hopes of catching a swarm of bees, and replacing the tines on our @bcs_america tiller! We’ll keep you all updated on our swarm adventure... we’re had some unsuccessful attempts last year, but have our fingers crossed for this season! 🐝🐝
We’re still harvesting and lovin’ on our PSB 💜 last week, we sent some of it to @hitchcockrestaurantgroup @pizzeriabruciato, who no doubt have been creating something extraordinary with it. Purple-sprouting broccoli has a relatively short season - it is sweet and tender throughout, a great addition up any dish! If you’re not able to try PSB creations on the island, swipe to see a Persephone recipe we like to share with folks.

Psst... we have it at the @bifarmersmarket and on @kitsapfresh today!
We had a great time at the first @bifarmersmarket We had a great time at the first @bifarmersmarket of the year! We love to remind folks that if you’re a CSA member and you visit our booth, you get 10% off!

If you’re looking to get your own garden started for the summer, come chat with us about our starts! We’re bringing more and more varieties each week. All of them are hardened off and won’t mind the cold that often lingers in April - we do this so you could get them right in the ground. 

See you there!
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