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Real Food for Real People
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| Where's Wally Kabocha? |
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CHANGE IN HOURS
Note additional days below!
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We are growers of "our~ganic" (not officially certified organic - see
below) fruits and vegetables in Catalina, AZ, slightly north of Tucson. Our aim is to be a source of freshly harvested
local produce for the Catalina area, including Oro Valley and NW Tucson. This web site mainly functions to
let everyone know approximately what we are currently harvesting, how to get here, and what the current hours are.
I update on Tuesday* and answer mail.
*I
have to amend "If there appears to have been no update, the veggies are the same as last week."
Wayne and I are working on our property in NM right now and are not here every week, and I'm the only one doing the web
site. My updates are now happening every other Tuesday, so if the list is incorrect please forgive me. We are
in a transition time between cool weather crops and warm, and things can change quickly. Just keep in mind you are dealing
with a very tiny family business here. Thanks.
People with dogs ~~
Leashed dogs are welcome to visit. Sometimes dogs (and their owners) see our place as wild
lands, but in fact we do have gardens with flowers that are easily damaged with a wild running canine, and of course we can
have customers who are not cozy with dogs. Even though our Maizy is unleashed, she has already been taught the
rules of the property. Just think of this as visiting someone's home, and poochie and you will probably do just
fine. Thanks for your consideration.
Directions to Our Garden are on the "Location" page
(see links above). Please drive slowly. You may be sharing the narrow roadway with chickens
and dogs and humans.
Hours are posted farther down this page, along with the current harvest. See
the "Contact" page to get in touch.
PS: please try to remember to BYOB (bring your own bag),
but we have a few for those who forget. I forget sometimes too!
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| Visual respite from the heat. |
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Current Hours:
Wednesdays,
Thursdays,
Fridays,
and
Saturdays 9am until Noon
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We often have a line of cars in the driveway at 5 or 10 before 9am. You will
generally find just as much produce at 5 or 10 after 9, often even more. All the produce is not harvested
at once, but as needed, ie this is not like a yard sale so you don't need to be the first in line. Just a helpful
hint!
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September's
Harvest
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grapes slowing down,
Summer Squash,
Kabocha squash,
tomatoes,
peaches (on and off),
fresh garlic,
onions,
watermelon,
cantaloupe?
okra,
green beans,
peppers
flowers! sometimes edible, sometimes
not
not
always out but almost always available:
bay
leaves, thyme, rosemary, basil,
and anything else I forgot!
pretty soon,
return of cucumbers, arugula, amaranth,
and purslane I hope!!
And, "What's Available When" has finally been
Revised to Reflect Reality...ha!
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Garden News:
Appears it's not my computer karma but Microsoft's....
hopefully they will figure it out before the end of summer. (Oh my, I don't believe I'm doing this when I had
happily given it up, but here potentially is a link to the blog. (http://lifeontheurbanfarm.spaces.live.com/?lc=1033) I particularly like the "?!".. so appropriate! If you're as determined to make
things work as I am, try it if you like... but it's all here on the Garden News page too.) Meanwhile, here's
another posting to clutter up the web site~
August 26~
While variety has been our claim to fame, tomatoes are what we are all about
at the moment. Jesse has been experimenting with varieties of heirlooms, and some of them are just now ripening.
So far, I like Stupice from Czechoslovakia, and Jesse like the Japanese heirloom. There is also a large cherry type
from Native Seed Search. They said it was the best of their natives. It's not what I would call a gourmet
tomato but Jane is right, it would probably make a wonderful sun-dried tomato. And it is interesting if you think of
the evolution of tomatoes.. this is probably closer to the ancestor of today's tomatoes.
There could soon be
kabocha squash. Those curing in the breezeway I think came from plants he removed (squash vine borers), but appear to
be ripe anyway. And there are more in the garden. It's probably worth asking him about, if only to remind
him to check them (-:
Just heard a blurb about Trader Joe's on NPR. It seems they are a bit like Our
Garden.. they don't want to talk with the media either. The media did a little story on them anyway, thanks to a
YouTube musical video ("...$2 wine that tastes like $4, your favorite things that they don't have anymore....",
but just a tease and all in all positive). We don't care for doing news items because inevitably they backfire. Generally
there is a mistake in the reporting because by the time the story comes out the garden, which is a living breathing
organism full of living breathing organisms, has changed. Kind of like Cinco, it doesn't stand still.
So we do our own media reporting right here, kind of like the Trader Joe's Flyer~~~
Slow down. Be green. Shop local. Smile.
Every time someone thanks us for doing this work, I am thanking them back for allowing us to do it.
People who are appreciating the value of having a variety of local, freshly grown organic produce... food right out of the
ground.. actually still alive when you buy it!... these people are contributing to the life of the community and the
planet, as well as their own little bodies. Thinking globally and acting locally isn't just for Earth First now,
is it.
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| Summer Veggies |
You can click on this water color prickly pear to see some of Rebecca's art work. If
you are interested in purchasing any of her work, or contacting her for mural or other art-related work, just let us know.
Also, the San Pedro cactus below is a reminder that we also have native and climate-adapted plants available,
both ornamental and food producing, under the shade cloth in the garden. Jesse is the one to seek out there for
info.
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| My Blooming San Pedro |
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| Catalina resident |
This wise old resident is linking you to another Catalina web site, OurCatalina.com.
This site keeps up on local issues and interests, things to do, resources, etc., and is well worth checking
out. So put your pointer on the owl and he'll take you there.
| husking pistachioes |
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| pistachio flowers |
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"What are those trees?" When we first started doing this we thought people would enjoy driving through the orchard.
I took this picture of the flowers in early April one year, so they will soon be flowering again. To learn
about the orchard's history and odds and ends about us, click on this picture.
We had a pretty good harvest two years ago, with much volunteer help. Above is a picture John de Coville had
taken of many hands doing the husking. The machinery to do it all ourselves is cost prohibitive unless we win the lottery,
so we'll continue to do it all "by hands" for several years more anyway. The crops are generally heavy every other
or every 3 years, with light ones or next to nothing in between.
If we are harvesting while you are here, please go over and check out the operation. If you volunteer some time you
can even leave with some fresh pistachioes, not to mention an idea of the time involved in harvesting from just one tree.
Often this answers the question, "why don't you do anything with those nuts?" Don't worry, we will some day, with machinery.
Meanwhile, take advantage!
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We call it "Our-ganic"
Just a word or two (okay, I'm a wordy person) about the word "organic" here. Finally we have a government definition
for a term that's been tossed about loosely for years by gardeners. Some gardeners probably still don't know the meaning
of 'organic gardening', and some may dispute the definition adopted by our wise public servants. My feeling on the subject
is you are best informed by asking the grower how he gardens. This means you need to know what your own priorities are.
Wayne and I have always considered organic to mean without the use of chemical pesticides (commonly known as 'spraying')
and without the use of chemical fertilizers such as ammonium phosphate, sulphate, etc. We
both feel that the main issue is the spraying of chemical pesticides, insecticides, which are very harmful to us
and the environment. However, chemical fertilizers are not exactly harmless and it is possible to do without
them as well. While we are not certified organic, we are honest about telling you that the food we sell is grown
organically in the true sense of the word, thus "our-ganic". However, there is a lot to be said for the nutrition in
fresh local food however it's grown compared to that coming in by truck from who knows where.
I recently saw a sign on a contractor's truck that said "Unlicensed by Choice". Right on ~~ me too. A license
or certification doesn't automatically mean a good job done, and a lack of one doesn't mean a lack of quality or honesty.
If you are really looking for organics, ask the grower not only if his crops are sprayed with pesticides, but also what
he uses for fertilizers. Don't count on our government to protect you (think 'mad cow'). Really it is up to each
of us to take the responsibility to be as well-informed as we possibly can.
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| corny sunset |
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And, a tiny little word about pricing. So many new callers ask about our
prices, and I say it how it is- priced according to the local market (Wild Oats and TJ's) for organics. What we
have over Wild Oats and Trader Joe's (both of whom I really appreciate, don't get me wrong) is the freshness.
Where else can you get organic vegetables out of the garden the very same day unless you have your own garden? And if
you have had your own garden, you understand one of the major expenses. It's the water bill, isn't it!
For us the water bill is electricity to run a big enough pump to irrigate, not to mention the occasional thousands of dollars
on repairs. Don't look for bargains here. Look for quality. What Wayne always says, and he is not a wordy person, is, if you have to ask about prices you don't
want to come here. Personally
I believe in paying a fair price for the effort put out. We are not big enough to sell tons of veggies on the commerical
market and then roadside stand the leftovers at bargain basement prices. If it doesn't work this way, we'll
go back to just growing our own food... which is definitely the economical route for those who can't afford to
pay someone else to grow it for them. Again and again, it is a matter of priorities.
Ourselves, we don't even have a cable TV bill. Actually we no longer have television, but we do have high
speed internet. Just a matter of priorities. Live
well.
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