Hot Summer Vegetables in Connecticut, May 2010

Dear Mad Hatters,

It is Hot Hot Hot here at Mad Hatter Farm, and your farmers are busy planting, weeding and watering in anticipation of a great harvest season.  Our CSA begins the week of June 7, and the first Ridgefield Farmers Market is Friday, June 11.  

There was an article a few weeks ago in the New York Times (May 3, 2010) titled, "Farmers Cope With RoundUp-Resistant Weeds."  The article made me laugh and is a perfect example of how ridiculous our food system has become.  The article is about conventional (meaning non-organic) farmers who spray the weed killer RoundUp, manufactured by Monsanto.  Many conventional farmers plant soybean, corn or cotton seeds genetically engineered by Monsanto to survive being sprayed with RoundUp.  So the farmer can plant the seeds, and then spray RoundUp on the fields and over the seeds to kill the weeds.  They claim this is environmetally friendly because it eliminates the need for tilling the land to kill the weeds, which in turn reduces the harmful runoff of fertilizers and pesticides.  Now, this practice has created something called "superweeds" which are resistant to RoundUp.

Am I missing something?  Maybe if these farmers didn't use harmful fertilizers and pesticides, then there wouldn't be any harmful runoff when they tilled their land.  And then they could till-in the weeds and not use RoundUp and genetically modified seeds.  Mother Nature's hand has been forced to create new and invasive plants to fight back.  And guess what?  Mother Nature always wins.  The best part of the article is when the farmer they interview, lamenting that he has to start tilling-in the superweeds, says "We're back to where we were 20 years ago."  Well boo hoo.  Maybe things were better 20 years ago? 

As a consumer it can be difficult to make food choices and become educated about how the food system works.  I like my out-of-season-pineapple-in-December as much as the next guy, but these days we need be mindful of the foods we eat.  Here at Mad Hatter Farm, we do not use synthetic fetilizers or pesticides and we do not use herbicides at all.  We do most of our weeding by hand, hoe and till.  When you go to the farmers markets, talk to the farmers about how they handle weeds, bugs, and soil care.  It ends up effecting what you eat, the quality of your water, the quality of the air you breath etc. 

And on that note, I must get back to weeding! 

Happy eating!

Alix and Jeff