Week 12: All Drop Offs Today (Aug 22)
Tian Tian Farm Newsletter - August 22, 2024
Logistics
Thank you all for your cooperation this week in accommodating our schedule change.
As I write this, Elizabeth is on the ferry with your produce. There might be some kinks as we figure out our timing, but we aim to have all of your boxes delivered by the end of the workday today. Once we get a better understanding of travel times, we’ll nail down more specific drop-off windows.
This Week’s Share:
Carrots
Perilla
Bok Choy
Cucumber
Garlic
Sun Gold Tomatoes
Potatoes (fingerling or yellow)
Eggplant
Slicing tomatoes
A word about your potatoes: One of the greatest joys of farming is eating freshly dug potatoes. We harvested all of our potatoes this week. Some of them are rather delicate — as we harvested them a bit early. So, we did not wash them because doing so would reduce their lifespan. We recommend giving your potatoes a decent scrub before using.
Nai Nais
On Wednesdays we sell at Columbia City Farmers market. Around late July every year, several dozen Chinese and Vietnamese seniors begin showing up for market early and swarm our tent. Elizabeth and I affectionally refer to this period as nai nai season, after the Chinese word for grandmother. It’s easily my favorite time of the year.
Nai nai season arrives courtesy of the Washington State Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, a public benefit. Qualifying seniors (income of less than $27,800 for a family of one) can receive $80 for the year to spend at farmers market.
I was shocked when I learned about the $80. It struck me as so little. And it humbles me that the nai nais choose to spend what little they receive on our produce. It also makes me feel guilty for charging farmers market prices, which they are not used to.
Many of the nai nais will complain. Some will indignantly throw down our produce and walk off in a huff. Typically they’ll return to our tent when they realize our prices are more or less standard for the market. I must confess that I experience some perverse comfort when a senior Asian woman scolds me. It’s not that I want to upset her, and I hate that we can’t afford to charge grocery prices. I think it’s more that disapproving Asian elders remind me of my grandmother, who lives in Taiwan and who I don’t see often enough.
Truthfully, if a nai nai is persistent (and discrete) enough in their haggling, I’ll drop a few dollars. And if they don’t have enough on their FMNP card, I’ll just give them whatever they’ve picked out.
Recipe:
Last year a chef bought a wholesale quantity of perilla from us to make a chimichurri. You’re getting a whole lot of perilla, so maybe give this a try.
‘Til Next Week,
Steven