Linda's Gardens Happenings!

A very good customer of ours, Linda O., just sent me information on Whole Foods Markets recipe database.  After checking it out, I decided that it is an excellent resource for locally produced vegetables.  All you have to do to use it is put in a vegetable name in the search box, and it will come back with a list of recipes for that vegetables.  If you like, you can create an account so that you can create a recipe box and join a recipe discussion forum.  There are 248 different recipes for kale alone.  Take a look for yourself, and happy recipe hunting!           http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes

We still have CSA's available for Spring, and I know it seems a long way off til summer, but CSA's are available for the summer season as well.  Our CSA information is available for downloading on our web page.  http://www.lindasgardens.com/#!csa

The last couple  weeks have been a tremendous reminder once again about what are the most important things in our lives.  From a high school girl from Burke-Lucas, SD dying from a possible brain aneurism to the bombings at the Boston Marathon to the horrible explosion at West Texas, TX.   The last few weeks I've been complaining about the weather a lot.  Yes, it is a problem, but it's not the end of the world, and we are planting and  harvesting in our high tunnels, so things could be worse.  Much, much worse.  For many families this week, their world undoubtly does feel like it  has ended.  As a parent, I cannot imagine the so very unexpected loss of a child who is just beginning their life.  I really don't know if I could go on after suffering something like that.  My Mom always says I'm stronger than I think and that God doesn't give us any more than we can handle, so in the end, maybe I could.  But, just thinking of the pain those parents are going through breaks my heart.  The same goes for all the families who have suffered loss of family members at Boston and now at West Texas.  With these families, many are grieving not just the loss of life, but severe injuries that will forever change their lives.  All of this seems to make the crazy weather far less important, at least to me.  

I ask God to protect all of us and our families, and that with His understanding, we appreciate our time on this earth with the people we love, and let go of the unimportant things in our lives.   

As you know, we had filed a lawsuit called a 'Writ of Mandamus' against the South Dakota DENR which, as I understand it, is used to force compliance with the law.  The hearing for the 'Writ of Mandamus' was last May, and the Judge ruled against us.  Subsequently, we filed an appeal to the SD Supreme Court which took place in November.  The Supreme Court ruled in favor of DENR; in essence they said DENR does not have to go by it's own published guidelines.   We had so much faith that the "system" would work, and that there is still some hope that the justice system in this country would actually provide justice, but that was false hope at best.  As one friend said, "they just ruled the way the Governor wanted".  I must say, I would have to agree with that statement, especially after the ruling that same supreme court made concerning the Hyperion Refining plant near Elk Point when they said that it wasn't necessary to have an environmental impact statement (I can't remember the exact environmental issue it was, but along those lines).  It appears to me that the environment and the impact to personal property rights in South Dakota is so far down on the priority list that it can't even be seen.  
For those of you who don't know, the sewage pond was constructed.
The second lawsuit that we had filed was a nuisance lawsuit against the Brant Lake Sanitary District.  They of course, filed a 'Motion to Dismiss', and the hearing for that was in mid September.  We learned just before Christmas that the judge that heard the case denied the 'Motion to Dismiss' and sent it forward for trial.  What a relief it was to learn this, and also a tremendous Christmas gift!  We are now beginning the process of "discovery" and investigations in preparation for a trial.  We don't know how long this process will take, but expect that it could take months at the very least.  But going through this process and preparing for a possible trial is the opportunity we've wanted for so long; to tell our story.
We are pressing forward with our vegetable farming operation with one eye on the sewage pond and the other on all the new food safety laws and proposals that are being reviewed and will probably be enacted before the year is over. 
We try to maintain our sense of humor and decided a long time ago that regardless of the outcome, we are going to try to not be changed by it.  We have learned that we have a lot of friends who care about us, and for that we are eternally grateful.  We can never thank you enough for your friendship, support, and donations that have been contributed to our legal fund.  We hope that you know that you are welcome and even encouraged to come visit us!
Thanks again, so very, very much!

We now have HT1 fully planted with kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kohlrabi, beets, turnips, lettuces, spinach, pac choi, arugula, swiss chard, and a couple more greens.  We still have one row in HT2 to plant; trying to decide what should go in there; onions, carrots, or green beans.  Because it's already April 1st and the frost still hasn't come out of the ground, our outside plantings have been delayed a little, but we expect any day that will change, and change fast.  Such a dilemma!  Also, we have a row of green onions and leeks in HT3 that were over-wintered and as soon as they are harvested, we'll till the soil and re-plant with something else.  It appears that spring is well on it's way at least in the high tunnels, and as I already said, when it changes outside, we'll be "pedal to the metal" to catch up.