Sounds of Silence

Posted on February 4, 2013 by
The view out my study

The view out my study

We woke this morning to a silent blanket of snow, covering every possible twig and shrub with the lightest form of silence imaginable.  Emma, curled up at the end of our bed purred in contentment.  Our home was absolutely still and the beauty  breath taking.  Val, my every-ready bunny, slid out of bed to make coffee and rekindle the wood-burner.  I could hear her in our kitchen, each sound magnified in its singular presence.  Coffee and wood smoke intermingled, and within minutes I was handed a steaming cup of our morning elixir.  Climbing back in, neither of us had spoken a word; to do so would have broken some kind of spell.  Before long, three cats and a our dog Bleu were also nourished, as we grew quieter still; letting the silence enfold us.  This silence is never felt as a void, but as a sound of something moving deep within us; as it formulates our speech.

A sleeping beauty

A sleeping beauty

Silence is a major part of our winter environment.  Neither Val nor I are television watchers, so we spend many hours together in its embrace, often reading.  The sounds within our home are notes within our daily rhythms.  This silence is valued by both of us as we are replenished and nourished by it. We are fortunate to have many windows that open to the natural world outside.  In winter we are safe and cocooned, fundamentally sheltered from the storm.  It appears that silence and simplicity are an acquired taste.  It seems mankind instinctively complicates life.

We are Facebooked, YouTubed, plugged in and turned on; yet why this need for constant business?  Haven’t you ever wanted to notice the wind blow, your heart beat or your lover sigh?  How can any of it be heard when the world is so noisy?  When I stare at a fire and can hear the sizzle and pop of the wood; it would all be missed if the room was filled with perpetual distraction.  I say this to you so you might stop and take the time to hear the sounds of silence.  Something you enter into; when all we can do is make noise.

During this time of the year, Val and I are often found in the kitchen making a soup, stew or baked good.  One of our favorite’s is a carrot loaf that is beautifully dense, yet not too sweet.  We love it with our morning coffee.

Val adds shredded carrots to the mix.

Val adds shredded carrots to the mix.

Carrot Bread

Wet ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups melted butter
  • 1 3/4 cups brown sugar
  • 4 eggs, room temperature
  • 3 tsp. vanilla extract
  • Grated rind of 1 lemon

Dry ingredients:

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 3 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. ground allspice
  • 2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Additionally:

  • 2 1/2 cups, packed finely shredded carrot, soaked in juice of 1 lemon
  • 3/4 cups walnut pieces
  1. Starting with wet ingredients, beat in large mixing bowl, the sugar and butter, adding eggs one at a time.  Add remaining ingredients, and beat until light in color.
  2. Sift dry ingredients twice; then add a third of it to butter mixture, alternating with a third of the shredded carrots. (flour, carrot, flour, carrot, flour, carrot)
  3. After each mixture gently mix to combine, but do not beat or over-mix, as this will toughen the loaf.  Stir in walnuts.
Sift dry ingredients twice.

Sift dry ingredients twice.

Generously butter 2 loaf pans.  Divide batter between the two and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Almost ready for oven.

Almost ready for oven.

When done, cool 10 minutes in the pan, then remove to finish cooling.  Serve with butter or cream cheese.  (We think cream cheese brings out the flavor of the allspice.)  Also consider toasting the slices; it’s delicious!

Coffee's brewing!

Coffee’s brewing!

“Then silence happened;/the silence that is born of water, foaming,/Suddenly it curdles in a looking glass./ So we grow quiet./ We do the same as lakes to see the sky.”

–Rosario Castellanos

Posted in emotions, Essays, faith, Raves, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Seeds of Change 2013

Posted on January 6, 2013 by

Barely into January, and here we are, catalogs spread over our kitchen table; with lists of vegetables and dreams in hand.  At the beginning of each year, Val and I decide on what we want to plant for the next farm season.  These decisions must be made early since the availability of choice seed is awarded only to those organized enough to order early.

So many choices

So many choices

We grow many of the same crops each year, but even within those crops we must decide whether or not to change the varieties grown.  The weather over the past several years has been unpredictable;  we have come to recognize that we really have two separate farm seasons.  Spring is starting sooner than ever, and fall is lasting later in the year.  Our irrigation protects us from drought, but we are still dealing with extreme temperature shifts.  Since we use succession planting methods for many of our crops, its incredibly important to think through how to adapt to the change in weather patterns.

When we sit down with all our catalogs to discuss what new crops we might consider, it doesn’t take long for our heads to start spinning with all the glossy photos.  We call it vegetable porn.  Did I mention we aren’t getting any younger?  So we are starting to scale back slightly on some of our more labor intensive crops, like potatoes.  It’s always a balancing act between the weather, crops, weeds, our stamina and market interest.  We are very selective about introducing new vegetables at market.  The choices we make directly impact our income.  Many stalls compete for each customer’s food dollar.  We place a premium on the relationships we have built and the quality produce we bring.  We count on, and are grateful for our faithful customers that support us each week.   We take great pleasure in helping to educate them about our different varieties and how to use them in exciting ways.

We will be working on our seed order for several days, dividing our time between splitting wood, making soaps and seeing dear friends.  Winter is such a great time for reflection and balance after a busy market season; soups and stews make an appearance once or twice a week.  Here’s one of our current favorites.

Sausage, Fennel and Potato Chowder

  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
  • 2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into large dice (about 2 cups)
  • 1 medium red onion, cut into large dice
  • 1 small fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and cut into large dice (about 2 cups), plus 1 to 2 Tbsp. chopped fennel fronds for garnish
  • 3 Tbsp. dry sherry
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 1/4 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
  • 2 Tbsp. heavy cream
  • 1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  1. Heat oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the sausage and cook, stirring with a wooden spatula to break it up into small pieces, until it starts to brown, about 3-5 minutes.  Stir in potato, onion, and fennel and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften, about 2-3 minutes.
  2. Add sherry and stir, scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen any browned bits, about 30 seconds.
  3. Stir in the chicken stock and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, 10-12 minutes.
  4. Add the parsley and the sun-dried tomatoes, heavy cream, and lemon zest and stir until incorporated.
  5. Using a potato masher, gently crush the cooked potatoes until most of them are masked and the stew is somewhat thickened.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve hot, garnished with fennel fronds.

Serves 4

Satisfying and warming chowder

Satisfying and warming chowder

“There is nothing like soup.  It is by nature eccentric; no two are every alike, unless of course you get your soup in a can.”  –Laurie Colwin

Posted in Chicken, Essays, Farm News, Farmer's Market, Recipes, Uncategorized, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Comfort

Posted on December 30, 2012 by

It never ceases to amaze me how life will soften our hearts when we let it.  The son of a dear friend of mine called to share that his mother had been taken to the hospital and had gone through two back surgeries, one day apart.  This alone would be news worthy, but Marian is 89 years old.

I have known Marian for 30 years; we met when I was dating her son.  When my relationship with her son ended, Marian and I maintained our friendship.  Marian comes from ‘good basic farm stock’.  She is a no-nonsense woman, with a fierce devotion to family, nature, the land and her friendships.  Modernity is suspect for a woman, like Marian.  For me, Marian has been a surrogate mother in the most tender sense of the word.

I remember each time I would leave her home after a visit.  Marian would stand in her living room window and wave to me.  I came to look for her in that window, her warmth passing the space between us, waving me home.

Marian takes a deep interest in those she loves.  She wants to know what you’re doing, and how you’re doing it.  Through relationship failures and life-style changes, Marian was steadfast in her support for me.  It is a quality of kindness difficult to repay, and deeply treasured.

Val and I visited Marian in the hospital two days ago and were surprised how well she looked.  Her color was good, in spite of the feeding tube down her nose, and the inability  to get out of bed.  When I asked how she was doing, she responded, “I’m grateful for two things; I still have my eyes and my mind.”

People look vulnerable when they’re in the hospital.  It speaks to our own vulnerability.  I was reminded once again how each day is precious and unique.  We are guaranteed this moment only, our future indeed unknowable.  Dwelling on past transgressions or worrying about our future, is so often counter-productive.  Our task is to cherish this moment, and use it wisely.

Marian will be transferred to a nursing-home to recover from her surgeries.  We all want her to be her usual independent-self and recover fully.  Yet we also acknowledge we are not in control of how each life unfolds.  I do know I will show her as much love as I can, with repeated visits and well wishes.  Although I’m sure she knows it already, I will be sure to tell her, “I love you.”

My dear friend Marian

My dear friend Marian

“Friendship is the bread of the heart.”  –Mary Russel Mitford

For me one of the simplest gestures to show people how much I love them, is to cook for them.  During the colder months, comfort food will show up repeatedly in our home.  Here is one of our favorites:

Chicken Potpie

  • 1   3-4 lb. rotisserie chicken
  • 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 5 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
  •   2-3 red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 12 frozen pearl onions, thawed
  • 1 medium leek, white and light-green parts only, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
  • 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
  • 3/4 cup button mushrooms, quartered
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp. dried thyme
  • Zest of one lemon
  • Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 Tbsp. heavy cream
  • One refrigerator pie-crust (or one homemade pie-crust)
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Remove the skin from the chicken, and remove all the chicken from the carcass.  Shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces, and set aside.
  2. Melt 5 Tbsp. butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add the red potatoes and pearl onions, and cook, stirring occasionally, 4-5 minutes, until the potatoes begin to turn golden.  Add the leeks, carrots, and mushrooms, and cook 4-5 minutes more.  Add the 5 Tbsp. of flour, and cook, stirring for 1 minute.  Stir in chicken stock and milk, and bring to a simmer.  Cook until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly, 2-3 minutes.  Add reserved chicken pieces, parsley, thyme, lemon zest.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Transfer to large casserole dish.
  3. Make the egg-wash by mixing the egg yolk and cream in a small bowl.  Place pie-crust on top of the casserole and tuck the extra dough around the edges.  Cut slits on top to allow steam to escape.  Brush with the egg wash, and place on a baking sheet.  Bake 35-40 minutes, until crust in golden.  Serve hot.
Golden and delicious comfort food

Golden and delicious comfort food

Posted in emotions, Essays, faith, family | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Searching for Peace

Posted on December 21, 2012 by
Signs of peace

Signs of peace

Well, it’s tomorrow in Australia and the world has not ended, but there is more than enough upset for this holiday season.  Not only do the holidays bring out the usual dysfunction of families, but an unending thirst for the material, rather than the spiritual rewards of the season.  Peace on Earth is sung by many on my Pandora Christmas station, yet I traverse between a calm followed by a nameless agitation that grabs me the moment I leave the safety of our home.  It seems the world is becoming more and more dangerous.  My heart grieves for dead children and their families, the poisoning of our planet for profit, while millions starve.  Our problems seem overwhelming.  I wonder what impact one person could possibly have to change the world.  As an individual how do I live a life that nurtures others, the planet and myself?  How do I stay authentic to my beliefs?

In the small microcosm of my life, I look for signs of hope.  How have I made a difference?  Since I moved to the country, my greatest teachers have been nature, the seasons, and the land.  If we care for the land, the land offers up the food that both feeds us and provides our livelihood.  That clean, wholesome food is taken to the farmers market and sold to people that care about what they feed themselves and their families.  It’s a life that is simple, focused and real.  Farming itself is a practice of faith.   We are not in control.  We place a seed in the ground and have faith that it will grow.  I believe that we often receive what we put into the world; a sort of what goes around, comes around.  When I am kind to people, it follows that people are generally kind to me.  But what happens when people are unkind?  What happens when there is drought or deluge or crop failure?  I believe this is when our faith is really tested, when our attitudes matter.

It seems to me that faith, the belief in things unseen, is about the things in life that cause us to question, to change, to grow.  I don’t believe that the challenges in life are judgments, but opportunities to understand the world and ourselves more fully.  How do we cultivate our better selves when we are up against our fears and the rapid pace of change?   We are all flawed human beings; there are no saints among us.  How do we nurture our inter-connectedness?  How do we come to realize what happens to one of us, happens to us all?  My greatest challenge is to keep my heart open, to feel pain when someone is hurting, to look at the glass as ‘half-full’.

As I enter the quiet time of winter, our pace is slower.  The lands rests, and in the same sense, so do I.  Dormancy is a gift.  I can’t assimilate life without periods of quiet.  There is time for long morning coffee and deep listening.  Clocks tick, fires burn and hearts beat.  It is a season where less is more.  This resting period is a time to replenish both my physical and emotional being.  In this quiet stillness  I hear a small voice say, “Your faith is measured by the wideness of your heart.”  One of my favorite poets, Stanley Kunitz said it in a different way: “Live in the layers, not on the litter.”  The peace I sought is found.

“Listening”

The mummified god of my childhood

speaks to me from beyond the grave,

whispers faint language

encased in the smallest seed.

Exhausted, I endlessly sift

through wheat and chaff,

waiting to hear some coded message.

In the welcoming silence of winter,

I am content and cocooned.

My needs simple,

I suspend my search for meaning

to burrow into the softest sheets

and dream of you.

Posted in Essays, faith, poetry, Rants, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Season of Gratitude

Posted on December 12, 2012 by

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving.  One of those that I will remember for a long time.  The day was a whirlwind of activity all though food preparations started the day before.  Val made two pecan pies, Lynne made Jezebel Sauce (cranberry sauce enhanced with Dijon mustard and horseradish) and her wonderful wild rice stuffing, I stuffed pork loin with onions, porcini mushrooms, dried apples, cognac, herbs and ground pork; then covered it with prosciutto, set it on a rack of apple halves and poured hard cider in the roasting pan.  The meal was rounded out with Swiss chard casserole and Brussels sprouts with creamed Dijon sauce.

Our wonderful Thanksgiving plate.

Our neighbor Lynne, who we also consider family, hosted our Thanksgiving feast.  Also attending were Val’s older brother Gary, my older brother Bill and his girlfriend Deb, and our nephews Ian and Jake.  We all differ in personality and political leanings, yet we are brought together by the ties of family and goodwill.  I’m sure all of us consider how empty the holidays would be without these family connections.  Families often are teachers of many things, including tolerance, diversity and above all love.  Our acceptance of each other is sometimes challenged, yet we celebrate the the bonds of shared history.  The art of listening can forge the way to a deeper understanding of each other.

I started a tradition several years ago in a desire to focus on how gratitude informs each of our lives.  We do this by going around the table and allowing each of us a moment to express gratitude.  Although there may be minor resistance, each of us rises to the occasion (sometimes with emotion) to share how we are grateful.  It is an opportunity to let each other know the importance of family and what is meaningful to us.

The day of Thanksgiving is the threshold of the holiday season.  Val and I have made a commitment to giving gifts that are handmade or local.  In this season of intense commercialism we want to emphasize how easy it is to connect through life’s simplicity.  Whether it’s a gift from our kitchen, the farm, our wood shop, or a local business, it will be a gift given with love.

The next several days entail decorating our homes with the spirit of the holidays.  Val & I have many cats, so we share a tree with Lynne.  We love picking out and trimming our tree with ornaments that have been collected over many years.  Lynne is a lover of all things related to the Peanut Gallery, so she has many Charlie Brown, Woodstock and Snoopy ornaments.  I have collected Santa’s for decades (Val calls them my gray beard’s) so there are many Santa ornaments.  In our own home we have a small grapevine tree and multiple Santa’s, wreaths and garland to help our rustic flavored home feel festive.

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As I grow older, it has become increasingly more important to feel gratitude each day; not just during the holiday season.  I have become a person with a tender heart.  In this troubled world so filled with commercialism, it’s not the possessions that we acquire over time, but the relationships to which we devote our time.  Truck farming and living in the country has indeed slowed down the pace of our lives.  It teaches us a simple, yet focused lifestyle that feeds not only ourselves, but the customers that support us.  We learn to keep pace with the seasons and the land.  May we continue to share great food with the people we love through out the year.

Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork Loin with Roasted Apples

Filling:

  • 1 cup dried porcini mushrooms
  • 3/4 cup dried apples
  • 1 lb kale, bottom stems removed
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 Tbsp (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 cup minced onion
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
  • 2 Tbsp cognac
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 lb ground pork

Pork:

  • 1 trimmed and butterflied 2 1/2-3 lbs pork loin
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 3 oz thinly sliced prosciutto
  • 5 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 4 medium apples (such as Granny Smith or Fuji), quartered, or 8 small apples halved
  • Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
  • 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup hard cider
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock

Filling:  Place dried mushrooms and dried apples in separate small bowls.  Add 1 cup boiling water to each bowl.  Let mushrooms and apples soak until very soft, about 30 minutes.  Strain mushrooms.  Cover and chill soaking liquid.  Finely chop mushrooms and apples, combine in a small bowl, and set aside.

Meanwhile, blanch kale in boiling salted water for 1 minute, until wilted.  Using tongs, transfer kale to a bowl of ice water.  Drain on paper towels once cooled completely.  Remove any large ribs.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion; cook, stirring often, until soft and golden, about 8 minutes.  Add mushrooms and apples; cook, stirring occasionally until flavors meld, about 5 minutes.  Stir in garlic, thyme and rosemary; cook for 1 minute.  Add cognac and cook until liquid is absorbed, about 1 minute.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Transfer to bowl, let cool completely.  Add ground pork and stir to combine well.

Pork:  Open butterflied pork loin, cover with plastic wrap.  (If your pork loin is not butterflied, do the following:  Put pork loin on a work surface with short end facing you.  Holding a long, think sharp knife parallel to work surface and beginning along one long side, cut 1/2 inch above the underside of the loin.  Continue slicing slowly inward, pulling back the meat with your free hand and unrolling the loin like a carpet, until the entire loin in flat.) Using a meat mallet, pound to an even thickness.

Butterflied pork loin covered with kale and stuffing and ready to roll up.

Butterflied pork loin covered with kale and stuffing and ready to roll up.

Uncover pork, season with salt and pepper.  Place kale leaves on top of loin in an even layer, overlapping as needed and leaving a 1 inch border.  Spread filling on top of kale.  Roll pork into tight cylinder.  Wrap one layer of prosciutto around roast.  Tie roast securely with kitchen twine in 1 inch intervals.  Tuck rosemary sprigs under twine, spacing apart.  Roast can be made 1 day ahead.  Cover and chill.  Let stand at room temperature for one hour before continuing.

Pork loin stuffed, tied and ready for searing.

Pork loin stuffed, tied and ready for searing.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place apples in a roasting pan.  Melt 1 Tbsp butter with oil in a large skillet.  Brown pork roast on all sides, about 5 minutes total, then set on top of apples.  Add hard cider and 1/2 cup of water to skillet and bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits in pan.  Pour mixture into roasting pan.  Roast pork until an instant-read thermometer reaches 140 degrees, about 1 hour and 40 minutes.  Let roast rest for at least 20-30 minutes.

Place roast on platter.  Reserve apples from roasting pan; spoon off fat from juices in pan.  Place pan on top of stove over medium-high heat.  Add chicken stock and reserved mushroom liquid, leaving any sediment behind, and cook, scraping bottom of pan to release any browned bits, until slightly thickened; about 5 minutes.  Whisk in remaining 2 Tbsp butter and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Strain sauce; slice pork.  Serve apples and sauce along side pork.

Beautiful, moist and flavorful.

Beautiful, moist and flavorful.

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”   —J.R.R. Tolkien

Posted in Farm News, Recipes, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Over the Top Brussels Sprouts

Posted on November 3, 2012 by

Brussels sprouts.  One of those vegetables you either love or hate.  We had them for every major holiday in my childhood.  We used to call them ‘Texas Cabbage’, and I love them.  Although I don’t remember my mother ever cooking fresh Brussels sprouts (they were always frozen), she did make a wonderful white sauce that she poured over them just before serving.  To this day they remind me of family and holidays.

When I moved to the farm, we were planning our first Thanksgiving dinner when Val confided that she really didn’t like those Texas cabbages.  What?  Thanksgiving without Brussels sprouts?  Since then, I was determined to find a treatment for those little gems that might excite her.  I have roasted them with pancetta, sautéed them in chicken broth and finished them with fresh lemon juice to mixed reviews.  Then I came across a recipe for braising them in chicken broth and white vermouth, then finishing them with a Dijon sauce.  After experimenting with it and making some adjustments for my own personal leanings we decided it was a winner.  Val can finally say, “I love Brussels sprouts.”

Browning the halved Brussels sprouts.

Braised Brussels Sprouts with Two Mustard’s:

  • 1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthwise
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup white vermouth
  • 3/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
  • 3 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon coarse mustard
  • 2 tablespoons flat-leafed parsley, chopped
  1. In a large, heavy skillet or Dutch over, heat butter and oil over medium heat.  Arrange halved sprouts in skillet, cut sides down, in one layer.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste.  Cook sprouts, without turning until undersides are golden brown, about 5 minutes.  If sprouts don’t all fit,  brown in batches, then return all of them to pan before continuing.
  2. Sprinkle the sliced shallots over the top of sprouts, add vermouth and stock, then bring to a simmer.  Once simmering, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot with a lid and cook gently until the sprouts are tender and can be pierced easily with a paring knife, about 15-20 minutes.
  3. Remove Brussels sprouts to a serving bowl.  Increase heat to medium, and add cream. Simmer for about 3 minutes, or until slightly thickened.  Whisk in mustard’s.  Adjust with more salt if necessary.  Pour sauce over sprouts, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

Two mustard’s sauce just before pouring over sprouts.

Over the top Brussels sprouts with two mustard’s.

This side dish is good with chicken, tenderloin filet or bone-in pork chops.  The sauce alone would also work well with sautéed cabbage.

” The only stumbling block is fear of failure.  In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”  –Julia Child

 

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Putting Up With Each Other

Posted on October 7, 2012 by

As our farm season slowly comes to a close, the tempo at the farm slows down as well.  It always seems like a long exhale after tomatoes (we harvested almost 5000 lbs this year).  As little as three years ago, after our heirloom tomato season was done, our market stall looked pretty bleak.  This year we have gotten our fall crops down.  Our stall is teaming with shelling beans, mustard, kale, Swiss chard, collards, leeks, fennel, rutabaga, turnips, arugula, herbs, beets and carrots.  The more we understand how seasonal changes affect what we grow, the greater our chance for success.  Overall we have had a great year in spite of the record breaking drought.  The cooler temperatures have all of us thinking of cooking something savory again, putting up food and preserving it before the first hard frost.

We have been putting up food all season long.  Many of our customers wonder how in the world we manage after a full work day and preparing for market.  Yet its one of those times that you snooze, you loose.  It kills us to purchase produce at the grocery store during the winter, when we grow it ourselves.  So far we have roasted tomatoes, made salsa, tomato sauce, tomato soup, dried herbs, dried tomatoes, dried sweet and hot peppers, frozen corn and shelling beans.  We will also make pickled beets and freeze greens.  Tonight a hard frost is predicted so we decided we better get out and harvest some Swiss chard.  After breakfast we donned our rain coats and headed out for the back field.  The rows of chard looked so vital and lush.  It loves the cooler weather, but will not survive temperatures below freezing without damage.  We set about picking 20 gallons or so of the stuff.

20 gallons of plump chard ready to be put up

We filled a large kettle with water and put it on to boil.  In the meantime, we trimmed the stems, then washed the leaves.  Next, taking several leaves at a time, we rolled them up into a fat cigar (Fidel, you’d be jealous), then sliced them in 1-inch pieces.

Val ribbons the Swiss chard

The next step was to blanch the ribbon-ed leaves in boiling water for 1 minute, then put them in cold water to stop the cooking process.

Blanching the leaves

After cooling down the blanched leaves, we needed to remove the water.  A salad spinner did the trick.

Removing the excess moisture before bagging

If you don’t have a salad spinner, you can wring the leaves out gently between tea-towels.  It’s important not to have too much water clinging to the leaves before you freeze them.  We have a Food-Saver vacuum bag system.  Our unit is over 6 years old and going strong.  They are really worth the investment as food that is vacuumed-sealed lasts for up to 3 years without freezer-burn.

Vacuumed-sealed for winter

In just 90 minutes, Val and I had seven 8 cup bags of Swiss chard ready for the freezer.  We know its chemical free, grown with love and will end up being enjoyed in various ways from casseroles to soups and stews.  We look forward to eating our greens.

We then decided to put up the 4 large heads of cauliflower we purchased from our good friend John Platte.  This went even quicker than the chard.  We were done in a mere 45 minutes.

Beautiful, locally grown cauliflower

We ended up with 10 bags of flowerets ready to be turned into soup, gratins or roasted for pasta.

 

Heading down to the freezer

Putting up produce helps us stay local even in winter.  We feel good about filling our larder with vegetables grown either on our own farm or in our area from other local farmers.

“There is no dignity quite so impressive and no independence quite so important as living within your means.”  –Calvin Coolidge

 

 

 

Posted in Essays, Farm News, Farmer's Market, Food Issues, Raves, Uncategorized, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Waste Not Want Not

Posted on September 10, 2012 by

After a three month hiatus, I’ve decided to return to blogging about food and our farm.  It was impossible for me to juggle all the demands of the summer and have anything left to think coherently, much less write.  We are just starting to turn the corner on the most intense part of our year, so now was a good time to recommit to posting on the blog.

When I returned home from market on Friday and unloaded the van, I went into the barn to find every available surface covered with tomatoes.  I went about pulling and packing for the following market day.  I started sorting tomatoes and tossing the fruit that has ‘gone south’ and can’t be used into a wheelbarrow.  This gets divided between our chickens and our compost pile.  The tomatoes that are merely bruised or damaged in some way I put to the side.  Last year I used some of these and made a fantastic roasted heirloom vodka sauce.  This year is different.  Our tomato yield had quadrupled due to using a new guide-wire system, creating a larger percentage of usable ’seconds’. By the time I was finished sorting for Saturday, I had a two whole tub of heirlooms.  It was time to roast them in batches with a few adjustments and can them for winter.

No such thing as a wasted heirloom. Here they are ready for the oven.

I brought them all into the kitchen.  I got out my roasting pan and decided it would hold at least half of them at one time.  With Val’s help we proceeded to cut out the spots, imperfections and bruises, then cut them up in manageable pieces.  We seeded them by holding each topped tomato in our palm, then giving them a slight twist, turning them 20 degrees and repeating this twist.  Most of the seeds and jelly will fall out.  You don’t need to be a perfectionist about this process.  Coring, seeding and chopping went pretty fast and we had the whole roasting pan filled in about half an hour.  I set the oven at 325, drizzled them with olive oil, then sprinkled them with salt.  I added 1 head of garlic, peeled and chopped, 1 tablespoon each of salt, dried basil and oregano.  In they went.  I set the timer for one hour later.  When the timer went off I opened the oven to give it a stir, and removed the first 4 cups of liquid from the pan with a ladle.  This would be repeated twice more for a  total roasting time of four hours.

Now we’re getting somewhere!

The whole house started smelling like a kitchen in Italy.  I had 4 pints of pulpy seasoned broth I would water-bath and use for soups or risotto’s, and half a roasting pan of the most beautiful condensed roasted sauce you could imagine.  Two batches of this roasted sauce yields approximately 5-7 quarts of sauce that can be frozen or water-bathed for 15 minutes.

The uses for this sauce are limited only by your imagination.  Add vegetables, turn it into a  pizza sauce with a quick turn in the food processor or make lasagna.  Tonight I added fresh arugula and poured it over cavatappi pasta.  You can also grill assorted veggies like eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, red or yellow sweet bell peppers and onions.  You name it.

Rich and delicious!

“The federal government has sponsored research that has made the perfect tomato in every respect, except you can’t eat it.  We should make every effort to make sure this disease, often referred to as ‘progress’, doesn’t spread.”  –Andy Rooney

 

 

 

Posted in Essays, Farm News, Food Issues, Recipes, Uncategorized, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

What’s the Buzz?

Posted on May 30, 2012 by

Our new top-bar Warre-type hive.

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve sat down to do a blog post.  Late spring is an impossibly busy time for us.  We are nearing the completion of planting crops, going to market 3 times a week, along with managing watering, weeding and harvesting.  In spite of it all we still enjoy our evening cocktail, great food, good friends and rousing games of dominoes!

Three years ago we had a thriving bee hive that was essential for pollinating our 5.5 acre vegetable truck farm.  Without our bees, our vegetable production is noticeably smaller per acre.  We, like many amateur and commercial bee keepers have experienced CCD or  Colony Collapse Disorder.  Studies have shown that CCD is possibly the result of environmental stressors, such as an excess of cold and damp weather.  This along with overuse of pesticides to control mites, has resulted in pesticide poisoning.  In addition,  exposure to GMO crops have affected the honeybee population in unimaginable ways.  In an effort to bend nature to our will to produce larger yields of commercial honey, we may just have endorsed an environment that will lead to the destruction of beekeeping as we know it.

Many small-scale beekeepers looked for a more natural and self-sustainable way to keep bees that not only benefited us, but put the bee and its needs ahead of the harvesting of the bees cherished product: honey.  This turned out to be the top-bar hive.  Originally developed by Abbe Warre (1876-1951) a Frenchman who after experimenting with over 350 hives of various designs and types, came up with the People’s Hive.  His goal was to find a hive system that was simple, natural, economical, and bee-friendly.

Inside view of our top-bar hive.

It is our good fortune to have a friend who is not only interested in having his own top-bar hives, but was willing to build and manage one for us as well.  Dennis, who I’ll describe as a brilliant eccentric, has embraced his new hives with a passion to match his intellect.  He and his wife Julie live largely off the grid and off their land.  Beekeeping was a natural extension of this lifestyle.  Learning from Dennis about our new hive is an ongoing adventure.

Dennis’ approach to his hives has some simple rules:

  • Interference in the natural lives of the bees is kept to a minimum.
  • Nothing is put into the hive that is known to be, or likely to be harmful either to the bees, to us or to the wider environment and nothing is taken out that the bees cannot afford to lose.
  • The bees know what they are doing; our job is to listen to them and provide the optimum conditions for their well-being.

Area for bee ‘food’ or syrup to get them started and acclimated to their hive.

Some of the features of our hive are as follows:

  • The hive-body box internal dimensions are 300 x 300 x 210 mm, with projecting handles
  • There are eight 36mm centered 24mm wide top-bars resting in rebates in each box
  • Wax starter strips are under each top bar (NO FOUNDATION)
  • Flat floor, notched with 120mm wide entrance, alighting board
  • Coarse weave cloth covering the top-bars of the top box
  • 100 mm high ‘quilt’ boxed with wood, filled with straw, sawdust, wood shaving etc., retained with cloth
  • Gabled roof containing a ventilated ‘loft’ and separated from the quilt by a mouse-proof board
  • New boxes are added at the bottom

Dennis, being Dennis also added little peak windows of plexiglass covered by small shutters that allow us to observe the interior of the hive without disturbing the bees.  So far the new queen is happy and producing ‘brood’, and the worker bees are busy making comb and bringing pollen to the hive.

Dennis and his beautiful hive.

We are new to beekeeping and look forward to learning from and observing our bees.  Maybe, just maybe they will be happy and content enough to bless us with some honey after a busy season of pollinating our crops and building a healthy hive.

Zucchini flower waits for our bees.

With temperatures soaring beyond 90 for the Memorial Weekend it certainly feels like summer, without the abundance of vegetables coming off the farm.  Fortunately we put up a lot of frozen corn which turned into a great summer salad (even if it’s not summer on the calendar yet!)  This is great when it’s hot and you don’t want to heat up the kitchen.  Serve it with anything from the grill and you’re good to go….

Summer Corn Salad:

A fresh salad ready to be tossed!

  • 2 cups fresh or frozen corn
  • 1 jalapeno minced and seeded
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
  • 1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  1. Mix together first five ingredients.
  2. Mix together oil, lime juice and cumin.  Pour over salad, toss and chill for 45 minutes.

Serves:  4-6

The taste of summer!

Additional suggestions:  Serve with guacamole and chips for a fast lunch.  Use as a filling for quesadillas.  Use as a filling for a frittata.  Yum

“I dreamt — marvellous error! — that I had a beehive here inside my heart. And the golden bees were making white combs and sweet honey from my old failures.”
― Antonio Machado

Posted in bees, Essays, Farm News, Food Issues, honey, Raves, Vegetables | 7 Comments

Challenges Mean Finding Solutions

Posted on April 29, 2012 by

Sad, frozen tomato plants.

It’s been quite a week!  We’ve been busy transplanting hundreds of tomato plants for the up-coming market season.  This involves moving the trays that are transplanted to our hoop-houses for them to ‘beef-up’ and harden-off for selling.  With temperatures above average in March, it was disappointing to see them far below average for April.  The hoop-houses can usually deal with a frost and temperatures dipping to the low 30′s, but when we experienced temperatures in the low 20′s on Friday, they were not able to survive.  We walked into the hoop-house to find about a 90% loss.  After a brief melt-down, we put our big-girl pants on and knew we would have to bust ass to get them all replanted by next Saturday.  There is a reason we plant over 8100 plants…and this was it.

Then we were informed that when our newly renovated farmer’s market opens this coming Saturday, it was going to be without the market stalls for the farmers.  For any of you that have dealt with construction projects of this magnitude, you are probably aware of the glitches that are inevitable.  Many farmer’s markets don’t even supply stalls and expect that anyone interested in selling will supply any tables they may need.  Our market has always had stalls, adding to a intentional and uniform look for the market and a sturdy and secure space for each vendor.  To complicate things further, in the event of inclement weather, the vendors will undoubtedly get wet without the protection of their beloved ‘tarps’ that were attached to their stalls.

Ample space, wider isles and protection for our customers!

Now of course, there has been much grumbling from the peanut gallery concerning what has or has not been done ideally.  But Val and I feel there is a ‘shelf-live’ to complaints.  So many people gave selflessly to the creation of this new market with the idea of it being a beautiful destination for those looking to support their local farmers and community.   What is…is.  It is time to come up with solutions that will make the temporary inconveniences tolerable.  What a great time to cooperate with your vendor neighbors and find what might be beneficial for all parties.  The pluses of our beautiful new market will far outweigh its temporary shortcomings.

Val constructing our temporary stalls.

We started by constructing four modular market stalls; two for our beloved market neighbors Fred and Linda, two for us.  Val (being a licensed contractor) came up with a design which we constructed on the farm and transported to market.

The master at work.

Fred met us there with a great design for our market tarps that was inexpensive and ideal for a quick install for bad weather.

Fred checking his design for our tarps.

Val, Fred & Me

We are looking forward to our 2012 market season with all its fun, glitches and laughter. We can’t wait to renew our relationships with our terrific customers and get their impressions of their new and improved market.  Let the fun begin!

“Believe it is possible to solve your problem. Tremendous things happen to the believer. So believe the answer will come. It will.”  –Norman Vincent Peale

Posted in Essays, Farmer's Market, Rants, Raves | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments