Global Weirding and Parsnip Fries

Winter's last warm breaths are breathing life into spring. Though, spring is wearing a face that feels a lot like summer.  It was 80* on the farm the other day. It's all too strange. The first case of West Nile was reported in the central Valley- two months earlier this year than last. As far as I could tell, the bugs never really left. They seem to love the warm dry winter.  The crops seem to love it too, for the time being- as long as the well keeps supplying water that is.

We're lucky for the moment to be so heavily dependent on annuals. We have the freedom to plant- or not plant most of our fields. Though, we will have to rip out every other walnut tree in the back. It was expensive to water them in the first place, but we have other plans now seeing as how droughts are not just a fluke. Drought seems to be a state of existence for California, and we will have to begin taking uncomfortably close looks at the way we live, eat and play. With such dry weather, it may not make sense for us to grow grazing animals on pasture, rice, corn...we may have to reconsider lawns, pools, washing our cars often...it'll be ugly, and we may be unwilling or unable to admit it, but we're all responsible for our natural resources and when they're scarce, we all need to do our part to ensure we're being efficient and prudent.

Prudence for us is less a moral stance, though it has strong roots there, but a decision to stay in business. We're always looking at how we farm and re-evaluating practices to make sure that it makes sense financially, but it isn't wasteful of petroleum products (gas/plastics), water, or energy in general- whether it is ours or from the grid. We're always thinking about energy and nutrient flows on the farm as well, and how we can make each piece work more for us- like using the chickens to clean up fields and having them "process" the waste into something useful for the next planting. We're wondering if we couldn't get pigs to do some plowing or goats to do some weed eradication. We're all part of this ecosystem, and must find the right way to live in it, working with it- even if it's erratic.

Though we're just a few days into spring, things are busy-busy for us. Here are a few things we've been up to:

The one time it did rain hard, of course we had to go out and pick 200 heads of mizuna for the food bank. I finally gave in and took my shoes off. The mud would have taken them anyway...

Most times you don't pick everything from a bed, and it is left along with the weeds until we can get back to it to mow, till, and bed back up. Sometimes though, we don't get to it...and the weeds go to town! With all this shade, the soil would have never died out in time for us to till (putting a few thousand pounds of tractor on wet soil= compaction nightmare). So, I had to get to most of the leafy-weedy canopy by hand. Cool thing about a super sharp hoe? You get these cool cross-sections of roots you hacked! These are old chioggia beets!

Here is a cross section of radishes that have grown in together. How cool is this?

The blackberries we grow must be trellised each winter. It is a grueling, sharp, nasty job. Alain and Anna of Full Circle plugged away dutifully this winter and got most of them done. Here, I came to help one afternoon, and loyal to a fault, Byron just couldn't leave my side, nor stay put on his "safe space" of cardboard I made him. He HAD to be right next to me. he was tired of the sharps on his tiny dog feet and decided to hitch a ride while I was trimming roots.

Farming can be rough on small red dogs.

While we wait for spring to share the promises of her bounty, we must savor the last of our winter roots. Parsnips are an under-appreciated vegetable in my humble opinion. Ugly as they may be, and unpleasant raw to boot, cooking them unleashes a tender, sweet side that has hints of anise flavor. Here is a recipe for parsnip fries that will knock your socks off and seriously impress your burger. The recipe comes from Bon Appetit. Serve it with lemon-garlic aoili and relish this novel new friend you've made.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/2 pounds parsnips or carrots, peeled, cut into about 3x1/2-inch strips
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary, plus 5 sprigs rosemary
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon (or more) ground cumin  

Preheat oven to 450°. Mix parsnips, chopped rosemary, garlic, and oil on a large rimmed baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Spread out in a single layer. Scatter rosemary sprigs over.

Roast for 10 minutes; turn parsnips and roast until parsnips are tender and browned in spots, 10–15 minutes longer. Crumble leaves from rosemary sprigs over; discard stems and toss to coat. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp. cumin over. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more cumin, if desired.