The "family" Part of Family Farm and Grain Salad

I remember the first set of emails I made trying to volunteer on a farm. I sent out probably 20 letters asking around if any local farms were looking for volunteers. I attached my resume and everything. I only got one response- from Robert at Pacific Star Gardens.  I wasn't particularly shocked. Having worked with volunteers before, I know that they can sometimes be more work to manage than they are help. Nonetheless, I was excited to go out and work on a farm. Tarra was excited to go out too.

We went out mostly on weekends for a few hours doing simple chores. After we were done, Robert usually welcomed us to pick what we wanted out of the gardens to take home. It was great to get outside, do something productive and physical and get rewarded with the most beautiful, fresh, organic veggies. We were hooked.

After a year of volunteering, it had start to sink in that I wanted to do this full time. I even was excited to go out after a long work week at a produce department. When I first brought it up to Tarra, she was supportive. Though, if I told her I wanted to be a street performer, I swear she'd stand behind me.  I know she had to be tired of me lamenting about how I had just really botched up college and now had 3 degrees I didn't care to use. I think she was grateful to see me take a direction really.

She encouraged me to go to the California Farm Academy (CFA). We talked many a long talks about what our lives might be like if I was a full time farmer. Could we live with me making only $3 an hour. (Umm what? You're kidding right? Nope. The average small farm owner makes $3 an hour. Granted we work 80 hours a week it works out to a liveable wage. I mean food is included, right?) Could we live with aforementioned 80 hour work-weeks? What about kids? Can we plan to have a baby in the winter so come spring-busy-time we have a baby that can at least sit up? How many weekends can I "take" from Tarra before she looks forward to Mondays at her "normal" job. Will she help me market? We tried to cover all the hypothetical and really talk them through.  My dream was important, but so was the woman of my dreams. Could they co-exist?

The first challenge came in my first paid gig. It was during a summer that I was attending CFA, back yard gardening, volunteering at PSG, AND this new job. It was a non-profit sort of thing where I would have to be a farm manager and a volunteer coordinator. I was so excited for it. It played on all my strengths and fueled all my passions. It was perfect, except for the land owner. Let's just say we had a difference in opinion in interpersonal communication styles: I thought you should be nice when talking to people, he did not find that necessary. He would send emails that were so passive aggressive, micro-managing, dismissive and disrespectful... they would leave me in tears. Not to mention the times he actually red-in-the-face yelled at me. Tarra bore the brunt of my anguish.
She had to not only help me do all the really hard physical work of starting from scratch in a new place to farm, but all of the emotional baggage too. It was hard to say the least.

The second big challenge was the P.E. Tarra, by trade, is an engineer. She is in the process of getting her Professional Engineering License that will allow her to be promoted. It is comprised of three tests, one that is 8 hours and two more 2 hour tests. The studying, the cost, and the anxiety are immense. She really needs me to help keep her fed, focused, the house clean, laundry done, and soothe her worries. No problem, I promised that in my vows. Except, at the end of the day, the last thing I can offer is extra support. I need extra support! I never had enough energy to do it all which meant that sometimes dinner got made, the dishes never got done, Tarra did the laundry while procrastinating from studying, and the house was a disaster. None of this helped anyone's mood. Try as I might, I could just never convince the dog to help out either.

With all of that, I was burning my candle at both ends and holding the whole thing over an open flame. Needless to say, this was hard on our relationship. My favorite fight was over ice cream. We had gone out to eat one night right before the test because I was too tired to cook. On the way home, I suggested we stop to get a pint of ice cream. "You know I need to study! We don't have time!" Tarra snapped. "For real? It'll take 5 minutes. If you don't pass because of 5 minutes less studying, you've got bigger problems than ice cream!" We both decided to end it there, make a U-turn and pick up a pint. I'd like to say bickering like that was rare, but it was pretty regular.

As the season picks up, Tarra and I grow more and more restless waiting for her test results. If she passes, we're free and clear to live our lives with normal farm-stress. If not, it's another set of hundreds of dollars and lost weekends to studying. Even if she does pass, how many ice cream fights will we have when we're both working 7 days a week?

I can't predict the future, but I can tell you that there will be more conflict. I can also testify that farming isn't just physically hard. It taxes everything you've got, marriage included. Tarra is an amazing partner though, and I think we're stronger for the challenges so far. I know that there are a lot of really hard times coming, not even thinking about throwing kids in the mix, but I know we'll work it out in our own way.  This is the life we chose because it feeds our souls. Nothing really beautiful came from a gentle, easy journey.

Recently, Tarra has been freed from the grips of the P.E. (at least until we find out if she passed) and came out to the farm. Here are some pictures from one of our first days out there together in waay too long. I am always so glad to have her out with me. Not just for the help, but because everything seems easier with her around. Drudgery becomes fun. Also, you really can't beat a good snuggle break in the shade.

Byron enjoys a good nap lap during weeding.

As much as the melons enjoy being covered by shade cloth when it's cold, the weeds love it more.

AHA! I knew there was a melon beneath those weeds! (This image is the "after" of the one previous. Yes, there are that many weeds in our "weed bank")

What happens if you miss an asparagus by a day? It gets GINORMOUS!

Then, it blossoms! This is an asparagus fern. What we eat of asparagus is really the flower stalk! It ends up being this lovely fern plant that makes delicious food from the sun to feed its roots so it can make us more asparagus noms next year.

Con: your riser is leaking and making a puddle. Pro: this cute little guy lives here now.

We were hijacked by a couple of rogue chickens! "Alright naked neck, you steer. brown screaming chicken, you do the pedals. I'll keep a lookout!"

This was B.B. short for "broken beak". Cross beaks happen sometimes in chickens. Hers was pretty severe though. She passed away last week. It was probably just too hard to get enough food. Rest in peace BB.

The recipe for this week is a great way to use up a lot of your veggies! It's also a super great way to sneak more whole grains in to your diet. Aside from also being delicious, it's super quick to make!

Spring Grain Salad

Whole Grain
Protein
Nuts and Seeds
Radishes‐ sliced
Snap Peas‐ halved
Parsley‐chopped
Arugula Flowers
Lettuce‐chopped

Cook your grain and let cool. Mix in your protein, seeds, herbs, and veggies into the grain and add a dressing of choice. Toss mixture over lettuce and top with flowers. Viola! Fancy dinner!I used chicken, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, quinoa, and artichoke garlic dressing with a whole orange squeezed in‐ but you can use what you have/like!

Gearing Up for the Season and Sautéed Broccolini

Things are moving quick now. The soil is almost dry enough to till, and once it's bedded up, it's GO time. There are four beds of onions, six beds of melons and watermelons, two beds of cabbage, four beds of tomatoes, three beds of lettuce, two beds of beets, radishes, and turnips (and a partridge in a pear tree)...and probably three things I am forgetting...ready to go into the ground! The busy season is almost upon us.

We're painting signs to set out on the road to help people find us for U-Pick and farm-stand sales. I got to use some of my art degree skills, and there are fewer things that have made me happy than a short break from hoeing to sit down to paint.

I call it, "lava lamp melon"

We're going to cut these out with a jig-saw. I have never used one, but I assume this can be cut out like this...right?

Makes me wish summer would come sooner. I am dreaming of melon and prosciutto.

I was warned that trying to paint a blackberry is hard. It ends up looking like a bunch of grapes...Juicy grapes though, right?

Abstract apricot. 

The weather warming up is great for all plants, including weeds. They come in thick, like a carpet sometimes, and would love to grow 5' if you let them. FIVE FEET? Surely, you're kidding. Nope, come out this weekend and we'll play hide and seek in them. Byron is a super fan of sleeping in them for shade. He hides so well I think I've lost him sometimes. He's a pretty great farm dog for being as fancy as he is. 

To the right, you'll see lamb's quarter I have hoed out around the lime-green leaves of rainbow chard. to the left you'll see the lovely carpet they're forming, thinking I will be lazy and leave them. HA!

Byron had an epic adventure digging out a ground squirrel home. He dug them out about 3' down and it kept going down. Industrious little buggers.

My wife, Tarra caught this lovely portrait of me working. It was too kitschy not to share.

 This week's recipe is sweet and simple. Sometimes the best ways to treat super-great fresh produce is simple. Broccoli is something that gets a bad rap, especially from kids. I can understand it, I can't stand it raw. Byron on the other hand, loves it. I have to watch him when we're in the garden. He'll sneak off leaves to chew on in the weeds. This recipe for sautéed broccolini might change your tune if you're on the fence about broccoli. The gentle frying brings out broccoli's sweetness, and the lemon and garlic help balance any bitter notes left.

• Broccoli- whole
• Garlic-Sliced
• Olive oil
• Lemon slices

Pour a thin layer of oil into a good frying pan and heat on med-high until it shimmers. Drop the sliced garlic in and cook it until it just starts to turn golden. Drop the broccoli in whole, yes whole, the leaves and stalks are tender and tasty. Cook until the leaves begin to wilt and the broccoli begins to turn a darker color if not golden in some places. Remove the garlic and broccoli, toss with salt, and spritz with lemon. Serve over cooked whole grains, with a fried egg, or on pizza.

Enjoy! 

Strawberries! Strawberries! Strawberries!

Ever wonder why strawberries are so dang expensive? They're a lot of work folks. We have about 1/2 an acre planted out to strawberries. which is about 30 rows that are 200 feet long and 5 feet across. I'm not good at math, but I can tell you that's a lot! They also take about 8 months before they bear fruit. That is a lot of time to keep weeds out of them...Plus, they're a pain to plant and send out runners that need to be clipped or rooted. They're lucky they're delicious.

We plant the berries mostly for U-Pick. It's such a heartwarming thing when families come out stringing toddlers along, parents teaching kids small things about how food grows like, "Do you see those? They're onions! Onions grow underground." The children oohed and awed. It was garlic they were looking at, but I am sure no one will be scared to learn onions are sort of a half-on half-under the ground sort of thing.

I say this not to poke fun, but to point out that people just rarely see what food looks like growing. I am no exception. I just learned last summer while growing potatoes just how on earth they do it! Did you know potatoes flowered? They make a "fruit" that has seeds? Totally blew my mind. But, that's our modern lives. Veggies and fruit come picked, cleaned and packed for us. We just never learned.

Our U-Pick is really a win-win. We get to offer that rare experience of coming on a real, working family farm to our customers. They get to come and show their families where food comes from. Food literacy is such an underrated concept, and we're only too happy to be a public classroom. Plus, we get to grow berries, and sell them, all without picking. Which makes me happier than you'll ever know- it takes quite a long time to pick enough berries to even think of selling. I personally think the pink-stained faces of toddlers speak for themselves how much fun it is when it's not your job to pick berries.

We try to set up the farm to make it easy on customers to find their buckets and get them filled. Our farmstand has buckets, baskets, a scale, and instructions to help them along. We also put up signs on the farm to help customers orient themselves. I got the privilege this year of painting them!

Here are the ones that will be staked in the road to get people oriented towards the patch.

Sometimes, words aren't needed. The deliciousness speaks for itself.

This large one will be stuck to a trellis and stand post at the berry patch.

Here is the first flush I had to pick myself before the rain came. If ripe berries sit in the rain, they rot within hours. I picked 10 gallon buckets in a few hours...I later cut their tops off, vacuum sealed them and froze them. There will be jam in your future.

If you want to come join the magical fun of U-Pick, come by! We'll have strawberries until June, apricots next month sometime, and black berries in early summer! Just Google directions to Pacific Star Gardens in Woodland and look for the red-roofed farm-stand!

This week's recipe is in honor of the berry-fest: Strawberry Soda! Never made soda before? Never fear, it's super simple. This recipe comes from one of my new favorite books, True Brews by: Emma Christensen. If you've ever wondered about making your own wine, beer, kombucha, mead, or even sake- this is a must have! The recipe is as follows:

Strawberry Soda-

• 2lbs Strawberries
• 1/4 C Lemon Juice
• 1 C water, plus extra to fill bottle
• Pinch of salt
• 1/8 tsp dry champagne yeast

Chop the tops off the berries, and pulse in a food processor for a few spins. Bring water to a light boil and dissolve sugar and salt. Add this plus the lemon juice to the berries and let sit for 10 minutes. This is called macerating. Look, you've done something fancy. Really, you're just encouraging the natural fruit juices to come out to join the soda party.

Strain this muck through a sieve, mashing the pulp against the sides to get all the good stuff out into a bowl. Probably a good idea to wear an apron.  Take this juice and pour it into a clean two liter plastic bottle, or glass swing top jar if you're brave and vigilant*. Add yeast and cap it off. Now do the hokey-pokey and shake that all about.

Leave it out on the counter for 12-48 hours until it carbonates. Longer in the winter, shorter in the summer. With a plastic bottle, you'll know it's ready when it feels firm to squeeze it. With a glass swing-top, you'll know by it's loud pop when you release the seal to "burp" it every six or so hours.

When it's carbonated to taste, put it in the fridge for up to two weeks. Enjoy straight, or with a shot of your favorite fermented spirit.

*Glass must be babysat when carbonating. If you forget to burp it- taking the swing-top seal out to let some gas out, it WILL EXPLODE. NO, SERIOUSLY THERE WILL BE BROKEN GLASS AND SUGAR SYRUP EVERYWHERE. Speaking from experience, surely. Personally, it's the only way I do things though, not down with BPA.

Post-Winter-Clean-Up and Creamed Leeks

I'd wager a bet that when people think of farming, they imagine harvesting, planting, probably weeding. What I am sure they don't consider is all the clean up after the plant has left the farm. This can be quite a chore with most winter crops when it is too wet to stay on top of the weeds (ever try hoeing the mud? Horrible if not impossible. I'm just not a fan.) and with crops that need staking, trellising, shade cover, or other fancy things. Here is a tool that has become my best friend.

Nope, not a torture device, I promise. It's a stake puller. These stakes were set in to hold down the shade cloth to keep the winter lettuces from freezing. You can see the metal hoops to the right that worked as a support to keep the cloth up off the lettuces. Those are not rusted into the ground and need to be worked out with pliers. Let's here it for getting things done on time! Hip hip...wait I forgot I was supposed to be doing nine other things! Ah well, strength training! P-90 FARM anyone?

Here you can see how it leverages on it's one leg and pulls the stake up (the stake is the pole to the right). It might be hard to imagine, but it works quite nicely. This is a picture of it working out in the tomatoes, you can see Byron helping in the top middle. Yes, we have tomato plants right now! We do early tomatoes, they might be ready the beginning of July!

This time of spring puts you in a weird place of straddling seasons. The winter garden is still trying its darndest to keep making food against all odds and hot weather, but we're picking now out of the spring garden. Much of the spring crops are in the ground just starting or hardening off- waiting to get into the ground, but the green house is full of summer's promise. The weather is beautiful though, and I love being busy, so I am pretty happy!

The chickens are laying like crazy too! The hens just love the sunshine and squawk all day about it. The yolks this time of year are beautiful. All the green grass sprouting in their enclosure gives the yolks a dark, rich orange. Our first set of babies hatched out the other day. I'd share a picture, but I don't want to get bitten. Yes, turkeys bite- hard. They puff up something fierce, feathers on end, and hiss to let you know you're too close to their eggs or babies. When the mommas, yes two of them- they seem to want to sit in sets- come off the nest I'll grab a picture to share. For now, here are some photos of a few of our more eccentric chickens taken by the wonderful, generous, and extraordinarily kind, Deborah Lattimore:

This is one of our silkie chickens. Fun fact: silkie skin and bones are black. They also look like they missed out on the "nothing is broadcast in black and white anymore" memo.

This is Phyllis. Like Phyllis Diller. It's a wonder this chicken can see with that fabulous crown of feathers. 

The recipe for this week honors the straddling of seasons: creamed leeks. Leeks love being over-wintered. This means planting them in late fall, letting them bear the frost, and harvesting them in the spring. The leeks in your box are about 5 months in the making! They might be a new vegetable for you, but never fear, these onion relatives are a tasty new friend!

Creamed Leeks:

• All the leeks you have on hand
• Cream, broth
•  Butter, oil

Heat the oven to 425*. Cut off the white to light green portion of the leek. This is the "edible" part. The upper leaves are a bit too leathery to eat, but make amazing stock! Pop those babies in a bag and shove them in the freezer for stock making later! Cut the roots off the bottom of the leek. What you have left is for eats. Split it long-ways and rinse under running water, careful to get in between the outer few leaves. Dirt loves to hide here.

Set the leek halves, still mostly in tact hopefully,  in a baking pan in a single layer. Mix up your liquid and fat of choice. How much? Meh, make enough to barely cover the leeks in the pan. I like half cream- half stock with butter- but you can do veggie stock and coconut oil for a vegan version. Feel free to add fresh herbs or garlic to the party. Pour the liquid over the leeks and toss in the oven. Cook until the liquid has almost evaporated or the tops of the leeks are browning, whichever comes first. turn the leeks over and brown on top. 

What you're removing from the oven is a leek transformed! It is creamy, soft, and slightly oniony perfection! Toss this goodness on toast or my favorite, puree it and add a bit more cream and some grated Parmesan and mix into cooked pasta!

Enjoy!