To Be Continued

I just wrote the last Veggie Box News for the foreseeable future.  I am ending my partnership with Pacific Star Gardens. There are a great number of reasons why it just didn't/wasn't going to work, I'll cover a few here that I feel will help us grow as people to understand our relationship to farms, farmers, and our food. 

Perhaps the most significant reason I decided to walk away was financial. The average small, organic farmer makes $3-5 per hour. I actually lost money this year; I worked for (-$1) per hour roughly. This is mostly because overhead is so high, margins are low, waste is enormous, crops fail because of disease and bugs and people flake on purchases all the time. There is no secret discount store where we buy hoes, shovels and the like we get them at the same pricey hardware stores you all do, seeds are really expensive, the amount of labor is enormous, and everyone wants a discount or donation. I also commuted to work, 52 miles a day which by the IRS' deduction of 56 cents is over $7,000. I have only brought in $5,000 to date, and have little hope of more coming in. I'm not trying to break your heart, or whine, but instead tell it like it is: Farming is really, really rough and the people who do it should be treated like local heroes. So, please, don't haggle at the markets, DO shop at the farmer's market- giving your money right to the farmer so they don't lose money wholesaling so you can get it at the supermarket, tip them even (even if it's just them keeping the change), buy your favorite farmer a gift, or bring back food you've made with their product. Just remember to thank them in person or writing, I know I always loved when I felt people really understood what I was trying to do and really thanked me for it. 

Related to finances, Tarra and I are hoping to start a family. As two ladies, that's really expensive. We are lucky enough to have gotten a known donor, otherwise the sperm bank would be $700 a try, if we tried twice a month...that's more than our rent! We're using a midwife, and while she's world's cheaper than the fertility center, it's still not cheap. We're looking at spending $10,000 to have a baby, roughly double what it would cost for a hetero couple. We finally realized that I couldn't make less than no money and have a baby. And commuting while pregnant sounded awful.  We're also hoping to buy a home soon to house the kind of family we want (we're hoping to adopt/foster more in the future after having one or two of our own) and another car so we don't have to share. While it seems obvious now saying this, I was so hopeful I could make farming and raising a family work, I maybe let it go on longer than I maybe should have. This just seems the wrong time to try to make farming work, at this place, in this time in my life. 

I'd like to farm again in the future but it'd have to be close to home so commuting isn't as expensive and exhausting, and it would have to be more balanced with value added items like jams, pickles, bread, and dried products that have a better shelf life and are less prone to wrascaly wabbits, ground squirrels, aphids, tiny birds, and all the other adorable crop ruiners that plague a veggie farm. It would have to be very different next time for it all to work. That's the kind of work I really enjoyed anyway. Growing veggies is easy and tempting to new farmers, but unless you've got some brilliant idea or really great "in", it's also a really great way to work really hard and not make very much money, especially if you're driving really far to do it! Lesson here, try to buy those value added things from farmers. Olive oil, jam, dried fruits, breads, pasta, soup mixes, soaps, salves and things are where they make their money and sustain their farms. The moral of all of this is please don't let my closing end your dedication to farms. 

I have cherished the relationship we have all shared over these short two and a half years, and am grateful for those of you who have been with me since the beginning, four years ago.  I took great joy in planning, seeding, weeding, transplanting, harvesting, packaging and delivering your food. I was so thrilled when you would share your creations online or with me. I am so proud to have been your farmer and to hear that I have helped you all grow to love new veggies, learn to meal plan and push yourselves to cook, and taken an interest in agriculture and your health where you wouldn't have before. That was my goal in starting on this journey, and I know I'll look back on this someday with great accomplishment, though right now it all feels a bit raw. I feel a lot like I've lost a love one: something I labored to grow.

I have a few ideas of how I'd like to carry on this kind of work: working with agriculture, bringing you food, helping us all learn to cook and love veggies, and building a community around all of that. For now though, I think this is where we'll close this chapter of Tender Heart Farms.

Eating with Tender Heart Farms Fall 2015

This is a kind of post that is near to my heart and part of the bigger picture I am trying to push at the farm. I want to show that eating your way through a box can be easy, fun, tasty, and done in three meals (with leftovers for lunch the next day if you're two people like our household). I have meant to do this more often, but it's a lot of work- keeping track of what I am eating and remembering to take pictures and write down recipes. I have done one of these posts before: Eating with Tender Heart Farms Fall 2014 almost exactly a year ago. The box looks pretty similar! What is fun to notice is this time I made completely different things.

I'll walk you through what was in the box, what I made, and share recipes and strategies for how to manage a whole box for two people each week. My goal is to make a box only into three meals so you're only in the kitchen a few days a week making a big meal. That leaves four other nights for eating out, grilled cheese, or whatever your fall back "I'm too tired and hangry to cook" food of choice is.

In that week's box: Beets, Eggplant, Bell Peppers, Pomegranate, Persimmon, Garlic, Onions, Chinese Luobo Radish, Choi, and Lettuce.

This is a pretty typical box. One to three servings of 7-10 types of veggies and fruit. It's the best of what is growing in our gardens and what we're able to trade with other farms. I realize this is not how you may shop. This is likely super weird for people. The amounts, kinds, and variety of things are something totally new to tackle. My best advice is meal planning. Unless you're a maverick in the kitchen and cooking veggie based meals comes second nature, you're going to need a good game plan. Search for recipes, write them down,  make a list and shop for success! 

Meal 1

The first meal I planned was cheesy toast with braised greens and lentil hummus. It was ok, but could have been made amazing with a garlic aoili spread on the toast. Also, if you aren't doing low carbs like me (revisit this blog to see why) go with tortilla chips or pita chips with the hummus. 

First super secret I'm going to share is browned or caramelized onions. This easy step will launch your food to a new level. Go it slow and low with a bit of oil, salt, and sliced onions in a good, heavy pan. If they're burning, turn it down. This will take about 15-30 minutes, but it's mostly unsupervised. Just let them do their thing browning slowly, developing this amazing caramel sweet onion flavor, and give them a stir every 5 or so minutes. If you're impatient go ahead and fry them, but these guys are worth the wait and will make the bitter in your green far more palatable.

Once they're good and carameled, crank up the heat and add garlic for a minute or so. Chop up that choi (or whatever green) and toss it in until it turns a darker green and begins to wilt. Kill the heat and BAM! Delicious. Go ahead and add a bit of vinegar, lemon, liquid smoke, red pepper flake, or whatever you like to enhance their healthy goodness.

I toasted some whole grain bread, topped it with mozzarella and broiled it to melt the cheese then topped it with cheese. You could also do a grilled cheese situation like this. Like I said before, an awesome aoili will send this over the moon!

We tried out lentil hummus. It was pretty good. I mean, a nice change up from garbanzo, but...probably not again. I'm more into lentil sprouts for my fiber, protein, and folic acid thanks. 

Since we're limiting carbs, we went with carrots cut at an angle for dipping. It was fun actually. Great crunch and the sweet of the carrot complimented the savory of the hummus. I mean, not as good as chips, but not bad either. 

Tarra approved. 

Meal 2

The next meal started again with braised greens. We tackled more garlic, onions, bell pepper,  beet tops and the other choi in making an Italian staple: beans and pasta.

Garlic going to town in some butter.

BAM! greens down getting dark and wilty. Bell Peppers next. Then, we doused this in lemon juice

Then in went cooked white beans and shell pasta and a healthy drizzle of olive oil and salt. 

We had a mad sushi craving that night, but compromised with a meal we had planned plus some sashimi. 

Meal 3

The last meal took out the rest of the box: lettuce, persimmons, pomegranate, bell peppers, radish, and the beets. It was a night for BIG SALAD.

Lentil sprouts, beans and hard boiled egg make this salad a meal.

I have heard many people lament that they just can't do salads. Me too friends, me too. the worst thing is a giant pile of lettuce with some flimsy vinaigrette. It's the worst. So here are my tips for salad success (for the lettuce hater):

-Toppings: think 5:1 of toppings to lettuce. More crunch, cheesy chunks, sweet fruits, and texture help distract from a bitter green. 

Here is a great recipe from Alice Hart's Vegetarian Book for a "savory granola" that replaces croutons with healthy seeds:

Tahini Seeds:

Spread 11/4 cups of mixed seeds (sunflower, chia, buckwheat, hemp, flax, etc) on a baking tray and roast a 350* for five minutes. Mix 2 tbs each tahini and honey with a crushed garlic clove and 1 tbs sesame oil in a bowl. Dump seeds in and mix to coat. Spread them back out and back in the oven for 5 more minutes. Let dry and crumble over salads for a savory crunch! 

Her book does an amazing job running you through how to make veggie based meals taste excellent. I can't recommend it enough! It's easy to use as well as being beautiful! She also runs you through how to make sprouts at home. Before you start grab some cheese cloth or for a reusable option get yourself some of these for Christmas! Here is an abbreviated version: 

Sprouts:

Fill a tall jar with an inch or two of either store bought sprout seeds, raw sunflower seeds, or dry beans (lentils, garbanzo, mung, etc) and fill it up to the top with water. Let soak for about 8 hours. Rinse (with sprout lid on!) drain, and tip upside down to finish draining. Rinse twice a day until they're sprouted to your taste! (Some people like beans to barely sprout, but I like when they have little leaves. I also like to leave them in the window for the last day to really green them up)

These two recipes should get you on your way to a more flavorful, textured salad that will help you forgive lettuce for it's bitterness, while still eating it for it's nutritional virtue! I also want to share my recipe for homemade ranch that is almost guilt free it's so healthy and makes salad actually enjoyable!

Ranch:

1 small sweet onion of any color

3 green onions or a bunch of fresh chives

1/2 bunch parsley

handful of fresh dill

Several cloves garlic

Salt to taste

3 cups yogurt or soy yogurt

Milk or soy milk

Toss that mess in a blender and enjoy! You can sub buttermilk, mayo, switch the herbs around, add lemon juice or hot sauce, bacon...whatever. It's way better than anything you're going to buy in the store!

I shared the recipes above, step by step for the other two, but I'll write them in a normal recipe format for easier searching next time.

Braised Greens Grilled Cheese with garlic aioli:

Bunch o greens
garlic
onion
oil
melty cheese
bread
moar garlic
lemon
mayo (or vegan mayo)
olive oil

Start with aioli. Lob a big ol spoon of mayo, several galic cloves, juice of a lemon in a blender. Turn on and drizzle oil until a meduim thick (just before it's runny but less thick than mayo) sauce forms. Set aside and enjoy on EVERYTHING. Get to browning onions (caramelizing is best) turn up heat add garlic and greens and cook until they darken and wilt. Set aside. Wipe out and reheat pan. Lob butter or oil down and layer bread, cheese, greens, cheese, aioli, and bread. Make a grilled cheese. Bam, healthy delicious.

Butterbeans and Greens Pasta:

Cooked pasta
Cooked butter or other white bean
Braised greens with garlic, onion and bell pepper
olive oil
lemon juice
parmesan or crumbly cheese like ricotta salata if desired

After you finish braising the greens, add cooked pasta and beans. Splash in about a cup of pasta water to get a sauce going. Add lemon juice and olive oil as well and stir with heat on until heated through and combined. Finish with cheesy goodness or nutritional yeast.

I hope that this is inspiring and empowering. Please let me know what you think. I would love to know how you all make it through your boxes!

Hello, I'm Still Here For You

Hello. I see it's been since May that we've spoken. You might notice a trend of summer sweeping me away. Usually I can grin and bear it, sneak back in and say hello, drop some veggie knowledge, and keep my chin up. This summer was different.

For one, Tarra and I are officially partnering with Pacific Star Gardens. This has brought a whole new level of responsibility and added layers to that knot in my gut that there is too much to do and not enough time. We're grateful to have this opportunity, please don't misunderstand. I have 20+ years of experience to draw upon, 40 acres of organic land, tons of infrastructure and equipment.... but partnership can be like marriage and comes with challenges. We're still figuring things out, and I am so happy to have that wonderful, difficult chance to do so.

For two, Tarra and I are preparing to try to get pregnant come January. As a same sex couple, this adds complexity to that decision. There are laws and lawyers that will make your head spin and your wallet ache, sperm banks and sperm donors that could cost a mint or sue for custody if they change their mind, OBGYN's and midwives that don't agree when and how you should be poked, prodded, penetrated, or the like. It's just not how I imagined I would bring a child into this world.

The last straw for me mentally and emotionally came when we did our due diligence and had me checked out at the doctor to be sure I was ready to start trying come next year. I was diagnosed with Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). This is a disorder of your hormones. For some it displays as cysts on your ovaries or other reproductive organs (thus the name) that can grow and mostly be benign or become cancerous. It can also show up as hormones way out of whack. Your menstrual cycle might have it's own time, sometimes going missing for months or years, or you might not ovulate, or you can grow a righteous beard as a lady. It can affect your thyroid, alter your moods and send you into depressive spirals. It can also appear as insulin insensitivity making type 2 diabetes easier to develop and weight near impossible to lose.

I have since leaned that like miscarriages, infertility is a taboo subject. So I am calling Bullshit to this social norm and we're going to talk about it. But Ashley, this is a farm blog, why are you sharing? I've asserted this before, and still stand by it: as a small farm, your participation is an intimate relationship. We're closely linked: my life, my farm, my produce to your family. I spend my life feeding you. Your food has a story, my story- so I am going to keep sharing.
So lets talk about it. Infertility is the cause of enormous fucking stress.

"Current research has shown that the stress levels of women with infertility are equivalent to women with cancer, AIDS or heart disease, so there is no question about infertility resulting in enormous stress."

But, fun fact, stress also exacerbates infertility. Awesome. Don't stress about all this stress, it'll make things worse!

So we've been reading, talking with our midwife, sought council, and informing ourselves best we can. What we've come up with is no easy answer. Mainly, I have to lose some weight. It will improve fertility, lower my blood sugar, reduce risk of miscarriage or still birth, and increase the likelihood of a healthy pregnancy all around. Like I said earlier, that's nearly impossible. My thyroid and insulin insensitivity make that really, really difficult. I'm also not trying to restrict calories so my body doesn't avoid pregnancy thinking there aren't enough resources to support it. So, my calorie burning goal is 3-4,000 a day while I am trying to take in 2,000 minus any refined carbs and even reduced whole grains. Basically I am a meat and veggie monster.

OMG, how do you burn that many calories? We're training for a half marathon basically. It'll be fun, it's the Beat the Blerch Run. But, it takes a lot of time and energy and I am trying to squeeze that in with farming. Not surprisingly I am doing a shoddy job on both fronts. This blog was the first casualty.

We're in the process now of identifying sperm donors, which is a weird thing. You usually find someone you love and agree to their babies regardless of their genes. With a same sex relationship, we get to pick. It's a bizarre thing, like sperm hunting. Going to dinner parties, events and stalking men, then measuring them against our list of wants from a biological donor. Then we have to have "THE TALK" with the potential donor. Ask about their sexual lives, family history... Super weird. Again, not how I imagined having kids, but this is where we are.

I'll do my best to keep you all updated. I'll do my best to keep you abreast of things at the farm. I make no promises but my best.

A small trip to renew our spirits. 

At the farm, our eggplants and bell peppers are hanging on. You might be sick of them and need help rekindling your romance. Here are a couple recipes I hope help:

Hummus with Harissa
Bell Peppers play a huge roll in my house. We use them constantly. Not green ones, because ew. But the colored ones sing to my heart. If this is not you, I think you might like this. Roasting them helps bring out their sweet side and the spices will turn them into a magic paste that your hummus craves.Harissa is a North African chili paste that you can find in cans usually at a store specializing in Middle Eastern Food. It's basically roasted chili paste with garlic coriander and cumin with a little lemon. It's simple to make, and you'll feel fancy! It was a big hit at my friend's wedding in Colorado.

• Colored Bells
• Garlic
• Lemon Juice
• Coriander
• Cumin
• Optional: Roasting hot peppers

Take what you have in bells (I suggest at least four or five to make it worth your while) and toss them on a cookie sheet with a head of garlic, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt to roast. Blast them with 450* of oven magic until they're blistered and black. Take them out and put them in a bowl with a towel covering them. Let them steam themselves for 10 or so minutes. Uncover and peel the skins off. Totes not necessary, but strips of pepper skin can ruin a mouthful of dip- make your own call. 

Pop the garlic out of it's skins. It should be soft and paste-like if it's done roasting, if not, pop it back in the oven. Remove the stems of the peppers and toss it into a food processor or blender with the garlic, juice of a lemon, and a sprinkling of ground seasonings. Blend slightly, add salt to taste and just enough oil to make a silky paste. Taste and adjust seasoning. BAM! Harissa! You Fancy!

(Make your own hummus, seriously. Soak beans overnight, boil for awhile after you get home from work until tender, drain and toss with a couple scoops (tablespoon or two) of tahini, a few cloves of garlic, juice of a lemon and blend, adding oil to get a good paste. It's world's tastier than anything you can buy and sooo much cheaper. Be your own hero, make it homemade!)

*If you're going to roast hot peppers, do it well ventilated and pull them out before they blacken!!!! You will basically pepper spray your household if you don't do this! Also, if blending them, do not look into the blender, you will pepper spray yourself. You've been warned. Don't be afraid though, hot harissa is where it's at, just be smart!

Baba Ghanoush
Baba Ghanoush has as many iterations as it does spellings. I deferred to Wikipedia for this spelling. I have also read that in India, a Baba Ghanoush is a slang term for an attractive man. So, enjoy my recipe for eggplant hottie!

• Eggplant
• Onions
• Garlic
• Tahini
• Lemons

Take what you've got of eggplant (A few pounds to make your time worth it) and cut big bulb ones in half to quarters or long Asian types just in half. Quarter onions and remove skins. Toss all that nonsense on a cookie sheet with a head of garlic, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and roast it at 450* until it gets nice and dark brown. Don't burn it like the peppers, your mouth will be sad if you do. Scoop the eggplant, sans calyx (hard leafy top), and onions into blender or food processor, squeeze roasted garlic in there too (make sure it's soft again, if not, pop it back in the oven until it is!). Add a few scoops of tahini (tablespoon or two) juice of a lemon and blend! Drizzle oil until a smooth paste forms. Enjoy this fine interpretation of eggplant hottie dip!



*This would also love to snuggle up to some harissa! Smear this on sammies, pita, veggies or eat with a spoon!

Cook Books to Live By

It's been awhile. This seems to happen every spring...things just happen so quickly, it feel like I barely have time to come up for air- let alone sit here for several hours and spin you a yarn. So, thank you for hanging in there with me and supporting our farm, even if it's from a distance!

I've been thinking a lot about how to start someone on the path to veggie mastery. My grandma has been asking a lot of questions lately, concerned about her health as she ages. She has been having trouble finding recipes that aren't "diet" themed that feature veggies. I remember my own journey trying to learn to love veggies, and how hard that was. I tried googling "healthy" recipes and just got into a lot of guilt about what I ate and so pressured to eat salads and chicken breast and steamed veggies ( I mean, seriously, ew). Or, I'd find veggie recipes in "side dish" tabs on websites and have to hack them- stuffing tofu, beans, meat, adding toast, doubling or tripling recipes to make them  veggie based meals. I began to doubt that my idea of health (whole foods, omnivorous, seasonal) existed. Is it really that awful to dunk veggies in ranch? Is butter really the enemy? What if I don't want my veggies to just be adornments for meat? Where am I supposed to find fresh corn in early spring to go with my peas and carrots? Where are my people?

I am a stubborn human. Also, weak willed. I am never not going to eat cheese, give up butter, stop eating chili cheese fries, ranch, ice cream, and especially not my occasional top ramen. And as a feminist, I find the idea of dieting to control my weight repulsive.  But, I also want to be healthy and know that my junk food forays are occasional treats. What am I to eat each night? Can someone please make healthy delicious and guilt free?

 So, over the years I have checked out hundreds of cookbooks from the library pouring over recipes trying to find that balance. I have found about a dozen that I liked enough to buy (man, cookbooks can be pricey!) and I believe enough in them that I encourage you to splurge and invest in your enjoyment of being healthy. I'll share a few here with you and highlight some of my favorite recipes.

This Book is basically my bible in the kitchen. If you only choose one book, this is it. This book has been a staple in "healthy" cuisine for nearly half a century. It's about $20 and is readily found at your local book establishment. Some of our favorite recipes out of this book are:

Stir Fry and Stir Fry Sauce- an amazing veggie drawer clean out meal! Throw saucy stir fried veggies on top of brown rice and BAM! Dinner!

Samosas and Chutneys- yes, you can make this at home and it is just as good as the restaurant version (also not deep fried!)

Borchst- it's an amazing way to enjoy beets. Don't complain or make that face! Try it!

Potato Fennel Soup- Perfect spring soup! It's such a wonderful twist on potato soups!

(I could go on and on gushing, but just go buy the book and get cooking!)

This book is a new favorite. It'll put you out about $15. It is peppered with saucy language (and a fair amount of cultural appropriation that miffs some very staunch feminists) and tasty recipes. I have a few vegan friends, and I love them and they are super great and humble, but sometimes, people with special diets can get pretty smug about it and its off-putting. This is not that book. It succeeds at making eating vegan accessible. It has a ton of great, flavorful meat-less dinners that are full of nutrition and leave you feeling satisfied.  I actually find myself adding in a few extra veggies, but hey, you should be trying to do that always! Here are some favorites:

Veggie-tofu chilaquiles- tofu scramble with spinach, and fresh salsa make vegan breakfast miracles

Spiced chickpea wraps with tahini dressing- we've made this three times this month, seriously

Coconut-lime rice with red beans and mango- tropical complete protein deliciousness

Black bean tortas with coconut chipotle mayo- as a mayo lover, I was fooled by this vegan mayo, won over really the whole shebang was a big hit

     

This Book is amazing. It's like the "South Beach Diet's" delicious, guilt-less cousin for about $5. You still get all  the really great olive oil, tomato, cucumbery recipes that hold promise of health and longevity without all the weight-loss rhetoric! There is still some recipe hacking to do. You may have to double a veggie dish, add tofu, beans or the like to it, serve it with toast and a smear of cheese- but there are a ton of recipes to work with. I have not made one that wasn't absolutely delicious! Here are some of my favorites:

Eggplant Dip! Seriously, eggplant is delicious- give it a chance!

Eggplant and egg sandwich with olive hummus- no seriously eat more eggplant!

Egyptian Breakfast Greens- favas, lentils, eggs, lemons, tomatoes! Delicious! Do go out of your way to find Aleppo pepper- it's life changing

Turkish braised leeks with carrots- uh, yum!

Summer Squash Stew with sweet peppers- for that time when you find that honkin zucchini you left...

These two books will stir up your wanderlust! These two are about $15 each. The authors toured the Italian countryside, visiting Agrotourismos and getting the recipes from the chefs they visited. This is truly authentic. These recipes are perfect for eating fresh, local, seasonal, and omnivorously! They feature produce, herbs, dairy, and meat produced in the area cooked in a simple, straightforward way that accessible. The results are mind-blowingly delicious because of the high quality, fresh ingredients. Here are some of my favorites (from both books together)

Swiss Chard and Ricotta tart- Seriously delicious

Stuffed Zucchini Flowers- a delicate delicacy!

Saffron Risotto with sausage and kale- don't let the two first words intimidate you. Your kale wants this to happen to your mouth!

Beet bruschetta with goat cheese and caramelized onions- omg, amazing

Pork Stew with red wine and juniper berries- the most delicious pork...ever

Farro Stew with butternut squash- a hot bowl of ultra cozy in the winter!

This book will run you about $15 for some of the most fun you'll have with veggies.  Just for fun, go Google the Portlandia pickle skit- yeah, you can pickle that! This is a great way to learn to love veggies, re-learn to love veggies, add probiotics to your diet, and increase the flavor POW of a meal! It's a bit involved sometimes (cough, cough, kimchi, cough) but so worth it.  I love adding these pickles to stir fry, rice bowls, fried eggs and toast at breakfast, or just out of the jar at 1 a.m. Here are my favorites:

Thousand slices turnips- turnips and seaweed pickle into a tart, briny miracle

Pickled mustard greens- spicy, sour and oh so healthy

Wasabi pickled carrots- this is amazing alongside some homemade veggie sushi rolls or over sweet, sticky rice

Marinated bean sprouts- I've watched Tarra eat it out of the bowl like chips, so there's that review

Sesame seed spinach- an amazing way to pizazz your green

This book is a tank. Nearly 900 pages of Italian recipes and it will set you back about $30. Though, as someone who grew up pretty broke, I say splurge! You can always come look at mine too! Like the books above, the recipes are simple so be sure to use the freshest ingredients, you'll really notice the difference if you cut corners. It is exhaustive, like 9+ recipes for bean and pasta soup (arguably it's an Italian staple, but really). You can really get into some seriously delicious nit picking of regional cuisine and enjoy super healthy, super tasty food. Here are some of my favorites:

Farro Soup 1-5- they're all delicious

Wedding soup- fava beans, guanciale (they sell it at Taylor's in Sacto) fennel and rustic bread...serious yum

Soupy pasta with cauliflower and black olives- cauliflower is seriously underrated

eggplant parmesans 1-3- yes, three different recipes

marinated zucchini with mint- just yum

I am not going to leave you with a recipe at this time, mostly because I have given you a crap-ton of resources I whole heartedly endorse. Go forth! Rent from the library, go in on books together, or treat yourself to a shiny new book and supporting a local bookstore! 

Do you have any favorites? Where do you have luck finding down-to-earth, healthy recipes?

 

STRAWBERRIES!!!!!1!

It's that time of year again! Strawberries! I blogged last year about how We grow strawberries, which you can read here as well as enjoy an adventurous recipe for strawberry soda, so this year I wanted to talk about how strawberries themselves grow. It's pretty magical that a flower turns into a fat, red, ripe, juice berry. I'll take you down this pictorial journey then share an amazing recipe for strawberry pie!

If you come visit our farm anytime in April-June you're likely to run into this fancy sign somewhere. There are a few signs leading up to it helping people find their way from the parking lot to our U-Pick berry plot.

The first step a plant takes to creating it's fruit is a flower. These beauties glow a radiant white that contrasts so beautifully against the black plastic and the green leaves.

The bees can't resist their radiant beauty. They can be found buzzing away happily in the berry plot all season. Here is one coming in for a landing.

Busy bee doing very important pollination work.

Once the bee has done her work and the flower is pollinated, the petals dry up and fall off.

The flowers center begins to swell and develop seeds. Strawberries are an odd fruit in that their seeds are on the outside.

Most plants have berries and flowers at many different stages all at once. It seems like a berry that isn't ripe in the morning, will ripen up by evening, so there is always something to pick! Wednesdays or really early Friday is best. Weekends are usually our busiest, so by Sunday afternoon, there isn't much left. We're open 24 hours, so, if you'd like to U-pick and watch the sunrise- go for it! you'll have the berry patch to yourself!

The first berries of the season are always the largest. We grow only Chandler's, a variety developed by UCD for U-pick. They ripen fully red and are tender and juicy. This makes them delectable fresh, but horrible at shipping. They end up mush when in transit...so fresh picked is the only way! I usually don't have to tell people to eat them quick, they're so delicious, they don't last that long!

I sometimes pick a basket of berries for our farm boxes as a treat. Though, I once did enjoy U-pick, but I-pick as my job is not as fun so I don't let people get used to always having a basket picked by me. It's a lot of work to pick 12 baskets in one day! 

 This recipe is so awesome. It makes the best use of seasonal produce: citrus and berries. I do reccomend letting the custard set for the full time.... I didn't and the strawberries made it melt. Not that it wasn't delicious, it was just...melty. Also, do what you want so far as crust. I can't ever make it work so I buy the whole wheat spelt ones from the co-op in the frozen isle. Maybe you're cooler than me and can make it happen- this pie would be amazing with a graham (ooh or chocolate graham) cracker crust. But, do what you can!

 

Strawberry Lemon Pie  

1 pie crust- blind baked

Custard:

1 C sugar

10 TBS butter

4 eggs

1/2 C lemon juice

zest of 2 lemons

Bring out your double boiler. Don't have one? Get a wide, low pot fill half way with water and stack a metal or glass bowl on top (DON'T be lame and use plastic). BAM now you're double boiling! Toss everything in and bring water to boil and cut the heat back to maintain a slight simmer in the water . Whisk the curd gently until it becomes thick and the first bubble forms. Don't let it boil, you'll scramble the egg, and it will be eww. Strain through a fine mesh (like a tea strainer)- or don't, I didn't there are just cooked egg bits that will set. Place in a new bowl, cover with a lid or wrap and let set for two hours or make this a day ahead. 

When custard is set, spoon it into the cooled blind baked pie shell and smooth out with a spatula.

Slice up a whole boat load of berries and stack them on top of the custard. If you want to be fancy, melt some chocolate and pour over, maybe dust with cocoa powder or powdered sugar...just go for it! I personally heated up some strawberry cardamom jam I made last year and poured it on top. You could even go with some whipped cream?! 

Let me know how it turns out!

Early Season Tomatoes and TWO Great Ways to Enjoy Greens!

Even though spring is a ways away, man, it sure feels like it's here! We have strawberries earlier than we ever have, the "March" winds started in February, and it's 70* outside!? So weird. Well, it would seem weird to tell you our tomatoes have been in the ground for nearly 3 weeks had I told you this maybe 5 years ago...but maybe with it being so warm, it's not at all surprising.

We do early season tomatoes. Like, really early season tomatoes. They get seeded in January, put out mid February, and if all goes well, we have the only local tomatoes on the market for three weeks. Which is amazing for us, IF it works.

OMG Ashley, don't tell everyone your secret! Isn't everyone going to do this? Then you'll lose your early tomato to market niche! Likely not. The work, resources, and risk make this type of crop really unappealing. I've never liked gambling, but here we are...

Below are some pictures that I'll use to show you how we tempt the gods.

The first, super important element to this process is black plastic mulch. It can raise the soil temperature by 10*F! So if the soil is a cool 50* everywhere else, under the plastic it'll be 60*! Tomatoes are warm season plants and won't do well if it's cold, so this is vital. The other thing this mulch offers is weed supression. Don't get me wrong, weeds will still find a way! Every tiny pinhole is an invitation for bindweed and that big hole around the tomato is going to be weed city in a few weeks.

These hoops are the second big thing. They're going to keep the floating row cover off the plants. The row cover will add another 5*, so with plastic and cover, that's a difference of 15*. It won't save the plants from a hard frost, but it will keep them growing, slowly.

This is the secret ingredient to extra great tomatoes. Friends! My good friend Kelly came out to help and made what is always a really tough, long day really lovely!

Here Kelly is demonstrating good form on pounding stakes. Thes stakes have a specially drilled angular hole that a j-hook slides into catching the rope strung along the bottom edge of the row cover. It's kind of a large scale anchor stitch one might do in embroidery. It does a great job holding the cloth down in the wind. Unless it doesn't...and the string breaks or the cloth rips and you have to go out in 40+mph wind and repair string or use the terrible black clips.

Once all the stakes are pounded in, the hooks inserted to hold down the row cover, you're almost done! you will notice here there are two wind breaks on the left side of each triplet cover (there are three beds of tomatoes under each cover). This is tricky business too. Stakes hold and pinch another type of cloth that does a great deal of work "breaking" the wind over the beds (wind-break...get it!?). This is what hope looks like to a farmer. These will come off in 3-5 weeks depending on weather. It MUST come off when the plants start to flower. The pollinators and wind need to get to the plants- or there will be no tomatoes! When that happens, we'll prune, stake and string these guys up and come early June- TOMATOES! (hopefully...)

Kelly made a tiny lizard friend at beer time when all the work was done. Our farm is home to a great many vertebrates, and this one is absolutely welcome. They have a big appetite for bugs, spiders, slugs and the like. Eat up friend!

I believe he was coming close so he could thank Kelly for her hard work...maybe...

This week, I realize I am behind and owe you some recipes! Fine, how about TWO ways to enjoy greens?! The first one will hopefully cure some late winter blues and will take your taste buds on a mini vacation to summertime!

Greens Pesto

2 bunches leafy greens

2 bunches assorted herbs

3 green onions

1 1/2 cups olive oil

1/2 cup toasted nuts

3-4 cloves garlic

salt

Chop leathery greens up, but otherwise, toss in a food processor and enjoy! 

Last night for dinner I ate this pesto (with collards, cilantro, parsley, dill, green onion, almonds and the rest) on top of cheesy polenta topped with bacon and tomato braised cabbage, onions, and broccoli. It tasted like comfort food, but was super healthy. 

 

This next recipe is one of my favorites. Yes, it is Indian food, it takes a lot of spices you may not have, no, don't leave them out, and it takes a few more steps than you are maybe used to. Go to the co-op and buy bulk spice, DO NOT WASTE MONEY AT A GROCERY STORE BUYING SPICES. They're also grossly old at big stores anyway, so eww. Come borrow mine even! recipe first, get everything measured out first, then follow the directions carefully, and you will be rewarded with the most delicious curry that is so super healthy!

Palak Panner

1 lb greens (spinach, chard, kale, collards, mustard, anything!)

1" fresh ginger

2 green chilies

1 knob ghee

1 tsp cumin

2 bay leaves

1 onion, minced

1 tsp turmeric

chile/cayenne powder- to taste

1/2 cup water

1 tsp garam masala

splash of cream/soy milk (plain)

paneer cheese or tofu

Remove tough stems from greens if any. Boil briefly (1 minute for soft greens like spinach or chard, maybe two for kale and collards). Drain and drop into a food processor with ginger and chilies. Puree. In a good skillet, lob a hunk of ghee or butter in the pan and toss cumin seeds and bay leaf in until the seeds *POP*SNAP*CRACKLE* then toss in minced onion until the onion is a nice golden color. put in chile powder and turmeric and add puree to pan. Add water and cook for 6-8 minutes until the mixture thickens a bit. Add garam masala and kill the heat. Stir in a splash of cream/soy milk and your cheese or tofu. Serve with brown rice and, DELICIOUS!

Farming for the environment and a winter time pizza party

 It's been awhile, I know. I've been doing some battling with computers lately, and it has put me back on posting here. Namely I have a perfectly good laptop, but my OS is apparently too old to run most applications. Apparently 5 years is criminally long to hold on to something that cost a whole month's wages...

Anyway, I have also been away so long because Tarra and I had a Leminy Snicket type series of illness. She fell off her bike and broke her arm, got a fever that topped out at 103*. So for her it's been in and out of doctor's, othopedics, radiology, physical therapy- offices. I then cut a good hunk nearly off the end of my finger with a V-slicer got two 102* fevers two weeks apart and have just felt... off since. This has all been playing out since Thanksgiving, and has just recently been just O.K. 

The good news you'll likely assume is that I am self-employed as a farmer and it is winter, so this is the perfect time to be sick because nothing is really happening...right?! Nope. Being self-employed and not going to work means- yes, there is no one to call in sick to (well, besides your farming partner) but because you don't go in, things don't get done! If nothing is getting done, it puts you more behind and an already really, really, really low profit margin gets squeezed. But also, winter is a slower time, meaning there are 40 hours of work to be done, not 70, so missing work is a big deal. 

What on earth are you doing on a winter day? Well, things are still growing, so picking those for veggie subscription boxes, weeding, cleaning up fields, pulling drip tape, organizing tools. What we also should be doing is repairs and maintenence too like fixing the 4 wheel drive on the tractor fixing the other tractor, and countless other things. So even when you're done, you're really never done. 

Wait, what if it's raining, surely there's rest to be had. Nope. Sorry to be such a wet blanket about this but, there is greenhouse work. We've been having rat trouble in the greenhouse. Last spring a rat ate several thousand dollars of potential crops. So we are building rat proof tables. There's taxes coming, book keeping, planning. And even sometimes doing things in the rain...

So, again- why am I doing this? This sounds like an awful lot of work for $3-5 an hour... why? 

One thing I have noticed this winter is how much our farm really does for the environment. We have been planting habitat plants out at our pond in the back. The plants are all natives, some of them flowering for beneficial insects and bees, some of them are habitat for birds and small vertebrates, and the water itself attracts a fair number of animals.  We've seen egrets, cranes, king fishers, Canadian geese, wood ducks, mallards, red winged black birds, kites, red tailed hawks, and many many more birds. There are also lizards, snakes, frogs, toads, rabbits, hares, cayotes, racoons, opossums and every body else! we've even planted milkweed in hopes of the Monarchs finding us!All of that seems pretty worth working my bottom off for, doesn't it?

I think our 40 acre patch is especially important as we are one of very few sets of organic farms in the area. We are a safe haven for these animals with little to no pesticides applied. Here are some pictures of other ways we help animals find safe harbor and how they take us up on it!

Here we've let some broccoli go to flower, mostly because we couldn't pick all we grew. Here on the right you can see a honey bee taking advantage of the rare nectar and pollen in January. The insect in the center is actually a hover fly. It is a beneficial insect, hunting our "pest" insects.

Here's another great picture of the bees enjoying our benign neglect.

We have an owl somewhere in the area. Here is an owl pellet I found and dismantled. Owls eat their prey whole, fur bones and all! The fur and bones can't be digested though and must come back out. Much like a cat-hair ball, they vomit these "pellets" on the wing. Here you can see this owl has taken some kind of small bird and rodent. I am glad to know they are enjoying our all you can eat rodent buffet!

Native bees are strange houseguests. They prefer holes in old logs, or simply to dig a tunnel to overwinter. Here is a set up for those of them who enjoy the holes in trees.

The mud clogged holes mean someone has taken us up on the offer of free housing!

Here is another version of the same idea

Here is one of two- two hundred foot rows of beefwoods. These large conifers are a favorite perching spot of our predator birds. We also have probably several thousand feet of "hedgerow". These are linear plantings of native species intended as either habitat or food for beneficial insects and animals. Things like yarrow, elderberry, milkweed, native grasses and the like all separate our fields and provide our friends with what they need in return for their hard work!

Here is our pond out back at its most beautiful. The bird in the center is a red winged black bird. They're quite the choral group. Each morning and evening they sing to the sun. Its really beautiful

 

Here is the egg case, or ootheca, of the praying mantis. We find these everywhere on tomato stakes, old weed stocks, sides of pallets. The mother mantids try to leave these somewhere safe, dry, and free from predators. Mantids are great predatory bugs and we are always grateful for their help!

   

  This week's recipe is a favorite go to for lazy weekday meals. Its the perfect way to learn to love new veggie combinations and to soothe the omnipresent "bad food" cravings. Pizza! But homemade pizza with slightly healthier crust and full of veggies. Skip Trader Joes dough and try your own! Here is a great no knead recipe that you whip up the night before and just put a lid on! It is ready the next night! Make a double batch and keep it covered tightly with a lid or plastic in the fridge for up to a week (if it lasts that long!). I like to substitute half whole wheat to keep the carb load down. 

Here is the recipe from Bon Appetit: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/no-knead-pizza-dough

For the pizza, please feel free to improvise. Make it how you like it! I love thin crust and am bad about having tomato paste on hand, so my pizza "sauce" is usually just olive oil and garlic. Also, be careful to cut your veggies and other toppings thin/small and go easy. Thick layers of toppings make a soggy crust. Also, consider how you stack your pizza- greens burn so put them under cheese or throw them on the last few minutes. Otherwise- go to town with all the creativity you've got! Also, I highly recommend using pizza stones, a terra cotta planter stands work amazingly (the ones you set under the planter pot to catch the water, it looks like a large dish with a hole in the middle. )This heated up for at least 30 minutes before you toss your pizza in will make for the crispest crust possible in a conventional oven!

Here are two of my favorite combos to make in the winter:

Greens and Citrus Pizza:

 Preheat oven to 450*

Pick some greens:

3-4 large tough greens leaves (kale, chard, collards)-torn

and/or 1-2 cups arugula, spinach, mizuna etc.

Pecorino and mozzarella mixed

Thinly sliced citrus: limequats, kumquats, meyer lemons, limes etc THINLY SLICED

Assemble ingredients in order given. Citrus will burn, but that's delicious. Cook until the bottom of the crust is med-dark brown and/or the cheese begins to brown. Enjoy!

Butternut Pizza:

Thinly sliced parboiled butternut

Mozzerela and/or goat cheese

pepperoni

black olives

green onions

Assemble ingredients in order given. Cook as above.