Dear Winter Members,
Welcome to Week 5! It’s a quick note this morning, as Sabrina and I (Mary) have been holding down the fort at the farm while Noah did another big haul gathering reclaimed materials for our packshed build. He left early Saturday morning, meaning I have managed three days of covering all chicken chores without anyone (farmer or foul) having any breakdowns or disasters. This may be a record, and perhaps I shouldn’t speak too soon, as there is one more round of morning chicken duties before his return.
He had been on schedule to be home yesterday in time for chicken bedtime stories, but was delayed for repairs in Quincy, Washington for several hours after one of the trailer wheels rolled leisurely past the truck when he stopped for gas. Luckily, it was just a one-afternoon delay and he managed to find a tire store that could get a new hub delivered, wheel sourced and reattached and get him back on the road. One thing we are starting to learn with winter farming, just like with winter driving, is the importance of leaving a little extra time buffer, a little longer to get things done, and to roll with the conditions and the unexpected a little bit.
For example, if any of you tried to top up your greens over the weekend, you might have been surprised to find the farmstore cooler shelves bare of our most-common color: green. We had a big harvest list typed up for Friday, enough to stock all the shelves, and it seemed do-able based on the forecast. But winter demands some respect—when the day turned out cloudier than forecast, and the night before was just a little colder than expected, the combination meant that we actually couldn’t harvest at all. Most of the greens we work with this time of year are extremely cold tolerant—meaning that they actually freeze solid and recover fairly often. BUT, for harvesting, they have to be thawed out. If we harvest while the leaves are frosted, they can shatter in the harvest process, and also will become a pile of green mush when washed. There can be a lot of waiting for the right time, in winter growing.
Luckily, Monday was a good greens-harvesting window, and your bags will include spinach, leaf cabbage (Tokyo Bekana), and baby boc choi this week. Read on to find what to expect in the rest of your bag, and a few meal ideas.
As we settle into some of the shortest, darkest days of the year, we hope you are taking time to for some slow simmering, some rest and fuel, and we hope the farm veggies are a good part of that, for you.
With gratitude,
-Mary…plus Sabrina (downstairs working on the seed inventory in the barn) and Noah from the road.
What you’ll find in your bags this week:
Greens:
Baby boc choi (perfect for stir-fries, broth noodle soups, or slitting in half lengthwise, brushing with sesame oil, and grilling on a hot skillet; eat it semi-crunchy by just searing each side, or add a few tablespoons of broth to the pan after initial searing, and cover to stem for a soft savory side to your meal). A small bag of spinach, great for salads or tossing into scrambled eggs. And a bundle of Tokyo Bekana, ready to use as you would a head lettuce, or to stir-fry or sauté like a boc choi, with just a little shorter cooking time.
Roots:
Potatoes (either Red Norland or Russian Banana Fingerlings), both varieties great for roasting and topping with butter, salt and pepper, and/ or farm-dried herbs. Radishes, and carrots. Radish recommendation of the week: slice thinly and slip into sandwiches for a little bit of crunch.
And also: You get a few choices in the non-refrigerated items this week: you’ll pick out two winter squash or pie pumpkins, based on what types you enjoyed the most in the first month of the membership. Remember these can happily sit on your counter to help tide you over after your weekly veggie dose has stopped. You’ll also pick out two choices from the herb packet options. These will include dried red chilies, dried rosemary, packets of the Italian-ish herb blend, and a chammomile-spearmint herb tea.
What to eat:
We’d like to share a particular meal with you that we made last week, that was a lovely use of lots of greens: sauté finely chopped ginger and garlic (about a tablespoon of each), onion (a half cup or so) in a pan till soft. Scoot the sautéed veggies aside and settle 2 (or how ever many people you are serving) pieces of fish into the pan (we used salmon, but many options would work, as would chicken breasts). Cook several minutes on each side, till done through. While it’s cooking, chop a large pile of greens—we used one bunch of Han Tsai Tai (the purple-stemmed greens bunch you had last week), one Tokyo Bekana head, and a bag of spicy mix. When the fish or meat is cooked through safely, throw the huge pile of greens in on top, add about 1/4-1/2 cup of broth, and a splash of rice vinegar and soy sauce, place a lid on top of the pan, and cook just till greens are brighter green and wilted. To serve, dish up a bowl of hot rice, layer the greens, then the fish, topped with some broth and garlic/ ginger/ onions from the pan. Add salt, soy sauce, hot sauce, etc.. to taste. Grate some radishes on top, for crunch, or a spoonful of the pickled radish recipes from a few weeks ago.
Other quick ideas:
We really do eat some kind of broth-and-noodle based soup (based more or less on this recipe) heavy on veggies and greens, every week. Um, several times a week. Sometimes for breakfast.
Scrambled eggs with spinach can be a meal any time of the day.
Tokyo Bekana works great as a crunchy addition to tacos of burritos.
Curried squash soup, like the broth and noodle soups, is in regular rotation here. Also try, with leftover squash or pie pumpkin, mixing a cup of pureed squash into pancakes, with a sprinkle of cinnamon or pie spices.
Make a warm potato salad by boiling cubed potatoes (skins on for both varieties you have this week) in salted water till tender to the fork. Drain, and toss with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt pepper, fresh or dried herbs of your choice, and maybe a little finely diced onion. Let sit 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, and serve just slightly warm, then refrigerate any leftovers.