Fair Share Farm CSA---Week 4

STRAWBERRIES (1 QT): As good as it gets, you might get a State Fair award winner in your quart as the first berries this year are just about perfect.

STRAWBERRIES (1 PT): The benefits of a bounty, a pint to snack on while you work on a recipe for the quart!

RED LEAF LETTUCE: Trying to size up after a rough May, our mainstay variety called New Red Fire is coming through. 

ROMAINE LETTUCE: This speckled variety (Flashy Trout Back) gets its name for an obvious reason. This crunchy lettuce is great on a sandwich or in a Caesar salad. 

GARLIC SCAPES: The hardneck garlic is growing on schedule, putting out their scapes just as the strawberries are ripening. They are a great combination, especially in a creamy dressing .

GREENS CHOICE: Sprouting broccoli, kale or chard. 

HERBS: Cilantro, dill or a mixed bunch.

FARM REPORT:

I could easily fill another farm report with complaints about the weather, but I will try to restrain myself.  In brief, we’ve had way too much rain and many of the crops are feeling the effects.  The bok choi have bolted, the radishes and turnips have rotted and the cabbage crop is half-dead.  However, it could be worse.  Right now the news is of a huge tornado barreling across eastern Kansas flipping cars over in its wake.  Hopefully everyone is okay and the storm loses strength by the time it gets to us.  We have battened down the hatches, covered the strawberry patch and we have gotten by with no damage other than more rain. 

Now on to what your farmers have been up to, plus if you make it to the end, a little Graff family history.  

Between rain storms we got more plants in the ground, including several hundred summer crisp lettuces.

Mulching continues to be a top priority.  Without it our topsoil would be heading downhill, but with a good layer of hay mulch it is staying put.

The hens are really enjoying their home in the high tunnel.  Under the cover, the girls have the driest spot on the farm.  They are happily eating the remains of the winter crops and having lots of their favorite dust baths. 

Okay, you made it to the bit about my family history.  

My grandparents, John and Allene Graff, grew up in and around Excelsior Springs, Missouri.  They were farmers, but also had various enterprises over the years.  In the 1930s they lived on a farm just outside of town with sheep, cattle, poultry and a large vegetable garden.  Some of their farm products made it to the grocery store in town that my grandpa and his brother had at the time.

That’s Uncle Bill on the left and my grandpa, John, on the right.  As you can see the grocery was tiny by today’s standards, a small store-front with lots of cans and boxes of shelf-stable foods.  The perishables were brought in as needed and were by necessity local.  The only snippet of family lore about the store that has made it to my generation is that Grandpa would call the farm and say, “Allene, go butcher a dozen chickens and bring them to the store.”  I’m not sure what to make of that.  I would like to know what Allene (my namesake, Rebecca Allene Graff) thought of this directive.  If I could go back in time, I would quiz my deceased grandparents about the store, the farm and their experiences surviving the Great Depression.  Instead, I am left to imagine a lost world where local food was the norm.

Fair Share Farm CSA --- Week 3

FRISEE ENDIVE: A great addition to a salad, it adds a wonderful texture, color and flavor.

LETTUCE HEADS (BUTTERHEAD AND RED LEAF): Small heads due to storms, read more below.

RADISH/TURNIP BUNCH: Thanks Saturday farm crew for harvesting and cleaning these delicious and juicy roots. They are a great addition to the stew in this week’s recipe.

SPROUTING BROCCOLI:  One of our favorite greens by itself, it also goes well in this week’s recipe.

BRAISING MIX: A blend of chard, kale and tat soi leaves. At its simplest just sauté with some garlic greens, add a little vinegar and cook until just tender and wilted.

HERBS: A mixed bunch of oregano, tarragon and chive flowers. The fresh oregano helps add a savory note to any dish. The tarragon compliments fish or chicken, or use it to flavor vinegar. 

RECIPE:

On May 4^th we had a ferment tasting booth at the Powell Gardens Fungi and Fermentation Fest. It was a great time mixing with festival goers and vendors. We also provided the ferments for a demonstration by Chef Jonathan Justus’ of Black Dirt. We were lucky enough to get a taste and we want to pass it on.

Kimchi Stew with Fair Share Farm Live Culture Ferments by Jonathan Justus

Ingredients

(serves 6 people)

•        ½ of a jar (1/2 pound) of Fair Share Farm Kimchi, cut into bite size pieces

•        ½ of a jar (1/2 pound) of Fair Share Farm Green Kimchi, cut into bite size pieces

•        ¼ cup Fair Share Farm Jalapenos and Escabeche Juice

•        ¾ pound pork shoulder cut into ¾ inch cubes (eliminate if you prefer vegan/vegetarian)

•        ½ package of silken tofu (optional), sliced into ½ inch thick bite size pieces

•        3 green onions

•        1 medium onion, sliced (1 cup)

•        1 teaspoon salt

•        2 teaspoons sugar (you can add more to further balance the acidity of the stew without making it taste sweet)

•        2 teaspoons gochugaru (Korean hot pepper flakes)

•        1 tablespoon gochujang (hot pepper paste)

•        2 teaspoons sesame oil

•        3 cups of chicken, beef, pork, or vegetable stock or broth (you may need an extra cup)

Method

1.    Sautee pork in an 4 to 6 quart sauce pan or small stock pot.

2.    Add the two different kinds of kimchi, escabeche juice, and onions in a shallow pot.

3.    Slice 2 green onions diagonally and add them to the pot.

4.    Add salt, sugar, hot pepper flakes, and hot pepper paste. Drizzle sesame oil over top and add the stock or broth.

5.    Cook for 10 minutes over medium high heat. At this point you may have to turn the heat down to low to get the meat tender. This may take up to another 20 to 30 minutes.

6.    Add the tofu.

7.    Cover and cook another 10 to 15 minutes.

8.    Chop 1 green onion and put it on the top of the stew. Remove from the heat and serve right away with rice.

It inspired us to make follow Jonathan’s lead and make a vegetarian version with much of this week’s share. Cooking the braising mix with the broccoli, radishes and turnips, onions and green garlic, adding some fermented vegetables and their juice, and cooking 20 minutes or so gives you a rich and nutritious dish.

FARM REPORT

Hail and high winds last week did some damage to the crops here.  Most will recover, but we’ve had some setbacks.  Expect lighter shares this week as a result.  This photo of the onions gives a good representation of the damage. 

 The peppers we planted the morning of the storm didn’t have much time to adjust to the real world.

The lettuces for this weeks share with their tender leaves were especially hard hit.  

After we peel away half of the leaves, we are left with a somewhat intact heart.  Other plants like kale, chard and tat soi benefit from picking them back and a good pile of mulch.  Good leaves off of these plants make up the braising mix this week.

On the spur of the moment on Monday, we rebuilt the deer fence along the driveway.  For years a deer wouldn’t dare walk so close to the homestead because of our dear Rocky dog.  Four years since his passing and the deer are coming right up the driveway.  So, while I got in a visit to my grandma and mom for Mother's Day, Tom and Luke did this.  

 It was a beautiful sight to come home to.  So far it appears to be working. Hooray!

Every farmer must celebrate the small victories.  Much is out of our hands as soon as we plant a crop in an open field.  One must accept that life goes on with little regard to our needs and wants.  We take all precautions to avoid calamity.  We plant a diversity of crops, build organic matter in our soils, etc.  So while many are damaged, others are doing well.  The strawberries are beginning to form green fruit.  The carrots and potatoes are leafing out.  New fresh leaves are rapidly replacing the damaged ones.  This lesson of resiliency is on display on the 150 acres that burned two weeks ago.  Like an emerald carpet, the native grasses are coming back.