Woah I am feeling happy. Happy like a fox. Happy like a vine, spilling down the river canyon, twisting around trunks and branches and reaching towards the sun. Happy like a human being, just fresh from walking the fields at dusk, with bare feet and a handful of sweet peas.
Yes. I just saw my first tomato, orange and almost red on the vine. This is the real deal. This is summertime. We are doing it. The fields are mostly weeded in preparation for the farm tour and festival tomorrow, the summer squash sprouted actual squash sometime in the last twelve hours, and the first sunflowers are opening their faces towards where the sun rises. Oh my gosh, do you have any idea what this is like in the life of a farmer?! Glorious. Ecstatic. Delicious. This is the moment we work for all spring. And when it happens there’s no fan-fare, no bells and whistles, radio announcements or speeches. Just the barely audible sound of tomatillos pushing their purple bottoms out of papery husks. Only the slight rustle of the cucumber as it carefully latches onto its trellising for the first time, wrapping its little tendril arms around the netting. So quiet, but so dang sweet. All these little plantaroonies shaking off the dew and fluffing their leaf-feathers and saying, “Yo world! Yo farmer chics! We’re ready to go! Pick us, eat us, prune us, and for the love of sweet potatoes, turn on the water!”
Come tomorrow and walk our fields. Come feel the first tiny breaths of summer. Come and let the anticipation and wonder of what’s to come next light up all the little fireworks in your mind. I am feeling so happy that not only am I here today, doing this work, seeing this miracle, but i am also getting to pick all this food to be eaten by you. What a gift, to participate in something as soul-stirring as to witness this place. Thank you for being a part, and doing your part by eating all this up. Have a great rest of your weekend, and if we don’t see you tomorrow, see you on Tuesday.
Love,
Maisie
Click here to find out more about the farm tour and festival tomorrow!
Anticipated Harvest:
- Beets! – Willow’s out of town, so naturally I am just going to give beets out this week. Just Kidding, also…
- Carrots!
- Cabbage or Broccoli
- Tatsoi or Bok Choi
- Basil
- Chard/Collards/Kale
- Parsley
- Summer Squash – we’ll see how much we get. might be a slow start, but then BAM, by next week we’ll all be swimming in it.
- Scallions
- Seaweed – Not harvested on the farm. Surprising, I know. But I traded some plant starts for way too much wakame, and so, behold, Seaweed for the CSA.
Recipe:
I’m not sure if I printed this before, but it sounds SO GOOD. You don’t have to separately wrap beets in foil, sounds a little like over-kill to me. But if it’s too complicated anyway for your taste, just roast dem beets and use them all weeks long in anything. The below is from epicurious.
Beet and Goat Cheese Salad with Pistachios
yield: Makes 8 servings
active time: 30 min
total time: 2 1/2 hr
Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr
Ingredients
- 3 large red beets (1 2/3 lb without greens)
- 2 large golden beets (1 lb without greens)
- 1/4 cup minced shallot
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup pistachio oil
- 4 oz soft mild goat cheese
- 3 tablespoons salted shelled pistachios (not dyed red), coarsely chopped
- 1 oz mâche (also called lamb’s lettuce), trimmed (4 cups)
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Separately wrap red and golden beets tightly in double layers of foil and roast in middle of oven until tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Unwrap beets.
While beets are cooling slightly, whisk together shallot, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, then add oil in a stream, whisking.
When beets are cool enough to handle, slip off and discard skins. Separately cut red and golden beets into 1/4-inch dice and put in separate bowls. Add 2 1/2 tablespoons dressing to each bowl and toss to coat.
Place cookie cutter in center of 1 of 8 salad plates. Put one eighth of red beets in cutter and pack down with your fingertips. Crumble 2 teaspoons goat cheese on top, then one eighth of golden beets, packing them down. Gently lift cutter up and away from stack. Make 7 more servings in same manner. Drizzle each plate with 1 teaspoon dressing and scatter with some pistachios.
Toss mâche with just enough remaining dressing to coat and gently mound on top of beets. Serve immediately.
Cooks’ notes: Beets can be roasted and diced 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before using.
