Category: Farm

There is nothing more beautiful than a barn full of garlic, hanging in bunches from the rafters. Except maybe a whole bed of calendula flowers, all blooming at once, bright orange and sunshine yellow. Oh wait, also the squash plants, reaching tall and broad-leaved over yellow trumpet-shaped blooms. And the cow that just galloped by (you heard me, galloped) with her golden sweet calf in tow, and tops of carrots sparkling with sprinkler mist, and what else, oh yeah, EVERYTHING right now.

In this week I hereby proclaim to drop all superlatives, a few more armloads of emotional baggage, and all pretenses. The only thing I will not drop, is the ball. It is in this vain that I hope to relax more into the present moment, feel my feelings in their entirety, and continue to function as a farmer – i.e., grow vegetables for you. Even though it is mad-hot and the weeds seem to duck when we approach with a hoe and the tomatillos, gosh darn those rascals, show their utter disdain for our trellising by growing sideways instead of up – still we will triumph. Appreciations to Willow, my trusty patient loving farm-mate, without whom I could never dream of farming in any way that even came close to how enjoyable the last three years have been. And appreciations to all of you in our CSA and in my life – for being so big, bold, and beautiful. You would all fit in quite nicely here on the farm-scape, you pretty things, and I hope that at some point this season you come on by and do just that.

Love,

Maisie

 

Announcements, read up ‘cause the second quiz is upcoming –

Flower Share starts TOMORROW! So fun! We are not at full tilt just yet, but with so much blooming its hard to not just start early! Yes! (and its not too late to sign up, or you can buy an extra bouquet at pick up if we have ‘em, but its not guaranteed)

Saurkraut is the ferment of the week, and our friend shan will be set up to do another mini-class and demonstration at pick-up tomorrow. Come and learn from the EXPERT, no joke, on all things fermented and delicious. And if you claim to “not like saurkraut” then you are full of kraut. Try this and you’ll never look back again. Shan will provide you with jars, directions, Celtic sea salt, and some sauerkraut flavorings.  There will also be knives, graters, bowls and everything you need to go home with a jar of fermenting sauerkraut – ready for your enjoyment in just a few days! Just $5 and a few minutes of your time – you’ll have your sauerkraut and the knowledge and experience to make more.

Questions?  Shan – 478-5628

Chicken and Lamb Shares still available with Red Rocker Farm. We get his chicken share and it is SO GOOD. Matthew is also an excellent raiser of pastured lamb – we ate a piece with visiting friends on saturday and they were blown away! He has a quippy announcement below the note on harvest and recipe.

Anticipated Harvest:

  • Cabbage
  • Broccoli
  • Carrots!
  • Salad Mix!
  • Basil!
  • Oregano.
  • Bok Choi
  • Collards/Kale/Chard
  • Dill
  • Turnips/Tatsoi/Radicchio

Recipe – A Note on Cabbage Slaws:

The variations of the classic “slaw” are endless. I thought it would be fun to mention a handful of dressings/combos and let you do the choosing.

All recipes involve shredding the cabbage, and then:

Classic – 1 onion chopped, mayonnaise, sugar, salt, lemon juice

Chinese – 1 pkg. ramen noodles crushed (sans seasoning packet), toasted slivered almonds, toasted sesame seeds, diced scallions.

Fresh – mayonnaise, honey, mustard, shredded carrot, fresh parsley

Fruity – mayonnaise, yogurt, mustard, honey, 1 tsp celery seed, 2 apples, raisins, sunflower seeds!

Have fun with your cabbage!

Craving that lamb chop with your tat soi? That chicken drumstick with your fava?

Well, Red Rocker Farm, one of the other farms in the Living Lands Agrarian Network, would like to offer Soil-Sisters’-CSA members a convenient way to access delicious, local meat.

Poultry CSA

Once a month, be able to pick up Red Rocker Farm chickens at your Soil Sisters’ CSA pickup! Sign up for two, three, four, or more chickens a month and they will be brought to In the Kitchen the Tuesday after their Thursday processing, from July until the end of Soil Sisters’ CSA (~November). The price per chicken is $20–e.g. if you sign up for 2 chickens a month, the price would be $200 for the season (July-November, 10 chickens total).

Remember, although three or four or five or even six chickens per month may sound like a lot, you can always save one or two each month in your freezer for the wintertime, when there is no Nevada-county production and roast chickens and soups seem especially appealing.

Half Lamb

Red Rocker Farm’s lambs will be available in two weeks’ time. Raised on pastures in Placer and Nevada County, these lambs come from a flock of ewes bred to excel in a grass-based sheep operation. When cooked correctly, lamb that is grass-fed is better for you and has a mouth-wateringly superior taste. Sign up now for half a lamb and connect at a Soil Sisters’ CSA pickup later in the month of July. The prices and weights are:

1/2 Lamb: $180 (~14-18 lbs)

Whole Lamb: $350 (~28-36 lbs)

Please email Matthew at matthew.shapero@gmail.com if you are interested in chickens or lambs!

So, it rolls around again, another spring and the first CSA harvest.  I’m looking forward to seeing you all in the shaded driveway of In the Kitchen talking veggies and sharing smiles.  Right now there’s an early, cleansing summer rain, and Maisie and I are enjoying a day of staring at computer screens and drinking hot tea.  A nice contrast from the last week of high-80’s weather and constant irrigation.

On the farm we’ve reveled in the frost-free spring.  All the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and other tender crops are happy in the ground and establishing strong supports for the heavy fruits they will soon produce.  The carrots and beets will be ready in the next few weeks.  The sugar-snap peas are at the top of their trellis and flowering prolifically.  It’s been a gentle ease into summer, and the crops as well as the farmers are sitting pretty.

In your CSA this week you will receive some onions that got confused.  Every spring it happens, here in Nevada County where the spring has dramatic temperature changes.  The onions start to flower (otherwise known as bolting), thinking two years have passed instead of one.  The onion is a biennial plant, and it will normally grow for a year, store nutrients in it’s bulb and then re-sprout the following spring, grow a flower and produce seed.  Unfortunately for us, with the dramatic hot and cold fluxes of foothill springs, the onions think two years have gone by and start to flower.  This creates a smaller onion and sometimes a hard core in the bulb.  Here’s a good article about this.  So enjoy these smaller onions now, and expect some more in the fall when our spring planted (these onions were planted last fall) onions are ready to harvest.

You also get this week one of my favorite unusual veggies.  Something rarely seen outside a CSA box or farmer’s market…. garlic scapes!  These are the beautiful flourishes of the hard-neck garlic.  The flower that curls around itself and creates a delicate spiral (or question mark) at the top of the garlic plant.  These taste just like garlic, but a little milder and way less peeling.  Great for salad dressings and greens, just mince them like you would regular garlic.  They’re also extremely artistically inspiring, so I welcome any poems, prose, songs or paintings brought on by the muse of the garlic scape.

Thank you all so much for once again choosing to support local agriculture and being a true advocate for change.  This is one place where values and good living come together in a beautiful place of ripe tomatoes and golden sunflowers.  I’m so grateful to grow food for you and count you in my community.

I hope you all enjoy these early-season veggies, and get ready for some serious bounty come July.

Love, Willow

 

Anticipated Harvest:

  • fava beans
  • salad mix
  • spinach
  • garlic scapes
  • radishes
  • chard
  • spring onions (may have a hard inner core as most of the onions have bolted)
  • chamomile
  • italian herb bundles (rosemary, sage, oregano)

 

The camomile can be dried or used fresh for a calming cup of tea

Roasted Garlic Scapes:

One of my favorite ways to eat the beautiful curling flower of the hard-neck garlic is to simply roast them in the oven. Put them in an oven pan, coat them generously with olive oil and a little salt and roast at 375 until soft and a little crispy.  They make great appetizers.

Fava beans are another early summer delicacy.  They are also delicious roasted or grilled and eaten like edamame.  Just suck the beans out of the pod with your teeth.  You can also shell the beans and then take the tough outer coating off each bean.  They are delicious and tender at this point and can be lightly steamed or sauteed and served with pasta or a grain.

Willow stands ready to catch the bees, hanging in a clump on the tree at shoulder level.
Willow stands ready to catch the bees, hanging in a clump on the tree at shoulder level.
Willow removes some combs so we have a box to catch the bees. conveniently they are covered in honey
Willow removes some combs so we have a box to catch the bees. conveniently they are covered in honey

 

Stella

Her name is Stella. She is not our cow. She may or may not be pregnant. She got out only once (actually, right where she is pictured) and was only captured when lured with collards. She is mowing our fields and perimeter like a true champion. Sometimes she looks angry, sometimes pleased. Hard to tell really. If you’d like to meet her, come out to buy some plant starts (hint, hint).

Plant Sale!

We still have plant starts for sale! call us or email us to come by the farm to pick out what you want!

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