Greetings,
When we were farming in Snohomish before moving to Vashon, we had a running narrative among the group of friends working on the farm that often had two main themes. The first was “farming is hell” (usually, but not always, told with a smile) and the second was “it doesn’t get better than this”.
Yesterday we had a situation that illustrates a little of both.
After working all day in varying amounts of wind and rain and mud, and calling it quits as the rain was coming down sideways at the end of the day, we ate dinner, and I, Rob was washing the dishes with Mira, our 9 year old daughter. Steve our intern knocked on the door and said that our tomato hoophouse looked like it was in trouble.
We headed up into the field, and saw that the plastic weed barriers we use in pathways to keep our lives sane and the floating row covers we use over certain crops to keep certain insects from amaging them were flapping about in the wind, and sometimes flappping against delicate plants. And the tomato hoop house we had put up a couple weeks before was anchored at both ends but lifting and bending in the middle. Farming is hell!
Our two WWOOF volunteers came up there with us and we all went to the hoophouse to anchor the middle of it. Steve and I were struggling to place the legs of the greenhouse properly on one side, fighting against the wind that was pushing against the huge sail in our hands.
I looked up and there was Mira, all 52 pounds of her, pulling with all her strength on the other side of the greenhouse with Nina the wwoofer. All I could think was “it doesn’t get any better than this.”
Todays bag includes:
- Salad mix
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- bok choi
- Romaine Lettuce (the variety is forellenschluss, which we’ve grown for a few years now and find as delicious as it is beautiful)
- Cilantro: Please note that the cilantro is not in the bag. Please take it from the bucket in the fridge if you would like some. This is the last cilantro for at least a few weeks.
I have had some great curried cauliflower recently, (Sam and Christine, if you have a recipe could you give me it so I can send it out?), and I recommend it. Another way I love cauliflower and broccoli is raw dipped in some great salad dressing. But when I was a kid my mom always made a cheese sauce to serve on cauliflower and I have to admit, I still love it. Here is how I make a sauce that I think is even better than the version my mom made for her kids.
In a pan, heat up some butter, like about 1/4 cup. Saute in it some onions, garlic, and optionally mushrooms, celery, broccoli, boc choi, sweet peppers, or any other vegetable cut up pretty small. When the vegetables and onions are cooked enough, stir in an amount of flour equal to the amount of butter you started with. Then stir in a cup of milk or a little more, or a combination of milk and wine, and stir until it is thick. Then, you can add grated cheese of some delicious sort and when the cheese is melted in, serve it over cauliflower (or over another vegetable or pasta or potatoes for that matter).
As I was harvesting this morning, I was thinking about how much I appreciate your support and your votes of confidence that you made when choosing to buy a share of produce from us. Thank you for your role in supporting our business as we attempt to make a big leap this year in terms of financial viability, and also for your support of local farming. We plan to be at the farmers market this Saturday too for the first time this year. Come say hello to us.
Rob