- Braising mix
- Leeks
- Onions
- Microgreens
- Herb or cooking celery
Winter is hard. No matter how you think you have planned for feeding people something always happens. The underground vermin are eating every last plant. We have no radicchio left in the field. The Overwintering cauliflower we had so carefully covered during the cold snap in January looks devastated by the 24 degrees we got this past week. It is supposed to tolerate the teens.
We covered the veggies in our main winter greenhouse and harvested some leaves but without warm days they are growing as one would expect in the winter – slowly. So today we have leaves from our different crops in a braising mix. We have our alliums (leeks and shallots and onions) and some sprouts. I just ordered some medium to grow the sprouts that are not soil for next time. Until then just pull out all the sprouts and rinse or cut the roots and enjoy them as a garnish or microgreen salad.
We are working on our subscriptions for summer share and anxious to hear from each of you about your intentions. It is always helpful to have you sign up early. I will be heading to Portland for the Share Fair on 2/26/23 where I will be talking about our CSA and hoping to find new members to join our farm. This has never produced many subscribers but I enjoy being there and talking with other farmers and people interested in eating the freshest, best tasting vegetables. Please spread the word and stop by and see me! CSA Share Fair | Pacific NW CSA
I am off in about 10 days to Miami to spend some time with my sister at a book arts fair: Tropic Bound . It will be an opportunity for her to exhibit her book Owed to the Mountain Owed To The Mountain Deluxe Box – Diane Jacobs. You can see it by clicking the link and see it on exhibit at the Portland Airport thru June. I am hopeful Luna, Juve and Kody can find veggies to share with you on 2/19 our next harvest.
If you have not marked your calendar for the pruning party now is the time! February 25th from 10-3 we will be out in the orchard getting it into shape for the upcoming year. Come see the twig weaving we are doing to add character to the secret garden and around Luna’s cabin. More to come once we have pruned the orchard. No experience needed and plenty of jobs stacking branches and pruning trees that do not require climbing into trees. There are also climbing into trees type jobs so up to you.
What to bring to the pruning party February 25, 2023 (10:00-4:00)
This is a pruning party so please bring as much of the following as you can:
If you have pruning implements, please bring them along (label them with your name).
· Clippers
· Loppers
· hand saw
· Gloves
· Chainsaws
· orchard ladders
· bring snacks for you to eat and a bottle of water
We would love to have anyone interested in helping prune the orchard and blueberries join us for as many hours as they can on that day. 2/25/2022 from 10 – 4.. We welcome you to bring potential members as this is a good introduction to our community.
This is not an event for little ones as branches fall in all directions. If kids do come, it is good to have a dedicated adult to keep them safe.. If you don’t want to climb trees, not to worry, there is tons of other work to do (hauling branches, pulling up t-tape water systems and pruning blueberries).
I am totally into Gregory Gourdet and have been cooking from his book Everyone’s Table. This is not the exact recipe I cooked last night but it would use your onions and greens and be delicious:
Curry Spice Cod with Lemon, Ginger, Bitter Greens, Olive Oil Smashed Potatoes
Recipe by Gregory Gourdet of Departure in Portland
What you’ll need:
For the spice mix:
1 tablespoon whole coriander
1 tablespoon whole cumin
1 tablespoon turmeric
For the potatoes:
1 pound soft skin potatoes such as Yukon gold or red
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
12 cloves garlic, rough chopped
8 ounces good olive oil
sea salt
course ground black pepper
For the cod and radicchio:
2 small heads radicchio, rinsed, chopped
2 5 ounce cod filets
1/2 small jalapeno, red or green, sliced
1 ounce knob ginger (abour 3-4 inches long) peeled and sliced thin
olive oil
kosher salt
1 lemon, sliced
picked cilantro leaves for garnish
How to make it:
Toast spices in a dry hot pan until fragrant and grind in coffee or spice grinder until course.
Rinse potatoes and place in a small pot of water. Simmer whole with half chopped garlic until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain well. Slowly sauté onions and remaining garlic in 2 ounces of olive oil and a large pinch of salt. Cook until lightly caramelized and tender. Add remaining olive oil and heat to simmer and infuse onion flavors. Smash warm potatoes until creamy with caramelized onions and olive oil and plenty of sea salt and pepper to season.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a sauté pan, add sliced chilies and a pinch of salt. Over medium high heat, quickly sauté radicchio, season with salt.
Meanwhile, season cod gently with salt and spice mix. (Note: You won’t use all the spice mix.) Sauté cod in olive oil over medium high heat until just bright white and lightly golden, about 3 minutes. Add ginger to pan, sauté briefly, flip fish over and continue to cook fish through until just opaque in center. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over fish.
To plate, place warm potatoes on a plate, place radicchio besides. Rest cod next to potatoes and spoon pan juices all around.
Some recipes to enjoy this week:
Braised Collard Greens with Bacon Recipe | Kelsey Nixon | Food Network
Quick-Braised Greens and Beans With Bacon Recipe – NYT Cooking