- Radishes (getting a bit pithy so pickle them or roast them or eat them raw up to you)
- Green onions
- Spinach or arugula
- Chard
- Kale
- Shallots
- Sprouting broccoli or raab
We had one of the roughest winters in recent memory, with cold, crop failure, vermin, poor growing conditions, and unfortunately, the spring feels similar. We have had more rain than last year, cooler temperatures making planting nearly impossible.
A note about this year from a fellow farmer Chris Roehm:
“Our ground is significantly wetter now than it was on this date last year. (Precip from 3/1 to 4/11: 2022 =4.28″, 2023 = 8.72″) And last year was the latest we turned over ground in 20 years here. We’re going to need a long stretch of dry, warm, windy weather to be able to work soil by mid-May. 10 day forecast calls for another 1.5″ rain and high temps about 5 – 10 F below average.“
We did a lot of our standard seeding in the hoop houses in early February. We pulled back the covers in March to see how germination was and found it to be dismal. One bed of carrots worked, the next one didn’t, and so on. We continue to have crops ravaged by hungry birds and gophers and ground squirrels from below. The cold snaps in January, February and March took out many of our early tomatoes and we continue to struggle to catch up. On the bright side, lilacs, and cherries will be in bloom at the end of April to celebrate Jacob and Courtney‘s wedding. Our sales at the farm are down by 25% and sales at the farmers market are down by 66%. This year has been a rough one. It feels like the only way to go from here is up.
We will have a lot of beautiful greens to start out the season. Hopefully the lettuce that we planted will catch up. So that we Will be able to give you salad mix in the next few weeks, all of the crops that we usually have out in the field are sitting in the greenhouse waiting to get transplanted. We managed to get three beds of cabbage planted yesterday. The most substantial planting we’ve done in the field as of yet. I’ve seeded beans and cucumbers and summer squash, all crops that remind us that summer will eventually come. It is time to seed the winter squash, but I’m holding off as I can’t imagine getting that in the ground anytime soon.
As the new season begins we want to honor and acknowledge that we are farming on land of Native Americans. We thank the Atfalati, Kalapuya, Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Cayuse, Walla Walla, and Umatilla people. We are growing on their land. We strive to nurture the land and contribute to biodiversity and health of the soil. We know we have given and taken from this land and have grappled with that balance. We are working to use regenerative techniques as much as possible. We are tilling as little as possible, cover cropping, composting, trying our hand at Bokashi fermentation and more.
We will plant the milpa in the traditional format of the three sisters this year as we try to grow more corn and squash and beans. We are trialing dry farmed tomatoes from seed collected from the dry farm project at OSU. To that end we will bring in another ½ acre into production this spring and summer and not irrigate it. We have lots of plans for the late fall and winter as well but we also feel the sting of the most recent winter. Farming is inherently optimistic as one must plant for the future on a daily basis. We will march on and appreciate you all for joining this experiment.
Here are some recipes gathered from our recipe guru Sue Kass:
Spring Cleaning Ribollita
4 servings/40 minutes
1/4 c olive oil
1 leek, rinsed and thinly sliced OR 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1 bunch Swiss chard OR other greens (kale, collards, etc), stems finely chopped and leaves coarsely chopped
14 oz can whole tomatoes
1 carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 c chopped fresh basil (or parsley/cilantro/dill)
14 oz can butter or cannoli beans, or chickpeas,drained and rinsed
1/2 c frozen peas
2 sprigs of thyme (or 1/2 tsp dry)
Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes to taste
Several slices crusty bread, lightly toasted and cut into 1” cubes
Freshly grated Parmesan
In a soup pot, heat 2 Tbs of the oil and sauté leeks/green onions until soft, not brown. Add remaining oil, carrots, stems of the greens, and garlic and sauté 5 minutes more. Crush tomatoes with your hands over the pot, add their liquid, salt, black and red pepper flakes to taste and cook until tomato liquid evaporates. Add remaining greens, herbs, and 8 c water—bring to a boil and then simmer gently for 20 minutes or until veggies are tender. Mix in peas, beans and adjust seasoning to taste, then mix in bread cubes.
Serve with grated cheese.
Provençal Greens Soup
(We love this, and have it weekly with whatever greens are in season—plus if you buy eggs from the farm you can use them here!)
2 leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced (can substitute green onions or shallots or mixture of any)
3 large garlic cloves, thickly sliced
1 bunch greens—chard with stems finely sliced, leaves coarsely chopped, or kale, or spinach, or radish or beet greens—about 6 cups chopped greens in all
Olive oil
Slices of crusty bread, toasted
Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Salt, pepper to taste
In a large soup pot heat 2-3 Tbs olive oil, then add leeks/green onions/shallots and the garlic. Cook, stirring as needed, until tender and fragrant. Stir in chopped stems and sauté until soft, then add greens and cook to soften. Add 8 c water or stock, bring to a boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes until the greens are tender and sweet. Remove from heat.
When ready to serve, place a slice of toasted bread in each bowl and sprinkle with generous
Amount of fresh grated parm.
In a small bowl, beat eggs then slowly add a few ladles of hot soup liquid and mix well; then
add to the main pot, stirring well. Heating the soup will cook the egg.
Ladle the soup over the bowls of bread and cheese and enjoy!
sue Kass
Swiss chard fritters
14 oz (2 bunches) fresh chard, stems removed and finely chopped (or other greens)
1/2 c each freshly chopped cilantro, parsley and dill
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 eggs
3 Tbs flour
Pinch nutmeg
Salt/pepper to taste
1/2 c crumbled feta.
Blanche greens in boiling water til limo then drain and pat dry with towels
Put everything but feta in the food processor and pulse until well blended; then fold feta gently.
Heat 2Tbs EVOO over medium high heat; plop fritter batter in by heaping tablespoons, press down lightly with a spatula and
Cook for about 5 minutes per side, then serve.
Roasted Radishes
Roasted Radishes Recipe: How to Make It
Quick pickled Radishes