Monthly Archives: December 2015

Up close and personal with the Sprouts of Brussels.

NOTE: IF YOU PICK UP YOUR SHARE ON THE WEEKEND, EITHER AT THE FARM OR AT FARMERS’ MARKETS, YOU WILL PICK UP TWO WEEKS’ WORTH OF PRODUCE DECEMBER 19 & 20.

THERE IS NO PICKUP THE WEEKEND AFTER CHRISTMAS, DECEMBER 26 & 27.

WE WILL CONTINUE WITH THE NORMAL PICKUP SCHEDULE FOR THE LAST WEEK OF OUR WINTER SEASON: DECEMBER 29-JANUARY 3. 

THIS WEEK’S SUBSCRIBER MENU:

• Choice of Winter Squashes
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Leeks
• Celery Root or Celery
• Brussels Sprouts
• Collard Greens
• Garlic

NEXT WEEK’S SUBSCRIBER MENU:

• Choice of Winter Squashes
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Red Onions
• Parsnips
• Savoy Cabbage
• Kale
• Tender Turnips
• “Cameo” Apples from Tonnemakers’ Orchards

Click on the links above for information and recipes about these crops.

After all that freezing weather, we’re down to the real survivors of winter: Greens  and Roots. But why are the brassicas, chicories, and root crops the only crops that can take freezing weather? The answer is antifreeze! The first cold snap signals the plants that it’s time to get ready for hard times by converting their starches into sugar. Sugar is a natural antifreeze, and that sweetness keeps cell walls from bursting when freezing crystalizes the water in most other plants. The benefit for those who eat them is much improved flavor! Kale and Collards are sweet and delicious, Cabbage and Brussels Sprouts too. And what about Carrots and Parsnips! People started asking in September for Parsnips and Brussels Sprouts, but our first frost was so late this year, we didn’t start picking either until after Thanksgiving. If you’ve ever had either of these crops and hated them, try them again the right way. Here’s a delicious recipe passed along by Katherine Pratt, a dedicated West Seattle Farmers’ Market shopper.

Mmmm…Brussels Sprouts and bacon…

BRUSSELS SPROUTS CARBONARA

3/4 pound Brussels Sprouts
1 tbsp. Butter
1 tsp. Olive Oil
1/2 pound Spaghetti Noodles
2 Large Egg Yolks
1/2 cup Cream
Cayenne Pepper (to taste)
1/4 cup Chopped Cooked Bacon (if desired)
2 cups Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese

1. Half (or quarter, if large) the Brussels Sprouts.

2. Blanch in boiling salted water for 4 minutes and drain.

3. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add butter and olive oil, swirl to melt, and add the blanched sprouts.

4. Season with salt and toss to coat with the butter and oil. Turn the sprouts cut-side down, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for another 6 to 8 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, or until browned on all sides.

5. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package instructions, reserving 1 cup pasta water as the spaghetti cooks

6. In a serving bowl, whisk together egg yolks, cream, and a pinch of cayenne pepper (to taste) to blend, then add the hot pasta, bacon (if desired), and as much reserved water as necessary to coat the noodles with the cream. Add Parmesan cheese and the sprouts, and toss to mix. Serves 2-4.

Usually we don’t have any real flooding on our farm. But we had about 8″ of rain in two weeks, which resulted in a lot of surface water with nowhere to go. The bee hives are just barely out of the water. Good thing they’re on 1′ risers!

We don’t have an official rain gauge here at the farm, but I leave 5 gallon buckets out for picking, and they measure the rain for me. I left such a bucket out the day before Thanksgiving, empty, and was surprised to find about 8″ of water in them Monday. That’s a LOT of water.

While the Green River doesn’t overtop its’ banks like other Washington rivers like the Snoqualmie, we did have some surface water flooding this year. Lots of water standing on top of saturated ground. Water on top of mud makes picking very slow and difficult. Hard to walk, hard to pick, hard to carry. Teo and Samuel are troopers though and get the job done.

The pot of gold lies in the donkey pen.

We are so looking forward to the Winter Solstice Sunday. Three more minutes of light every day adds up, and by February our days will be nearly two hours longer than they are now. And then we will begin to plant again for 2016! Keep an eye out for our 2016 CSA application. Signups begin in January! Harvest begins in April!

Unfortunately, Swiss Chard is one of those crops that doesn’t handle freezing weather well. It hung in there down to about 24°, but repeated nights below 20° weakened the stems and it’s very sad now. But not dead. It may come back in the spring. At any rate, it was really pretty covered with frost.

THIS WEEK’S SUBSCRIBER MENU:
• Choice of Squash
• Potatoes
• Topless Carrots
• Salsify
• Curly Endive or Radicchio
• Collard Greens
• Baby Bok Choy
• Fennel
• Garlic

TRADING/SHARING BOX:
• All of the above and more

Click on the links above for information and recipes about these crops.

COMING SOON: Brussels Sprouts, Parsnips, Leeks

Undercover Escarole. Safe and cozy with its’ other chicory cousins while the freeze goes on outside.

We were worried. The last two years we’ve lost it all to the Arctic Blast, or the Polar Vortex. So when freezing temperatures were forecast, we hunkered down and waited for the worst.

We protected the chicories, cauliflowers and baby bok choy with steel hoops and frost-blanket (a thicker type of row cover). We picked everything that we feared wouldn’t survive—celery, fennel, and white cauliflower.

And after a week, everything thawed and we surveyed the damage. Glad we picked what we did because it wouldn’t have made it. It got down below 20 several nights, and that is just too cold. We lost the last week of arugula, some mustard greens, and a few other things that wouldn’t have lasted long anyway. But everything that we protected survived just fine.

And the real benefit? The kale, collards, brussels sprouts, carrots, parsnips—they are ALL frost-sweetened and dee-licious!

Trying something new this year: We’re selling reload able gift cards to our farm! You can load them in any amount, and use them any time you want! A great gift for friends or family who want to eat clean, healthy food, and redeemable from our farm at farmers markets or use it toward a CSA share! We get the funds right away so it helps us just like buying a share.

Here’s some news: We’re selling prepaid Gift Cards for the holidays! Anyone can buy them, in any amount. They’re a perfect gift for friends or family who can shop at any of our markets (Columbia City, University District, or West Seattle) or who might like to try one of our new Sampler CSA shares next summer. They can also be redeemed toward a CSA share. Buying them helps us out in the chilly winter as well, by paying us forward, just like a CSA payment.

We received a grant from NRCS to build a greenhouse, but we’re adding two more big ones to the farm this winter. This is phase 1: Laying it all out. We’re so excited to be able to grow even more early spring and winter crops, as well as more hot weather crops in summer. Maybe ginger, lima beans, melons,… so many possibilities.

More news: We received a grant from NRCS to build another greenhouse! King County had a matching program, which we also received, so we’re building two more big greenhouses. We’re really excited about all the possibilities for next year. We’re building now and will be planting in February. Let the games begin!

This is the exhausting life of the rat-hunting dog. You’d never know he’s quick and vicious with the rodents.

And, you may remember the incredible Rat Battle of last winter? We’ve got Mario on Rat Patrol every night now. I want to be able to plant peas in February and have them survive and thrive. That means Sugar Snaps in May, everyone. Who doesn’t want that?! No more rats!