Hey y'all, I apologize for being late on the inventory. Check out the Farm Update to see why we were so busy today!
This Week
It's the beginning of leafy green season, and we are starting to get good harvests! We will add turnips and radishes this week. If you haven't tried the hakurei turnip before, you are in for a treat! We have had many folks at market tell us these are the best turnips they have ever had! They are also called salad turnips and can be enjoyed raw. We did not have a great germination on our first planting, so get some while we have them. Next week's shares will have the same selection, so see Katy's recipe below for a great recipe for your leafy greens!
Chef Katy Aker's Farm Share Recipe
Soy Sesame Braised Greens
1 bag of Current Farms Braising Greens
1 cup white onion (small dice)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 (.14oz)pack of toasted nori(or 1 sushi sheet)
2 tbs toasted sesame oil
2 tbs olive oil
1 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 cup water
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Using your hands or a small paring knife remove the largest stems (mainly collards) from your greens & discard, roughly chop the greens down to bite size pieces, set aside.
In a large pot over medium low heat
add onion & olive oil,
when the onion becomes translucent stir in garlic & quickly add in your prepared greens
soy sauce, water & nori
Reduce heat to low and cook until greens are tender and most of the cooking liquid has evaporated.
Remove from heat and stir in sesame oil
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Serve with a thick cut pork chop, chili sauce & rice
Or as pictured, with a swordfish steak and sweet potatoes.
These greens are savory, and unexpected. The silky rich pot liquor works as a base for noodle soups or just for sipping.
This recipe is easy to customize as well. You can add grated ginger in with the garlic, or finish with a splash of Fort Sumner hot sauce for a fruity finish and a ton of depth.
Farm Update
We have an extremely busy week lined up. Incredible news y'all!! Our new tractor implements for the walk-behind BCS have arrived! Tuna and I must now journey to Waco, TX to pick them up. We spent around $8,000 in April, and the equipment has been backordered since then. I cannot begin to explain how badly we have needed these new tools since our farm has grown in the last two years. We ordered three implements, so let me tell you a bit about each one, and how it will change our operations. Before their arrival, we have so much to do so we can start using them as soon as possible!
The first implement is the rotary plow. It was the most expensive of the three and performs a key function. This plow can remove 3 inches of soil per pass, from the walkways between beds, and slings the soil to the bed on the left side. This will allow us to raise every single one of our beds 3-6 inches. It will improve our drainage across the entire farm and suppress weeds that grow between the beds. We can now use a lot of the compost and organic material that has fallen into the walkways over the years.
Next, we ordered a flail mower to terminate cover crops. The flail mower attachment will hold a plant in place and chops it into one-inch bits. The result is a more broken-down plant than one mown by a lawn mower. The cover crops will decompose faster in finer bits. Also, we don't have to take the heavy mower over the beds. This attachment will enable us to grow more intensive cover crops, like sun hemp, which will decrease our dependence on compost over time. One of our goals is to become a certified organic farm, and cover cropping, versus sourcing or making organic compost is the big key to the next step in that process.
The last attachment is the tiller. We typically only till to break ground in new field blocks, or to terminate and incorporate cover crops. Now, we can till precisely, and avoid the soil compression caused by the large tractor. The rotary plow works best when using in soil that has been disturbed.
These tools are the costliest investment we have made in our farm thusfar. I'm so happy to finally receive them, since we have paid for their loan for 6 months without a return on the investment. Regardless, the increase in labor efficiencies and time saved will be like adding a part time employee to the payroll. I really enjoy the physical aspect of farming, but dadgum is some of it is not really tough and back-breaking work. Without the increase in our farm share membership, we never would have been able to afford these tools. Thank you all so much! I love it when we can show y'all how we are investing back into the farm so that we can create a sustainable and long-lasting farm. I can't wait to share some photos of us using the tractor next week!
