Glorious

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It’s a good winter to be farmers. Jasper enjoys harvesting on a glorious afternoon.

Friends, I have no words. That’s a lie; I will, of course, have plenty of words by the time I am done writing this newsletter. But, seriously — this weather. It speaks for itself. It does not need me to explain to those of you have who have been living here too. We have all experienced the glory of it all together.

“Unseasonable” weather seems like an understatement for the extended, continued warm dry spell we’ve experienced this February through early March. I keep wanting to comment on “this spring,” only to remember that we are still two weeks out from the actual start of that season. With so many acres of ground already worked up, it is so easy to forget the actual date.

And our neighbor farmer made it official today — he told us that this is the most beautiful, earliest spring he’s experienced in 30 years. A truly remarkable farming year so far.

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One big sickie and one little sickie rest outside under the healing sun this weekend. Aw. They were sweet.

We are grateful for the ease of this weather, as a series of little annoying interruptions have visited the farm in the last few weeks — first the milk fever incidents with the cows (which was more than annoying as it brought life and death drama to our day), then sicknesses of our own that took each of us out of commission for more than a day and left us dragging for longer. Alas, these things happen, and oddly this same beautiful winter seems to have brought more than its share of illness to many in our community. Or, perhaps we’re just at that stage of life when those minor illnesses come to visit more often (young kids being snot magnets and all that).

Nonetheless, as we find ourselves extra tired and feeling like we haven’t had a break, we can still find relief in this glorious sunshine. It is truly rejuvenating, especially at the end of the winter.

And some farm sweetness. Dottie with a lamb (who has been adopted by my mom -- his own mother wasn't feeding him).

And some farm sweetness. Dottie with a lamb (who has been adopted by my mom — his own mother wasn’t feeding him).

The first of our seedlings were planted out into an open field this week (as opposed to a greenhouse) — spring-sown fava beans! More transplants will soon follow. And the beginning of the blooming season has begun — plums are blooming and before too long we will find ourselves in the midst of all spring’s splendor.

We hope that you are staying well and able to go out to soak up all this good warming sunshine as well. Enjoy this week’s vegetables!

Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla

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Want some beef? We have another beef animal ready to butcher. Would anybody like to buy a quarter, half or whole? You would receive a wide range of cuts: steaks, roasts, ground meat, bones, — all wrapped and ready for your freezer. The price is $5.50/lb hanging weight (the weight of carcass before cutting), and that price includes processing costs. This animals has spent his entire life on good quality pasture, making the fat rich in healthy Omega-3s. Good stuff. If you are interested, email us: farm (at) oakhillorganics (dot) com

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How to hard-boil fresh farm eggs! We’re in our spring egg flush now — hoorah! This is the season when our own family revels in egg abundance. Hard boiled eggs are a favorite for all of us. The kids eat them for snacks, and Casey and I love them as a salad topping (add eggs and nuts to turn a salad into a meal!). But, fresh eggs can be super hard to peel. Have you ever had that experience? Ugh. So unsatisfying, especially for young kids trying to peel their own eggs. Fortunately we have learned the secret to easy peeling eggs (even when super fresh! we’ve done this with eggs laid the same day!).

Start by boiling some water (enough to fit all your eggs). When it reaches a rolling boil, carefully drop your eggs into the water (you can lower them in with a slotted spoon to keep from splashing boiling water). Some may crack — that’s ok. Set a timer for 12 minutes and let them continue cooking at a steady boil. After 12 minutes, put the lid on your pot and carefully drain out the boiling water and refill your pot with cold water from the tap. Drain out that water and then put your eggs in a basin of cold running water and let them chill fully (ice can aid this process if you have an easy way to get it). “Shocking” them like this separates the shell membrane from the egg and makes for a super easy peel. You can, of course, save cooked eggs in the fridge for several days to eat at later occasions!

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Meet this week’s vegetables: Remember to check our recent newsletters for more servings suggestions and cooking ideas!

  • Eggs — “What? Eggs aren’t vegetables!” No, you are right! However, we are in the midst of our spring flush and we want to share eggs with those of you who may never thought to try them yet. So you’ll see some eggs in the line-up this week, alongside all our usual good veggies and fruit. If you want eggs, bring a carton! (1/2 dozen is an item; limit one item of eggs per share!)
  • Seasonal salad mix — This is our popular seasonal salad mix — a big hit with local restaurants and selling well now at Harvest Fresh as well. We call it “seasonal” because it … changes with the seasons, always reflecting the tastiest tender bits of our fields. In summer that will mean more lettuce, but right now it offers a huge rainbow of texture and flavor variety. Just a few of the items in the mix this week: arugula, beet greens, kale, cabbage rapini, cabbage, and fennel!
  • Greenhouse chard & kale — So tender and good, they will knock your socks off!
  • Cabbage rapini — More of our favorite late winter rapini offerings. For those of you who are new to “rapini,” I’ll introduce it again: when biennial cole crops (like cabbage, kale, etc.) overwinter, they put on new growth in the spring, including tender and delicious flower buds. We learned many years ago that these flower buds are so very awesome to eat. You can treat them as you would any cooking green (and all the leaves are great too!), but the sweet tender stalks also make them suitable for cooking applications that you might apply to asparagus, such as roasting in a pan. Roasted rapini is one of our favorite March treats. In fact, if there is any cabbage rapini leftover after pick-up tomorrow, we will probably make roasted rapini for dinner!
  • Kohlrabi
  • Beets
  • Parsnips
  • Carrots
  • Potatoes
  • Apples
  • Green onions
  • Garlic

And this week’s extra goodies from the farm: Remember to bring containers when appropriate! We will have some jars for sale for fermented items and such at pick-up, but we know you’ve got loads of empty jars in your pantry already!

  • Corn flour  — $5 lb
  • Oat flour — $5 lb
  • Walnuts — $5 lb
  • Kohlrabi “sauerkraut” — $5 pint; $3 half pint ~ Next week we’re going to try something new … any requests???? (Those parsnip pickles were pretty awesome; if you want to see more of them, let Casey know!)
  • #2 Apples — 4lb bag for $6
  • Eggs — $6 dozen
  • Pork, roasts & more — Prices vary. This is awesome stuff. I think we even have one package of pork chops left!
  • Lamb roasts — This week, we recommend trying our rack of lamb or loin roasts. These are less familiar cuts of lamb, because in most butcher shops this cut would be broken down into separate chops. In the larger cuts, they are all still lined up together, and you can cook the whole rack together and then slice that tender meat apart for serving. Delicious. (Or, as Casey said, “Whoa, they’re good.”)
  • Ground beef — $7 for 1 lb package ~ Why is our ground beef so good? For one, we are having whole animals ground, which means that every delicious tender and flavorful cut is going into the grind, giving it extra good flavor and texture (and juice!). Also, it is aged seven days before grinding! We think this is the best ground beef we have ever eaten.
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3 Responses to Glorious

  1. Jon Maas says:

    I missed out on the picked beets, by the time I got there all you had left was purple liquid. I would like to try them out.

  2. Jen says:

    Another trick to make fresh eggs easier to peel is to add 1/2 tsp baking soda to the water when you are boiling them!

  3. Pingback: Surfing spring | Oakhill Organics

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