Surfing spring

Tomatoes growing …

Part of the fun of farming is always looking a bit ahead while savoring the present moment. And, of course the next thing is SUMMER! The tomatoes in the greenhouse are already big enough to trellis!

Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves of course. We’re still at the very start of spring, in spite of us thinking of the next steps to get to summer. And, how very fleeting and wonderful spring is. Did I mention fleeting?

Certainly, we are fortunate here in the Pacific Northwest to enjoy relatively long springs (apparently in parts of the world, they can go from ice to mud to hot in about two weeks). Nonetheless, so much of what is wonderful about spring is defined by its transitory nature. Blossoms open and just as they reach their peak bloom, they are done, so quickly shriveling and falling. Blustery spring storms roll through the valley, bringing with them hail and spinning wind — only to blow on by several minutes later. And the nettles and other spring treats that we love so much have such relatively short seasons. We may eat potatoes most weeks of the year, but now is the time to appreciate the wonder of nettle pesto and green garlic sauteed in butter.

And so, even though summer is always beguiling — especially after months of potatoes! — it is useful and good to pause and appreciate every passing moment of spring. To wonder at how the forsythia buds are already done and falling and then turn to our lilac which is just opening its first enormous blossoms. Everything is in motion in spring — moving toward that eventual peak of summer, when we go from growth to maturity. But right now, we are in the midst of all that growth, the migrations, the blooming, the reaching up up up of every green thing.

Spring always stirs me with wonder, with excitement, with a feeling that must be somewhat like what it feels in the Maple trees when the sap rises. With every minute added to every new day, the year is building like a wave. What a joy it is to ride it once again.

Enjoy this week’s vegetables!

Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla

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About STINGING nettles: Hands down, nettles are one of our absolute favorite spring foods. Seriously. As you may know, nettles grow wild here in Oregon and come up this time of year. We pick these from the edges of our fields, in the wild hedgerows. Before you learn anything else, please note: THESE WILL STING YOUR FINGERS IF YOU TOUCH THEM RAW WITH YOUR BARE HANDS! So, how to eat? Here are some of our favorite ways:

• Make tea — Nettle tea is our favorite. To prepare, it’s best to dry the nettles (which incidentally also removes the sting!). We carefully use tongs to put nettles on trays in our food dehydrator and let them dry overnight. Then steep as you would any herbal tea (hot water and all that jazz — pour through a strainer into your cup). Very nourishing tea!
• Make pesto — When we went to Thistle for my special birthday dinner, I had gnocchi with nettle pesto. So. Good. Also, pureeing nettles takes out the sting too! So, to make pesto, we use tongs to carefully load the nettles into our food processor a little bit at a time. Then we process them with olive oil and garlic to make a delicious paste/sauce. It’s good on everything.
• Nettle apple pancakes — We got this idea from a friend — it’s a spring favorite for all of us. Begin by carefully removing nettle leaves from stems (I use two sets of tongs to do this, because remember: stinging nettles sting!!!). Add the leaves to a food processor and then pulse until the leaves are chopped up quite fine. I like to fill the food processor with leaves twice (the volume of a full bowl of leaves will be reduced dramatically upon chopping!!!). Chopping fine removes the sting. Leave the nettles in place and add a chopped apple and pulse again until the apple is chopped fine. Then add five or six eggs and pulse so that they are blended. Add a bit of salt. If you want to make your pancakes sweeter, you could add some honey too. Then, we added almond flour a bit at a time and pulsed it until the batter looked like pancake batter consistency (thick liquid; not runny). We prefer grain-free “flours,” but I’m sure you could make this recipe with standard all-purpose flour too. But if you do, you will want to move the liquid contents to a different bowl and carefully fold in the flour so that the gluten doesn’t become “gummy.” Then, cook your pancakes as would any pancakes! We prefer using lots of butter for frying, and we usually make small pancakes for easy flipping (especially with the almond flour). We like to eat these with dinner, especially with a yummy tangy soft cheese spread on top of each (chevre is perfect!).
• Experiment! The nettle pancake idea launched a thousand meals in our home. We’ve since used the same basic idea to make nettle muffins (I also added a tiny bit of baking soda to these too, but with that many eggs, I’m not sure it’s necessary!). We’ve also taken the chopped nettle idea and used it to make meatloaf. Yes, nettle meatloaf (loaded with eggs and a bit of ketchup) — it was yummy indeed. For the record, even though all the resulting foods were green, our kids ate them all up. Have fun!!!

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Dyed brown eggs are beautiful! Are you looking for extra special eggs to dye for Easter weekend? Don’t be turned off by brown eggs! We’ve dyed them before (including just today) and love the results. They are definitely toned down, but I think they look classy and they are still very cheerful (and oh so delicious!). Remember that I posted some tips about hard-boiling fresh eggs in this newsletter a few weeks back (scroll down to find the cooking suggestions).

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Meat chickens coming soon! I posted a photo of some cute chicks last week. Those birds are already double in size. This is our first of three small batches of meat birds that we are growing this year. We still have a few birds unclaimed from this first round, which will be available in early June. If you’d like to reserve some birds, you can do so via our meat order form here. It also has pricing info. Let us know if you have any questions!

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Meet this week’s vegetables:

• Stinging nettles — Read my above descriptions on how to cook with nettles. Please note that STINGING NETTLES STING! Handle carefully!
• Salad turnips & radishes — Weren’t those bunches so beautiful last week? And so delicious too!
• Field greens — This is a mix of chicories (relatives of radicchio) and various mustards and kales. You could chop it fine and dress it for a crunchy salad or use it as a braising mix. We do a bit of each in our house.
• Rainbow Chard
• Kale
• Cabbage rapini
• Kohlrabi
• Beets
• Potatoes
• Apples
• Green garlic — What is green garlic? Garlic plants before they’ve bulbed or begun to dry down! The flavor is tremendous, and — once again — one of the special parts of spring eating for us. You can use these the way you would a leek or green onion — wash up, trim off the roots and then slice in half and chop into half moons. Use in place of onions or garlic in any meal. We generally saute them in butter and then add other things. The smell of green garlic cooking in butter is divine. Do it just for the smell.
• Eggs

And this week’s extra goodies from the farm: Remember to bring containers when appropriate! Especially for eggs!

• Corn flour  — $5 lb
• Oat flour — $5 lb
• Walnuts — $5 lb
• Sauerkraut — That’s right! Sauerkraut — made from cabbages! What a novel idea! Made with our same awesome good salt and fermented in a crock. Yum yum. $5 / pint or $3 / half pint (our jars are $1 each, but you can bring your own).
• Eggs — $4 dozen
• Pork fat & skin — $3 lb (More pork coming next week! We took it to the butcher on Monday but it won’t be processed in time for this week’s pick-up).
• Lamb — Prices vary. We’ve got chops, ground lamb and other cuts!
• Ground beef — $7 for 1 lb package