Picking peas this afternoon.
So, I’ve written before about what our farm looks like now that it’s just us doing all the work. Folks, it’s getting mighty relaxed around here. It’s all summer style now that the sun has arrived.
For years, we’ve implemented a fairly strict dress code. For safety and efficiency reasons, we’ve always required that every single person working on the farm wear long pants and sturdy closed toed shoes at all times. Certainly not every single activity technically required this gear, but we figured that it’d be too complicated to have employees trying to gauge that for themselves all year long, especially when newer folks might really not have the experience to make that call. Overall we felt most comfortable knowing that basic precautions were being taken to keep a person’s body safe.
Of course, we had to do the same — long pants and closed-toed shoes at all times, for all tasks.
Guess what? We’re not doing that anymore. When appropriate, yes of course. But is it necessary to wear these protective garments when standing up picking peas for the CSA all afternoon? Nope. So, there I was, picking peas in the greenhouse in my favorite sandals and my favorite summer shorts (which I’ve owned and worn for literally two decades now) when I got a text from good friends saying they were headed to our Grand Island swimming spot for the season’s first splash and would we want to join.
At first, my answer was, sounds great but we’re picking peas. But then I realized how very hot I was. And sweaty. And look, we were almost to the end of our primary rows. And certainly we could pick the other greenhouse tomorrow morning. And really how can we say no when good friends are driving all the way out to Grand Island to go swimming?
So, we rushed to finish the last peas in our rows, jumped in the car and followed our friends down to our river spot for the very first spontaneous swim of the year. The adults all splashed in together, diving into that cool water with great joy.
More river swimming is in our future. It’s one of our favorite parts of living on the island. Almost ten years ago, Casey and I were in the closing period on this piece of land and still weighing whether to ultimately buy it. Our realtor had written a sales agreement that allowed us a lot of legal ‘outs’ if we got cold feet, and oh we were feeling the anxiety that comes with buying land (at the young ages of 25 and 27!). We were realizing that it would be a huge responsibility and we were scared about all the possible challenges and hardships. After falling in love with the land initially, we were focused on all the minor negative issues we’d have to deal with.
Then, during a blazing heat wave, we wandered out here to escape town and made our way down to the park. We sat there in our work clothes then and looked at that water for a few hot minutes before we finally waded and then dove in. The relief was total and complete and we realized then that YES we want to live here and be close to this river.
We still feel grateful every summer for our proximity to the heart of this valley, to the snaking green water that brings life to everything verdant growing here.
So, it was totally worth finishing our work early today to celebrate the beginning of what we call “river season.” It was really the first time this spring that I’ve even considered river swimming. As nice as it’s been at times, it just hasn’t been an overly hot spring. But we’re well into May now, and in true Willamette Valley fashion, we’re seeing our first glimpses of summer. Of course, May’s version of summer is much more verdant than the August version, keeping it distinct and making it overwhelmingly lovely. Really, I keep looking out our window at all the new green foliage and lush green grass and thinking, “This is so beautiful. So so so beautiful.”
Tomorrow we will head back out to finish the harvest, likely wearing sandals again. Summer style.
Enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla
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Potato planting party next Monday, May 16! Come join us on the farm between 4-6 pm to plant potatoes. This is fun, easy work that most people can do (the work is easy, but please be aware that the ground in our fields is uneven). You can wear sandals and shorts if you want! Kids are welcome to come help (with parents, of course!). After we’re done, join us at our house for a potluck supper! Bring a dish of food to share and a plate and utensils for yourself to eat on.
Directions to the farm from McMinnville: Take HWY-18 to Dayton. Drive straight south through Dayton and stay on Wallace Rd / HWY-221 for about seven miles. Turn RIGHT onto Grand Island Rd. After the bridge, turn RIGHT onto SE Upper Island Rd. Our driveway is the first one on your LEFT. We share the driveway with our neighbors, so please park on the RIGHT side of the driveway.
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CSA payments due next week! If you haven’t paid your next CSA payment yet, please do so by next Thursday, May 19. I emailed statements last week that include your total due, but if you have any questions please email or ask me at pick up.
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Meet this week’s vegetables:
- Strawberries — They’re back! One pint per share again this week!
- Sugar snap peas
- Fava beans — The first of this year’s fava beans are ready! These fava beans have beans inside, but they are also still tender enough to be roasted or grilled and eaten whole. If you’d prefer to just eat the beans, you can do that too! (But don’t try to eat the beans whole raw! The outer skin is only tasty or edible when cooked at high heat!)
- Broccoli/cabbage/cauliflower
- Kale
- Rainbow chard
- Fennel bulbs
- Zucchini — One of our standard ways to prepare zucchini is on the stove top. I start by sauteing chopped green garlic in butter, and then add chopped zucchini (and more butter) with some salt. I turn the heat up to medium high and cover the pan to let the zucchini begin cooking. They will release some liquid at this point, which helps with the cooking too. If I’m making this dish as the base of our meal, I’ll add four or five medium-to-large zucchinis to the pan (it’s a big pan). Lots of butter helps to cook that much chopped zucchini without it sticking too much. I stir regularly and cook covered until the zucchini is looking mostly cooked and there is liquid in the pan. At that point, I remove the lid and turn the heat down to medium and let it continue to cook until more of the liquid is gone. I love adding chili powder or tumeric (and plenty of salt) to provide flavor. Toward the end, I’ll add chopped cooked meat (today it was turkey) and let all the flavors blend. For us, this dish will serve as a main dish. With enough butter (we love butter) and plenty of cooking time, it all becomes so satisfyingly like comfort food. It hits the same spot that a big plate of butter noodles does. Except that it grows on our farm! (So far, we haven’t found a noodle plant, although we do want to try again this summer making noodles from zucchini and other vegetables with a spiralizer!)
- “Winter” squash — We’ve decided that we should rename this category of squash “storage” squash to distinguish it from zucchini and summer squash, which are different in that they need to be eaten soon after picking (because they are still green rather than ripe). Because, at this point calling it “winter” squash feels pretty inaccurate since we’re well past winter and still eating it! We ate the sweetest butternut squash of our life today at lunch (along with our sauteed zucchini and turkey).
- Potatoes
- Green garlic
And this week’s extra goodies from the farm:
- Eggs — $6/dozen
- Bratwurst! — Artisan-made without any added nitrates or sugars. $12/package (one lb packages).
- Pork — We have a few remaining shanks for $8/lb. More pork coming from the butcher soon!
