Next winter's leeks beginning their long life in our start house.
Oh, spring — you beguiling, changeable season. I have to smile at spring’s vagaries. Perhaps more than any season, we just don’t know what to expect from a spring day, except that it will probably change — probably more than once. Rain showers one minute, the next sparkling brilliant sunshine highlighting all things green in the landscape. Walking through our day feels a bit magical and unpredictable and shiny right now.
Like many other mothers I am sure, I always keep a little mental list of “things the kids need” for the upcoming season — next size up in certain clothing, etc etc etc. My spring list also highlights the nature of the season, as right now it contains both “boot driers” and “sandals for Dottie.” Puddle jumping is hobby #1 right now for both of them, and now that we’ve stopped building daily fires in the stove, their boots stay wet for many days. But, some moments are more appropriate for sandal puddle jumping anyway. Probably the sandals will win out on my priority list given the direction we are moving in the year.
We took a quick trip to the beach this weekend to celebrate my birthday and our anniversary (which are six days apart — I was nineteen years plus six days old when we got married! Gasp!). It was probably our rainiest visit to the coast in a long time. Very little time was spent actually on the beach, but we enjoyed visiting with Casey’s family and cozying up in our yurt at Cape Lookout.
Quick trips away from the farm are becoming a more normal part of our farm family’s reality, which is such a welcome change after years and years of Too Much Work. Getting away provides us all with needed perspective on our relationships with each other and with the farm itself. Plus, as we’ve mentioned a million times before: we love being outside. Being outside in different beautiful places keeps us in tune with our original intentions for all of this farm craziness (plus, since Casey grew up at the beach, it’s an especially important touchstone for him). It’s good stuff — and only possible because of our highly responsible employees who can hold down the fort while we are gone.
Speaking of which, we’re in the midst of hiring right now as one of our current folks is moving on to new adventures this summer. Interviews with strong candidates are on the schedule for the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Casey and the crew have gotten out into the fields to begin planting for the season. All of this is important spring work, launching us fully into this year’s growing season. As Casey noted when giving me this week’s Veggie list, the balance of veggies coming from storage versus the fields is beginning to shift. That trend will continue over the next few weeks/months until we are back into the full swing again.
The growing season! I can hardly even believe it! This winter felt particularly long, especially with that big snow in February. And, now, it is spring. As much as I’ve been anticipating the change, I feel a bit snuck up on too. In a good way. Spring is welcome around these parts. We are so excited for the coming year and all its gifts.
Enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla
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Meet this week’s vegetables:
- Stinging nettles — One of our favorite spring greens! We “wild craft” these from the edges of our fields, as they are of course a wild plant, not cultivated by us. If you’re new to nettles, you’re in for a treat, but be forewarned that they are called “stinging” nettles for a reason! Handle them with gloves or tongs until they are dried or cooked! Once they’ve been processed, the sting goes away. We prefer nettle tea to almost any other kind. To make it, dry your nettles in a food dehydrator or put on a rack in a dry, warm place (which will take longer of course). But nettles can also be cooked like any green. They are fabulous in green pureed soups. Very savory.
- Salad mix
- Carrots
- Sunchokes
- Corn flour — A reminder that this corn flour is a freshly ground product that contains more moisture than store bought equivalents. We recommend opening the plastic bag or transferring to a different breathable container for storage (otherwise there is risk of mold growing in time). This is a flour grind, so we recommend using it in quick bread type recipes. Corn bread works of course, but it also makes great pancakes (use any pancake recipe for proportions). Perhaps make savory pancakes to go with dinner one night — leave out any sweetener and stir in chives instead? Delicious!
- Chives — This is a relatively new crop for us, but we love it! Chives put on their green growth so early in the season. We’ve been putting these in everything (and Dottie loves munching on chive greens in the field).
- Garlic
