anuary 26th, 2010

What’s in the Vegetable Box?  

Braising Mix, Italian Salad Mix (stronger but still wonderful in used as a salad), Arugula, Radishes, Spaghetti Squash (cook like any other winter squash, bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes, but then cut in half remove center seeds, then remove the noodle like flesh and make into a spaghetti meal), Tangelos, Chieftain Red Potatoes.

What’s in the Fruit Bag? Oranges, Tangelos, Grapefruit, Meyer Lemons, and Almonds

This Week on the Farm   Wet week on the farm.  As if you didn’t know!  Wet week all over California, with perhaps another one to come.  With all the wonders of our science, that is one we have yet to copy, the wonder of clouds and rain.  We can predict it, channel it, store it, purify it, split it, or combine it, but we can’t make it happen.  So it still falls into the category of an unexplained miracle, a life-renewing miracle every time our wishes or prayers are answered.

            Man, was it a wild storm that beat around us this week.  Starting on Monday, we had 7.5” of rain by Thursday morning.  That in a place that has a rainfall total for a normal year of about 20 inches.  Old El Nino played with us, made us wonder if he was ever going to perform, and then came right in with a roundhouse right to the solar plexus, boom!  And we are standing here saying yeah, hit me again, we can take it.  Maybe he’s winding up for a real bell-ringer, and maybe not.  That’s the beauty of this, we don’t know, it’s a real mystery.  But that was a significant blast and let us know that the gifts of Nature don’t have to be totally sweet.

            We woke up on Tuesday morning, powerless as usual in heavy storms, after a night of listening to the wind and rain on our tin roof, crashing nearly horizontally into the resisting windows, doors, siding and sheet metal.  This wonderful house that was built so long ago, is not weather tight and we can truthfully say that radon poisoning, or built-up household toxins are not a concern.  Our kids grew up feeling the fresh air in their faces and the pitter patter of tiny feet (ants, spiders, and mice) while in bed at night.  But aside from a few phobias about ants or spiders in the bed, everybody has come out healthy, and I get to laugh at the experiences, while they all glare at me.  And so on a rainy, windy night, our house serves as a kind of osmotic membrane, allowing a small sample of all that is outside to creep into our dreams.  And when we awake, it is there around us, the soaked survivors of a yard full of small friends, the puddles that tell of an unfound pinhole or an unforeseen consequence of hurried repair work.  So waking on such a day is a matter of going exploring into previously charted, but possibly changed territory, reminding me of Mark Twain’s descriptions of piloting the Mississippi after a winter’s changes.  I know the course, but need to be prepared for a major change around any bend.  Inside the house, check, no water around the edges of the slab, but put down buckets and mop the floor.  Look at the desk, and move any important papers that might be in the way of those stubborn leaks around the skylights.  Look outside for any downed branches or, even worse, trees—ah! Not bad, only a few branches.  Outside, the trees are whipping back and forth with a beautiful flexibility that tells me how alive they are in this weather, all still holding firm in their own strong communities of roots.

            Over in the new house, I close the door and the storm disappears suddenly.  This house is so well insulated that I can’t hear the rain on the tin roof, I can’t feel a breath of air through the up-to-code heavy insulation, and not a sound through all those layers.  And standing there, I am glad that my children were raised in the old house, with its puddles and drafts.  I know that in time this house will become the “old house” just as I will become the “old man”, and it will show its age and the effects of years of human lives and become home to all who come here, but something really important is lost when I can’t hear the rain falling on the roof at night.

            I could go on and on about that day and the next, the pictures of Francisco, Ricardo, Jose and I shoveling mud across a downhill road and out into a field to channel silty water sluicing from the hills above us out into our planted, weedy fields to slow and spread the water, the dedication of the people around us to their work, but I grow acutely aware that storm or not, time goes on and there will be a time in the not-too-distant future, that the sun will shine and all that can be done in the winter will have to be done.   Suddenly, really suddenly, it will be time to move into a new season, ready or not.   Jeff

Julies Box-Each quarter we donate a box of veggies to a family in need in honor of Julie Estridge who told Jeff she will always get a box from us. For the last two quarters we have been donating to the Berenson's family who has been dealing with medical problems. Kaye Berenson, who had pancreatic cancer, died the week before last.  She survived approximately 8 months with that terrible disease.  Her funeral mass and Irish Wake were held last Thurs, 1/14/10.  Her husband, Scott, Molly (daughter-13) and Kerry (son-40) are hanging in there and trying to keep busy.  One of the ways Molly has been keeping busy is by cooking the food from the veggie box for the rest of the family, and her mom before she passed.  Kerry always enjoys receiving the bread and Kaye did too when she was still able to eat.  The donated box got them to eat more organic foods especially the veggies.  I think they will continue at least some of that change in their lives.  I know they have really appreciated receiving the box and bread and I would like to thank those of you that have added a bit to your quarterly payment to help support the gift of Julie’s Box.

The Potatoes in your box

The Chieftan Potatoes are from Oh! Tommy Boy’s Organic Farm from in the historic potato growing region near Valley Ford, California. Nathan Boone who grew the potatoes was in need of help marketing, so we decided to get some for the CSA boxes. He Dry-farmed the potatoes and say that they are the best-tasting potatoes you can find.  Dry farming uses the natural soil moisture to grow crops instead of irrigation. Deep loamy soils and careful soil preparation make it possible to grow potatoes in the coastal areas of Northern California.

            The farm was originally started in the 1850’s by Tom Kirkland Sr. who began dry-farm potato production around 1926.  Tom was known affectionately as the “potato king” and grew up to 20 acres of potatoes each year.  In 1976, Tom Kirkland Sr. retired and his grandson, also Tom Kirkland, took over the farm.   Tom revived the tradition of dry-farmed potatoes and introduced Sonoma County to more than 20 varieties of gourmet potatoes.  After Tom and Heidi Kirkland retired from farming in 2009, Nathan Boone (a friend of ours from years ago, Nathan taught Annie how to use the computer) from First Light Farm CSA stepped in to continue the dry-farming tradition to grow 14 varieties of gourmet potatoes.

The coastal area of Sonoma County has a history of dry-farming. The remnants of a geological formation of silt, sand, and sediment was uplifted and deposited over bedrock five million years ago, resulting in an unusual condition of deeper, fertile hillside soils perfect for dry-farming.

            The famous potato crops of the past were planted in the spring and grew without irrigation through the summer. Oats and barley were sown in the fall for winter crops, taking advantage of the more or less predictable Mediterranean wet winters.

            Today, dry-farming is being re-invented in the Valley Ford area of Sonoma County. The deep silty loam soils are perfect for the practice with high moisture contents and a deep water table. Dry-farming is well suited where water is scarce.

Food as Medicine:

Oranges-In Chinese traditional medicine, dried orange and tangerine peel is considered a precious medicinal herb. It is used to treat a wide range of digestive problems as well as coughing, fatigue and loose stools. It is thought to discharge excess fire, relieving anger, frustration and depression. Limonene, a substance found in oranges and tangerines (and in the seeds of caraway and dill) is a natural phytochemical found effective at preventing and even treating cancer in animals. Dr. Michael Murray of Bastyr University describes limonene as an inducer of detoxifying enzymes that neutralize carcinogens. Consumption of oranges is linked to lower rates of pancreatic cancer and protection against radiation damage to sperm. The essential oil from citrus peel is antifungal and anti-inflammatory.

To dry citrus peel-remove from citrus cut up into small minced pieces place on a cookie sheet and put in a very low oven, or in a food dehydrator, or even seconds in the microwave. Keep checking to make sure you only dry to remove all of the moisture, when dry place in closed container and use in teas.

Baked Spaghetti Squash and Gruyere & Parsley

1 spaghetti squash, about 3 pounds punctured

1 cup grated Gruyere

2-4 tablespoons butter

¼ cup chopped parsley with 1 garlic clove

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375degrees and bake the squash unit the flesh is yielding and soft, an hour or more. Slice the squash in half and scrape out the seeds. Now drag a fork through the flesh, pulling the strands apart. Toss them with the parsley, cheese and butter. Season with salt and pepper and serve

Spaghetti Squash with Tomato Sauce

Tomato sauces of all kinds are good with spaghetti squash. Toss the strands lightly with olive oil, salt, and freshly milled pepper, then pile them on a platter. Make a nest in the middle for 1-2 cups tomato sauce. Toss then serve. Pass Parmesan Cheese at the table.

Spaghetti Squash with Mushroom Ragout

Serve spaghetti squash with any of the mushroom ragouts or with Sautéed Mushrooms with Garlic and Parsley. Season the squash with butter or olive oil, salt and pepper, then mound it on a platter and surround with the mushrooms. Toss before serving.

Arugula and Radicchio Salad

3 tablespoons fine, unflavored dried bread crumbs

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves

2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

1 small log goat cheese, cut into 6 equal rounds

1 tablespoons olive oil plus 1/3 cup

1 medium garlic clove, minced

3 tablespoons vinegar

½ cup oil cured black olives pitted and chopped fine

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoons black pepper

4 large bunches arugula, washed, stems trimmed and torn into bite sizes pieces 61/2 cups loosely packed

1 medium head radicchio-or the Italian salad mix washed, dried and torn into bite size pieces 21/2 cups

Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Stir bread crumbs and 1 teaspoon each of thyme and rosemary to combine in a shallow pie pan. Brush goat cheese rounds lightly with 1 tablespoon olive oil and gently press both sides and degrees in bread crumb mixture to coat thoroughly with bread crumb mixture (can be done up to 1 hour before serving time and refrigerated on baking sheet until ready to use)

Whisk garlic, vinegar, olives, remaining thyme and rosemary, salt and pepper in small bowl, gradually whisk in remaining 1/3 cup olive oil and set aside. Just before serving, bake breaded goat cheese rounds until warm through, but not at all browned 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile whisk up oil and vinegar mixture toss with mixed greens to coat in a large mixing bowl. Divide dressed greens among 6 plates placing the warm breaded goat cheese on top and serve.

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