Farm News, June 5, 2018
Farm News
June is the “anything goes” month on small scale organic farms. We are still planting like crazy. Last week Hannah, Dana, and Renata got the peppers and eggplant tucked into their mulched beds, and we finally got next year’s strawberry patch in the ground. And for those plantings that we got in the ground, a couple rounds of irrigation and a few warm sunny days, and presto, a carpet of weeds emerges. We’ve had the cultivators out to get the weeds in the young “thread” stage, before they emerge, but a whole lot get past our machines and so we break out the hoes, or on our hands and knees, to clean up the crops. Things are looking a bit shaggy out there but we’re hoping to dodge the showers predicted this week and get serious about weeding.Strawberries are beginning to ripen! We put some row cover over three beds to get them in a bit earlier, with the main crop shaping up to come in later this week. The greenhouse tomatoes continue to size up, and we’ve managed to get a few nice rows of cukes climbing their string trellis in the high tunnel. But really June belongs to the salad kingdom of crops, with our tastiest and most tender lettuce and salad greens to be had this time of year. In a somewhat misguided moment of optimism, I decided late May would be a good time to rip up the harvest area and install a new concrete drainage system for our wash station. In a testament to the adage that anything you try to do will take longer, and cost more than you thought, we are all knee deep in a fairly involved project that makes me regret starting. Hopefully we can get the concrete poured this week and get our harvest area fully operational soon, before things get too messy with the rain predicted this week. They say a farmer needs to be his or her own mechanic, carpenter, electrician, welder, and plumber, but since I have only rudimentary skills in all those areas, and have managed to farm for almost two decades, I can say what a farmer really needs is a working telephone and some skilled folks in town who can dig him or her out of a bind!We hope you enjoy the produce and the farm,Paul and Rebecca, for Elliott, Lauren, Hannah, Sarah, Michael, Carly, and the Fort Hill Farm crew
Featured this week
Scallions: ...have such a refreshingly unique flavor. Chop this member of the allium family into salads, burritos, veggie sautés, or try recipe belowLettuce: I have to admit, I'm usually an arugula or radicchio girl, but I have been filling my bowl with lettuce after a long winter of long-distance heads! The cooler than average spring has resulted in some very crisp and tasty heads: we have Romaine, green and red leaf, and green and red butterhead.
Also available:
arugula, baby red kale, tatsoi, salad mix, spinach, rainbow chard, pea shoots, sunflower sprouts, micro greens, radishes, scallions, salad turnips, baby bok choy, 5 varieties of head lettuce, frozen baby ginger, limited amounts of kale coming in
Pick Your Own:
Strawberries are ripening by the moment, and we've just been able to open them up to PYO! We'll also have some nice ripe berries pre-picked in the barn.PYO begins 30 before and goes 30 minutes beyond barn hours.
Recipes, suggested by Rebecca Batchie; also see the Fort Hill Farm Recipe Database
Scallion and Coconut Rice with PorkBy gingerroot via Food 523 to 4 large scallions, thoroughly washed, trimmed just above root3 tablespoons canola oil, divided¾ pound ground pork1 tablespoon good quality fish sauce (like Red Boat or Three Crabs)1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced ginger1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic1 ¼ cups medium grain Calrose rice1 ¼ cups chicken stock¾ cup coconut milk (shake can before opening)1 head of baby bok choy (optional), end trimmed, leaves separated, washed, and sliced crosswiseWedge of lime, for finishing1.) Prep scallions by slicing 1/3 cup of white and light green parts. Thinly slice dark green part of scallions for 3/4 cup, divided into 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup. Set aside.2.) Heat 1/2 tablespoon of canola oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or similar pot. Add ground pork, 1 tablespoon of minced garlic and 1 tablespoon of minced ginger and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon. When meat is no longer pink, add fish sauce and cook for another minute or two, stirring. Transfer meat to a bowl and cover with foil.3.) Add 1/2 tablespoon canola oil to pot, followed by remaining 1 teaspoon of garlic, 1 teaspoon of ginger and 1/3 cup of sliced white and light green scallions. Cook, combining with wooden spoon, until fragrant, about a minute. Add rice and stir to coat, until rice is shiny. Add stock and coconut milk, stir to combine and cover. When rice begins to bubble, turn heat down to simmer. Set your timer for 20 minutes.4.) While rice is cooking, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a small skillet over medium heat. When oil shimmers, add 1/2 cup of sliced dark green scallions. Crisp up scallions by stirring frequently, remembering that they will go from crisp to burned in a second. Since they are dark, you won’t have as obvious a visual clue as with onions or shallots; I usually rely on smell. Once they start to smell dark and smoky I start to look for golden brown charred edges and begin to remove onions by the forkful to a paper towel lined plate until they are all done. It’s not the most delicate maneuver but they are delicious and worth it.5.) If you are using the baby bok choy, add it to the still hot skillet once you’ve removed the crispy scallions. Cook in scallion oil until leaves are wilted and stem begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.6.) When timer goes off, remove lid from rice pot and give mixture a stir. Rice should be perfectly cooked, plump, and almost risotto like, though without the extra liquid.