Newsletter: This is Farming? This is Farming!
If I have one catchphrase out here, that’s probably it.
Emmalyn harvesting a head of lettuce in the hoop house at Foxtail Farm.
In December 2019, I had steeled myself for long hours in the fields. Seeding, transplanting, weeding, harvesting, washing, and generally tending to our vegetables were what I figured we’d be doing some 90% of the time. What I didn’t realize was just how much more there is to operating a human-powered organic no-till farm, and just how wildly varied the tasks can be.
Dragging mucky, waterlogged, 60x150 foot tarps from one field bed to another, this is farming? This is farming!
Throwing countless sandbags, pallets, and anything else heavy on top of said tarps for the impending windstorm, this is farming? This is farming!
Hanging fifty feet in the air in a rock climbing harness and bike helmet, scrambling to tack down the old barn roof, this is farming? This is farming!
Felling trees, plumbing septic mounds, cleaning air conditioners, comforting a geriatric goat as she's getting an ultrasound to see if she might somehow be pregnant, all farming. (Lucy is not having kids, by the way, false alarm!)
While it can get a little dull to, say, weed a 150 foot carrot bed, most of the time our days are too all over the place for us to get bored. It certainly keeps us on our toes, and also helps me justify my growing tool collection. I don't know if I'd consider myself a jack of all trades, but I can say with 100% confidence that I am definitely a master of none.
- Cody
What’s in the Box?!
- Kickin' Mix: A blend of sweet and spicy greens. This colorful mix is a farm favorite. Great as a salad or in a bed of rice, kimchi and protein of choice. YUM.
- Lettuce Mix: Slightly later than usual with this year's delayed spring but better late than never! SO tender and delicious. Enjoy, I know we are ;)
- Breakfast Radishes: Yahoo!!! ANOTHER ROUND! Still my favorite. We use the whole thing to make this breakfast treat.
- Magenta Lettuce: This might be turning into my new favorite box. Magenta lettuce too!?!? Great in place of romaine for a Cesar salad, as a lettuce wrap, or sandwiches.
- Hakurei Salad Turnips: From tip to top these are delicious. Add to a salad, or sauté everything, greens and all, for a wonderful side dish.
- Rainbow Swiss Chard: There was a double rainbow on the farm today! I'd like to think it was in honor of this beautiful food <3 After we harvest the chard once for baby leaf, we thin our rows and bunch it for sautéing. Great in soups, stews or cooked with onions and garlic.
- Sweet Mokum Carrots: Yum. Love um raw with humus, steamed, sautéed or roasted.
- Cilantro: Garnish all of your favorite foods! Unless of course you have the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap. Then I suppose you could gift it to someone who doesn't.
- Dill: I love just adding fresh dill to my salad greens and dressing them with some fresh squeezed lemon juice and olive oil, salt and pepper. Great in any salad dressing or yogurt sauce. Yum!
- Napa Cabbage: Very tender Napa cabbage great for a salad or slaw.
- Red Russian Kale: Wonderful in a smoothie or dressed into a kale salad, Red Russian might be the most versatile (in my humble opinion).