Harvest #3

It's classic June in Portland today: cold and wet.  The rain soaked me during harvest this morning, but the plants couldn't be happier.  A good boost of sunlight followed by a nice soak works wonders on the crops and things are looking good!

In the box this week:

kale
asian greens
peas OR garlic
beets

I like to use the greens (beet, mustards, kale) as the base for a palak paneer-style  curry dish:

Blanch the greens and set aside.  Sautee onions, garlic, ginger, and serano pepper. Once the onions are translucent, add tumeric, cumin, and garam masala.  (Start with 1/2 tsp increments and add more depending on your preference.)  Add about 3/4 c diced tomatoes.  Stir well!  Puree your blanched and cooled greens and add them.  Lastly add a half cup or so of cream or coconut milk.  Salt to taste! 

Harvest #2

This week in the box:

arugula
kale
peas OR green garlic (half of you got peas and half got garlic– it'll swap next week)
tiny radish bunches

While I was harvesting garlic this morning, I was breathing in their strong smell and I kept thinking about ginger!  A perfect pairing!  I feel like most of you know how to use these veggies, but I'll throw out some suggestions anyway.

Arugula- obvs makes a great spicy salad!  One of my favorite ways to use arugula is to put a small handful on top of a hot pile of risotto or pasta.  Or use it as a bed for a sumptuous piece of fish.  It create a great taste and consistency spectrum the way it half-wilts/half-stays fresh as you're eating.

Kale- stewed or braised is a great way to eat kale.  I like to cook it down with a little bit of tamari.

HARVEST #1 WOO!

The first harvest of the season is exciting and scary!  Farming is fickle and while there is plenty of food in the ground this week, there may not be quite as much in the ground next week.  Maybe there has to be arugula in every box for the first month.  Maybe there will be baby bunches of beets now and monster bunches of beets later.  In many ways, it's not up to me, I'm just the messenger.   Keep your fingers crossed for nice weather and no leaf miners or cabbage moth!

IN THIS BOX:
radish
fresh garlic (or garlic spears)
baby beets

Recipe Suggestions:
Baby Beets:  Wash well and chop.  Heat up some olive oil and garlic in a pan.  Toss the rootier parts of the beet thinnings in the pan and cook for a while until soft.  Add the leafier parts and a bit of water and cover until they're nice and soft!  Salt to taste.

Radishes:  Shave them into thin pieces for a bomb-ass salad ingredient.  Or try this: Serve with fancy butter and fancy salt (or regular butter and regular salt) for an appetizer or rad snack.  The butter helps mellow the piquant nature of the radish.

Fave salad dressing: rice wine vinegar, olive oil, sea salt, pepper. Straight up.

Get It Going

One of the main reasons I like farming for myself and farming in town is because I can do things like drink coffee in the sun before heading to one of my backyards.  Or grab a kombucha from the co-op if I'm thirsty after a couple hours of work in the sun.  I like to roll into the backyard at the Appendix Space and have one of the guys who run the space poke his head out of his bedroom window so we can have a quick chat.... like an after school special.

Obviously the weather in Portland has been beyond dreamy the past few days!  It's go-time in the farm world and I've been working every day!  Kale and arugula starts are in the ground.  Beets, carrots, radishes, and peas that were direct sowed last month are sprouting with their little green arms out-stretched.  I've been clearing out a couple of my spaces in order to till.  Once that's taken care of, all other starts are going to get transplanted: red and yellow onions, pac choi, mustard greens, broccoli, cabbage, fennel bulb, cilantro, chard, lettuce! 

After that, summer crops will get their debut: tomato, pepper, basil, cuke, summer squash, beans!

I'm currently working with Emily Baker at Sword and Fern (8th and E Burnside) and Niles Armstrong at Worn Path (Shaver and Mississippi) to set up the weekly CSA pick-up site/mini produce stand!  I'm planning for Thursdays to be harvest day with S+F pick-up from 3-4pm and Worn Path pick-up from 4.45-6pm.  (Possibly in the beautiful lot right next door to that shop.) Keep your ear to the ground to get updates on what'll be available each week! 

Can't Stop, Won't Stop

Onion seedling

As convinced as I am every year that we'll live in a perpetual winter of dreary rain, dark, and cold, Spring somehow manages to sneak up and just... happen.  Technically we haven't reached the equinox yet, but there's a fragrance in the air and is undeniable: Spring is coming and it can't stop, won't stop!  Of course farming puts one inexorably in tune with the change of the seasons, and my seedlings are grateful for the added heat in their little cloche.  I've got broccoli, cabbage, fennel, kale, mustard greens, onions, lettuce, chard, and pak choi sprouting under thin but protective plastic.

Pretty soon the tasks will come tumbling along: plant peas, pick up a load of horse manure, till, dig a trench for potatoes, weed, weed, weed.... 


Starting in about a month you won't see me without dirt under my fingernails, a crazy grin on my face and possibly a carrot or bunch of kale under my arm.  It's going to be a good season!

Love, Clea

Begin Again

Happy Autumn Equinox!

As usual, Portland summer extended straight through September and right up to the 22nd when it promptly turned to Fall.  Now there are little flurries of crackly leaves in the streets as I bike from one end of town to the other.  It is an interesting time of year in the farm world.  We're busily trying to finish our harvests while making sure everything is prepared for the winter and spring: getting cover crop in, planting garlic, and essentially tucking our rows and beds in for the night.  We're also TIRED after busting ass all season.  I always liken the feeling to the push the marathoner gives at the end.  She's been giving it her all for those 25 miles and has to give it her all and more for that last 26th mile.  Yet with the end in sight, I have found myself reviving a bit and that last push doesn't seem so hard.

After taking a break from Thistle Top Farm for the 2012 season to work on a fully functioning, rural, organic farm (Simington Gardens), I'm happy to announce that I'll be gearing up again for another TTF season in 2013!  I'll be extending the season by a few weeks (I wasn't ready to be done last year!), and, because of that, raising the price of one share to $300.  Still the best deal in town though, so don't be shy and hit me up if you want fresh, friend-grown produce all season.

There are a few folks to thank so far for sharing their space with me:  Vanessa Renwick, Allan Wilson, and The Appendix Space (my favorite spot from last year!).  I would like one more big spot, so if you have some ideas, please share!

Thanks for all the support!
Love, Clea

Family

This year has brought a lot of changes to my life.  I have really learned a lesson about fomenting change and manifesting your reality.  I have seen how an intentional, active clearing of one's mental space creates room for something else to move in.  The amazing part is that we have the power to control what moves in.  

With that in mind, I look forward to 2012.  Thistle Top Farm will be taking a break from this season as I'll be work full time (50 hrs/week!) at Simington Gardens.  I'm extremely excited to be working for a fully functioning farm with about 6 acres in production.  They have a full CSA and they sell to New Seasons and several different restaurants including The Firehouse in Portland.  I'm most excited about camping out there a few nights a week to really integrate myself into farm life.  I'm second most excited about having tan, rippling muscles.

Despite backing away from Thistle Top Farm, there is still much to focus on!  My partner Niles is expanding the creative output of his beautiful, outdoors-oriented jewelry.  Visit worn-path.com to see necklaces, earrings, and some locally screen-printed shirts!  In accordance with this, I'll be making salves, lip balms, tinctures, and other herb products to sell at his online store and at a hopeful physical location in Portland.   I'm using herbs that I've personally collected either in the wild or growing abundantly on one of the many farms I've acquainted myself with over the years.  Look for poplar buds, nettles, comfry, calendula, feverfew, oregon grape, and more in the coming year.  You can check out more info at goldenboughherbs.blogspot.com.

Thanks for the support.
Biggest love/////////////////