Compostable Toys and Farm Photos

Again, I am guilty of not keeping up with the farm blog now that the farm is kicking into the real season.  We are so busy with the CSA, selling flowers to a wholesaler and trying to connect with more chefs that writing has been falling by the wayside, and so many writing ideas are slipping away! That’s OK, I will keep trying.

I have to share this photo I took of a project my two year old did with the newly harvested baby squash.  She spent a long time moving them around and arranging them until she was happy with the organization. I think she tried to get the most of the smallest ones together and she was also talking about some different family combinations as she worked (daddy squash, sister squash).  I was happy to see her enjoying the novelty of something new in the house and it made me wish more of our toys were this ephemeral and compostable because just like a new toy, they will not hold interest for very long. But with squash, that’s perfect because we can just eat them or compost them.

 

I want to share a few more images of where we are in the season right now.  I was happy to get to sample the first of our potatoes.  These were just dug as samples, they are really not ready yet and will hopefully produce lots more before we dig them for real.  They were such a treat!

first potatoes – purple, pink, yellow

Here are the last of our summer crops hardening off outside the hoophouse. Last night, I moved all these trays inside in advance of a major thunderstorm and today they are back outside.

 

Our main seedling house (below) is now half overtaken by peppermint.  This perennial did what I always dream a perennial will do when I buy a  new one — established itself and became a big part of our life.  I use this peppermint all the time and I even want to start calling this hoophouse “peppermint house” since  we are always asking each other “which hoophouse” and they really need names.

Tomatoes in another hoophouse that are still green but look so promising.

And finally, my Nikko Blue Hydrangea, a plant that I love so much, even though they are everywhere.  I hope to propagate this plant and get a commercial sized planting in, right now there are just two plants.

And on the farm, we have had a nice long spring season.  We are still harvesting lettuce, spring onions and radishes and we are sliding towards our summer crops.  I can’t wait for those tomatoes to ripen!

 

Lessons from Sunflower Seeds and Shelling Peas

There is so much happening on the farm now, it is hard to find time to write about it. We are already into our fourth week of the CSA season, and strawberries are sadly winding down already.  Deer attacked our late strawberry planting, so the season will end a little earlier than we hoped.  We are also harvesting spring onions, radishes, tons of lettuce, spinach, arugula, cilantro and peas.

A couple of weeks ago we went to a birthday party and one of the party favors was a little plastic pot with sunflower seeds that children could water and watch the plants grow.  I tried to direct my 5 year old toward something else, like the little boxes of crayons or bouncy balls figuring we see enough seeds and plants at home.  But he wanted the little pot and brought it home.  I was very surprised to see it became his new favorite thing for a while, he woke up each day and rushed straight to his little pot to check on the seedlings.  I realized that even though he sees us raise plants by the thousands, it is entirely different to care for your own.  So, I am thinking he needs more of his own farm projects that are on his scale.

Along those lines, we had some shelling peas last week and that was another great project for both children 2 and 5.  They both focused for about 40 minutes on splitting and sorting the peas.  And it naturally followed that they were much more excited to eat the peas that they shelled. It reminds me to look for more opportunities for farm projects that are on the right scale for the children to naturally engage in.

Today we attended our first 4-H meeting around the corner from our house.  There we worked on planting another little garden. It will be interesting to see how that group takes shape and to learn from some teachers who have lots of experience with engaging children on farms.

Have you had any great experiences working in gardens with young children?

Spring on the Farm

chandler strawberries

I thought I would share some images of a few things happening on the farm. We are picking our first delicious strawberries – they are Chandlers and they are coming in beautifully right now.  My daughter (she is 2)  calls them Princess Berries and she plans to grow them when she grows up.   Of course picking and eating strawberries is great fun and the children love it. They are showing up in pancakes and smoothies too and will go into our first CSA shares that we deliver tomorrow.

Last week, these two new hives of bees sat on my mantle for a day. Believe it or not, this has happened enough times that I don’t worry about them escaping in the house, even with young children nearby.  My husband draped some of my sewing fabric over them to keep them sleepy during the day.

And here is another look of them when they were ready to be installed in the beehive at dusk.  We are hoping to do better with bees in the future.  So far, we have not harvested much honey, but have celebrated our bees great work pollinating on the farm over the years!

There is so much to see on the farm this time of year, we have tiny apples and peaches on our trees, asparagus is finishing up and we are harvesting radishes, spring onions and lovely magenta lettuce.    And we are planting our summer crop and planning for a new greenhouse and possibly even a winter season CSA this year.  Lots to look forward too.

farm walk April

 

Kale Chips: A Surprising Hit with Preschoolers and Recipe

this piece is running at kveller.com today. You can try it with other greens too!

Last week, my sweet boy turned 5 and we celebrated by hosting his preschool class at our farm for a treasure hunt, pony rides with a neighbor, and lunch. He originally requested a party at one of those indoor bouncy centers, so I was very happy that we were able to coax, sell, and redirect him toward a homespun farm party.

The day before the party, my husband brought in a large bag of tender baby kale from the farm–the first of the spring new growth. When I asked my son what we should serve as a snack for the party, he completely surprised me by suggesting kale chips. I laughed and wondered how they would go over with his class that is used to much more standard preschool fare.

We served lunch in our sukkah which is still standing on the edge of one of our fields, now dressed up with balloons and crepe paper. The children were hungry when they sat down and the first thing I put out was the kale chips. Only one child made a face and said, “I don’t like those, they are green.” But all the other children reached in to try them. And they were a huge hit! The children grabbed seconds and thirds and moments later the bowl was empty.

Maybe you want to try this for your next preschool or grown-up gathering. I promise you, if you have never tried them you will be amazed by how good they are. Plus, they are kosher for Passover! Here is how to make them:

1. Gather one large bunch of young tender kale from your garden, farmers market, or grocery store. Note, they shrink a lot in this recipe, so start with more than you think you need.

2. Wash well and drain or dry leaves.

3. Put kale in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil and salt to taste, stirring to get an even coating of salt and oil on the leaves.

4. Lay kale in a single layer on baking sheets and bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Flip kale and continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes. Watch them closely; they should crisp up nicely. The edges will brown a bit but should not turn black.

5. That’s it, cool and serve.

 

This post originally appeared on kveller.com.

Kveller.com offers a Jewish twist on parenting, everything a Jewish family could need for raising Jewish children–including crafts, recipes, activities, Hebrew and Jewish names for babies…and advice from Mayim Bialik.

A Talk with Sandor Katz about Pickled Peppers

I love the taste of naturally fermented sour dill pickles. Since I don’t live anywhere near a Jewish deli and I have lots of fresh vegetables on hand from the farm, I really want to learn to make my own. But my initial attempts at pickling have not been a success.

Natural fermentation is the traditional way of making pickles taste like they are fresh from the barrel at a Jewish deli rather than fished out of a jar from the supermarket.  They are not packed with any vinegar and not refrigerated, giving them the amazing taste and some say great health benefits.   I put off trying my own naturally fermented pickles for years, using the excuse of being pregnant and nursing young children.  It seemed to me that if you can’t eat feta you should think twice about eating food left soaking on your counter for a week or more.

the pretty red peppers before pickling (the are about the size of a pullet egg - or very small chicken egg for reference)

When I finally got around to trying my own batch this past fall it was already November and too late for cucumber or okra pickles.  Instead, I collected some beautiful small red peppers, washed them and even boiled a rock to keep them submerged in the salt water.  I packed it all in a clean mason jar with carefully measured water and salt.  I was so optimistic!

For many days, nothing seemed to happen in the jar.  So I let them sit longer until the water turned cloudy and the peppers appeared to be fermenting. But letting food soak for days on counter goes against all of my food safety instincts and even without the pregnancy excuse, it was making me increasingly nervous as the days past.  At the next check the peppers felt a little slimy and I didn’t know if it was it the good kind of slimy or something else.  After some deliberation and a failed attempt to get my husband to taste them first, we totally chickened out and dumped the jar in the compost.

So what went wrong? I decided try to find out and sent an email to Sandor Katz, a top leader in the naturally fermented food movement and author of the widely acclaimed pickling how to “Wild Fermentation.”  Katz AKA Sanderkraut has a large following in natural food circles and travels around the world sharing his fermentation knowledge.   He was quick to reply and happy to help.

I recounted my pepper story and asked him, “What do you think I messed up.”  According to Sandor, “It sounds like nothing went wrong at all.  Fermenting vegetables is very safe and there never has been a single case of food poisoning from fermented vegetables.  The process is simple, just vegetables, salt and time.”

That was reassuring news.  So there is no need to worry about good and bad bacteria, you just need to get used to letting vegetables soak on the counter.  I asked, “So, naturally fermented pickles are part of our Jewish tradition, but so is worry.  Do you have any advice for a nervous Jewish mother learning the process?”

Sandor laughed and said, “I promise you that it is not a Jewish thing. People from all over have the same food safety concerns, especially if they are new to fermentation.  Americans are all taught to fear bacteria even though it everywhere and mostly harmless or beneficial.”

Finally I asked him if most of his audience is drawn to pickling to for the health benefits or the taste?

He said, “I started fermenting because I wanted to make a great quality sour dill pickle but natural fermentation it goes so far beyond pickles. There are fermenting traditions from all over the world, for vegetables, bread, wine, beer and more.  It is typical for third generation Americans from to develop an interest in making traditional fermented foods from their own cultural or family traditions.”

In fact that is the topic of his new book, “The Art of Fermentation: An in Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from Around the World” which comes out in June, in time for this summer’s pickling experiments!   In the meantime you can pick up his first book, “Wild Fermentation” which includes his recipe for the perfect Kosher dills and “The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved” (awesome title)  about America’s underground food movement.

Note: This post originally appeared in a shorter form on kveller.com. Kveller.com offers a Jewish twist on parenting, everything a Jewish family could need for raising Jewish children–including crafts, recipes, activities, Hebrew and Jewish names for babies…and advice from Mayim Bialik.