“Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit.”
― Henry Adams

Every now and then someone will ask me what a typical day is like for me, being a farmer.  It always makes me smile because there is no typical day.  Sometimes that is a great thing, other times it isn’t.

A friend and customer tells me she tastes our love in our food.  On days like yesterday, I wonder if she is going to taste all the cussing.

It started with a group of calves getting in the garden.  I went out to help Curtis run them out, and a cow busted through the wrong paddock gate and led the whole herd through.  My dog took off after two big coyotes and didn’t come back – I thought she was a goner.   I let my two big girls into the alley so I could feed them, and forgot I left the gate open to the back forty, so they took off.

It was lunchtime before I found my dog and got my horses rounded up.   All other plans I had for the morning were shot.

What’s in the bucket:  pie apples, winter squash, tomatoes, okra, potatoes.

What’s at market: pie apples, potatoes, tomatoes.  Circle S Beef:  ground beef, roasts and steaks.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups oats
• ¾ Brown Sugar
• ½ Cup flour
• ½ Cup butter – softened
• 7 Apples
• 2 TBSP Sugar
• 1 TSP Cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients together for the Crumble topping. Use a mixer or your clean, dry hands. Blend until all the large chunks are gone. Set Aside
2. Peel and slice 5 apples and place in an 8 x 8 baking dish. Gently toss the apple slices with white sugar and cinnamon
3. Cover apples evenly with Crumble Toppig
4. Bake in the Oven for 35-40 minutes, uncovered.
5. Serve warm with Vanilla Ice Cream

Happy Eating and thanks for buying local food from Circle S Farm.

“Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high
There’s a land that I heard of, once in a lullaby
Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue.
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.”
-Wizard of Oz

“It’s alright to be little bitty, a little home town or a big old city, might as well share, might as well smile, life goes on for a little bitty while” -Alan Jackson

It’s a “little” counter intuitive to us as human beings.  Bigger is always better.  But, I’ve learned as a vegetable grower that smaller is better, too.  The chef’s always want little.  Baby green beans, baby squash, small turnips, small beets, etc. etc.  Harder to pick, but you get to charge a premium.

HOWEVER, it’s really fun to grow something giant.  A county fair winner – a huge monstrous turnip, a whale of a cabbage…..fun.  This year it was carrots.  With all the rain, they just kept getting bigger.  I had so much fun pulling them out of the ground.

Farm News:  Going to be a hot week.  I really kind of hate this time of year.  I am trying to get my summer garden pulled out and my fall garden planted.  The girls and I are sweating it out, trying to brave the jungle of weeds that have been a product of all the rain (no complaints:))

What’s in the bucket?  Edamame soybeans, okra, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash, potatoes, parsley.

What’s at market? Edamame soybeans, potatoes, okra, cucumbers, sweet onions.  Circle S Beef:  filets, roasts, ground beef.

Circle S Gazpacho

• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1/2 whole Red Onion, Diced
• 1 whole Large Cucumber, Diced
• 2  large or 2 small whole Tomatoes, Diced
• 1 whole summer squash, Diced
• 2 stalks Celery, Diced
• one seeded jalapeño, chopped ( or don’t seed it if you like super spicy)
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped fine
• 1 dash Salt To Taste
• 1 quart Tomato Juice
• 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/8 cup Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 6 dashes Tabasco
• 1 t worcestershire
• 1 dash Black Pepper To Taste

Chop vegetables by hand into small dice, or with a food processor.  Add other ingredients.  Chill and enjoy.  You can serve with crusty bread, as a shrimp cocktail with chilled shrimp, or with chips and a dollop of sour cream.

Happy eating and thanks for buying local food from Circle S Farm!!:)

“Farming is a profession of hope.”    -Brian Brett

When I was a kid, there was a horse at the barn named “If It”.  Apparently he was bought off the track and looked pretty rough when he came in.  Someone commented that he was a nice looking horse and his owner said yes, “If it gains 200 # and if it grows some hair back and if it’s feet aren’t sore…..” etc, etc – thus the name stuck “If It”.

I feel like that with the farm.  I walk out and think, it’s going to be a good year……if we have some rain, and if all the cows have calves, and if no deer get into my garden fence, and if the bugs don’t eat all my plants, and if we get our hay crop in etc etc.etc.  So…. farming is a profession of hope and optimism.  Some years things work out better than others, and sometimes we have little control over the outcome!

Farm news:  We have 4 new hens in our flock!  One of my best friends had something killing her hens, and so she offered them to us.  In her words, “otherwise they are going to die”.  Curtis and I have been on the other side of that coin, trying to give hens away when we had problems.  You always want to find a friend who needs them- (we get attached to these critters!)  It’s hard to let them go to a stranger.

We also added three cows to our herd this week, Mabel, Elouise and R.T. (short for Roll Tide).  We bought them from friends as well.  They are beautiful, gentle cows.

What’s  in the bucket?  Kale, savoy cabbage, cucumbers, peppers, celery, carrots, edamame soybeans,  purple potatoes,  basil and a few tomatoes.

What’s at Market:  kale, cucumbers, edamame, red and purple potatoes,  red and green cabbage, carrots,  Chard.  Circle S Beef:  ground beef, roasts, steaks.

Look back at our struggle for freedom,
Trace our present day’s strength to it’s source;
And you’ll find that man’s pathway to glory
Is strewn with the bones of the horse.
~Author Unknown

I think I’ve sent this quote out before, but it seems appropriate for this holiday weekend.  For what represents freedom more profoundly than a horse?

I think of how many horses have fought and died with us throughout history.

Farm News:  Crows!!  They are making me nutty.  They have eaten most of my tomato crop green – didn’t even wait for them to turn red.  I have tied up aluminum pie pans, put up scare crows, you name it.  I see them fly in, and by the time I rush out there, another tomato casualty!!  Rats!  No, not rats, Crows!!

What’s in the bucket this week?  Crow meat!  Just kidding.  Savoy cabbage, carrots or beets, walla walla onions, cucumber, squash, green beans or edamame, Rainbow chard, blue potatoes.

What’s at market?  red cabbage, green cabbage, savoy cabbage, red, white and blue potatoes (in honor of the fourth!), carrots, walla walla onions,  kale.  Circle S Beef:  ground beef, steaks, roast.  Chuck wagon special:  buy any Circle S roast, get 1 quart potatoes, 1 bunch carrots, and 4 walla walla onions 1/2 price (save $4).

If you have 5 heads of cabbage in your fridge, it may be time to make some kraut, or try some Kimchi.

• • 1/2 head napa or white cabbage (mandatory)
  • 3 spring onions (mandatory) – just use your walla walla tops
  • Radishes (daikon, pink, or black) I would not hesitate to use some of those turnips haunting you in your vegetable drawer – just peel them first
  • Cucumbers
  • Carrots
  • Celery stalks

• • 2-3 fresh chili peppers and/or 30 grams (1 ounce) Korean ground chili pepper (gochugaru)
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 1 piece fresh ginger, about 25 grams (1 ounce)
  • 20 grams (4 teaspoons) fine sea salt
  • 60 ml (1/4 cup) fish sauce (preferably) or soy sauce (if vegan/vegetarian)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

1. 1. Have ready a set of thoroughly clean glass jars with rubber seals amounting to 2 liters (2 quarts) total.
   2. Brush your vegetables to remove any dirt, but don’t scrub them too clean as we need the microorganisms living on their surface to initiate the fermentation.
   3. Trim the vegetables, and weigh them to keep 1.5 kg (3 1/3 pounds) total.
   4. Slice the cabbage into ribbons — I do thin ribbons with a white cabbage, and slightly wider ones with napa cabbage as the leaves are more tender.
   5. If using pink radishes, you can opt to slice all of part of them finely.
   6. Put the rest of the vegetables (radishes, carrots, celery stalks) with the fresh chili peppers if using, garlic, and ginger in a food processor or blender, and pulse until finely chopped.
   7. In a large mixing bowl, put the sliced and chopped vegetables with the salt, fish sauce, and sugar, and mix thoroughly.
   8. Allow to rest at room temperature for 2 to 6 hours; the vegetables will relax and release some of their juices.
   9. Divide among the prepared jars, tamping as you go to remove any air pocket. Leave about 2 to 3 cm (1 inch) of space at the top.
   10. Close the jars and place them on a tray or plate. (Within the first 2 to 3 days, as the fermentation begins, the jars will chirp and sigh, and may leak some juices. Wipe off any liquid without opening.)
   11. Allow to ferment at moderate room temperature without disturbing for at least 5 days, and up to 3 weeks. Once open, keep in the fridge and eat within a year.

Recipe from Chocolate and Zucchini

Happy eating and thanks for buying local food from Circle S Farm!!

“Our life fritted away by detail.  Simplify.  Simplify.”

-Henry David Thoreau

This is a picture of Circle S Hash – recipe sent out last week.  What a simple way to enjoy roots – grate and stir fry in EVOO – salt and pepper.

I find that I eat my healthiest and tastiest meals outside in the garden.  Snacking while I pick produce for market or CSA.  I mean, who is going to eat all the culls?  The misshapen carrot, the bug eaten kale leaf?  It’s up to me!!(and the cows and chickens – they do not complain either).

Sometimes I feel like I’m too busy to cook.  But I remind myself – the simplest things usually taste the best.

So last week’s recipe was a step up from the garden.  This week as well – but still an easy way to enjoy fresh veggies.

What’s in the bucket?  Kale, carrots, turnips, cabbage, onions, potatoes, summer squash, and cucumbers.

What’s at market:  cabbage, kale, onions, potatoes, carrots, fennel, turnips, beets.  Circle S Beef: steaks, roasts, ground beef.  Circle S Lucky Irish special:  cabbage and potatoes half price!

Simple Slaw:  grate cabbage, carrot, and kale.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Add salt and pepper to taste.    Serve immediately.

Happy eating and thanks for buying local food from Circle S Farm!!

I am testing this post to see if it will show up on our Circle S Farm page instead of Curtis’s personal page.

“A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children”.         John James Audubon

Hay season again and I am glad to be mostly finished. Curtis gets saddled with all the responsibility of maintaining the equipment and getting it done.  I just do what he tells me😁most of the time.  But inevitably, something breaks while I am using it.  This year was stressful because of the forecast.  Every day chances of rain.  The new (used) baler broke right off the bat.  We managed to limp along with the old baler and almost had it done until the tractor tire blew.   70 percent chance of rain the next day, so I went to the house to get my girls and thought they could pull the hay rake the last few rounds.  Unfortunately, I got them hitched and Judy had a flat tire too.

It did get rained on, but Curtis was able to finish with one tractor and get most of it up  few days later.

What’s in the bucket?  Beets, carrots, cabbage,  fennel, summer squash, sweet red and white onions,  potatoes, cucumbers, dill

What’s at market?  Turnips, kale, potatoes, carrots, beets, fennel, cabbage, onions.  Circle S Beef: roasts, ground beef, steaks.   Back to your roots special:  turnips, carrots, beets, onions, potatoes:  buy any 4 roots for $10 (save $2)

Circle S root vegetable Hash recipe:

Grate carrot, potato, onion, beet, turnip, fennel or any combination.  Rinse with water  drain.  Form into patties or sauté loose in olive oil.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Happy eating and thanks for buying local food from Circle S Farm!

“If you don’t hear the crows of the roosters in the mornings, you are one cursed city fellow!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

Ok one rooster, good, 4 roosters, bad.

It is hard for a common person like me to tell a male chicken (cockerel/rooster)  from a female chicken (pullet/hen) until they are a certain age – around 4-6 months.

When we order baby chicks, they are sexed and we order all pullets (females).   However, when I bought chickens this year I wanted mature chickens, so I went and picked out 16 hens and a rooster – or so I thought.

I have been wondering why I wasn’t getting more eggs -even though the hens are young.  When I really started looking and listening – I realized I had three roosters too many!!

Luckily, the farmer I got them from let me “return” the roosters and replace them with hens – otherwise, the only place for them would have been in a soup pot!!

Farm News:  We have 3 more hens and 3 less roosters!!

What’s in the bucket:  Young turnips and greens (last week for these…..I promise!), collard greens, red asian greens, kohlrabi, lettuce, summer squash and/or green beans, sweet onions.

For some reason I’m into raw greens this year.  Mustard and kale greens are great in salads.  Collard greens are wonderful wraps for sandwiches or pinwheels- just take the ribs out.  Also, following, a marinated collard green recipe.  If you don’t like them raw, throw them into a pan and stir fry them after they marinate!!

Marinated Collard Greens

¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
¼ cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoon sea salt, divided
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 bunch collard greens, washed
1/8 cup olive oil

In a large bowl, combine apple cider vinegar, sun-dried tomatoes, scallions, garlic, red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon sea salt and pepper. Set aside. Take several collard leaves and roll into a cylinder the shape of a fat cigar. Using a knife, cut the through the collard cylinder, making strips. Repeat steps two and three until you have cut all the collard leaves. Place strips in a large bowl. Pour olive oil on collard strips and sprinkle the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. Massage the oil and salt into the strips until all are well coated. Transfer the collard strips to the bowl with the apple cider vinegar marinade. Let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but overnight is best.

Servings: 4

Happy Eating and thanks for buying local food from Circle S Farm!!

“Life is for the living.

Death is for the dead.

Let life be like music.

And death a note unsaid.”

― Langston Hughes, The Collected Poems

Curtis’s father passed away last Sunday after a long illness with Alzheimers.  It has been an exhausting journey for all of us, mostly Curtis.  It is a wonderful thing that he is finally at peace.

His funeral was on Friday.  His name was James Curtis Smith and he served in the military, in Germany, during the Cold War.  There were two servicemen who came to the funeral.  One played Taps – I guess that is what the song is called- and it so reminded me of this quote.  It was the most beautiful and mystical thing I’ve ever heard.  Somehow, he let the notes float so it felt like they were taking flight, traveling to some new location.

Farm News:  It has been a hectic time for the last few weeks, so I am hoping the garden has gotten enough care to keep producing.  The rain has been wonderful for the pastures, but makes it hard for fungal diseases in the garden.  Potatoes, tomatoes and squash are particularly susceptible.

What’s in the bucket?  red and green lettuce, spinach, kale, red and green kohlrabi, red and white young onions, young turnips and greens.

Young Turnips and Greens

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 1 navel orange, plus 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 pounds young turnips and their greens—turnips halved, greens stemmed and chopped
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup water
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 ounces baby spinach (2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts

HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE

• Preheat the oven to 400;. In a mini food processor, puree the olives; transfer to a bowl. Using a sharp knife, peel the orange, removing all of the bitter white pith. Working over another bowl, cut in between the membranes to release the sections.
  
• On a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle the turnips with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Roast for 20 minutes, until almost tender.
  
• Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 minutes. Add the water and turnip greens, cover and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the greens are just tender, 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  
• Pour the orange juice over the turnips. Roast for 5 minutes longer, until the turnips are tender and glazed; season with salt.
  
• Add the spinach to the greens; toss until wilted. Drizzle the pureed olives onto a platter. Top with the turnips, greens, orange sections and hazelnuts. Serve hot or warm.  

Happy Eating and thanks for buying local from Circle S Farm