Circle S Farms

“Birds of a feather flock together”  English Proverb

Flock…definition

noun:  1. a number of birds of one kind feeding, resting, or traveling together.

Meet Jessie…

She and her flock are helping us and our flock provide eggs to you this summer.  Michael at Broadfork meadows sold me his chickens and we are still coming up short.  My CSA loves their eggs!

At any rate, I am thankful for Jessie and her flock.  She vends at Main Street Farmer’s market with me (and is President of our Board.)  She has been a farmer friend for a while.  So seems fitting we should be including her happy flock’s eggs in our buckets!  And I wanted all of you to get to meet her via computer if not in person.

Farm News:  BOUNTY OF PRODUCE.  I will overload the buckets this week….

What’s in the Bucket?  Fennel, Daikon, Broccoli ….again?….yeah!  green cabbage, Texas sweet onions, green beans, purple and white potatoes, Turnip root and beets.

Intimidated by roots? Shred those roots and saute them up like hash browns.  Though fennel is not technically a root, it can act like one!  Kraut…you have all you need.  Cabbage plus fennel, daikon, onion, broccoli, you choose.  Fermenting can be lots of fun.  Google that:)

As for me, I will be making all of the above plus the following fennel and broccoli salad….easy and delicious.

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

Food & Wine

Shaved Broccoli and Fennel Salad with Goat Cheese

The combination of creamy goat cheese, fresh herbs, thin and crunchy vegetables with rich olive oil, lemon, and a little salt is addictive. If you have a mandoline, it’s great to use it here.

Total:

20 mins

Yield:

4 to 6

 © Sarah Bolla

Ingredients

Ingredient Checklist

• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 
• 1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt 
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound broccoli (about 2 heads), stems very thinly sliced lengthwise, florets thinly sliced crosswise
• 2 bulbs fennel (about 2 1/2 cups), halved lengthwise, cored and very thinly sliced 
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped parsley
• Fronds from 1/2 fennel bulb (about 3 tablespoons), coarsely chopped 
• 6 ounces crumbled goat cheese

Directions

Instructions Checklist

• Step 1

  In a large bowl, combine the lemon juice, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper and slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking constantly until incorporated.

• Step 2

  In a large bowl, toss the broccoli and fennel shavings with the parsley and fennel fronds. Pour over the dressing, and toss to coat. Season the salad with salt and pepper, garnish with crumbled goat cheese and serve right away.

”The heart of a father is the masterpiece of nature”   -Prevost Abbe, Manson Lescaut

Father’s Day cheers from Jennifer and Josh holding the fort down at the farm

Happy Father’s day to you!  We have been at the beach this weekend with MY father.  It was his birthday Friday and Father’s Day today.  So lots of celebrating and wonderful family time.

Farm News:  We are heading back to the farm today.  Honestly, I looked at the weather at home and I think I’d rather stay at the beach.  The heat is hard to manage with vegetables and animals.  The animals do much better in the cold weather.  And they have the added stress of flies right now.   So they stomp and run to get away.  Turn hot and sweaty.  The cows pack up and move in this giant close herd to keep the flies off each other.  Birds fly above them enjoying the fabulous feast of insects.  The only thing I know to give the horses some relief is a cool shower.  So we rinse them off late afternoon just to cool their body temp.
And the cool season vegetables will bolt.  We usually can harvest broccoli, cabbage, lettuce and greens into July on the mountain, but probably not this year:(  And to add to that everything is thirsty when it is this hot, including me!

What’s in the bucket:  This is a guess since I am not there but….similar to last week….Broccoli, green cabbage, red and white potatoes, leeks, summer squash for sure.  The rest may be a surprise….A few green beans?  Some lettuce if it has not bolted, turnips with greens or Daikon radishes with greens or a beet or 2?  A sprig of Rosemary, oregano or parsley.  It is very 🥵 hot, so if you find your veggies are wilting in the bucket before you can get to them, feel free to leave a cooler with ice packs out.  I will transfer your veggies into it.  In a week or 2 it will be tomatoes and squash and peppers which aren’t so unhappy with heat.

I’m always up for an easy summer supper.  Here is an idea I got from browsing cabbage recipes.  Make an herbed butter to keep in the fridge to dress up any steamed or roasted or grilled veggies or greens.  One of the recipes I saw had anchovy, which I actually love on grilled cabbage.  This recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter, but you could half the amount.  Don’t like anchovies? Substitute capers or other herbs.  Really anything works!  And you can make it and roll it up, store in wax paper up to a month.

Herb Butter

1T fresh rosemary or parsley or oregano

1tsp red pepper

7 anchovy filets, drained or similar amount of capers or another herb

2 cloves garlic pressed and/or 1 T cleaned leeks

2 sticks salted butter, the real thing!

purée herbs and anchovy in food processor.  Cut butter into chunks and let it soften.  Use a fork and blend herbs and anchovy with butter.  Roll in wax paper and store in fridge until needed- or store in a Tupperware.

Top roasted, steamed or grilled  veggies with herbed anchovy butter and enjoy!

Happy eating, Happy Father’s Day and thanks for buying local food from Circle S Farm.

“A large drop of sun lingered on the horizon and then dripped over and was gone, and the sky was brilliant over the spot where it had gone, and a torn cloud, like a bloody rag, hung over the spot of its going. And dusk crept over the sky from the eastern horizon, and darkness crept over the land from the east.”
― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

The heat and humidity are not fun but they do bring fantastic sunsets!  And future tomatoes….

But for this week we will still be harvesting greens and lettuce.  A nice change though, some red potatoes and leeks.

Farm News:  Curtis and I are leaving Wednesday to go to the beach with family.  This is becoming a yearly break for us – thanks to Jennifer and Josh who hold down the fort.

And thanks to those of you who are changing your delivery day to let us go….It is a rare thing for us to be able to leave animals, vegetables and work!

What’s in the bucket?  Red potatoes, leeks, Napa cabbage or green cabbage, broccoli, summer squash, bibb lettuce, mixed kale.

I don’t know what the difference is between a latke and a fritter.  I would call these fritters but… anyway.  Here is a NY times recipe – an easy solution for your share this week.  Serve with a bibb lettuce salad and roasted squash….for a fantastic summer meal.

“To make a good salad is to be a brilliant diplomatist – the problem is entirely the same in both cases.  To know how much oil one must mix with one’s vinegar.”

-Oscar Wilde

Farm News:  Yes, more on the crows.

Well, they pull up my sweet corn every year.  Scare Crow – doesn’t scare.  They ate the whole row except at her feet.  Last year we planted it three times and finally, …success!  Under the cover of a row cover the corn sprouted and got big enough.  Big enough to outgrow the corn seed which is what the crow searches out.

So this year, we planted it first time under the row cover.  A no-brainer right?  Wrong.  Those old crows outsmarted me again.  They poked holes in the row cover and pulled it all up.  I tried again and planted corn under the cover of my broccoli plants.  It may be too shady for it to germinate….but I’m hoping they will not discover it until too late.   Will we outsmart old crow?….to be continued.

What’s in the bucket:  OK, more of the same for this week, but big changes will be in order for next week.

A salad mix of young kale, arugula and beet greens (you won’t find one like this at the super market!) kohlrabi (last kohlrabi I promise), young onions, romaine lettuce, red and green leaf lettuce, collard and/or kale or turnip greens, Daikon radish (these are good for the greens too!) and Rosemary.

Lots of salad in order for this week.  Good week to invite some friends over, make a big salad.  Add a some protein of your choice and call it dinner.

Here is a salad dressing recipe (Oil and vinegar if your a diplomat)

(From Cookie and Kate)

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons vinegar of choice (balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
• 2 medium cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Happy Salad eating!  Thanks for buying local food from Circle S farm.

“Oh, we take you into slaughter without a moment’s thought. And yes, some of you come to enjoy it, to lust for that cacophony, that violence, the reek of blood.

And so we share with you, dear horse, our peculiar madness. But who judges us for this crime against you and your kind?

No one.

Unless you horses have a god.”
― Steven Erikson, Reaper’s Gale

I was at a Memorial day celebration yesterday and there was a cannon.  And there was a horse.  The horse did not flinch when the cannon was fired.  It made my heart jump a mile.  And I started thinking about war.  And horses.  And what it would be like to ride a horse into the front lines.   These beautiful kind creatures that bend to our will.   What would a cavalry charge feel like…thundering hooves….adrenaline…fear…courage.

Our horses live a quiet life.  My big girls could pull an a wagon full of ammunition.  I’m glad they don’t have to!   I’m pretty sure none of our horses  would have stood quietly when that cannon went off.

And thus starts another Memorial Day delivery.  I believe this is the 19th year I have delivered on Memorial Day.  But this is the first year Memorial Day begins the season.  And thus we start off with a bang…

Farm News:  I am thankful for last weeks rain.  The land was getting parched and thirsty.  Jennifer and I have been working hard to get the garden growing – and as usual the crows are pulling up the sweet corn…..more on that next week. This is always a busy time.  Curtis is trying to cut hay so our cows will have feed next winter.  Fertilizer of any kind is extremely expensive this year, and diesel fuel too.  Maybe I need to put my girls to work behind the hay rake!  Oh – if I could only get out of the garden for a moment….

What’s in the CSA bucket this week:  Kohlrabi, arugula, radish, greens (collard or kale), young onions and red and green lettuce.

OK – I’m always looking for a new way to use Kohlrabi.  It is delicious raw, for sure.  But it tends to come in in droves.  So…

Kohlrabi noodles?  Why not.  You will need a spiralizer.  But – if you have one, give it a try.  They are delicious.  Just spiralize them and then saute lightly in butter.  Add garlic.  Top with arugula torn into pieces, and parmesan.

Recipe:

2 Kohlrabi spiralized

2 radishes, sliced thinly

1 T butter (add more to taste if needed, or EVOO once liquid has cooked out of kohlrabi)

1/2 t salt

1 clove garlic pressed

arugula cut into ribbons and grated parmesan cheese, cracked pepper to top it off

Spiralize kohlrabi into linguine sized noodles.  Toss with salt.  Let them sit 10 minutes or so if you have time – pour off liquid.

Saute noodles and garlic in butter until noodles are tender.  Divide onto plates and top with pepper, parmesan and finally…arugula cut into ribbons.  Garnish with sliced radishes.

“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.”  -Francios de la Rockefoucauld

Thanks to all of you who signed up for the 2022 CSA.

Looking forward to growing healthy, delicious food for you!  Stay tuned….the CSA will start the first week in June.

Letty

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”
― Lewis Carroll

Good day to think warm thoughts about summer tomatoes. I am choosing it to release our 2022 CSA sign up info for when summer comes again! 

Go to our CSA link on the website to sign up, or the link to the online store.

Thanks to all of you who support our farm and local agriculture even when we are only dreaming of the next season.

“Be proactive not reactive, for an apparently insignificant issue ignored today can spawn tomorrow’s catastrophe”   -Ken Poirot

Ok – so it was a gate they never went through.  Not even a gate – panels we put up and chained to the posts.  The cows had never tried to push on them before.  I will admit, the last time I walked by, I tied a tired hay string around them.  Not sure what I thought that would do.  At any rate, Thursday morning when I went out to check for new calves – I saw the cows pushing through the garden gate.  I ran.  But it was too late.  So I started pulling collard plants, and carrots, and kale.  Daikons and turnips.  As fast as I could and throwing it over the fence so the cows couldn’t reach it.  Luckily we hadn’t mowed the grass around the garden, so it took the cows a few minutes to get to the garden – but then the race was on.  Trying to stay ahead of 50 hungry cows is no easy task.  Didn’t help that it was a foggy, cold miserable day.  One cow had her calf and never picked her head up to quit eating collard greens.

After about 30 minutes it was over.  They had caught up with me, and I had to hand it over to them. 

So – glass half full – I’m so glad this didn’t happen earlier in the season.  I was able to harvest enough for my last week of CSA.  Our market sales will take a hit – but this is the kind of thing farmer’s have nightmares about.  I remember Roy Jones at Jones Farm saying he didn’t sleep one whole winter….he had a contract on his strawberries and was terrified his cows would get through the fence and eat the plants.  So this is a minor set back.   Important to keep your sense of humor, right?  So we will be selling collard fed beef next year….a delicacy.

Farm News: The cows busted into the garden.  I need therapy.   Cows and calves are fat and happy after eating collard greens, mustard greens, daikon and turnip root.  Luckily, Loofa sponges were left untouched:)

What’s in the last CSA share:  Rescued roots and greens.  Dried oyster mushrooms (rehydrate with hot water).  Peppers left over from market last week.  Winter squash and sweet potatoes.

“It’s better to burn out than to fade away.”    -Neil Young

This is the last week for half shares.  One more week of fall blast.  And I will say I am burning out.  Cows calving, a horse sick, Diamond thieving eggs.  Other things to tend to.  I wish I could make a cocoon and emerge a butterfly in the spring!

That being said – a flurry of fabulous food this week….and loofa sponges.

Farm News:  One of my friends is sick.  A horse.  An old friend, Merle.   Trying my best to take care of her and get everything else done too.

On a lighter note  – Diamond has been caught thieving eggs.  A punishable offense.  However, she seems to be burying them for later use.  Perhaps she is stockpiling them for us?  Not sure whether to persecute or reward:)

What’s in the bucket?  Carrots, sweet potatoes, ginger, head lettuce, mustard greens, and LOOFA Sponges.  These we grow, peel and deseed.  Then cut into pieces.  They are amazing dish washers and bath sponges and completely biodegradable, yay.

As it turns colder – soup sounds pretty inviting.  Following – a recipe for carrot, sweet potato and ginger soup.

Curried Carrot, Sweet Potato, and Ginger Soup

Carrots and sweet potatoes are rich in vitamin A and beta-carotene, which promotes healthy vision. Add whole grain crackers for fiber and dipping.

Yield:

serves 5 (serving size: 1 1/4 cups)

 Rita Maas

Happy Eating, happy burn out and thanks for buying local food from Circle S Farm.

“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring–it was peace.”
― Milan Kundera

Dog camp this week.  I am the lucky girl who sometimes gets to keep dog children.  And it is always a treat.  (not to mention – we do have a dog treat company – what dog wouldn’t love that perk).  Go on Temple Top Treats!!  We had six dogs at dog camp this week (well, including our 2).

heavenly day

So sad it is dark outside and we had to come indoors!

Nevertheless – these cutie pies joined us to help at Circle S this weekend.  And what beautiful weather it was….we were all soaking up sun in the green grass of the garden together.  And yes – it was peaceful…sheer bliss!

Farm News:  Dog camp this week!~ Oh yes – and we had three new baby calves today.  More to come….fingers crossed.

What’s in the Bucket:  butternut squash, cilantro, Poblano peppers, turnip greens, braising greens, daikon radish, bibb lettuce, oyster mushrooms (from our new mushroom logs…yay!)

Following a recipe for Butternut squash enchiladas (what’s not to love?)  You can use your oyster mushrooms – substitute for cremini.  Recipe from Completely Delicious.