”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.