By Sarah
Walking in the hills this weekend, there was water oozing out of the soils everywhere. The ground is so saturated. It reminded me of when your skin is so soft and pruned, which I imagine many of us have been this winter. While this amount of rain has been overwhelming at times, I am still so grateful to be so completely full of water, and for so many rainbows!
We have lived on the farm for 11 winters now (which truly is not that much time). We have only had one other winter with constant rain. We have definitely been inundated with large storms in other winters, but then there has been a break. During the winter of 2016-2017, it rained consistently, similar to this winter. The difference has been the temperature. That winter was our best grass year yet. We did not feed any hay. While the cows did have to graze through wet pasture, I could not believe how well the grass grew even though it was so wet. This year we have fed more hay than any other year. The cold temperatures have greatly slowed the growth rate of the grass. Who knows what the spring will bring but I am very curious to watch and see.
Upcoming Farm Events: Potluck Friday 4/14 at 5:30 pm
CSA barn hours:
Summer hours start this week: 2:30-6:30 pm (starts the week after daylight savings in March)
Winter: 2:30-6 pm (starts the week after daylight savings in November)
Pick List:
Eggs
Yellow Finn and Harvest Moon Potatoes
Cortland Yellow and Cabernet Red Onions
Rhonda Beets
Joan Rutabaga
Hablange Parsnips
Mars Celeriac
Purple Top Turnips
Bora King Daikon Radish
Finale Fennel
Storage #5 Green and Ruby King Red Cabbage
Treviso and Rubro
Prize Choi
Parade Scallions
Regiment Spinach
Lettuce Mix
Cilantro
Spaghetti Winter Squash and Pie-Pita Pumpkin
Sonora wheat flour and wheat berries
Herbal Tea Blends, Ground Chiles, and Whole Dried Chile peppers (Please bring your own jars!)
Pick your own flowers and herbs
Saltonstall Olive Oil (Please bring your own jars!)
Parmesan Cabbage Soup, from nytimes.com
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 onions, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced or finely grated
⅛ chile powder, plus more for serving (optional)
1 small head of green cabbage (about 1¼ pounds), cored and coarsely chopped (about 9 cups)
1½ teaspoons fine sea or table salt, plus more to taste
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
2 quarts vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup long-grain rice
5 thyme sprigs
2 Parmesan rinds, or use another 2 tablespoons grated cheese
1 lemon
¼ cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
In a stock pot or large Dutch oven, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and chile (if using), and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add cabbage, salt and pepper, and cook until cabbage wilts slightly and begins to caramelize, about 10 minutes.
Stir in stock, rice and thyme. If using the Parmesan rinds, add them now, and bring everything to a simmer. Cook, partly covered, over medium-low heat until cabbage and rice are very tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
Discard thyme sprigs and Parmesan rinds. Using a Microplane or other fine grater, grate in the zest from the lemon. Stir in grated Parmesan and cilantro.
Halve the lemon and squeeze in the juice from half of it. Cut the remaining lemon half into wedges for serving. Taste soup and add more salt and pepper, if needed. To serve, ladle into soup bowls, and garnish with more grated cheese, a lemon wedge and more red-pepper flakes, if you like.