By Alyssa
Lingering in Happiness
Mary Oliver
After rain after many days without rain,
it stays cool, private and cleansed, under the trees,
and the dampness there, married now to gravity,
falls branch to branch, leaf to leaf, down to the ground
where it will disappear—but not, of course, vanish
except to our eyes. The roots of the oaks will have their share,
and the white threads of the grasses, and the cushion of moss;
a few drops, round as pearls, will enter the mole’s tunnel;
and soon so many small stones, buried for a thousand years,
will feel themselves being touched.
During harvest this morning, we saw so many small creatures out and about, enjoying the damp of last night’s rain – several little green frogs, a toad, a praying mantis. The air smells so fresh. I have mud on my rain boots, and the cuffs of my pants and sleeves are all wet. It might have been my imagination, but my midmorning cucumber snack tasted so spectacularly fresh and sweet.
CSA Barn Hours:
Summer hours: 2:30-6:30PM (starts the week after daylight savings in March)
Winter hours: 2:30-6PM (starts the week after daylight savings in November)
Pick List:
Eggs
Ailsa Craig Sweet and Red Long Onions
Red Gold New Potatoes
Yaya carrots
Dark Star, Cocozelle, and Yellowfin Summer Squash
Slicer and Pickling Cucumbers
Annina and Diamond Eggplant
Sweet Peppers
Evergreen Hardy Scallions
Celery
Faroa and Caraflex Green Cabbage
Song Cauliflower or Covina Broccoli
Lettuce
Champion Collards
Lacinato Kale
Ruby Red Chard
Regiment Spinach
Cilantro, Dill, Parsley, and Basil
Tomatoes of all kinds!
Hot Peppers
Melons
Albion Strawberries
Pick Your Own Raspberries, Green beans, Padron & Shishito peppers; Cherry Tomatoes & Tomatillos; Husk Cherries; Flowers & Herbs (Please BYO clippers and jars!)
Sonoma Wheat Flour & Wheat Berries (Please BYO jars!)
Dried Herbs for Tea (Please BYO jars!)
Saltonstall Olive Oil for sale (Please BYO jars!)
Revolution Bread for sale
Open Field Farm 2023 | The "ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW" guide for members
Beef – Scallion – Tomato Stir Fry
A riff of two Woks of Life recipes:
https://thewoksoflife.com/beef-tomato-stir-fry/
https://thewoksoflife.com/scallion-beef-stir-fry/
1 lb ground beef
6-10 tomatoes, depending on how saucy/tomatoey you want it, roughly chopped
2-4 sliced scallions (they’re huge this week! perfect for stir fries!) – reserve some green parts for garnish
1 summer squash, sliced into half-moons
a few handfuls of shredded collard greens or cabbage
1 red long onion, diced
1” piece of ginger, minced or grated
a few cloves of garlic, minced or grated
soy sauce, fish sauce, salt, white pepper, and chili powder or oil to taste
Shaoxing cooking wine if you have it (otherwise the liquid from the tomatoes is enough to deglaze)
neutral cooking oil
1. Prep your veggies and get all your ingredients ready.
2. Heat a wok or a large cast iron pan on high heat until smoking. Add the ground beef and break up; cook without stirring until browned. Season meat with salt.
3. Once one side of the beef is browned, flip and add your aromatics (scallions, onion, ginger, garlic). Cook, stirring, for thirty seconds or so, until the aromatics are fragrant.
4. Add in your summer squash and cook, stirring, for another few seconds.
5. Deglaze with shaoxing wine if you have it.
6. Add your chopped tomatoes. If you don’t have shaoxing wine, the juice from the tomatoes should be enough to keep your wok or cast iron from getting too dry.
7. Add shredded greens.
8. Cook, stirring, until everything is bubbling and cooked through to your satisfaction. Season with soy sauce, fish sauce, salt, and white pepper to your taste. Be careful with salt if you are using soy sauce, fish sauce, and chili oil – each condiment already has some seasoning, so it can be easy to over-salt. I like it spicy so I always add chili oil, but it certainly doesn’t need it to taste good!