By AJ
I’m going to mention Palestine in this blog post, by way of Cinder.
Cinder is one of two bottle-fed lambs this year. Cinder’s mom, Claire, had quadruplets. Yes, quadruplets. And one was folded inside like a donut, which made this an event for intervention. I pulled three of four lambs–Cinder, Cindy, Cider– out of Claire and magically, they all survived. For a while. It is not uncommon for an ewe to be overwhelmed and taxed by this number of offspring, and so after a couple days, whether by accident or quiet intention, Claire sat on one lamb until it was quietly subdued into passing. Still, a mother and three surviving lambs after such a laborious birth is a triumph.
The next complication to arise from this situation was Cinder. I’m not entirely sure what combination of events led to Cinder’s predicament but I walked into the barn one morning and she was barely alive. At first I thought it was just that she wasn’t getting enough to eat. But after a few days of coaxing her to eat and stand, it seemed it was more than just an empty belly.
On the day I resolved to end Cinder’s life, I scooped her up and walked her into the pasture, laying her down in the wet, green grass. I let her lie there for a bit and then, I’m not sure why, but I lifted her into a standing position. Up until this point, she wasn’t able to get up on her own, and once standing would sway, try to take a step, and fall down. Perhaps she just needed the deep remembering of pasture, but for whatever reason, once standing, she took several steps toward me. For the rest of the day, I visited the barn frequently, lifting her to her feet and walking away from her, watching her following me with her weak legs. Now how could I do what I set out to do, when I am seeing her improve all of a sudden?
What does this have to do with Palestine? Absolutely nothing.
And everything.
A genocide actively happening in this moment, and actively being ignored, crosses my mind every day. Whatever feelings or thoughts you may have on the situation in Palestine, I don’t see that as a matter of opinion, but as a matter of fact. And it follows me into the barn, when I go see how everyone fared through the night, when I asked myself if I should try to revive a starving lamb, and whether or not I should put it out of its misery. Would I have tried to revive Cinder, if I hadn’t had masses of starving children on my mind? Would I have put her on her feet if I hadn’t been weeping about the everyday heartaches that we are confronted with as farmers/stewards? If all of that hadn’t been compounded by the heartache of Gaza, war, genocide, complacency?
Cinder has only improved since that day and now acts like every other lamb (other than the fact that she runs toward me, instead of away). I’m trying hard to let that fill me with joy and appreciation. But it is shadowed by whether or not I made the right decision, and whether or not it’s enough. Whether or not I’m enough, DO enough? If we ALL do enough? Is a cinder the same as an ember? Can a flame be reignited?
CSA Barn Hours:
Current Summer hours: 2:30-6:30 PM
(Winter hours: 2:30-6PM)
Pick List:
Eggs
Sangre Red and Harvest Moon Purple Potatoes
Cabernet Red Onions
Leeks
Parade Scallions
Yaya carrots
Rhonda Beets
Purple Daikon and Watermelon Radish
Joan Rutabaga
Mars Celeriac
Hablange Parsnip
Kossack Kohlrabi
Green Cabbage
Fennel
Prize Choi
Rubro Radicchio
Mixed Looseleaf Chicories
Ruby Red Chard
Fava Greens
Lettuce Mix
Regiment Spinach
Cilantro
Winter Sweet Kabocha, Spaghetti, Tetsukabota, and Acorn Winter Squash
Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin
Pick your own herbs, mostly in the herb circle (and maybe a few flowers)
Stoneground cornmeal from our dry corn! FYI: It does have large pieces of the outer skin in it which creates a different texture than the more uniform cornmeal. If you do not enjoy this, you can sift it with the right size screen. (Please BYO jars!)
Sonora Wheat Flour
Tea Blends (Please BYO jars!)
Whole Dried Hot Peppers
Beef Bone Broth for sale! (Made by Olla Products)
Saltonstall Olive Oil for sale (Please BYO jars!)
No Revolution Bread this week (frozen bread is available)
Spicy Sesame Carrot Soup with Red Lentils, from thefirstmess.com
1 teaspoon ground chillies or chili flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
2- inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1 ½ lbs carrots, scrubbed and chopped
sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
½ cup split red lentils, rinsed
5 cups vegetable stock
¼ cup tahini
1½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon Tamari soy sauce
2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice
Set a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the cumin and coriander seeds to the pot and toast, stirring them up often. Toast the spices until very fragrant, about 45 seconds to a full minute. Dump the seeds out onto a small plate and allow them to cool completely before grinding up to a powder in a spice grinder. Set the ground spices aside.
Return the large soup pot to the stove over medium heat and pour in the olive oil. Swirl the oil around a bit and then add the onions to the pot and stir. The onions should be sizzling, but on the quieter end of sizzling. Lower the heat if necessary. Keep cooking the onions, stirring occasionally, until very soft and translucent (but not browning), about 7-8 minutes.
Add the ground cumin and coriander to the pot, along with the ground chillies as well. Stir and cook along with the onions for one full minute. Then, add the minced garlic and ginger to the pot and stir. Keep cooking until the garlic is very fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the carrots to the pot along with big pinches of salt and pepper. Stir the carrots to coat them in the spices and sautéed onions. Then, add the red lentils to the pot and stir once more. Finally, pour in the vegetable stock and give it a final stir.
Bring this broth-y carrot, lentil, and spice mixture to a boil and then lower your heat to a simmer. Simmer this mixture uncovered, stirring here and there, until the carrots are quite soft, about 30 minutes.
Carefully ladle the broth-y carrot, lentil, and spice mixture into the pitcher of an upright, vented blender. To this mixture, add the tahini, sesame oil, and Tamari. Close the lid on the pitcher and slowly bring the speed of the blender up to high. You may have to add a few splashes of water to get things moving. Blend until you have a completely smooth puree.
Pour the spicy sesame carrot soup back into the pot. At this point, you can leave it as-is or add some water to make the texture a bit more fluid. I personally like a bit of fluidity in pureed soups, so I added 2 cups of water at this point. Bring the soup up to a boil, stirring often. Stir in the lemon or lime juice.
Give the soup a taste at this point to see if you need to adjust some of the seasoning. Maybe it needs even more lemon/lime for your taste, some extra pepper etc. Adjust the seasoning to your liking and then serve! I topped mine with chopped cilantro, drizzles of tahini and chili oil, and sesame seeds.