By Kelsey
After six months of maternity leave, I am officially back at work this week. Its a bittersweet feeling, akin to the first day of school after the most epic summer of my life. My little guy, Julio, will be 5 months this Friday. As I type this, he is up on his hands and knees, rocking back and forth, desperately trying to figure out how to crawl. I'm sure I'm echoing all the mothers who have come before me when I say that this has been the most intense, blissful, humbling, amazing period of my life and he is just the most precious little thing. I will never take for granted how special it has been to have such a long leave to focus solely on bonding with my baby (as a farm worker, its pretty much unheard of) and I am deeply grateful to Sarah & Seth and all of you CSA members for making that possible. I know there will be some growing pains, as there are with every transition, but I am excited to be back out in the field, learning how to be both a farmer/herbalist and mother at the same time (with gratitude to Celeste and Sarah for showing me the way!). Open Field Farm has held me through so much: I discovered my passion for herbalism here and was met with nothing but support. I healed my body after many years of restrictive eating thanks to the bounty of this land. I got married here. I spent my pregnancy toiling in the gardens and wouldn't have had it any other way. This community showed up for me after an extremely difficult birth experience with food, flowers, favors, company, and advice. And now to be spending my child's early life here, teaching him how to love the earth and hard work and sweat and sunshine... Its the answer to a prayer I didn't even know was in me when I first started working here 7 years ago.
Upcoming Events:
Sign ups for 2024-2025 Due Sunday April 24th
All Member Meeting: Wednesday April 24th in the evening - A time to meet all of the farmers, to hear about the coming year, and to ask questions and learn! (Adults only)
CSA Barn Hours:
Current Summer hours: 2:30-6:30 PM
(Winter hours: 2:30-6PM)
Pick List:
Eggs
Leeks
Green garlic
Yaya carrots
Rhonda Beets
Purple Daikon and Watermelon Radish
Joan Rutabaga
Mars Celeriac
Hablange Parsnip
Kossack Kohlrabi
Rubro Radicchio
Ruby Red Chard
Dazzling Blue Kale
Fava Greens
Lettuce Mix
Regiment Spinach
Cilantro and Parsley
Winter Sweet Kabocha and Tetsukabota Winter Squash
Pie Pita Pumpkin (A pie pumpkin with pepita seeds!)
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!)
Revolution Bread on Tuesday and Friday
Sheet-Pan Bibimbap, from nytimes.com
6 ounces oyster mushrooms, torn into bite-size pieces
4 carrots (about 6 ounces), scrubbed and thinly sliced into half-moons
1 small red onion (about 6 ounces), thinly sliced crosswise into half-moons
3 packed cups coarsely chopped Tuscan or curly kale (from 1 small bunch)
6 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
4 cups cooked medium-grain white rice, preferably cold leftovers
4 large eggs
4 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, plus more to taste, for serving
4 teaspoons gochujang, plus more to taste, for serving
Kimchi, for serving (optional)
Position racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and heat oven to 450 degrees.
On a large sheet pan, arrange the mushrooms, carrots, red onion and kale into four separate quadrants. Drizzle the vegetables with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat, keeping the types of vegetables separate. Try to not crowd the vegetables; you want them to brown, not steam. Roast on the top rack until the carrot is fork-tender, the onion and mushrooms are slightly caramelized and the kale is crispy but not burnt, 20 to 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, place another large sheet pan on the bottom rack to heat. When the vegetables are almost done cooking, in the last 5 minutes or so, remove the heated pan from the oven and evenly drizzle the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil on it. Spread the rice over half of the pan. Crack the eggs onto the other half and carefully transfer to the oven. Bake until the whites are just set and the yolks are still runny, 3 to 6 minutes (this time may vary depending on your oven, so watch it carefully).
To serve, divide the rice evenly among four bowls. Now divide the vegetables evenly as well, placing them in four neat piles over each portion of rice. Use a spatula to slide the eggs over the vegetables. Drizzle each bowl with 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and dollop with 1 teaspoon of gochujang, adding more if desired. Mix everything together with a spoon or chopsticks before diving in, and serve kimchi alongside, if you prefer.