By Cici
While I was at Davis, I took a vegetable and crop production course that focused on large-scale conventional vegetable farming practices. As part of the class, we took a trip to the Central Valley to visit farms and see real-world applications of what we had been learning. One farm we toured stood out—it deviated slightly from conventional practices while still operating on a large scale. They dedicated significant acreage to experimenting with less disruptive tillage methods, cover crop rotations, and new technologies aimed at reducing weed pressure with minimal herbicide use.
During a Q&A after the tour, the farm manager said something that stuck with me:
"Really, we wouldn’t need to do this much if consumers were just more okay with finding bugs in their greens from time to time."
As someone more interested in small-scale, organic farming, I’ve kept this quote in my back pocket. Many people dismiss anything that doesn’t align with conventional agriculture, arguing well you can expect to feed everyone with that. And yes, the system is complex—cycles of pests and disease maintained by wartime chemical interventions, the socioeconomics of government subsidies, food treated as stock. But amidst all this complexity, there are simple, no-strings-attached solutions—like just being okay with a bug.
The days of subsistence farming are long gone, and with so many people working indoors, few encounter these bugs daily—except for maybe us, your farmers! So, a bug in your greens is a thread connecting our work to you. It’s proof of all the little worlds outside of us, proof of all that lives in spite of us, and proof that no invisible, insidious substance is left behind on your vegetables—because otherwise, they wouldn’t be there!
If you still find yourself uncomfortable with the creepy crawlies that may hitch a ride into your home, think about removing those bugs from your veg the way you would remove an eyelash from the face, no biggie —and maybe even make a wish on that little bug.
Open Field Farm 2024 | The "ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW" guide for members
CSA Barn Hours:
Summer hours start this week: 2:30-6:30 pm!
Pick List:
Eggs
Harvest Moon Purple and Yellow Finn Potatoes
Yaya Carrots
Purple Daikon Radish
Rutabaga
Parsnips
Celeriac
Sweet Spanish Colorado #6, Cabernet Red, and Cortland Yellow Onions
Leeks
Red and Green Cabbage
Kossack Kohlrabi
Rubro
Kale
Rhubarb Chard
Lettuce Mix
Fava Greens
Cilantro and Parsley
Ground and Whole Dried Hot Peppers
Herbal Tea Blends
Pick your own flowers and herbs (from the herb garden and perennial field)
Sonora Wheat Flour and Cornmeal
Beef Bone Broth (Made by Olla Products)
Saltonstahl Olive Oil
Revolution Bread for sale on Tuesday and Friday
Irish Colcannon, from billyparisi.com
8 ounces unsalted butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
8 ounces sliced bacon, thickly sliced
1 thinly sliced leek
1 head thinly sliced savoy cabbage, stem removed
2 pounds peeled and thinly sliced russet potatoes
2 pounds peeled and thinly sliced Yukon gold potatoes
1 bunch thinly sliced green onions
salt and ground white pepper to taste
Add the butter, milk, and cream to a medium size pot, and heat over very low heat. Keep warm.
Next, add the bacon to a large rondeau pot or frying pan over medium heat and cook until very crispy and browned, which takes about 5 to 6 minutes.
Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside, and then add the leeks to the pan and cook them in the rendered bacon fat for 3 to 4 minutes.
Add in the cabbage, season with salt, and cook over medium-low heat for 6-7 minutes or until very tender. Keep warm.
Boil the potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water for 5-7 minutes or until tender. They should cook in that amount of time if you thinly slice them.
Before removing the potatoes, quickly mix in the green onions with the warm milk and butter mixture just to heat them up.
Strain the potatoes completely and then mash them through a food mill.
Fold in the butter-milk and green onion mixture until combined and then fold in the cabbage, bacon, salt, and pepper until combined. Serve.