Winter Week #7, 2024-25

Spinach

• Green onions

• Shallots

• Leeks

• Cilantro or parsley

• Celeriac

• Kale

• Carrots*

• Potatoes*

Your farmers are back from Colombia. We had an amazing 11 day trip to Colombia to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. We enjoyed getting to know Medellin, Salento and the Central Andes. We decided to take a 3 day trek through the Andes with a guide which was strenuous and magical as we saw three different ecosystems in the Paramo. We met such kind people and made friends we hope to return to visit one day.

As many of you may remember there was a huge wind storm on the 26th of February. That storm blew the doors off our greenhouse and our herd of 30 goats and sheep waltzed right in and ate every last vegetable and flower. By the time our family discovered the herd early on the morning of the 27th the damage was done. I wish I could show you before and after photos, but it might break your heart like it broke mine. We have tried to mitigate the loss to our subscribers. We have been growing vegetables since 2000 and rarely if ever have we purchased vegetables for our members. This week we did. We have organic carrots and potatoes from a distributor to make up for the loss of veggies we had grown. CSA is meant to be a system that supports the farmers and customers by spreading the risk of crop failure. We felt that the loss of crop was weather related but also an issue with the mechanics of our greenhouse and proximity of our animals.

We are happy to say that we are full for the regular season. Between members recommending our farm to their friends and neighbors, the Westside share fair and the share fair at the Redd in Portland we have gone past our limit for subscribers in 2025. As Juvencio and I try to imagine harvesting all these veggies without the help of Luna and Kody and sometimes Jacob we try to stay calm. “Tranquilo” was the word Nelson used with me multiple times a day as we trekked through the Andes. “You can do it, just take your time”. We will work our our new rhythms and manage.

Off to finish the harvest.

Celery Root,

Cracked Wheat, and Every-

Fall-Vegetable-You-Can-Find

Chowder

Any and all fall and winter vegetables work well in this soup. The celery root puree keeps the overall flavors from becoming too sweet and one-note. You could use farro or another grain in place of the cracked wheat, but the soup's consistency will be thicker and more porridge like... not necessarily a bad thing on a cold day.

1 small celery root about ¾4 pound)

½ pound onions, sliced 3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup cracked wheat

Several sprigs thyme

1 stalk celery, diced

1 small carrot, diced

1 big turnip, diced

1 medium potato, diced

2 cups shredded kale

1 big handful of arugula or other spicy or bitter greens( use the watercress!)

Using a sharp paring knife, cut away all the tough exterior of the celery root; if there are dark fissures remaining, cut those away, too. Cut it into chunks.

Put the celery root, onions, I garlic clove, butter, and # cup water in a medium pot with a lid.

Add 1 teaspoon salt and about 20 twists of pepper, cover, and bring to a simmer. Cook until everything is thoroughly soft, 20 to 25 minutes depending on the size of your chunks. Let this cool for a few minutes, then puree it in a food processor or blender. Set it aside.

Heat the olive oil in a big soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the remaining 2 garlic cloves and gently toast for a few minutes to begin to soften the garlic. Add the cracked wheat, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring frequently, to gently toast the grain and deepen the flavor, 7 to 8 minutes-you'll smell the grain getting toasty; take care not to burn the garlic.

Add the thyme to the pot.

Add the celery, carrot, turnip, potato, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft and fragrant but not at all browned, 10 to 15 minutes.

Add just enough water to cover by ½ inch, adjust the heat to a lively simmer, cover, and cook until the vegetables are all tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the kale and cook for another few minutes-the kale should keep a bit of bite to it.

Stir in the celery root puree. The final soup should be nicely thick, but if it seems too thick and porridge like, add more water. Taste the soup and add more salt if you like, then add lots and lots of pepper so the flavors are mellow and sweet from the vegetables with a bit of heat from the pepper.

Right before serving, reheat the soup and toss in the arugula. Serve hot.

Spiced Chickpea Salad with Tahini and Greens

4 main-course servings

This is prepared with greens such as arugula,  chard,  spinach,  kale,  or any combo of those.  It’s a very filling main-course salad,  especially if you serve it over faro or brown rice.

For the chickpeas:

2 15 oz cans of chickpeas, drained (or 4 c cooked chickpeas)

3/4 c EVOO

2 cloves garlic minced

2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp paprika (sweet or smoked)

Salt/pepper

For the tahini sauce:

1/3 c tahini

juice of one lemon

1 garlic clove,  minced

Salad:

10 oz kale/chard/spinach or other greens, washed, stemmed and coarsely chopped

Handful roughly chopped parsley

handful roughly chopped mint

Optional” sliced cucumber and or tomato

Heat oven to 425.  Pour chickpeas into a small baking dish so they are crowded in a thick layer.  Pour in olive oil until chickpeas are just covered.

Add spices and stir gently to combine.  Bake until oil is bubbling and they are reddish brown and starting to crisp (35-40 minutes). Set aside to cool.

Make the tahini sauce:  whisk lemon and garlic into tahini.  Slowly mix in warm water,  1 Tb at a time until creamy pourable sauce.  Add salt/pepper/more lemon to taste.

Place greens in a large frying pan and drizzle very lightly with EVOO;  stir until wilted and tender (when I make this I don’t cook the greens—just chop a bit more finely and “massage” with a bit of EVOO)

When ready to serve, mix the chickpeas and their cooking oil with the greens and the chopped herbs.  Mound into 4 shallow bowls,  scatter with cukes and/or tomatoes if desired,  and drizzle thickly with tahini sauce.