What’s growing on the farm this week?
Community!!
Part of the Carlson’s land is dedicated to building a community farm. The vision for the community farm is much like that of a CSA, but with more involvement on the part of the shareholders. Unlike a community garden, which is separated into individual family plots, the community farm is a cooperative project. Everyone plants, weeds and harvests the same rows of vegetables. This system not only brings community members together on the farm, but it also facilitates healthy crop rotation.
Last night almost all of the community farmers (about 8 families) and three fellow Leaders for Social Change came out for a work night. After taking a peak at the newly reorganized tool shed, we split into two groups and tackled several different projects. Katie showed one group how to add new layers to the compost pile and taught them how to prune tomatoes. Natasha and Chelsea prioritized weeding for the community farmers and explained how to harvest head lettuce, kale and arugula.
Everyone was excited for this first successful harvest. Kale is a beautiful plant, but sometimes people have a hard time figuring out what to do with this nutritious green. Here’s an adaption of a recipe from the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition‘s cookbook From Asparagus to Zucchini that we prepared for supper last night.
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Healthy Community Kale & Potato Fry-Up
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon chili oil (or substitute vegetable oil with some crushed red pepper)
3 small red potatoes (boiled in salted water until nearly tender and thin-sliced)
1 small onion (finely chopped)
salt and pepper
1 big bunch of kale (or other greens; washed and chopped)
1/2 teaspoon dried ground thyme
3/4 cup cooked sweet corn
1 tablespoon dried oregano (or a few sprigs of fresh oregano)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
grated Parmesan
Heat butter and chili oil in large skillet over medium flame. Add potatoes and onions, then season well with salt and pepper. Let potatoes brown in the pan on one side for several minutes. Toss the potatoes and let them brown lightly again. When potatoes are almost tender, toss in greens and thyme then add 1/4 cup water, cover the pan, and raise to high heat. Let steam until greens are nearly done (1-2 minutes). Uncover, add corn, oregano, and paprika, and allow potatoes to finish cooking and browning. Top with Parmesan and serve!
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Today we’re finally making steady progress on the irrigation front. Hopefully by this afternoon we’ll be measuring out drip tape along the tomato rows so that we can start mulching and trellising the plants tomorrow.
nhegmann
wagnercl
