Autumn Surprises

This Autumn has been full of beauty. Along with our new neighbors, Kirsten and Shaun, we have been putting much of our 2009 farm beds to sleep, deeply mulching and planting cover crop seeds. Our Fall and Winter "To Do" list just keeps getting shorter, that is, it is now two pages instead of three. We are just recently finding time to feed the little creative fires inside us as we look forward to letting them blaze this winter.

I gathered a flaming yellow and green branch from our stand of hickories the other day and placed it in a river rock vase in front of the shower house. The hickories were planted by an early homesteader, clearly someone fond of the east coast natives. We just discovered a month ago, however, that there are two large American Persimmons peeking out from the west side of the hickories. Another East coast native, I assume they were planted by the same folks. They ripened in small supply over this last month but just last week, I was able to make daily trips to pick a handful each time. It was like bringing David sweet, mushy treasures. It turns out that several persimmon seedlings have made their way into the world in the past few years. We'll probably transplant them this winter, finding a spot where they can be near their East coast friends but in fuller sun where they'll develop more lushly.
We also discovered that our patch of edible lepiota mushrooms had expanded by 500 percent this year! They span the entire length of our stand of firs. It was like coming downstairs at Christmas and seeing 5 Christmas's worth of gifts under the tree! We wondered if letting our chickens free range under the trees in the late spring this year had anything to do with it? Spreading the mycelium around or adding nutrients? A mystery...

Cayenne Peppers

We strung bundles of cayenne peppers to keep the kitchen colorful and our CSA members warmed this winter. Our members should hang them to finish drying and then use them as you see fit. You can crush them and use them as hot chili flakes, include them in a pickling recipe for added bite(I like to do this) or hit the internet for other ideas. There are many health claims out there about the curing powers of cayenne but you'll have to do further research on this.

Here's an interesting recipe with good reviews for Fettucine with red peppers and cayenne sauce.

Wild Geese

Hundreds of flocks of geese have flown over our place this week. Since we here everything though the walls of this little yurt, I feel even more connected to their seasonal presence than I have in the past. So, of course, it reminded me of a poem I love so much. Happy Autumn to you!

Wild Geese
by Mary Oliver


You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

from Dream Work by Mary Oliver
published by Atlantic Monthly Press
© Mary Oliver

Shelling Bean Ideas

Shelling Bean Salad...easy one...

New York Times Shelling Bean Recipe

Wild Sodas and Winter Spirits Class

In just a few weeks I'll be teaching a class for a local company called TrackersNW. It was so much fun when I taught it two Autumns ago, and this time I'm adding two extra elements: wine & sodas. Below is the full text from the website. If you're interested in signing up, click on the link above and it will take you to the page you need.

"Join June Rzendzian for an afternoon of sipping and creating wild-crafted beverages the whole family can enjoy. You’ll be guided through the basics of wine-making, berry soda and cordial-concocting, plus experimenting with some holiday classics.

June’s classes are designed to be fun, hands on and scientifically informative, preparing students to practice in their own kitchens with an understanding of the dynamics of each process. She also chooses recipes that suit the spectrum of patience levels, from drinks ready to enjoy the same day to wines reaching full maturity in a year or two. Come prepared to be gift inspired for the winter holidays!"

Pumpkin Streusel Recipe from Octoberfest

Pumpkin Pie with Ginger Streusel
I received a few requests for this recipe the other night. Please note the following changes...I baked it in a long baking dish, doubled the recipe and didn't use candied or powdered ginger. Instead I used about one teaspoon of fresh and finely grated ginger in the topping because it's all I had on hand. I bet it would be even better with the other two gingers but I didn't have them on hand. The ginger taste was very mild.

Octoberfest II

Octoberfest II has come and gone, leaving me deeply satisfied. It was a small, more intimate group thant last year...a perfect 35 or so friends, family and acquaintances. The Stumptown Jug Thumpers entertained us for a second year in a row and I must say they do a mighty fine rendition of G&R's Paradise City.






So many times during the evening, I stood back and breathed a deep breath as I watched so many people I care about lost in conversation and laughter, or raving about the amazing meals people brought with them, or singing songs that harkened back to our teens. Eleven folks spent the coldest night of the year(went down to 31º last night) in their tents or bivy sacks. It all ended this morning with cold and frosted overnighters straggling into our toasty yurt for coffee, breakfast and more conversation.

Dial F for Fish

I've stood in front of a fish counter at my local grocery store many times and wondered what I should choose. Is this fish over-harvested? What about mercury levels? Is this a safely farm-raised fish or should I avoid it? So many environmental factors weighing in on the decision. Usually, I feel good about the information that my favorite store, New Seasons, provides but sometimes I choose to avoid fish altogether because I'm just not sure.

Well, there a new nifty tool for folks who run into this and it's called the Blue Ocean Fishphone. It's a handy cellphone tool that allows you to text a number with the name of your fish and you'll receive an immediate response. Tonight, I texted their #: 30644 with "Fish Chinook Salmon" and received the following response in two parts:

"farmed salmon (RED) significant environmental concerns; US west coast (YELLOW) some evn concerns; Alaska (GREEN) very few env concerns. MSC certified as Sustainable."

You could argue that folks should stop eating Chinook salmon all together under the current circumstances so that Alaska doesn't become over-fished as well. However, the Marine Stewardship Council considers sustainability of the fishing industry too. We'll have to see how it plays out and in the meantime use the FishPhone to help us vote with our dollars.

Asian Greens Recipes for Cold Season

Autumn is upon us and word on the street(not to mention in the media, if you choose to believe it) is that it's going to be a brutal cold and flu season. What I've heard from a teacher in one of Portland's High Schools, is that it's already a serious one for their students.

Cold season and our burgeoning bed of Tatsoi and Dwarf Pak Choi have inspired the following recipes. If you're not a ginger lover then these recipes may leave you a bit disappointed.

Young Pak Choi with Ginger and Garlic
This site guides you through working with Pak Choi, things to consider when storing, etc...

Hot Pak Choi Salad with Ginger and Sesame Dressing

Chilled Sesame Ginger Tatsoi

Thai Style Steamed Fish
Please see my previous blog on "Dial F for Fish" to find out what fish the Marine Stewardship Council deems environmentally responsible. It's a nifty cell texting tool that you can use while standing in front of your local grocery fish counter.

Meet Our New Neighbors

Our Portland friends, Shaun and Kirsten, are in the process of moving out to the farm this month. This is good news for many reasons. It means we will have more help on the farm next year, more company on those long country days, and the plants will receive more individual attention. We'll be able to continue creating our vision of a garden of eden-esque acre of mixed annual and perennial forest garden, while guilding and spending more time with our little fruit and nut orchard.

Sean has a successful bike hat business and Kirstin just finished school at PSU. She has a strong interest in children's gardens and the edible schoolyard movement taking place throughout the country right now. Both are serious bikers and the picture above was taken at Fawnwood in July. We were their first overnight stop on their bike trip to Alaska.

Check out Shaun's Blog if you'd like to read about their bike trip or more details and pictures on their move to Fawnwood.

It should be an exciting year ahead!

Building the Yurt

Fawnwood's End of Summer Salad

It's almost the end of peach season here in the Northwest and the salad that seemed to garner the most attention at Lara's wedding was the End of Summer Salad. It was a mix of mild greens and our spicy mesclun lettuce, which is mostly mustards like Tah Tsai, Arugula and Purple Kale. We added toasted hazelnuts and August Lady Peaches, then tossed it with a peach dressing. Add a little salt and pepper and viola!

Happy Autumnal Equinox!

Fawnwood Flair at Wildwood Wedding

This weekend, David and I were part of a "thinking local" catering team for a friend's wedding. Lara and Grant had a vision for celebrating their special day with family and friends. It included being married at Wildwood, a park important to Lara as an environmental education site where she taught nearly 1000 times, if you can believe that! Their vision also included supporting friends, small start-ups and local producers by inviting them to create what they loved most for the day. We were honored to make three beautiful salads made mostly from Fawnwood Farm ingredients. The salads were accompanied by Ancient Heritage Dairy cheeses and mixed crackers. Other folks provided beautiful cakes decorated on site with edible flowers and mints, homemade wines, cordials and homemade preserves. Finally, Grant found a small local company that provided pulled pork for sandwiches from responsibly raised pigs.

All in all, it was a beautiful and very Northwestern Oregon day. The rain, not often welcome on wedding days, was much loved and appreciated by this couple. When I first arrived at the site, Lara said, "What a beautiful day!" and she meant it. How great is that? And about as local as it gets!

Featured Salads: Super Slaw, Thai Cucumber Salad
& Fawnwood's End of Summer Salad

Winter Squash Medley

Our CSA members will be receiving a variety of winter squashes over the next several weeks.
Varieties will include Acorn, Delicata, Butternut and Sugar Pie Pumpkins. At home, if we plan to store our winter squash for a few months, we wipe the outside with a little cider vinegar to kill bacteria and then cure them in a 70 degree room with ventilation for a week or so before putting them in a dry, cool place. Ventilation during curing and storage is key or you could end up with mold issues, which we learned last year.


I dug up a few recipes from my own collection, plus visited some of my trusted sites. Let us know if you have some favorites by emailing me and we'll post them for other members! Thanks!

Homestead Farm's Winter Squash Recipes and Storage Tips
I haven't tried these recipes but they sound good and there are many to choose from.

Nut-Stuffed Delicata Squashes
I made these last season and they were rich and delicious. Fantastic Fall and Winter food, and it was this recipe that kicked off my love of sage.

Another Stuffed Delicata Recipe
This blog includes a whole menu of delicious items that correspond with some of our CSA grown produce. I like this stuffed delicata recipe because it includes turkey in place of the nuts. I'll be trying this sometime in the near future.

Ay, Calypso...

Calypso Beans are going home with half our members this week and the other half next week. They're beautiful heirloom beans and sometimes known as Ying Yang because of their unique markings. They are similar to Pinto Beans, mild flavored and a little starchy in texture, but related to Kidney beans.

We've left the shelling to our members, not just because it would take us a very long time to shell all the beans for our members this year but because it is part of the fun of getting them straight from the farm! Sitting around with friends while shelling these beauties or while watching the tele is quite satisfying. We're often found inside doing these sorts of things each Fall and it's one of the reasons we're looking forward to the upcoming season.

If you're unused to cooking with dried beans, please check out the useful site below. It's pretty thorough and straightforward:
Preparing and Cooking dried beans for use in recipes.

Recipes:
Calypso Beans, Tomatoes and Poblano Peppers Stew
Calypso Bean Salad
Past the long-winded commentary on this blog, you'll find a Mediterranian style dish that uses a lot of non-local ingredients found for a reasonable price at Trader Joe's. Sounds intriguing if you're willing to go the distance.

Family Visit

Last week, my Uncle Bob and Aunt Chris drove up from California. they spent four days with us, helping us in the garden, harvesting blackberries, chopping wood for the winter and myriad other farmsteading tasks. Monday, we had a chance to head down to Deer Island proper to walk along the Columbia River. It was a beautiful Northwest day, moody and unpredictable. I loved it!

Recipe for all those tomatoes!

Tomato and Corn Pie
So, this recipe is from a food blog called "Smitten Kitchen" sent to me by friend Heather Tucker. It was worth the work it takes to make the crust or better yet, save yourself the time and just buy a good one from your favorite local grocery. I highly recommend it! My camera was out of juice this weekend for both of these dishes so you'll just have to trust that it gets my seal of approval!

Bucatini All'Amatriciana with Smoked Mozzarella Meatballs
Don't be intimidated by the name above! It's a fantastic dish by the Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis and also well worth the time to make the meat balls. We used our ground elk instead of beef and veal, we also used smoke gouda instead of mozz because it's cheaper. You can also get away with using parmasian for the entire recipe instead of pecorino romano. Oh, I also used linguine noodles because unless you go to Pasta Works, you may have a hard time finding bucatini noodles. Have fun!

A Needed Vacation

David and I just returned late last night from a trip to Olympia and Mt. Ranier. We visited friends Adrienne and Arly in Oly and then headed up the mountain to Tom and Julia who are Rangers at Sunrise and Ohanapecosh. We even traveled outside the park briefly to gather nearly 30 lbs of blue elderberry, which we're still processing(separating from their umbulled stems) and freezing for wine, soda and jelly later this year. Yesterday, we took a dip in a Panther Creek swimming hole(burrrrrr!) after gathering enough huckleberries for cordial(nearly 2 quarts). All in all, a great trip.

Melons

I can't tell you how pleased I am to be harvesting my first melons here in the PNW. They taste like home! We harvested four Bender's Surprise cantaloupes last week. I chose this variety from Victory Seeds since it was an old, open pollinated one. I have to admit, I'm a Futurama fan so the name didn't hurt. Three were sweet and delicious, while one was just a bit bland. We are patiently waiting for our heirloom Moon and Stars watermelon to ripen fully. The big yellow spot on the watermelon is the "moon" with many little yellow "stars". I love it! David has been trying to talk me into harvesting it and I think it's ready but am a little nervous since I'm new at choosing perfectly ripe ones. I'll take a picture and post when I do.

Blackberry Time

It's true, and we have the purple fingers and prickled limbs to prove it! This week, our CSA members will be receiving half pints or whole pints of very perishable Himalayan blackberries. They are an old world blackberry introduced to this region and thriving in every neglected area of our farm and field. We have two other wild blackberry varieties growing out here as well. Our native variety is the Trailing Blackberry which already fruited earlier this year and is much loved by the local wildlife. The Cutleaf is also an introduced species, so the story goes, and it has a longer shelf life, is a little firmer but has a more mellow, almost heavy taste. These may be going home with our CSA members in the future if we have enough for everyone.

Right now, we're picking and freezing for future projects like blackberry wine, smoothies and fruit leather. mmmm...and cobblers of course!

One Simple Recipe

Roasted Potatoes with Shallots
From Epicurious.com

Simple. Delicious.

Pics of the Week

Big and Shiny

This is our first year growing eggplant. I had to talk David into it since he's not a big fan, even though his mom makes one of the best Mediterranean dishes using them. I'm glad we did because it makes me so happy to see those gorgeous globes emerging from big purple blossoms. One thing I didn't expect, however, is that they're prickly and protective of their fruits. Little thorns, even on their stems and caps remind me to slow the heck down.

We just harvested the first of the year from our greenhouse. They are shiny and the most beautiful deep purple. Their flesh can be bitter, depending on their age or how long they've sat in the fridge after being harvested. So, what many people do to amend this is soak them in salt water or just salt them and let them sit in the fridge or on the counter for a half hour after slicing them. This will help leach most of the alkaloids that give them the bitter taste.

You'd be amazed by the number of eggplant recipes that exist, since most people only think of Eggplant Parmigiana. My friend Teresa looks forward to her eggplant Parmigiana-fest every year, since she and her husband Stephan make a huge batch of it and freeze it for the winter.

Below, I've included a few sites that will help you come up with the right recipe and I'm going to work on a recipe or two of my own over the next couple days. I'll report back!

Eggplant Recipes from EatingWell Magazine
This site excites me the most since it includes wholesome, healthy meals that are often used by David's Mom, who is a personal chef and one of the best cooks around!

Eggplant Recipes.net

Grilled Eggplant Salad with Yogurt from NYTimes

Grilled Eggplant with Chevre and Tomatoes

More Recipes, Yes it's True...

This Summer Squash Pasta recipe includes many of the ingredients our CSA members have been receiving lately. It's also a good step-by-step recipe with pictures for those who need it. I, however, would add a generous portion of Romano or Parmasian Cheese. Ancient Heritage Dairy makes a fantastic young Romano called Rosa. It's aged 5 months, is creamy, salty, and delicious! And local. Portlanders can find these guys at the Saturday downtown market, Sunday Hillsdale or King Markets, New Seasons and Whole Paycheck(ehem...Whole Foods...sorry).

I had the good fortune to try this Thai Cucumber recipe at a recent NoPo block party. It was very tasty. I loved the mint it includes...and I believe it was spearmint instead of wintergreen. It's creator omitted the peanuts as a precaution, since so many people have peanut allergies these days. It was good without but I suspect better with.

For the Love of Cukes and Toms

Tomatoes and cucumbers were a regular side dish to all our summer meals when I was growing up. Today, they're still a symbol of summer and especially on hot days, they make the perfect ingredients for a cool meal. Last week, when the mercury went above 100 for several days out here, we made a couple dishes I want to share with you.

The picture above is of our Tomato, basil, nettle pesto and Mozzarella Sandwich on Fred Meyer Harvest Bread. I can't tell you how perfect this was! I used two of our frozen nettle pesto cubes from this spring as the sandwich spread and added a little ground finishing salt from The Meadow in Portland. The rest is basic. You could make your own basil pesto if you didn't get the chance to freeze the nettle earlier this year.
We also enjoyed a Corona and wedge of lime with a Cucumber Salad. I added two cucumbers, several Sungold and Yellow Pear tomatoes, Scio Feta Cheese from the wonderful Ancient Heritage Dairy, a little balsamic vinegar, spot of sugar and pepper... viola! We dipped harvest bread into olive oil, sat back in the shade and enjoyed our sunshine salad.

Finally, just before the hot weather set in, I whipped up something I'll call Sage Butter Noodles with Summer Squash and Kale. This one involved sauteed patty pan squash, kale, and shallots tossed with buckwheat soba noodles and pine nuts. This is all topped with a brown butter sage and feta dressing. The squash is just perfect in this...firm, fresh tasting and the sage/feta butter gives it a richness that's making my mouth water just writing about it. I'm a big butter fan, however, so...
The way I made the dressing is pretty simple. I threw 4-6 TBS butter in a small pan(serving four), added the finely chopped sage leaves and stir until the butter starts to brown. Then I quickly add finely crumbled feta for about 10 more seconds, just to allow some of the feta oil to blend with the butter. I spoon it over individual plates and top it off with a little fresh feta. Like I said, rich!