January Planning Month

Gardeners know that this is the perfect time of year for planning.  It is when we get out notes detailing the garden's past productivity while pouring over seed catalogs that show opportunities for the next year.  It is important to do this reflection and planning now.  There is not much else going on in the garden that needs tending.  It's the time for the soil to rest and rejuvenate, while the planning gets the new garden off to a great start.

We've been doing a lot of reading on how to build the soil and keep the minerals in balance so that we grow nutrient dense plants.  After just two growing seasons on this land we realize that it will take a few more seasons to get the soil in tip top shape so patience is in permanent practice here!  It still surprises me that my nutrition education so closely parallels the lessons learned in the gardening research.  Who knew that the chemistry I so detested in high school would come so easily to my mind now.  I guess I needed the right motivation to link the science of it all to the physical outcome in my garden.

What I'm reading now: 
The Intelligent Gardener - Growing Nutrient Dense Food
by Steve Solomon with Erika Reinheimer (New Society Publishers, www.newsociety.com)
Starting with an overview of nutrient density, the history of organic agriculture and an accessible primer on basic soil chemistry, this comprehensive manual demonstrates how the home gardener can use the results of an inexpensive soil test to create their own individually tailored soil prescription.  The author systematically demystifies the replacement of a wealth of essential minerals while simultaneously debunking much of the false and misleading information perpetuated by both the conventional and organic agricultural movements.

Rich in historical information, this book is a compelling read for anyone at all interested in growing their own food.  It also has an extensive bibliography to utilize and reference charts to make the calculations easy to understand and implement.





 

Heather's Coconut Sweet Potato Recipe

One of the best things about going back to school was that I was exposed to some really great people that shared their amazing recipes.  Recipes that address the needs of folks that have allergies and food sensitivities was one of the added bonuses.  Heather's Coconut Sweet Potato Recipe is gluten & dairy free.  Just in time for Thanksgiving!!

 

Coconut Sweet Potatoes
4 sweet potatoes and jewel jams
roast at 425 in (1/2 to 1 T) coconut oil half hour, sprinkled with salt
mix with chopped celery
6 diced hard boiled eggs
shaved red onions (opt)
Sauce: coconut milk yogurt (plain), 2 T mayo, curry spices (coriander,
a smidge of fenugreek), ginger turmeric, garlic, cumin, pinch of salt

A Savory & Sweet taste combination that is sure to please.

 

ENJOY!!

Dining with the Doc: Black Bean & Quinoa Veggie Burgers

This article from The Foodie Physician blog looked so good I had to add it to our archive!

Black Bean & Quinoa Veggie Burgers

Makes 6 burgersPatties

½ cup quinoa

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 small red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt
2 cans black beans (15.5 oz each), rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 large egg
2/3 cup cooked corn (canned or fresh)
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon minced chipotles in adobo
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 cup rolled oats, ground into crumbs

Yogurt Sauce:

½ cup fat free Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon minced chipotles in adobo + ½ teaspoon adobo sauce from the can
1 teaspoon honey
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

6 multigrain hamburger rolls, lightly toasted

Lettuce, avocado slices, and tomatoes for toppings (optional)

Place the quinoa in a small saucepan along with 1 cup of water. Bring the water to a boil then reduce heat to medium low and cover the pan. Cook 10-15 minutes until the water is absorbed and quinoa is cooked. Remove from heat.

Heat the oil in a small sauté pan over medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Season them with a pinch of salt and sauté until onions are softened, 5-6 minutes. Place the mixture into a large bowl. Add approximately 1½ cans of black beans to the bowl and using a potato masher or fork, mash all of the ingredients together until a pasty mixture forms.

Stir in the remaining beans along with the tomato paste, egg, corn, cilantro, chipotles, cumin and ½ teaspoon salt. Stir in the cooked quinoa and ground oats until evenly distributed.

Form the mixture into 6 equal patties, compacting them well with your hands as you form them. Place the patties on a baking sheet, cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least a few hours or overnight.

To make the yogurt sauce, stir the yogurt, chipotles, adobo sauce, honey and mustard together in a small bowl.

When ready to eat, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray and place the patties on the sheet. Cook 10-12 minutes until the patties are golden brown and crispy, then carefully flip the over and cook another 10 minutes. Serve patties on the buns with the yogurt sauce and toppings of your choice.

One serving (1 patty plus yogurt sauce): Calories 281; Fat 3.7g (Sat 0.7g); Protein 16g; Carb 47.3g; Fiber 12.6g
* Because of the wide variety of buns and toppings, the nutritional info above only includes the patties and yogurt sauce. I used Arnold Select multi-grain Kaiser rolls, which have 150 calories, 1.5g fat, 0 sat. fat, 6g protein, 27g carbs and 3g fiber per roll.

Join Us!!

Where:  Cal Maritime Rizza Auditorium

When:    Saturday, Oct 20th, 4:30pm. 

Cost:     

$10   Advance @  Brown Paper Tickets 

$15   Day of event

The sounds of jazz by Dalt Williams Trio will accompany you at water's edge, enjoy lite organic food & wine, cider or microbrew beer from Solano County.  

 

 

Coming Soon! 

Grass Fed & Finished Meat CSA

Are you interested in joining our co-op beef, pork, poultry and lamb box program? If so, let us know and we'll keep you posted on pricing and availability.

This week's Fall Produce box will include:

Green Mix - Kale, Chard, Collards

Root Vege Mix - Beets, Turnips, Carrots, Potatos

Winter Squash - Butternut or Acorn

Cucumber

Sweet Pepper Mix

Allium Mix - Purple, White, Garlic, Shallot

Broccoli

Apples or Pears

Green Beans

Two Crones Relaxation Herbal Tea

Eggs - Limited Quantities Available

New Items:

Zuni Pickle - 16 oz. $4.00

Spiced Fig Jam - 8 oz. $3.00

Orders are due by Tuesday 6pm.

**In an effort to reduce our carbon footprint, please bring your egg cartons & delivery bags for re-use. If you prefer, we can pack your order in reusable canvas bags.....if you bring 'em, we'll use 'em

Thanks for supporting our local Vallejo farmers !!

So Easy a Caveman Could Do It....Lacto-Fermentation

Ever thought of how people in the past survived without refrigerators, freezers, and other modern luxuries? When you read about our past history, you soon discover that they had a wealth of knowledge on how to preserve food. 

 

Besides their cold cellars, insulated milk houses, or other even more simple ways to keep food cool (such as placing buckets of milk in a stream, or placing roots in a hay lined hole), they also lacto-fermented or cultured food to preserve it. This simple method not only preserved food, but also gave a wealth of nutrition.  Lacto-fermented foods span the nations. You will many traditional recipes for lacto-fermented foods from all over the world. If so many peoples thought this an important part of their diet in the past, I think we should pay attention!

What is Lacto-Fermentation?
Lacto-fermentation happens when the starches and sugars in vegetables and fruit convert to lactic acid by a friendly lactic-acid producing bacteria. This produces not only a tangy, delicious product (like the lemon cucumber recipe below), but it also preserves it….. and does so much more than that!

Health Benefits
The health benefits of lacto-fermented fruits and vegetables are wonderful. I think we probably only know a small part of why they are so good for us. For example, unpasteurized sauerkraut and kimchi got a lot of buzz in recent years after some scientists found that birds fed kimchi or sauerkraut would often start recovering from the Avian Bird Flu!

Here’s what we know, when you lacto-ferment vegetables it increases in vitamins, it is more digestible and you get a plethora of good bacteria when you consume it!
“The proliferation of lactobacilli in fermented vegetables enhances their digestibility and increases vitamin levels. These beneficial organisms produce numerous helpful enzymes as well as antibiotic and anticarcinogenic substances. Their main by-product, lactic acid, not only keeps vegetables and fruits in a state of perfect preservation but also promotes the growth of healthy flora throughout the intestine.”
Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions, pg 89
A healthy nation in perhaps wiser times would be getting healthy, good bacteria from numerous sources, including lacto-fermented vegetables and cultured drinks every day. Today, instead we bombard our bodies with chlorine (not just in the water we drink but we also absorb it from our showers and baths) and antibiotics (in our milk, meat, and what we take ourselves).

Recipe for Spicy Lemon Cucumber Pickles

Use organic ingredients whenever possible...
Ingredients:

*5-6 lemon cucumbers, sliced into wedges
*1/4 large red onion, sliced
*1 Serrano chili pepper, seeded and minced
*1 tablespoon minced ginger
*1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
*1 qt. glass Mason or other jar
*1 Tb. Himalayan or sea salt
*filtered water

Directions:

1. Place sliced cucumbers in a large bowl and mix with the minced pepper, ginger, and lime juice. Pack this mixture into your 1 qt. glass jar.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the salt with 1 cup filtered water. Pour this into the jar over your cucumbers. Add more filtered water to bring the liquid about 1 inch below the top of the jar. All of the cucumbers should be covered (rearrange/remove a few if they are not).
3. Cap tightly and allow to sit for 3 days at room temperature.
4. Open the jar and see if the liquid is fizzy. If not, re-cap and allow them to sit for 1-2 more days. If there is evidence of lacto-fermentation (that's the fizziness), go ahead and taste a pickle. If you are satisfied with the flavor, transfer to the refrigerator for storage.

Adapted from Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats.

Good Luck at Two Crones Farm Today!

For the first time since our hens began laying I actually cooked up some of the eggs.  I fried up the egg in real browned butter and served it on crispy whole wheat toast with a freshly sliced heirloom tomato on the side.  Nothing quite like a backyard breakfast to start a day in the garden! 

The surprise in today's breakfast was that one of the eggs was a double yolk!  Come to find out, there is a .01% chance of having a double yolk in a normal dozen store bought eggs.  Being a novice hen host I was quite surprised to find this egg in the pan.  Double-yolked eggs are reasonably common for ducks and chickens, despite the fact that we so rarely see them in stores. It is estimated that 1 in 1,000 eggs (out of 50 billion produced annually in the US) have double yolks. Eggs increase in size as the number of yolks increases, but most of them are caught by "candling," or holding the egg up to a light source to reveal a shadow of what is inside the shell, and used for other egg products instead of being mixed in with single-yolks. Stores that do offer the eggs usually have one local source for them. The chickens, ducks and other birds that lay them have a genetic tendency to produce the eggs, so if a farm is stocked with such birds, most of their eggs with have double yolks. The eggs are popular with anyone who likes yolks and are also believed to be good luck by many.

Far less common are multiple yolk eggs, including triples and quadruples, like the one pictured here. Apparently, the greatest number of yolks found in one egg was nine! Can you just imagine the size of that egg? 

For those of you concerned about cholesterol and eggs there is plenty of scientific and nutritional information showing that the risk has been overstated.
Eggs have long been the voice of evil because they contain cholesterol, so much fear that most people refrain from eating one of the most perfect of foods that nature provides. The truth is that the egg is rich in cholesterol, but the latest findings tell us that cholesterol in food does not affect blood cholesterol levels or cholesterol in the blood affects the development of cardiovascular disease. Myths about the harmful effects of saturated fat and cholesterol from foods of animal origin are slowly but surely destroying. Modern science provides ample evidence that saturated animal fat, or cholesterol, have nothing to do with the typical diseases of modern man, and it is known that from time immemorial have constituted an important part of human nutrition. Today they are already available scientific evidence about what actually causes cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. Cardiovascular disease (blockage of vessels, heart and cerebral infarction) are caused by chronic inflammation in the arteries, which arise from excessive consumption of refined carbohydrates (sugar and flour) and excessive intake of vegetable oils rich in omega-6 fatty acids. Why a paradigm shift going so slow and why these new findings are not generally known and recognized, are the questions to which the answer is not short, so we leave that topic for another time.

Enjoy a meal that includes whole, farm fresh eggs....It does your body much more good than harm.
Bon Appetit!






 

A Farmer's Peak Experience

The old saying that "Patience is a virtue" was most certain to have been uttered by a farmer.  We wait for everything.....the weather to change, the soil to warm up, the blossoms to unfurl, the seeds to germinate, the fruit to ripen and the chickens to lay.  The long days of summer are filled with lots of activity & chores but always we wait for the Peak Experience that is HARVEST! 

 

Maslow's definition nails it for me today:

Feelings of limitless horizons opening up to the vision, the feeling of being simultaneously more powerful and also more helpless than one ever was before,
the feeling of ecstasy and wonder and awe, the loss of placement in time and space with, finally, the conviction that something extremely important and valuable had happened, so that the subject was to some extent transformed and strengthened even in his daily life by such experiences.                

Today, I am a virtuous woman, awestruck and grateful.  For I have practiced patience aplenty while watching for signals that our little cluckers are finally going to pave the way for a Peak Experience.....one superb, fluffy omelette, made on a cool Sunday morning French style ala David Rosengarten . 

 

This is a sound beginning because a freshly laid egg, still warm from

"The One That Shall Live Another Day" is in hand.

 

Was it you?

 

 

Who that particular one is remains a virtual mystery.  Does the hen that lays an egg 'protect' that most noble act of hers?  I'm beginning to think this is the case for when I reached into the laying box a single hen came flying up, perching just to the left of the box as if to witness what may have felt like an act of betrayal.  After all, I was claiming rights to the product of her labor with not a hint of guilt,  reminding me of the current political discourse surrounding taxes.....but that's a whole nuther can o' worms!

 

Until that moment of harvest we humans have been warmly received by the occupants of the coop when bearing gifts of greens or "chicken crack" aka scratch.  This flock we tend acts as one, rushing the door as we "two-leggers" approach and make the sweetest little sounds when we shower them with the gifts of garden scraps.  Today was different.....as I made my way back to the door "The One" followed close by my side, leering as only a chicken can, at what was in my hand.  I felt her look could best be described as withering.  You know, like the stare you give the guy in front of you at the 15 Item Only checkout as he unloads 56 items......or am I empathizing too much with my feathered friend?  Perhaps, but today the wait is over.  Our am/pm vigil at the door of the coop has culminated in the promise of a most auspicious day on the farm.  One thing has been proven today, a farmer's patience is without end, just like the smile on my face. 

 

Love the life you live for the gift that it is!