CSA Week 10: Pondering simplicity and abundance

In their shares this week, members will receive the following vegetables:  Cucumbers (slicers and picklers), tomatoes, salad mix, new red potatoes, summer squash/zucchini, red cabbage, bunching onions, fennel and thyme. 

This newsletter includes a roundup of news from the farm as well as information and recipes. Feel free to jump to the bottom of the newsletter to find the section titled, “This week’s veggies and recipes.”

News from the farm

“Less is more and you have all you need.”

– Mary Moody, August 13, 2022

There were many touching and inspiring messages that were said (and sung, thanks, Brooke and Caleb) at our wedding ceremony this past Saturday. One of them was delivered by Mary Moody and has stayed with me. Mary and her husband, Rick, are longtime friends of Heather-Marie, and they officiated our wedding.

“Less is more and you have all you need.”

I’ve written these words on paper and put them on the refrigerator with lots of other inspiring quotes and photos of loved ones (Mary and Rick included). I’ve been thinking about them since and what to do with that message. I think for Heather-Marie and me — and all of those in attendance — these words carried different meanings. 

For us, these past four years together as a couple have been some of the busiest of our lives. Not only have we started a farm on our new land, we also planned and hosted our own wedding at that farm. There have been few days and few moments when we weren’t doing something or thinking or talking about the things that we needed to do. 

So, this week, with our wedding behind us, we hope to pause and reflect on all that we’ve done and all that we will do and, perhaps most importantly, all that we should not do. 

It’s not an easy thing to do when there are weeds going to seed, vegetables that need harvesting and in just a couple of short weeks, I’ll be back at work teaching classes at the university.

“Less is more and you have all you need.”

We chose this life of farming because of a desire for a simpler life, focused on being close to the land and producing food as part of a community. 

But simple doesn’t mean easy. And, often, we are guilty of letting our to do lists dominate us. One of our mottos has always been: We run the farm; the farm doesn’t run us. 

Easier said than done. 

This summer we’ve been swimming one time. We’ve paddled our canoe three times. And fires in the fire pit? One.

Our time here is fleeting, and what I took from Mary’s words is that it’s crucial that we recognize that what we have — right now — as a couple and as farmers is more than we ever could have hoped for and more than we’ll ever need.

We will never pull every weed. We will never finish the to do list. But we will, sooner than we’d like, run out of time.

With that in mind, maybe we all need to add a few more things to our “to do” lists: slow down, be still, reflect, walk, breathe, write, read, think, love and savor this moment. Perhaps, we also need to think about what more we can do to simplify our lives, to scale back and decide what matters. 

Less is more, and you have all you need. 

Thank you, Mary.

This week’s veggies and recipes

Fennel

This was a new item for the farm last year and we love adding new things.  Most often when buying fennel in a grocery store, it comes with the stalks and fronds trimmed off.   We are harvesting them with it all attached as you can eat it all.  The bulbs can be eaten raw or cooked, although the bulb can be tough so should be cut thinly.  Trim the stalks and fronds off when ready to cook and use the fronds as you would any herb.  Fennel has a light licorice flavor.  Fennel goes well with seafood and also is paired with citrus in dishes, too.

Brenna’s Excellent Fennel Salad

When John’s daughter, Brenna, was here visiting us, she made this excellent salad.  Neither John, nor Heather-Marie, have cooked much with fennel so this was a treat.   

• Fennel bulb, and stalks
• Apples
• Celery
• Lots of herbs
• Olive oil
• Lemon juice
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Cut fennel pretty thin

2. Cut apples and/or celery pretty thin

3. Chop up some fennel greens and some herbs (whatever is around mint oregano thyme whatever) and toss that in a bowl with chopped stuff 

4. Mix it up with some oil, kosher salt, lots of lemon juice, and toss it around with some pepper

5. Finish with flaky salt 

Roasted Fennel with Apples, Taleggio Cheese and Almonds

From the Six Seasons cookbook 

• Extra virgin olive oil
• ½ pound fennel sausage (or ½ mild Italian sausage plus ½ teaspoon fennel seeds), bulk or with casings removed
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
• ½ tsp dried chili flakes
• 1 ½ pounds fennel (2 medium bulbs), stalks and root end trimmed, cut lengthwise into eighths
• 1 large apple (8 oz), Braeburn or Fuji, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
• ½ cup almonds, toasted
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 6 oz Taleggio cheese, rind trimmed off and torn into little bits (this cheese is too soft to actually grate)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup dried bread crumbs
• 1 Tb unsalted butter

Instructions

Heat the oven to 375 degrees

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, add 1 teaspoon olive oil, then add the sausage (if using the mild Italian, add the fennel seeds, too).  Cook until it’s no longer pink, about 5 minutes, breaking it up with your tongs or a spoon so it’s in pieces about the size of popcorn.  Spoon it out of the pan and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium low, add 1 Tablespoon oil and the smashed garlic, and cook slowly to toast the garlic so its very soft, fragrant and golden brown, about 5 minutes.  Add the chili flakes and toast for another few seconds, then add the sliced fennel.  Pour ⅓ cup water into the pan and cover it, adjusting the heat so the fennel steams and simmers.  Check the fennel every few minutes, adding a bit more water when the first amount has evaporated.  

Continue cooking like this until the fennel is about three-quarters of the way cooked through and is getting tender but not super soft, about 10 minutes.  If there’s any remaining water when the fennel is cooked, increase the heat to evaporate it quickly.

Return the sausage to the pan and add the apples, almonds, thyme, and half the Taleggio.  Toss and then season generously with salt and black pepper.

Pile this into a 2- to 3-quart baking dish, top with the remaining cheese and the breadcrumbs, and dot with the butter.  Bake until the ingredients are hot all the way through and the cheese is melting and starting to sizzle, 30 to 35 minutes.

Let the casserole rest for about 5 minutes and serve hot.  

Red Cabbage

Red Cabbage Slaw from “Asparagus to Zucchini”

• 1 head red cabbage
• 1 pound carrots
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1/3 c freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/3 c apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tb salt
• 1 Tb ancho chili powder

Instructions

Quarter and core red cabbage.  Slice thinly by hand or in food processor.  Peel and grate carrots.  Chop cilantro.  Toss all ingredients.  Let stand 1 hour.  Toss again.  Serve as a garnish for tacos, as a side dish for sandwiches, or as a picnic salad.  Makes 3-4 quarts.

Summer squash/zucchini, bunching onions, tomatoes

Zucchini Melange from former CSA members Rachel and Jim Moseley

“This is a family favorite.  Quantities can be changed based on how many you are serving and what you have available, but it is one of those recipes that you can just do without thinking about it after a while!”

• 1 T butter
• 1T olive oil
• 1 t basil
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1 small sweet onion, sliced and separated into rings
• 1 tomato, sliced

Instructions

Cook butter, oil, and basil together in skillet until melted.  Then add zucchini, onions, and finally tomatoes.  Stir and sauté’ for 10 minutes until veggies are crisp-tender.  Turn off heat and grate your favorite cheese over the top…we like parmesan or cheddar.  Cover and let sit for an additional 10 minutes.