CSA Week 14: What a pig can teach us about community

In their shares this week, members will receive the following vegetables: Tomatoes (slicers and cherry), cucumbers, summer squash, scallions, green peppers, hot peppers, beets, green cabbage and cauliflower. New this week are Yukon gold potatoes, dill, green beans and eggplant.

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 

This weekend, we hosted our end of the season potluck for CSA members, which is one of those reminders to us that the season is starting to draw to an end – though our field and vegetables clearly don’t know that. There is still so much more bounty out in that field and we have four more Summer CSA deliveries and two Fall Shares before the season is over (Note: We still have a few openings for Fall Shares if you are interested).

We’ve got about a month and half of hard work left in this farm season, though it doesn’t really ever end. But as things start to wind down, we thought it would be a good time to think about what may be the most important part of this crazy adventure: Community. 

There are so many stories we could tell about the ways that we’ve not just found a farm, but a home here in Barnum, Minnesota. 

But for today, we just want to tell you the story of a pig. 

This pig was raised by our dear friends Caleb and Brooke on their farm, The Road’s End Ranch. It had a good life. It was one of just a small handful of pigs. It spent its days living outside and eating good food — including a few crates of surplus veggies from our farm. It was butchered last year and one cut of that pig sat in Caleb and Brooke’s freezer: An uncured ham that weighed in at about 29 pounds. (Road’s End also sells beef and pork to our CSA members.)

The Andersons weren’t sure what to do with this pig, but when John contacted them about buying some pork for John and Heather-Marie’s wedding, they knew the answer. Caleb had been trying to think of a good way to use this giant cut of pork, and a wedding celebration seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Now, Caleb and John faced a new challenge: How do you cook a frozen, 29-pound cut of uncured ham? (Note: Uncured means this isn’t the kind of ham you put on your sandwich. It’s a massive cut of pork like a roast.)

We made a few calls but didn’t get too many answers at first. It was too big to put on a grill and no one was willing to smoke it for us. We were stumped. 

And then we contacted our friend Todd, who runs the Rustic Cafe in Barnum with his wife, Carlee. Todd also runs a catering business and has a giant grill.

Todd told us the pig was too big to grill, but he could roast it in his oven for us. 

“It would cost $0.00,” he wrote.

It’s a deal. 

Heather-Marie and I picked up the ham and brought it to Todd two weeks before the wedding. It was frozen solid and the first step was to thaw it.

As the days progressed, we got regular updates on the ham from Todd.

“I’m brining your ham,” he wrote one day. He had submerged it in a mixture of liquid, herbs and spices.

And then he was rubbing the ham in spices. 

And then he was roasting the ham. 

Flash forward to the wedding day. The ceremony is over and a long line of guests stands waiting for their chance to get to the food at the expansive potluck feast our guests had created with their contributions. 

In rushes Todd, just in the knick of time, carrying a massive roasting pan with the ham, cooked and sliced to perfection. 

Todd, still in his clothes from work, posed for a quick photo with the married couple before rushing off to another event he was catering.

Some people thought it was turkey. The white meat was moist and tender. The taste was subtle and rich with the flavors of a week of care and love.

Within a couple of short hours, there was nothing left of it.

Why the story of a pig to talk about community? 

When you think about it, this one story gives insight into the friends and connections we have made in just two years in this town. 

Caleb and Brooke refused to take any money for the ham. What’s more, they played the music for our wedding ceremony. 

In the line to eat some of that ham were many of the people who have believed in us and have supported our dream. 

Our family, neighbors, fellow farmers, friends and CSA members, some of whom have been with Heather-Marie since she first started farming in 2011, were all there to help us celebrate. Even the band, Four Mile Portage, that played music and led us in square dancing enjoyed the pig.

Each week since we moved here two years ago, our list of friends has grown. 

On Friday evenings, we open our farm stand and folks stop by for veggies and conversation. Many have just seen our roadside sign and are curious what we are up to. Others are longtime residents of this area and have memories of this land from when it was the Johnson family farm.

As we begin looking toward the end of our second season, we can’t help but pause for a moment of gratitude.

Community. 

That’s not to say that we all have the same beliefs or the same ideas about how the world should be. I’m sure if we looked at one another’s Facebook profiles we’d see all kinds of ways that we differ on politics, religion, etc. It would be easy to use that as a reason not to get to know these people and for them not to get to know us. 

But we all have one thing in common: We call this community and this place home. And we all share a desire to live here and to support each other.

The last two years haven’t been happy all the time for the people in our community. There’ve been struggles. There has been loss, and there has been sadness, too. But that’s part of community. And just as people have been there for us, we like to think we’ve been there for them as well. 

That’s how it works.

This week’s veggies and recipes

This week, we are excited to share a few recipes of our own along with some shared by new friends and one by the owner of the Momma Roots Food Bus, which uses a lot of our produce.

Dill, beans

Dilly Beans          

from “Keeping the Harvest” 

Heather-Marie has been making these beans for years.  They taste best in the middle of winter.

• 2 pounds green beans, trimmed
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 heads dill*
• ¼ cup canning salt
• 2 ½ cups vinegar 
• 2 ½ cups water

Packs beans lengthwise into hot, sterilized pint jars, leaving ½ inch headspace.  To each pint jar, add ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, 1 clove garlic, and 1 head dill.  Combine salt, vinegar, and water in a kettle and bring to a boil.  Pour boiling hot liquid over beans, leaving ½ headspace.  Adjust caps.  Process pints in a boiling-water bath for 5 minutes, up to 1,000 feet altitude.  

For best flavor, let the canned beans stand for at least 2 weeks before serving.  This allows the flavor to develop.  And don’t worry if they look shriveled right after processing- they’ll plump up in a few weeks.

Yields four pints.

*If you don’t have enough heads of dill, you can sub 1 Tb dill seed equals one head of dill.

Beets

Strawberry-Beet Salad

From Mama Roots

We have been very fortunate to sell our product throughout the summer to the local food truck, Mama Roots.  Desi, co-owns the business with her sister-in-law and together they focus on vegetarian food, with most or all of the produce from local farms.  We’re already talking about collaborating more next year!  

Beet Marinade: 2 lemon Squeeze,  1/2 cup Tamari or Coconut Aminos, 1/4 cup rice Vinegar, pinch salt 

4 Beets: Cut in Cubes 

Boil or steam until tender & soft. 

*Strain and set beets in marinade and let chill then put in fridge for at least 2 hours 

——-

In a 2-quart pan or larger (4-quart would be ideal), bring 2.5 cups of water to boil. Add the 2 cups of quinoa and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Cover the pan and cook for 10-15 minutes.

Let quinoa cool and set in fridge for at least 2 hours 

——-

• Dressing: 1/4 cup pure maple syrup 
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 
• 1/4 cup olive oil 
• 1 lemon squeeze 
• Salt and pepper to taste  

——

• Once beets and quinoa are chilled 
• Mix together 
• Add dressing slowly (amount as desired) 
• Add 1 cup chopped Basil 
• Add 1 cup strawberries 
• Mix and enjoy

Pickled vegetables

Sara Langhorst

Avocado pepper dip

Sara Langhorst

This dip has some kick to it, for sure, but we tried it with a few hot peppers and the flavor was fantastic. If you are worried about the heat, use sweet green peppers instead. As Sara notes, give it time to rest and let the flavors marry. 

•  4 Jalepenos
•  2 Seranos
•  1 Avocado
•  1 Tbls Garlic (minced)
•  pinch salt
•  2 Tbls lime or fresh lime
•  1 cup of water. <lime and water to equal a cup>
•  1/3 c fresh cilantro not heavily packed

I char my peppers and cook them until pliable. Peel and then Mix in blender until smooth.

 If you don’t want to char the peppers chop and boil in water to soften them, put in the

 blender and utilize the pepper water instead of the plain H2O. with the lime juice.

I have used Hatch, Pablano, ancho, Thai Hungarian. Serrano, Habenero, Jalepenos…or

mystery ones with this and it never disappoints. I also start with a half a cup of water until I

get to the consistency I want. It is better after it sits a couple of hours. Make sure to use

some type of citrus or the avocado looks icky later.