Week of October 6, 2019

Permaculture and Regeneration

I’ve written before about regenerative farming. Permaculture is the design for which regenerative agriculture can be realized.  Permaculture aims to create a system whereby human systems can fit into natural systems in such a way that the health of both is increased.  It is a partnership with ecosystems to promote vigor and ecological regeneration.  It aims to promote resilience and sustainability of the land on which it is practiced.  It is what we strive for here on EMCF: healthy soil = healthy plants, healthy animals = healthy people, healthy environment,  healthy communities.

Over one hundred years ago, during another time of crisis, Thomas Hardy wrote:

Only a man harrowing clods 

In a slow silent walk

With an old horse that stumbles and nods 

Half asleep as they stalk.

Only thin smoke without flame 

From the heaps of couch-grass;

Yet this will go onward the same 

Though Dynasties pass.

As Wendell Berry writes in The Unsettling of America Culture and Agriculture:

Today most of  our people are so conditioned that they do not wish to harrow  clods either with a horse or a new tractor. Yet Hardy’s vision has come to be more urgently true than ever. The great difference these sixty (now 100)  years have made is that, though we feel that this work must go onward, we are not certain that it will. But the care of the earth is our most ancient and most worthy and, after all, our most pleasing responsibility.  To cherish what remains of it, and to foster its renewal, is our only legitimate hope. 

In a time when massive industrial corporate monoculture farms are replacing divesified family farms and hamburger grown in laboratory petri dishes can now be found in some restaurants,  your support of local and organic farms and businesses is more important than ever!

Produce from the Farm this Week

Napa Cabbage,   Tomatillos,  Hot Cherry Peppers,   Cilantro,   Roma Tomatoes,  Dandelion Greens,  Lettuce,  Zucchini

Salsa Verde

1 pint Tomatillos,  husks peeled, rinsed

1 bunch cilantro

1 hot pepper

1 bunch Scallion tops

1 or 2 cloves garlic, peeled

Chop all ingredients fine or put through a food processor.  Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight.  Serve with chips, eggs, chicken or pork

Thanks to Michelle Shin for this awesome kimchee recipe!

Korean Kimchee

This is a great way to preserve your Napa Cabbage and also provide a healthy,  fermented, nutrient dense food to your daily diet. Kimchee stores in the refrigerator for several months. Add a spoonful to your plate each night with dinner to get those probiotics in. Kimchee can also be made using just about any type of green: dandelion greens or kale for example.  With dandelion,  Michelle recommends adding a bit of honey.

1/2  head napa cabbage

5 Tbsps minced garlic

1/2 tsp ginger, minced

2 Tbsp fish sauce

2 Tbsp Korean red pepper

1 Tbsp sea salt

1 Tbsp sugar

Chop vegetable 4 to 5 inches long. Sprinkle with sea salt (brine) over vegetable in layers. Pour water over vegetable and stir to make sure it is evenly salted. Should taste like sea water, so adjust salt as needed. It is better to over season than under season.  Cover and place something heavy over cover so vegetable is all in contact with brine. Let brine for at least 1 hour. Meanwhile mix garlic,  ginger, fish sauce, red pepper,  sea salt, and sugar  to form a paste. After the hour or so of brining, drain vegetable and add kimchee paste. Mix well and put into jars. Press kimchee down in jars leaving about an inch of space on top between vegetable and top of jars for air to allow for proper fermentation.  Put top on jar and leave at room temperature until fermented to your taste, about 3 days at 70 degrees.  Once fermentation is complete,  store finished kimchee in refrigerator.

Napa Saute’

1/2 head napa cabbage,  chopped

Sesame oil

1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced fine

Sea salt

Heat sesame oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add ginger and cook 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant.  Add napa. Cook and stir to coat with oil then turn heat down to low. Cover and cook until tender, about 20 minutes,  stirring frequently.

Next week…..Swiss chard, Arugula, Radicchio

Row covers went on less cold  hardy vegetables Thursday to help protect them from the frost