In Your Share (April 1st edition)

IMG_0850Can you see the blue heron on the cupola of the Luscher Farm barn? That was the first time I’d ever seen one land on top of the barn! They come often to hunt small prey in the wetland and last week at I saw a record 6 herons at once and a bald eagle too. Today there was a kestrel and several red tail hawks  at the Grand Island farm. We appreciate the birds of prey on the farm as they hunt small rodents for us. The big birds are also just incredibly beautiful and inspiring. The farm provides a good food source for the birds, but often nesting habitat is a limiting factor. Owls and kestrels build their nests in the holes of old snags and dying trees.  That habitat has diminished in the valley over the last few decades. Last year, with some help from the Audubon Society, several owl nest boxes were installed at Luscher Farm. This spring, with some help from the Yamhill Soil & Water Conservation District, we’ll be building kestrel & owl nest boxes at the Grand Island farm.

All kinds of good ideas in your Recipe Packet!

This week your share may include…

  • Dry Beans: The Jacob’s Cattle variety is a beautiful red and white speckled bean. It has a full flavor and long history that has earned it a place in the Slow Food Arc of Taste. Your recipe packet includes some tips for braised and boiled beans that would work well with these.
  • Greens: A nice mix of spring greens including arugula and mizuna. It is tender enough for salad or can be lightly braised.
  • Kale: Beautiful frilly maroon leaves of Red Ursa kale are lovely!
  • Leeks: This week we have Tadorna leeks in the share. We like this one for it’s stocky shape, vigorous growth and disease resistance.
  • Onions: Our old standby, Redwing onions. If you have onions accumulating on your kitchen counter try this recipe for pickled onions in your packet.
  • Dry Hot Peppers: A few dried cayenne  peppers – even just one adds a nice bit of heat to a pot of beans.
  • Potato: Red Potatoes are Sangre which is especially good for boiling or baking.
  • Raab: Hip hip Hooray for raab! We will be picking lots of different variations on this theme for the next few weeks – this time the little heads are from green kale & collards.
  • Winter Squash: Both Butternut and Thelma Sanders.

Coming soon… the last winter share! Have you signed up for summer?