Farm Notes
Well, we had quite an exciting farmstand yesterday! For starters, we filled more orders yesterday than for any other week in the history of the farmstand, which is pretty darn awesome. And with LOTS of beautiful spring veggies to harvest / wash / pack and heaps of orders to fill, I’m grateful to have a friend and fellow food lover, Alison, working with me every Tuesday to get all those orders out the door, because I really couldn’t do it without her help.
Unfortunately, part of yesterday’s excitement involved me accidentally whacking myself in the head and causing all kinds of commotion! It happened so quickly that at first I didn’t understand what had happened… turns out I had dropped a 50lb bag of chicken feed onto the floor of the barn, and I unknowingly dropped it on one end of a shovel, and the shovel’s handle shot right into my face… yikes. At first, I didn’t think it was a big deal, so I was just going to get back to work when I realized that I was bleeding pretty badly. Thankfully, some friends and Matthew were there to help me get bandaged up, and then I had to get back to work to get our record number of orders out the door and make deliveries! (I should mention that when the accident happened, I was no where near any of the veggies, as they were already all washed and packed away, and I fully changed my clothes and was all cleaned up before returning to work.) But it wasn’t until I got home after making deliveries several hours later that I was able to take a better look at the cut, consult with some medical friends + family, and determined that I wouldn’t need stitches, which was a relief. But you better believe I’m rocking a sweeet shiner…
Needless to say, yesterday was a doozy. But we survived! And it was a good reminder that farm work really can be dangerous, and it’s so important not to rush around and loose awareness of your surroundings. Be careful out there friends!
Friday Farm Walks
Okay, now on a much brighter and more fun note – I wanted to quickly talk here a new weekly perk for Farmbelly Club members… Friday Farm Walks! I kicked off this new series last Friday and had a BLAST, so moving forward, every Friday around 12pm EST I will host a (virtual) live tour of our farm, for Farmbelly Club members only! These farm walks will be brief (10-15 minutes), super fun + informative, you'll see what we're planting / harvesting / working on here at the farm, and I'll share helpful tips + resources to help you on your own gardening/farming adventures.
There are TWO ways to watch these weekly virtual farm walks on Fridays @ 12pm EST:
1) Tune in live on Zoom (this link will be the same every week)
2) The video will also be broadcast live to our private Facebook group page. If you can't join the live call, the video will be recorded and saved on the Farmbelly Club Facebook group page, where you can watch back at any time.
Whether you watch live or afterwards in the Facebook group, please do leave any questions in the comments section of the video, which I’m happy to answer for you!
Kitchen Notes
We have officially reached peak pac choi here on the farm, so I figured I needed to whip up some dishes featuring these delishhh spring greens! (Side note, I’ll be real honest that I still don’t know / understand the difference between bok choy, pac choi, tatsoi, etc., despite tons of google researching… so if any of you know the difference, by all means, tell me)!
Tonight I wanted to keep it super simple and let the pac choi shine, so I just made a simple, flavorful stir-fry with the greens, and it was refreshingly good. Because these greens cook super fast, this is an incredibly quick / easy dish to make, and feel free to mix up your sauce ingredients based on what you have on hand.
Simple Stir-Fried Asian Greens
INGREDIENTS
2-3 pounds baby bok choy and/or pac choi
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
Splash of sesame oil
Toasted sesame seeds (optional garnish)
INSTRUCTIONS
Trim and discard the rough bottoms from your asian greens. Roughly chop the greens and set them aside.
In a small bowl or mason jar, combine the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and sugar. Shake well and set aside.
Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the vegetable (or peanut) oil and swirl to coat the bottom and sides. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry until aromatic, about 1 minute. Add the greens, half the soy sauce mixture, and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, until tender.
Add the remaining half of the soy sauce mixture and cook for another 30 seconds. Turn off the heat, and drizzle with a splash (ie a teaspoon or two) of sesame oil and top with toasted sesame seeds (if using). Transfer to a serving plate and serve hot.
Today’s Stats
Low temp: 53F
High temp: 86F
Sunrise: 6:54am
Sunset: 7:44pm
Moon phase: Waning Crescent
Additional notes: Sunny and beautiful all day.