The Business of Farming and a Really Big Fire

Beets and Duck eggs

What a busy few days it has been!  Friday morning I was in charge of the farm, which meant waking up and harvesting an order of vegetables for Smallwares, a restaurant in Portland, and then delivering it.  I picked, among lots of other things, three pounds of peas shoots and one pound of wild amaranth.  That we sell both of these delicious, healthful veggies to local restaurants is cool for a number of reasons, which I will soon explain.  There are so many fascinating facets of organic farming, one of which is the business side, and selling pea shoots and amaranth is a perfect example of the clever and creative running of a business.

Breakfast Still Life

As you may or may not know, one key tenet of organic farming is crop rotation. The idea behind this principle is that different types of plants affect the soil differently and after they are harvested, leave the soil in different states.  So while broccoli may use up a whole lot of nitrogen, peas actually replenish the soil with that same nutrient.  By rotating crops one reduces the likelihood of draining the soil of any necessary nutrient. 

Cover crops are crops that are planted in a specific area not necessarily to be used as food, but rather to have a positive impact on the soil.  One of our cover crops is peas, another is barley, another clover.  All of these crops are useful in other ways as well.  Clover is a great source of nectar for the bees, while the barley and peas can be harvested for food.  Sadly, I don’t know exactly what kind of pea plants we have, but I can tell you that the pea pods are fibrous and not for eating, while the peas are tiny.  That said, the so-called “shoots” of these plants are made of tender flowers, leaves and stems that are crispy and taste of sweetness. The shoots can be snapped off the top of the plant with a simple flick of the wrist. 

Wild Amaranth

Pea shoots are delightful raw, blanched or sautéed (which, by the way, is a nicer word for “fried”).  The coolest thing about pea shoots is that instead of solely using them as a crop to “fix” the nitrogen in our soil, we are also able to sell them at market and to restaurants…at sixteen dollars a pound no less!  Another seemingly “free” crop we sell is wild amaranth, which is an iron-rich, easily chewed leaf that grows on our farm as a weed.  It pops up all over the place, in the melon rows, broccoli and collard greens.  When it is still young, tender and free of any tough seeds, we sell it to restaurants at seven dollars a pound!  Genius.

Clemmie reads in the living room

And that’s all I’m going to say about business, folks!  Now for the fun stuff.  My dear friend Clemmie Jane came for a farm visit this weekend.  What a beautiful ray of sunshine she is here, doing dishes and taking names.  On Thursday evening we came across an enormous house fire in downtown Forest Grove.  Apparently this is something the fire department does about once every year to “practice”: they build a crappy little house, light a fire in the back room and watch the whole motherfucking thing burn to the ground.  It’s crazy!  

Shallots by the Creek

Wednesday was a gloriously sunny day on the farm (we haven’t had one since) and I spent it well.  There are heaps of shallots to be harvest, so I filled a tote back to the brim with them and strolled on down to the creek nearby and sat beside the babbling waters while I clipped and cleaned the shallots.  Later that evening I took myself for a very enjoyable bike ride.  Riding my bike along a forested path while the evening sun flickers through the trees and the air greets my nostrils with both moisture and warmth is a good indication that summer is upon us.

The last piece of exciting news I’ve got is that it looks like we’ve got a doe to mate our rabbit with!  Miguel, a friend of the farm who works at Pacific University, has got a litter of 7 three month old bunny rabbits, at least one of which is gonna grow up to be a nice big girl.  Hopefully she can carry Stewart’s munchkin seeds all the way to babyland…

a meadow I biked through