HerbFarm days 10-14

Once all the animals are fed and the greenhouse harvest list is checked off, I look outside at the fields and I can only imagine what it will be like in a couple months. It's still the calm before the storm at the HerbFarm. It's the tender game of waiting now and wondering if it will it freeze again. In the mean time- there is always something that needs weeding.
I'm enjoying the routines at the farm. I love the fat hens, the ladies elite, with their posh chicken trailer now in the tall grass. Since the fields have dried up a bit, Bill moved them from a higher area that they picked clean, to an area of lush grass that is taller than most of the hens. The teenage chicks however are still in their nursery, growing before my eyes. It won’t be long before they will join the hens and enter into a new pecking order.

I've been studying the greens at the HerbFarm. I think about the wimpy leaves in the bags of salad that are readily available in grocery stores. The greens at the HerbFarm are of such quality- perhaps because they were made with so much care? Perhaps it’s simply the varieties that are grown? Likely, it is because of what they are not- mass produced.
I have to say that I love the convenience of bagged salads and would argue that perhaps it has helped several busy/ or lazy people eat a bit healthier. Then I take a step back and wonder how healthy those mass produced lettuces really are? (this is turning into another blog post all together- which I'll elaborate on another time.)
The purple leaves below in this picture are the Ho Mi Zi and the ruffled bright green leaves are called Green Wave mustard greens.
The ideal cut for the restaurant is about two-three inches, and any taller then it's considered too old. The main reason is that some of the characteristics of the greens change as the greens mature; arugula for example gets spicier as well as nuttier as it gets bigger and older. Depending on the flavors needed on the menu, stronger flavored greens could really change an entire dish.

Part of the greenhouse harvest list is picking nasturtiums. They are absolutely gorgeous right now. Bright yellow, orange and reds. The restaurant uses their leaves for salads and garnishes but they also juice the petals- which I find fascinating. Every once in awhile while I am picking nasturtiums I just pop an entire flower into my mouth. Feathery-light petals melt a light perfume, the stamen is honey-sweet and then the stem is spicy hot like a radish.

I’ve been waiting for Bill to post a menu up in the greenhouse so I can follow or guess where each ingredient is being used in which dish. As a cook, my question about each herb, plant and vegetable is “how” are they using it in the kitchen, not just “is this the size and shape you are looking for in a harvestable burdock root," for example. So far I think one true separation I have from some farmers/gardeners that strive to produce the best product possible is that it ends with the product being sold to a customer. Like, "here is the juiciest apple"-Whereas I am also the customer, the user who is going to take that product, the apple and create an entirely new product, completely transformed and re-packaged. "The juiciest apple" is now an apple crisp, a chutney or sauce. Is it a fair question to ask if all commercial gardeners' and farmers' crops would be better if they were all great cooks?

Teenage Chickens with Pink Tiaras

The girls are growing up!


Okay, not the best picture, but check out her pink tiara!

Herb Farm 6, 7, 8, Uprooting Parsnips, Salsify, the Art of Watering Plants and The Great Chicken Caper

I believe it has rained every day that I have gone to the farm, except once or twice. It is expected after all in March and maybe it's me, but it just seems to rain more in the Woodinville/Redmond area. Bill is on vacation in lovely Hawaii, and likely, the last thing on his mind is feeding pigs while he is crunching his toes in the sand.

Sally King, the Director of Ravencroft Garden is an amazing herbalist that I was fortunate enough to meet and have guide me in the greenhouse for a couple days this week. Just being around Sally for a little while and you can feel her connection to plants, it's who she is, it's in her energy. This week I learned a great deal about the art of watering plants, the proper way to plant marjoram seedlings and another lesson in chicken behavior.

For several days now, a couple of the hens have been escaping their little netted area. We have all come to the conclusion it's because of several reasons. One being that the small solar electric fence is water-logged and now broken; the hens are bored and finding ways to shimmy under the non-electric netting into greener pastures or ...someone is having fun with us and pulling a couple chickens out and letting them loose, just to see us running around with our arms and legs outstretched to try and corral the chickens back into their area...

Sally and I tied up any possible openings in the fence and added some fresh straw and a big heap of pulled weeds to their little enclosure for them to scratch and peck at. The woolly pigs enjoyed some organic olive bread and cranberry bagels from the food bank to go with their grain this week.

Sally and I pulled up some of the last remaining parsnips and salsify out of the garden for the restaurant. I have yet to eat salsify, though I am excited to try it- likely next year. The variety we were digging up were pale yellow, looking very much like parsnips and carrots, except the root of the salsify is quite a bit "hairier" (if there is a way to describe it) and often branches out into several thick roots, instead of one thick root. We tried our best to uproot as many mature salsify and parsnip roots as possible, but it's practically April and the supply is just about gone.