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?

Herbfarm, 9, Planting Rosemary Bushes, Changing Weather

I've finally begun to shed layers at the farm. My fleece hat is now optional instead of required and my fleece coat is far too hot now underneath my raincoat. It's taken more than a month to feel "hot" only because it's just been that cold outside. On Wednesday, Sally needed some assistance planting five rosemary bushes at the Herbfarm restaurant garden. When I arrived, Sally had already started on the rosemary hedge. How brilliant, really- in the future, instead of planting a non-edible green bushy hedge for a border, why not rosemary? And what a sensory experience to plant rosemary bushes. The variety of rosemary we planted was called Tuscan Blue.

Straight from Backyardgardener.com:
“'Tuscan Blue' is a fast growing rosemary with a tall upright habit. The flowers are dark blue, the slightly glossy foliage is light green against red-brown stems. Height and spread are 3-6'. Dense, bushy, upright, aromatic evergreen shrub. Leaves are narrow and linear, dark green and leathery, up to 2 inches long. Small, tubular blue flowers in whorls, up to 1/2 in long. Rosemary is an excellent choice for making topiaries, and widely used in cooking especially Italian cuisine. A wonderful companion plant with roses."

Ironically, my first true encounter with the hypnotic scent of rosemary was working as a pastry chef's assistant at age 16 at Il Bacio, an Italian pastry shop. Tuscan pastry chef, Roberto would make focaccia bread from scratch every day, drizzled in olive oil and sprinkled with crunchy sea salt and rosemary. No doubt, the best $2.00 ever spent on bread. Even though I was in Redmond, I could have been in any cafe in Tuscany.

For the five gallon rosemary bushes we planted, we had to dig into the soil far enough to reach a hard clay layer. This layer needed to be broken up to help the plant's roots stretch out and to help with drainage. The rosemary bushes had grown into their pots- their compact root system looked like a woman's long hair after she has taken the towel off from the shower- moist, tight strands molded to her head.

Before we placed the roots into the ground, we cut a small layer off the bottom of the bush and pulled and broke up some of the strands. Similar to cutting the bottom stems off flowers before placing them in a vase of water, we encourage the rosemary roots to get comfortable to the new surroundings. Once the hole was ready, just before adding the plant, we added a little compost soil to the bottom of the hole, a couple handfuls of fertilizer and a sprinkling of lime and mixed well.

While placing the rosemary bush in the hole and filling it in with soil, it was hard not to keep my face out of its fragrant bushy stems. I’m reminded of pouring water into the base of the Christmas tree stand as a little kid, getting brushed with those heavenly scented pine needles. And it's not just the scent of what you are planting that fills the air, when planting in an herb garden several herbal aromatics take over even the strongest of fertilizers - chives one moment and thyme the next.

Teenage Chickens with Pink Tiaras

The girls are growing up!


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