November 19th
Our Vibrant Friends!
Winter! We have arrived!
That telltale chill in the air is undeniable, and, even on clear days we require bundling to keep ourselves from getting freezy outdoors, the wind nippy on our cheeks as it blusters.
Shorter daylight means less time for daily tasks at the farm, and our busy workerbees have been hustling extra hard to get all our restaurant orders, CSAs, and donations harvested, and winter projects completed. We watch how the sunlight moves ever swifter across our sky, here and then gone! Wooosh! The day begins! Wooooosh, the day is over! The world is turning.
One of our favorite weekly projects of late, an artistic intermission amid our normal farming fray, has been the making of wreaths. Gathering our eucalyptus, fresh cut from the farm, and mixed foraged evergreens and branches, we retreat to the heat of the Indigo House, or to our cozy homes, and weave texture together into rings of beauty.
To make a wreath is to celebrate tradition. Around the globe, wreaths have long been woven in celebration of birth, maturity to adulthood, marriage, and death. They have offered as tribute to animal spirit, and gods of nearly all religions. They have been worn as indication of profession, rank, and in ceremony. They have been woven as sacred amulets and hung, year round on doorways.
A wreath is ceremony, gift. It is the honoring of season, and life passing. Both for the creator and for the receiver, a wreath made with intention possesses magical properties. We believe this, wholly. Most especially because this year we are finishing our eucalyptus and our evergreen wreaths alike with dried indigo that we cut and bunched as late Summer was turning to Autumn, our very last harvest before the end of indigo season.
This year, this strange, wild, who knows where we are going but we are going there together, we would love nothing more than to make you, our Vibrant Friends, a wreath.
We have two types to offer you, both woven with picked dried indigo from our final 2020 harvest.
THE FIRST FROST- $75
A large, slightly asymmetrical round of VVF grown eucalyptus with touches of pink flowering VVF indigo. Elegant. That first pale blue green vision of winter frost.
THE CASCADIA0- $65
A large, slightly asymmetrical round of mixed foraged evergreens, pinecones, and branches, with touches of pink flowering VVF indigo. Scented of a winter walk in the forest. Richly textured. A tribute to our land.
To place your order, please email flowers@vibrantvalleyfarm.com with which wreath you would like and your CSA drop location. We will deliver to your CSA location the first week of December along with your veggies. :)
Would be our honor and delight to share our VVF magic in a wreath made just for you, to hang on your door or wall, or sit atop your table as you celebrate the season with your nearest and your dearests.
Winter is here.
Until next week, with love and gratitude to you and yours,
-- Rosemary Stafford for Vibrant Valley Farm
ROSE’S RECIPE IDEA OF THE WEEK:
GARLIC HERB ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES
Ingredients
1lb potatoes, unpeeled, scrubbed, cut into pieces
1 rutabaga, peeled, cut into pieces
1 lb carrots, peeled, cut into slices
3 leeks, white and pale green parts only, cut into rounds
1 fennel bulb, cut into slices
2 beets, cut into pieces
1 onion, cut into pieces
fresh rosemary, thyme, sage, and/or oregano to taste (I like lots)
½ cup olive oil
Non stick vegetable oil spray
Peeled garlic cloves to taste (I like lots, like 2-3 full bulbs)
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped dried cayenne and seeds to taste (optional)
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Position 2 racks in oven for equal roasting distance. Spray 2 large baking sheets with nonstick spray.
Combine all chopped/sliced ingredients except onion, fennel, and garlic cloves in a very large bowl. Coat with olive oil and sprinkle in fresh herbs (peel rosemary, oregano, and thyme leaves away from the stems, peel sage leaves and cut in with scissors for smaller pieces). Toss all ingredients to coat fully. Season generously with salt and pepper. If you like your herby garlic vegetables a bit spicy, thinly chop some dried cayenne pepper with its seeds to the mixture.
Divide vegetable mix between baking sheets. Place one sheet on each oven rack and roast for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove baking sheets and add onion, fennel, and garlic cloves equally to each sheet, nestled in the mixture. Return to oven, reversing positions of baking sheets to ensure equal roasting.
Continue to roast until all vegetables are tender and brown in spots, stirring and turning vegetables occasionally, about 45 minutes longer.
Transfer roasted vegetables to a large bowl or platter and serve.
MASHED CELERIAC POTATOES
Ingredients
1-2 celeriac roots, peeled and sliced about a half inch thick
Around 3 lbs potatoes, peeled, cut into 1 inch cubes
Peeled garlic cloves to your taste (I like lots!)
Salt to taste
1 cup half and half
1 stick room temperature butter, cut into 8 pieces
Chopped parsley for garnish (optional)
Chopped chives for garnish (optional)
Preparation
Take a large soup pot and place your sliced celeriac, chopped potatoes, and peeled garlic cloves inside, and cover with water. Salt generously. Boil over medium high heat until potatoes are tender, and can pierce with a fork, around 15 minutes.
Drain the pot, let contents cool a bit, and then mash the mixture with an electric beater, or by hand with a fork, until it is mashed to your liking.
Return the pot with the mash to the stove. Over medium-low heat, whisk the half and half into the mash until the consistency is to your liking, using more or less that the 1 cup. Whisk in the butter. Taste for saltiness and adjust as necessary.
Serve, with chopped chives and/or parsley.