September 17th
Our Vibrant Friends
Ever the more we are thinking of community.
Our days of easy, insular living have shifted. Life plods along, yes, and personal tragedies that have always befallen us continue to unfold. But our shared landscape of sickness, injustice, financial shift, political horror, and -- most recently -- wildfire and its all-encompassing smoke, has encircled us all. The ties that bind are undeniable. To continue to live within an ivory tower is to be both privileged and dumb.
Now more than ever, we look outward. For we need each other! We need community to both to survive in the Wild West of the now, and to push forward into the uncertain future. More than ever before in our short lives, we cannot ignore that we are one. To rise we must lift each other up. We must offer each other what we need and what we take for granted within ourselves.
In fostering community, it is important to celebrate gratitudes and to check privileges. To identify how we can help each other. How to best give our time, energy, and cold hard cash to those who need it most.
At Vibrant Valley Farm, we must first acknowledge that we personally are choosing to farm and have the means, opportunity, and infrastructure provided to allow us to do so. Yes, farming is hard work, and none of us are in it for the money. But to choose this life and to be able to do it in a beautiful, safe space is to be privileged. A part of this privilege is that we can afford to give back. Owner/Operator Kara Gilbert has always made it her mission to donate a portion of Vibrant Valley’s proceeds, harvest, and education to her community.
We want to share with you the organizations we champion and have worked with this season thus far. We hope that you will become familiar with them -- if you haven’t already -- and we challenge you to find ways to support their causes if you have the time and/or means to do so. Power to the people!
Finally, we want to celebrate our gratitude. For having the opportunity to farm. For calling you community. For you for reading this and supporting us. For caring about your community. For having hope.
As my grandmother Winnifred always told me, this too shall pass. We must hold on tight to each other, be brave, and work hard for a better world.
Until next week, with love and gratitude to you and yours,
-- Rosemary Stafford for Vibrant Valley Farm
VVF 2020 COMMUNITY PARTNERS
FEED THE MASS
www.feedthemass.org
About us by Feed the Mass:
Feed the Mass is a nonprofit cooking education organization based in Portland, Oregon, with a goal of bringing people together. We promote healthy eating and inclusion and strive to inspire everyone to cook meals from scratch. We are the only nonprofit cooking school in Portland.We offer affordable cooking classes to the community because we believe food education and empowerment are crucial. We engage the community to give back so that people from all cultures and backgrounds can come together.
IN THE WEEDS
Instagram : intheweedspdx
About us by In the Weeds
A grassroots effort in Portland, OR to bring farm produce to restaurant industry folks in need during the COVID-19 pandemic
LOVE LETTERS TO BLACK FOLKS
www.blackfeastdinner.com
About project by Black Feast Dinner:
We ran our Love Letters to Black Folks series from June 21st - August 26th, in Berkeley California and Portland Oregon. The project involved offering free dessert, love letter, and care packages to Black Folks in our communities.
DON’T SHOOT PDX
www.dontshootpdx.org
About us by Don’t Shoot PDX
Don’t Shoot Portland is a Black-led human rights nonprofit that advocates for accountability. Since 2014, we have implemented art, education and civic participation within our programing to create social change.
ROSE CITY JUSTICE
Instagram : rosecityjustice
About us by Rose City Justice:
We are a Black-led, community born platform that mobilizes the public toward a racial justice reform.
SKY ISLAND FARM
www.skyislandfarmcsa.com
About us by Sky Island Farm:
Sky Island Farm is a 15-acre Black owned vegetable, herb, fruit, and flower farm farm on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. We run a 150 member CSA, selling to restaurants, hospitals, schools, and stores.
DEFENSE FUND PDX
Instagram : defensefundpdx
About us by Defense Fund PDX:
We’re an arrestee support group in PDX that focuses on prioritizing BIPOC and queer people in jail, as well as the unhoused people in our community.
ROSE’S RECIPE IDEAS OF THE WEEK:
HOT FRISEE SALAD WITH CIPOLLINI BACON DRESSING AND POACHED EGGS
Ingredients
1 head frisée
4-6 pieces thick cut bacon
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
4 large eggs
4 -5 tablespoons chopped cipollini onion
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Preparation
Tear frisée into bite sized pieces and put into a large bowl and set aside.
Cut bacon slices crosswise into ¼ inch thick sticks, or lardons. In a heavy skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden and then remove skillet from heat.
To poach your eggs: have a clean skillet with 1 inch of warm water ready on the stove. Then half fill a 4-quart saucepan with water and stir in white vinegar. Bring liquid to a simmer. Break each egg into a teacup. Slide 1 egg at a time into the simmering liquid and immediately push white around yolk with a slotted spoon, moving the egg gently in a swirling motion. The egg will become oval, with yolk covered completely by white. Add remaining eggs in the same manner. Simmer the eggs about 1 ½ minutes for runny yolks and about 3 minutes for firm yolks. Immediately transfer eggs to skillet of warm water waiting.
Reheat the bacon in its skillet over moderate heat. Add the chopped cipollinis and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add red wine vinegar and bring to a boil for 5 seconds.
Immediately pour hot dressing over frisée and toss with salt and pepper to taste.
Divide salad between 4 plates and top with drained poached eggs. Season eggs with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
ROASTED KOHLRABI, POTATO AND FENNEL WITH GARLIC PARMESAN
Ingredients
1 kohlrabi, peeled and cut into ¼ inch thick slices, then cut in half
About the same amount of potatoes, peeled, cut into similar sized slices
1-2 fennel bulbs, cut as above, fronds set aside for garnish
Plenty of garlic, chopped
Olive oil
1.5 to 2 cups grated parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Preparation
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Cut kohlrabi, potatoes, and fennel bulbs into ¼ thick slices, then sliced in half.
Combine liberal dashes of olive oil, chopped garlic to your taste, and salt and pepper to your taste in a large bowl.
Toss kohlrabi, potato, and fennel slices in the olive oil mixture to coat, and then spread in a single layer on 1-2 baking sheets, assuring there is enough room for slices to slightly crisp.
Bake in your preheated oven until browned, around 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally in order to brown evenly.
Remove from oven and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Return to oven to allow cheese to brown, about 5 minutes.
Serve immediately with cut fennel fronds for garnish and further salt and pepper to taste.
QUICK FIX OR CANNED FOR YOUR LARDER MARINATED ROASTED PEPPERS
You can either prepare your peppers for immediate snacking (will store well in clean jars and lids in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks) or you can prepare a water bath and can for shelf storage.
Ingredients
Around 4 pounds of peppers – use red roasters, yellow wax, and red shishito, add any sweet (or spicy as per your preference!) peppers you have otherwise
1 cup bottled lemon juice (fresh squeezed does not have the same acidity needed for this recipe)
2 cups 5% white vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil, and extra dashes for roasting peppers
2-5 cloves garlic, quartered
1 ½ teaspoons salt
3 pint canning jars
Preparation
Preheat oven to broil on high and position rack in oven so that the top surface of your peppers will be 4-5 inches from broiler heat element.
Prepare water bath and mason jars if canning for shelf storage. Place a steaming rack at the bottom of a large (12 quart) pot. Add the empty and very clean mason jars that you will be using for canning.
Fill the pot with enough water to cover the jars and bring to a boil.
While heating water, broil your peppers.
Rub the surface of each whole pepper with a little olive oil.
Place peppers either directly on top oven rack with a pan to catch the drippings on a rack beneath, or place peppers on an aluminum foil lined broiler pan or cookie sheet.
Monitor roasting. As the surface of the peppers blister and blacken, turn them with tongs so they blacken on all sides.
Once the peppers are well blistered and blackened, place in a non-reactive bowl and cover. The steam will help to dislodge the skins of the peppers. Once peppers have cooled enough to handle, work with them one by one to gently peel off/remove a majority of the blackened skins.
Cut the peppers in half and discard the seedpods, stems, and seeds.
Heat lemon juice, white vinegar, olive oil, garlic, and salt in a saucepan until boiling and remove from heat.
If canning for shelf storage, remove some boiling water from the pot of water and jars from step one and place into a bowl. Put the lids in that bowl.
Use tongs to remove mason jars from the boiling water.
Distribute peppers evenly among the jars. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the peppers to cover, ensuring some garlic gets in each jar, leaving a ½ inch head space in each jar.
Wipe the rims of your jar with a clean, dampened paper towel. Place on lids and rings. Be careful not to tighten rings too tightly.
You can now store the cans in the refrigerator for several weeks.
For longer storage, create a water bath for canning. Place filled and lidded jars in boiling water on rack back in pot from step 1. Use tongs and wear thick rubber gloves to protect yourself. Ensure water covers jars by at least an inch. Boil for 15 minutes.
Let cool in pot for several minutes and then remove. Let cool completely. You should hear the jars pop as the lid seals.
If the jar does not seal, store in a refrigerator and use in 2-3 weeks. Otherwise your jars should last around a year. Hurrah!