July 23rd
July 23, 2020
Our Vibrant Friends!
Last Friday we harvested our first round of Indigo. Our bodies bent over two long rows of ready reeds, cutting them swift at the base of each stem with fresh sharpened knives, loading bin after bin until we had gathered 6 vats worth. Then the dye making process began.
In coming newsletters, we will be sharing more on what Indigo means to us here at Vibrant Valley Farm. We will delve into its many magic properties, and will also be featuring Indigo farmers and dye masters that we love worldwide. We are allllll about that blue here at VVF, and we are honored to be a part of such longstanding tradition in its growth and cultivation.
For now, I share with you a poem I wrote for our VVF Founding Mother and Queen, Kara Gilbert.
Wild Blue
For Kara on her birthday
February 6th, 2020
Sometimes the truth of the blues is joy
A brilliance of sky
Dusk of farm turned to night
The hands of a woman
She was wild before she hit earth
From conception to birth she was ready
Her young limbs moving fast
Her heart steady
Her hair spun like the sun
Her eyes blue
What was she before?
A tumbling wave on the shore
Champagne in a glass
The light passing between rainbow and eye
The thrall of seed in the soil
At that moment of coil when everything changes
When a promise is made
Whether sun or stark shade
The magic will be
This life she has bloomed
She dances by moon and tends earth moments after
She knows that tears turn to laughter
When in tune with the land
She grows most any and all
But the belle of the ball
Are the seeds to the reeds to the bleed
Of wild blue
The indigo knows
Wherever the woman will go
She is ever bathed in the deepest of hues
Until next week, with love and gratitude to you and yours,
-- Rosemary Stafford for Vibrant Valley Farm
ROSE’S RECIPE IDEAS OF THE WEEK:
SUMMER MELON AND SHISO SALAD
Salad Ingredients:
3 cups cubed seedless watermelon (1 inch cubes or smaller)
1 cup crisp honeydew melon (1 inch cubes or smaller)
1 cup diced cucumber
3 scallions, cut thin
¼ cup chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
a few slices of jalapeño to taste for garnish
4-5 shiso leaves, stacked, rolled, and cut into thin ribbons for garnish
1-2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds for garnish
Sesame Lime Dressing Ingredients:
½ teaspoon finely minced ginger or ginger paste
1 ½ tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 ½ tablespoons honey or agave
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons shoyu or soy sauce
dashes to taste of yuzu hot sauce
dashes to taste of fish sauce
Preparation:
Place watermelon, honeydew, cucumber, scallions, and cilantro in a medium to large decorative bowl that gives you great joy.
Mix dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and then pour over the salad.
Gently toss. Admire how lovely it looks. Taste for salt, adding as needed to your personal whims.
Garnish with jalapeño, shiso ribbons and toasted sesame seeds.
Serve immediately and allow your eyes to close for a bit as you chew, so as to really taste that sweet spice of Summer.
WARM BEET, GOAT CHEESE, AND KALE SALAD WITH CHERRY VINAIGRETTE
Salad Ingredients:
2 lbs medium red, golden, and/or striped beets, scrubbed
Extra virgin olive oil to coat beets for roasting
Salt and pepper for beet seasoning
1 cup chiffonade of kale leaves
2 tablespoons toasted pepitas
1/3 cup (or more as you like) crumbly goat cheese
3-5 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
Cherry Vinaigrette Ingredients:
¼ cup cherries (simmered in ¼ cup red wine vinegar for 20 minutes)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Preparation:
For roasting of the beets: preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lay out a large sheet of foil on top of a roasting dish and spread the beets across evenly on the sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Top with another sheet of foil and crimp to seal the edges. Poke holes in the top to allow steam to escape. Place in the oven and roast until the beets are tender, 30 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven. Allow to cool in the foil pouch before loosening the skins and discarding. Quarter the peeled beets and place in a large bowl.
For the cherry vinaigrette: Drain the cherries, reserve the vinegar, and roughly chop the cherries. Whisk together the vinegars and cherries while slowly drizzling in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Deeeeelicious. Set aside until ready to use.
For the salad: Toss the warm beets with the cherry vinaigrette. Add the kale, pepitas, goat cheese and mint, continuing to toss. Season with salt and pepper.
Find your prettiest plate and pour out the salad onto it. Serve to loved ones, or simply to yourself. Remark to everyone or no one at all how beautiful it is and what an excellent chef you are.