July 8TH

July 8, 2020

Our Vibrant Friends!

We’ve arrived. July. Hot sun. Harvest plenty. Emergence of bright faces of flowers, seeming to open before your very eyes, petals unfurling as you make your way down each bed to cut and bunch them. Clouds passing in the sky less often. Earth craving water, celebration, and relentless tending. 

Restaurant harvest. Weekly boxes. CSA. Seeding. Planting. Weeding long reaching beds of tender carrot seedlings amid thralls of hungry grasses, pigweed, horsetail. Careful cradling of their soft green toppings as you pull out surrounding wildlings to allow for cultivated growth. Hours passing. Sweat collecting. Pride pooling. Knowledge that at least for these few moments we are present in the presence of farmland. Yes, the pandemic rages on, injustice burns and mars, corruption blooms, but here we are lucky to breathe deeply and tend to land.

At one end of a row, the Killdeer couple we have known for years have made their nest. The nest is open, presented naked on the ground, easy for all to see. Should you step anywhere close to the nest, perhaps passing by on your walk to the eucalyptus or collard greens, you hear the Killdeer couple begin to cry. They then begin to dance, each one far away from the other, and from the nest. One will throw its body backward, legs akimbo and writhing, neck at awkward split, body in apparent fatal injure, ready for easy hunting. Look! The Killdeer calls. I am easy prey! I will be delicious. So much more so than those eggs of mine. Rush to me, I will make for fine snacking. And only when you have done just that and moved close to the broken bird, the Killdeer will swiftly right itself and fly farther from the nest. Then, elsewhere in the field, you’ll hear the call of its mate, and see it there, on its back, as if injured too, twisting wild.  On and on until that open nest is distant memory.  Hunting insects by night and guarding nest by day, the Killdeer sing and dance in face of danger. They circle their brood to be. The world keeps turning. 

For us too, and for you, the sun is rising and setting still. Today and tomorrow, we make our promise to each other and to you that as known fears encircle, we will keep pushing our hands into this soil, and feeling gratitude for all we have. 

We will work hard and be thankful. We will choose for you the reddest beets, and proudest purple leaves of kale.  We will weed those young carrots, and wash your silky salad with care. We call out to each other in the field – this day is beautiful! 

This day is bright.

Love and gratitude to you and yours,

-- Rosemary Stafford for Vibrant Valley Farm

RECIPE IDEA OF THE WEEK:

FLASH CHARRED PICKLING PARTY! 

Ingredients

1. • 1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar or cider vinegar

   • 1/2 cup sugar

   • 1 teaspoon salt

   • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds OR dill seeds

   • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds OR red chili flakes

   • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns

   • 2 bay leaves

   • 2 cloves garlic, sliced

   • 2 pounds cut cucumbers, swiss chard stems, thick sliced purple top turnips 

Can also be made with cauliflower and broccoli florets, thinner cut beets, beans, carrots, kohlrabi, daikon, onion, jicama, okra, melons etc.

Preparation

BRINE:

Put the vinegar, sugar, salt, peppercorns, and bay leaves in a small saucepan over medium heat. For milder pickles, add the mustard and coriander seeds. For a spicy dilly version, add the dill seeds and red chili flakes instead of the mustard and coriander. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and add the garlic. When it cools, pour it into a large, nonreactive metal or glass bowl. 

GRILL YOUR VEGETABLES:

1. Start the coals or heat a clean gas grill for medium-high direct cooking. 

2. Prep the vegetables. Put the vegetables on the grill directly over the fire. (For smaller pieces, use a perforated grill pan, or skewer them to make them easier to handle.) Close the lid and cook the vegetables, turning them as necessary, until they brown deeply on all sides without softening; how long this takes will depend on the vegetable and how hot the fire is, but figure between 5 and 15 minutes total for most vegetables. Stay close to the grill, check them early and often, and move them to cooler parts of the grill to control the coloring. 

3. As they finish, transfer them to the bowl with the brine. When all are done, toss the vegetables with the brine to coat. Cover the bowl and refrigerate, tossing the vegetables every 30 minutes so, until the flavor and texture fully develop, at least 3 hours. Serve right away, or keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.