Summer Snacks: Spring Guacamole on Seaweed Sheets

CLICK PICTURES TO ENLARGE AND ENJOY

My time at Stone Barns has come to a close and while I'm in this grace period between farm jobs, I figure if I can't farm at least I can eat.  It's amazing how having this week off has been so strange.  After a year of straight working it's an odd feeling not to have a project connected with my everyday.  It's been an interesting experience recreating an identity after such a long period of connection.  Nevertheless, I still can't get the good food off my mind and I remembered as I was leaving the greenhouse for the last time I noticed the deep leafy greens of our cilantro plants standing up straight and strong.  Whenever I see cilantro my first thought is guacamole, but with no tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, or onions in season it just didn't seem to fit.  This is when I decided to put together a spring guacamole a simple concept.  I needed something with flavor and something with crunch to supplement the ingredients not yet available.   Clearly this wasn't going to be a fully local meal considering we aren't growing avocados here in the Northeast, but if I could use the majority of my ingredients from the area and only a couple from out of region, I feel that's a step in a good direction.  So using some

Pea update

CLICK PICTURES TO ENLARGE AND ENJOY

This weekend we truly welcomed in spring with the first 12 hour day of sunlight.  The movement and pace on the farm is changing.  The work days grow longer and I've started to finally feel how connected farming is to nature.  My schedule is very much a product of the sun, the moon and the earth, among other factors.  It was not all that long ago, I was fighting to get in my last transplants or soil bed preparations finished by a 4:30pm sunset and now it's 6:00pm before I know it and the sun is still hanging around long enough to let me get in my last tasks and still have time to sit and enjoy the greenhouse peacefulness.  The added heat and light increase the thirst of not just the plants, but the farmers as well.  Watering has increased more than twice as long in minutes per day and days per week and I've also noticed my water intake increase.  Distant memories of last summer pop into my head, it seemed as though we watered all day every day then, but in the winter, I found myself at times going a week or two without watering at all.  Earlier in the week, we discussed the increasing amount of bolting.  In many cases, the bolting is a sign that we will have to remove the remaining winter crops from the ground and prepare for the new wave of seedlings being brushed onto the soil.  For some plants, this surge is just what we've been waiting for.  Our pea experiment is prime for action as we've noticed a few of our stray plants starting to flower.  Last time we spoke about peas, I had just finished building my first trellis and we discussed the genetics experiment where we will be attempting to cross a purple podded pea with a sweet, tender green snow pea with the goal of developing a purple tender snow pea similar to the green Oregon Giant snow pea we love, but in order to begin, we need the peas to flower.  Interestingly enough...

I Think We Need A Little Space

CLICK PICTURES TO ENLARGE AND ENJOY

As discussed earlier in the week, our goal was to use the slower growing turnip roots to our advantage by inter-seeding 6 rows of the quicker growing and stunning Ruby Streaks mustard green.  In slightly over a month, as expected, both mustard varieties began to display their true leaves and we were ready to harvest and provide space to the mini turnips that were just getting underway.  Our beautiful plan was executed to perfection and in a matter of minutes we had harvested out the rows of deep purple whole plants leaving only strips of green and brown behind.  Not only was this a great way to get more growth from a potentially empty space, but...

Keepin' it Real, Real Seasonal: Sweet Curry Parsnip Soup with a sauteed leek and crispy bacon garnish

CLICK PICTURES TO ENLARGE AND ENJOY

Patience is a virtue as they say, and with the winter weather not quite setting in as expected, it's been tough to get into winter soup mode.  Nevertheless, it's been almost a year since the parsnips were seeded out in the field and there's no better time than late winter to get harvesting.  Just like carrots and spinach, parsnips help protect themselves through the colder and darker winter months by converting the sun's energy, usually stored as starch, into sugar.  This makes for extra sweet and delicious parsnips, perfect for a rich, creamy soup.  My first instinct was to look online for some recipes, but with such incredible food resources roming around the farm, I decided to put my faith in a passionate culinary school grad/Livestock apprentice and housemate, Sam, who broke down all the basics of how to make a great root veggie soup in a few easy steps.  Throw in some extra spices and this was one of the most