END OF SUMMER & MY ENDLESS GRATITUDE →

September 24, 2018 Katie Green

WILD HARE WEEKLY SUMMER#18/18

I’m staring down such a huge week at the farm. Not only is this our final week of the Summer CSA, I’m feeling extra pensive, because a year ago this week, Mark and signed papers and wired funds to purchase the farm. It took every penny we could pinch together, but it was a price that we were somehow brave enough to pay for a chance at doing the work that we love for (and with) the people who give it meaning. It has taken me forever to write the newsletter, because I keep pacing the fields instead, thinking of who we are and who we have become as a farm. Not a day goes by that I am not overwhelmed by this piece of land and its capacity to simultaneously delight, frustrate, terrify yet sustain us. But when I think of the people who these acres continue to bring together, it always gets me going. Mark and I often muse that we don’t know what we did in life to be so lucky as to have the people come into our lives that have, but here I am today, feeling in awe you all—my great extended farm family here at Wild Hare—our crew, our CSA, our market shoppers, our chefs, our neighbors and our wonderful (legal) family who are the reason we put on our boots and show up each day to work hard and love harder. Thank you so much for your support and letting us grow here for you, this season and beyond. We are so grateful to be your farmers and friends.

Best,

Katie & Mark

PS: I’m sending you all off into the Fall season with some of my favorite weeknight recipes below for all of that awesome celery and those carrot tops. So, be sure to check those out. And, if you’re hoping to sign up for your Fall CSA, what are you waiting for? This crazy crew pulled in the first 6 bins of Winter Squash to cure in the greenhouses last week and we’d love to send some of it home with you to enjoy over the next few months.

ROUNDING OUT SEPTEMBER WITH RAINBOW CARROTS, RED RADISHES & FLAVOR KING PLUOTS →

September 17, 2018 Katie Green

WILD HARE WEEKLY SUMMER#17/18

With the Autumn Equinox at hand, and only two pickups left for the Summer CSA, we couldn’t ask for a more natural transition into Fall. Cherish weeks like this one—when we have one last chance to bake Zucchini Bread, or treat ourselves to a little tomato salad for lunch, but still have every good reason to make a pot of warm soup…YEAH! I know that it won’t last, so I feel pretty smug when I get to choose between sweet and juicy Flavor King Pluots and new crop Apples at snacktime. Many of you students and teachers are settling back into the classroom (double YEAH!). Even our crew members, many of whom are college students, part-time teachers and parents are shifting back into the fall routines. I almost forgot to pack Hazel’s lunch this morning, which proved to be a good thing—that lucky ducky left home with the brightest box of rainbow carrots and crisp little red radishes from our morning field walk. And guess what, you too can too!

MODES OF PRESERVATION: HOW WE HOLD ONTO THE LAST BIT OF SUMMER →

September 10, 2018 Katie Green

WILD HARE WEEKLY SUMMER#16/18

I just scrambled in from the pepper beds, soaked from a squall of rain that swept through just a moment ago. The farm, both our fields and our people, have nearly forgotten what it is like to feel rain like this. It marks a significant transition in our Harvest year. The lettuces and fall brassicas will love it, but in the open field, our field tomatoes will likely succumb to splitting and decay. It has been a beautiful run, but now it is time to be sure and tuck some away to savor over the next few months. In fact, that is what Mark and the crew did with a break in the action last week. Mark and I used to do a whole lot more things like this, back before we were parents to a child and owners of a business. Some of you out there reading this are marvelous preservers, and trust me, Mark is one of the best know. (Someday, I hope we can extract him from his tractor long enough to host one of our infamous “Putting up with Mark” workshops). But at some point for us, boiling up a water bath canner and chasing a child around the house just didn’t go hand in hand. So, when a member of the CSA asked me to send out some advice on how to preserve food in lieu of recipes this week, I found myself initially digging into the archives of my brain, longing for simpler times (ha!). But the more I thought about it, the more inclined I was to share with you what preservation actually looks like for us, busy farmers and tired parents who are surrounded by infinite potential and an endless collection of (empty) mason jars.