Recipes

Spring Rolls
1/4# snow peas, turnips or beets
8 shiitake mushroom, julienne
1 carrot, julienne
3 scallions or green garlic, chopped
1 head napa cabbage, shredded
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cup spinach, kale or chard chopped
1/4# tofu, meat, fish or keep it just raw veggies
1 bunch cilantro
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
20 or so spring roll wraps

Heat oil in wok. Add mushrooms and tofu/meat with pepper flakes. Remove from heat, stir in the scallion/ green garlic and cilantro. Place in a colander to drain and cool. Fill a large bowl with hot water. Dip a wrap in the water for 1 second or until soft. Add veggies and cooked items and roll up like a burrito. We like to dip them into a peanut sauce made from a mixture of rice vinegar, sesame oil and peanut butter.

Spinach and Rice (Spanakorizo)
1/3 cup olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 pounds fresh spinach, rinsed and destemmed
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 teaspoon dill
1 teaspoon parsley
to taste, salt and pepper
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
Feta cheese, crumbled, optional garnish
freshly squeezed lemon juice, optional garnish

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onions in the oil until soft and translucent. Add spinach, and cook stirring for a few minutes. Then, pour in the tomato sauce and water. Bring to a boil, and season with parsley, dill, salt and pepper.
Stir in rice, reduce heat to low, and simmer uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes (or until rice is tender). Add more water if necessary.

Mustard or any other Green, Nepalese-style
3 tablespoons peanut or grapeseed oil (olive oil has too low a smoking point for this recipe)
1 pound greens, cleaned and coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric

Heat the oil until almost smoking. Add the greens and stir to prevent burning. Once wilted, add the spices. Stir thoroughly, turn the heat to low, cover, and cook for about 5-15 minutes.
Add a little hot water if the greens start to burn. Make sure all water has evaporated before serving.

Chard with Pine Nuts and Raisins
2 bunches Swiss chard,
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon marjoram
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup pine nuts

Put the raisins in a small bowl and cover them with hot water. Let them soak until you are ready to add them to the dish. Cut chard into 1/2 inch pieces. Put the butter and oil in a large saute pan and melt over a low heat. While the butter is melting, use a small frying pan to toast the pine nuts. Heat the pan over a medium heat. Add the nuts, and toast, stirring frequently until they begin to brown slightly. When the pan with the oil is heated, add the thyme and marjoram. Stir and add the chard promptly. As soon as the chard is down to a manageable volume, add the drained raisins. Turn the heat very low and cover for just a few minutes until the chard wilts completely. Taste the chard, and add salt and pepper as desired. Immediately prior to serving, stir in the pine nuts.

Herb Dressing
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon wine vineger
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (we prefer grape seed oil)
1 tablespoon flax oil
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, oregano, rosemary, thyme or basil

Mix mustard and vinegar. Add oil in a thin stream until well mixed. Stir in flax oil and herbs.

Kimchi (Korean Sauerkraut)
1 head chinese cabbage, shredded
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 bunch green garlic or 3 cloves, minced
1 bunch radish, grated (optional)
1 cup carrot, grated
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1/2 tablespoon dried chile flakes (or more)
1 tablespoon sea salt
4 tablespoons whey (if not available, use an additional 1 tablespoon salt)

Place veggies, ginger, garlic, red chile flakes, sea salt and whey in a bowl and pound with a wooden pounder to release juices. Place in a quart size, wide mouth mason jar and press down firmly until juices come to the top of the cabbage. The top of the veggies should be at least 1 inch below the top of the jar. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 3 days before transferring to cold storage. Eat anytime after the 3 days but the longer it stores the stronger it gets!

Miso Broth with Greens
1 bunch scallions, baby leeks and or green garlic
3 thin slices fresh ginger root
5 cups dashi stock or vegetable or chicken stock
1 bunch greens, bok choy, chard and/or kale
2-3 small carrots, cut jubilee
7 ounces firm tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes
4 tablespoons red miso (or more to taste)
red chiles for some heat

Add scallions, ginger and carrots to stock. Heat mixture until gently boiling, then lower and simmer for 10 minutes. Add greens and cook for a few minutes. Mix 3 tablespoons of the miso with a little of the hot soup in a bowl, then stir it into the soup. Taste soup and add more miso to taste.

Chinese Cabbage Asian Stir Fry
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more)
1 head chinese cabbage, shredded
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Stir together rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil and ginger. Set aside. Heat oil in wok over medium-high heat. Add garlic and pepper flakes and stir fry until aromatic but not scorched. Add cabbage and stir fry until limp not mushy. Add sauce mixture, stirring in 1-2 minutes, until liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Balsamic Dressing
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2-6 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup salad oil (I like grape seed oil)

We add everything to a mason jar and shake thoroughly. Enjoy on a spinach salad!

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April 30th Newsletter 1

Well folks, this is where it all begins, fresh vegetables from our farm to your kitchen (and stomach) for the next 28 weeks! Today we were busy harvesting greens, lots of them over 40#, all hand picked! All of our greens are "rinsed" twice and then bagged. Tomorrow you will have to choose from three different kinds of spinach, two different kinds of kale, swiss chard, perpetual spinach, mustard greens, bok choi, tatsoi, mizuna, chinese cabbage, head lettuce, parsnips, green garlic, leeks, scallions, sprouts and numerous kinds of herbs.

The spinach types are Tyee, a crinkled type hybrid from Johnny Seed company. We like growing this type because of its holding ability (not bolting) when it gets hot. The second variety is a Italian heirloom called Merlo Nero from our favorite seed company Baker Creek. Merlo Nero, also a savoy type was chosen to be grown here on the farm because its from Italy and those Italians know good vegetables! Monnopa is the third type, it is from Seed Savers Exchange and is my favorite spinach. It's supper sweet, high in vitamin A, C and E and low in oxalic acid. Low acid improves the absorption of calcium and other minerals. We also have some great kale choices like Toscano and Red Russian. Personal I like the Red Russian more because I think it is sweeter, however Toscano seems to be very popular at markets. The reason may be because of the appearance of Toscano which has bumpy looking leaves, hence its other name "Dinosaur Kale"! Make sure you try some Gator Perpetual Spinach in the next few weeks too. I have to say this is wonderful. It is similar to swiss chard in appearance, but tastes more like spinach that just melts in your mouth. If your feeling like something more spicy, then check out the mustard greens. With all these greens we like to saute them in the morning (with herbs of course) and eat them with eggs topped with sprouts.

Enjoy your first week of fresh veggies!

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Spring Projects

Thousands of leeks and onions later....there all planted. This is just one of the many projects we are working on, now that spring has arrived at 6,700 feet! Before we plant, first we prepare the beds. We weed, add compost, rake and level out the bed and lay out the drip irrigation. Sounds quick but sometimes the weeds take over and we end up spending a lot of time weeding. We always add mulch after we transplant or seed and give the plants a good drink. Even though it's just spring, the sun will drain our soil of all the moisture.

Darren has been busy in the orchard. Here he is spraying a dormant oil on the trees. It is used to protect the trees from fungus, insects and other diseases. The fruit trees were pruned about two weeks ago. Its does not take us long because they are still young and small. We have also spent time weeding the base of the fruit trees and will soon fertilize them.






Our really big project this spring has been putting up another high tunnel. It has taken us a while because the weather has not been cooperating and planting is the main priority. We are close to being finished and are now waiting for a windless day to put the plastic on. The interns helped us dig out the beds last Friday and today we finished up with adding the amendments. I think we all need a trip to Orvis to soak our sore muscles.

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More Snow and Prehistoric Alligator Bugs!

Just when you think, oh we can plant outside, sure enough more snow. Actually 8 inches! This was the dome on Saturday evening. However, by Sunday afternoon all the snow was gone. Now we are left with mud mania. The dogs, our boots, our pants and even my hair...MUD! All we need now is good day of Colorado sun.






While it was snowing out, we released some more
lady bugs. We use many different insect predators, but lady bugs seem to work the best. They are also entertaining to release because they end up crawling all over you. We order about 70,000 lady bugs and release some every week spread out over about 6 weeks. They are stored in the refrigerator where they stay dormant. The lady bugs are thirsty when they wake up so we release them after we water. They eat aphids, our most persistent bug problem in the green houses. We also grow flowers like alyssum because they feed on the nectar. Its always exciting after a few weeks when you start seeing the lady bug larvae (a.k.a. prehistoric alligator bugs). They actually eat more aphids then the adults.







Buckhorn would like to welcome Jesse Jacobson, our second intern to arrive for the season. He is a returning intern like Miss Kubly and is also from Wisconsin. He is planning to stay for the whole season, maybe we can convince him to become a farmer one day. If you are out here on the farm please give him a warm welcoming.

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Warm Dome on a Cold Day

Well, we were a little bummed when we did not get our spinach and peas planted about two weeks ago. However, low and behold it started snowing and it has not stopped. The moisture is warmly welcomed as our garlic was thirsty and the land was dry. Now with 8 inches on the ground we feel thankful we did not plant. Instead we have been building a new bed in our dome, transplanting peppers, tomatoes, eggplant and starting more vegetables by seed. The dome is always a great escape on a windy snowy day.

Building the beds is quite the process. First we staple a bunch of sand bags in half, so that the beds are not too wide.
We then use a special contraption to fill the sand bags which then are stacked into the shape we want. As we build the bed, we also add chicken wire to help hold it place as well as providing foundation for the stucco. We have learned not to build the bed completely up before adding the chicken wire as we have knocked over beds before! The next stage we use garden staples to hold the chicken wire close to the sand bags, so that we use less stucco mix. Now we are ready for the first stucco layer, we are just waiting for a warm enough day to make up the mix. We will apply two layers and after it drys we will be ready to fill it with some soil. We like this system because the beds hold high amounts of thermal mass, they are fairly cheap and easy to fix. However, they are time consuming to construct but we usually can find some volunteers to help out.
We plan to plant melons (which are pictured here on the left), two satsuma mandarin, a lemon tree, a lime tree and a honey fig in April. We will train the melons to grow up the trellising and the trees will provide shade in the summer and yummy fruit. More medicinal plants will be added too, like the Chinese wolf berry, chaparral and sushni which all will be fantastic additions to our gotu kola, monstrous aloe plant, skullcap and numerous herb plants. The dome will soon be our own walk in medicine cabinet!

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2009 CSA Information

We have opened our 2009 CSA program to the public until we have filled all of our shares.

This years costs are $795 for our full share and $500 for our partial share. The price is based on an average weekly cost of $28 and $18 respectively. The memberships will last seven months, approximately April to October/November. The size of each share will vary each week depending on the season and the weather. We encourage everyone to participate in a full share for increased variety and value.

Pickup days is Thursday here at the farm from 4pm to 7pm. We also offer an alternative pickup location in Telluride on Thursdays from 5pm to 6:30pm for an additional cost.

Each membership will be supplied with a reusable tote bag for transportation of produce. You will also receive a weekly newsletter via our blog with news from the farm, wonderful recipes and produce to expect the following week.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have or if you want to visit the farm.

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