Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter February 22 2015

If you have a pesky stepson roiling your domestic plans, send him off on a fatal errand. Such as it was with Theseus when his father was convinced to send him off to the fields of fennel where he was to kill the Cretan Bull. On the way to Marathon, the youth stopped by the hut of a devotee of Hecate, the goddess of potions and herbs for sustenance. She simply fed him a big bowl of Sonchus, or sow thistle greens. On this fare alone, he captured the bull that Hercules had thoughtlessly left to terrorize the countryside, and led it back to Athens. Subduing the massive bull required sagacity and serenity, not strength, and that is what the sow thistle provided. In kinder times before crates, it was fed to nursing sows to keep their milk flowing and disposition calm so they wouldn't roll over on the nursing piglets. Tomorrow, we will have a good quantity of this exceptional late winter pot herb, related to lettuce and chicory. It is time-consuming to harvest and clean, which is why few people gather it. We found a good patch in the Chesters that lent itself to the task, so if you all need a moment of sagacity and serenity, we have the green for you.

Tomorrow, when the bell rings at 10:00 AM, we will have a robust selection of late winter greens. Sorrel, chervil, cress, horned mustard, rocket, rape, sow thistle, kale, chard, late Treviso type chicory and Catalogna chicory. The last two weeks have pushed their growth along nicely.

We will also have spuds, sweet potatoes, preserves, frikeh, soft red wheat, beans, popcorn, cornmeal, cayennes and the last of the pumpkin seeds.

This is our last market until the 12th of July, when we return laden with fruit. If you need preserves before then, they are carried by the following stores:
City Market, 735 NW 21st Ave.
Food Front, both Hillsdale & NW Thurman
Foster & Dobbs, 2518 NE 15th Ave
Our Table, 13390 SW Morgan Road, Sherwood
Pastaworks, 3735 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Vino, 138 SE 28th Ave.

Hope to see you all tomorrow,

Carol & Anthony
Ayers Creek Farm

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter February 3 2013 Market

We are taking a moment off from filling out the 2012 Census of Agriculture to fill up the van for Sunday's Hillsdale Farmers' Market. We expect the market will start around 10:00 AM because it always does. Ho hum.

For Saturday, the 9th of February, Anna Stulz of Slow Food Portland together with Friends of Family Farmers has put together an evening at the Vintage Design Collective (7126 SE Milwaukie) centered on corn and wine. We will be joined by our good friends Kathryn LaSusa Yeomans and Mark Doxstader, who will cook up some corn treats, and Shari Sirkin of Dancing Goat Farm will enhance the evening with their vegetables. Arcane Cellars will be pouring wine for tasting. It will be a fun evening. Here is a link to the details:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/my-portland/2013/02/slow_food_portland_event_satur.html

Earlier the same day, we will be at Pastaworks, 3735 SE Hawthorne Blvd, from 3:00 to 5:00 for a Beautiful Corn event co-hosted by Powell Books. A busy day.

Here is what we will bring tomorrow:

Cornmeal: Amish Butter and Roy's Calais Flint
Acres USA is a national magazine for farmers dedicated to "eco-agriculture." The term encompasses organic, biodynamic and permaculture. This month featured an interview with Anthony and it has been interesting fielding the calls from kindred spirits in the corn world. They are scattered across the country, working with traditional varieties similar to ours. We are at the cusp of a re-localization of this wonderful grain. It is also encouraging to hear how our gentle approach to managing the land resonates with other growers.

On Monday, we gave a tour to 170 members of the North American Raspberry and Blackberry Association. They were a more skeptical audience, though over the years we have made a modicum progress with people at Oregon State. Nonetheless, they still regard Chesters as an unattractive and unpleasant fruit, and remain mystified that we are able to sell them. The problem is that they push their Chester for high yields as opposed to limiting the fruit and drawing our the best flavor. Funny how people understand the idea of limiting fruit load in wine grapes but reject the notion in berries. The same principle hold for corn as well where high yields and high quality are mutually exclusive outcomes.

Popcorn: Amish Butter.

Pulses: Dry beans and chick peas.

Cayenne Peppers: whole dried.

Winter Squash

Greens: various and chicories.
Treviso types, with their beautiful arching leaves and unsurpassed flavor. Also, some of the Catalogna types with their long green leaves bearing a crisp center rib. If you cut them lengthwise in linguini-sized strips and plunge the strips into ice water, they curl up corkscrew fashion. Dress with lemon juice, olive oil with a couple of anchovy fillets mashed into the mix.

Preserves: The tart cherry is now labeled and we will have it tomorrow.

Sweet Underground: horseradish, lots of beets, spuds, daikon, sweet potatoes, parsnips.

No more dithering, otherwise the van won't get filled.

Our best,

Carol and Anthony Boutard
Ayers Creek Farm