I really enjoyed reading this blog post from Gathering Together Farm about seeding onions.  It’s fun to see behind the scenes at a farm and to see an electric seeder machine up close.

Now I would like to show you how Curious Farm seeds leeks:

Using our favorite tool — benign neglect — we allow some of our leeks to bolt and flower.  We say it’s for the bees.  Bees love onion and leek flowers.  Did you know that?

Then the flowers dry up and fall over, get rained on, and become papery skeletons of their former selves.

Then one day in winter, we go outside to put some dried leaves and other garden debris in the compost pile.  When we pick up the leek flower, we see the seedlings growing right there where the dead flower fell over — hundreds of them, just from one of last year’s forgotten flowers.

In a few days, we will separate these hair-like leek seedlings and replant them in a new bed.  Many will survive and produce beautiful leeks.  Because this seed grew on its own from leeks that were happy in our soil, they’ll have an even better chance of growing well than other leek seedlings.

Curious Farm :  we take lazy gardening to new heights.

Why would you want to take a class at Curious Farm?

Because you can choose from a bounty of delicious organic vegetables and spices when making your sauerkraut, kimchi or pickles.

Your teacher is encouraging, thorough, and wears a pretty apron made by Chelsea Phillips (who will give me the link to her Etsy store as soon as it’s up).

When you arrive, everything is in order.  You have your own space for working.  There’s time to sit on comfortable furniture and try different fermented foods and become inspired by new flavor combinations.

Then things get messy and fun as we turn our vegetables into sauerkraut or kimchi.  Notice tea cups (and imagine paper plates).  There’s plenty of time for more kimchi or a turnip pickle.

When we’re all done, we put on a sauerkraut parade and show off our colorful jars of happy, ready-to-ferment vegetables.  You get to take the jars home and re-use them over and over as you make your own creations at home.

I really love to teach folks how to make fermented foods.  It makes me want to fly with joy.  I’ll teach more classes this summer and fall and will post dates here on the website.

Today is Imbolc/Candlemas/Brigid’s Day/ Groundhog’s Day.   All of these holidays have something to do with looking for signs of spring or returning to the garden again to prepare for the coming spring.  This is the day mid-way between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, and we can see signs of spring everywhere if we look.

Today I found daffodils coming up:

And I saw garlic coming up:

Hello, Rhubarb!  She made it through her first winter here!

And here is one of the generous kale plants that has been feeding us for more than a year — still producing delicious, tender leaves:

And here is the lady-in-charge among the hens.  It took me awhile to realize that this quiet, sweet, watchful one was really the big boss because the others were so noisy in their petty squabbles.  This one rules the roost, and she is just done molting.

Some robins are eating the crabapples still left on the Evereste tree out front.  Can you see three?

And then this sweet beet broke my heart…  look at her!  She survived the winter and is hanging on proudly to the dirt while she sends up glorious new leaves to welcome in the sun.  My gosh, how do we survive the winter sometimes?!  But we do.

Blessings to you as we head toward spring!

Food Front on NW Thurman Street in Portland now carries Curious Farm Spicy Radish Kimchi.  This variety of kimchi is very traditional, spicy, yet balanced in the way that it delivers heat.

Spicy Radish Kimchi is wonderful served with meats and fish.  It’s also delicious when tossed with rice or noodles.  Sometimes we even put it inside a quesadilla for a little fusion fun.

And speaking of Food Front, I’ll be down there sharing tastes of Curious Farm products on Saturday, January 21st, from 11 – 3pm.    I’ll have Curious Farm Sauerkrauts there, our Chili-Garlic-Ginger Sauce, the Spicy Radish Kimchi, and our Beet Kvass tonic drink.

I am uncrocking a batch of Curious Farm Ginger-Turmeric Tonic Sauerkraut this morning, and the color is glorious.  The smell is delicious — gingery, warm, uplifting.

Come to Food Front on NW Thurman Street this Sunday, December 11th, from noon – 3pm and try some of this healing sauerkraut.  It’s a burst of sunshine to give us all hope until the sun begins to grow again after Solstice.

Two bits of news: Food Front on NW Thurman Street now carries Curious Farm Pink Lady Sauerkraut. During the Beaverton Farmers Market season, Pink Lady became a real favorite — even among customers who swore they didn’t like sauerkraut. The organic pink lady apples mix with the cabbage to make a sassy, bright-tasting sauerkraut that looks gorgeous on a sandwich and will beckon you from the refrigerator late at night when you’re looking for a delicious bite of something.

And… I won’t be wearing pink (even though I resemble an apple), but I will be at Food Front this Sunday, December 11th, to share samples of Curious Farm Sauerkrauts, Beet Kvass, and our special Chili-Garlic-Ginger Sauce.  I’ll be at Food Front on NW Thurman Street from noon to 3pm, this Sunday.  Come say hi and let’s talk about live-cultured foods!

I never get tired of the magic of fermenting vegetables. Today I uncrocked a batch of Classic Sauerkraut that’s been fermenting since September. It’s “just cabbage,” but tastes rich, sweet, sour, with a wine-like depth and so much umami.

Cabbage + salt + time = sauerkraut.  The sum is always more than the parts.  And I don’t do the fermenting, either.  The vegetables do it themselves.  I just create the safe environment so that it can happen.

Let me know if you want some…

It’s fun to look inside other peoples’ refrigerators, isn’t it?  Here is the Curious Farm pickle fridge — specifically the fridge that stores the sauerkrauts and all that are ready for Market.

The Harvest Market is tomorrow, and I’m very excited to see everyone there again. I hope you’ll come down. As you can see from the photo, Curious Farm has made the switch back to glass. Next year, everything will be sold in glass again, and I’ll find other uses for the eco-friendly compostable deli containers I used for most of this year. Glass has its challenges, too, but we’ll move forward with glass in any case.

Look at those jars… so much love inside each one. Can you imagine what the Pickle Lab smells like when I’m shredding 40 – 50 pounds of sweet, green cabbage? Or the leeks from Sweetrock Farm? Or what it smells like when I’m peeling 8 heads of garlic for a batch of kimchi? It’s magic and medicine. Plucking dill seed for the cucumber pickles always makes me feel washed clean… the aroma of dill just refreshes the spirit.

It’s true that cabbages, cucumbers and other vegetables talk to me. I was going to make kraut out of the kohlrabi grown by Galin-Flory Farms, but the crunchy brassica spaceships  told me that they wanted to be a pickle instead. There was an awful day when I went to visit a produce stand with my mother and saw glorious, huge, vibrant cabbages that were screaming at me to turn them into sauerkraut. I went over to talk to them, and I tried not to cry. Sweetly, I explained that all of my fermenting vessels were full, and I couldn’t take them home. I told them I knew that other sauerkraut makers would be coming by today to scoop them up and let them ferment. I firmly believe that all cabbages grow up dreaming of becoming sauerkraut. Left to their own devices, they would ferment naturally. It is what they want to do, thank goodness.

This year, my customers surprised and encouraged me. Thank you. You know so much about the health benefits of these traditional, live-cultured foods! Some of you came to the booth every week or every other week, steadily encouraging me. You gave compliments that made me blush. You went out of your way to bring Curious Farm products to people you love.  Some of you even became addicted to kimchi this year!

When people ask about my new business, I always mention my customers. Pickle lovers are spirited, opinionated folks, and you didn’t fail me. I heard plenty of constructive criticism: “More garlic!” “Too spicy!” “More heat!” “More dill!” “I don’t know… that’s kinda weird…”

I listened to it all, and I learned so much. Thank you.

I can’t wait for next May, when the Market starts up again!  See you tomorrow…

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone at the Beaverton Harvest Market this Saturday, November 19th.  All of our products will be available in one-pound glass jars (size differences noted below) to make gift giving and winter storage easier.

Here’s what we’ll have available on Saturday:

SAUERKRAUTS:

Classic Sauerkraut $8.00

Leek-Horseradish Sauerkraut $9.00

Pink Lady Sauerkraut $9.00

Ginger-Turmeric Tonic Sauerkraut $9.50

Sauerruben $8.00

KIMCHI:

Spicy Radish Kimchi $9.00

Fall Harvest Kimchi $9.00

SAUCE:

Chili-Garlic-Ginger Sauce $9.00 (12 oz jar)

KVASS:

Beet Kvass Tonic Drink $5.00 (16 oz bottle)

PICKLES:

Spicy Garlic Dills $11.00 (two-pound, 32 oz jar)

Sour Kohlrabi $8.00

VINEGAR-BRINED FAVORITES:

Grown-Up Beets $9.00

Spicy Mexican Carrots $9.00

Giardinera $9.00

Pickled Red Onions $9.00

Herby Green Beans $11.00 (two-pound, 32 oz jar)