Artwork inspired by Leafy Vegetables

Sometimes I have to get my paints out and get creative! Tonight, my inspiration was our leafy vegetables that we had grown last year. I decided to use six different small canvases and highlight a different leafy vegetable on each canvas. I looked through my 2011 photos and picked six of our most beautiful veggies as the subjects for my paintings- romaine lettuce, pac choi, arugula, red chard, red leaf lettuce, and dinosaur kale. 

I wasn't trying to paint in a photo realistic style, but more of a colorful impressionistic style.  Being a perfectionist at times, I can get stuck working on my paintings for several weeks and even months just fixing an adjusting small details. I tried to approach these paintings with more of a "farming attitude" - which I consider to be an attitude of enthusiastic hard work but willingness to let go of small details and things that are out of our control. With that mindset, I was able to finish these paintings in just 4 hours! I think this is the first of many farm-inspired artwork I will be creating this year.

Now, these paintings proudly hang in our kitchen!  If anyone else out there is interested in commissioning me to do paintings for you, shoot me an email!

New Growth - 2012 Style

It has been a month since we planted our lettuce seeds in our indoor hydroponic Aerogarden and now it is exploding with tasty leaves! We have been able to make several salads as well as invent a creative new recipe - Asian lettuce wrap sushi - from the lettuce that is growing in our tiny home office. The best parts of growing this winter lettuce inside is the lack of bugs and that feels so clean due to not growing it in the dirt. Even though I love this small hydroponic setup, it still doesn't change the fact that we would love a greenhouse/hoop house one day so we can grow in the dirt and on a bigger scale during the winter season! There is something I love about putting my hands in the dirt and getting messy that can't be replaced by a tidy system.

This craving for getting dirty led us to by a bag of organic seed starter mix and add to our indoor garden and growth. We got out the sugar snap pea, kale, rainbow chard, and brussel sprout seeds. We put together the seedling heating mats, seed trays, and clear plastic lidded containers.  Then, we went to work MAKING A DIRTY MESS! :) Thankfully, our vacuum fixed the mess part later! Now we have about 100 seedlings growing in our office in addition to the lettuce garden. Since we are using every square inch of our two-bedroom apartment already, we had to get creative to fit all of garden-starting endeavors in our space. One thing is for sure... we have the most well lit area for typing up this blog!!

Our desk and bookshelf are radiating light!

In addition to our "apartment gardening," we have also commissioned our friends, Kathy and Irv of ESP of MO, to help us grow some of our Spring crop seedlings in their greenhouse. We are excited about getting the farm started again soon and about making new connections with those interested in buying our organic produce.

It's official now...We have hats!

Today was Damian's birthday and it was the last day of the Missouri Organic Association conference in St. Louis. We decided to have a different kind of "farm fun" and go mingle and talk with other farmers. Of course, we had to go to the MOA conference representing our own farm project with our new "Leafy Greens Farm" hats.

We talked up the vendors, sampled some local Missouri farm products, and attended a few sessions while at the conference. We learned how we can use Blue Hubbard Squash as a trap crop for our pests/nemeses - cucumber beetles and squash bugs. I learned about how to write a business proposal to help us secure grants in the future. Lastly, we learned about a farm in Nashville, TN called Delvin Farms.  They are running a 800 member CSA as well as selling produce to restaurants and wholesale. They are running an unbelievably cool and profitable operation on their 96-acre farm that started in 1972. They were way ahead of the curve in organic produce and became certified organic in 1998. Too often, we hear about farmers struggling to make enough money to pay their bills and how profits are not to be expected in the first 5-10 years. During their presentation, Damian asked a million questions and we stayed after their presentation to ask more about how they were about to make their farm so profitable. They were informative,  professional, and even invited us down to Nashville to tour their farm. True southern hospitality & true inspiration!

Another vendor of note that we came across in the conference was Slow Foods. According to their website, Slow Foods is "an international, educational organization devoted to promoting fresh, local, and sustainably-produced food, biodiversity, and the preservation of food traditions, as well as celebrating the pleasures of the table." They host farm/health related movie screenings and fun events such as the Drop.Swap.Grow., which is a Seed Swap in St. Louis on Saturday, February 25 from 12-3pm. Check it out if you are interested.

With Damian's job traveling all over Illinois, he has had the opportunity to tour a couple other small farms this week that we want to give recognition to: Golden Oldies Farm in Decatur, IL and Biver Farm in Edwardsville, IL. Both were gracious enough to let him have a tour without an appointment and talk about small farm practices. Other "good people growing great produce." :)

Brussel sprouts - think of them as cute little baby cabbages

Brussel sprouts are one of the most despised vegetables of young people, but really they are just misunderstood vegetables. If we could teach young people to view them as cute little baby cabbages, perhaps more young people would learn to love them. Another approach would be to cook them in more delicious ways. I was taught as a child that brussel sprouts were filled with MAXIMUM YUCKINESS and to avoid them at all costs. As an adult, I have decided to open my heart again and give those little baby cabbages a chance.

We have been wintering over our row of brussel sprouts because they did not seem to get a chance to grow to their maximum potential before the cold evenings started. We threw a double layer of row cover over them and waited to see what would happen. When we uncovered the brussel sprout row today at the farm, we saw some sprouts had grown larger, but most of the growth had stagnated. Unfortunately, the plants did not grow 3'+ tall like the seed catalog had described and we are wondering if our row cover had limited their upward growth. After a brief taste test, we decided to harvest about 7 plants (about 50+ actual sprouts) today and leave the rest in the ground to continue our wintering over experiment.

I am excited to try a few new recipes for brussel sprouts. I found the basic onion, balsamic vinaigrette, and brussel sprout recipe. However, I am open to any other interesting brussel sprout recipes from those of you who read the blog!

Seeds, sprouts, and lots of plans!

We took a little time off from going to the farm on the weekend and started discussing our plans for the upcoming year. We have LOTS of plans for this year in our personal life - getting married, going on a honeymoon, and possibly buying a house. We were not quite sure how farming was going to fit with all of our other plans.We had to figure out if we were going to downscale or try to farm the entire quarter acre this upcoming year. With both of us still working full-time jobs, we had to get realistic about our time commitment to the farm and our other future plans.

From our discussion, I learned is that it is really difficult to entertain the possibility of downscaling our farming efforts while looking at seed catalogs. When seed companies put pictures of beautiful plants and vegetables in their catalogs, they are targeting suckers like me who dream big and want to see if they can grow it too. There are too many awesome plants to not try our hand at growing. So, we came to the conclusion that we are still planting many different varieties of leafy greens and other vegetables in the spring. We will only plant about half of the quarter-acre during the spring and then decide about how much we want to do in the summer.


Seed catalogs and seeds

We are trying exciting new plants like endives, radicchios, and dinosaur kale. Our most successful crops from last year -romaine lettuces, cabbages, and broccoli -are still on the menu as well. We ordered from three different seed companies - High Mowing, Johnny's, and Morgan County Seeds - and focused on getting only organic seed. All of the seeds arrived within a week and I couldn't wait to start experimenting and growing things as soon as possible.

 I went into our storage shed and brushed the dust off our Aerogardens and started planting a few of the seeds. It still amazes me that delicious and nutritious vegetables can be grown from such tiny seeds. I planted a few arugala, mescalin, romaine, and rainbow chard. Within three days we had beautiful sprouts!! After seemingly endless hours of the arduous tasks such as weeding, dealing with bugs, and moving heavy things around the farm toward the end of last year, I had forgotten how exciting it is to see seeds sprout.    


Aerogarden

Salad Greens sprouts




We are excited for the new experiments the spring will bring. I am continuing to store up my energy and keep my muscles ready for the weeding that I know is just around the corner. :) And for those of you who are curious, we still don't have a date or destination picked for the wedding. Damian bought a lottery ticket last week and we are both hoping it is a winner so we can have a destination wedding in Greece and invite all of our friends! (If I keep dreaming big, one of them has to come true eventually.)

Cabbage Cooking Frenzy!

What does one do when you have 12 cabbages of varying sizes and colors? The answer is - go on a cabbage cooking frenzy! Yes, we gave some to family and friends; however, we also had to try our hand at several new cabbage recipes.

We were not sure if our cabbages would continue to grow after getting a series of cold nights, but they did. Our final harvest of 2011, brought us to have an overabundance of cabbages. We decided to clear out the cabbage rows and harvest all of them, small and large, because the deer had started to poke their heads through our row cover and nibble on a few cabbages. Apparently, the winter makes the deer extra desperate for food; therefore, they eat vegetables they normally would not care about - like our cabbages.

I was excited to try new cabbage recipes beyond the Galumpki, or meat stuffed cabbage roll, recipe we have enjoyed several times last year. I am not a fan of sauerkraut, so I wanted to try recipes beyond the traditional German fare. Damian made and canned Spicy Chow Chow - which is a cabbage based relish popular in the south. I found my three other fabulous new cabbage recipes that I thought I would share - cabbage borsch, sweet and sour cabbage, and kimchi.

Cabbage borsch was a wonderful winter soup that has three distinct flavors - sausage, lemony cabbage, and tomatoes. Sweet and sour cabbage is a wonderful alternative and taste is 1 million times better than any canned sauerkraut from the store. Lastly, the kimchi is a spicy Korean cabbage side dish. After making the recipe, I realize that I may need to decrease the chili powder amount in the next batch because it packs a powerful chili powder punch to the tongue. Be ready if you try it! :) I have included pictures and recipes below!

Cabbage Borsch

Sweet and sour cabbage

Kimchi

Cabbage Borsch

• 52 oz. of diced tomatoes
• 8 cups coarsely shredded cabbage
• 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 package of turkey smoked sausage
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 1 cup chopped apple
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1.       Saute onions, apples, and smoked sausage for 5-7 minutes.

2.       Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

3.       Reduce heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes

Sweet & Sour Cabbage

·         2 tbls butter or oil

·         3/4 cup chopped onions

·         6 cups thinly sliced red cabbage

·         1 Granny Smith or other tart apple, diced

·         3/4 cup apple juice or cider

·         1/2 tsp salt

·         Black pepper to taste

·         1 tsp dried dill

·         1 tsp whole fennel seeds

·         1/4 cup raisins (optional)

·         1 tsp caraway seeds

·         3 tbls cider vinegar

·         1 tbls honey

Directions:

1.      Saute onions in oil or butter until lightly browned.

2.      Add cabbage and continue to saute for 5-10 minutes.

3.      Add rest of ingredients except honey.

4.      Cook on low heat, covered, for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cabbage will be greatly reduced in volume. Cabbage and onions become sweeter the longer they simmer, so taste first, then add the honey and more vinegar if needed

Kimchi

·         1 large head Napa cabbage, cut into 2-inch pieces

·         5 tsp. kosher salt

·         ½ cup of Korean chili powder (may substitute American chili powder in smaller quantities)

·         1/3 cup of sugar

·         ¼ cup of fish sauce

·         ¼ cup of low sodium soy sauce

·         20 medium garlic cloves

·         6 tsp. of ginger

·         1 tbs. of canned mini shrimp

·         2 bunches of scallions, julienned

·         1 large leek, julienned

·         1 medium carrot, julienned

Directions:

1.      In a large bowl, toss salt and cabbage together. Refrigerate overnight. Drain water. Squeeze cabbage. Transfer cabbage to a new bowl and combine with scallions, leeks and carrots.

2.      Puree remaining ingredients in food processor and mix with cabbage and vegetables.

3.      Wait for 4 days up to 2 weeks to eat.

End of the 2011 Organic Farming Experiment & the Last Harvest of the Year!





2011 brought a lot outdoor fun for Damian and I. We decided to take on a project of organically farming a quarter-acre of land in Defiance, MO. We were so thankful for the opportunity to lease farm land from a man named Dr. Granger and start experimenting with growing vegetables and fruits.

We had our successes and our "learning experiences" in 2011. We grew hundreds of cucumbers and numerous watermelon, cantaloupes, and pumpkins.  We learned about squash bugs and cucumber beetles - the hard way.We shared our edamame and sugar snap peas with the deer, but still got enough for several meals. As for the Fall, we were able to grow enough romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, and pac choi to sell to a restaurant and make a profit. We learned that broccoli, cabbage, and pac choi are amazingly winter hardy plants. We also learned that some Fall plants need to be planted earlier than October so that we can harvest them before the first frost kills them. Weeding... ahhh, yes, we learned that weeding a quarter-acre of land is a time consuming and never ending process; however, we decided that it is a good back and upper arm muscle workout and can be more fun when music is playing. :)


A few snapshots of what our farm produced

We are amazed by what we accomplished in 2011. For two people who got inspired to start organically farming in February 2011, we were able to pull together the resources and the physical determination that it took to start a small farm. We shared "couple time" by weeding and marveling at the growth of the seeds we planted in the earth. We used fun new farm machinery and shared in the giddy excitement and the frustrations that came along with the 2011 growing season. We bought less vegetables from the store and learned how to can our own pickles, relish, jelly, and more. We became creative, resourceful, and productive in a way we hadn't been before. It is beautiful to watch seeds grow and marvel at the full extent to which vegetables and fruits can feed us and sustain us for months to come. Also, we were grateful for the opportunity to share our bounty with our family and friends as well.

Sharing bounty with family

This last day of 2011, we decided to go clean up the farm and get it ready for the new year. We harvested our last vegetables. YES, we harvested 30+ broccoli, 15+ cabbages, 5+ pac choi, and 3 lettuces on December 31st! UNBELIEVABLE! I would have never thought that be possible for vegetables to continue growing into the cold months without a greenhouse. When we got home, we made a delicious pot of broccoli cheddar soup to celebrate our last harvest of the year.

December 31st at the farm

We definitely are motivated to keep growing in the next year. As I type this, there are still garlic, carrots, and brussel sprouts growing through the winter under a blanket of straw at the farm. We thank you for following our blog and invite you continue to follow our farming journey in the new year!