Renae Writes: How I Got Started Farming

A couple weeks ago I was asked if I grew up growing vegetables, or if I had dreams of being an organic vegetable grower.  The answer to both questions is no.  It is hard to believe considering I did grow up in Wisconsin – the dairy state and one of the leading states in organic production.  The only exposure I really had was visiting the nearby apple orchards and hanging out at my friend’s houses that had dairy farms. 

The desire to get my hands dirty and learn an important component in every human’s survival, food, began in October of 2006.  Five months after graduating from college, I found myself in Colorado, the fourth state where I'd found residency in my “post-college wandering blues."  I had just moved to a home off the grid at 11,000 feet elevation outside of Leadville.  I was caretaking a cabin while helping the owner finish constructing his nearby home.  Colorado is known for its 300+ days of sunshine--which we did have at 11,000 feet, but we also had a lot of snow!  The previous tenants had taken full advantage of the sunshine and built a small greenhouse.  From the moment I was shown the home I would be living in for the winter, the small adjacent 6’ by 12’ steeply pitched greenhouse caught my eye.  Maybe it was because it was the warmest place on site.  I was amazed with the growth that was happening inside this little building while I trekked through snow up to my thighs to reach it.  I felt like a young child again, getting so excited of something quite simple. 

I guess you can say this image is the inspiration to where I am now.  How could I be 23 years old and not know how to take a seed and nourish it through life to feed myself or others?  I spent the winter reading books and sketching rotational field plans before taking an apprenticeship on Vancouver Island for a season.  I still find myself feeling like a child whenever something new ripens or when there is a table full of seedlings. 

Caramelized Onion and Leek Pasta with Arugula

A simple way to fancy up a pasta dish.  The caramelized onions and leeks offer a sweetness as the arugula gives it a little bite.

1 Tbsp Olive oil
2 cups coarsely chopped leek
8 ounces uncooked linguine
1 cup chicken broth
¼ cup dried currants
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
¼ cup heavy cream
¾ tsp salt
2 cups coarsely chopped arugula
½ cup (2 ounces) cubed mozzarella
½ tsp chopped fresh thyme

1.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add leek and onion, cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown. 

2.  While onion/leek is caramelizing prepare pasta. 

3.  Bring broth to a boil in small saucepan, add dried currants and vinegar.  Add broth mixture, cream and salt to onion/leek mixture.  Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat, stir in chopped arugula, cubed mozzarella and thyme.  Add to pasta and gently toss to combine. 

From www.myrecipes.com.

Carolyn Cruso to perform at Fall Crush and Apple Cider Festival, October 9, 1:00-3:00 pm

San Juan Islands Songstress Carolyn Cruso celebrates autumn with a show this week at the Tunnel Hill Winery on Saturday, October 9th, from 1-3pm. Cruso weaves a web with her fine guitar playing, expressive vocals, poetic writing and intricate hammered dulcimer compositions. Call 509/682-3243 for more info.From street performing in Europe amongst musicians, jugglers, comedians, one-man bands, mimes, and contortionists, to traveling the Renaissance Fair circuit, to recording and co-producing with Billy Oskay (founding member of the Windham Hill recording and touring ensemble Nightnoise and producer of many Windham Hill, Narada and Green Linnet recording projects), Carolyn Cruso has led a musically adventurous life. She has traveled the world moving audiences with her expressive voice, flute, guitar and hammered dulcimer talents.

This multi-instrumentalist moves gracefully between the various instruments she plays, taking you on a magical journey of storytelling, instrumental music and lyrical song. “With her sensational talent, variety of musical styles and instruments, and fascinating anecdotes, she gave the audience an unforgettable evening of wonderful music,” says Jerene Weitman, from the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, NY.  Her show is a combination of instrumental and singer/songwriter pieces, drawing material from most  of her eight albums including her July 2009 singer/songwriter release “Have You Ever,” which features fourteen songs spanning folk, pop, jazz and alt. country styles. Guest artists include Harry Manx on slide guitar, Willie Thomas (Peggy Lee) on trumpet and fluegel horn, Sandin Wilson (Gino Vannelli) on fretless bass, Chris Leighton (Laura Love) on drums and percussion and producer Martin Lund on sax, clarinet, Fender Rhodes and accordion.  Carolyn tours both regionally and nationally.  She’s shared stages with a variety of artists such as Peter Mayer, Jan Krist, Randal Bays, Pierce Pettis, Tom May, Jim Page, and DougSmith.

A master of the hammered dulcimer, Carolyn is an innovator.  She pushes the boundaries of the traditional approach while honoring the original spirit. Her style is improvisational, lyrical and percussive.  She uses effects like bending notes and playing two notes with one hammer. She incorporates the independent hand technique of percussionists as well. “Through her hands the instrument became a living organism of beauty…this music must be what heaven sounds like,” says Charlie Vervalin of the Black Rose Acoustic Society.  Her songwriting ranges from poetic to narrative.  Her lyrics, spanning from poetic to narrative, explore love, loss and regeneration.  She masterfully lays these over an intricate finger picking guitar style and open tunings, which allow her to find the rich voicing in the chords she hears. The Eugene weekly calls her music, “Intricate musical poetry…fine guitar work.”  Her show like her music is timeless and transportive in nature. 

www.carolyncruso.com  *  www.MySpace.com/carolyncruso

“Boundless highlights both Carolyn’s fluid playing style and the broad knowledge of Celtic music she brings to her compositions.  A gorgeous listen throughout!”

~Sing Out! Magazine

 {of Have You Ever}“For the adventurous listener…Cruso’s voice has the ability to go from folk to jazz to late night and sultry blues without advertising the change…a lot more going on here than folk…a very fluid album”

 ~Frank Gutch, Folk Acoustic Music Exchange, New Hampshire

 “Impressive”

 ~Jon Bream, Minneapolis Star Tribune

 “It’s beautiful music and it breathes so deeply”

 ~Jessica Williams, jazz pianist and composer

Renae Writes: Simple Black Bean & Poached Egg Soup

With the threat of cool nights, I can officially say (for myself at least) it is crock pot season.  This cool weather has provoked three crock pot meals in the last week.  I can remember the transition of the season, the shorter days, the tree’s turning colors, was always the trigger for my mom to start Sunday soups.  She would throw a soup together mid morning let it stew all afternoon and right around sun downwe would sit around the ‘novel’ woodstove and enjoy the day’s creation.  Although 3 out of five times it was a variation of lentil soup my favorite was always any kind of black bean soup.  

This black bean soup recipe is one that I put together after traveling around Costa Rica.  It is a combination of a soup that I had with a family I stayed with and soup that I had at a small ‘Soda’ in San Isidro.  Very simple, but the key ingredients far as I am concerned is the perfectly poached egg added at the end.  Oh, and the cilantro!

Simple Black Bean & Poached Egg Soup

2 cups dried black beans
5 cups water/chicken stock
5 roma tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ sweet onion, chopped
1 pepper, diced
¼ poblano pepper, diced
1½ Tbsp chili powder
salt & pepper to taste
handful of cilantro, chopped
eggs
sour cream (optional)

Put the black beans and water or stock in crock pot on high for 4 hours (add more water if necessary).  Put half the beans into a blender and return to crock pot.  Add everything to the crock pot except the cilantro and egg.  Let the mixture simmer for 1.5-2 hours. 

Scoop out portion needed for your meal (this recipe is enough for 6 portions) and place in a saucepan.  Set stove top to Med/High, once there is a rolling boil crack desired amount of eggs in soup.  Carefully continue to mix so soup does not burn to the bottom of the pan but allowing the egg to cook thoroughly.  I like to add as many eggs as portions so everyone gets a poached egg in their bowl!  Top with cilantro and sour cream. 

Renae Writes: High Tunnel Tomatoes

With the fall equinox approaching the cool nights are a threat.  Well maybe I am a little premature on the thought, but we did go ahead and put the plastic endwalls back up on the high tunnel.  The high tunnel is where we planted the first of the tomatoes back at the beginning of April and yes you are still enjoying those tomatoes!  After a little adjustment with the soil and figuring out how to moderate the temperatures in the heat of the summer we had a successful year with the tomatoes.  We had tomatoes in the high tunnel at least 3 weeks before our outside tomoatoes started to turn, and now hopefully we can prolong the tomato season with the endwalls up. 

The high tunnel is a 90’ by 30’ unheated structure that’s temperature is controlled by venting (i.e. wind blowing through the tunnel) and a misting system.  It is completely enclosed in the shoulder seasons during the winter, and during the nights in the shoulder seasons.   The two long sides have vented walls that roll up and down during the day.  And in the summer the endwalls are completely removed and the sidewalls rolled all the way down to allow for maximum ventilation.

Last year was our first year growing in the high tunnel, and the summer’s heat proved to be too hot for the tomatoes, reaching into the low 100s by 10:30am.  This year, we isntalled a mister system that extends from the rafters and would be on constantly from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm throughout most of July and part of August.  The mister system kept the temperature just where we wanted it--in the low 80s, even when it was in the high 90s outside.  We worried that the added moisture might lead to fungal disease, but we never saw anything, thank goodness.  We always made sure we turned off the mister with enough time for the tomato foliage to dry before nightfall.

Even with these cool evening temperatures, the high tunnel will hopefully continue to ripen tomatoes for another month or more.  The only conflict is that we'd like to get in there to plant our winter greens!  I guess we may just have to think about putting up another high tunnel...