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Calling all foodies and thinkers!!

2/27/2020

Nourishing Hope: Dinner and Ideas
(working title... anyone great at coming up with good titles?)

We're partnering with Farm to Fork Cafe for an exclusive dinner conversation! This is for foodies and thinkers. Adam and Rae will lead a conversation on topics that animate us, that we just don't have time to delve into in the farmers market bustle: climate change on the farm and farmer-led solutions, policy at the local and national levels that affect small family farms, ideas and practices around food justice and farm justice, including racial and economic injustice that are built into our current food systems, and more. Bring your appetite and thoughts to the table and let your mind and tastebuds expand with delicious Barr Farms fare lovingly prepared by Farm to Fork Cafe. This will be a small intimate event to allow for depth of conversation.

Menu:
Appetizer
Salad
Barr Farms chicken dinner and two sides (vegetarian option available)
Dessert
One glass wine or beer (or nonalcoholic beverage)

Thursday, April 2
6 pm
Farm to Fork Cafe
2425 Portland Ave, Louisville, KY 40212
$29

We are REALLY excited about this event! It's going to be delicious... um, I mean fun. Look forward to seeing you there!

This event will be open to CSA members first, as a thank you to our members.

Tomatoes are like babies... wait, what?

2/27/2020

I end up talking about tomatoes a lot this time of year. They have a long growing life, so they're always the first thing we get started for the year. Plus, we have many rounds of plantings so we have tomatoes at different stages to go into the high tunnels and then outside into the ground after Derby.

We start the tomatoes in our basement near the wood stove. They like to stay warm and cozy. Tomato seeds take about a week of living in damp warm conditions before it bursts its shell and becomes a tiny plant.

After it germinates, it stays in our basement till it gets tall enough to be transplanted. At that point, we make larger soil blocks to transplant the tomatoes in so the roots have more room to grow. Check out the two plants below: They are both the same type of tomato, but in a different stage of growth. They have been in the same tray, but one took off, taking up all the room. So they both need more room. The larger one will continue to grow and the smaller one will finally get some room to spread its wings so to speak!

The transplanted tomatoes take up a lot more space, so it's time to fire up the greenhouse, literally. We have a rocket mass heater in the greenhouse, which means it's a special small fire that gets really hot... hot enough to burn up the gasses the fire makes, so it burns really clean. The heat from this hot fire gets directed through a series of pipes that are buried under rock and mud ... the mass. The mass heats up and holds the heat, and releases it slowly over time.

On cold nights like last night, Adam started the fire about 4 pm, kept it going and heating up the mass till about midnight, and then went to bed. This morning, the fire was out, but that was expected. The large mass table that the tomatoes were sitting on was still warm, and the tomatoes were doing fine. So at least tomatoes don't wake up at 3 am wanting to be fed, but they do require consistent checking on and staying up late to be sure they are going to be ok through the night. To see our facebook video from last year that explains the rocket mass heater, check out this post.

This is the beginning of the tomato journey! Much more to come.

Recipe: Sausage, White Beans and Kale

2/5/2020

This recipe was submitted by Sarah Fritschner. She's an expert cook who likes to break it down to what is easy and what tastes good. She shared this with us cause it's all Barr Farms food! Sausage from the recent meat deliveries, and kale that she bought in the middle of the season to freeze for the winter. If you froze some greens, here's an idea of how to use them! Thanks Sarah!

Sausage, white beans and kale
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces Italian sausage
1 to 2 cups frozen, chopped kale or spinach (8 cups fresh, chopped)
1 to 1 ½ cups cooked or canned white beans (navy, Great Northern etc.)
2 cups chicken broth
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
½ teaspoon oregano
Salt to taste

Heat oil in a heavy, deep skillet over medium-high heat. If your sausage is in links, cut away the casings and break up the meat into the skillets. Brown well, stirring and breaking up the meat. Add remaining ingredients except salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until much of the liquid is evaporated, leaving a sort of thick sauce to bind the ingredients. Taste for salt. Serve over rice, with pasta or grits. Serves 4.

Calling all foodies and thinkers!!

Tomatoes are like babies... wait, what?

Recipe: Sausage, White Beans and Kale

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