salt crusted new potatoes. homemade eats

We were weeding our four beds of onions today and came across some volunteer potatoes that we had let grow amidst the onions. The plants were big, and we pulled them out along with two to three small bright potatoes. Just by weeding a few plants out, we got about three pounds of red, fingerling, and dark purple potatoes. They were beautiful in the dark soil, and so exciting to harvest.

Harvesting volunteers is so gratifying. Its almost a "free lunch," since there was no planning or maintenance involved to grow the food. And we make lunch from them. We like to keep some "wild" in our farm and garden. It often surprises me on how much life overflows without too much human control. There is so much food out there just growing on its own, if only we are there to see it. 

wild spring kale salad with tahini miso dressing. homemade healthy

Wild edibles are popping up everywhere, from juicy chickweed to bitter dandelion to sticky cleavers. Miner's lettuce is sprouting from the moist shade of trees; a delicious and refreshing snack to come upon on a hike. All we have ready to harvest is kale, a flat-leaf red russian variety that is so sweet and tender right now. Eating it raw in a salad has been my go-to lunch almost every day this early spring.

Mixing the kale with the freshly picked wild edibles is a fun variety of flavors and textures, and the combo packs dense nutrients into a delicious meal. Wild foods contain more phytonutrients and minerals than the modern cultivated varieties, as much of the nutrition has been bred out for other traits, like drought-resistance, size, taste, color, and shelf life. An article written by one of my UC Berkeley professors, Katherine Milton, argues that the prevalence of wild foods in the hunter-gatherer diet of our Homo sapien ancestors protected them from diseases of affluence: type II diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, etc. that are so widespread today. These foods are different than our tame apples and spinach. Very different. 

chickweed pesto. homemade healthy.

chickweed pesto.homemade healthy.


Spring is blowing through the Rogue Valley here, with daffodils highlighting the sidewalks and fruit trees glowing with whimsical sweet blooms. Flowers everywhere! And tender spring greens too. I can't help but pluck the new flowers as they open themselves up to the world, adding more and more to our overflowing kitchen table.  

epic spring salad. homemade healthy.

I like to make salads epic. Ever since I was young I would try to scoop up all the "jimmys" at the bottom of the salad bowl. That's where all the salty brined goodies are, all the nutty bits and herbaceous bites. The right balance of salty, sweet, creamy, crunchy, and acidic can raise an everyday salad up to epic proportions. 


This week at the farm, raspberries were the star. There we were, just our sun-kissed faces popping up from behind the line of raspberry crop. I found that looking up from below for the berries was choice. Seeing that flash of juicy red flicker within the greenery sparked miniature bursts of excitement within. We picked and picked. Dark, deep purple berries, young bright berries, and sunny golden berries speckled the half-pints. Each little berry hand picked for our community to savor. After hours of picking, we each just hand a handful of pints to contribute. Our bellies were already fermenting the cosmetically-deficient berries as we readied the beautiful berries for selling. 

Rion's friends came to visit during the week of raspberries, so naturally, we had to make a huge farm dinner. Rion's friend is an spiring chef in Austin, TX, so I brought out the big salad guns to get them excited about our farm super fresh eating. We piled raspberries on the fresh tender salad greens and sprinkled chives on top. Sarah's homemade raw goat chevre added a salty bite, and roasted beets from a neighbor farm added deep rooty sweetness. The only non-farm salad topper were almonds, which I candied with butter and sugar before adding to the salad. 

We all noshed on the goodness. So many jimmys to search for! So enjoy this salad, and make sure to give thanks to all those who pick raspberries! 

chevre red cabbage slaw. homemade healthy.

chevre red cabbage slaw

Red cabbage is a beautiful thing. Especially when its all chopped up in a white bowl, with the deep purple burgundy shreds cut with the whites of its insides. Its a crunchy confetti of purple delight, and it can become a magical bowl of veggie addiction when gussied up in a bright slaw. I threw this recipe together in less than 10 minutes, grabbing jars of nuts and mustard and running out into the garden for some chives. 

It was for a housewarming party...I mean, a tent warming party, up a short trail in the woods 

to where I currently live. We had our friends living here on the farm come from their respective homes on the property through the woods to our tent cabin, fit with a new pallet deck and a fire pit. So I made this, along with homemade cornmeal buckwheat muffins, graham crackers, and cinnamon marshmallows.