This Could Be The Start of Something Big....

It's April already and finally April and for us on the chilly north coast, it's a wee taunt, allowing us glimpse at spring and the warmer weather to come. I flipped the page on the calendar at the start of this month and realized that Humboldt calendars really should have bigger squares during the doing-stuff season. There were SO MANY things squeezed into the tiny square of my calendar for last Saturday.So many activities but the Surfrider Beach Cleanup won out....we cleaned the entrance to Mad River Beach with magnets and rakes, scouring the sand of nails before that could puncture the tender feet of beach goers. The fire sites are normally fairly easy to spot the the winter's high tides had caught the cinders in their flows, spreading the nails and covering them with sand. For our efforts, we took six buckets of rusty nails, and other bonfire debris from the beach. I had to keep reminding myself to stop and smell the salt air and enjoy the waves while I was there.
The pre-printed start to the Farmer's Market on my CAFF calendar was almost buried...but it was on my list of things to accomplish so I packed my market basket before I left the house. After tidying up the beach, I joined the throngs of people giddy with the first Farmer's Market of the season. I made my first loop around to ponder the possibilities then ended up with a new marjoram plant from Flying Blue Dog Farm (I even remembered to bring the coupon I received by being Facebook buddies with the farmers.) , some honey from Reed's Bees, some salad greens and a couple enormous leeks. Next week, chard and carrots....and more herbs as the season progresses. I made a run through the Gem show at Redwood Acres, passing by the rock hounds, I was in search of beads for future projects. First I find beads that speak to my creative soul then a centerpiece that will work. The creative juices flow and the colors of the stones, drilled, strung and stacked is always so appealing, I couldn't resist snapping a picture until the craphead booth proprietor scolded me. I was a little embarrassed and explained I would never take a picture of his actual designs (though I doubt he actually created the pricey pieces he was selling) and was only entranced with the pretty colors. He admonished even more until I spewed an admittedly insincere apology and stopped short of calling him a dick...only muttering it under my breath as I slunk away. Didn't buy anything from him but I did find a nice string of red abalone chips to create yet another necklace I could do without....but they're so pretty.......

This weekend is another busy one. I was hoping to do one of the paddles with Kayak Zak's for Godwit Days but it looks like there will be moving assistance for Hope and another run through the Farmer's Market on Saturday. I took Monday off so Mark and I can make some headway on the entry project. I hope I don't miss anything - I repeat, bigger squares on the calendar.

A TIME TO REAP

The start of harvest has begun at the CR Farm and we on the subscribers list have received our first box of farm-fresh veggies. The first few boxes are seldom exciting but lucky for me, I like my greens.

I grew up in a household where both parents worked at packing plants and would bring home fresh veggies regularly. I'm a firm believer that most kids don't like vegetables simply because they've only eaten the canned variety. I love vegetables. OK, I don't much like green peas (the roly-poly kind) but even I have been known to throw a handful in soup or tuna/noodles if they come in a farm box. I kinda wish the CR kids would go a little lighter on the beets but I always try their recipes so found borscht to be an interesting use of them, especially with a sprinkle of dill and a dollop of Daisy. If nothing else, they can be pureed and "snuck" into other foods. They make real pretty bread. My cousin was shocked at my dislike of beets and told me she just cooks hers in butter. I will have to try that because this week, we have beets…. little baby, radish-sized beets but beets nonetheless. We also have kohlrabi, new potatoes, baby spinach and a few summer squash. Oh yeah, a bag of cilantro.

What to do when I need to cook dinner and I have this entire box that needs to be dealt with? sigh... I cleaned the spinach (these veggies are fresh from the field and DO NOT come prewashed like the ones at the grocery store) and tossed it in my pasta y fromage…mine was homemade but I’m sure it would improve even the boxed kind of mac `n cheese. Later in the season, I look forward to bushels of tomatoes and clumps of basil (it freezes well so gets me through the winter) and cilantro to make pasta sauce and salsa. A few years back there were figs. Oh, man, I LOVE figs! We’ll have lots of peppers and carrots, some cucumbers. I love fresh veggie season. My intention is to share with you the contents of each week's box to encourage you to subscribe to one of the local farms. Supporting our local farms is a good thing.