If I had to sum up this week in one word, it would be ABUNDANT.
Fresh veggies to harvest? Abundant. Weeds? Abundant. Sunshine? Abundant. Rainfall? Abundant. Pollen? Annoyingly abundant.
Here in central NC, Mother Nature slowlyyy unfurls herself throughout the month of March, giving us fleeting glimpses of warmth, light, and tender green growth – and then she rudely knocks us back to reality with plenty more grey days and freezing cold nights. But as soon as April arrives, spring charges full steam ahead, and as a gardener or farmer you’d better be ready to hop on, or else get left behind in the (pollen-filled) dust.
And that’s exactly where I find myself in this second week of April – feeling immensely proud of the veggie abundance that this little farm can produce… while also hanging on for dear life and hoping that spring (and all the bounty it brings) doesn’t totally steamroll me.
For the second week of our Spring CSA, we really started hitting our stride. Our harvest/wash/pack operation has already gotten more streamlined, and there’s a lot more variety and color as we added radishes, turnips, and asian greens to the mix. Here’s a look at what our CSA members received in their regular sized boxes this week – rainbow chard, kale, radishes, turnips, looseleaf lettuce, and two types of asian greens:
Now, full disclosure, the lovely veggies pictured above are the best of the best from what we harvested this week. What you *don’t* see are the heads of lettuce that we lost due to aphid pressure, or the turnip greens getting eaten by little green caterpillars, or the voles that keep burrowing into our beds, or the succession of baby radishes that got washed away by the powerful rainstorm last night.
We may be swimming in abundance, but we’re also surrounded by loss – and I’m still learning to hold space for both things at once (and not just in farming, but in all parts of my life). For anyone else currently navigating a season filled with bounty and scarcity, beauty and destruction, light and darkness – I see you, I’m with you, and I know that we’re doing our very best with what we have in this moment.
Need some culinary inspiration for the weekend? Here’s my weekly round up of seasonal recipes from around Substack to help you eat like a farmer:
Keep reading for today’s recipe for Spring Veggie & Sesame Noodle Stir Fry, available for paid subscribers.
As a farmer and culinary school graduate, I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I don’t have much experience cooking with bok choy. Even though I grow tons of these bodacious asian greens every season, for whatever reason, it rarely makes an appearance in our kitchen. But no more! Part of why I love writing this weekly newsletter is because it pushes me to constantly try new, nourishing, hyper-seasonal recipes using produce that we grow right here on our farm.
So for this week, we’ve got a suuuper delish (and very weeknight friendly) spring veggie & sesame noodle stir fry, and it is a WINNER. I’m especially proud of the stir fry sauce – I think it strikes just the right balance of salty, a little spicy, a touch of sweetness, and lots brightness thanks to fresh ginger and garlic. It’s just the right ratio of noodles / veggies / sauce, and while the stir fry is very filling on it’s own, it would also pair great with a protein like tofu, salmon, steak or a crispy fried egg to round out the meal.
A few recipe notes + substitutions:
The key to a successful stir fry is getting all the ingredients and components prepped before you heat up your skillet! First things first, get your noodles cooked, sauce whisked together, and veggies chopped. (Side note – you can absolutely get everything prepped a few hours ahead, and then the actual stir-frying just takes a few minutes).
Sesame oil vs toasted sesame oil… what’s the difference?! I’ll be honest, this confused me too, so I did some research. Here’s the super short version: Regular sesame oil is for cooking (ie frying at high heat) while toasted sesame oil is for finishing / incorporating into sauces and dressings. So for this recipe, we start by frying the veggies in regular sesame oil (or any neutral vegetable/canola oil), and the stir fry sauce calls for the more flavorful/nutty toasted sesame oil (though if you only have regular sesame oil, it’s totally fine for the stir fry sauce too). Keep in mind that toasted sesame oil packs a lot of flavor, so a little bit goes a long way.
For this recipe, I use bok choy, broccoli, carrots, and scallions – but the options are pretty endless for other veggies you can throw in. Some nice spring vegetable substitutes would be asparagus, sugar snap peas, snow peas, kale, swiss chard, or spinach. Just make sure you cook the hardier veggies first, and add the tender leafy greens towards the end.
Keep reading for the full recipe (and a handy 1-page PDF for easy printing).
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Spring Veggie & Sesame Noodle Stir Fry
Serves 3-4
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