Farm Notes
It’s been an exciting / nerve-wracking few days around here, culminating in a 150+ year old white oak tree coming down in our front yard just a few steps away from our house.
But let me back up… last fall, an ancient oak tree was struck by lightning in a bad thunderstorm (crazily enough, me and my family were sitting on our front porch just 20 feet away watching the storm roll through when the tree was struck… needless to say, it was quite a shock for all of us)!
Over the past year, we’ve watched as the tree began dying a slow death – we had several arborists come visit, and all agreed the majority of the tree as dead and severely compromised. Unfortunately, because the tree is so close to our house (and a major powerline along the road), it was becoming very dangerous and we made the tough decision to take the tree down. (Side note – we’ve learned a lot through this process, and found that taking down trees is very expensive. We were very fortunate that our power company was already doing work on our road to clear around power lines, and they agreed to cover the costs to take down this tree… which saved us thousands of dollars).
Trust me when I say I was heartbroken to have to take down this amazing tree… I keep thinking about what the world was like over a century and a half ago when it first starting growing, and imagining all that those roots and branches and that great big trunk have seen. So much has changed about our little corner of the world, and this tree has seen it all.
But after three full days with rockstar crew carefully taking the tree down piece by piece, we would come to learn that we absolutely made the right decision. Once the base of the trunk was cut down, we saw that the entire base of the tree was completely rotten and hollowed out on the inside. These photos don’t really do it justice… the extent of decay was some of the worst that the tree crew had ever seen. We realized it really wasn’t a question of IF but WHEN a strong enough storm would have caused the tree to come crashing through our house.
Rest assured that we’re making sure the tree has a purposeful second life – literally as I type this, a neighbor is here loading up truckloads of logs for firewood, and we are hoping to work with a local sawmill to turn the trunk (at least the parts that aren’t rotten) into beautiful milled boards for future projects.
Back on the farm, all our veggies are humming along and loving the recent warm, clear days and cool nights. While we had some frosts a few weeks ago, the weather has been unseasonably warm… though I’m not complaining, as it’s been lovely to have highs in the 70s along with blue skies and vibrant changing leaves. I haven’t been great about taking photos of our fall CSA shares, but this week’s full share boxes were just so dang pretty that I couldn’t pass up snapping a pic of the abundance:
One last note... keep your eyes out for a special email early next week, where I’ll be launching pre-orders for some brand spankin new Farmbelly merch! I’ve been working behind the scenes for the past few months to bring you some beautiful, high quality tees, sweatshirts, totes + baseball caps and can’t wait to share them with y’all. I’ll be taking pre-orders for about 2 weeks, and then everything should ship the week of December 5th, so you'll have plenty of time for holiday gifting!
Kitchen Notes
Whenever I have a mis-mash of various veggies hanging around, I love making these rainbow spring rolls. They come together in just a few minutes, and they are super flexible so you can just use whatever you have on hand – and if you have kids / grandkids, this is an awesome dish to make with them! And promise me you won’t skip the peanut miso dipping sauce… y’all, this dip is so freakin good, you’ll be licking your plate when you’re done!
RAINBOW SPRING ROLLS
WITH PEANUT MISO DIPPING SAUCE
INGREDIENTS
12” rice paper sheets
Fresh herbs – basil or mint leaves, or arugula works too!
Red cabbage, shredded
Carrots, julienned
Cucumber, julienned
Red, orange or yellow bell pepper, cut into thin slices
Avocado, sliced
Peanut Miso Dipping Sauce
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons white miso
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon liquid aminos (or soy sauce)
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup water + additional to thin if necessary
PREPARATION
First make sure all over your veggie fillings are prepped and ready to go.
Dip your rice paper sheet into a bowl of lukewarm water and rotate for 5 seconds.
Remove rice paper from water, shake off excess, and lay flat on a plate or cutting board.
Make a thin bottom layer of basil, mint and/or arugula on top of the rice paper, leaving a 1-inch border empty along the edges.
Fill the bottom third of the rice paper with your veggie fillings, making sure to leave a 1-inch border empty along the edges, and being careful not to overfill.
When ready to roll, first fold in the sides (like a burrito). Then roll the rice paper around the filling, keeping everything together tightly. The rice paper should adhere to itself and keep everything contained. Have fun, get creative, get messy, and enjoy with a yummy dipping sauce!
To make the dipping sauce: Simply place all the ingredients for the dressing to a small food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. If the sauce is too thick, add a bit more water.
Today’s Stats
Low temp: 58F
High temp: 74F
Sunrise: 7:43am
Sunset: 6:18pm
Moon phase: Waxing gibbous
Additional notes: Mostly sunny