Kilpatrick Family Farm Blog
 Early plantings of radishes, spinach, onions, and arugula rowcovered.
|
 Micro carrots
|
 Cotton seedlings growing; we are trying an heirloom brown cotton this year.
|
 Arugula ready to cut.
|
 Baby boc choi- super yummy!!
|
This week has definitely seen more seasonal temperatures and has driven us back inside to keep working on the planning, ordering, and maintenance. We’ve been painting, organizing, cleaning, and prepping for the long summer ahead.
Jonathan has been doing a complete reorganization, categorization, and upgrade to our shop which will allow us to access tools and parts much easier this summer. We built a floating dock for the Granville field pump to sit on so that it won’t get flooded next year. (We’ll have pictures up of it as soon as it’s finished!) We’re also staying busy with limited field work to get prepped for next week’s big plantings.
As you may remember a couple of weeks ago I went up to the Farm Bill hearing in Saranac Lake, and as a result of that was asked to submit testimony for it. After 2 weeks of research and writing, the testimony has been submitted. If you would like to read it, it is up on our blog here. Remember, You can still submit your own comments on the website, http://agriculture.house.gov/farmbill_feedback.html.
Always growing upward and forward,
Michael
from Veggie Burgers Every Which Way by Lukas Volger
Ingredients:
-2 rutabagas
-2 tsp. potato starch or cornstarch
-3 Tbs. olive oil
-salt
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
2. Slice off the top and bottom of the rutabagas so that they will rest flast on a cutting board. Then cut off the skin with a sharp paring knife or chef’s knife by cutting against the curve of the flesh. (A vegetable peeler won’t be strong enough to scrape off all the skin.) Cut into 1/4-inch matchsticks.
3. Toss the potato starch with the rutabagas, then add the olive oil and 1 tsp salt.
4. Spread the rutatbagas on the prepared baking sheet. Bake, flipping twice, for 25 to 30 minutes, until crispy on the outside, and tender on the inside. Remove with a metal spatula and toss with additional salt to taste.
 Mini-artichoke in the greenhouse; Sue overwintered a few plants and we have some chokes!!!
|
 Swiss chard is looking good.
|
 Prepping beds for seeding.
|
 Irrigation pond is full!
|
 Doing an initial tilling to turn under some winter annual weeds.
|
 Garlic coming up!
|
 Strawberries just starting.
|
 Ginger in the seed trays, ready to start sprouting.
|
…and it’s practically summer. With temperatures edging almost into the 80’s this week, we’ve been going around in shorts and a T-shirt. We’re not quite in panic mode, but we just doubled the hours people are working and are hitting the sack later each night exhausted.
Jonathan, my younger brother, is back for the summer and I’ve had him working from sunup to sundown, tilling, cleaning up from the winter, and organizing the farm.
A couple of people have asked us how this record early spring is affecting us. We’re enjoying the early start and we started harvesting field spinach last Friday. However, the lack of snow melt and rain is setting us up for a very dry summer and we’re already looking at getting the pumps out. The home farm feeds off 2 wells which don’t have great capacity so we’re always watching our water consumption.
On the legislative and political front, the controversial soil fumigant Methyl Iodide has been pulled from the US market. Now no one will be using this cancer causing drug! There’s a great article about it here.
Always growing upward and forward,
Michael
C- 518-217-8595
O- 518-300-4060
F- 877-726-3180
Michael@kilpatrickfamilyfarm.com
www.kilpatrickfamilyfarm.com
9778 state route 22
Middle Granville, NY 12849
Our summer help is starting to arrive; here’s Ben washing bins.
 Spinach seedlings in the greenhouse.
|
 Tilling for another hoophouse.
|
 Marking the beds.
|
 Transplanting salad mix in what will be a hoophouse.
|
In a wok, warm the sesame oil on medium heat. Add the sesame seeds and stir until you are overwhelmed with the nutty fragrance, the seeds darken, and you wish you had a spring roll.
Next, add the garlic and ginger, but watch out! The sesame seeds freaked out and flew out of the pan in all directions when I added the garlic and ginger. This was quite a surprise to me, but I persevered through the stings, and I stirred, yelped, and danced in front of the stove.
After a minute, add greens by the handful, cooking them down. In 3-5 minutes they will still be a beautiful, light, spring green, and the stems should still be crunchy.
Last week we had a great piece by Christina about her trip to Washington to talk about the local food economy and legislation. Well, I wasn’t slacking off either on the political front. I got up at 5 AM on Friday and headed north…
…to the Saranac Lake area. First I attended a breakfast with our representative, Congressman Gibson, Congressman Conaway from Texas, and Chairman of the Ag Committee Congressman Lucas from Oklahoma. There were about 20 or so farmers, land preservation advocates and staff there. It was basically a quick meet and greet for us to tell who we were and why we were there. My focus was that the organic industry is exploding in growth and really needs the research dollars, education, and seed money to help small growers get going.
Then we drove over to the North Country Community College where the actual hearing was held. Before the hearing started I was privileged to meet Congresswoman Pingree from Maine who sponsored the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act and tell her about what we do. The field hearing was a chance for 8 different farmers to present testimony on what they did and how the farm bill affected them. We heard from dairy farmers, a seed potato and greens grower, apple growers, a grape grower, and a beef producer who attends farmer’s markets and is starting a CSA.
Although I wasn’t able to give testimony at the hearing, because of the active role I have maintained in conversing with the congressman about the farm bill, he invited me to submit official testimony that will be reviewed in relation to this field hearing. That’s exciting, although now I have to write it! Although Christina touched on it in her piece last week, I’ll stress it again, write your representative, meet with them, or submit comment to the 2012 farm bill. It does make a difference, as they hear from so few people about most bills. You can submit comments on the farm bill here- http://agriculture.house.gov/farmbill_feedback.html.
We’re out in the fields here on the farm, tilling, planting, getting greenhouses and tunnels up. The garlic is up, the rhubarb showing its red buds through the soil and the blackbirds and geese are back. Spring on the farm! A little early be we’ll take it regardless of the time.
Always growing upward and forward,
Michael Kilpatrick
michael@kilpatrickfamilyfarm.com
A picture taken at the Farm Bill hearing.
 One of Christina’s meetings in DC.
|
 Christina and Kevin
|
 |
 |
*My husband and I made this recently using KFF carrots. Everyone at the farm loves anything “buffalo-style” so this seemed perfect to pass along. If you are vegetarian you could easily use veg broth and either add extra carrots, tofu, or faux chicken in for the real chicken. ~Erika
Yield: 4 servings
Quick weeknight soup with a buffalo-style kick.
1/2 cup uncooked orzo pasta
2 tsp. olive oil
1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, peeled, and cut into half moons
2 tsp. ranch dressing seasoning mix*
3 Tbs. fresh cilantro, divided
32 ounces chicken stock
2/3 cup Frank’s Buffalo Wing Sauce
4 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed or shredded
1/4 cup green onions, chopped and divided
1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
Cook orzo according to package directions until about half-way done. Drain and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Sauté yellow onion, garlic and half of the green onions in the olive oil for 2-3 minutes until the onions are opaque and fragrant. Add carrots, ranch dressing seasoning and 2 tablespoons cilantro. Stir to combine and sauté until the carrots begin to soften.
Add chicken broth, buffalo sauce, cheddar, parmesan and shredded chicken. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, until the carrots are tender, but still have a slight bite.
Bring the soup to a boil, add the underdone orzo and stir frequently until orzo is al dente.
Serve with sliced green onions, additional cilantro and blue cheese crumbles.
Cassie’s Notes:
Substitute homemade ranch dressing mix with a store-bought mix if you prefer to take a little help from the store.
Feel free to use any combination of cheeses that you prefer. Or switch out the orzo for your favorite pasta.
Inspired by How Sweet It Is