Squash It! Ollin Farm and Lots of Seasonal (Squash) Fare

Producing real food is very hard work. And producing food on a scale that is larger than what you can get from a small garden in your backyard, well, that is a tremendous undertaking. 

Now I've never personally worked on a farm, but I did try to grow strawberries on my fire escape in Brooklyn one time...and let me tell you, it did not go well. I watered that strawberry plant and I made sure the soil had nutrients. I loved that plant and I gave her my all. In return for my efforts, my plant produced ONE pitiful looking strawberry. I had been dreaming of strawberry salads and fresh fruit smoothies. I don't know what I was thinking. That summer my dill and basil didn't fare much better. And that marked the end of my urban growing experience.

A bit of of time passed, and I found a new confidence. I'd done some reading, dog-eared some pages of Martha Stewart Living, and followed a handful of gardening blogs religiously. I planted two tomato plants, basil, cilantro, rosemary, mint and Italian parsley. 

My expectations were modest. 

It's been a few months since my initial planting. The tomato plants are growing, by there's nary a tomato in sight. The basil looks depressed and the cilantro is dead. The good news is my mint, rosemary and parsley are thriving. But it's not exactly what I would call season's bounty. I never even got to planting vegetables like spinach, chard, or squash. Farmers, you have my respect! 

Farming is seriously hard work. I found out all about it when I went to the Ollin Farm for their Squash Festival last weekend. The farm is in Longmont, Colorardo-- not too far from Boulder. It's in a really beautiful part of the country. (I first heard of the farm through this post on Boulder Locavore.)

Ollin Farm seems like a product of love. It is run by a husband-and-wife team, along with their children (and I believe a few other family members and some workers too). Kena is originally from Mexico City and her husband Mark is from Colorado. While they didn't have backgrounds in agriculture or farming, 5 years of hard work and lots of education have paid off- they have one of the nicest farms I've been to.

There was so much gorgeous looking produce at the festival. There were heirloom squashes, Ronde de Nice, Pattypans, zucchinis, summer squashes, herbs, beets and greens. Back to Basics Kitchen had a demonstration table that was full of delicious dishes-- all containing the ingredient of the day, squash! 

Thank you Ollin Farm for a great day. You've inspired me to try my hand (again) at small-time farming next summer...

{Recipes follow.} 

I don't know why I always refer to sheep as female. At any rate, this is Victor....

The Back to Basics Kitchen demonstration table. The Pesto Zucchini Noodles were delicious. They gave out recipe cards, but I misplaced mine. Sad face. 

Unfortunately for me, the visit to the chicken coop coincided with Otis's nap time and a slight meltdown ensued. He was positively certain that the chickens wanted to "eat him up." And there was crying. I tried to comfort him, but things started to go downhill...with a quickness! Theo, oblivious to the meltdown, was desperately trying to chase the poultry. 

These eggs were plucked right out of the hen house. It got me thinking...if we stay in Colorado, should we get chickens? I'm not sure what Omar (our elderly Rott) would think of that situation- it's chaotic enough around our parts. I'm not sure my husband would be on board either...but maybe?! 

Water drip technology is an efficient way to irrigate the crops. 

I picked up some deliciously amazing squash. Thank you Ollin Farm for a great day. 
See you for the Tomato Festival!

* * *

Zucchini and Potato Soup (Courtesy of Anna Thomas's Love Soup)
{In contrast to the soups I usually make, which have a very intense flavor, this soup is relatively mild -- but it is creamy (though creamless) and satisfying. You really need to adjust the salt and pepper here. That is key. Add a drizzle of olive oil and some crumbled feta before serving. Wanna really jazz it up? Add some sauteed zucchini blossoms. Next time I may add a pinch of cayenne or paprika.}
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
2 1/4 lbs. zucchini
2 large yellow onions
7 oz. Yukon Gold Potato
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt, plus more to taste
3 1/2 cups basic light vegetable broth
1/2 cup chopped basil
1/4 chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
Optional Garnishes: fruity green olive oil, crumbled feta or queso fresco, sauteed zucchini blossoms
Preparation
Wash and trim the zucchini, halve them lengthwise if they are thick, and slice them or cut them into 1-inch dice. Peel and coarsely chop the onions. Scrub and finely dice the potatoes.
Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan, add the chopped onions and a pinch of salt, and sauté the onions over medium heat, stirring often, until they are soft and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine 2 cups of water, the vegetable broth, the potatoes, and a teaspoon of salt in a large soup pot. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Add the zucchini and simmer another 10 minutes.
When the onions are ready, add them to the soup pot, along with the chopped basil and parsley. Grind in an ample amount of black pepper and add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Taste, and add a pinch more salt or a little more lemon juice if needed.
The soup can be pureed, either in a blender or with an immersion blender. Be careful not to over process, as potatoes tend to become gummy when over-worked. Whisk in 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add some crumbled feta or queso fresco. Maybe some pan-fried zucchini blossoms? Enjoy! 

Other seasonal, squash recipes that I've posted:

Gina DePalma's Zucchini-Olive Oil Cake with Crunchy Lemon Glaze.

Elise of Simply Recipes' Mücver Patties

Love & Olive Oil's Zucchini Basil Soup (from Epicurious)

Heidi Swanson's Summer Squash Soup with Thai Red Curry

Recipes from the blogosphere that I'm making this week:
Roasted Zucchini, Black Bean and Goat Enchiladas from Sprouted Kitchen
Pattypan Squash Stuffed with Corn from Martha Rose Shulman, The New York Times
Stuffed Ronde de Nice from Megan Bucholz for Edible Front Range
Pan-fried Zucchini Blossoms with Ricotta and Garden Herbs from Food & Style

Pines to Peaks (and a Bon Appetit's Cold Soba Salad with Summer Vegetables)

Our Colorado-Relocation-Project has gotten a reprieve, a lifeline if you will. We decided to give the job hunt another 6 months instead of packing up at the end of August. If jobs line up, we get to stay. Hip, hip, hooray! If it doesn't come together in that time, we have to move back to New York City (what's the opposite of hip, hip, hooray?) I've joked that if we go back east you'll find me at Bellevue hooked up to a Lithium drip, but I am only partially kidding. So keep those fingers crossed and here's to hoping that it works out for us.
Now as much as I love it here in Colorado, raising two small boys while my husband commutes back and forth from Brooklyn can be a bit challenging. Usually I get a teeny-tiny bit blue when we pile into the car and drive him back to the airport at the end of a visit. I know that we will see him in a few weeks, but I can't help feeling a little bummed. He does too. As do the boys. I suppose this is how military families feel, but at least my husband isn't going off to battle. Okay, he's battling "the system" and fighting on behalf of the poor and disenfranchised, but I think we can all agree that it's not exactly the same thing. Anyway, I find that taking a nice hike the day after he leaves helps me clear my mind and the boys love it too. 

This time around I found myself wanting to go to a pine forest, which had something to do with the recent article I read at the gym titled Colorado's Forests Are Bugging Out with Bettles. Usually I prefer not to read anything too heady while on the elliptical, and I have a tendency to opt for trashy, pointless, gossip magazines. But they weren't available at the gym last week, so I picked up a copy of the most recent Westword and got reading...
The article answered a lot of questions I had regarding the beetle problem, which is responsible for destroying vast swaths of forest pine from the mountain states all the way up into Canada. The piece had a lot of good background information and presented some solutions that may curb the damage. I won't flesh out any of the points that were made, as I am not a forester, an ecologist or evolutionary biologist-- but definitely read it if you want to learn more. 
I wanted to check out what was going on with the pines and I found a hike that looked great. The "Pines to Peaks" trailhead was only 10 minutes from Boulder, which is only about 35 minutes away from our house. I decided to make a day of this pine forest pilgrimage, so we did some cooking before we left. I made a Cold Soba Noodle Salad with Summer Vegetables (delicious) and I brought along some honeydew carpaccio for dessert. It was perfect. 
We saw female deers and a few fawns too. And then Otis pointed to a sign and yelled, "Lion!" I nearly lost it. We were, in fact, in mountain lion territory. And although a sighting is extremely rare, there were instructions on what to do and what not to do if you meet one of these predators. 
Now I can fight off a street pigeon, but a mountain lion? I don't think so. I picked up some rocks and put them in Otis's hiking bucket...just in case.

There are lots of healthy pines, but these trees have succumbed to a beetle infestation. Pine trees secrete a resin (yellow goop) that can help defend against the beetles. But there hasn't been a lot of rain and that affects the trees and their resin quality. Well-watered pines can defend against thousands of invaders. An ill-watered tree can not. The beetles are also being observed at higher (and higher) elevations. 

That said, the vistas on the trail were magnificent and there were tons of wildflowers too...

About 10 minutes away from where we did our hiking are these beautiful homes in Boulder's Mapleton Historic District. 

 Then we went down to the pedestrian mall and walked around. Before I knew it, I found myself in front of Tee & Cakes on 14th Street (how did that happen?). After a day of hiking (and carrying two kids part of the way back down the mountain) I felt like a special treat was in order. I got the s'mores and they were so good... 

 ...and this is what I brought along for our picnic. (Photographed at home, not on the hike!) 

Cold Soba Noodle Salad with Summer Vegetables (Adapted slightly from Bon Appétit, July 2012)
Yield 4-6 servings

Active time: 30 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1/3 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon Sriracha (hot chili sauce)
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
8 cups matchstick-size pieces mixed summer vegetables (I probably had about 6 cups and I used carrots, cucumbers and radishes)
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
8 ounces buckwheat soba (Japanese-style noodles) or vermicelli noodles
1/2 cup (loosely packed) cilantro leaves with tender stems
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds (you can use white too, but I prefer black)
Preparation
Whisk first four ingredients in a large bowl. Add vegetables; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper.
Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente; drain. Run noodles under cold water to cool them; drain well and add to bowl with vegetables. Add cilantro and scallions; season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle sesame seeds over and serve.