The Nature of Things

It doesn’t take owning a farm to understand the need to be efficient and thoughtful in how we use things. At home, you’ll flatten out a tube of toothpaste just to get one last dollop to brush with. Stopped at a red light in your car, you may use the back of a receipt to make a quick grocery list. 

Farmers are no different. We are always looking for ways to do more with anything and everything we have on hand. At our cannery last fall, we peeled and prepped mountains of pears for our preserves and pie fillings. Never letting anything good go to waste, we took those pear peels and added them to vinegar, letting the flavors steep and meld to perfection – just for you this week. This is but one way we honor what the earth gives us.

Our farmer friends are the same.

This week, we have sweet potatoes from the Mississippi Delta, where that hearty soil produces a flavorful tuber like no other. We like slicing these thin and frying up to add to a sandwich, layered between a smear of goat cheese and a handful of fresh spinach. Baker Corey Hinkel’s fresh Country White Loaf would be ideal here.

There are sweet baby Vidalia onions from nearby Georgia and turnip roots from Ireland Farms. Toss these together with some fresh rosemary, salt and pepper, a little extra virgin olive oil and roast until tender. Our friends at Lovelight Farm share more carrots – we loved roasting those last week and dolloping with the wild ramp pesto – wasn’t that amazing? Roast these too, sprinkling with a little za-atar spice and maybe a minced garlic clove and fresh lemon zest. These can be enjoyed hot from the oven or even cold the next day, tossed into a salad of butterhead lettuce from Owls Hollow Farm. 

Rounding out this week’s basket are some more items from our own Harpersville, AL farm: fresh Amish butter, overwintered leeks, and some tart strawberry rose drinking vinegar. If the very phrase “drinking vinegar” causes you to furrow your brow, let us help. Beyond the health benefits, these vinegar varieties are just plain delicious. Sure, you can whisk them up with good olive oil for an easy salad dressing but get adventurous and look for other ways to enjoy. 

We like this variety in a cocktail or mocktail, combining a splash to some good club soda and muddling in a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Both gin and vodka pair well in the drink but you can certainly forgo the alcohol and enjoy the sophisticated flavor. As you sip that beverage, we hope you think about the spring season to come and the fact that our own strawberry crops are in the ground, being tended to and protected in their growth. 

After all, farmers don’t know any other way.