1/4 – 1/2 cup cornmeal

1/4 – 1/2tsp salt

(about) Pint of Okra (this recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for larger crowds or extreme okra fanatics)

Olive oil

Mix cornmeal and salt together. Cut okra into 1/4 inch pinwheels and stir into mixture. Put around 3 Tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan, and heat pan. When the pan is hot, put coated okra into pan. Stir constantly when cooking, and when brown and slightly tender, (5-8mins) remove from pan. If okra becomes dry while cooking, add more olive oil.

1 Bunch Basil (leaves only)

1/2 Cup Almonds or Pine Nuts

1 Large Garlic Clove

1/3 Cup Olive Oil

1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese

Few Sprigs of Parsley

Bland 2-3 ingredients at a time in a food processor, adjusting measurements as desired. Stores in a refrigerator for at least 5 days and also freezes well.

2 Tablespoons Butter

3-4 Tablespoons Red Pepper Jelly (or Peach Jam)

1/4 Cup Red Wine Vinegar or Cider Vinegar

Instructions:

Pull the large outer leaves off the Chinese Cabbage. Rinse the cabbage, allowing the water to run into the center. Drain. Cut cabbage leaves into ribbons. Place butter in a large skillet and melt. Add cabbage ribbons and turn to slightly wilt. Add the jelly and when it begins to melt, add the vinegar. Serve warm or cold.

(Thanks to Ed Roeger for the recipe!)

(From Simply Recipes)

“How do you use this?”

It looks a bit like a turnip with spiky hair – actually, it’s referred to as a German turnip. It is one of the most common vegetables in Kashmir, but is grown around the world.

Okay, enough with the geography lesson. It tastes like a fresh broccoli stem tastes, but is actually milder, and a bit sweeter. You can eat the tops and bottoms. (Make sure to peel the bottom though if it’s large!) You may eat it raw or cooked – the stems and leaves can be eaten in a salad, and the bottom can be sliced and dipped in your favorite dressing. The leaves can also be cooked like any other green vegetable (collards, kale, spinach)

Recipes:

KOHLRABI HAM SOUFFLE
3 c. diced kohlrabis
2 c. diced potatoes
4 bacon slices, diced
1 c. finely diced ham
2 tbsp. minced scallion
1 tbsp. minced fresh parsley
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1/2 tsp. dried savory
Punch of thyme
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
6 eggs, separated
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
Pepper
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Parboil potatoes until just tender, about 10 minutes. Blanch or steam kohlrabis until just tender, about 5 minutes. In the meantime, saute the bacon until browned and remove it from the pan. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of bacon grease, and saute the ham, scallion, parsley, and herbs for 2 minutes. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce.
In a large bowl, combine the kohlrabis, potatoes, bacon, ham and vegetable mixture. Whisk together the 6 egg yolks and the flour and mix with the kohlrabi mixture. Mix in the cheese, salt, and pepper to taste. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold into the kohlrabi mixture. Spoon into a grease shallow 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the top is golden. Serve hot. Serves 6.

(from Cooks.com)

ROASTED KOHLRABI
Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 45 minutes
Serves 4 (smallish servings since roasted vegetables shrink so much)

1 1/2 pounds fresh kohlrabi, ends trimmed, thick green skin sliced off with a knife, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic (garlic is optional, to my taste)
Salt
Good vinegar

Set oven to 450F. Toss the diced kohlrabi with olive oil, garlic and salt in a bowl. (The kohlrabi can be tossed with oil and seasonings right on the pan but uses more oil.) Spread evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and put into oven (it needn’t be fully preheated) and roast for 30 – 35 minutes, stirring every five minutes after about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with a good vinegar (probably at the table so the kohlrabi doesn’t get squishy).

(from A Veggie Venture)

KOHLRABI & APPLE SLAW with CREAMY COLESLAW DRESSING
Hands-on time: 25 minutes
Time to table: 25 minutes
Makes 4 cups, easily adapted for less

DRESSING
1/4 cup cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon good mustard
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Salt & pepper to taste – go easy here
Fresh mint, chopped

1 pound fresh kohlrabi, trimmed, peeled, grated or cut into batons with a Benriner
2 apples, peeled, grated or cut into batons (try to keep equivalent volumes of kohlrabi:apple)

Whisk cream into light pillows – this takes a minute or so, no need to get out a mixer. Stir in remaining dressing ingredients, the kohlrabi and apple. Serve immediately.

(from A Veggie Venture)

Have fun!

Farming has a lot to do with being independent. Many see family farming and small farmers as the final frontier in the struggle for independence. I used to think this was a lonely venture, to be trod in relative solitude. No more.

This year I have discovered that many people want to stake a claim to freedom that is found in the economics of the small homestead farm. We have had the most amazing number of volunteers turn up at our farm-gate, wanting to learn how to feed themselves. I’m witnessing a small revolution, one that is centered on the gift of good land and all that it implies in our lives.

This year, the 4th fell on a Sunday. And so it is appropriate to acknowledge that freedom is ultimately a gift from the Creator, and we are blessed with the ability to choose how we use that freedom. What my volunteers are teaching me this year is that many are using that freedom to help others and grow themselves in ways that only a connection to the creation, and ultimately the Creator, can. I do not know what the future has in store for this country. I do know that the liberty of freedom is coupled with the burden of responsibility – to each other and to our gift of good land. JB

Spring is here, and all the winter farming is put aside for the real world of soil, sweat, and sunburn. As a farmer, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

JB

On Monday, July 13, 29 high school and college age kids, along with 6 adult leaders, stepped off a bus at the end of our drive and walked right into our lives. They were in Calvert County, MD for a week, part of a group of 250 teens participating in Catholic Heart Work Camp. We had been expecting them for the last six weeks, so I had my “To Do” list in hand when they walked up the hill. I expected kids that would spend some time working, and I expected to get some things accomplished. They did and I did.

Our bank barn was painted – a back breaking four day project. The fields were completly weeded and mulched. Drip irrigation was run, beans were picked (twice), tomatoes picked (twice), potatoes, cucumbers, etc, all picked and ready for our customers. One group backed the CSA shares on Tuesday and Thursday. Another group installed a new barbed wire fence and learned all about pain.

Still others worked around the houses and pulled weeds, demolished our rotted wood fence, and moved the bunny hutch. In the meantime, I was learning names and getting to know a wonderful group of people. They were not here just to punch their public service card; they were here to live Christ.

On Thursday afternoon, their last day with us, I took them for a wagon ride to the back part of our farm, the scenic part with all the woods, water, and animals. We talked about farming, stewardship of God’s creation, and the need for smart farmers. And I also shared how they had been an answer to our prayers.

We went to the closing program at St. John Vianney’s and sat with our group of kids. We heard stories from other people who had had teams work on their houses or businesses. Patty and I lauded our team, and I truly think they had to have been the best of the best.

Afterward, we gathered for the last time outside the Family Life Center, hugged, cried, laughed, and promised to keep in touch. There’s not one of these people that I wouldn’t invite back. And quite frankly, Patty and I would adopt them all. The work they did was great, but the real joy in this was getting to know who they are and what they are about. While this story may never make the headlines of the paper, we will never forget the impact it made in our lives. JB

I have absolutely no guilt about missing Earth Day. Nor did any of the others at this auction. Caring for the earth is something of a full time job for me. I know Earth Day is nothing more than a PR campaign. Its not as if 1 day is going to set to right the other 364. But perhaps it is at least a moment to consider the possibilities of reforming those other days in order to better our planetary nest.

I prefer to think of myself and our guiding principle here at The Lamb’s Quarter in terms of conservationism rather than environmentalism. A conservationist is someone involved in actually taking care of what is their’s to take care of; an environmentalist is someone involved in the act of telling someone else how to take care of it.

I’ll take a plain farmer any day over a concrete-pounding activist.