We are not perfect. Neither are we puritanical. It is with hesitation that we admit that some days around here aren’t fueled with bok choy and grass-fed beef. But it’s important that everyone know that we are human and imperfect, just like everyone else. As in, a recent day of hustling vegetables was, for at least one of our staff (we won’t mention names…) powered by only coffee and donuts for way too many hours of the busy day.

Okay, okay…what are donuts doing on a farm like ours, anyway? A day-old treat from the bakery as an indulgence after too many previous days of hard work and long hours for everyone here. So there’s coffee and there’s donuts and it doesn’t hurt to grab one of each.

Then there were vegetables to pick. And vegetables to pack. And orders to fill. And suddenly lunch time has come and gone and the only thing yet consumed for the day is coffee and donut.

Yikes.

There you have it, folks. In some ways, this farm is like many other workplaces. But we also make and enjoy some amazing, delicious, monster salads. Most meals are the simple peasant food enjoyed by many different cultures for centuries. That is how we try to keep the majority of our meals really healthy and composed of just real food.

Some examples from this week: One night’s dinner for us was grilled squash, sliced cucumber, roasted turkey (from Ault’s Family Farm), radishes cooked in brown butter, salad, and a sesame sauce, made by our 8 year old daughter, that went on top of anything and everything.       A number of lunches and dinners this week (and always this time of year) are a very generous serving of our salad or lettuce mix topped with protein (above mentioned turkey, or tofu, or nuts, or whatever you please…), other chopped vegetables (radish, cucumber, turnip…these change with the season) and a sauce/dressing. We are fortunate that our oldest child loves experimenting with sauce recipes (and cooking in general). This week’s sauce selection also featured a sweet and sour sauce – we tend to always replace the sugar in sauce recipes with honey, while also decreasing the amount. This keeps our kids more interested in eating the amount of vegetables that we require them to eat while also encouraging them to be involved in preparing food. (And the youngers are usually more willing to eat veggies when they are topped with a fun sauce made by their older sibling.)  
This sauce routine also keeps our food topping options very whole-foods based, since the ingredients are only ones that we stock in our kitchen and we substitute for any item that we don’t permit. Dressing without corn syrup is wonderful!
Other favorite sauces in our rotation: a ranch-style dressing, italian herb dressing, honey balsamic vinaigrette, and a honey mustard dressing. We really make big salads with lots of diversity and these homemade dressings maintain variety and provide wonderful flavor. And – just a couple of meals comprised of these salads have been shown to restore balance in a person who has been running off of coffee and a donut (donuts?) for too long.

Available for Market Share CSA members to choose from this week: Basil, Bok Choy, Chard, Cilantro, Cucumbers, Garlic Scapes, Hearty Mix, Kale, Lettuce Heads, Lettuce Mix, Microgreens, Radishes, Salad (with discounts on larger quantities), Summer Squash, Sunflower bouquets, Turnips …and Pepper Jelly, Fermented Jalapenos, naturally leavened Hearth Baked Bread. PLUS Plants: Dill, Basil, Tomatoes, (variety details on ordering page).

Recipe Suggestions: see them cataloged on our Recipe Page

2015 Market Share CSA Members: Reserve your selection online to pick up on Saturday, June 6 at our farm, at the Brandermill Green market, or at the South of the James market.

**Anyone may order select goods from us, through Fall Line Farms, Richmond’s online farmers’ market. You can use discount code “broadfork” to earn a complimentary 6 month subscription.

Enjoy ~ Janet, Dan, and the rest of the Broadfork crew
(Want to learn more about us? Visit us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.)