Last Saturday there was a snowstorm in Wisconsin– a short-lived but altogether unexpected spring “blizzard” where temperatures dropped as low as 26 degrees and four inches of very heavy snow fell on our farm. As vegetable farmers in an already unpredictable weather locale (Wisconsin is well-known for forty-degree swings in the spring and fall) in…
Category: recipes
Burgers & Brew Tickets on Sale Now! + RECIPE: Burgers with Crispy Sweet Potatoes & Chive Shallot Yogurt Sauce
Tickets have officially gone on sale for one of our all-time favorite events of the year– our kick-off to summer, our celebration after a month of non-stop hard work, our day of total and complete overindulgence: REAP Food Group’s Burgers & Brews!!! And even though it’s still a little over a month away, I’m already…
Packing Shed + RECIPE: Spicy Chickpea & Sweet Potato Salad
The journey to having a building on our farm where we can wash, pack, sort, and store our vegetables is nearly over. Can you believe it? After a season of dreaming (2016), a season when we truly thought we would be building only to discover that the site location the whole family had settled on […]
Preparations for Spring + RECIPE: Beef Short Rib & Bok Choy Fried Rice
The seventh season of Raleigh’s Hillside Farm is officially underway! My Carrot and I began seeding a little over two weeks ago with an epic afternoon spent dropping thousands of tiny onion, leek and scallion seeds into soil. And somehow, a short sixteen days later, greenhouse number one is nearly full. Brassica, lettuce, fennel, parsley,…
The Last Two Weeks + RECIPE: Spicy Blood Orange Margaritas
We’ve had a really exciting couple of weeks here at Raleigh’s Hillside Farm headquarters and Chez de The Leek & The Carrot. We launched our spring seedling sale pre-order. We cleaned the greenhouse. We inventoried our farm supplies. We did our taxes. We completed the majority of our annual organic certification paperwork. I was on…
Date Nights + RECIPE: Perfect Pizza Pie
Three months back my quiet, selfless, fiercely independent husband made a request. And let me just begin by saying this guy never makes requests. His is a soul that lives to serve and lift up others. But on this particular day, kindly and gently, he asked if perhaps we could reinstate our routine of weekly…
Gratitude & Farmer Knowledge + RECIPE: Blueberry & Kohlrabi Chicken Salad
My husband and I spent last weekend at the Organic Vegetable Producers’ conference in Madison: a beautiful two day affair of organic pioneers, newbies, researchers and friends. The tone at this particular conference (which is only in its third year) fills my heart with so much joy because in addition to the kinds of conversations…
Winter Freeze + RECIPE: Spicy Brussels Sprouts with Peanuts & Apples
My little home in Southern Wisconsin (and much of the Great Lakes basin) is experiencing a crazy arctic blast of beyond sub-zero temperatures right now. The temps are to stay below zero for the next 48 hours peaking tomorrow evening at a chilling -30 degrees. That’s before windchill. As a farmer, I am of course thinking…
Retreating to the Northwoods + RECIPE: Cabbage, Leek & Pepper Runza
After seven nights away and a full two weeks off of work, I can say with absolute certainty that everyone everywhere deserves a retreat from their daily lives every once in a while. Not just a vacation or an adventure, but a real retreat that encourages quiet and calm and reflection and possibly even productivity….
Resolutions, Intentions & Farm Retreats + RECIPE: Napa Cabbage Noodle Salad
How are you all feeling as we officially end this first week of 2019? Are you still figuring out resolutions? Have you already given them up? Did you choose a word for the year? Do you think that’s utter bullshit? I lie happily in the middle: contemplating deeply about who I want to be during…
The Leek & The Carrot 