By Cici
Well, you may not know it from the look of the CSA barn, but we’ve been deep in the swing of our spring plantings. The past few weeks have felt like a massive push to get as much as we can into the ground. The season really snuck up on me this year—like I’d been in a daze at the beginning, my body carrying me through the motions. But now, as I watch the plants dwindle in the greenhouse and fill the fields, I’ve finally made the connection: it’s all happening. It’s only a matter of weeks before these full weeks of planting turn into full weeks of harvest.
We encountered some pretty difficult plantings this year, especially in one of our fields: Hawk. This field seems eager to humble, revealing our weaknesses and oversights. It has quite literally brought us to our knees, trowel in hand, to exhume the losses and start anew.
I could hash out the details, but this is all I’ll say of Hawk for now. I know she will do great things, but she bites —and I need to lovingly forget her until I have to return. You really do have to love this work to do it; otherwise, you’re just a masochist (though I suppose both can be true—no judgment here). It can be hard to love the individual moments, but you need just enough love to allow for patience, to trust that the scales will balance, the pendulum will swing, homeostasis will be achieved, and equilibrium will be reached—when you finally bite into the perfect tomato with just a little added salt and olive oil.
Upcoming Event: Farm Potluck Tuesday July 7/1 at 6:00 pm
Open Field Farm 2025 | The "ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW" guide for members
CSA Barn Hours:
Summer hours: 2:30-6:30 pm!
Pick List:
Eggs
Cortland Yellow Onions
Carrots
Potatoes
Fresh garlic
Fava Beans
Scallions
Parsley
Strawberries
Ground and Whole Dried Hot Peppers
Herbal Tea Blends
Pick your own flowers and herbs (from the herb garden and perennial field)
Sonora Wheat Flour
Beef Bone Broth (Made by Olla Products)
Saltonstahl Olive Oil
Revolution Bread for sale on Tuesday and Friday
We also have new items for sale in the barn!
Open Field Farm youth t-shirts, adult sweatshirts, and tote bags with a new log designed by Cici. We love them and hope you do too. We are also open to suggestions about other items: adult tees, hats, and more.
Plus we have gorgeous naturally tanned sheepskins!
Fettuccine With Merguez and Mint Pesto, from the nytimes.com
For the Pesto
2 large cloves garlic
¼ cup pine nuts
⅔ cup, packed, fresh mint leaves (about 2 small bunches)
⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
For the Fettuccine
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1large onion, finely chopped
1teaspoon ground cumin
½ pound fresh merguez sausage, casing removed
6 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and finely slivered
15 Kalamata olives, pitted
8 ounces dried fettuccine, preferably spinach
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Make the pesto: Turn on food processor, and drop garlic through feed tube to mince. Add pine nuts through the tube and grind. Add mint leaves and process until mixture is combined. Scrape down bowl, and with machine running, slowly drizzle in the ⅓ cup olive oil. Process until blended. Transfer to a small bowl and season to taste with salt. Set aside.
Make the pasta: Heat 3 quarts water in a large pot. As water comes to boil, heat oil in a large sauté pan, and sauté onion on medium-low until soft. Stir in cumin. Add merguez, increase heat to medium and cook, using two forks to break up the sausage and stirring all the while, until the meat is nubbly and no longer looks raw. Stir in sun-dried tomatoes, olives and 2 tablespoons of the pesto. Reduce heat to low.
Add fettuccine to boiling water and cook about 5 minutes, until nearly al dente. Drain, reserving ¾ cup of the pasta water, and set pasta aside. Add pasta water to the merguez mixture and let cook until liquid in the pan just coats the ingredients. Stir in lemon juice. Add fettuccine to sauté pan, tossing with other ingredients over low heat. Add salt to taste. Transfer to individual bowls or a serving dish and serve with remaining pesto alongside.