Midsummer night's dream

It's been a while since our last update, so we thought you might be curious to see how we are doing:

We had some volunteers come do a farm tour, at the end of July. Together we prepared some of our raised beds at our 33rd and California site to get ready for fall planting (which we have been up to for the past couple weeks), we watered our beds of kale (surely you remember it was super hot and dry in July!) and we saved seeds from some radishes we let bolt (here is Tyler explaining the process of seed saving to our volunteers). 

Despite the hot conditions in July, when the temperatures shot above 100 most days and we had less than 0.01 inches of rain, our plants continue to grow and produce! Thank you Mother Earth for your abundance! Here are some of our veggies: thai hot peppers, baby bells, Japanese eggplants, zucchini, crookneck squash and edelrot tomatoes! 

These days, we are busy planting fall crops, including beets, carrots, peas, radishes, turnips, and the like. We are excited to improve our techniques from our spring harvests of these things. Also, we have been busy picking fruits from various trees throughout the city: plums, peaches, pears and apples! Thanks to all of our friends who have shared their bounty with us. We have also been canning and preserving a lot of tasty things: pickles, jams, preserves, and sauces. Yum! 

Thanks for supporting us through the journey of this season-- more to come soon! 

xo

the Big Muddy Urban Farm kids

how's it growin?

 Edelrot and Juliet tomatoes, fresh from the vine

Onions, potatoes, crookneck squashes, eggplants, tomatoes, beets and more! 

 Peruvian purple potatoes (say that ten times fast...)

 Blooms and herb bouquets

A  CSA harvest from a few weeks back :) 

Despite the hot, dry (very, very dry) weather, we are still growing. A bountiful harvest this weekend, which we were happy to share with Gifford Park market-goers on Friday, Benson market-goers today, our CSA members and also with the locally-minded chefs at V.Mertz and La Buvette! Thanks for your continued support.

xoxo,
Brent, Caitie, Tyler, Matt, James, Dan, Ali, and of course Catalpa!
Big Muddy Urban Farm

summer eats: day lily blossoms

One of my favorite books on foraging, is Euell Gibbon's Stalking the Wild Asparagus. If you are unfamiliar with Gibbons, he is essentially the founding father of modern-day foraging. Though he wasn't the first to forage (obviously there were many before him, prior to the advent of agriculture) but he was one of the first to write about it in the 20th century. In doing so, he shared the art and joy of foraging with the general public.


I love the chapter on the daylily. Most of you are probably familiar with the daylily, as it is often used in landscaping, as it is a relatively low-maintenance plant. The daylily is unique in that it produces new flowers every day. The golden blossoms open in the morning and close at dusk. Luckily for us, their delightfulness does not end at dusk.

The blossoms of the daylily can be harvested in all three stages of bloom: as a bud, as a flower blossom and as a closed blossom. There are many recipes for each stage, but today I thought that it would be best to focus on the initial stage of the blossom's life cycle; the bud. One of my favorite ways to prepare day-lily buds is to bread them and skillet fry them! 

Sauteed Daylily Buds1 egg1/4 cup of flour (or more or less depending on how many little buds you foraged!)Chili powderSaltGarlic Powder1/2 tablespoon of butter

1. Beat egg in a small dish. In another dish, mix flour with other seasonings to taste. Surely you can experiment with different spices and levels of spices. (Just a heads up, the final product tastes similar to a fried zucchini; perhaps this might guide you in the right spice direction!)
2. Dip each bud in the egg, and then in the flour mixture and set aside. In a fry pan, heat butter over medium heat. When all the butter is melted, place the coated buds in the pan and cook for about 1 minute on each side, or until the batter is browning.
I've enjoyed buds along side of some "fajita-tacos". With the remaining flour and egg, we blended them together and cooked them in the same pan we used for the buds. Then, we put the eggs in our tortillas with cooked corn, onions, peppers, avocado, cheese and salsa. Delicious!

Because daylilies blossom for most of the summer, I am hoping to experiment with this delightful flower for many dinners to come. Also, in my research of the daylily, I learned that there is food below the surface as well. In fact, the roots of the daylily produce edible portions as well. I will save for another foraging adventure!

Happy eating (and foraging!)
Ali

7 Young Farmers Get Down & Dirty, Establish Big Muddy Urban Farm to Supply Sustainable Produce to Omahans

Our first interview, check it out!

                                                   ----- Cross posted from seedstock.com -----

In just under three months, seven young farmers have taken the germ of an idea to create a sustainable urban farm to supply a community in Omaha, Nebraska with fresh vegetables and herbs and made into a reality in the guise of Big Muddy Urban Farm. Big Muddy Urban Farm consists of five decentralized plots situated in North Omaha. The urban farm’s founders, who collectively brought Big Muddy to life and work its urban fields, aspire to create a new source of sustainably grown produce and herbs for their city, to become a self-sustaining farm operation and inspire other area residents through educational and volunteer opportunities to grow their own food.

I recently spoke to Tyler Magnuson and Ali Clark, two of the founders of Big Muddy Urban Farm, to learn more about the story behind the farm, how it operates, the farming practices that it embraces, the challenges that it faces and more.

our farm through the looking glass

Things are growing more and more each day. Here is a little squash sprout! 

We have been busy watering the plants this week, as it has been quite hot in Omaha, with little rain. We are all doing a little rain dance in hopes of some rainfall tomorrow night! Join us in the dance for rain.

As we continue working, we finished up some details at the Sahler Street Community garden, where we are growing some of our crops. 

Join us next Saturday, the 16th at this site for a garden work day and clean-up!

At the Benson farmers' market. 

Brent, Dan and Tyler, holding down the fort at the market. Its all business, no fun at the market... can't you tell?

 

Some of our bounty from this week! Garlic is coming in and some green onions, kale, chard. We also had herbs, radishes and wild flowers! 

And we have been eating pretty well too! Our friend shared these with us from her yard!  

Omaha is blooming! 

And so are our farm sites.  

Thanks for your continued support. We couldn't do this without you!

From our farm to you, 

LOVE

Snaps!

We have been busy as bees:

Our plants are happily growing at our site on California St.

Prepping the "pizza garden" at the Gifford Park Community Garden!

After a long day's work

Rain barrels!

And here are some other shots from our adventures throughout the city:

 Working on the beds

 Plants growing

 and growing

 and growing!

 and going to the market!

And a sweet little treat, from Mother Nature

Special thanks to Chris Foster of the Gifford Park Neighborhood Association for taking some of these!

Spring eats: Rhubarb

I grew up not liking rhubarb too much. As a kid, the tangy-tartness so characteristic of this springtime treat, was not on the top of my list for favorite flavors. But ask me today if I'd like some rhubarb, and I'd be crazy to say no! I have really grown to love its versatile flavor that pairs well with sweet strawberries or savory spices. Better yet, rhubarb is a perennial crop that produces more and more each year, and has a lengthy spring season with multiple harvests.


The recipe that turned me onto rhubarb was my mom's Rhubarb Cream Pie; the ultimate spring treat! My grandpa has a pretty large rhubarb patch at his farm and conveniently lives adjacent to a pick-your-own strawberry farm, lending itself to many a tasty mom-made pie.

Momma Clark's Rhubarb Custard Pie
Beat slightly 3 eggs

Add 2 2/3 T milkmix together and stir in 2 cup sugar4 T flour3/4 t nutmeg

Mix in 4 cups of cut-up pink rhubarb. Pour into a pie crust. Dot filling in pie pan with 1T butter and cover with thin lattice. Bake at 400 degrees for 50-60 minutes! Enjoy with friends Another tasty dessert option:Rhubarb cake
1 cup sour milk (1T vinegar + milk to make 1 c--use whole milk)1 t vanilla1 1/2 cup raw rhubarb--cut fine1/2 cup butter or margarine1 1/2 cup brown sugar1 egg2 cups flour1/2 t salt1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon1/4 cup sugar Cream butter and brown sugar and stir in egg. Stir in dry ingredients. Then, add sour milk & vanilla, then rhubarb. Pour batter into a 9 x 13 pan & sprinkle cinnamon & sugar mixture over top.Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.



Other ideas for your rhubarb:
You can freeze it, can it, pickle it!


Happy spring eating,
Ali