We started farming more than a decade ago, and devoted the bulk of our efforts to vegetables for the first year.
The farming bug hit us hard from the get-go, however, and soon we had chickens, and then a pig. And now the livestock include more 100 pigs and nearly 350 sheep, ranging on close to 400 acres across Boulder County.
After livestock, we fully embraced grains and now raise a variety of heritage grains, which we mill into flours for our restaurants and the Farmers’ Market.
What’s the next field project? Herbs and flowers.
We always grew them for the restaurants — it wouldn’t be much of a stretch, for example, to describe as epic our efforts with basil, fennel, parsley and cilantro. But now we are pursuing herbs and flowers with more vigor. The grounds around Black Cat Farm’s new farm dinner space, which occupies renovated historic structures on our personal property, now support myriad specimens. Sage. Thyme. Borage. Rosemary. Snapdragons. Zinnias. Gerber daisies. Violets. The list goes on.
We grow enough to sell all of our herbs and some flowers to sell at the Farmers’ Market. As we experiment with them in the fields, we will incorporate more and more herbs, as well as edible flowers (that includes herb flowers) into restaraurant dishes as well.
Look for them at our Farmers’ Market stand this weekend, and don’t forget about the basil, which we sell in the same large bins as our salad greens and arugula. Epic? With basil, absolutely.
Here’s an excellent preparation for basil, one in which the vibrant green of the leaf remains bright and emerald (rather than the dull, Army green that often results with basil sauces). The recipe is from our book, Farm, Fork, Food: A Year of Spectacular Recipes Inspired by Black Cat Farm.
Basil Coulis
Makes 1/2 Cup
1 cup fresh basil
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 ice cubes
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
sea salt
lemon juice to taste
In a blender, combine the herbs, ice and both oils. Blend on high speed until very smooth. Transfer to a small bowl. Season with salt and lemon juice and use immediately.
Saturday 10am – 2pm
Weekly Harvest -7/20/2019
Veggies
Basil · Summer squash · Cilantro · English peas · Cabbages: French Savoy and Hilmar filderkraut (German cabbage grown for sauerkraut) · Young garlic · Fava beans · Parsnips · Pea tendrils · Magenta turnips · Hakurei turnips · Spring onions · Edible radish flowers · Parsley · Siberian kale · Red Russian kale · Chard · Mixed salad greens · Butter lettuce · Red Romain · Mizuna · Radish greens · Osaka purple · Asian collard greens · Arugula flowers · Ruby mizuna
Black Cat Frozen Farm-Grown Dishes
Pork green chile · Pork rillettes · Lamb green curry · Vegetable green curry · Green mole
Black Cat Charcuterie
Cotechino Modena sausage · Ken’s Italian Cajun Sausage · Bacon · Lamb merguez sausage
Black Cat Heritage-Breed Pork & Lamb Raised on Organic Pastures
All cuts of lamb · All cuts of pork · Pork skin · Pork jowls
Accessories
Sheepskins (via order form) · Tallow candle
