We serve them fresh. Roast them. Ferment them, pickle them and dry them. We grind them into powder, and turn them into sauces.
And boy are we happy that pepper season is here. This year we planted 10 different varieties, with names like Shishito, Fushimi, Amish Pimiento, Carmen Elongated Sweet, Czech Black and Basque Espelette.
Some are fat and yellow. Others are slender, long and harvested when red. We pull most of the peppers when they are green, before they have a chance to turn the color of a Tesla Model X destined for a guy having a midlife crisis.
It’s a banner year for peppers. April’s and May’s moisture nurtured and fed the seedlings, and the past two months of sun and heat has made the plants sturdy and stout, the fruit plump and glistening.
Agricultural Practices Matter for Peppers (and Everything Else)!
Our biodynamic and organic practices and soil, too, lend a firm hand. Peppers challenged us for the first few years, in part because the farm’s soil lacked much in the way of biodiversity and nutrients. But after years of working this land, the soil now is alive and vital. The peppers appreciate Black Cat Farm’s wildly fertile fields.
We won’t have all of the varieties at the Market on Saturday, but that’s OK. The roll-out of peppers during the next month or so gives us all provocative things to anticipate. This week, we will have shishitos (blistered in a pan of hot oil and showered with salt, they are life-changing), poblanos, jalapeños and fushimis (traditional Japanese peppers).
Some, like those fushimis, are sweet. Most offer just small jolts of burn. Only a few, like jalapeños, are ideal for hot sauces and those who savor edible fire.
We look forward to seeing you at the Market on Saturday for peppers and a bajillion other things coming out of the fields. And do check out our sheepskins, which will be on display all over the stand. They are treasures.
Saturday 8am – 2pm
Weekly Harvest 8/10/2019
Veggies
Peppers · Tomatoes · Red potatoes · Beets · Leeks · Hilmar fildekraut cabbage · Dill flowers · Edible bouquets · Basil · Young garlic · Summer squash · Parsnips · Magenta turnips · Hakurei turnips · Spring onions · Edible radish flowers · Parsley · Siberian kale · Red Russian kale · Chard · Mixed salad greens · Radish greens · Osaka purple · Asian collard greens · Ruby mizuna
Black Cat Heritage-Breed Pork & Lamb Raised on Organic Pastures
All cuts of lamb · All cuts of pork · Pork skin · Pork jowls
Accessories
Sheepskins · Tallow candle
Join Us Every Thursday for Farm Dinners with Bookcliff Vineyards
Tomatoes so fresh they still hold the sun’s warmth. Corn that perfumes the table. Heritage pork and lamb grilled over plum wood. These represent some of the culinary treasures you will encounter at our weekly farm dinners. Every Thursday through the fall, please join us for hors d’oeuvres on the patio and in our restored, historic farm buildings, followed by tours of our organic- and biodynamic-certified farm. Then we meet back up at the farm dinner space for four courses, each paired with Bookcliff Vineyards wines. Following the meal, guests are free to take in the breathtaking mountain views while they enjoy dessert inside, on the patio, or in front of a bonfire.
We look forward to sharing these weekly celebrations of the pleasures of the table — Colorado-style.
Details
Location: 9889 North 51st St., Longmont.
Time: 5:30 for hors d’oevres and farm tours. Dinner service begins at 6:30.
Dining: hors d’oevres, four courses with wine pairings, dessert.
Cost: $149 per person, includes all wine pairings, taxes and gratuity.
To make reservations, please call Black Cat Bistro at 303-444-5500, or email Maygen at [email protected]. Or book us through OpenTable:
