Happy Friday, friends.
We sense this could be a classic “stocking up” weekend. Gorgeous weather across Saturday and Sunday. Rain arrives on Tuesday. Clouds, moisture and variations on a theme of 45 degrees could persist for a week or more.
Saturday, you might want lamb burgers on the grill and a big salad revolving around Black Cat Organic Farm arugula and Miner’s lettuce. Sunday and Monday? Pasta with a sauce made from our kale sautéed in olive oil with garlic and red pepper flakes. Perhaps farro with greens, zaatar, a scattering of feta. Maybe you rest a few pork medallions on the arrangement, or a seared piece of wild Alaskan salmon.
Then comes Tuesday, and the days that follow. Minestrone. Pork chops, roasted potatoes and gravy. Shepherd’s pie. Beef stew. Grilled cheese and tomato soup.
That’s April along the Front Range. One day it’s Sicily in June. The next it’s June in the Outer Hebrides.
We invite widespread stocking up at our farm store, 4975 Jay Road, both Saturday and Sunday from 10-5. Another outstanding nexus for pantry-larding? The Boulder Farmers’ Market in downtown Boulder tomorrow.
The farm team spent all day in the fields on Friday, harvesting much in the way of green goodness. Our greenhouse savants devoted the week to the bright, warm place, tending to what Eric might describe as a “gazillion” seedlings.
Months of greenhouse toil translates into goodies at the farm store and Market, in the form of plantable pots. This weekend at the store, look for these plantable pots:
- Basil
- Tomatoes
- Savory herb gardens
- Herbal tea gardens
- Salad gardens
For just-harvested veggies at the Store, you’ll find these:
- Arugula
- Purple kale
- Chervil
- Miner’s lettuce
- Spinach
- Parsley
Filling the fridge with an abundance of leafiness gets you started on the week ahead. Next, consider our cuts of lamb, pork and beef. We raise our livestock on USDA Certified Organic pasture in Boulder City and County. We treat our animals with immense care and respect. You won’t find meat like this for sale at the you-name-the-place meat counter. Our cuts offer extraordinary flavor, rooted in pure pasture, fresh air and stress-free lives.
What else beyond stew does 49 degrees, freezing rain and pewter skies suggest? Baking. You’ll welcome the hot oven. We’ve got loads of sourdough starter. Our farm team has been milling rye and Khorasan wheat flour for your bread, pancake, pot pie, biscuit and cinnamon roll needs. Black Cat flour comes from organic grains we grow and mill ourselves; flour you buy this weekend might have been milled as recently as today.
All of the vegetables, meats and grains compel us to don aprons, sharpen knives, scrape cuttings into compost bins and commune with hot stoves and ovens. Maybe this does not appeal, at least not for an entire week. We are here for you.
Our prepared foods this week include spanakopita, tagines, marinara, pesto, burritos, pork green chile and more. Bread? Our wonderful sourdough bread will be on display. It might even be warm.
And we always offer a range of provisions: gluten-free bread from Havenly Baked Goods; honey from Bjorn’s Colorado Honey; pickled vegetables from Mountain Girl Pickles; chips and tortillas from Bolder Chips; coffee from Silver Canyon Coffee.
We look forward to seeing you at the Farm Store this weekend!
Farmers’ Market Bounty
We love the Market’s energy, and are eager to get that booth set up and to start yakking with you all. The Market hours are 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.
For now, we are keeping things simple at the Market, and focusing on vegetables and meat.
Just as it is for the Farm Store, in terms of vegetables look for:
- Arugula
- Purple kale
- Chervil
- Miner’s lettuce
- Spinach
- Parsley
And our plantable pot list includes:
- Basil
- Tomatoes
- Savory herb gardens
- Herbal tea gardens
- Salad gardens
Also, find myriad cuts of pork, lamb and beef at the Market.
Bramble & Hare’s Return
After more than a year of dust-collection in the Bramble & Hare dining room, we returned the space to its former spiffy glory, crafted new menus and served guests on Thursday night. It was a triumph. Enthusiasm was so keen we served Bramble diners in what formerly was the Black Cat Bistro dining room.
Bramble is open again tonight and Saturday, then closed until Tuesday. Reservations are available for next week. On Monday at noon, we open Bramble reservations for the week of April 19. If you would like to join us, make sure to head here on Monday to make reservations. We will greet you at the door with grins, stories about Black Cat Organic Farm, and sublime food and drink.
Farm Dinner Reservations Open Monday
Bookings for farm dinners remained strong across the dark and cold months, never mind driving snow, 9 degrees, 18 mph winds and the rest of the tumult known as Boulder winter. Most nights, we were booked solid.
Now that it’s warming up, notwithstanding next week’s plunge into the Outer Hebrides, reservations are growing increasingly competitive. Just as it is with Bramble, we open reservations every Monday at noon. This Monday, that means for the week of April 19. If you desire a night in a private dining room on our farm that week, make sure to visit blackcatboulder.com at noon on Monday.
We hope to see you soon at the farm store, the farmers’ market, Bramble & Hare and our farm dinner venue!
