Sowing with Abandon

It was a busy spring weekend on the farm, and one that was sorely needed. The conditions were just perfect for getting a number of crops into the ground. Probably the most important of these was the potatoes, which had arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago. We had 100 pounds of seed potatoes and thanks to a significant family effort we got about 80 pounds into the ground in the South and East gardens before rushing off to a big family gathering Saturday evening. The remainder of the potatoes will go into the Center garden, which is still too wet to till. Huge thanks to my family for their help!

Sunday was a bit of a blur as more beds were prepped and spring crops sown, before the forecast rain. Luckily the weather held until we had everything sown that was possible for the time and the conditions. So far we have the following crops in the ground:
Beets, Broccoli Raab, Carrots, Green onions, Kale, Kohlrabi, Mustard, Peas, Potatoes, Radishes, Spinach, and Turnips. Plus the crops that are growing in the high tunnel which include: salad greens, choi, spinach, radishes and chard.

And today it is a cool and rainy day, so I stoked up the wood-fired boiler and made my favorite cinnamon biscuits to celebrate the accomplishments of the weekend and the miserable weather outside. The recipe follows, and don't be too alarmed by what appears to be a ridiculous amount of sugar for the filling, it really needs all of it, since there is no sweetner in the dough itself.

Sweet Cinnamon Biscuits


2 cups Flour
1 tablespoon Baking powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Baking soda
1/4 cup Vegetable oil
3/4 cup Buttermilk
4 tablespoon Butter softened
3/4 cup Sugar
2 teaspoon Cinnamon
½ tsp ground Cardamom (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°. Grease a 9 in round baking pan lightly.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl and mix well. Stir in vegetable oil. Add buttermilk and stir just until blended. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Roll dough into a 15x8 in rectangle. Spread butter over the dough. Combine sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a small bowl and mix well. Sprinkle over butter. Roll up rectangle, jelly roll fashion, starting from one long side. Pinch seam to seal. Cut the roll into 1 1/2 in slices. Arrange the slices, cut side up, in prepared baking pan. Bake until lightly browned, about 15-20 mins. Remove from oven. Serve hot.