Hey hey friends and family,
This is Kurt stepping in to write this week’s newsletter while Irene is rolling ramp dumplings and packing fresh kimchi for the market tomorrow. I hope everyone’s doing well and that your seasonal allergies have mostly passed.
While I definitely don’t have Irene’s way with words, I think I bring something special to the table in my own way, so occasionally I’ll be the one behind the newsletter. So you can look forward to future posts exploring some of my favorite things to talk about, like the virtues of Buick station wagons, fishing for bass with old bamboo poles, and finding incredible deals on out-of-print paperbacks on ThriftBooks. You know that sort of stuff.
We’re excited to have kimchi tomorrow at the Athens Farmers Market.
Last week we made a batch of spring Napa kimchi with ingredients gathered from the recent bounty at the Farmers Market. Since it has been in the walk-in cooler at ACEnet for a little over one week, it’s only begun its fermentation journey, so it’s delightfully crunchy and slightly tangy right now-it’s delicious and I love it when it’s fresh like this. It will develop a deeper flavor in your fridge as it ferments - if it lasts that long!
We’ve been calling this batch Larry’s Kimchi, because Larry and Kim at Cowdery Farms grew a special Napa cabbage for us that is perfect for kimchi. It has the right texture and a lot of frilly green leaves and less stalk.
Instead of daikon (out of season) we swapped in kohlrabi grown by Mike at Shade River Farm. The flavor, which to me is a cross between an apple and a mild radish- two ingredients for making kimchi- was a natural fit flavor and texture wise.
Chris Monday at Veggie Visions Farm provided the spring onions, ginger and garlic grown by Lindsay at Trouvaille Farm, and red radish and ramps from Ed Perkins at Sassafras Farm as well as sustainably harvested ramps from a few of our secret spots. Don’t ask, we’re not telling!
It’s been a busy few weeks here at Hei Hei HQ.
We’ve hired our first employee (!!!), processed hundreds of pounds of fresh organic bok choy grown by Shade River, kicked off our first merch collaboration with Pull Club (the amazing design/print shop in Cincinnati), met with Congressman Troy Balderson’s staff with hopes of inspiring them to work towards unfreezing USDA funding that was approved to support Hei Hei and the farmers we work with, and lots of dumpling rolling.
Irene will be back next week to tell you more. Until then,
See ya at the market,
Kurt