THIS WEEK’S HARVEST
French Breakfast Radishes, Baby Fennel, Scallions, Hakurei Turnips, Dino Kale, Green Zucchini and Yellow Crookneck Squash, Merida Carrots (from Winter Sister Farm), Bulk Spinach, Komatsuna, Rosaine Little Gems and Assorted Lettuces, New Arugula, and Salad Mix (with Ethiopian Kale, Baby Napa Cabbage, Lettuce, and Mustard Greens)
U-PICK
Albion Strawberries
Sugar Snap Peas
Herbs: Thyme, Italian Parsley, Tarragon, Onion Chives, Garlic Chives, Vietnamese Coriander, Culinary Lavender, Culinary Sage, French Sorrel, Lemon Verbena, Cilantro, Tulsi, Various Mints, Catnip, Chamomile, Purple Basil
Flowers!
HARVEST NOTES
Bulk Spinach: Our spinach bed came on strong with the heat. It is no longer delicate baby spinach but is great for cooking. We harvested a lot so plan on cooking some spinach this week if you so desire!
Sugar Snap Peas: The sugar snap peas are juuuust starting. They always start slow, with just a few ready, and will become an avalanche of peas for weeks 3 and 4.
Strawberries: The strawberries are at their peak of abundance and flavor this week. Come ready to pick some berries!
The purple flowers glowing in the middle of the garden right now are California-native Phacelia, also called Bee’s Friend. Spend a moment admiring them and you’ll find out why!
FARM ORIENTATION TOURS
It was so lovely touring you around the farm last week! If you missed the tour, please join us for one at the time slots below this week, or next.
WEEK 2:
Saturday, June 18th: 9:00 am, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm
Tuesday, June 21st: 1:00 pm. 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm
WEEK 3:
Saturday, June 25th: 9:00 am, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm
Tuesday, June 28th: 1:00 pm. 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm
Orientations should take about 30 minutes. All adults who will be coming to the farm regularly should attend one.
If you can’t attend any of the above, please reach out to us to schedule a time to get shown the ropes!
FARM BASICS
Times & Dates: Our 2022 CSA harvest season will run from June 11th - December 6th.
Saturday harvest pick-ups run from 9:00am - 2:00pm
Tuesday harvest pick-up run from 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Members and their accompanied guests may visit the farm any time, 7 days a week, sunrise to sunset, to enjoy the farm and u-pick.
Where is the farm? The member parking lot is located at 1720 Cooper Rd., Sebastopol, CA 95472. It is the long gravel driveway to the left. Kiddos crossing. Please drive slowly.
Parking: Please find a parking spot under the solar panels to your left, or along the straw bales further down.
Where is the food! The pick-up barn is to your right with the beautiful mural on it.
What should I bring to the farm?:
Extra plastic produce bags (if you have them) to cut down on plastic waste
A pint basket or other pint measure and a basket for u-pick crops
A vase or water bottle to keep your flowers and herbs happy on the drive home!
Clippers to cut flowers and herbs
Water / sun hat / picnic supplies if you plan to stay awhile!
Our fancy California poppies are exploding with color right now in the garden. They have a surprisingly long vase life, and stunningly contrasting petals. They do not need to be cauterized like European poppies. Pro tip: pick a long stem that includes some unopened buds — these should start to bloom in your bouquet as the week goes on.
TURNIPS glazed in miso & butter
Recipe by Claire Saffitz
Have you tried the Hakurei Salad Turnips yet? While we love crunching on them raw as a snack, and slicing them onto our salads, it’s hard to beat the richly satisfying flavor of glazing them with miso and butter. Check this recipe out with this week’s Hakurei Turnips!
1 pound turnips, cut into 1” wedges
2 tablespoons white miso
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon sugar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Step 1
Combine turnips, miso, butter, and sugar in a medium skillet, then add water just to cover vegetables. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 2
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook turnips, turning occasionally, until they are tender and liquid is evaporated, 15–20 minutes.
Step 3
Once all the liquid has cooked off, keep cooking turnips, tossing occasionally, until they are golden brown and caramelized and the sauce thickens and glazes the vegetables, about 5 minutes longer.
Step 4
Add lemon juice and a splash of water to pan and swirl to coat turnips. Season with salt and pepper.
FARMER’S LOG
WHEW!
Earlier this afternoon, at around 4pm, Kayta, Grace, Lauren and I finished transplanting the our winter squash transplants in the far field. That last little squash plant (a Sunshine Kabocha, I believe) represented the last transplant of 2022’s great big Spring plant out.
While our harvest season has only just begun, we’ve just finished the lion’s share of the year’s planting by mid-June. Aye, by this time of year 75% of our fields are planted in the year’s potatoes, spring and storage onions, dried corn, winter squash, tomatoes, and peppers and 50% of the year’s carrots and most of the year’s melons and cucumbers are in the ground.
Whew!
The great Spring plant-out has a different rhythm than harvest season. It is infrastructure and equipment heavy: Tractors hum constantly as fields are shaped from cover crop to plantable beds and the irrigation shed gets ransacked daily as the year’s irrigation lines get built. It’s hard on the body: Weekly row-feet needing to be planted is in the thousands of feet before lunch and tomato trellis stake pounding is what’s for dessert.
Always the Great Taskmaster watches over us: A greenhouse full of bursting seedling trays cascading out the front door, demanding a space in the field.
But now, with that Winter Squash planting completed, the greenhouse is like a relative ghost town.
Now, the weeds start demanding our attention and we’ll shift to maintenance of our crops. To cultivating our growing babies. To halting the weeds from encroaching on them too much; to trellising the tomatoes so they can grow tall; to hilling the potatoes to encourage more tubers; to coupling leaks in the irrigation lines and adjusting waterings schedules. And, of course, to harvesting.
We’re looking forward to this phase. We start to reap the tangible rewards of all that hard work — in glowing scallions and plump sugar snap peas — and we get to express a softer side of our farmer selves — observation, care, attention, and sharing.
We hope you enjoy this week’s share!
See you in the strawberries,
David & Kayta
