THIS WEEK’S HARVEST
Eggplant, Sweet Peppers, Tomatoes, Carrots, Assorted Zucchini, Patty Pan & Crookneck Squash, Slicing Cucumbers, Cracker Jack Watermelon, Farao Cabbage, Fresh Red Onions, Celery, Fennel, Rainbow Chard, Mei Qing Choi Bok Choi, Assorted Little Gem Lettuces, Cherokee Summer Crisp Lettuce
U-PICK
Check the u-pick board in the barn for weekly u-pick limits.
Dragon Tongue Green Beans | No Limit - Take what you’ll eat or preserve this week!
Albion Strawberries | 2 pints per share
Cherry Tomatoes | No Limit - Take what you’ll eat or preserve this week!
Frying Peppers:
Shishitos | 1 pint per share
Padróns | 1 pint per share
Jalapeños | 10 peppers per share
Herbs & Edible Flowers: (Note: Most new annual herbs are now in the north west section of the garden.) Husk Cherries, Italian Basil, Purple Basil, Lemon Basil, Purple Basil, Dill, Tulsi, Parsley, Cilantro, Chamomile, Calendula, Borage, Nasturtium, Pansies/Viola, Stridolo, Lemon Bergamot Bee Balm, Onion Chives, Garlic Chives, Tarragon, Thyme, Oregano, Marjoram, Culinary Sage, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Vietnamese Coriander, Shiso/Perilla, Catnip, Pineapple Sage, Sorrel, Assorted Mints
Flowers! (Note: Most of the new flowers, like big new marigolds, are in the western beds and north section.) Too many to list! Feel free to pick the sunflowers along the edge of the parking area in addition to everything in the garden.
HARVEST NOTES
Cracker Jack Watermelon: The finale of this year’s melon parade, this is the latest in our search for the best watermelon we can grow here on the cool edge of the Laguna. These big, round watermelons are shockingly red, strikingly sweet, and technically seedless, though you will likely find some immature seeds inside. Let us know what you think!
Farao Cabbage: These are the first of our big, hearty fall cabbages — perfect for big projects like sauerkraut. Check out our favorite recipe below!
WINTER SISTER FARM CSA SIGN-UPS NOW OPEN!
Want to keep getting abundant weekly veggies through the winter? Winter Sister Farm, located right next door, is open for signups for their 2025-2026 Winter-Spring CSA! They have a range of share options and sizes, including both free-choice and box shares, all of which include access to their u-pick herb and flower garden. Visit www.wintersisterfarm.com/csa for more details!
LEMON DILL SAUERKRAUT
From Fermented Vegetables by Kristen and Christopher Shockey.
If you’ve felt intimidated by making kraut, don’t worry! It’s basically just chopping and salting cabbage, then keeping it submerged in a brine. That, plus a couple days of waiting is all it takes to make exceptional sauerkraut.
INGREDIENTS
about 6 pounds cabbage (2 small heads or one large one)
1 1/2-2 tablespoons unrefined sea salt
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons dried dill or about 1/4 cup fresh dill, according to taste
4-5 cloves of garlic, finely grated
DIRECTIONS
To prepare the cabbage, remove the coarse outer leaves. Rinse a few unblemished ones and set them aside. Quarter and core the cabbage, thinly slice, and transfer to a large bowl.
Add the dill, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of the salt and, with your hands, massage it into the leaves, then taste. You should be able to taste the salt without it being overwhelming. Add more salt if necessary. The cabbage will soon look wet and limp, and liquid will begin to pool. At this point, add the garlic. If you've put in a good effort and don't see much brine in the bowl, let it stand, covered, for 45 minutes, then massage again.
Transfer the cabbage to a crock or 2-quart jar, a few handfuls at a time, pressing down on the cabbage with your fist or a tamper to work out air pockets. You should see some brine on top of the cabbage when you press. Leave 4 inches of headspace for a crock, or 2 to 3 inches for a jar. Top the cabbage with one or two of the reserved outer leaves. Then, for a crock, top the leaves with a plate that fits the opening of the container and covers as much of the vegetables as possible; weigh down with a sealed, water-filled jar. For a jar, use a sealed, water-filled jar or ziplock bag as a follower-weight combination. The goal here is to ensure that the cabbage stays beneath the brine.
Set aside the jar or crock on a baking sheet to ferment, somewhere nearby, out of direct sunlight and cool, for 4 to 14 days. Check daily to make sure the cabbage is submerged, pressing down as needed.
You can start to test the kraut on day 4. You'll know it's ready when it's pleasingly sour and pickle-y tasting, without the strong acidity of vinegar; the cabbage has softened a bit but retains some crunch; and the cabbage is more yellow than green and slightly translucent. If you prefer your kraut on the crunchy side, feel free to start tasting even earlier, and refrigerate as soon as you like the flavor.
Ladle the kraut into smaller jars and tamp down. Pour in any brine that's left. Tighten the lids, then store in the refrigerator. This kraut will keep, refrigerated, for 1 year.
Yields about 1 gallon of kraut.
FARMER’S LOG
WORK SONG
Kayta and I are on vacation this week — blessed by our amazing crew at home holding down this big bulky harvest week. We’ll leave you with one of our favorite Wendell poems.
* * * * *
Work Song Part II - A Vision (Epilogue)
by Wendell Berry
If we will have the wisdom to survive,
to stand like slow growing trees
on a ruined place, renewing, enriching it…
then a long time after we are dead
the lives our lives prepare will live
there, their houses strongly placed
upon the valley sides…
The river will run
clear, as we will never know it…
On the steeps where greed and ignorance cut down
the old forest, an old forest will stand,
its rich leaf-fall drifting on its roots.
The veins of forgotten springs will have opened.
Families will be singing in the fields…
Memory,
native to this valley, will spread over it
like a grove, and memory will grow
into legend, legend into song, song
into sacrament. The abundance of this place,
the songs of its people and its birds,
will be health and wisdom
and indwelling light.
This is no paradisal dream.
Its hardship is its reality.
* * * * *
See you in the fields,
David & Kayta
CSA BASICS
Slow on Cooper Road! Out of respect for our neighbors and the many kids and animals that live on Cooper Rd., please drive slow (20 mph)!
What time is harvest pick-up?:
Saturday harvest pick-ups run from 9:00 am - 2:00 pm
Tuesday harvest pick-ups will run from 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm
U-pick hours: Oriented members can come to the farm any time, 7 days a week, sunrise to sunset, to u-pick and enjoy the farm.
2025 CSA program dates: Our harvest season will run from Saturday, June 14th through Tuesday, December 9th this year.
Where is the farm? The member parking lot is located at 1720 Cooper Rd., Sebastopol, CA 95472.
