THIS WEEK’S HARVEST
Arugula, Mustard Mix, Little Gem Lettuces, Red Romaine Lettuce, Bel Fiore Radicchio, Escarole, Celery, Purple Daikon Radish, Carrots, Assorted Zucchini & Summer Squash, Sweet Peppers, Poblano Peppers, Eggplant, Bodega Red Potatoes, Cabernet Onions, Early Girl & Heirloom Tomatoes, Garlic
U-PICK
Don’t forget to branch out to the back areas to find the jack-pots!
Albion Strawberries | 4 pints per share
Padrón Peppers | 2 pints per share | We have it on good authority that the Padróns are now spicier than the Jalapeños!
Shishito Peppers | 3 pints per share | While still most likely to be mild, even shishitos can have a little heat towards the end of the season.
Cherry Tomatoes | 4 pints per share
Dragon Tongue Green Beans | 4 pints per share | See harvest note below
Hot Peppers:
Jalapeños | 10 peppers per share | To find the hottest ones, look for “checking”, the delicate cracks in the skin that indicate the pepper has aged into its heat, or pick the red ones for a sweet and spicy flavor.
Thai Chilis | 10 peppers | Pick when red
Cherry Bomb Peppers | Gleanings (help yourself to the little that’s left) | Pick when red
Habanero | 10 peppers per share | Pick when orange
Herbs: Italian, Purple and Thai Basil, Dill, Tulsi, Chamomile, Parsley, Onion Chives, Garlic Chives, Tarragon, Thyme, Oregano, Marjoram, Culinary Sage, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Vietnamese Coriander, Shiso (Perilla), Catnip, Pineapple, Sorrel, Assorted Mints & Husk Cherries!
Flowers!
HARVEST NOTES
Bodega Red Potatoes: These distinctively round, red-skinned tomatoes are a true local heirloom, grown in our region since the 1840’s. As with many true heirlooms, it’s often difficult to track down seed (in this case seed potatoes) to grow them, and we’re grateful to the folks at Slow Food Sonoma County North for their work in making them available! Bodega Reds have a rich, creamy and nutty potato flavor, and a texture that’s neither too starchy nor waxy. They’re quite versatile, so use them in any of your favorite dishes: baked, boiled, fried, or mashed. You’ll notice that the skin on the potatoes this week is quite delicate as they’re not fully cured.
PRESERVING THE HARVEST
With the Equinox, the tomatoes are showing signs of slowing down. Make sure to take advantage of bulk quantities while they’re still around! If you just don’t have time to process, but really want to save some for the cooler months, consider blending whole tomatoes, and pouring into freezer bags to make sauce out of later.
WINTER SISTER FARM CSA
Going to miss us this winter? Well you’re in luck! Our dear friends next door at Winter Sister Farm have got you covered with the freshest veggies money can buy all winter and spring.
All memberships include diverse winter-hardy veggies such as broccoli, carrots, potatoes, onions, winter squash, lettuce, kale, chard, as well as access to a small u-pick garden with cold hardy herbs and spring flowers. Click here to get all the details on this wonderful CSA program and to reserve your spot today!
LOCAL FLOUR SHARES AVAILABLE!
We’re excited to share that our friend Farmer Mai is making their locally-grown flour available again this year as a winter subscription. Their freshly-ground, heirloom wheat flour is the most magical that we’ve ever baked with. There’s only one week left to sign up, so if you’re interested hop on it now!
The Farmer Mai Flour Share is a four-month subscription of freshly stone-milled, whole wheat flour each month. Choose from different bundles of identity-preserved, single-origin, and flavorful heirloom wheat. Pick-up is available at Green Valley Farm and Mill in Sebastopol.
NIÇOISE SALAD
by ANNA STOCKWELL via Bon Appetit
Farmer’s note: We are love the versatility of nicoise salad and how beautifully it highlights the flavor and freshness of really good vegetables. We recommend using this recipe as a template for beautiful meals all season.
This tuna niçoise salad recipe delivers big briny Mediterranean-inspired flavors, with lots of satisfying crunch. Bonus: It requires the bare minimum of prep time.
Just a handful of quality ingredients makes this summer salad special. Canned tuna plays the leading role, so splurge on a really good tin. For the briny elements, choose your own adventure. Tiny niçoise olivesare traditional, but meaty green Castelvetranos or robust black olives like Kalamata work too. Capers make another great addition, and they’re even better when you crisp them up. Peperoncini bring both tang and a touch of heat. Look for fresh green beans or haricot verts at the farmers market as well as crisp seedless cucumbers, which are at their best in summer.
A couple of Nicoise Salad-inspired dinners. On the left: Dragon Tongue beans with caramelized onions, cucumber, carrot, celery, lettuce, tomato and hard boiled egg with herby Ranch dressing. On the right: heirloom tomato, pan-fried potatoes, roasted zucchini, cucumbers and purple daikon with blue cheese, lettuce and sweet pepper, capers and sardines with the classic Nicoise dressing below.
To keep everything as simple as possible, the cooked elements are all boiled in a single pot of water: Cook the eggs first, then blanch the green beans, and finally simmer baby gold or red potatoes until they’re fork-tender. Use the cooking time to assemble everything else. When ready, drizzle a lemon vinaigrette over the composed salad, slice some crusty bread, and pour that rosé. No garnish is necessary, but if you have some fresh basil on hand, don’t let it go to waste.
INGREDIENTS
6–8 servings
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. honey
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more
6 large eggs
1 lb. green beans, trimmed and/or new or baby potatoes, halved if larger
4 cups thinly sliced seedless cucumbers
3 cups oil-packed tuna
Olives, capers, peperoncini, pickles, anchovies, or other pickled-briny ingredients, drained well (for serving)
Flaky sea salt
PREPARATION
Whisk ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil, ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard, 1 tsp. honey, 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, and 1 tsp. kosher salt in a medium bowl; set niçoise salad dressing aside.
Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Carefully add 6 large eggs and cook 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer eggs to a bowl of ice water (keep pot over high heat); chill eggs until cold, about 5 minutes. Peel; set aside.
Meanwhile, add 1 lb. green beans, trimmed and/or new or baby potatoes, halved if larger to the same pot of boiling water and cook until just tender, 2–4 minutes for green beans, 10–15 minutes for potatoes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to bowl of ice water; let sit until cold, about 3 minutes. Transfer to paper towels; pat dry.
To serve, slice eggs in half and arrange on a large platter with green beans and/or potatoes, 4 cups seedless cucumbers, thinly sliced on a diagonal, and 3 cups oil-packed tuna. Top with olives, capers, peperoncini, pickles, anchovies, or other pickled-briny things, drained well, sprinkle with flaky sea salt, and drizzle some reserved dressing over. Serve with remaining dressing alongside.
Do Ahead: Niçoise salad dressing can be made 5 days ahead; cover and chill. Eggs can be boiled and vegetables blanched 2 days ahead; cover and chill separately.
FARMER’S LOG
Turn, Turn, Turn!
At 5:43 am this Sunday morning, the Earth will wobble its midline straight to the sun — the Autumnal Equinox. At that moment, if you listen closely, you might here a big “yipeee!” from thousands of Northern hemisphere farmers.
It’s not that we begrudge the summer. No. We just love the changes.
It struck me today how the tasks of pulling off a growing season harmonize with each other, and the seasons, such that it always seems like there is just enough time to do what needs to be done by the skin on our chinny-chin-chins.
The Byrds were right: To everything, there is a season.
In the spring, we aren’t harvesting yet, so we have all the lengthening-day to prep the canvas; to tune-up the equipment and build irrigation systems; to seed 200 trays a week in the greenhouse; to pot up, stake, and trellis tomatoes; to mow cover crop, turn soil, and plant, plant, plant!
Then harvest seasons comes and two, three, then four days a week are consumed by harvest. We put down the shovel and the hammer and take up the harvest knife. All other projects cease. Planting and harvest become our lives (and maybe some weeding if we’re lucky). The days are at their longest. If there is ever a time to harvest hundreds of pounds of cucumbers, tomatoes and squash in the morning and then seed a mile of carrots in the afternoon, it’s summer.
Before we know it, it’s late-summer. The tomatoes start exploding, the cucumbers already are, we’re still planting like crazy and then the melons come in — and just when when we think we’ll break, that there isn’t enough time in the long hot days, we scroll through our crop plan and see that the plantings are nearly done. No more bed shaping. Greenhouse seedings slow down. We plant the last Fall brassicas and the tractor sits quiet for a minute and we can spend all day amongst the vines and in the cooler playing Tetris with boxes of summer fruit.
Brent, Char and Sarah planting the very last seedlings of the year — 3,000 row ft of Salanova lettuce!
Then comes the Autumnal Equinox.
The tomatoes are still pumping and the onions and potatoes are calling to be harvested; the winter squash and corn are crisping up. The fall harvests are here. Space needs to be cleared, fields mowed and turned into cover crop, new garlic beds prepped and planted — and just when we think we’ll break, that there isn’t enough time in the shortening days, the heat starts to ebb and the tomatoes show signs of slowing down. Soon, a light frost will roll through the farm and nip the summer fruits. Smiling friends will come to help with the potato harvest. The chill morning air goes down like a draught of ambrosia. We plant the last lettuce bed of the season and have a moment to sit and seed cover crop.
All this is why you’ll rarely hear a farmer say, “Shucks! Summer is over.”
We are greedy for the turnings.
We love nothing more than a first harvest. But the glory of the first tomato fades under the weight of hundreds of tomato crates and then we crave cold hands and cozy coats and the crisp stem snap of a plump winter radicchio.
Change is our tonic — and one of the great sustaining elixirs of farm life.
Soon, winter will come. The rains will come and we will turn in — to rest, rejuvenation, and internality. We’ll clean up the farm, look back on the year, plan the next, sit, think, fix things, and sleep.
But ample sleep turns into insomnia; too much internality into angst. Our harvest muscles will atrophy and we will get pudgy. We will forget why we are out puttering in the wet and the cold.
And just when we think we’ll break, that there is too much open-endedness in the too short days, the sun will start creeping back and we will hear the Red-winged Blackbirds calling us back out to the fields, beckoning us, “Build it up again! Plant again! Turn! Turn! Turn!”
See you in the fields,
David
CSA BASICS
Drive slow! Please drive slow on Cooper Rd. and in our driveway / parking lot area. Kids at play!
No dogs: Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed on the farm.
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
Oriented members can come to the farm any time, 7 days a week, sunrise to sunset, to u-pick and enjoy the farm.
Where is the farm? The member parking lot is located at 1720 Cooper Rd., Sebastopol, CA 95472.
Where is the food? The produce pick-up barn is just to the right of the solar panels and above our big greenhouse. You can’t miss it!
2024 CSA program dates: Our harvest season will run from Saturday, June 15th through Tuesday, December 10th this year.
