THIS WEEK’S HARVEST
In a nutshell: Tomatoes to snack-on; tomatoes to slice; tomatoes to preserve. Peak tomato!
Salanova Salad Mix, Cegolaine Little Gem Lettuces, Assorted Head Lettuce, White Russian Kale, Bel Fiore Chicories, Purple Daikon Radishes, Fennel, Poblano Peppers, Assorted Sweet Peppers, Bintje Potatoes, Summer Squash & Zucchini, Assorted Cucumbers, Romance Carrots, Walla Walla Onions, Assorted Melons, Various Heirloom & Red Slicing Tomatoes, Farao Cabbage
Upick abundance! Featuring Pink Princess and Purple Bumblebee cherry tomatoes in the top row, Sun Gold and Supersweet 100 in the middle row, and Indigo Cherry Drop in the bottom. The peppers in the bottom right are red jalapeños, which, when dried and smoked, become Chipotle.
U-PICK
Albion Strawberries: 4 pints per share
Cherry Tomatoes: 6 pint per share
Shishito & Padrón Frying Peppers: 2 pints total per share | There continue to be more Shishitos than Padróns. See Week 6’s Newsletter for harvest and preparation tips.
Jalapeños: 4 peppers per share | if you like your jalapeños hot, look for peppers with checking (little cracks) on them
Buena Mulata Peppers: 4 peppers per share | see Harvest Notes for details!
Tomatillos: 1 pint per share
Herbs: Italian Basil, Thai Basil, Tulsi Basil, Dill, Chamomile, Parsley, Onion Chives, Garlic Chives, Tarragon, Oregano, Marjoram, Culinary Sage, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Vietnamese Coriander, Shiso (Perilla), Culinary Lavender, French Sorrel, Borage, Violas, Thyme and Mints.
Flowers!
CANNING TOMATOES
The tomatoes are exploding — now is the time to preserve! We have started our distribution of bulk tomatoes for canning / freezing. Each share is allotted a 15 lb season limit — meaning your share can home 15 lbs of tomatoes from the 2nds canning bins in the barn either all at once, or on separate occasions (i.e. 7.5 lbs twice).
Our favorite way to preserve tomatoes is just to freeze fresh tomato sauce. It’s easier than canning and tastes better (we think)! See Week 12’s newsletter for Kayta’s go-to fresh tomato sauce recipe.
Cherry Tomato Introductions!
By now we hope you’ve explored and sampled a few of all of them, but we wanted to properly introduce you to this year’s cherry tomato line-up so you can enjoy a proper taste testing . Check out the picture above to see what they look like!
Pink Princess: Developed by an oxen-driving, seed-saving wizard in Massachusetts, this gem is such a favorite of ours that when the seed was temporarily unavailable a couple years ago, we saved our own! Mellow and sweet, with a hint of grapefruit, these cherry tomatoes are on the smaller size and ripen to a beautiful matte pink.
Purple Bumblebee: Dusky purple with metallic striping, these have a sweet flavor and meaty texture. They’re on the large side for cherry tomatoes, and make a beautiful salad component.
Sungold: The sun... captured. An unbeatable classic. Ripe when deep orange. Candy sweet, super productive. Is it even summer until you have a handful of Sungolds?
Supersweet 100: A classic red cherry tomato for a shock of red sweet tang. Ripest when deep scarlet red. The secret to Supersweets is to leave them out on the counter for a day or two after you pick them — they sweeten up off the vine.
Indigo Cherry Drops: These striking purple orbs are chock-full of healthy anthocyanins (antioxidants) and deliciousness! They are ripe when the green side darkens to red -- keep a close eye out when picking as even the unripe tomatoes of this variety are purple!
2023 Cherry Tomato Crew! Top row L to R: Purple Bumblebee, Sungold | Bottom row L to R: Pink Princess, Indigo Cherry Drop, Supersweet 100
Samin Nosrat’s Panzanella salad
At the height of tomato season, Panzanella is one of our go-to favorite meals. Light, refreshing, and incredibly delicious, it really shines when it’s made of the best ingredients.
Ingredients
CROUTONS
1 (1-pound) day-old rustic or sourdough bread loaf
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
TOMATO VINAIGRETTE
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar (such as Monari Federzoni)
4 very ripe small tomatoes (about 1 pound)
8 fresh basil leaves, torn into large pieces
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 teaspoon plus a pinch of kosher salt
SALAD
3/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 1/2 pounds Early Girl or other flavorful ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into bite-size pieces (about 3 1/2 cups)
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste, divided
4 Persian cucumbers, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices (about 2 1/4 cups)
16 fresh basil leaves, torn into large pieces
Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon)
directions
Make the croutons
Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove crust from bread, and discard or reserve for another use. Cut loaf into 1-inch-thick slices; cut slices into 1-inch-wide strips. Tear strips into 1-inch pieces, and toss with oil until evenly coated. Spread in an even layer on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Bake croutons on separate oven racks in preheated oven 8 minutes. Continue to bake until golden brown and crisp, 18 to 22 minutes, flipping croutons and rotating pans (top to bottom) often to ensure even browning. Remove croutons from baking sheets as they finish browning. Sprinkle croutons with kosher salt, and let cool in a single layer.
Make the tomato vinaigrette
Stir together shallots, red wine vinegar, and balsamic vinegar in a medium bowl; let stand 15 minutes. Cut tomatoes in half, and grate cut sides on large holes of a box grater until only skin remains. Discard skins. Set aside 1 cup tomato pulp. (Reserve remaining tomato pulp for another use.) Stir tomato pulp, oil, basil leaves, garlic, and kosher salt into vinegar mixture; let stand at least 10 minutes or up to 30 minutes. Remove and discard garlic. (Taste vinaigrette with a crouton or tomato slice, and adjust salt and acid as needed.) Set aside 1 1/4 cups vinaigrette; reserve remaining vinaigrette for another use.
Make the salad
Toss together onion and vinegar in a small bowl; let stand 20 minutes. Set aside. Place half of croutons in a large salad bowl, and toss with 1/2 cup reserved vinaigrette. Place tomatoes on top of croutons, and season with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (to encourage them to release some of their juices); let stand 10 minutes.
Remove onions from vinegar, reserving vinegar. Add onions, cucumbers, basil, and remaining croutons to bowl with tomatoes. Toss with reserved onion vinegar, remaining 3/4 cup reserved vinaigrette, and remaining 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, adjusting amounts as desired. Divide salad evenly among 4 to 6 plates. Sprinkle with sea salt.
WINTER SISTER FARM CSA SIGN-UPS NOW OPEN!
The hottest tickets in town are now on sale — Winter Sister Farm’s 2024 Winter CSA program is now open for registration! Winter Sister Farm, right next door to us, was started by our dear friends Anna and Sarah Dozor. Their CSA runs runs from December through May and includes 24 weeks of specialty winter veggies, flowers, herbs, and more — all picked up by CSA members, free-choice market style, on their beautiful farm here on Cooper Rd! Sign-up today!
FARMERS LOG
WEEK 13
This week was another in the unmistakable rhythm of late-Summer.
Monday kicked off with Tuesday’s zucchini, summer squash and melon harvest, followed by our biggest tomato harvest of the year yet, followed by odds and ends in the afternoon. “Tuesday is as Tuesday does" — which for us now is a big early morning fresh harvest and vegetable wash session for the afternoon pick-up. Tristan spent both afternoons mowing weeds in our harvested fields and expertly mechanically cultivating our new transplants with the electric tractor.
On Wednesday (aka field work day!) Tristan shaped a fresh bed for Paige to direct sew our last round of Hakurei turnips. Tristan built another irrigation line for the new seedlings and Asa, Aisling, and Paige tackled the weeds in the newer transplants out in Farfield.
Freshly cultivated and hoed vegetables sizing up for Fall.
In late Summer mode, Thursday looks a lot like Monday: Another monster harvest: Summer squash, zucchini, and cucumbers first thing followed by Saturday’s melons, tomatoes, a fresh round of carrots out from Farfield, and a small order of Escarole for FEED Sonoma. At the end of the day we washed the days spoils and trimmed Walla Walla Onions to prep for the weekend.
Today we ventured out in the misty morning for our fresh harvest haul for Saturday — lettuce mix, lettuce heads, Bel Fiore chicory, sweet peppers, etc., etc. With some time to spare in the morning coolness, we seized the moment and tucked away a half a macro-bin of Integro purple cabbage for a later shares like squirrels packing away for winter. In the afternoon it was all washing and cleaning the barn for pick-up; Paige and Asa worked in the garden and clearing the pathways of the cherry tomatoes; Tristan continued weed mowing patrol out in Farfield and then he and I swapped out a loaned part (a hydraulic bed roller) for a newly arrived pan shaper on the back of our bed-former (the red tractor attachment). We’re excited to see how it works next week!
Enjoy this week’s tomato full share!
See you in the fields,
David
CSA BASICS
ATTENTION MEMBERS: Please make sure to drive slow (15 - 20 mph) on Cooper Rd. out of respect for our human and pet neighbors! Thank you!
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
When can I u-pick?: Oriented members can come to the farm any time, 7 days a week, sunrise to sunset, to u-pick and enjoy the farm, minding weekly u-pick limits.
2023 CSA program dates: Our harvest season will run this year from June 24th - December 19th
Where is the farm? The member parking lot is located at 1720 Cooper Rd., Sebastopol, CA 95472.
Where should I park?: Follow our sign on Cooper Rd. down a short gravel driveway. Please find a parking spot next to the solar panels or along the road further down. Please don’t park behind the solar panels.
Where’s the bathroom!: Under the big solar panels in the parking lot.
What should I bring?:
Your WCCF tote bag
Pint baskets or small containers for measuring your allotment of u-pick crops like strawberries
A vase, bucket, or water bottle to keep your flowers and herbs happy
Clippers or secateurs to cut flowers (if you have some), we also have some in the barn
Water / sun hat / picnic supplies if you plan to stay awhile!
Friends and family!
Newsletters & email communication: All our important CSA communications are through this email address, which seems to be getting spam blocked a lot. Please make sure this email address is in your address book so you get important CSA communications. All newsletters and important updates are also posted on the Newsletters page of our website weekly.
