11/10/17 - Week 22 - Fall refinement

Farmer David on this morning's harvest as the fog burned off

Ah, Fall. My friend and Sonoma County farming mentor Ryan Power of New Family Farm once said, "Vegetables become more refined in the Fall." 

Truer words were never spoken. Perhaps the slower growth caused by the reduced sunlight hours makes the vegetables grow like hardwood trees; rarified; essentialized; they stare more oft at the moon and stars these days than the belligerent sun. Perhaps it's the assistance of Jack Frost and of the cooler days, who paralyze the insect and root worm armies, allowing our veggies to grow in peace and solace. Whatever it is, many in our vegetable society are looking more dapper than they have all year.

The baby leaf lettuce and the arugula, evidently free of their nemeses the Cucumber and Flee Beetles, are looking svelte and ready for the Ball. The carrots, especially the White Satins, are as if spiked with sweet dew. The beets, relieved from a summerlong underground bug assault, are silken smooth and radiant. The purple top turnips came out of the ground this morning like giant, polished, lavender topped pearls coughed up from the Muddy Sea. Beholding a particularly pearlescent Turnip in the dappled sunlight this morning was like seeing a Turnip for the first time. No wonder Pliny the Elder considered the turnip the most important vegetables of his day; why it was the staple crop of the Nordic people before the potato arrived from the New World; and why, before Jack-O-Lanterns, Celts carved up big turnip lanterns to ward off evil spirits during the Samhain harvest festival.

Whether in your pajamas or your fineries, we hope you enjoy the effervescent refinement of the Fall tempered vegetables this week. 

See you in the fields,

David & Kayta

THIS WEEK'S HARVEST: Sunshine Kabocha Squash, Honeybear Acorn Squash, Yukon Gold Potatoes, Cured Cabernet Red Onions, Fennel, Broccoli & Cauliflower, Green "Farao" Cabbage, Purple Top Turnips, Loose Mixed Beets, Celery Root, Rainbow Carrots, Brussels Sprout Tops,  Tatsoi, Rainbow Chard, Arugula, Baby Leaf Spinach, Red Butter & Trout Back Head Lettuces

U-PICK in the GARDEN: 

• Shishito and Black Hungarian Frying Peppers (probably the last week)
• Padrones & Jalapeños (probably the last week)
• Lemongrass
• Lemonbalm 
• Lemon Verbena
• Anise Hyssop
• Sorrel
• Thyme
• Sage
• Oregano
• Onion Chives
• Garlic Chives
• Tarragon
• French Culinary Lavender
• Chocolate Mint, Julep Mint, and Peppermint
• All flowers

GARLIC PLANTING PARTY & FALL HARVEST POTLUCK: A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who came out to help us get 2018's garlic planted and tucked in for the winter! We planted four varieties (two softnecks, two hardnecks) including two heirlooms from hometown heroes Bernier Farms in Geyerserville.

FARM CYCLE:

Join Green Valley Farm + Mill for Farm Cycle, a fundraiser for Sonoma County farms affected by the fires. All proceeds from the day will go to help support fire relief for food farms and farm workers in Sonoma County via CAFF and Undocufund.

The day includes a bike ride (optional), a feast, fundraising, speakers, and music.

Read more about it here: https://farmcycle.splashthat.com/

And note that the last day to buy tickets for the event is November 16th.

11/3/17 - Week 21 - Ode to Squash

Top: Racer Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin, Jarrahdale Large, Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin, Butterscotch Baby Butternut Bottom: Winter Sweet Kabocha, Sunshine Kabocha, Jester Acorn, Honey Bear Acorn, Delicata

So far in this log, we’ve penned an Ode to Maize and an Ode to the Potato; two New World crops who changed the world and inspired poets.

It is time for for an Ode to the fairest of them all. The one who kindles deep, lasting love and has for 10,000 years. The beloved oldest of the Three Sisters… the Squash.

The ancestor plants of squash (the species including zuchinnis, melons, gourds, cucumbers, pumpkins and all other winter squash) were native to the New World and predate humans. It was love at first sight once we came around.

The earliest evidence for domestication dates back 10,000 years in Southern Mexico; earlier than the domestication of corn or beans.

Word travelled fast and inspiration abounded. By 2,000 B.C., squash had became a part of life for almost every Native culture from Southern Canada to Patagonia — varietals were kept and cherished for everything from the protein rich and medicinal seeds of some, to the sweet flesh and tough winter hardy skins of others. Botanists note at least six separate domestication events by Native peoples in the New World. (The English word “squash” comes from the Narragansett word, askutasquash, meaning fresh vegetable and similar words can be found in the related languages of the Algonquian language family.)

Here at GVC Farm the love affair burns bright. And we have access to an unparalleled modern day library of heirloom squash seeds. Last winter, farmer Kayta hunkered down with a seed catalogue, a good cup of coffee, a roaring fire, and her seed selecting genius, and laid out a season long love sonnet to the Squash. We felt the summer wind with a cool slice of Striped Armenian cucumber; We dined by candlelight over pasta with Costata Romanesca Zucchini; Once we tasted Sarah’s Choice Cantaloupe, we could never forget; But in the Winter, our true loves came -- the Winter Squashes.

• Delicata - A real heartbreaker. The sweetest. Easiest to cook, easiest to eat.
• Honey Bear Acorn - Personal size Acorn squash. Very sweet. Sweetest pet name.
• Jester Acorn - The sweetest Acorn squash we've ever tasted, and very creamy. David fell in love with it 3 years ago when Kayta first grew it on her farm for the Vineyard.
• Sunshine Kabocha - The village beauty. A gorgeous red Kabocha. Sweet and flaky. Kayta's favorite, exceptional for making "pumpkin" pie with.
• Butterscotch Baby Butternut - Mini Butternut. Unlike other Butternut squash, sweet and flavorful right after harvesting.
• Winter Luxury - Beautiful lacey netted pie pumpkin. Described in the seed catalog as both "gorgeous" and "superb for eating". We couldn't resist.
• Winter Sweet Gray-Green Kabocha: "Winter Sweet delivers a combination of sweetness, flaky texture, and depth of flavor that has made it a favorite on our research farm," says the Johnny's seed catalogue. "Unparalleled eating quality." Best after two months of curing. We are excited for this one.
• Jarrahdale Large - A 12-18 lb ribbed beauty with smooth, slate-green skin. These squash keep exceptionally well and make for months of decoration and then good eating. 
• Racer Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin: "Blocky, heavy, midsize pumpkin with a great-looking rib and big, dark green handle. Vigorous." We thought they made the perfect Jack-O pumpkins. The seeds were great too.

We hope you fall in love with a Squash this Fall.

See you in the fields, 

David & Kayta

THIS WEEK'S HARVEST: Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkins, Delicata Squash, Bodega Red Potatoes, Cured Yellow Onions, Fennel, Broccoli & Cauliflower, Purple Cabbage, Watermelon Radishes, Bunched Beets, Celery Root, Rainbow Carrots, Broccoli Spigarello, Tatsoi, Rainbow Chard, Arugula, Braising Mix (with Ethiopian Mustard, Baby Kale, Bel Fiore Raddichio, and Frisée), Green Little Gems & Rouxai Oakleaf Head Lettuce, Painted Mountain Ornamental Corn

U-PICK in the GARDEN: 

• In the Western Half (toward parking lot): Shishito and Black Hungarian Frying Peppers (probably the last week), Padrones & Jalapeños (probably the last week), Lemongrass, Lemonbalm, Lemon Verbena, Anise Hyssop, Sorrel, Thyme, Sage, Oregano, Onion Chives, Garlic Chives, Tarragon, French Culinary Lavender, Chocolate Mint, Julep Mint, and Peppermint
• In the Eastern Half (toward the vineyard): Basil (flowering, under the red flag), Italian Parsley (next to the basil, labeled with a stake)

GARLIC PLANTING PARTY & FALL HARVEST POTLUCK:

This Sunday we're going to be popping, planting, and mulching the garlic patch for 2018. Come out and join the fun! Afterwards, we'll gather in the barn to enjoy a Fall harvest inspired potluck.

• When: Sunday, November 5th, Garlic Planting at 2:00 pm, Potluck at 5:30pm
• Where: Out in the main fields next to the raspberries
• What now? A party wherein we plant 2018's garlic and then EAT!
• What-to-bring: Clothes you don't mind getting dirty/muddy. Waterbottle, sunhat (or raingear), and a dish inspired by the Fall harvest season

PAINTED MOUNTAIN CORN SEED SAVING CHALLENGE:

This week we'll set out ears of Painted Mountain Corn for you to adorn your homes with. Keep them as ornaments forever! Or... once you take them down for the year, store them in a cool, dry, dark place -- away from Ralph the Mouse. If you're a part of the CSA next year, we'll issue a call for the ears in the Spring and plant the kernels, saving seed and developing a Green Valley Community Farm heirloom together as a community.

FARM CYCLE:

Join Green Valley Farm + Mill for Farm Cycle, a fundraiser for Sonoma County farms affected by the fires. All proceeds from the day will go to help support fire relief for food farms and farm workers in Sonoma County via CAFF and Undocufund.

The day includes a bike ride (optional), a feast, fundraising, speakers, and music.

10/27/17 - Week 20 - Cover Crop In & Happy Halloween!

The farm underwent a transformation this week... a change in Winter clothes. In a whirlwind week we composted, prepped and seeded into cover crop over 70% of the farmland we planted this year, as well as a new area farmland for next year. Those bare areas you see out there are now seeded into a mixture of Bell Beans, Magnus Peas, Dundale Peas, Common Vetch and Barley and Oats -- an excellent nitrogen fixing, organic matter building blend. Soon a green fuzz of Barley and Oats will cover the land and then, come spring, a waist high sea of green will wave in the wind. This crop will feed, enrich, and build the soil next year and beyond.

The Fall transition into cover crop, which takes place on many or most small organic veggie farms in temperate climates, made me think of one of the ways vegetable farming in Sonoma is very different than vegetable farming in New England and colder temperate climates North. In those places, Old Man Winter mandates that you initiate this process; i.e. frost kills your tomatoes and peppers and other cold sensitive crops. In this climate, we could have let these crops keep producing and limp into Winter as long as possible. Instead, we choose to mow them down for the health of our soil. In order to germinate a great stand of winter cover crop in Sonoma county, it is best to get it in the ground by the middle of October. Any later and you risk colder temperatures inhibiting the germination of the cover crop seed and your fields laying bare through the winter. You were probably tired of cherry tomatoes anyway, right?

So, in the Final Act of a month of field clearing harvests, we picked a few bins of green tomatoes, said thanks to the tomato plants that gave us so much this summer, and vanished them back into the soil from whence they came -- with a little help from our flail mower.

The areas of the farm that are still planted into veggies, our Fall brassicas, greens and other goodies, will hold that pose through the winter. Some will be mulched and some undersown with clover. These areas we will rest in cover crop in the early summer, and all areas will be rotated into another crop family.

I recommend taking a moment to appreciate the changing of the guard out there if you have a moment. The first blades of oat and barley are poking up out of the soil, at attention, waiting for the rains to transform the farm into a sea of green.

See you in the fields,

David

THIS WEEKS HARVEST: Butterscotch Butternut Squash, Yukon Gold Potatoes, Cured Cabernet Onions, Heirloom Tomatoes, Green Sweet Peppers, Broccoli, Daikon Radish, Napa Cabbage, Beets, Celery Root, Rainbow Carrots, Brussel Sprout Tops, Red Russian Kale, Arugula, Spinach, Frisée, Flashy Trout Back & Muir Summercrisp Head Lettuces

Check out our favorite Kim-chi recipe... great preserve using Daikon Radish and Napa Cabbage

Jack O' Lanterns: We brought the last Jack O Lantern pumpkins into the barn so that we could transition that field into winter mode. There are a few left. Did everyone get one? Don't be shy! Limit 1 per share. For households with two or more children, limit is 2 per share.

U-PICK in the GARDEN: 

• Shishito and Black Hungarian Frying Peppers

• Padrones & Jalapeños

• All harvestable herbs and flowers.

Garlic Planting Party & Fall Harvest Potluck:

• When: Sunday, November 5th, Garlic Planting at 2:00 pm, Potluck at 5:30

• Where: Out in the main fields next to the raspberries

• What now? A party wherein we plant 2018's garlic!

• What-to-bring: Clothes you don't mind getting dirty. Water, sunhat, snacks, and a dish inspired by the Fall harvest season

FARM CYCLE:

Join Green Valley Farm + Mill for Farm Cycle, a fundraiser for Sonoma County farms affected by the fires. All proceeds from the day will go to help support fire relief for food farms and farm workers in Sonoma County via CAFF and Undocufund.

The day includes a bike ride (optional), a feast, fundraising, speakers, and music.

Read more about it here: 

FARMSTORE:

You can pick up quite a haul at Green Valley these days, don't forget to check out the creamery for Bramble Tail beef, Hands Full Farm eggs, Bramble Tail milk and cheese (herdshare members only), herbal remedies by Aubrie, and Firefly chocolate. Hawk Hill Sourdough Bread is located in the freezer in our barn.