6/12/2020 - Week 1 - Welcome to your 2020 harvest season!

Dear members, 

Welcome to your harvest season!

This moment — the moment have enough of a harvest spread coming out of the fields to call you all out here — has been in the works for since the leaves were falling from the trees in 2019. Garlic cloves stirring; strawberry crowns dividing; and cover crop roots diving. Then seeds sprouting; leaves reaching, roots swelling. And here we are…

We have a delicious, diverse, healthful, and surprising harvest season shaping up in the fields and garden for you this year and we can't wait to begin sharing it with you!

The purpose of this newsletter, which will appear in your inbox each week before Saturday pick-up is to let you know what's in the week's harvest, what's available in the garden; and to keep you posted on farm events and share stories of life on this farm.

This newsletter is jam packed so let's get to it!

HARVEST DISTRIBUTION BEGINS THIS SATURDAY, JUNE 13th

The first pick-up this year will be Saturday, June 13th. The first Tuesday pick-up is June 16th. We will run for 26 weeks, the last pick-up of the 2020 CSA harvest season season will be Tuesday, December 8th, 2020.

• Saturday pick-up runs from 9:00am - 2:00pm (note longer hours on Saturday, old members)

• Tuesday pick-up runs from 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm

You can come to either day, whichever works better for your schedule that week to attend an orientation (see below).

U-picking is now open 7-days a week, sunrise to sunset.

FARM ORIENTATIONS

This year, we’d like everyone (old and new members) to attend a short orientation when they come to pick-up their first harvest share of the year.

If you haven’t signed up for an orientation time-slot yet, please sign-up here.

Please allow about 15 minutes (old members) and 30 minutes (new members.)

COVID -19 POLICIES

Check out this blog post for a refresher on the COVID-19 policies we will have in place on the farm to keep the farm and garden safe for everyone.

FOR NEW MEMBERS

• Where is the farm? The member parking lot is located at 13024-E Green Valley Rd. Sebastopol, CA 95472. The "E" is important! Google maps will send you to the first driveway of the property, 13024-A Green Valley Rd., that is not the right one. If you’re coming from Graton/Sebastopol, keep going a few driveways down (or turn back if you're coming from Guerneville) and look for our fishy logo and sign at 13024-E Green Valley Rd. It’s right across the street from the big Mt. Gilead bible camp sign.

• Parking: After entering the gravel driveway, find a place to park on in gravel lot directly ahead of you. Please park on the peripheries in a way that leaves central avenues for entering and exiting cars. Please do not block the bay of the big open barn. 

• Where is orientation? Our barn is in the middle of cluster of old mill buildings to your right as you drove in. Just head towards those big greenhouses to your right and you can’t miss us.

• What should I bring?:

  • An extra tote bag for add-ons like bread, frozen yogurt, etc. We will give you a harvest tote as well.

  • Produce bags for greens

  • A face covering / mask

  • Clippers to cut flowers and herbs

  • A vase or water bottle to keep your flowers happy on the way home

  • Water / sun hat / picnic supplies if you plan to stay awhile!

  • Cash for add-on goodies in the creamery and Marketplace!

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST

Freshly Harvested Lorz Softneck Garlic, Hopi Blue Corn Meal, Arugula, Mustard Mix, Spinach, Flowering Purple Bok Choi, Fennel, Pink Lady Slipper Radishes, Hakurei Turnips, Summer Squash, Green Little Gems, Panisse Oak Leaf Lettuce, Storage Carrots, Desiree Red Potatoes

HARVEST NOTES

In this section of the newsletter we offer history or recipes/tips on things in the share are particularly noteworthy or exciting that week.

• Fresh Lorz Softneck Garlic: A glorious heirloom garlic brought to Washington State's Columbia River Basin in the early 1900s by the Lorz family when they emigrated from Italy. This large, purple tinged softneck garlic has a robust, spicy flavor that lingers in dishes. Try it in pasta or mashed potatoes, or simply roast the thing and make aoli! These bulbs were just unearthed on a sweet evening last week so you will notice green stalks, silky soft inner papers and turgid, crips cloves. Store in a dry place if you won’t be using it soon — this is a live food!

• Hopi Blue Corn: How about a little Fall vibes in your late Spring? This beautiful corn originates from the Hopi people, of the Four Corners region. The corn in your share grew tall and watched over our cherry tomatoes all season in 2019 and was lovingly harvested by members on an October evening. Stored whole over the winter, stone ground on Tuesday and then frozen, this is a rare, heirloom cornflour with a freshness and flavor that only fresh ground corn can have. Store frozen to preserve the fats and oils. See below for our go-to Hopi Blue Corn pancake recipe.

U-PICK

• Albion Strawberries

• Herbs: Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano, Marjoram, Parsley, Tarragon, Onion Chives, Garlic Chives, Vietnamese Coriander, Culinary Lavender, Culinary Sage, French Sorrel, Lemon Verbena, Lemon Balm, Shiso (limited), Chamomile, Cilantro, Tulsi, Ginger Mint, Strawberry Mint, Mojito Mint, Julep Mint, Chocolate Mint,

• Flowers! First of the Spring flowers — bring your clippers!

ADd-ONS

All of us here at Green Valley have been hard at work adding to the bounty that you’ll be able to pick up on your weekly visit to Green Valley. Here is a summary of offerings:

• Revolution Bread: In our barn, we will be selling Eli Coldin’s organic, stone milled and locally sourced grain sourdough breads, brownies, cookies, and other baked beauties. You won’t find a tastier, more nutritious, or more carefully sourced baked good than Revolution.

• Bramble Tail Homestead: As most you already know, we share this land with the freshest, friendliest dairy and creamery in Sonoma County. Bramble Tail Homestead, offers a herdshare program (similar to our CSA) where members sign-up to receive a weekly share of creamy Jersey cow milk and other added-value dairy. With their beautiful cows, Aubrie and Scott manage the grasslands here to improve soil and regenerate habitat.

  In their creamery, you can purchase their 100% grass-fed beef, herbal remedies, frozen yogurt, as well as goodies from other local producers like eggs, duck, rabbit, and honey.

  To become a member of the weekly dairy share email Aubrie at brambletailhomestead@gmail.com. It’s delicious — trust us!

• Green Valley Marketplace: We're so excited to announce Green Valley Farm + Mill’s Marketplace, a shop right next to our barn featuring home goods and pantry items from some of Green Valley Farm + Mill's favorite local makers.

  The Marketplace will run parallel to CSA pick-up days on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Existing members of either the CSA or Herdshare can shop at the store, but registration is required. Learn more from Marketplace manager Kim La Vere right after your farm orientation.

GREEN VALLEY FARM + MIll

Green Valley Farm + Mill’s mission is to reconnect people to land.

Stay abreast of the many ways to connect to this land by checking out their website and signing up for Green Valley Farm + Mill’s newsletter.

HOPI BLUE CORN PANCAKE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup blue cornmeal

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon white sugar

• 1 cup boiling water

• 1 beaten egg

• 1/2 cup milk

• 2 tablespoons butter, melted (coconut oil would be a delicious, dairy-free substitute)

• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 cup pine nuts, walnuts, or pecans, toasted (optional)

  DIRECTIONS

  In a medium bowl, mix together the blue cornmeal, salt and sugar. Stir in the boiling water until all of the ingredients are wet. Cover, and let stand for a few minutes.

  In a measuring cup, combine the milk, egg and melted butter. Stir the milk mixture into the cornmeal mixture. Combine the flour and baking powder; stir into the cornmeal mixture until just incorporated. If the batter is stiff, add a little more milk until it flows off the spoon thickly but smoothly.Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat, and grease it with a dab of oil or butter. Use about 2 tablespoons of batter for each pancake. Quickly sprinkle a few pignoli (or other nuts if using) onto each cake. When the entire surface of the pancakes are covered with bubbles, flip them over, and cook the other side until golden.

  Serve immediately with maple syrup or fruit preserves.

FARMER’S LOG

BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION

Our favorite section of the newsletter is this here little section at the bottom each week. It is a little journal of whimsical and practical musings from us to you — our attempt to open a window into the “how” and the “who” and the “why?” and the “wow!” behind your food and the multitudinous lives and stories surrounding it.

By way of introduction, we thought we'd offer a compendium of past Farmer’s Logs for our new members joining us this year.

Like, did you know, Green Valley is really wild place? Read about it here. Or hear tell of one mysterious flight of the owlets; or read of a lesson taught to us by our beloved oak trees; or enjoy a short tale of one quick baby turkey!

If you’re in the mood for spooky, read about the ghost of Green Valley Community Farm.

To get to know your farmers, here’s one about our  super hero powers and our favorite Spice Girls; or a sappy one about a suburban boy falling in love with farming. Ever wonder what one in the world one talks about while weeding for 5 hours? Or just what a week in the life is like?

Enjoy these for now and next week we’ll give a little synopsis of the last few insane, challenging, joyous, monotonous, and galvanizing months on the farm.

Thank you all for being with us this season. It is our privilege and honor to be farming for you. We can’t wait to share the fruits of the land.

See you in the fields,

David for Kayta, Anna, and Kate

Opening Day June, 13th / Orientation Sign-up / COVID-19 Policies

Dear members, 

It is with giddy anticipation that we write to you today, just five weeks before we come into a nice harvest spread and cut the ribbon on what is shaping up to be a multitudinously beautiful and abundant 2020 harvest season!

Kayta, Anna, Kate and I have been hard at work in the soft (growing harder) Spring light, mowing cover crop, shaping beds, setting up irrigation, seeding, planting, building, and dreaming up what we expect — with a little help from the Farm Gods — will be our most glorious harvest season yet!

Despite all the challenges 2020 has thrown at us all, we have been so uplifted by the outpouring of support for the farm and local agriculture this year. You’ll have 119 other households joining you in sharing the abundance that our 3.5 acres of gardens and fields shower upon us. We are honored to be farming for you!

Below are important updates on the CSA start date, member orientations, and what our COVID-19 policies we will be this year to keep everyone safe.

Please read thoroughly and share with others in your share!

Cover crop and invasive French Broom bouquet!

OPENING DAY ~ JUNE 13th

The first pick-up this year will be Saturday, June 13th. The first Tuesday pick-up is June 16th.

• Saturday pick-up runs from 9:00am - 2:00pm

• Tuesday pick-up runs from 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm

You can come to either day, whichever works better for your schedule that week to attend an orientation (see below).

You will receive a Newsletter in your email inbox every Friday evening, outlining that week’s harvest and u-pick options.

FARM ORIENTATIONS

This year, we’d like everyone (old and new members) to attend a short orientation when they come to pick-up their first harvest share of the year.

The purpose of the orientation is to go over farm safety and COVID-19 policies, give you new harvest totes, and do a quick refresher of how the farm works. After that, old members can break away and we’ll give new members a tour of the farm and answer common questions.

We will run orientations for the first two weeks of pick-up. In order to need to keep orientation groups small this to maintain physical distance, please sign-up now for an orientation time slot.

We ask that all members of your share who will be consistently pick-up produce attend an orientation. Please allow about 15 minutes (old members) and 30 minutes (new members.)

BRAMBLE TAIL HOMESTEAD & FARM STORE

Do you drink milk? Lucky for you, we share this land with the freshest, friendliest dairy and creamery in Sonoma County. Bramble Tail Homestead, whose creamery is a stones throw from our pick-up barn, offers a herdshare program (similar to our CSA) where members receive a weekly share of creamy Jersey cow milk and other added-value dairy. With their beautiful cows they manage the grasslands here to improve soil and regenerate grassland habitat.

They sell 100% grass-fed beef from their steers, herbal remedies, yogurt and cheeses, and their creamery is also stocked with goodies from local producers like eggs, duck, rabbit, and honey.

To become a member of the Bramble Tail Herdshare, email Aubrie at brambletailhomestead@gmail.com

FARM STORE

There’ll be many more add-ons this year thanks to a new farm store in the works. We’ll give a detailed list of all the add-ons available in the weekly Newsletters, but think mushrooms, bread, even Fro-Yo!

FARM COVID-19 POLICIES

We farmers will be following strict food safety guidelines around harvest and processing to make sure your food is as safe as can be.

The following policies will also be in place for members to ensure the farm is as safe an environment as possible. It will be the responsibility of all members to ensure that they, their children, and their guests are following these policies at all times while here on the farm.

These policies are not optional. No matter your personal beliefs or confidence level surrounding COVID-19, remember, there are many among us at high risk. (If, for any reason, you feel you will not be able to follow these policies or are uncomfortable with them —  this may not be the right venue for you this year. Please contact us immediately.)

GENERAL COVID-19 POLICIES

• All members, children, and their guests will be required to follow all current County and State orders governing face coverings and social distancing while on the farm. Please treat Green Valley Community Farm, and our neighboring businesses, like you would a grocery store and mind your behavior accordingly. 

• Sick or potentially exposed members are asked to NOT visit the farm. Sick or exposed folks can have someone pick-up their harvest share for them for the duration of their quarantine. Please contact us so we can make a box for your pick-up person if that is preferable.

• We strongly recommend washing all produce before consuming.

BARN ZONE COVID-19 POLICIES

• Members will be required to wear a face covering and to wash their hands immediately prior to picking out produce and add-ons in the barn. We will have a hand washing station at the entrance.

• A limited number of people will be allowed in the pick-up area at any one time. Please check how many people are inside and wait until someone leaves if at full quota. Please be intentional while picking out your produce and add-ons so as to make room for those behind you.

• Only one member of each party will be allowed to be in the barn picking out produce — exceptions for small children who cannot wait outside. Children are not to pick out produce or touch the bins.

• Members must maintain 6 feet of distance between themselves and other members in the pick-up zone.

• Touch only the produce you take and take the produce you touch. No sorting through produce this year please.

COVID-19 U-PICKING POLICIES

• Children are not allowed to u-pick unless they follow all of the guidelines below.

• Members will be required to wear a face covering and have just watched their hands (or wear gloves) prior to u-picking. (If you want to remove your face covering to walk around the farm that is OK, but your face must be covered while picking.)

• No hand to mouth. Unfortunately, we all must forgo the traditional “pick a strawberry and eat it!” this year. Only start tasting u-pick and pre-harvested crops after you have left the farm. 

• Touch only the produce you pick and pick only the produce you touch. 

• Members must maintain social distance of 6 feet between themselves and other members while u-picking

• Formerly, we offered a public stash of pint baskets and clippers for cutting flowers. This year we are asking members to provide their own personal flower and herb clippers and to re-use their own set of baskets. We will provide you with a set of baskets to start the season.

FOR PARENTS

• We forsee this may be a confusing year for farm kiddos, especially children who have grown used to frolicking freely here the last 3 years. Parents will have the added responsibility of making sure their children are behaving as they would in a grocery store during this time. Please make sure your children are not encroaching on the personal space of other members and their children and following all the above guidelines while interacting with the u-pick crops. If you feel your child will be unable to follow these guidelines, please set expectations that they will not be allowed to u-pick this year.

* * * * *

Finally, please be patient and kind with one another. If you see anyone forgetting the rules, please gently remind them and remember — everyone is trying their best and dealing with a lot of stress.

By following these policies, together we can ensure that Green Valley Community Farm produce is among the safest available and that the farm itself remains a place of connection, solace, and nourishment —body, mind, and spirit — for all.

See you in the fields soon!
David, Kayta, Kate & Anna

Spring 2020, COVID-19 Update

COVID-19: SEASON PROGRESSING AS USUAL

We hope this finds you all healthy and safe in this challenging time. We wanted to let you know that Kayta, Anna, Kate and I are planting out the season according to plan — and we expect to be able to start CSA pick-ups around the first week of June. We feel honored and privileged to be able to forge ahead to provide food for our community... especially in times like these. We will be monitoring the situation and make sure we are practicing all safety precautions when pick-up starts to help protect everyone from COVID-19.

Now entering peak cover crop glory. Our oat, barley, pea, bell bean, vetch and clover is really starting to explode with all the warmth!

ONLY A FEW SHARES LEFT

We have about 8 slots available in our 2020 CSA program currently. We'd love it if these new members came from your friends and family networks.

Now, more than ever, we see the importance and resiliency of local, regeneratively grown food. Seasonal food harvested that morning, or fresh from the plant by ones own hand, is nutrient dense, vibrant, and healthful in a ways that distantly grown produce cannot be. Distribution systems like ours, direct from the field to you, keeps food and keeps food and farmers growing right here in our community. A living relationship between the soil, the creatures, the farmers and those eating from a farm glues a community together and glues us to the farmland we all steward in essential ways. And as you know — a weekly flower garden ritual is food for the soul.

All necessary info and sign-up form can be found on our website.

FARMSTAND CLOSED

Due to dwindling supplies, and the need to focus all our energy on the lead up to our 2020 harvest season we’ve decided to close our farmstand. We wanted to encourage members who can safely (and legally) do so, to patronize the Sebastopol farmer’s market and other local food outlets. It is important to support local food systems and food producers in times like these!

It’s going to be a good strawberry year!

FARMER’S LOG

It has been surreal here on the farm. As then world faces this crisis, farmers must continue the work. This is a solace and a privilege, but can feel strange to carry on as the whole human world fluxes and changes.

Spring is one of the best times of year to work outside on the farm. The light is soft; the soil is soft; the plants — even the weeds — are soft. The whole world is newborn… and the landscape glows in green peach fuzz.

Early spring is project time on the farm: A brief window when our workdays are not ruled by harvesting and planting crops, which we use to accomplish things that will make our lives easier during the harvest season. On the docket this year we have: Increasing our water storage tank supply; expanding the cold frame (the area for curing plants outside the greenhouses); building a new walk-in cooler; building a root vegetable washer (yes, that exists!); INSTALLING A NEW GARDEN GATE and various other little improvements and repairs around the farm!

When we’re not working on projects we dote on the garden (which is beginning to awaken) and our 500 ft of new strawberries. Today we began work installing a new 140 ft native hedgerow along the walking path to the farm — thank you members for your generous donations to our Native Habitat Restoration Fund. It really warms our hearts. We can’t wait to plant the oaks, milkweed, sneezeweed and penstemon that Kayta started from saved seed amongst manzanitas, ceanothus, coffee-berry and more!

We were thrilled this week to welcome Anna Dozor back to a weekly schedule. And the three of us couldn’t be happier to be welcome Kate Beilharz into the full-time crew fold this year! Kayta and I consider ourselves tremendously lucky to be able to work with these two incredible farmers… 2020 is going to be a blast.

Well, folks, you know where to find us now: Out in the waste high cover crop, getting sun-kissed cheeks and watching our tender Winter hands turn to leather again!

We can’t wait to share the harvest season of abundance with you all!

Wishing you all health and security in this challenging time.

See you in the fields,
David (for Kayta, Anna & Kate)