Dear Members,
We had such a wonderful first week of harvest, meeting new members and reconnecting with returning ones. Thank you all for bringing the heart to this farm!
THIS WEEK’S HARVEST
Garlic Scapes, Scallions, German Butterball Potatoes, Fennel, French Breakfast Radishes, Hakurei Turnips, Dino Kale, Summer Squash, Arugula, Spring Salad Mix, Spinach, Komatsuna, Rosaine Red Little Gems, Red Butter Lettuce
U-PICK
Albion Strawberries - 3 pints per share this week!
Herbs: Rosemary, Thyme, Italian Basil, Thai Basil, Purple Basil, 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, Mints!
Flowers! Ornamental amaranth, strawflower, and sunflowers showing up in earnest this week. Bring your clippers!
The flower show is only just beginning…
HARVEST NOTES
Garlic Scapes: Garlic Scapes are the flowering stalk of hardneck garlic. A delicacy and a treat mysteriously never found in markets or stores. Treat them like you would a garlic clove. Chop them up small and sauté them gently with any dish you would use garlic for.
Basils: Thai, Italian and Purple Basil are all open for picking starting this week! They are located in the East side of the garden just above the gnome homes!
Cilantro: Our Spring cilantro patch has never looked better. Hope you have some cilantro-y plans this week!
NO REVOLUTION BREAD THIS WEEK
Eli at Revolution Bread had to take the week off baking this week.
HARVEST DISTRIBUTION SCHEDULE
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
U-picking is now open 7-days a week, sunrise to sunset. Please close the gates behind you on off days.
Cilantro looking lush in the garden.
FARM ORIENTATIONS
New and old members, if have not attended an orientation yet this year, please sign-up for one this week here.
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!
FARMER’S LOG
SEEDS OF CHANGE
The last week of May and the first couple weeks of June this year panned out to be some of the most intense in memory on the farm. In that span we did all of our major field plantings — potatoes, winter squash, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, storage onions, and grain corn — all while keeping up with our regular weekly plantings, finishing infrastructure projects, and preparing for CSA opening.
In the midst of it, George Floyd was murdered. Our little crew spent much time in the rows together, dropping potatoes, planting tomatoes, grieving his death, Breonna Taylor’s, and so many other Black and Brown Americans killed by police, and unpacking our roles, as white humans and farmers, in the systems of oppression around us — systems that have shaped nearly every aspect of our lives, including the privilege and ability to farm.
It goes without saying — land access and agriculture have been at the center of the story of race and power in this country since its inception. In the 1920’s, 14% of American farmers were black. Today, that number is 1.3%, with black farmers owning about .5% percent of total farmland, and white farmers owning 95%.
Today, we’d like to highlight some incredible black farmers and farm organizations, most local, who are planting seeds for a more just and equitable food system. We hope you’ll spend some time learning from and supporting them.
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Kiley Clark ~ Healdsburg, CA ~ Farmer, photographer, and CSA member Kiley Clark lives in Healdsburg with her wife, Kendall. Kiley first came to GVCFarm as part of a larger project photographing and writing about small farms in the region. (Within the hour she solved the great mystery of the dead-zones on the farm for us: Garden symphylans.) She is looking for land and raising money for capital to start her own farm. Check out her beautiful photography and her agricultural journey on Instagram @freshtofarming
Urban Tilth ~ Richmond, CA ~ When Doria Robinson, 3rd generation resident of Richmond, saw the growing lack of access to fresh food in her community she started Urban Tilth. Urban Tilth uses their “7 school and community gardens and small urban farms to teach and employ community members to grow, distribute, cook, and consume thousands of pounds of local produce each year, to create a more equitable and just food system within a healthier and more self-sufficient community.” Check them out at www.urbantilth.org
Black Earth Farms ~ East Bay, CA ~ Black Earth Farms is a “Black and Indigenous led agroecology collective composed of skilled land stewards, spiritual leaders, healers, gardeners, farmers, builders, writers, educators, artists, musicians, and organizers. We study and spread ancestral knowledge and contemporary agroecological practices to train community members to build collectivized, autonomous, and chemical free food systems in urban and peri-urban environments throughout the Occupied Karkin Ohlone & Chochenyo Territory.” They offer CSA boxes of fresh produce on a sliding scale to folks in the Bay Area. Check them out at www.blackearthfarms.com
Leah Penniman ~ Soul Fire Farm, Grafton, NY ~ Similar to Doria Robinson in Richmond, Leah and her husband started Soul Fire Farm in response to the food apartheid they saw occurring in Southern Albany. Mission: Ending racism and injustice in the food system. At Soul Fire they offer immersions and apprenticeships to empower black and latino youth, host anti-racism trainings, and provide nutritious CSA boxes to urban Albany. Leah is the author of Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land. Check this video out.
Black Family Land Trust ~ Southeast, USA ~ Says Ebonie Alexander, Executive Director of the Black Family Land Trust, "Land is a tangible asset, with economic, human, and spiritual value, which connects African Americans with their rich history in the Americas and their ancestors." The Black Family Land Trust utilizes the core principles of land conservation and land-based community economic development to protect and preserve African-American and other historically underserved land and assets. Check them out at www.bflt.org
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See you in the fields,
David for Kayta, Anna & Kate
