5/4/21 - Strawberry U-pick Opening Thursday!

Dear members,

It’s strawberry time people! It’s only fitting how the strawberries always start to explode around Mother’s Day — and this year is no exception.

Starting this Thursday, our strawberry u-pick patch is open!

See below for logistics:

NEW MEMBERS:

If you are new to the farm this year, let’s get you oriented! We will be hosting orientations for the next couple of weeks at the times below. We’ll orient you to the garden and the strawberries and go over farm u-pick etiquette and safety guidelines. Ideally everyone participating in your share can attend one of the times below. If you can’t attend one, please reach out to us to schedule an orientation time. Please note — all new members must receive an orientation before coming to u-pick.

Orientation tours:

• Thursday, May 6 @ 6:00 pm

• Friday, May 7 @ 6:00 pm

• Saturday, May 8 @ 10:00 am

• Thursday, May 13 @ 6:00 pm

• Friday, May 14 @ 6:00 pm

• Saturday, May 15 @ 10:00 am

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 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 to I meet up for orientation? Our barn is in the middle of the 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?:

• A face covering / mask

• A small basket for strawberries

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

• Cash for add-on goodies in the Green Valley Marketplace!

RETURNING MEMBERS:

If you are a returning member, go for it! The strawberries are located on the farm in the same place as last year, on the little hill above the vegetable fields. Weekly u-pick limits will be posted on the u-pick board in the barn and on a sign in the field. Please bring your own pint basket(s) and/or a container for your strawberries. We will have some new pint-baskets in the pick-up barn if you need to resupply.

See below for our 2021 COVID-19 practices.

NOTES ON THE STRAWBERRIES:

How many can I pick?: This week, the u-pick limit is 4 pints per share, and it will change each week as the plants grow and flush throughout the year. Each week we will post the strawberry u-pick limit in the barn and on a sign near the strawberries. Please mind u-pick limits when you are picking strawberries to ensure every share gets an equal share.

What is a pint? See the picture a below. A pint is the green guy on the left, a two-pint container is the guy on the right. We will have a limited amount of new pint containers for members in the barn. Please re-use and pick into re-usable larger containers like a basket.

Sticky strawberries: Our 2nd year strawberry plants are having a little battle with lygus bugs and greenhouse white flies, common and harmless (to us) pests of organic strawberries in California. As a result the plants are producing a lot of “honeydew”, i.e. they are sticky. This stickiness is a little gross but not harmful to humans — just wash off at home and cheer on our strawberry plants!

Old strawberries: If you have the time while you are picking, help out our strawberries (and farmers) out by picking off any old or moldy strawberries you see and tossing them into the cover crop. This is hygienic and will clean up and invigorate the plants.

FLOWERS & HERBS:

The flower and herb garden explosion is always about a month behind the first strawberry explosion, but there are some goodies to be found in the garden.

Herbs: In the herb world the Oregano and Thyme never look better; Mints, Rosemary, and Culinary Lavender are starting to pop in. As usual, we will put signs on the herbs ready to pick. Please refrain from picking unmarked herbs.

Flowers: Check out those spring Statice, Foxgloves, Scabiosa, Craspedia, and Penstemon. Small bouquets for now please while things get going.

CAREFUL! This is also the time of year where there are tons of vulnerable young seedlings around the garden. Please watch your step and train your kiddos not to walk on beds!

2021 COVID GUIDELINES:

As vaccinations increase, we can relax our farm COVID rules. All members and guests will be required to follow these protocols while on the farm:

1. Wash your hands and the hand-washing station before u-picking

2. Bring a mask, and have it ready.

3. If you are closer than 6 feet than someone who is not in your family / pod, please pull the mask up, otherwise masks are not required outdoors on the farm.

4. Masks are required in all indoor settings on the farm (the bathroom, Marketplace, Bramble Tail creamery, etc.)

5. No hand-to-mouth: Do not eat or taste your strawberries or herbs while u-picking. Please enjoy after you are done u-picking for the day.

SHARES STILL AVAILABLE:

A few shares are still available for our Strawberry, Herb & Flower Garden program if you have any family, friends or neighbors who might be interested. Please spread the word!

Please reach out if you have any questions, and we can’t wait to see you all in the fields and garden!

David & Kayta

3/6/21 - Strawberry, Herb & Flower Garden Shares Available

Dear friends,

Unfortunately, due to a historic drought this winter, we have had to cancel the produce portion of our 2021 CSA program.

We are, however, still planting out our u-pick strawberry patch and cut-flower and herb garden — which we are now offering through a special Strawberry, Herb & Flower Garden Share!

Make a ritual out of spoiling yourself with the sweetest things this summer and fall! Sign-ups for Strawberry, Herb & Flower Garden shares are now open to waitlist members.

Members will enjoy 22 weeks of exclusive access to our hand tended, beyond-organic, u-pick cut flower and herb garden featuring over 50 varieties of edible and cut flowers — from snapdragons and cosmos to ornamental yarrows and verbascum — and over 15 perennial and annual herbs including marjoram, oregano, thyme, basils, cilantro, parsley, chives, Vietnamese coriander, shiso, perilla, tarragon, sages and mints.

Our hillside Albion strawberry patch will produce thousands of pints of indescribably sweet, sun-ripened organic berries for members from May-September.

The gardens and farm will be open to members 7 days a week, sunrise to sunset as a place to picnic with friends; to unwind from the work-week; to bring your kids to blow off some steam; to enjoy the simple pleasure of picking flowers on a Sunday morning surrounding by buzzing pollinators...

To learn more about the share, and to sign-up, visit our website or click the link. Feel free to refer a friend!

Hope to see you in the flowers,
David & Kayta

3/3/21 - 2021 Produce CSA Cancelled // StrawberrY, HERB & FLOWER GARDEN SHAREs Now Open

Dear members,

It is with a collective heavy heart that we write to announce the cancellation of the produce portion of our CSA program for the 2021 season. We simply do not have enough water.

In lieu of vegetables… grow flowers!

Fortunately, we will be able to run our strawberry u-pick patch (which is now three times as big) and our herb & flower garden which we are offering through a special Strawberry, Herb & Flower Garden Share!

Read on below for our thoughts on the drought year ahead, how it will affect the farm, a very special announcement, and tips on sourcing produce this year.

THE YEAR AHEAD

Every gorgeous, sunny day this Winter has been a surreal experience, hasn’t it?

To be honest, we have had a sinking feeling in our stomach since early January, having had no big storms yet and with none in sight.

We did a little research: The mean rainfall for the land here is about 43 inches. This year we’ve only seen 17 inches. That amount of rain has filled the irrigation pond before. But these back-to-back drought years, combined with the gentle, evenly spaced storm systems this winter, have meant that the hill drainages that fill our irrigation pond never actually flowed. Now, this late in the rainy season, even an epic storm wouldn’t get us within range of being able to grow the vegetables we so love to grow for you.

We will miss so many things this year; watching the sunrise over the fields and glistening off the dewy rows; the smell of the soil while bunching the first row of rainbow carrots; the threads of great conversation weaving through the days and months with the crew; bagging plump potatoes with CSA kids. First and foremost we will miss the joy it brings us to feed you.

This will be a challenging year for Green Valley Community Farm, but we will be OK. We will use it as an opportunity to pursue additional land offsite, to add options and resilience to the farm, so that we can continue building this beloved community with you for decades to come.

Kayta will pour extra energy into the flower garden and the gnome homes. She is excited about trialing new flowers: Fama Scabiosa and a purple Queen Anne’s Lace variety bred for cut flowers; fancy breadseed Poppies, a new variety of Verbascum, and a new drying flower called Xeranthemum among others.

We expect to harvest a beautiful garlic crop this Summer and will keep you posted on that. (Think, flower imbued garlic braids!) We will liquidate some unnecessary equipment. We are also pursuing a permit from the Sonoma County Department of Agriculture to grow block of cannabis on the farm this summer — a low water crop which, if approved, will serve as a financial lifeline for the year. (We’re thankful to our landmates for giving us the green-light to apply for this.)

Many of you have asked how you can help. The most helpful thing you can do right now is sign-up for our Strawberry, Herb & Flower Garden Share and to refer a friend! Spoil yourself this season with a investment in the sweetest things. And if we can get 100 members we will be able to cover the basic overhead costs of the farm season.

You can also frequent the farmstand in our cooler to help us move the remaining storage crops (potatoes and carrots) we have from last season (as well as a few fresh greens from the greenhouse and field).

Beyond that, you can keep being your sweet, supportive selves, and get PUMPED for 2022! You can also support our friends and allies in the local Sonoma County farm scene, who await you with open arms.

Read on below for tips sourcing produce…

WINTER SISTER FARM

One of the best things that happened last year was that Anna and her sister Sarah purchased a beautiful farm off Cooper Rd. in South Sebastopol! Their goal is to create a CSA specializing in Winter and Spring produce, flowers, and herbs. Hello, asparagus!

To stay updated, sign-up for their mailing list on their website here and follow @wintersisterfarm on Instagram.

In Kate news, she has taken over the beautiful sea-side bluff garden at Nick’s Cove on Hwy 1. Next time you’re cruising down Tomales Bay, be sure to stop in, say hey, and check out her beautiful handiwork.

GREAT LOCAL PRODUCE

Rest assured, dear members, the bountiful local farms of Sonoma County are here for you and await you with open arms.

Farmer’s Markets: With COVID hopefully easing up this Summer, look for West County’s Farmer’s Markets to return to their full glory. Even if pandemic restrictions remain, the Occidental and Sebastopol Farmer’s Markets are full of lovely, hard-working farmers and their farm fresh produce.

Tierra Vegetables: A farmstand and CSA located off Airport Blvd in Windsor. Lee and Wayne James have been growing exquisite produce, beans, and corn since we were in diapers. Their farmstand is an ode to their experience and passion. They sell masa and tortillas made from their heirloom corns; dried beans and lentils; and excellent produce all grown with sustainable practices and love. Stop in during normal business hours or join their CSA.

FEED Bin: Local food distributor FEED Sonoma puts together (and delivers) beautiful produce boxes from farms all over the County. FEED Sonoma is currently on the cusp of becoming a farmer owned cooperative and a wonderful organization to support.

Radical Family Farm: A woman-owned CSA in South Sebastopol specializing in Asian Heritage varieties.