SPECIAL STORM PARKING INSTRUCTIONS:
Due to the storm, the bottom half of the farm’s parking spaces may be under water Saturday. (The spaces in front of the solar panel and greenhouse are still usable.) On Saturday, Members can park in the Herb Exchange parking lot immediately to your left upon entering the farm driveway. In order to make space for everyone we also request that you limit lingering as much as possible to make room for more cars! Thank you!
THIS WEEK’S HARVEST
Bodega Red and Harvest Moon Potatoes, Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin or Sunshine Kabocha, Butternut Winter Squash, Yellow Elsye Onions, Leeks, Garlic, Celery Root, Bolero Carrots, Watermelon Radish, Brussel Sprouts, Celery, Black Magic Dino Kale, Red Salanova Lettuce, Giorgione Castelfranco Chicory
HARVEST NOTES
Brussels Sprouts: We’re distributing Brussel sprouts on the stalk as they grow in the field. For storage — and to fit them in your fridge — just pop the sprouts off and store them in a bag or closed container.
Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin: Our most beautiful pumpkin! Winter Luxury are gorgeous — light orange and covered in delicate lace netting. They are the perfect pie pumpkin — flavorful, sweet and light. Kabocha squash, also offered this week, are also exceptional for pumpkin pie.
Celery Root: Also known as Celeriac, Celery Root is a traditional European winter vegetable with smooth, white flesh that is packed with pure celery flavor. Try adding it to a hardy winter stew, mashing it along with potatoes, or roasting. We’ve also heard legend that celery root fries (i.e. deep fried celery root sticks) are the best thing ever. For a more refreshing take, Celery Root can be grated or julienned into a fresh salad of apples and a creamy or mustardy dressing.
Waterslide anyone?
WINTER LUXURY PUMPKIN PIE
Recipe by Yossy Arefi from Sweeter off the Vine
We were delighted this year to come across a pumpkin pie recipe written specifically for our favorite variety (thanks Kate!) and featuring the unbeatable combination of crème fraîche and maple syrup. If you’ve fallen in love with our old go-to pumpkin pie recipe (delicious made with Winter Luxury or Sunshine Kabocha), you can find it in last year’s newsletter here. Whichever recipe you choose, we hope the flavor of the fresh ingredients helps it shine.
Makes one 9-inch pie
ALL BUTTER PIE CRUST
2 2/3 cups (340g) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (255g) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
8-10 tablespoons ice water
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
To make the crust, combine the flour and salt in a bowl, cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes, and add the apple cider vinegar to the ice water.
Working quickly, add the butter to the flour and toss to coat. Then use your fingers or the palms of your hands to press each cube of butter into a flat sheet. Keep tossing the butter as you go to ensure that each butter piece is coated with flour. The idea is to create thin, flat shards of butter that range from about the size of a dime to about the size of a quarter. Sprinkle about 6 tablespoons of the water over the flour mixture and mix gently. If the dough seems very dry, add more water a couple of teaspoons at a time.
You have added enough water when you can pick up a handful of the dough and squeeze it together easily without it falling apart. Press the dough together, then split it in half, form into discs and wrap each disc in plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least one hour before using, or overnight, for the best results.
WINTER LUXURY PUMPKIN PIE
2 cups (450g) roasted Winter Luxury pumpkin purée
3/4 cup Grade A maple syrup (the former Grade B)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup (112g) crème fraîche
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat it to 425ºF.
BLIND BAKE THE CRUST
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie dough into a roughly 12-inch circle about 1/8- inch thick. Place it into a 9 or 10-inch pie plate fold the edges under and crimp. Dock the crust with a fork. Chill the formed crust in the freezer for 15 minutes or until very firm. Line the chilled crust with a piece of parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Slide the crust into the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are golden and crisp. Carefully remove the parchment paper and weights then bake the crust for 10-15 more minutes or until light golden all over. If the crust puffs up at all while baking gently press it back into the pan with an offset spatula or fork. Let the crust cool slightly while you prepare the filling.
Turn the oven down to 350ºF.
Whisk all of the filling ingredients together until well combined. Then strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve for maximum smoothness.
Put the baked pie shell on a baking sheet, then pour the filling mixture into the shell. (If you are concerned about over filling the pie shell, bake any extra filling alongside the pie in buttered ramekins until it puffs slightly in the center.) Slide the pan into the oven and bake until the filling is slightly puffed and the center wiggles just slightly when you shake the pan, about 30 minutes. Cool the pie completely before serving with a dollop of whipped cream.
LOCAL OLIVE OIL AVAILABLE AT THE FARM THIS WEEK!
Hawks Feather Olive Oil (a CSA member family farm) will be here this week to share their recent harvest. The Olio Nuovo is exceptionally fresh and brilliantly hued, containing the absolute highest levels of goodness. This local organic extra virgin olive oil is an amazing complement to all the farm produce, as well as, a perfect holiday gift. Please come sample this lovely elixir.
Available in 375 ml bar top bottles for $25 and 1 gallon jugs for $125. Please contact johnnymarckx@gmail.com if you’d like to pre-order or if you’re interested in bulk pricing.
WHEN DOES THE CSA END?
The last pick-ups of our 2024 CSA program are as follows: The last Saturday pickup is Saturday, December 7th and the last Tuesday pickup is, Tuesday, December 10th.
AND WHEN CAN I RESERVE MY SPOT FOR 2024?
We plan to open sign-ups in mid-to-late January 2025. 2024 CSA program members will be given the first chance to reserve a spot for 2025. Please encourage family or friends who would like to join to sign-up for the waitlist on our website.
WINTER SISTER FARM CSA STARTING SOON!
Going to miss us this winter? Well you’re in luck! Our dear friends next door at Winter Sister Farm have got you covered with the freshest veggies money can buy all winter and spring.
Memberships include diverse winter-hardy veggies such as broccoli, carrots, potatoes, onions, winter squash, lettuce, kale, chard, as well as access to a small u-pick garden with cold hardy herbs and spring flowers. Click here to get all the details on this wonderful CSA program and to reserve your spot today!
FARMER’S LOG
Torrential Gratitude
What a week! We hope you all came through the worst of this storm dry and safe.
If the current forecast holds true and the rains start chilling out now, your farm and farmers seemed to have faired alright through the bomb cyclone. Our Thanksgiving share will be stacked as ever thanks to the super hard work of our crew who turned it up to 11 over the last few days.
We are proud and relieved.
As clarity around the magnitude of the storm brewing in the Pacific began to take shape late last week and this weekend, our hearts trembled and we knew we were in for a wild ride.
Henry and David hustling to get the Brussels sprouts in before the flood.
As the forecast shaped up so did the course of action: Get as much food and farm gear out of the lower fields as humanly possible before Wednesday afternoon. Last Thursday and Friday we brought in over 2,000 leeks by the macro. By Tuesday evening we had 7 more macro bins of storage cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and other Thanksgiving bounty in the cooler. On Wednesday morning, with the rain picking up, we brought all the celery and lettuce we could fit before turning our attention to bringing any sensitive equipment out of the flood zone. Wednesday was one for the books. We hustled hard in full rain-gear regalia for 8 hours straight. A lot of caffeine was drunk, rain boot blisters formed, sleeves wetted, and, honestly, good times were had. We slept hard Wednesday night, and contented, knowing so much food and equipment would be safe.
On Thursday morning the farm was unrecognizable — transformed overnight into a slow flowing lake with water lapping at the base of the oak trees and the swing set. Ducks floated serenely on two feet of water over fields we had trudged through just the day before.
Today, with 8.7” inches of rain in the gauge, we washed and prepped for CSA pick-up tomorrow and anxiously checked NOAA forecasts to see if our greenhouse and upper barn will flood. (It seems unlikely.)
Such is farming on the Laguna.
Flooding like this is actually not uncommon for this farm. We expect the Laguna to transform our lower fields into a lake a few times during a normal rain year. What made this storm unique is how early in the year it came, forcing your farmers to pack a two week marathon into a 4 day sprint.
Mind you, there will be casualties. Some beautiful broccoli and lettuce plantings we had slated for the last two weeks are completely submerged. We will probably lose some celery for those weeks as well. The last two harvest weeks of our CSA will be a little less exciting.
But the lion’s share of our bounty for the next 3 weeks is, as of now, unaffected thanks to our team. Something we have been continuously grateful for this year.
Which brings us to this week’s theme: Gratitude.
* * * * *
Kayta and I both grew up in the suburbs and, like everyone, we encountered those ubiquitous expressions — “make hay while the sun shines,” “three shakes of a lamb's tail,” “like a horse who’s seen the barn,”. It wasn’t until we started farming that we began to understand the visceral poetry of these expressions and the agricultural roots of so many idioms. And it wasn’t until we started farming that we began to understand — like, really understand — the need to give thanks in fall.
The fall is an incredible time of year in the temperate world. It is a season of unimaginable bounty. The plants of the forest and the field have spent all spring and summer harnessing the sun’s energy into their fruits, seeds, roots, and leaves and we have harvested. In the fall, the root cellar is full, the larder is full, the granary is full — the land has burst forth at its seams and we gathered the overflow.
The farmer, sitting at home with his feet up next to the fire, is keenly aware of the bounty in the root cellar below. He feels a great contentment in this but no pride because he realizes how little he did to create it. Sure, he worked hard all year — moving things here and there — but it was others, present now and before, that filled that cellar. It was others who dug it out and laid the roof. Others who made the tools and taught him how to use them. Others who saved the seeds and taught others, who taught others, who taught others, who taught him how to care for them. And what (or who) made those seeds sprout? Not he.
For all this, there is nothing to give but thanks.
We’d like to take a moment to give thanks those who made this season possible.
* * * * *
First and foremost, again, to our incredible core team and part time workers this year: Aisling Okubo, Asa Black, Ava Jablonski, Henry Grady, Char Curtin, Tristan Frakes, Brent Walker, Sarah Dozor, Alberto & Anayeli Guzman — whose hard, skilled work, and blood, sweat and tears brought forth so much beauty and so much bounty from the fields this season. We are honored to be able to do this work with you.
Our core team standing in what is usually the parking lot: Kayta, David, Aisling, Ava, Henry, Asa & Sarah behind the camera.
To all the neighbors we share this corner of Cooper Road with for appreciating and putting up with us!
To Scott Mathieson and Laurel Anderson, farm family and the landowners of this amazing place. Your commitment to building community and sharing beauty and bounty shines through in how you support us on the farm everyday. Local agriculture simply couldn’t exist without people like you.
To so many farming comrades, especially Anna Dozor at Winter Sister Farm; Will Holloway and Lucas Hill at Longer Table Farm.
To Lee Magner of Sonoma Mountain Breads and Karl Gergel and Ursule Amiot of Zweibel’s for blessing us weekly with your baked delights.
To Lily Schneider at Kitchen Table Advisors for so much sage advise. To everyone at FEED Cooperative and Food For Thought Food Bank.
To maestro Carlos Mayerstein of California Bilingüe for the life changing gift of Spanish instruction.
To Tristan Benson, Jared Sutton, Rusty Davis for clutch mechanical and metal work.
To Rose Brink-Capriola for uplifting us on Wednesdays.
To Hannah Chort and Cassidy Blackwell for blessing the farm with their passions.
To Kate Seely, Ziza, Donna, our families, and everyone who helped care for Alice while Mama and Daddy were on the farm.
And finally, to you, dear members. Whatever bounty we’ve enjoyed this year is because of you. You shared in the real risk of a growing season with farmers — something rare and important, we think, in this crazy world. Your support made it possible for us to plant each seed, spread every ton of compost, lay the irrigation lines, and harvest all the food that nourished so many. You showed up each week with sweet smiles, gifts, and words of encouragement and appreciation that charged us up in so many ways.
You remind us, day after day, week after week, that real, life-sustaining bounty comes from a community rolling up its collective sleeves and building something needful and beautiful together.
Thank you.
See you in the fields,
David & Kayta
CSA BASICS
When does the 2024 CSA end? The last Saturday pick-up this year is Saturday, December 7th and the last Tuesday pickup is, December 10th.
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
Oriented members can come to the farm any time, 7 days a week, sunrise to sunset, to u-pick and enjoy the farm.
Where is the farm? The member parking lot is located at 1720 Cooper Rd., Sebastopol, CA 95472.
Where is the food? The produce pick-up barn is just to the right of the solar panels and above our big greenhouse. You can’t miss it!
2024 CSA program dates: Our harvest season will run from Saturday, June 15th through Tuesday, December 10th this year.
Drive slow! Please drive slow on Cooper Rd. and in our driveway / parking lot area. Kids at play!
No dogs: Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed on the farm.
