Harvest Week 5 - The Season of Flowers

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST

Arugula, Mustard Mix, French Breakfast Radishes, Dino Kale, Kolibri Little Gem Lettuce, Romaine Lettuce, Green Butter Lettuce, Assorted Chicories, Fennel, Green Zucchini and Yellow Crookneck Squash, Pickling Cucumbers, Mini Cabbage, Carrots, Fresh Lorz Softneck Garlic

U-PICK

Check the u-pick board in the barn for weekly u-pick limits.

  • Albion Strawberries: 1 pint per share

  • Sugar Snap Peas: Gleanings | Gleanings is how we indicate that a crop is done with the bulk of its production, but members are welcome to forage for a bit of what is left.

  • Herbs & Edible Flowers: Italian Basil, Purple Basil, Lemon Basil, Purple Basil, Dill, Tulsi, Parsley, Cilantro, Chamomile, Calendula, Borage, Nasturtium, Pansies/Viola, Stridolo, Lemon Bergamot Bee Balm, Onion Chives, Garlic Chives, Tarragon, Thyme, Oregano, Marjoram, Culinary Sage, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Vietnamese Coriander, Shiso/Perilla, Catnip, Pineapple Sage, Sorrel, Assorted Mints

  • Flowers! Too many to list! Feel free to pick the sunflowers along the edge of the parking area in addition to everything in the garden.

Supercrest Celosia getting ever more elaborate in the garden. / Dried chamomile: just one of the many herbs for tea growing in the garden right now. / Salad with chicories, lettuce, carrot ribbons & chopped fennel fronds.

HARVEST NOTES

  • French Breakfast Radishes: Delicate little radishes with the most evocative name. Not sure how to eat radishes? We love them sliced on good bread with butter and flaky salt, roasted with miso, or sliced and eaten atop almost any meal — we’re always amazed at how much beauty, crunch and freshness they bring.

FLOWER ARRANGING WORKSHOP

SAVE THE DATE!
Tuesday, July 22nd, 5:30 pm

Are you looking for some tips and inspiration on flower picking and arranging?

Are you a seasoned flower-nerd and feel like sipping bubblies and arranging flowers with like-minded friends?

CSA member Cassidy Blackwell fell in love with flowers and flower arranging on the farm in 2020. It’s since become a passion of hers. Cassidy will share her stoke and some tips she’s learned about arranging. This is a special annual farm event.

Please bring a bucket to pick into, a favorite vase, and clippers. Members are welcome to bring a non-member friend. Suggested $30 donation for non-members.

PEAK SALAD SEASON IS HERE!

As salad season continues, we wanted to bring you 2 more versatile dressing recipes from Samin Nosrat that are amazing to have on hand during peak salad season and beyond.

House Dressing

By Samin Nosrat

Yield: 1½ cups

  • 1 large shallot, very finely diced

  • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon aged sherry vinegar, plus more as needed

  • 1 tablespoon warm water

  • 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

  • 1½ teaspoons honey

  • 1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard

  • 1½ teaspoons whole-grain mustard

  • 2 thyme sprigs, washed leaves picked and finely chopped (about ½ teaspoon)

  • 1 garlic clove, finely grated

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed

  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place the shallot in a fine-mesh sieve and quickly rinse with cold water. Allow to drain, then place in a medium bowl. Add vinegar and warm water, and let the shallot mixture sit for 2 minutes

Whisk in oil, honey, both mustards, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the salt and vinegar as needed.

Cover and refrigerate remaining dressing for up to 1 week.

To make a crunchy and refreshing green salad: toss Little Gem lettuce (or your favorite variety of baby lettuce), thinly shaved fennel, tender dill fronds, whole cilantro and parsley leaves, 1-inch pieces of chives and dressing. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Delicately mound onto a serving platter and serve immediately.

CRUNCHY CABBAGE SLAW WITH CREAMY SESAME-GINGER DRESSING

By Samin Nosrat

Yield: 1½ cups

  • ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed

  • ¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar, plus more as needed

  • 5 tablespoons white miso

  • 2 tablespoons honey

  • 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

  • 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

  • 1 (3-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

  • 1 fresh jalapeño, stemmed (seeded if desired) and sliced

  • ½ cup neutral oil

  • Kosher salt

In a liquid measuring cup or wide-mouth jar, combine the lemon juice, vinegar, miso, honey, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and chile, and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. With the immersion blender running, add the neutral oil in a thin stream. (Alternatively, you can use a countertop blender.) Taste and adjust with salt, lemon juice and vinegar as needed.

Cover and refrigerate remaining dressing for up to 1 week.

To make a crunchy cabbage slaw: combine ½ head thinly sliced cabbage, 2 coarsely grated carrots, ¼ cup finely chopped cilantro, 2 scallions thinly sliced on sharp bias, 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds and 1 cup salted roasted peanuts in a large bowl. Toss with a generous amount of dressing. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Chill for 30 minutes before serving.

FARMER’S LOG

THE SEASON OF FLOWERS

A couple weeks ago we wrote about the Season of Power; that time of year on the farm when the turbocharged alchemy of water and solstice light erupts in unfathomable foliar growth.

If the last two weeks were the Season of Power, we’re now entering the fleeting and breathtaking Season of Flower.

Every a nook and cranny on the farm is starting to bloom. The garden, obviously, is on full display. It is more like a fireworks factory caught on fire than a fireworks show — but quieter. 

In the fields too, flowers are everywhere. Our Masquerade potatoes in Creek Field are like two oceanic strips of royal purple flowers and yellow anther arrows. Our main crop of potatoes, in Farfield West across the creek, is half abloom, and will likely be in full bloom late next week. (We suggest a visit.)

The winter squash are sounding their fuzzy yellow trumpets; the cherry tomatoes are fully bedazzled in yellow stars; our first batch of sweet corn put on their tassel hats this week.

Life can be full of pain and distraction. But the season of flower, if you let it in, reminds us of joy.

We hope you can take a quiet moment these next couple weeks — listening to the bees in the borage; breathing in deep the smell of a field of potato flowers; arranging flower with us next Tuesday — to really soak in the jubilance of the Season of Flowers.

You deserve it.

See you in the flowers,
David and Kayta

CSA BASICS

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

U-pick hours: Oriented members can come to the farm any time, 7 days a week, sunrise to sunset, to u-pick and enjoy the farm.

2025 CSA program dates: Our harvest season will run from Saturday, June 14th through Tuesday, December 9th this year.

Where is the farm? The member parking lot is located at 1720 Cooper Rd., Sebastopol, CA 95472.

Slow on Cooper Rd. Out of respect for our neighbors and the many kids and animals that live on Cooper Rd., please drive slow (20 mph)!

Harvest Week 4 - Spacewalks

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST

Fresh Lorz Softneck Garlic, Pink & Gold Swiss Chard, Collards, Frisée, Green Zucchini and Yellow Crookneck Squash, Volcana Little Gem Lettuce, Romaine Lettuce, Rouxai Red Oakleaf Lettuce, Giorgione & Bel Fiore Chicories, Fennel, Pickling Cucumbers, Mini Tiara Cabbage, Carrots

U-PICK

Check the u-pick board in the barn for weekly u-pick limits.

  • Albion Strawberries: 2 pints per share | The strawbs are in their seasonal 4th of July lull. We’re keeping the limit at 2 pints this week but it will mean a little harder picking. Check out the middle and back of the beds for areas that are more abundant.

  • Sugar Snap Peas: The peas had a sudden drop-off in productivity last week, which meant that not all members were able to pick their shares. If you got your peas last week, please leave the gleanings this week to those who didn’t. We’ll have another succession coming soon!

  • Herbs & Edible Flowers: Italian Basil, Purple Basil, Lemon Basil, Purple Basil, Dill, Tulsi, Parsley, Cilantro, Chamomile, Calendula, Borage, Nasturtium, Pansies/Viola, Stridolo, Lemon Bergamot Bee Balm, Onion Chives, Garlic Chives, Tarragon, Thyme, Oregano, Marjoram, Culinary Sage, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Vietnamese Coriander, Shiso/Perilla, Catnip, Pineapple Sage, Sorrel, Assorted Mints

  • Flowers! Many perennial flowers and the first of the year’s annuals!

One Eric, one tractor, lots of potatoes, zero weeds.

HARVEST NOTES

  • Frisée: This is our once-a-year succession of frisée — a frilly, slightly bitter endive. While it’s probably most familiar as a salad mix component, it’s also delicious cooked as you would an escarole. Check out this recipe from last year’s newsletter for Herby Summer Beans with Garlic & Frisée.

  • Collards: Cooked slowly and for a little longer than you might cook kale, collards transform into one of the most decadently sweet and silky cooking greens. To truly revel in the transformation, try making Gomen — Ethiopian collards with onions and fresh ginger. We promise that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

FLOWER ARRANGING WORKSHOP

SAVE THE DATE!
Tuesday, July 22nd, 5:30 pm

Are you looking for some tips and inspiration on flower picking and arranging?

Are you a seasoned flower-nerd and feel like sipping bubblies and arranging flowers with like-minded friends?

CSA member Cassidy Blackwell fell in love with flowers and flower arranging on the farm in 2020. It’s since become a passion of hers. Cassidy will share her stoke and some tips she’s learned about arranging. This is a special annual farm event.

Please bring a bucket to pick into, a favorite vase, and clippers. Members are welcome to bring a non-member friend. Suggested $30 donation for non-members.

FLOWER HARVESTING BASICS


Here are some basic tips and tricks to help you make the most of the abundance in the flower garden.

  • Pick when it’s cool. Picking in the cool morning or evening hours will keep your flowers from wilting right away. If you do pick during a hot moment, dunking your flower stems in boiling water when you get home can help revive them.

  • Pick directly into water: Your flowers will last longest at home if they go right into water after being picked. Try bringing a 5-gallon bucket, filling with a little bit of water, and picking directly into the bucket for arranging later.

  • Strip the stems. Taking off any leaves that will fall below the surface of the water will keep it and the blooms fresh longer.

  • Clean your vase and refresh the water. Your flowers will appreciate being in as clean an environment as you can provide for them. This means keeping your vase scrubbed, and replacing (or at least topping off) the water as often as possible. You can also give the stems a fresh cut every few days to ensure they’re able to keep drinking.

  • Pick at the right stage: The vase-life of flowers is affected in part by how far along they are in the process of blooming. While we love the exuberance and ephemerality of a flower in full-blown glory, you’ll usually get a longer vase-life from one that’s just starting to open. For short-lived flowers like Cosmos and California poppies, picking stems that include unopened buds will extend the life of your bouquet, as you watch them come into bloom in your vase, changing before your eyes.

Chicken and Herb Salad With Nuoc Cham

By Yewande Komolafe

Nuoc cham, a Vietnamese sauce bright with lime juice and chile, is tossed into this simple, satisfying salad to give it a salty-sweet finish. Thinly sliced bell pepper and shaved cabbage provide crunch, while meat pulled from a store-bought rotisserie chicken — or any leftover chicken — soaks up the dressing. Serve this by itself, or alongside steamed rice or room-temperature cooked rice vermicelli.

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 5 minutes

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tablespoons sugar

  • 1 garlic clove, minced

  • 1 bird’s-eye chile or other small hot chile, minced with seeds

  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from 2 limes)

  • 3 tablespoons fish sauce

  • 3 loosely packed cups chicken meat (12 ounces, pulled from store-bought rotisserie chicken or roast chicken)

  • 2 cups thinly sliced red or green cabbage

  • 1 small English cucumber, thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)

  • 1 medium bell pepper (any color), thinly sliced

  • 1 1/2 cups peppery leafy greens, such as watercress with tender stems, arugula or mizuna

  • 1 loosely packed cup Thai or sweet basil leaves

  • 1 loosely packed cup mint leaves

  • 1/2 cup crispy fried shallots or onions, store-bought or homemade

PREPARATION

1. In a large bowl, combine the sugar and 1/4 cup water. Whisk to dissolve the sugar. Add the garlic, chile, lime juice and fish sauce. Stir to combine.

2. Add the chicken, cabbage, cucumbers and bell pepper to the dressing. Toss to coat. Add the leafy greens and the basil and mint leaves. Toss to combine.

3. Divide the salad among bowls, garnish with the crispy shallots and serve immediately.

FARMER’S LOG

Spacewalks

It’s a special time in the garden right now.

If the first few weeks of flowers were the lift off phase — the launch pad, the rockets pushing, gaining speed, and hurtling towards space — then we have now cleared the stratosphere.

It is quiet now. We are surrounded by a galaxy of glittering stars. Many flower beds are going supernova… the full mass of their energy erupting in a blinding display of blooms before the end; This week it’s the trailing amaranth, scented nicotiana, snapdragons, marigolds, angel’s wings, and Russian statice…

From left to right… Top row: Select Watercolor Nicotiana, Oeschberg & Emerald Tassels Amaranth, Schizanthus aka Angel’s Wings | Middle row: Summer Breeze sunflowers, Cupcake cosmos, Queen mix zinnias | Bottom row: Apricotta cosmos, Supercrest celosia, Russian Statice.

And new many new star clusters are flickering into existence this week. The zinnias — enticing in their endless variety and intricacy — are opening more every day; the celosia is pluming, cresting and crashing like waves; and the rudbeckia are going up like 4th of July fireworks, crisp golden balls.

Bees and pollen seekers of all types fly around like space craft all day — and land on soft little moons to sleep each night. Come in early in the morning or late in the evening to catch them in their little beds, or close your eyes in the warm morning sun, and listen to their hum.

We hope you enjoy your spacewalks. Just don’t forget a handful of dill when you return to your ship.

See you in the fields,

David and Kayta

THE BASICS

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

U-pick hours: Oriented members can come to the farm any time, 7 days a week, sunrise to sunset, to u-pick and enjoy the farm.

2025 CSA program dates: Our harvest season will run from Saturday, June 14th through Tuesday, December 9th this year.

Where is the farm? The member parking lot is located at 1720 Cooper Rd., Sebastopol, CA 95472.

Slow on Cooper Rd. Out of respect for our neighbors and the many kids and animals that live on Cooper Rd., please drive slow (20 mph)!

Where should I park?: Follow our sign on Cooper Rd. down a short gravel driveway. Please find a parking spot under the solar panels to your left, or on either side of the road in front, or below, the greenhouse.

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!

What should I bring?:

  • Former members, please bring your WCCF tote bag! (New members will be given a new one.)

  • Pint baskets or small containers for strawberries and herbs (if you have some, we will provide a few pint baskets to be used as measures)

  • A vase, bucket, or water bottle to keep your flowers and herbs happy

  • Clippers or secateurs to cut flowers (if you have some)

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

Newsletters & email communication: All our important CSA communications are sent through this email address, which is sometimes spam blocked. Please make sure this email address is in your address book so you get important CSA communications. All newsletters and important updates, like this one, are also posted on the Newsletters page of our website weekly.

Harvest Week 3 - The Season of Power

Are you a new member who hasn’t attended an orientation yet? Orientation dates and times can be found below the Harvest Notes.

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST

Fresh Lorz Softneck Garlic, Mustard Mix, Dino Kale, Komatsuna or Purple Flowering Bok Choi, Green Zucchini and Yellow Crookneck Squash, Volcana Little Gem Lettuce, Red Butter Lettuce, Rouxai Red Oakleaf Lettuce, Giorgione Chicory, Baby Fennel, Kohlrabi, Scallions, Pickling Cucumbers, Mini Tiara Cabbage, Baby Carrots

A swarm of honeybees hanging from the branches of the big oak by the playground on Thursday.

U-PICK

Check the u-pick board in the barn for weekly u-pick limits.

  • Albion Strawberries: 2 pints per share

  • Sugar Snap Peas: 1 pint per share | We recommend walking to the back of the Sugar Snap Pea beds where the peas are fat and abundant!

  • Herbs & Edible Flowers: Italian Basil, Purple Basil, Lemon Basil, Purple Basil, Dill, Tulsi, Parsley, Cilantro, Chamomile, Calendula, Borage, Nasturtium, Pansies/Viola, Stridolo, Lemon Bergamot Bee Balm, Onion Chives, Garlic Chives, Tarragon, Thyme, Oregano, Marjoram, Culinary Sage, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Vietnamese Coriander, Shiso/Perilla, Catnip, Pineapple Sage, Sorrel, Assorted Mints

  • Flowers! Many perennial flowers and the first of the year’s annuals!

HARVEST NOTES

  • Baby Carrots: We are so excited to share the first carrots of the season with you! These are true baby carrots, planted at the beginning of May, as soon as the fields dried down enough to access. They are delicate, sweet and incredibly tender. Eat them raw as a perfect snack, or toss with olive oil and salt and roast alongside fennel, scallions and squash as an elegant early summer side. We’ll have carrots now until the end of the year.

  • Pickling Cucumbers: While we will have bulk Pickling Cucumbers available a little later in the season for pickling projects, this week we’re bringing you just a taste as the first cucumbers of the season. Like the first pancakes, these are a bit eccentric, but delicious, either peeled and eaten fresh, or made into a very small batch of quick pickles.

  • Giorgione Chicory: This Castelfranco Radicchio has fancy, frilled leaf-edges, delicate speckling and a flavor that’s mild enough to be enjoyed raw. Delicious and beautiful added to a lettuce salad or on its own paired with a sharp, rich dressing.

FARM ORIENTATION TOURS FOR NEW MEMBERS

All new adult members are required to attend an orientation their first time picking up their harvest share. We’ll go over farm safety and etiquette, give you your farm tote bags, show you the ropes in the flower and herb garden, and share the secret to finding the sweetest strawberries.

If you are new to the farm, please join us promptly for one of the orientation tours below:

WEEK 3:
Saturday, June 28: 9 am, 11 am, 1 pm
Tuesday, July 1: 1 pm. 3 pm, 5:30 pm

You can come get oriented and pick up your first share on either day (Saturday or Tuesday), whichever day and time works best for your schedule. Tours last about 30 minutes. All adult members of your share who will be regularly enjoying the farm should attend an orientation.

If you are sharing a share by alternating weeks with another household, one household should attend an orientation Week 1 and the other an orientation on Week 2.

If you can’t attend a tour time above, please reach out to us to schedule a time that works for you.

THE BASICS

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

U-pick hours: Oriented members can come to the farm any time, 7 days a week, sunrise to sunset, to u-pick and enjoy the farm.

2025 CSA program dates: Our harvest season will run from Saturday, June 14th through Tuesday, December 9th this year.

Where is the farm? The member parking lot is located at 1720 Cooper Rd., Sebastopol, CA 95472.

Slow on Cooper Rd. Out of respect for our neighbors and the many kids and animals that live on Cooper Rd., please drive slow (20 mph)!

Where should I park?: Follow our sign on Cooper Rd. down a short gravel driveway. Please find a parking spot under the solar panels to your left, or on either side of the road in front, or below, the greenhouse.

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!

What should I bring?:

  • Former members, please bring your WCCF tote bag! (New members will be given a new one.)

  • Pint baskets or small containers for strawberries and herbs (if you have some, we will provide a few pint baskets to be used as measures)

  • A vase, bucket, or water bottle to keep your flowers and herbs happy

  • Clippers or secateurs to cut flowers (if you have some)

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

Newsletters & email communication: All our important CSA communications are sent through this email address, which is sometimes spam blocked. Please make sure this email address is in your address book so you get important CSA communications. All newsletters and important updates, like this one, are also posted on the Newsletters page of our website weekly.

LATE SPRING SALAD WITH FETA, HERBS AND SNAP PEAS

It’s salad season, and this week we hit upon a combination that we had to share:

  • Tear Volcano Little Gems (pink all the way to the heart and so special) and the blanched hearts of Giorgione chicories into bite-sized pieces.

  • Thinly slice fennel and sugar snap peas.

  • Chop or tear dill, lemon & Italian basil and mint (it’s all about the mint!) .

  • Crumble feta or goat cheese.

  • Toast some fresh or stale bread chunks in a generous amount of olive oil and salt to make homemade croutons.

  • Toss everything together with ranch dressing. (Check out this recipe if you’d like to make your own!)

  • Taste and add additional olive oil, lemon and salt if desired.

FARMER’S LOG

THE SEASON OF POWER

This week we settled further into our harvest rhythm and entered one of the most exciting and transformational times of year on the farm. The season of power.

With most of our plant babies out of the nursery and in their fields, waterlines set, the days at their longest, it is now time for our plants to do their thing.

The word power comes to mind for this time of year on the farm in the sense of the raw power of light, soil, and plant life. At no other time of year is this power more palpable, more awe inspiring, than the 50 or 60 days surrounding the solstice.

Take a look at these pictures of our winter squash field taken from the same place on June 18th and July 27th, 2023 (just 40 days a apart).

During the season of power our crops (who up till now have been vulnerable little things who needed us for everything) take their lives and their power into their own hands.

They seem to grow before our eyes, passionately devouring and transforming every drop of sunlight and water that falls. They mature, they flower, they sex, they start growing their seeds. Our fields transform from tranquil nursery plots into teaming, striving jungles.

It’s kind of scary.

And it is a humbling time of year for the farmer. At no other time do we feel more clearly the fact that we are not actually growers, we are shepherds.

Sure, we worked hard preparing the ground, moving things here and there. But this was all just setting the stage. This was all just setting out the dreamcatcher for when the real power enters.

And when it comes, boy, do we know it.

At this time of year the farm feels possessed with light, with growth, with spirit. All this energy is the heavy, nutritious staple food we’ll enjoy all summer and fall — all that corn, the potatoes, squash, tomatoes — they are here with us now, flowing through exploding green foliage, quick and bright, like high voltage electricity.

It’s best to just stand back and watch.

See you in the fields,

David