THIS WEEK’S HARVEST
Arugula, Cegolaine Gem Lettuce, Romaine Lettuce, Lady Murasaki Purple Bok Choi, Red Russian Kale, Carrots, Sweet Corn, Celery, Eggplant, Striped Armenian Cucumbers, Assorted Zucchini & Summer Squash, Cantaloupe & Galia Melons, Poblano Peppers, Fresh Cipollini Onions, Early Girl & Heirloom Tomatoes
U-PICK
🚨 ATTENTION! With all the u-pick crops, the areas at the heads of each bed are significantly more picked over than the back — don’t forget to branch out to the back areas to find the jack-pots!
Albion Strawberries | 3 pints per share
Padrón Peppers | 2 pints per share | Note that as Padróns age, they are more likely to be spicy!
Shishito Peppers | 3 pints per share | While still most likely to be mild, even shishitos can have a little heat towards the end of the season.
Cherry Tomatoes | 3 pints per share
Amethyst Green Beans | Gleanings
Jalapeños | 3 peppers per share | To find the hottest ones, look for “checking”, the delicate cracks in the skin that indicate the pepper has aged into its heat.
Herbs: Italian, Purple and Thai Basil, Dill, Tulsi, Chamomile, Parsley, Onion Chives, Garlic Chives, Tarragon, Thyme, Oregano, Marjoram, Culinary Sage, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Vietnamese Coriander, Shiso (Perilla), Catnip, Pineapple, Sorrel, Assorted Mints & Husk Cherries!
Flowers!
Some beautiful dill, along with lots of other goodies, are popping off in North Garden
HARVEST NOTES
Poblano Peppers: The poblano chili pepper is the beloved, mild chili from the state of Puebla, México. When dried it is called “ancho” or chili ancho and when roasted and stuffed with cheese becomes the magnificent chili relleno. This week we’ll be offering the first taste of these wonderful peppers. For an easy, incredibly satisfying combo, try sautéing chopped poblanos with sweet corn kernels, torpedo onions, smoked paprika, lime and salt! Or just throw them in every dish you make like Aisling!
Sarah’s Choice Cantaloupe & Galia Melons: This week we’re debuting two of our favorite melons. Sarah’s Choice is the best cantaloupe we’ve ever tasted — incredibly sweet, smooth and dense with a deliciously spiced flavor. Galia melons are a cross between Cantaloupe and Honeydew, with green flesh and a tropical flavor all their own.
TOMATO INTRODUCTIONS
Welcome to peak tomato season everyone! All of our heirloom field tomatoes are now fruiting happily and it’s time we introduced you. We hope you fall in love with one of them this year. Tell us which is your favorite!
Top row (left to right): Black Krim, Valencia, Black Prince, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Speckled Roman, Blue Beech / Bottom row (left to right): Goldie, Striped German, German Johnson, Big Beef.
Black Krim: A Russian heirloom with a bold, smoky flavor.
Valencia: Small, firm and golden, Valencia is a Maine family heirloom with a meaty texture and bold flavor that makes a nice addition to sauce or canned tomatoes.
Black Prince: An Eastern-European Heirloom, Black Prince is one of the least flashy, but most flavorful tomatoes we grow. Perfect for slicing into a simple tomato salad.
Aunt Ruby’s German Green: Green turning slightly to yellow when ripe, this tomato is our all-time favorite. First introduced by Ruby Arnold whose German-immigrant grandfather saved the seeds. You'll know Aunt Ruby's is ripe when it gives just slightly to the touch.
Speckled Roman: An exceptionally delicious sauce tomato with a psychedelic dream-coat. Excellent for fresh eating as well.
Blue Beech: An heirloom “sausage”-type paste tomato that was originally brought from Italy to Vermont during World War II. We’ve planted a significant amount of Blue Beech this year, which will hopefully begin ripening in earnest over the next few weeks.
Goldie: David’s personal favorite. A good Goldie (dark orange when ripe) will taste like flowers and melons and goes down smooth and sweet.
Striped German: Arguably the prettiest tomato we grow. Smooth, mellow, fruity flavored.
German Johnson: a pink Brandywine type, with a smooth, creamy texture and bright flavor.
Big Beef: Like jeans and a t-shirt, a classic red beefsteak.
PRESERVING THE HARVEST
Bulk Tomatoes are here! From now until the end of tomato season, bulk quantities of sauce varieties and all 2nds (tomatoes that are blemished or quite ripe but still tasty) will be available in addition to the perfect ones! Bulk tomatoes will have a season limit, meaning is is the total amount of 2nd tomatoes you can take over the course of the year. You’re welcome to take them all at once or a little bit here and there, whichever you like!
The easiest way to put up tomatoes is freezing. While you can simply pop them in the freezer without processing first, we particularly love halving them, drizzling with olive oil and roasting in a low-temp oven to concentrate the flavors. Or, if you have the time now and want to make a sauce that truly bottles the taste of summer, consider making fresh tomato sauce!
FRESH TOMATO SAUCE
For the simplest and most satisfying tomato sauce, we recommend sautéing onions and garlic in more olive oil than you might think you need. Then add tomatoes and salt to taste and cook down for 45 minutes to an hour until your sauce has reached the desired consistency and flavor. Depending on your preferred consistency, tomatoes can be peeled and de-seeded before cooking, or if you prefer a more rustic sauce, chop and them throw them in the pot seeds and all, or blend partially with an immersion blender. For more detailed instructions, and some good ideas for variations on tomato sauces, check out this Smitten Kitchen post on Fresh Tomato Sauce.
VOLUNTEERING ON THE FARM!
Feel like getting some dirt on your hands and working in the garden with us? CSA member and former veggie farmer Rose Brink Capriola is generously coordinating volunteer meet-ups! Send us an email if you’d like to get on her volunteer email list. Kids welcome!
The last bed of Farfield planted with indigo radicchio with Mount Saint Helena in the background.
FARMER’S LOG
AN ODE TO THE ONION
We love fresh onion season. We’ve been putting them on everything — pizza, second breakfast tomato sandwiches, salads.
It’s almost time for our storage onion harvest out there in Farfield. Our storage varieties are all beautifully sized up, the tips of most of the leaves are just starting to turn yellow. Soon we will bust out the macro bins and haul 10,000 lbs of delicious orbs into the greenhouse for curing.
But in our harvest share, we are still in that stage of innocence — fresh onion season. Fresh onions, for some reason, feel like an impossible food, a gift from heaven, “they make us cry without hurting us.”
Pablo Neruda somehow managed to capture the pure majesty of the onion. We’ll let him take it from here…
Ode to the Onion
by Pablo Neruda
Onion,
luminous flask,
your beauty formed
petal by petal,
crystal scales expanded you
and in the secrecy of the dark earth
your belly grew round with dew.
Under the earth
the miracle
happened
and when your clumsy
green stem appeared,
and your leaves were born
like swords
in the garden,
the earth heaped up her power
showing your naked transparency,
and as the remote sea
in lifting the breasts of Aphrodite
duplicating the magnolia,
so did the earth
make you,
onion
clear as a planet
and destined
to shine,
constant constellation,
round rose of water,
upon
the table
of the poor.
You make us cry without hurting us.
I have praised everything that exists,
but to me, onion, you are
more beautiful than a bird
of dazzling feathers,
heavenly globe, platinum goblet,
unmoving dance
of the snowy anemone
and the fragrance of the earth lives
in your crystalline nature.
* * * * * * *
See you in the fields,
David & Kayta
CSA BASICS
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.
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.
