FARMER’S LOG
A FARMER’S THANKSGIVING
Kayta and I both grew up in the suburbs and, like everyone, we would encountered those ubiquitous expressions speckled throughout out our vernacular — “three shakes of a lamb's tail”, “like a horse who’s seen the barn”, “chomping at the bit”, “make hay while the sun shines”, "coming home to roost", etc. It wasn’t until we started farming that we began to realize the roots of these expressions and their visceral poetry.
And it wasn’t until we started farming that we began to understand — like really understand — the visceral poetry of giving thanks in the Fall.
The Fall is an incredible time of year in the temperate world. It is a season of unimaginable bounty. The plants of forest and 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 have gathered the overflow
This week’s goodies
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, and life itself, that filled that cellar. It was others who dug the cellar and laid the roof. Others who forged his 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 year's harvest season possible.
First, to the ancient farmers and cultures who tended the plants and the seeds we grow. And as we enjoy the first cornmeal of the year this week, we’d like to acknowledge a special debt to the indigenous American people and cultures on whose ancestral land we live and farm and to those who stewarded into existence, and continue to steward, so many of the food crops and seeds that we rely on.
To our friends and families: For your unconditional love and support as we go AWOL to tend this farm in the growing season. It’s getting better right!? We miss you, let’s hang out.
To all the volunteers who helped on the farm this year — your many hands made light work when we needed it the most! A special shout-out to Sora Bolles, 11 years old, who has been crushing it on the farm and brightening our Wednesdays.
To Anna Dozor (who has been with us for the majority of this farm’s existence) and whose hard work, skill, and laughter have been a cornerstone of this farm’s growth and the bountiful seasons we’ve had. You’re a joy to work with and we can’t express how lucky we feel to have worked with you these past couple of years. Let’s get matching tattoos. To Kate Beilharz and Cassidy Rasore, who similarly graced these fields and our days with their hard, skilled work, and incredible attitudes.
To the landowners & partners of Green Valley Farm + Mill, Temra, Jeremy, Aubrie Maze, Scott Kelley, Jeff Mendelsohn, Josiah Raison Cain, for your daily work and vision that this land be a home for sustainable small farms and farmers. To our neighbors, Genevieve Abedon, Michael Crivello, Lindsay Dailey, Cliff Paulin and Ateas, Jack Tindle, everyone at Weaving Earth, the Hearth Folk School, the incredible Hom/Bolles’ family, our beloved PRAXIANS, to Juice and Chris LS Panym up in the Wildnest; it takes a village to sustain a small farm and your support, encouragement and our daily interactions make up the web of friendship that sustains this farm and farmers!
To our community of fellow farmers and farming mentors; to Andy and Julia Henderson at Confluence Farm; the OG crew at New Family Farm; Alan Haight of Riverhill Farm in Nevada City; Wayne and Lee James at Tierra Vegetables, and so many others. You make the long-days shorter in solidarity, camaraderie, and much practical wisdom.
And finally, to you, our members. Whatever bounty we’ve enjoyed this year is because of you. You turned the status quo on its head and shared in the risk of the growing season with your farmers. You helped pay for the seeds, the compost, the irrigation tape, the tomato trellising twine that went into growing your food. You helped plant your garlic, harvest potatoes, corn, squash and did quite a bit of u-picking! You showed up every week with baked goodies, kim-chi, cute little doodles to put on the chalk board and words of encouragement. Once again, you pickled cucumbers for us when we didn’t have time to pickle them ourselves.
You remind us, day after day, week after week, that real change, real life-sustaining bounty comes from a community of neighbors rolling up their sleeves and building something needful and beautiful together.
Thank you.
See you in the fields,
David & Kayta
THIS WEEK'S HARVEST
Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkins, Butternut Winter Squash, Floriani Red Flint Corn Meal, German Butterball Potatoes, Beauregard Sweet Potatoes, Leeks, Celery, Lorz Italian Softneck Garlic, Cured Yellow Onions, White Russian Kale, Romanesco, Green Magic Broccoli, Purple Top Turnips, Watermelon Radishes, Loose Rainbow Carrots, Loose Beets, Little Gems, Escarole, Spinach, Fancy Fall Salad Mix (with Arugula, Mustard Greens, Radicchio, and Baby Chard)
Cover crop sprouts and sycamore and maple colors.
HARVEST NOTES
Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin: This lacy, soft-orange beauty is the best pumpkin we’ve found for pumpkin pie. See below for Kayta’s tried and true pumpkin pie recipe.
Floriani Red Flint Cornmeal: An Italian heirloom corn variety bred for the superb polenta it makes. This cornmeal is special in that it is fresh: Harvested in October, ground yesterday, and kept frozen to preserve the germ, grain this fresh is hard to find in the modern market. We think you'll notice a difference. This cornmeal can be used in any recipe that calls for cornmeal. It is ground slightly coarse, so you may want to sift it for recipes that call for a fine cornflour. See below for tricks on making the best polenta you’ve ever had. Store frozen to preserve freshness.
Beauregard Sweet Potatoes: Our first attempt growing sweet potatoes went OK: They came out sugar sweet and tasty but they are a little too large and funny looking. They may be a fugly, but don’t worry, beauty lies within.
Lorz Italian Softneck Garlic: The final of the four garlic varietals we grew this year. We liked it so much we hung it in the barn and saved most of it for seed. A superb heirloom garlic brought to Washington State's Columbia River Basin in the early 1900s by the Lorz family when they emigrated from Italy. This flavorful softneck garlic has a robust, spicy flavor that lingers in dishes. Try it in pasta or mashed potatoes, or simply roasted.
Escarole: Change it up for Thanksgiving, try escarole. A staple in Italian kitchens, this leafy chicory (think radicchio) is a hardy, sweet, and slightly bitter green that’ll help invigorate your digestion and add punctuation to a rich and fatty Thanksgiving feast. Our favorite way to prepare it is to quarter the head, slather the leaves in olive oil and to broil it in the oven until it is wilted and the tips are nice and crispy. Toss with garlic and lemon juice and wallah!
Purple Top Turnips: These versatile turnips are sweet and delicate enough to be eaten raw or micro-planed on salads and hardy enough to handle the stoutest stews and vegetable roasts.
U-PICK
Herbs: Herbs are winding down for the year, but check out the Rosemary, Lemon balm, Lemon Verbena, Vietnamese Coriander, French Sorrel, Chives, Tarragon, Oregano, Thyme, Culinary Lavender, and Lemongrass
Flowers: Nice sunflowers and cosmos in the East garden. About time to put our gardens to bed for the winter. Thank you, Kayta, for an incredible flower year!
KAYTA’s AMAZING PUMPKIN PIE RECIPE
THE CRUST
1/2 tsp salt
75 ml water, about 1/3 cup, very cold (I usually start with this amount and add a touch more as needed)
227 g all purpose flour, about 1 and 3/4 cup
150 g unsalted butter, 1 stick plus 2.5 tablespoons, very cold
Cut the cold butter into pea sized chunks and mix into the flour and salt mixture. With your fingers, squeeze the butter chunks so that they flatten into the flour. Add the water gradually, pressing and kneading the dough as you go, until all of the flour has been moistened and is able to be formed into a ball. I usually use slightly more water than the recipe calls for. Make the dough into a ball and then flatten into a disc and refrigerate, wrapped in a bag, until you are ready to roll it out. Once the crust has been rolled out and placed in your pie pan, refrigerate or freeze it until right before you put it in the oven. Pro tip: you’ll achieve more layered flakiness if you fold the dough over on itself several times before shaping into the pie pan. Just remember to not let it get warm enough that the butter starts to melt.
THE FILLING
1 3/4 cup baked Winter Luxury Pie pumpkin (or other sweet squash, the sweeter the better — we also love the Sunshine Kabocha!)
1/2-3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 heaping tsp. ground ginger
2 eggs
1 cup cream
1/2 cup milk (feel free to adjust the ratio of cream to milk, or substitute coconut milk for all of it!)
Mix the sugar, salt, and spices into the pumpkin. Then mix in the eggs, milk, and cream, and whisk until smooth.
Pour the pie filling into your chilled, raw pie crust, and bake at 400* until only an inch in the center of the pie remains liquid and the crust is golden brown. Let set before eating.
FLORIANI RED FLINT POLENTA RECIPE
Making an unforgettable polenta from your cornmeal is extremely easy — the trick is in the timing, the ratio of liquid to cornmeal, and in incorporating fats and other goodies.
Go with a ratio of 1 part cornmeal to 4 parts liquid. For example, 2 cups cornmeal to 2 cups water and 2 cups Bramble Tail Milk. Try bone broth or stock. For vegans, try veggie stock. The idea is, the more scrumptious the liquid is, the more scrumptious the polenta will be.
Bring the liquid to a boil. Once you have a rolling boil, whisk in the cornmeal slowly, bit by bit. Once it’s all in, turn the heat down low immediately and continue simmering and stirring occasionally either as long as you have time for or until the polenta reaches a creamy consistency.
Now add fat. Try some Bramble Tail butter, or for vegans, try copious amounts of olive oil. Whisk the fat into the polenta.
For savory polenta, try adding slightly roasted GVCFarm garlic, sundried tomatoes, rosemary and other herbs, or Parmesan. (Try adding them all!) One chef we knew added loads of blue-cheese to make an incredible polenta. And don’t forget to salt to taste.
Pour any leftover polenta into a shallow pan and refrigerate. After it sets, it can be sliced and pan fried!
RAW LOCAL HONEY FOR SALE
Our friend Darlene Taylor will be selling her “Blessed Bee” honey made by happy backyard bees of Graton! This bee-utiful gift of liquid gold is over-flowing in her kitchen, and she’s excited to share some with members of Green Valley Community Farm! Help boost your immune system with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals or simply add a little sweetness to your days. She’ll have 3 sizes of jars available: 6 oz for $5, 12 oz for $10, and 16 oz for $13. Cash payment please.
SAVE THE DATE!
End of the Season Harvest Potluck Brunch
Sunday, December 8TH: 11:00am - 1:00pm
CSA members Carl Jaeger & Sarah Salamon are planning celebratory end of season CSA community Harvest Brunch Potluck in the big party barn on the south end of the property on December 8th! Come mix and mingle and eat scrumptious fare. See your farmers in non dirt-stained clothing. Open mic! Find the invitation in your inbox for more details and to RSVP. We hope to see you all there!
NOTES & REMINDERS
When does the CSA end? The last week of our 2019 CSA harvest season is the week of December 14th. The last Saturday pick-up is December 14th. The last Tuesday pick-up is December 17th
Say No to Single Use Plastic: We will no longer be supplying plastic or plastic-substitute bags at farm pick-up. Please bring your own plastic produce bags. Additionally, if you have a bunch of extra clean plastic bags at home, please bring some to fill our recycled plastic bag station for others to use. .
