Harvest Week 2 - The Great Spring Plant Out

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST

Arugula, Mustard Mix, Spinach, Komatsuna, Collards, Hakurei Salad Turnips, Pink Lady Slipper Radishes, Fennel, Green Zucchini and Yellow Crookneck Squash, Cegolaine Little Gems, Red Butter Lettuce, Scallions, Mokum Carrots

U-PICK

  • Albion Strawberries | 3 pints per share: ATTENTION! There are two strawberry patches open for picking this year. There is a new one to the west (to the left) if you’re facing the old strawberry patch from the flower garden. Look for the double pink flag and the deer fence. Enjoy!

  • 🌟 Sugar Snap Peas | 1 pint per share: Read below for important tips on the first picking

  • Herbs: Italian Basil, Thai Basil, Tulsi Basil, Chamomile, Parsley, Onion Chives, Garlic Chives, Tarragon, Thyme, Oregano, Marjoram, Culinary Sage, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Vietnamese Coriander, Shiso (Perilla), Mints, Culinary Lavender, French Sorrel, Borage, Violas, Calendula, Nasturtium

  • Flowers! Too many to list…

HARVEST NOTES

  • Sugar Snap Peas: The sugar snap peas are just starting to produce. It will be a little bit of a scavenger hunt to get the pint for Saturday folks but they will start exploding later this week and next.

  • Hakurei Salad Turnips: Not your Grandmother’s turnips, these delectable snacks are delicious eaten fresh, on top a rice bowl, sliced on a salad or popped straight in the mouth. They are also delicious simmered or glazed.

FARM ORIENTATION TOURS FOR NEW MEMBERS

All new members are asked to attend a brief orientation tour their first time picking up their harvest share. We’ll give you your farm tote bags, show you ropes in the flower and herb garden and the strawberry patch, and go over farm safety and common questions.

Please join us promptly for one of the tour times below:

WEEK 2:
Saturday, July 1: 9:00 am, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm
Tuesday, July 4: 1:00 pm. 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm

WEEK 3: Please contact us to schedule a time if you haven’t been oriented yet. We are available for tours during the regular Tuesday & Saturday pick-up times: Saturday, 9 am — 1 pm | Tuesday, 1 pm — 6 pm

Tours last for about 30 minutes. We ask that all adult members of your share who will be regularly enjoying the farm attend an orientation. If you are sharing-a-share (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. 2022 CSA members do not need to attend an orientation tour.

We look forward to meeting you!

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

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

2023 CSA program dates: Our harvest season will run this year from June 24th - December 19th

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

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 up against the straw bales further down.

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 can provision you with 3 pint baskets)

  • 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 through this email address, which seems to be getting spam blocked a lot. Please make sure this email address is in your address book so you get important CSA communications. All newsletters and important updates are also posted on the Newsletters page of our website weekly.

FREEHAND BAKERY TUESDAYS!

We so excited to welcome Freehand Bakery and their wood-fired sourdough hearth loaves and whole grain treats to the CSA pick-up barn on Tuesdays!

Bakers Daniel Gonzales and Abbey Teitelbaum use locally grown veggies, fruits, and herbs in their organic breads and treats. In collaboration with WCCF, Freehand is excited to dive deeper into our local Sonoma County food community!

Bread will be sold via cash-only exact change honor system (letter box slot) or Venmo.

FARMER’S LOG

The Great Spring Plant Out (GSPO)

Yesterday around 4:30 pm, Aisling, Paige, Asa, Tristan, and I finished transplanting the Jack-O-Lanterns in the bottom of Centerfield, just below the oaks. With that last little pumpkin plant we wrapped up 2023’s Great Spring Plant Out. (Or GSPO for short… )

While our harvest season has only just begun, we finish the lion’s share of each year’s planting by late-June. Aye, by this time of year 75% of our fields are planted in the year’s potatoes, spring and storage onions, dried corn, winter squash, tomatoes, and peppers, 50% of the year’s carrots and most of the year’s melons and cucumbers.

Whew! 

The Great Spring Plant Out has a different rhythm than harvest season. It is infrastructure and equipment heavy: Tractors hum constantly as fields are shaped from cover cropped meadows into plantable beds. The irrigation shed gets ransacked daily as the year’s irrigation systems are assembled. It’s a physical time of year: The weekly row-feet needing to be planted is in the thousands before lunch and tomato trellis stake pounding is on the menu for dessert. 

And always the Great Taskmaster watches over us: A greenhouse full of bursting seedling trays cascading out the front door, demanding space in the field.

This year’s GSPO was amazing for Kayta and I to witness from the outside as Alice was born on May 15th. When we emerged from the veritable (and literal) womb of birth in late-May the whole farm had been transformed. 

These amazing farmers: From L to R: the on and only Aisling Okubo; our greenhouse & garden manager Paige Taylor; our harvest manager Anna Dozor; our production manager Tristan Frakes; our tomato savior Asa Black

The GSPO isn’t a hard-line, there is still a lot of planting to do. But with that little pumpkin plant planted, we have definitely turned a corner.

Now, we shift into maintenance mode; to caring and cultivating for our growing plant babies; to seeing if we can coax them into their full potential; to halting the weeds from encroaching on them too much; to trellising the tomatoes so they can grow tall; to hilling the potatoes to encourage more tubers; to coupling leaks in the irrigation lines and adjusting waterings schedules. And, of course, to harvesting. 

We’re looking forward to this phase. We start to reap the tangible rewards of all that hard work during the GSPO — in the form of glowing scallions and plump sugar snap peas — and we get to express a softer side of our farming selves — observation, care, attention, and sharing. 

We hope you enjoy this week’s share!

See you in the fields,

David

Harvest Week 1 - Welcome!

Dear members, 

All aboard — this harvest train is leaving the station! Welcome to the first newsletter of you 2023 harvest season!

After a long, wet winter we are so excited to welcome you back to the verdant and floriferous garden and fields, all jumping with summer sunlight. We have a diverse and exciting harvest season in the works and we can’t wait to start sharing it with you.

This newsletter, which will appear in your inbox every Friday, will contain a snapshot of the coming week's harvest and u-pick options, as well as recipes, tips, and stories from the farm — all meant inspire you and help you make the most out of your membership over the next 6-months.

Week 1’s newsletter is always jam packed with important details for old and new members. Read on below to meet our 2023 Flower Ambassador and lots more Week 1 goodness!

FARM ORIENTATION TOURS FOR NEW MEMBERS

All new members are asked to attend a brief orientation tour their first time picking up their harvest share. We’ll give you your farm tote bags, show you ropes in the flower and herb garden and the strawberry patch, and go over farm safety and common questions.

Please join us promptly for one of the tour times below:

WEEK 1:
Saturday, June 24: 9:00 am, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm
Tuesday, June 27: 1:00 pm. 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm

WEEK 2:
Saturday, July 1: 9:00 am, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm
Tuesday, July 4: 1:00 pm. 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm

WEEK 3:
Saturday, July 8: 9:00 am, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm
Tuesday, July 11: 1:00 pm. 3:00 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 for about 30 minutes. We ask that all adult members of your share who will be regularly enjoying the farm attend an orientation. If you are sharing-a-share (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. 2022 CSA members do not need to attend an orientation tour.

We look forward to meeting you!

THINGS TO KNOW

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.

2023 CSA program dates: Our harvest season will run this year from June 24th - December 19th

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

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 up against the straw bales further down.

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 can provision you with 3 pint baskets)

  • 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 through this email address, which seems to be getting spam blocked a lot. Please make sure this email address is in your address book so you get important CSA communications. All newsletters and important updates are also posted on the Newsletters page of our website weekly.

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST

Freshly Harvested Lorz Softneck Garlic, Hopi Blue Corn Meal, Arugula, Mustard Mix, Spinach, Flowering Purple Bok Choi, Chard, Black Magic Dino Kale, Green Zucchini and Yellow Crookneck Squash, Green Little Gems, Panisse Oak Leaf Lettuce, Scallions, Mokum Carrots

U-PICK

  • Albion Strawberries

  • Herbs: Italian Basil, Thai Basil, Tulsi Basil, Chamomile, Parsley, Onion Chives, Garlic Chives, Tarragon, Thyme, Oregano, Marjoram, Culinary Sage, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Vietnamese Coriander, Shiso (Perilla)

  • Flowers! Too many to list…

HARVEST NOTES

In this section of the newsletter we offer history or recipes/tips on things in the share are particularly noteworthy or exciting that week.

  • Fresh Lorz Softneck Garlic: A glorious heirloom garlic brought to Washington State's Columbia River Basin in the early 1900s by the Lorz family when they emigrated from Italy. This purple tinged softneck garlic has a robust, spicy flavor that lingers in dishes. These bulbs were just unearthed last week so you will notice green stalks, silky soft inner papers and turgid, crips cloves. Store it in the fridge if you’ll be using soon, or in a dark dry place to cure. This is a live food!

  • Hopi Blue Corn: How about a little Fall vibes in your late Spring? This beautiful corn originates from the Hopi people of the Four Corners region. This a fresh corn flour, stone ground from whole kernels. It has a freshness and flavor that only fresh ground corn can have. Eat soon or store frozen to keep the fats fresh. See below for our go-to Hopi Blue Corn pancake recipe.

MEET OUR FLOWER AMBASSADOR!

Our dear friend and CSA member Cassidy Blackwell has kindly accepted the post of WCCF’s first Flower Ambassador. “What, pray tell, is a Flower Ambassador?”

When Cassidy first joined the CSA in 2020, she was new to picking and arranging flowers. Since then, picking and arranging has become a rejuvenating and grounding creative ritual for her and we are always inspired by what she makes. Over the years, Cassidy has picked up a few simple tips and tricks that she feels have helped keep her flowers happy and unleashed her creativity. As Flower Ambassador, her mission is to help you do the same! We’ll check in with Cassidy periodically this year to see what she’s up to in the garden and the tips she’s employing.

What are you up to this week, Cassidy!?

“I was completely unable to restrain myself from pulling in the kaleidoscope of colors and textures emerging in the garden. The result is a joyous celebration of the start of summer and a showcase of the diversity coming into bloom.” To add texture to the arrangement, Cassidy added grass and seed pods. “Don’t pass on the grass!" she says, “Flowers are gorgeous but pairing them with grasses and seed pods creates a super dynamic arrangement. Wander around on the edges of the farm or even near your home— if something calls to you, add it! This week, the bolting Sorrel in the herb garden is one of my favorites picks!” Also notice how Cassidy stripped most the leaves off the stems. “Leaves take up a lot of room,” says Cassidy, “Trimming them from the stems to help create more space in the vase.” Clean stems also extend shelf life by limiting the decomposition of leaves in water. To keep the flowers fresh, Cassidy picked the flowers for this bouquet into a small bucket of water in the garden and arranged them in the vase later. But most important thing, she says, “is to enjoy yourself, celebrate the blooms and have fun. Some days you might have time to do an elaborate arrangement, others you just gotta toss a few stems in a jar and call it a day.”

Check out our Flower Ambassador’s beautiful Week 1 bouquet on on display near the sign-in table this week. Thank you, Cassidy!

FREEHAND BAKERY TUESDAYS!

We so excited to welcome Freehand Bakery and their wood-fired sourdough hearth loaves and whole grain treats to the CSA pick-up barn on Tuesdays!

Bakers Daniel Gonzales and Abbey Teitelbaum use locally grown veggies, fruits, and herbs in their organic breads and treats. In collaboration with WCCF, Freehand is excited to dive deeper into our local Sonoma County food community!

Bread will be sold via cash-only exact change honor system (letter box slot). (Venmo will be available but reception can be spotty.)

HOPI BLUE CORN PANCAKE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup blue cornmeal

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 tablespoon white sugar

  • 1 cup boiling water

  • 1 beaten egg

  • 1/2 cup milk

  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted (coconut oil would be a delicious, dairy-free substitute)

  • 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1/2 cup pine nuts, walnuts, or pecans, toasted (optional)




    DIRECTIONS

    In a medium bowl, mix together the blue cornmeal, salt and sugar. Stir in the boiling water until all of the ingredients are wet. Cover, and let stand for a few minutes.

    In a measuring cup, combine the milk, egg and melted butter. Stir the milk mixture into the cornmeal mixture. Combine the flour and baking powder; stir into the cornmeal mixture until just incorporated. If the batter is stiff, add a little more milk until it flows off the spoon thickly but smoothly.Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat, and grease it with a dab of oil or butter. Use about 2 tablespoons of batter for each pancake. Quickly sprinkle a few pine nuts (or other nuts if using) onto each cake. When the entire surface of the pancakes are covered with bubbles, flip them over, and cook the other side until golden.

    Serve immediately with maple syrup or fruit preserves.

FARMER’S LOG

NEW LIFE AND NEW GROWTH

Our favorite section of the newsletter is this here little section at the bottom called the “Farmer’s Log”. It’s our attempt to open a window for you into the life of this farm.

By way of introduction (and to buy ourselves a little time getting the barn cleaned up for this Saturday!) we’ll continue the tradition of offering a compendium (below) of past Farmer’s Logs for new members to get to know us.

But we won’t excuse ourselves without a little Winter/Spring update…

* * * * *

This biggest news for Kayta and I, and in some ways the farm, is that on May 15th, at 7:10 am, Kayta and I welcomed our beloved daughter, Alice May Plescia, into the world. We are immensely grateful for our healthy, bright-eyed, wiggly, little one, and for our amazing crew for so much support helping us bring her into the world.

Case in point: Just an hour after Alice was born, our amazing crew was dialing in our new water wheel transplanter out in Farfield — smoothly and without a hitch — to start off the biggest planting week of the year. All while Kayta and I were far away in Babyland.

Harvest manager in training, Alice May, on her first crop walk.

That’s kind of been the theme for us around here this Spring: New equipment and systems being skillfully and gracefully handled by an epically wonderful crew to execute a complicated Spring plant-out for our biggest CSA membership ever — thus allowing Kayta and I sink in and enjoy Babyland.

New growth and new life is a heavy lift. It takes a leap of faith. (In our case it takes new equipment). But more than anything, it take amazing people. So please join us in raising a glass — or a Mokum Carrot — to Anna, Tristan, Asa, Paige and Aisling for this amazing first harvest!

The first of 25 more to come!

* * * * *

COMPENDIUM

For you farm and garden nerds out there, learn how we crop plan, or take a deep dive into Kayta’s flower garden.

If you’re one of those people that gets hyped for pumpkin spice lattes, Halloween, and Fall vibes even in the late Spring, stoke that fire with an ode to the potato harvest and the winter squash.

We are so lucky to find ourselves farming in yet another wild place here on the Laguna. We can’t wait to share more of the antics of our non-human neighbors with you. For the naturalists out there, read here about a lesson the oak trees taught us, or hear tell of the screaming monkey owlets of Green Valley, Wesley the Weasel, or the fox that welcomed us there.

* * * * *

Thank you all for being with us this season. It’s an honor to be farming for you.

See you in the fields,

David

CSA Opening Day June 24th!

Dear members,

Dust off your harvest baskets, sharpen your clippers, and put that picnic blanket in the car because we’re about to embark on 6-month adventure of harvest abundance!

We are excited to announce that our 2023 CSA harvest season opens next Saturday, June 24th: The first Saturday pickup is on June 24th and the first Tuesday pick-up is June 27th.

Read on below — especially new members — for all the details!

ORIENTATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

All new members are asked to attend a brief orientation tour their first time picking up their harvest share. This tour will help you make the most of your harvest season: We’ll give you your farm tote bags, show you ropes in the flower and herb garden and the strawberry patch, and go over farm safety and common questions.

Please join us promptly for one of the tour times below:

WEEK 1:
Saturday, June 24: 9:00 am, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm
Tuesday, June 27: 1:00 pm. 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm

WEEK 2:
Saturday, July 1: 9:00 am, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm
Tuesday, July 4: 1:00 pm. 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm

WEEK 3:
Saturday, July 8: 9:00 am, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm
Tuesday, July 11: 1:00 pm. 3:00 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 for about 30 minutes. We ask that all adult members of your share who will be regularly enjoying the farm attend an orientation. If you are sharing-a-share (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.

2022 CSA members do not need to attend an orientation tour.

IMPORTANT LOGISTICS:

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 enjoy the farm, u-pick crops and garden.

2023 CSA program dates: Our harvest season will run this year from June 24th - December 19th

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

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 up against the straw bales further down.

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?:

  • Pint baskets or small containers for strawberries and herbs (if you have some)

  • A vase or water bottle to keep your flowers 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: You will receive a newsletter in your inbox from this email address every Friday evening outlining the harvest and u-pick options for the week ahead. All our important CSA communications are through this email address, which seems to be getting spam blocked a lot. Please make sure this email address is in your address book so you get important CSA communications. All newsletters and important updates are also posted on the Newsletters page of our website weekly.

Kayta, Anna, Tristan, Paige, Asa, Ashlynn, baby Alice and I are so excited to see you on the farm and share this harvest season of abundance with you!

See you in the fields,
David