THIS WEEK’S HARVEST
Spinach, Arugula, Mustard Mix, Komatsuna, Collard Greens, Green Zucchini and Yellow Crookneck Squash, Assorted Little Gem Lettuce, Red Butter Head Lettuce, Nabuchan Scallions, Fennel, Kohlrabi, Hakurei Salad Turnips
U-PICK
Albion Strawberries | 3 pints per share: ATTENTION! The areas near the entrances are pretty picked on, don’t forget to branch out to the back areas to find the jack-pots!
🌟 Sugar Snap Peas | 1/2 pint per share: Read below for important tips on the first picking
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
Flowers!
HARVEST NOTES
Hakurei Salad Turnips: Not your Grandmother’s turnips, these sweet, crunchy snacks are mild and best eaten fresh, on top a rice bowl, sliced on a salad or popped straight in the mouth. They are also delicious sauteed or braised, as are their greens!
Sugar Snap Peas: These delicious peas can be eaten whole, pod and all — just make sure to snap the top and pull the little string from each side to get the tenderest bite. While edible at any size, the ones that have filled out to a half incc in thickness, like the one pictured above, are significantly sweeter. This week we have just enough for a first taste of the season.
Photo by Dawn Heumann
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 give you your farm tote bags, explain how our CSA works, 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 2:
Saturday, June 22: 9 am, 11 am, 1 pm
Tuesday, June 25: 1 pm. 3 pm, 5:30 pm
WEEK 3:
Please contact us if you are a new member and will need an orientation in Week 3 (or later). We are available for tours Saturday, June 29: 9 am, 11 am, 1 pm … or Tuesday, July 2: 1 pm. 3 pm, 5:30 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, both parties should attend an orientation.
If you can’t attend a tour time above, please reach out to us to schedule a time that works for you.
We look forward to meeting 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
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 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 of 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!
2024 CSA program dates: Our harvest season will run from Saturday, June 15th through Tuesday, December 10th this year.
Newsletters & email communication: All our important CSA communications are 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 are also posted on the Newsletters page of our website weekly.
STORING YOUR STRAWBERRIES AT HOME
If you manage to make it home with a few pints of strawberries, you might wonder how to treat them right at home. CSA member Lillie Dignan was kind of enough to share her tried and true method for storing ripe strawberries in the fridge so they last all week, or more!
Step 1. Pick lots of delicious, red strawberries. (If any berries are almost over ripe, just eat them immediately. Yum.)
Optional: Clean up the berries a bit by simply pinching off the leaves or totally hulling with a knife.
Step 2. Fill a pot, bowl, or sink basin with cool water. Add some vinegar to the water. (I’ve read directions for up to a 1:3 ratio of vinegar to water, but I just use a glug per quart of water and it works just fine.) Put all your berries into the vinegar-water for 1-5 minutes. They get a nice, cleansing rinse! And no lingering vinegar tang, I promise!
Step 3. Spread the berries out on a towel to dry a bit. I like to put a cooling rack underneath for max airflow. The drier the better, but often I just wait a few minutes.
Step 4. Line an airtight container with a cloth napkin or paper towel, and carefully tuck all the strawberries into it. Cover and store in fridge. The towel absorbs extra moisture, and the lid protects these gentle berries from your fridge.
Step 5. Eat ‘em all up! Every day! Enjoy the taste of these sweet bursts of summer joy!
FARMER’S LOG
STRAWBERRY MOON
Happy summer everyone!
This year’s summer solstice is a little extra special as it lines up with the full moon of June, the “Strawberry Moon”.
I’m hoping a lucky few of you will see this full moon while picking in the strawberry patch late this evening. Because a full moon on the solstice will, by definition be low in the sky, it is bound to be big and glorious. I wonder if the strawberries this week will be supercharged?
The “Strawberry Moon” is so called because the full moon of June often coincides with (or does it coax?) the ripening of wild and alpine strawberries.
Centerfield on the evening of the Strawberry Moon
Our everbearing Albion strawberries are not wild: Genetically, they are descendants of decades, if not centuries, of careful plant selection and breeding. And this particular strawberry patch is the result of 6 months of careful tending and cultivation by your farmers.
Despite of this history with humans, it is important to remember, especially on a night like this, that these strawberry plants, and all the plants that we tend on the farm, though they all may have been selected and bred for centuries, are, at their core, wild beyond our comprehension. They are mysteries; they are friends but they are independent and strange; they listen more to the moon and the stars than to us.
We are lucky to be friends with them.
On this Strawberry Moon, or next time you’re in the strawberry field, don’t forget to say a little thanks, or sing them a little song, and let your heart be a full moon of gratitude for them. What a humble, cute little friend that really knows how to give gifts.
See you in the strawberry fields,
David & Kayta
