Harvest Week 19 - To The Rain

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST

Harvest Moon Potatoes, Honey Boat Delicata Winter Squash, Scallions, Assorted Onions, Bolero Carrots, Sweet Peppers (last week!), Eggplant (last week!), Cauliflower, Green Magic Broccoli, Kohlrabi, Rainbow Chard, Brussel Sprout Tops, Sugarloaf Chicories, Spinach, Salanova Red Butter Lettuce

U-PICK

• 🌟 Jack-O-Lantern & Turks Turban Pumpkins | SEASON LIMIT: 2 per share, or 1 per child for households with more than two children. We have enough pumpkins that households that are alternating weeks can also take this season limit. (Note: These Pumpkins are not good for eating! They are bred for their looks and bland and flavorless if eaten. Don’t worry — we have plenty of delicious Winter Squash and Pumpkins coming your way!)

• 🌟 Full-size Tomatoes | Gleanings. If you still haven’t gotten your fill of tomatoes, feel free to forage through the vines! There’s still a few nice ones to be had.

• Albion Strawberries | 3 pints per share

• Padrón Peppers | Gleanings

• Shishito Peppers | Gleanings

• Cherry Tomatoes | Gleanings

• Goldilocks Beans | Gleanings

• Hot Peppers:

  • Jalapeños | Gleanings

  • Thai Chilis | Gleanings

  • Habanero | Gleanings

• 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!

Don’t forget to find a pumpkin to call your own this week!

HARVEST NOTES

• Brussels Sprout Tops: Each year around this time we trim the tops off of the Brussel sprouts plants to spur the sprouts to size up evenly. This annual necessity has the delicious benefit of giving us delicate bunches of cooking greens with that lovely Brussel Sprout flavor. Use as you would any of your favorite cooking greens like Kale or Collards.

• Honey Boat Delicata Winter Squash: Delicata are a perennial favorite of ours. Versatile, and sweet, they even have edible skins. For the easiest preparation, cut in half, scoop out the seeds and roast, face down, until tender (adding a little water to your pan to keep the squash moist!). They are also delicious cut into rings or half circles, tossed with an oil of your choice (coconut is particularly scrumptious) and then roasted until caramelized. Enjoy!

POTATO HARVEST PARTY!

Thanks to everyone who came out in first rain of the season to join us at the potato harvest party last Saturday! We loved getting to chat with you and admire the many unusual shapes in this year’s potato patch.

FALL HARVEST POTLUCK PARTY!

One of our amazing CSA members, Carl Jaeger, has volunteered to organize an winding-down-of-the-season potluck on the farm. Keep an eye out for an email with more information and save the date: November 17th!

PARKING LOT THEFT

Sadly, there have been a couple of thefts on the farm recently — one at night, and one in broad daylight from the parking lot. We will be working on putting up security cameras and we advise that you lock your cars in the parking lot and keep all valuables with you. 

Creamy Cauliflower Soup With Cheesy Mustard Croutons

By Christina Chaey — Bon Appetit

We are relishing the increasingly autumnal feeling in the air and looking forward to making a big pot of comforting soup — a great way to use our giant cauliflower this week!

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for drizzling

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¾ tsp. Morton kosher salt, plus more

• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 1 large head of cauliflower (2½–3 lb.), florets broken into small pieces, core chopped

• ¼ tsp. freshly ground white or black pepper, plus more

• ¾ cup half-and-half

• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

• 5 cups country-style bread, preferably day-old, torn or sliced into 1" cubes

• ½ cup finely grated Gruyère or cheddar

• 1 Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. fresh lemon juice

Preparation

1. Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°. Heat 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a large saucepan or small Dutch oven over medium-low. Add 1 medium onion, chopped, and season with kosher salt. Cook, stirring occasionally and reducing heat if onion starts to brown, until softened but without taking on any color, 5–7 minutes. Add 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped, and cook, stirring, until softened and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add 1 large head of cauliflower (2½–3 lb.), florets broken into small pieces, core chopped, 1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¾ tsp. Morton kosher salt, ¼ tsp. freshly ground white or black pepper, and 5½ cups water (the water should just barely cover the cauliflower). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, until cauliflower is completely tender and starting to fall apart, 15–20 minutes. Stir in ¾ cup half-and-halfand simmer 5 minutes; remove from heat.

2. While the soup is simmering, whisk 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard, 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, and 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a medium bowl to combine; season with salt and pepper. Add 5 cups country-style bread, preferably day-old, torn or sliced into 1" cubes, and toss to coat in mustard mixture. Scatter ½ cup finely grated Gruyère orcheddar over and toss again to combine. Transfer bread mixture to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and bake in a single layer, turning halfway through, until cheese is melted and croutons are golden brown and crisp, 10–15 minutes.

3. Working in batches, carefully purée soup in a blender until very smooth, transferring to a medium bowl as you go. (Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender to blend soup in pot until smooth.) Return soup to pot and reheat over medium-low, stirring and adding more water to thin if needed (you’re going for the consistency of heavy cream). Stir in 1 Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. fresh lemon juice. Taste and season soup with more salt and/or pepper if desired.

4. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with cheesy mustard croutons and drizzle with more oil.

   Do ahead: Soup can be made 3 days ahead. Let cool; cover and chill. Reheat soup over medium-low, adding a splash of water to thin if needed.

WINTER SISTER FARM CSA

Going to miss us this winter? Well you’re in luck! Our dear friends next door at Winter Sister Farm have got you covered with the freshest veggies money can buy all winter and spring.

All memberships include diverse winter-hardy veggies such as broccoli, carrots, potatoes, onions, winter squash, lettuce, kale, chard, as well as access to a small u-pick garden with cold hardy herbs and spring flowers. Click here to get all the details on this wonderful CSA program and to reserve your spot today!

FARMER’S LOG

In honor of the little sprits of rain last weekend, we’ll leave you with a poem by Ursula K. Le Guin, daughter of California, dreamer of other worlds and the richness often missed in this one.

TO THE RAIN

by Ursula K. Le Guin

Mother rain, manifold, measureless,
falling on fallow, on field and forest,
on house-roof, low hovel, high tower,
downwelling waters all-washing, wider
than cities, softer than sisterhood, vaster
than countrysides, calming, recalling:
return to us, teaching our troubled
souls in your ceaseless descent
to fall, to be fellow, to feel to the root,
to sink in, to heal, to sweeten the sea.

* * * * *

See you in the fields,
David

---

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.

Harvest Week 18 - At a Potato Digging

POTATO HARVEST PARTY!

THIS Saturday, October 12th, 9:00 am - 11:30 am

Join us for our 7th annual potato harvest party! There’s nothing like watching potatoes shower up out of the ground in the wake of the tractor and then getting dirty and bagging them with friends. It’s an unforgettable experience, especially for the kiddos.

All abilities and interests welcome. Feel free to bring non-members. We recommend a sunhat, water bottle, and clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. Some people prefer using light gloves. We’ll have some light refreshments, music from the boombox, and an agrarianly awesome time. (For new members: This potato harvest is not required in any way for members to enjoy potatoes, we will be distributing the tuberous bounty all year whether or not you come to harvest!)

PUMPKIN PATCH OPEN!

Spooky season is here and our 8th annual pumpkin patch is open! The pumpkin patch is just to the left of the corn that you see directly in front of you when you drive in. This year we have medium and large pumpkins for carving, and some decorative Turk’s Turban pumpkins for those who just want them for decor.

• 🌟 SEASON LIMIT: 1/share, or 1/child for households with children. Note: we have enough pumpkins that households that are alternating weeks can each take a pumpkin.

Alice enjoying the Pumpkin patch last year.

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST

Kimchi week continues!

Harvest Moon Potatoes, Bonbon Buttercup Winter Squash, Napa Cabbage, Scallions, Walla Walla Onions, Bolero Carrots, Sweet Peppers, Cauliflower, Hakurei Turnips, Kohlrabi, Rainbow Chard, Spinach, Assorted Lettuces, Mustard Mix, Arugula

U-PICK

• Albion Strawberries | 3 pints per share

• Padrón Peppers | Gleanings

• Shishito Peppers | Gleanings

• Cherry Tomatoes | Gleanings

• Goldilocks Beans | 3 pints per share | Fancy golden beans — our last succession of “green beans”

• Hot Peppers:

  • Jalapeños | Gleanings

  • Thai Chilis | Gleanings

  • Habanero | Gleanings

• 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!

HARVEST NOTES

• Bonbon Buttercup Winter Squash: In your farmers’ opinion, the best squash ever bred. Ultra sweet and flaky, this squash is like a dessert all on its own. Bonbon is also the most delicate of the winter squash we grow, and has a tendency to sunburn in extreme heat of the kind we’ve been experiencing. Because of this, we recommend enjoying it soon, as it won’t have the long storage life of some winter squash varieties.

• Harvest Moon Potatoes: Numerous crew and CSA members agree: Harvest Moons might be the best potato. The Burpee’s catalogue says it well: “Potatoes as objects of beauty? Let your eyes linger on ‘Harvest Moon’, with her velvety dark-purple skin and dense, sumptuous golden-yellow flesh. A seductively gorgeous purple potato princess, she’s as gorgeous to behold as she is tasty. Infused with creamy, nutty flavor, ‘Harvest Moon’ is a culinary triumph on her own, no butter or salt required.” Enjoy every which way: Mashed, baked, boiled, fried—or adding color to a potato salad.

PARKING LOT THEFT

Sadly, there have been a couple of thefts on the farm recently — one at night, and one in broad daylight from the parking lot. We will be working on putting up security cameras and we advise that you lock your cars in the parking lot and keep all valuables with you. 

ROASTED SQUASH PRIMER

From The Kitchn

Farmer’s note: while this recipe was originally written for Kabocha, we recommend this roasting method for most of the Winter Squash we’ll be doling out this season.

Choose which shape you want your squash based on how you’re planning to eat it: roasted halves — the easiest preparation — can be cut into rough slices, scooped onto plates, or used as you would canned pumpkin in any baking recipe. Roasted wedges are an elegant side dish on their own, particularly if you dress them up with interesting spices and oils (one of our favorite combinations for Bonbon or Kabocha is roasted with coconut oil and curry powder) and roasted cubes are perfect for turning into a more elaborate salad, like Ina Garten’s Roasted Squash and Arugula Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette.

PREPARATION

• Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F.

• Using a chef’s knife, carefully trim the stem and pointy ends off 1 medium kabocha (or other squash). Arrange the squash on a cut side and cut in half. Use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and pulp.

• Option 1: Roast halves. Arrange the halves cut-side up on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle evenly with 1 tablespoon olive oil and use your fingertips or a pastry brush to coat the flesh. Season with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Roast until the squash is browned on the edges and fork or knife tender, 25 to 27 minutes.

• Option 2: Roast wedges. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick half moons. Place the pieces on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Toss to coat and arrange in a single layer. Roast until lightly browned on the bottom, about 15 minutes. Use a thin spatula to flip the squash. Roast until tender and caramelized, 10 to 12 minutes more.

• Option 3: Roast cubes. Peel the tough outer skin, then cut the flesh into 1-inch cubes. Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Toss to coat and arrange in a single layer. Roast until lightly browned on the bottom, about 15 minutes. Use a thin spatula to flip the squash. Roast until tender and caramelized, 10 to 12 minutes more.

Fall light is the best light. Discuss.

NEW WINE FROM MARTHA STOUMEN!

Now in the wine cooler: Martha Stoumen's 2021 Ricetti Vineyard Carignan — available to WCCF members for $35 per bottle (normally $44/bottle) to enjoy here at the farm or to-go.

Planted by the Ricetti family in the 1940s, these 75-year-old certified organic Carignan vines in Redwood Valley have weathered decades of challenges, proving once again how resilient farming can be. Carignan is known for its bright acidity, juicy red fruit, and subtle earthy spice and is a perfect wine to enjoy in the cooler days ahead.

WINTER SISTER FARM CSA

Going to miss us this winter? Well you’re in luck! Our dear friends next door at Winter Sister Farm have got you covered with the freshest veggies money can buy all winter and spring.

All memberships include diverse winter-hardy veggies such as broccoli, carrots, potatoes, onions, winter squash, lettuce, kale, chard, as well as access to a small u-pick garden with cold hardy herbs and spring flowers. Click here to get all the details on this wonderful CSA program and to reserve your spot today!

The aurora borealis above the gnome home. Photo by our neighbor Azul.

FARMER’S LOG

At a Potato Digging

Tomorrow morning, we'll come together as a community to perform a quintessential agricultural ritual: A potato harvest. 

As we kneel down, on the Earth, bagging the cool, bulbous tubers, we will join in concert thousands of people around the world performing the same ritual. We will also join untold millions of ancestors who, in the late summer or fall, knelt together and harvested potatoes. And will be connected, via a living, breathing chain of seed potatoes to hundreds of historic potato harvests in Europe and Asia and to thousands of harvests in the Andes and Northeastern Bolivia — the cultural birthplace of this amazing food crop.

There is nothing quite like an abundant potato harvest and the feeling, afterwards, of storing them away — in a pit, a cooler, a cave; the potatoes themselves alive, breathing slowly, promising food, promising life, throughout the winter months. 

Potatoes have been the staff-of-life for many cultures throughout history.

When healthy, potatoes can produce the most calories per acre of any crop in the world (more than corn, wheat, and rice). And potatoes are the only one of these staff-of-life crops that grow (the food part, at least) in the Earth — shrouded in the dark and in mystery until they are harvested and lifted up into the light.

While we check the potatoes as they grow every so often, every potato harvest is a mystery until it happens: How will the crop turn out this year? Will it be an abundant? 

Many have known the feeling of incredible abundance that potatoes can give and many have known the opposite. In 1845, due to limited potato genetics in the region and the cold shoulders of powerful men, a million people starved in the poorer parts of Western Ireland and the Scottish highlands as a blighted potato crop rotted in the fields. The potato has been a powerful and painful bond between people and Mother Earth, in feast and in famine, for millennia.

The Nobel Prize winning Irish poet, Seamus Heaney, speaks to this history in his poem, “At a Potato Digging”.

* * * * *

I.

A mechanical digger wrecks the drill,
  Spins up a dark shower of roots and mould.
  Labourers swarm in behind, stoop to fill
  Wicker creels. Fingers go dead in the cold.

 Like crows attacking crow-black fields, they stretch
  A higgledy line from hedge to headland;
  Some pairs keep breaking ragged ranks to fetch
  A full creel to the pit and straighten, stand

 Tall for a moment but soon stumble back
  To fish a new load from the crumbled surf.
  Heads bow, trucks bend, hands fumble towards the black
  Mother. Processional stooping through the turf

 Turns work to ritual. Centuries
  Of fear and homage to the famine god
  Toughen the muscles behind their humbled knees,
  Make a seasonal altar of the sod.
  
  II.
  
  Flint-white, purple. They lie scattered
  Like inflated pebbles. Native
  to the blank hutch of clay
  where the halved seed shot and clotted
  these knobbed and slit-eyed tubers seem
  the petrified hearts of drills. Split
  by the spade, they show white as cream.

  Good smells exude from crumbled earth.
  The rough bark of humus erupts
  knots of potatoes (a clean birth)
  whose solid feel, whose wet inside
  promises taste of ground and root.
  To be piled in pits; live skulls, blind-eyed.
  
  III.
  
  Live skulls, blind-eyed, balanced on
  wild higgledy skeletons
  scoured the land in 'forty-five,'
  wolfed the blighted root and died.

 The new potato, sound as stone,
  putrified when it had lain
  three days in the long clay pit.
  Millions rotted along with it.

 Mouths tightened in, eyes died hard,
  faces chilled to a plucked bird.
  In a million wicker huts
  beaks of famine snipped at guts.

 A people hungering from birth,
  grubbing, like plants, in the earth,
  were grafted with a great sorrow.
  Hope rotted like a marrow.

Stinking potatoes fouled the land,
  pits turned pus in filthy mounds:
  and where potato diggers are
  you still smell the running sore.
  
  IV.
  
  Under a white flotilla of gulls
  The rhythm deadens, the workers stop.
  White bread and tea in bright canfuls
  Are served for lunch. Dead-beat, they flop

 Down in the ditch and take their fill,
  Thankfully breaking timeless fasts;
  Then, stretched on the faithless ground, spill
  Libations of cold tea, scatter crusts.

* * * * *

We include this poem, with its dark memory, not for its shock value, but for the bond it invokes. Our culture divorces us from feeling the primal bond we have to our staple food crops — and from the planet that cradles them. To be sure, this bond is still as strong as ever, but we rarely, if ever, feel it like Seamus Heaney asks us to. On the eve of the harvest of one of our staple crops, we think it is important to feel it. While this bond can be scary, it is also the source of our life and deserves our most profound gratitude.

At West County Community Farm this year, we are thankful. This year’s potato crop, though far from our healthiest, will be abundantly life giving. It will sate our bellies long into winter.

The potato field in purple and white flower in June and July was a vision to behold. The shimmering green foliage reached above your waste and covered every inch of ground so it was hard to walk. All that energy, all that delight, all that sunlight, was sent down below to the tubers, which are waiting for us now to unearth, and to be nourished.
 
Join us tomorrow for our 7th annual potato harvest as we "shower" up the living roots and scatter libations in remembrance and thanks.

See you in the fields,
David

---

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.

Harvest Week 17 - A Rich Mash

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST

It’s Kimchi week!

Bintje Potatoes, Napa Cabbage, Scallions, Daikon, Romance Carrots, Early Girl Tomatoes, Spinach, Assorted Lettuces, Purple Bok Choi, Black Magic Dino Kale, Fennel, Assorted Zucchini & Summer Squash, Sweet Peppers, Poblano Peppers

U-PICK

Don’t forget to branch out to the back areas to find the jack-pots!

• Albion Strawberries | 4 pints per share

• Padrón Peppers | Gleanings

• Shishito Peppers | Gleanings

• Cherry Tomatoes | Gleanings

• 🌟 Goldilocks Beans | 3 pints per share | Fancy golden beans — our last succession of “green beans”

• Dragon Tongue Green Beans | Gleanings

• Hot Peppers:

  • Jalapeños | 5 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, or pick the red ones for a sweet and spicy flavor.

  • Thai Chilis | 10 peppers | Pick when red

  • Habanero | 20 peppers per share | Pick when orange

• 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!

PUMPKIN PATCH OPENS OCT. 12TH!

Spooky season is here and with it our 8th annual pumpkin patch! The pumpkins did really well this year and we’re excited to introduce a couple new odd-shaped varieties! Find your Jack-O next weekend!

Alice enjoying the Pumpkin patch last year.

HARVEST NOTES

• Napa Cabbage & Kimchi: Welcome to Kimchi week, the week when Kayta’s magical crop planning skills make Napa Cabbage, Scallions, and Daikon Radish align together on the harvest table! We’ll include a recipe below for classic mak kimchi, where the cabbage is chopped before being seasoned. For a more mellow version without red pepper, check out this white Kimchi recipe sent to us by CSA member Robin Kim. Robin made a vegan version of the white Kim-chi recipe for us last year that was one of our all-time favorite farm preserves. She substituted the salted shrimp and fish sauce with Bragg’s aminos / soy sauce and also omitted the alliums. It was mellow but still packed with flavor. For the jujubes, chestnuts, pine nuts, and rice flour, Robin recommends visiting Asiana Market in Cotati or Asia Mart in Santa Rosa.

• This is like the last week of both Tomatoes and Summer Squash & Zucchini! We hope you’ve eaten your fill and are ready to turn to the cool, crisp crops of Fall with us.

POTATO HARVEST PARTY!

Saturday, October 12th, 9:00 am - 11:30 am

Join us for our 8th annual potato harvest party! There’s nothing like watching potatoes shower up out of the ground behind the wake of the tractor and then getting dirty and bagging them with friends. It’s an unforgettable experience, especially for the kiddos.

All abilities and interests welcome. Feel free to bring non-members. We recommend a sunhat, water bottle, and clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. Some people prefer using light gloves. We’ll have some light refreshments, music from the boombox, and agrarianly awesome time. (For new folks: This potato harvest is not required in any way for members to enjoy potatoes, we will be distributing the tuberous bounty all year whether or not you come to harvest!)

KIMCHI RECIPE

by Amy Kim of Kimchi Mom, via Steamy Kitchen

INGREDIENTS

• 7 pounds of napa cabbage

• about 1/3 cup kosher salt

• 1 cup sweet rice flour (Mochiko is a popular brand)

• 2 cups water

• 3/4 cup red pepper flakes, medium coarseness

• 1/4 cup chopped saewoo jjut (salted shrimp)

• 3 tablespoons fish sauce

• A scant 1/2 cup sugar

• 5-7 stalks green onion, chopped

• 2 ounces ginger (2-inch long, 1-inch diameter piece), minced

• 8-9 medium garlic cloves, minced

• 3 medium carrots, julienned

• 1 medium-sized daikon or 1 small mu (Korean radish), thinly sliced in 2-inch sections

• water

INSTRUCTIONS

 Preparing the sweet rice flour paste:

• Whisk together the sweet rice flour and water in a small saucepan. Keep whisking the mixture until bubbles form on the surface. Once this occurs, take the saucepan off the heat and set aside to cool.

Preparing the cabbage:

• Discard any wilted or discolored leaves. Starting at the base of the stem, cut the cabbage about one-third of the way down. Then pull apart the cabbage halves to completely separate them. Do the same with the halved portions - cut and pull apart. Repeat for all the cabbage heads. At this point, you can give the quarters a quick rinse under running water and shake off any excess water.

• Trim the core at a diagonal. Cut the quarters into 2-inch wide pieces and place in an oversized bowl (I used a 12 qt. bowl) or use a couple of large bowls. Sprinkle generously with salt. Alternate layers of cabbage and salt. Once all the cabbage is cut, give the cabbage a toss and sprinkle more salt on top. Place a weight on top of the cabbage. Two dinner plates works well for me.

• Let the salted cabbage sit for at least 3 hours. Don't worry if you go over (in the video, I let mine sit overnight since I couldn't tend to it at 3 hours). After 1 hour, give the cabbage another toss.

Preparing the sauce:

• While the cabbage is close to being ready, prepare the red pepper sauce. In a medium bowl, mix kochukaru (red pepper flakes), water, saewoo jjut, fish sauce, green onions, sugar, ginger, garlic, rice flour paste, and about a 1/2 cup water. Mix thoroughly. Taste. It should be balanced – not too salty, not too fishy, not to spicy and not too sweet. Adjust seasonings at this point. The consistently should be akin to very thick batter. Add a bit more water if necessary. Mix in carrots and radish. Set aside.

• Once the cabbage is ready (the volume of the cabbage should have decreased, and it should be a bit wilted), rinse the cabbage under cold running water and let drain in a colander. Once drained, place the cabbage in a large bowl.

• At this point you may want to put clean plastic gloves on especially if you have sensitive skin. Add the sauce to the cabbage. Thoroughly mix the sauce and cabbage and make sure every piece of cabbage is coated with the red pepper sauce. Taste. If it needs more salt, add a bit of fish sauce. But you don’t want it to be too salty.

• Transfer the cabbage mixture into a large glass jar. Press down on the cabbage as you are filling the jar. Leave about 1-inch of space from the top.

• Don’t throw the empty bowl in the sink just yet. Pour in about 1 cup of water into the bowl. Add about a teaspoon of salt to start, and stir. Swirl the water around to make sure you get all the remaining pepper mixture. Taste. Again, you don’t want it too salty – just a hint of salt. Fill the jar with the water until it barely covers the cabbage.

• Press down on the cabbage again and make sure the liquid has made its way throughout the jar. Close the lid tightly.

• Leave the jars at room temperature** for about a day away from direct sunlight. I leave mine out for about 24-30 hours. This is when the magic happens. You may want to place the jar in a shallow bowl or plate in case there is leakage.

• After those 24 or so excruciating hours, sample the kimchi. There should be a slight tang. At this point it is ready to be refrigerated. You can eat the kimchi right away, but I prefer to wait at least a week to indulge. The kimchi will continue to ferment at a much slower pace in the refrigerator and will keep for about 4 weeks. The kimchi will turn really sour at this point and if you have any left in the jar, it will be perfect for jigae, fried rice, ramen or jun.

WINTER SISTER FARM CSA

Going to miss us this winter? Well you’re in luck! Our dear friends next door at Winter Sister Farm have got you covered with the freshest veggies money can buy all winter and spring.

All memberships include diverse winter-hardy veggies such as broccoli, carrots, potatoes, onions, winter squash, lettuce, kale, chard, as well as access to a small u-pick garden with cold hardy herbs and spring flowers. Click here to get all the details on this wonderful CSA program and to reserve your spot today!

Aisling loading up the last of our Napa Cabbage harvest Friday morning.

FARMER’S LOG

This week felt a little like the calm before the storm — the storm of the last mid-October push of potato, winter squash, and corn harvests, and the liminal shoulder season work of garlic planting, compost spreading and cover cropping before the rains.

We continued chipping away at our 9,000 ft of potatoes; we kept our fresh vegetable fields extra wet so they could contend with this heat wave — hopefully the last gasp of summer.

We’ll leave you this evening with the carefully and heartfully placed words of Mary Oliver.

Lines Written in the Days of Growing Darkness
by Mary Oliver

Every year we have been
witness to it: how the
world descends
into a rich mash, in order that
it may resume.
And therefore
who would cry out

to the petals on the ground
to stay,
knowing, as we must,
how the vivacity of what was is married

to the vitality of what will be?
I don’t say
it’s easy, but
what else will do

if the love one claims to have for the world
be true?
So let us go on

though the sun be swinging east,
and the ponds be cold and black,
and the sweets of the year be doomed.

* * * * *

See you in the fields,
David

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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.