Inspiration

Jeff at the Market Hall in Florence, Italy. Check out those Romanesco cauliflower to his right...inspiration!

I was going through a bunch of photos looking for pictures to put up at our wedding in a couple of weeks and I found pictures of the indoor Market Hall in Florence, Italy. Jeff and I were there two years ago and spent a lot of our trip exploring farmers' markets and market halls all over Italy, France, and Spain. My favorite was a two story indoor market hall in Florence smack in the middle of the train station ghetto. Seafood, vegetables, spices, mushrooms, bread, espresso, beans, pasta, you name it, this place had two or three vendors selling the best and freshest available. We were there in January so there were predominately greens, brassicas, and roots in the markets. At the time, a lot of the produce seemed obscure and different from that in our area. Now, however, when I look at my pictures, I realize that we now grow many of the same things. Many things that we now grow, like Romanesco cauliflower and rapini, were always on our minds to grow, but it wasn't until we saw them proudly grown, displayed, and widely enjoyed, that we had the confidence to dedicate precious planting space to less known crops. Now, as we pick gorgeous, delicious Romanesco cauliflower which will be enjoyed on tables across Sonoma County, I am so glad that we did. It turns out that those random Italian veggies can be enjoyed just as much in California as in fair Italy.

Have your pumpkin and eat it too!

Traditional carving pumpkins are fun, but wouldn't you rather have a pumpkin that is a beautiful decoration and can be eaten too? Yes, I am suggesting something radical - eating real pumpkin. Believe it or not, you can cook with pumpkin that doesn't come from a can. I think you'll actually find that the finished result is far superior.

You can roast pumpkin and eat it as you would any other winter squash, you can make pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin butter, and that's just a start.

Check out this article in today's Press Democrat about edible pumpkins: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20101026/LIFESTYLE/101029664/1316/lifestyle12?Title=Great-pumpkin-ideas

Edible Art

Here are some of my favorite watermelon pictures from the past week or so. These things are crazy beautiful!

This is my favorite Moon and Stars. I call it "The Penguin" because it's about as big as a penguin and shaped the same.

We don't know what causes these intricate designs on the melons - maybe aliens.

Sittin' under the watermelon tree, chillin' with the melons.

Woohoo...we're farming now!

Despite our high production, Jeff and I actually possess minimal farming equipment. Jeff has use of a 1948 Case tractor and a disk that goes with it, we have a lawn mower (the motorized kind that you still have to push), a weedwacker, and, well, until now, that was it. We used to have a hand-me-down riding rototiller, but it wasn't much of a rock breaker and it finally gave in and died earlier this season. Fortunately, we were able to work with Bacchus Vineyard management on our Kick Ranch veggie block and they used their tractor and their super fancy spader (think high tech double digging machine) to do our groundwork. We finally reached the point, though, where we knew we needed a new rototiller to complement our other equipment. I'm a good shoveler, but I'm not good enough to make a strong, commercial quality rototiller unnecessary. Thanks to the major increase in the number of small farms and highly motivated backyard gardeners, the kind of rototiller we were looking for was sold out everywhere in California. And we consider ourselves to be one of the agricultural seats of the country...shameful! Finally, I found a place in Kentucky that carries walk behind tractors and rototiller implements and they were able to ship us exactly what we needed in less than a week. Our new tiller is a beautiful, obnoxiously colored Grillo and it's a beast. Look out now, world, we're about to get all kinds of high tech!

Jeff workin' the tiller

Thumpin' Watermelons

We've all seen it, whether at the grocery store or the farmers' market - people thumping, tapping, flicking, sniffing, or otherwise inspecting watermelons trying to tell if they're ripe or not. I always ask people what they're listening for, because to me, it all kind of sounds the same. According to the experts, a ripe watermelon should sound hollow when you thump it. What hollow sounds like, though, seems a bit subjective.



I don't mind if you thump our melons (just don't thump too hard because it might pop!), but you can rest assured knowing that we pick all our watermelons completely ripe. Watermelons actually have a cool little built-in indicator that tells you exactly when each individual melon should be picked. Next to where the stem connects to the melon, there is a little tendril that is bright green throughout the development of the fruit. Picture a little, green pig's tail. Once the melon is ripe, the tendril immediately dries up and turns brown and brittle. Here's a picture of a dried tendril:



Once the tendril dries, the melons have to be cut from the vine - they don't slip off, so you don't need to look for melons that have no stem. I've also heard that a ripe melon will show sugar crystals if you nick the skin, but I haven't tested that hypothesis yet. I'll let you know what I find once I do.

Other interesting watermelon facts:

Watermelons don't ripen once they are picked.

Watermelons are extremely fragile when fully ripe. They will split, pop, or crack if handled too roughly. That means that ripe watermelons really don't work with the conventional food/grocery business in which produce is handled a lot, shipped long distances, and stored for periods of time. Watermelons in your average grocery store have to be picked under-ripe in order to make it to their destinations in one piece. The upside is attractive watermelons in the supermarket. The downside is watermelons that are mealy and don't taste very good.

If watermelons are handled too roughly, it ruins the texture, making them mealy or mushy. Be warned that if you see your watermelon purveyor dropping boxes of melons or letting them bounce around, they might be questionable.

Despite all these warnings, you can 100% trust our watermelons. If, by some fluke of nature, you end up with a melon that is sub par, we'll always give you another one. That's called integrity.

Adventures in Urban Farming

Ah, heat. Beloved, yearned for, much anticipated heat. A little bit of heat right when we need it makes everything feel so much better. A season can go from dismal and disappointing to feeling pretty darn ok. Our watermelons and ambrosia cantaloupes have taken this little heat wave and said, "Thank you very much! We're gonna sweeten up just like that and, bam, we're done!"

Our melons are planted at Kick Ranch, our other chunk of land just down the road from us, so getting the melons picked and moved to the farm for safe keeping and selling at the Roadside Stand took some creative thinking. Last year, we learned that Jeff's Xterra SUV makes a fine watermelon-mobile - we carefully pile them in the back of the car in one massive mound of melons and drive as carefully as possible so as not to turn our beautiful melon pile into an exploded mess of watermelon juice. Tonight, we filled the car to the brim with melons and then realized that we somehow still had to fit the bins of just picked cucumbers into the car. Jeff, always one to think outside of the box (or car), decided they'd have to go on the roof. So, imagine, a Nissan Xterra filled to the gills with fragile, perfectly ripe and ready to pop watermelons, with bins of cucumbers perched on the roof. I'm happy to report that we made the two mile drive home safely, albeit slowly, and weren't even stopped by any police officers and required to explain why we had a car full of melons and cucumbers on the roof.

Sometimes farming is ridiculously fun.

I could do without the rain...

It's September 19th and it's raining. I could really do without this. I'm tired from working seven days a week, 12 hours a day all year long. I'm tired from fighting to save every plant that we put in the ground. I'm tired of worrying about whether we will make enough money to pay our bills and even be able to pay off the costs of farming for this year and have enough to start the farm next year. This has been a year that could dissuade less courageous farmers from ever farming again. We won't be dissuaded, though. We will keep working hard to grow our crops to healthy fruition. We will plant for the Fall, Winter, and Spring. We'll figure out a way to fund the farm and maybe even find a way to provide more substantially for ourselves. No one ever said farming was easy. When so much depends on factors entirely out of our control, such as the weather, there's a point when you have to accept whatever happens in any given year. I have to accept that we have done our best...we have put every minute of our time for the past however long into our farm and what happens, well it happens. Hopefully next year will be better.

I can moan and groan about how challenging this year has been, but we're not facing as dire a situation as many of those in Sonoma County's grape industry. We can compensate for failed crops or unusual, inconsistent weather with planting more or different things throughout the year. The grape growers, however, only have one crop and everything depends on it. Grapes don't grow themselves - they cost a lot in labor and other inputs and when the grape crop is not what it needs to be, well they still have to pay all those costs. So when we gripe about the vineyards and say that vineyards are just a get rich quick scheme, we should remember that when there is a year of failure, it's dismal for them.

As it rains, say a prayer and think good thoughts for the farmers and grape growers. We all need it.

Good Food IS Medicine

When I'm selling our veggies, you'll frequently hear me touting the nutritional benefits of our just picked, naturally grown produce. I say stuff about vitamins, minerals, phyto-nutrients, antioxidants, and omegas. I say Eating good food is preventative medicine!" over and over and over. When I make this claim, it's not just a sales pitch. I believe, I know that food is medicine because I've seen it heal better than any pharmaceutical and almost any procedure. Food can go a long way toward healing conditions that are deemed incurable. Fresh, clean food does amazing work...and it tastes incredible to boot.

I consider myself an expert on this subject because I have watched someone come back from the worst of worst case scenarios to a place that no one thought possible, in large part because of nutrition. My older brother, when he was twenty-five and on the cusp of marriage and law school, was hit by a car while riding his bike out in the West County. Hit from behind at 55 mph, he didn't stand much of a chance against that big, hard car, regardless of his strong physical condition and the helmet on his head. His brain was broken - broken badly. They said he wouldn't survive the night. When he did, they said he wouldn't survive the week. After that, they said he wouldn't feel or move or eat or talk or express how he felt. And he didn't for pretty much as long as he was in the hospital. But once my parents, my faithful, courageous parents, brought him home, he started to improve.

Once he was home, my Mom started feeding him real food. No more soy and sugar based formula received through a tube - only real, organic, vegetables and proteins. He started getting the meanest green smoothie in Northern California, with more kale, chard, and other super greens than you could imagine. He started getting real vitamins in shapes and forms that our bodies can recognize - in carrots, broccoli, peppers, butternut squash, and healthy grass fed meats. Soon after he started getting real food through a tube, he was eating the real food through his mouth by means of his own fork and hand. The physical practice of eating helped retrain his body to move in controlled ways, which helped his body get stronger and more controllable. As he has eaten probably an elephant's weight in kale, his mind has become quicker, more focused, and he has been able to express himself more. The first way he really expressed himself since being hurt was to express how much he loves food and eating. Without a doubt, food seems to brings him more joy in his still very limited and challenged life than anything else.

Now, a few years after his love affair with food was renewed, my brother can talk, eat, move, express, and almost walk. And they said he would never do any of it. They also thought that the human body doesn't care what kind of nutrition you put in it. Some people, no matter how smart, can be wrong.

Isn't it ironic that they serve some of the most toxic, shabby, and least nutritious food to sick people in hospitals? The people who need it most are the last to receive real, nutritious, medicinally powerful food. Kids and senior citizens also get left behind when it comes to having ready access to fresh, organic food- fruit and produce, especially. So, as it stands, in our society, the most at-risk members of our population receive the worst and most deadly food. Because these groups typically have more susceptible immune systems, they get sick or sicker and then end up costing society more in the long run. How's that for unintended consequences? Real food also has the capacity to bring joy to people, especially the elderly and sick, and joy is the most powerful healer there is. I have elderly customers who live for the taste of good tomatoes every Summer because those tomatoes take them back to special times and places and help them to feel young.

We justify the status quo by saying that organic, local food is too expensive. It's low on the totem pole of priorities, especially in hospitals. But I think, I really do believe, that if we invested more money in proper nutrition, we would have to spend far less in the long run on pharmaceuticals, surgeries, therapists, and fad diets. My belief in the importance of accessible and affordable real, clean food is one of the reasons why I will continue to farm no matter how challenging. Maybe someday farmers will earn a fraction of all that money going to the drug companies who thrive on people's sickness and dependence on their products. I'm pretty sure my kale can't kill you if you use it too much and the side effects, well, they're minimal.

Hooray for Jimmy Nardello!

Whoever he was, Jimmy Nardello must have been quite a guy to have such an awesome pepper named after him. I really like sweet peppers raw, but, frankly, I'm rather ambivalent towards roasted peppers and other cooked interpretations. Grilled Jimmy Nardello peppers, on the other hand, are downright phenomenal. They are sweet and tangy - almost spicy without being hot - and melt in your mouth. I like to toss the whole peppers with a teensy bit of olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and toss on the grill. Give them ten minutes, tops, and they're ready to go. You can eat them right off the grill or use the peppers as an ingredient (such as a topping on grilled pizza like Jeff and I are doing tonight). Having a party? Feature grilled Jimmy Nardellos on your local and seasonal antipasto platter and you'll knock your guests socks off.

Basil, Melons, and Making Lemonade

Every week, someone at the Farmers' Market asks me the best way to keep basil. I always tell them to treat basil like flowers and put it in a vase or glass of water in a sunny spot in their kitchen. Kept like this, basil will last for weeks (literally, weeks!) and will actually start to grow again, eventually sprouting roots from the stems. If you're so inclined, you can go ahead and plant your newly rooted basil and keep it going in the garden. I have had the same bunch of basil in our kitchen for about three weeks now and the roots have been growing like crazy for about the last 10 days. Here's a picture to see what I mean....


Other news....

We have melons! Jeff impresses me with his farming abilities on a regular basis. His scientific knowledge (gained by his university level plant science education) combined with his years of hands on experience and his unbelievable ability to intuitively know what plants need (green thumb!) make him an extremely competent grower. His latest triumph is his melon patch. I'm uber picky about my melons...they have to be perfect or else I'm not really a melon fan. That said, Jeff's melons are the best I have ever had. Perfectly sweet, tender, not over or under ripe, and with a consistency like the perfect mango. Last week, I raved about our melons in my weekly farmers' market email and people flocked to our booth at the Market to try a melon for themselves. The day after the Market, I received an email from a friend/customer that informed me that the melon was so sweet and juicy that juice dripped onto his shirt. He told me that I should really warn people about the likelihood of that happening : ) Nothing makes me happier than when our customers enjoy our produce as much as I do.

At this point, it's no secret that Sonoma County growers are dealing with the coolest season on record. A colder than normal Summer season is challenging since so many local farmers plan to make the bulk of their income in the Summer months, but it's not the end of the world for Redwood Empire Farm. Over the last couple of years, we have moved toward being a year round farm. Summer is only one of the seasons and, with our system, we are able to adapt and try to make up for the dismal and minimal Summer season with booming harvests in the other seasons of the year. To that end, I've been seeding broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, roots, and lettuce with gusto. Indian Summer or not, we're going to have a good Fall.

The delayed harvest of tomatoes afforded us the opportunity to get our of town for two whole nights a couple weeks ago. We headed to Downieville, which is Jeff's favorite place in the whole wide world. Downieville, which is about 40 miles north east of Grass Valley, is a very rustic gold mining town and is one of California's meccas for mountain biking. We camped out, rode our bikes, and relaxed! It's incredible how a short break from work can put everything back into the right perspective. Here are a couple photos from our adventure...

Jeff panning for gold. Yes, he really did pan for gold by his own volition. I could hardly believe it. Unfortunately, he didn't strike it rich. I was shocked and disappointed.

Here I am reading next to the rushing creek. You can call me the librarian of Downieville.

Lastly, since the blog entry in which I detailed the difficulties of this Summer, friends, family, and customers have expressed their concern for us. The interest and support means so much to Jeff and myself. Let me assure everyone, though, that we're not quitters. We will continue to farm because we are farmers and that is what we do. We will adjust to the changing climate and circumstances and we will be successful. And right now, I'm still getting to live my dream. I get to work outside doing meaningful and fulfilling work with my best friend and love and am able to work on building the foundation for our future and that of our family. And we have successfully provided food for our 40 family CSA despite the crappy weather. I don't think that adds up to failure...not one bit.

Is it August or March?

We're reaching an impasse. This season is starting to feel like a disaster. It's August 3rd and here, in Santa Rosa, these days we're lucky to break 80 degrees. We have fog until noon and then a cool afternoon sea breeze that drops the temperature immediately. Our tomatoes are sitting there shivering, conserving the energy they should be putting into ripening fruit just to keep them alive. Melons are cracking before they ripen because we haven't had the heat needed to up their sugar and ripen them, so the melons actually outgrow themselves and explode. Don't get me started on this year's ongoing battle to get cucumbers to grow successfully - yet again, not enough heat for the plants to thrive and more bugs this year than animals at the zoo.

Luther Burbank once declared Santa Rosa to be the most ideal place for growing things in the whole world. I'm afraid that's no longer the case. The weather has become so irregular that Santa Rosa no longer seems to be an ideal place for growing heat loving Summer crops, of which we (try) to grow so many. Hopefully we'll get some heat eventually this Summer or Fall, but it's getting awfully late in the season to still be in the red. I wish I could say that Jeff and I didn't depend on the income we earn from our farm, but we really do depend on that income. Farming is both of our full time jobs and we both put in 80+ hours a week. We are pretty frugal folks and certainly don't require riches to feel adequately compensated, but as of today, we have put more cash into the farm in the form of soil amendments, equipment, irrigation, tools, plastic mulch, seed, rent, utilities, and insurance than we have gotten out. We have a lot riding on the outcome of this growing season, our future business development depends on us being able to make enough to fund our next step forward. You may be asking why we always feel the need to be moving forward. The answer is this : we want to constantly move forward because we want to constantly get better at doing our job, which is growing real food for people to eat. We believe in the importance of what we do, for our community, our nation, and ourselves, and want to do it to the best of our abilities. To reach our potential as farmers, we need to improve at consistently growing large quantities of high quality produce, which, first and foremost, requires that we be able to sustain ourselves in our daily living, which allows us to operate a sustainable farm.

I don't mean to be dire, but something needs to change. We either need the local weather to become more consistently warm and dry in the late Spring and Summer months, or we need to farm in a climate that is more suited to our needs, or we need to make a large financial investment in greenhouses and other season extending and stabilizing systems. I really hope the weather turns around soon and we can finish the season in real style. Keep your fingers crossed for us and keep eating those Redwood Empire Farm veggies.

Secret Gardens

I have probably mentioned before that I spent the first thirteen years of my life running wild on a farm west of Petaluma. My parents bought the farm before I was born with the intention to get back to the land - they wanted to grow their own everything and be a bit more sustainable in an increasingly unsustainable world. My Dad kept his day job, but his nights and weekends were spent tending to animals, mowing the fields, working in the garden, and fixing broken pipes and sputtering wells. Perhaps I am a bit more capable of farming and working as hard as I can regardless of consistent paychecks because my earliest example of farming was of my folks who weren't trying to make money as much as they were cultivating a lifestyle for my family.

Our twenty-five acre farm was not perfect - it didn't have much water, it was windy all the time, and it was a bit on the cold side, but I loved it more than anything else in my young life. We had cows, sheep, chickens, and a hodgepodge assortment of other animals that came and went as a part of my Dad's attempts to be a farmer (on top of his day job). I recall a couple of horses and a pony that were too mean to ride, but that I still had to take care of (I became good at avoiding bites and kicks at a young age). We had a breed of sheep called Barbados, which were supposed to be excellent grazers and great for meat, but the problem was they were mean, fast, excellent escape artists, and you couldn't catch them to save your life.

Although I loved the animals, my favorite thing about the farm was its expanse. To a kid, twenty five acres is huge! I would pack my backpack or my doll carriage and set out for the far reaches of the property with my pet sheep, Jane, in tow. My favorite spot was a lovely stand of Poplar trees in a corner of pasture furthest from the house. I would settle in and read books, write stories, or play with my friends until I heard the enormous dinner bell (a vestige from the farm's life before my family) calling me home. Even though I was a fairly outgoing kid, I treasured my solitary adventures and relished being able to get lost for a day in a patch of land that I knew so well.

When I was about twelve, I was enthralled with Lewis Carrol's, "The Secret Garden." I wanted my own secret garden, overrun with old-fashioned flowers and hidden from all except for me. I saw potential in one corner of our backyard that was hedged in by a tall, grape stake fence and our deck. The area was completely tangled with blackberries and other weeds and was hardly accessible. I had a vision, though, and I set out to create my secret garden. I cleared a narrow entrance, tore out the blackberries and weeds, creating a clean palate with which to work. My Mom took me to the local nursery and we picked out roses and other flowers befitting my old-fashioned secret garden. To be honest, I don't really remember much about my secret garden after its creation. I probably moved on to another interest or hobby and my garden was probably overtaken by weeds again. Nonetheless, I vividly remember the process of creating that garden and how much I enjoyed taking a brambly and unloved space and making it special and beautiful.

This year we are growing some cut flowers for our CSA and the process of cutting them and making bouquets has made me think a lot about that farm where I grew up. When I was a kid, I would tell anybody with an ear how much I loved my farm. When I was thirteen and we moved, I was actually a little bit devastated. I never thought, though, that I would find my way back to a farm and the farming life. Now that I have returned to my earliest passion and calling, it seems unbelievable that I strayed so far from my homesteading roots for as long as I did.

Other news -

We've been a little concerned about one of our goats, Shosanna, who has developed some very round udders even though she isn't pregnant and has never had babies. She's not acting sick, still has a healthy appetite, and doesn't have any noticeable wounds. In fact, her only symptom besides the voluptuous udder is a slight increase in goofy and hormonal behavior. Since we are relatively inexperienced goat owners, we are pretty clueless about whether this recent udder growth is normal. I've searched the internet, poked and prodded the poor goat's udders, and called the Vet, and, finally, it seems that we have an answer. The most likely diagnosis is something called precocious udder. How great is that? Basically, Shosanna is going through puberty and is developing all the necessary parts to make her a baby goat and milk making machine. I just think that precocious udder is a fantastic name for a puberty related ailment. I can actually think of some teenagers I know who might be suffering from precocious udder...

Victory!

The first tomatoes that we planted this year (April 1st) had really crummy weather for the early part of their lives. It was wet, it was cold, it was drab. Those poor, little tomatoes did their best, but they became ridden with blights. Hating to lose our whole early planting, Jeff and I went to work trying to bring the plants back to health. We spent hours doing everything we could think of to curtail the blight and then sat back, crossed our fingers, and hoped the tomatoes would outgrow their weakness.

Well, I'm happy to report that we just ate the most delicious, perfect Early Girls. A slice of Early Girl, a slab of fresh Mozzarella, some basil, and a sprinkle of salt...incredible.

So the moral of this story is: With perseverance, hard work, and the right intentions, what you want to happen will quite likely occur.

Our monster volunteer sunflower. The plant has got to be close to 15 feet tall. Healthy volunteers are a sign of a super healthy farm.

Jeff high-tailin' it through the melons.

Woah! Look how long those beds are! Although I miss the shade of the trees in our Orchard, farming on a bigger scale and starting with a blank slate feels quite a bit more efficient.

Wild Farming

Things are definitely growing on the farm. Each warm and sunny day brings us closer to catching up after the slow, wet late Spring season. The farm feels especially wild this year - I've seen more swarms of bees, wild animals, and other crazy displays of nature than I have in years past. It goes to show how much living things (plants, animals, insects, humans, you name it!) are dependent on adequate rain for life.

Here are some current farm photos:

We noticed this swarm of bees in an apple tree yesterday. I think this is the fourth or fifth wild bee swarm I've seen on the farm this year.

That really tall plant is a sunflower. The crazy thing is we didn't plant it! We grew sunflowers in this area two years ago and they're still coming up on their own. I think this particular plant is close to twenty feet tall and it's still growing! Sometimes the things you try to control the least grow the best.

Jeff's melon patch is doing great so far! Sunflowers at the ends of the rows increases pollination for the melons and look pretty too!

A crane melon peeking out through the leaves.

Our veggie block at Kick Ranch is beautifully wide open, which allows us to farm on a bigger scale. Look how long those rows are!

Defining the relationship: I'm going to be the farmer's wife

So our biggest news is that Jeff finally did the dirty deed and popped the question. Apparently he likes me a whole lot and wants to get married to me and have babies someday. I'll be honest, I'd been hinting for awhile now, but he had me pretty well convinced that he was just too busy to think about turning me into the Mrs. I wasn't taking it personally - we have been working harder than we've ever worked before and hardly have time for dinner each night, let alone deciding to get married. So it was my birthday on June 16th and I was just hoping not to get any presents that would require me to do more work (last year I was given Shosanna and Isabella, our rambunctious goats). The morning of my birthday, Jeff told me to go out to the goat barn with him and I thought, "Crap! Is it going to be a donkey? Another goat? Maybe a pig?" As soon as I entered the barn, Jeff handed me a wrapped box, which I opened to find a ring box. Still disbelieving, I thought, "Now this is a low prank...tease me with a ring box when he knows that's what I want more than anything." I kind of stood there with the ring box and he told me to open it. When I did, lo and behold, there was the most sparkly and beautiful ring I've ever seen. Me, being the classy gal that I am, asked, "Is it real?" What I meant was, "Really? You really want to marry me?" Jeff, thinking I was asking whether the ring was real, said, "Of course it's real, stupid! So, are you going to say yes?" That's when I said no....JUST KIDDING! Of course I said yes...with the goats as my witness, I eagerly, happily, ecstatically said yes to becoming Jeff the farmer's wife. So, that's the biggest farm news - we've finally, officially defined our relationship. No, I'm not an intern, nor am I just his amorphous "partner." I'm Jeff's fiance and he is mine and it is awesome!

Other exciting farm news:

• The first Armenian cucumbers are starting to come in and they are just as good as I remembered them!
  
• We ate the first ripe Early Girl tomatoes on our grassfed beef hamburgers last night and they were so good! Next on my first tomatoes of the year list: BLTs!
  
• We're getting closer to opening the new and improved Redwood Empire Farm store, so keep your ears and eyes peeled for more info.
  

I'm back!

Believe me when I say that I feel extremely guilty when I neglect my blog. I’m quite proud of this written record of the life we are living and building and I really don’t want too many gaps and omissions in my account. I have a really good excuse for not writing recently, though, I promise. I have been fighting with technology – my computer’s been on the fritz, my internet connection has been extremely shaky, and my printer is completely out of ink and I haven’t had time to drive down the dreaded Santa Rosa Avenue to get more. Contrary to what you might imagine, I don’t have a fancy, high-speed computer control room where I coordinate our business and write my emails and blogs. I have a hand-me-down Blackberry and a laptop that chugs along well enough, but no real internet connection or phone lines. It’s a rustic and improvised technological infrastructure I deal with, to say the least.

It’s not so bad though, because when technology gets the best of me, I seek solace in the outdoors and throw myself into work on the farm. Not that I really have a choice about how much work I do on the farm – we have so much to do that Jeff and I are both busy from the moment we wake up until well after dark. Today, for instance, has been jam packed with planting tomatoes, preparing beds for planting peppers and basil, picking squash, broccoli, kale, and arugula, and taking care of a slew of other farm chores
We are busy, busy bees these days. It’s hard to imagine that not that long ago I still thought I could pursue a career as a teacher while farming. I was 95% sure that my decision to dedicate myself to farming was right, but now that I have put all of myself into the farm and the farm has given back so much more than I ever hoped, I know that my decision was perfect.

I have always wanted to make a difference in the world, my community, and the lives of those around me. I am sure that Jeff and I, in all of our efforts and strides to grow our farm and ourselves, are making a bigger difference than I could make any other way. I get to grow beautiful food that brings people happiness and health, I get to meet and work with people who share my vision, and I’m even finding a way to be a source of knowledge, experience, and support for young people who want to learn to be farmers too. Our farm is organic in so many senses of the word – it grows naturally, sustainably, and adapts to the world in which it is firmly seated. The farm’s ability to transition and adapt to the changing world and our community’s needs is what will make it long-lasting, successful, and is what makes Jeff and I so excited every day to do our work.

Beautiful Dirt

Good dirt is a beautiful thing. Black, rich, moist, crumbly – it practically emanates life and the desire to grow. I was just riding along with Jeff on the tractor as he did his final disking of our bottom pasture in preparation for its planting. As we drove along, I watched, delighted, as the strong soil erupted out of the ground, turning itself into what I know will be fertile land. Every once and awhile my reverie was broken and I had to hop off and clear rocks by throwing them into the bucket of the tractor. I’m not complaining, though, because there’s nothing better for one’s constitution than some hearty rock tossing.

Perfect soil is not easy to come by, which is why it’s so gratifying when it finally reaches its prime. A couple years ago, our bottom pasture was just an ordinary horse pasture full of rocks and weeds and too rough even for our retro tractor. But now, after two years of cover cropping, chicken raising, horse manure, and vegetable growing, it’s ready to go. We have dug that pasture by hand, pushed wheelbarrows full of rocks from it, watered it, added nutrients to it, and talked to it. I can’t even tell you how many watermelons Jeff sacrificed in its honor last summer; he would cut out the heart and eat it, leaving the shell behind for the pasture to use for its benefit. We have put ourselves into that land and now, hopefully, it will reward us more than it already has.

On a less philosophical note, today was a market day. Markets require a lot of preparation (picking, packing, loading, etc) and are always a bit stressful because we depend on them to sell the majority of our produce each week. A busy market is loads of fun, but a slow market can quickly become nerve-wracking as I start to worry about making sure none of our product is wasted and how we will cover our bills. Farmers really do rely on the Farmers’ Markets to help them do business – they are, in many cases, the only outlet for farmers to sell their produce.

In addition to being our place of retail business, the farmers’ market is also a place where we gather together with other agricultural professionals, as well as our customers, and share our blessings and burdens. Every week, there is some intense topic of conversation, whether it be the good weather, the bad weather, fungus and pests, weeds, insurance, restaurants, wholesalers, varieties of plants, and equipment. By the end of the day on Saturdays, my head is usually spinning with all the ideas that have been sparked and I’m ready to pass out in a tired stupor.

Jeff and I have always thought that farmers’ markets would make a great subject for a “mockumentary” movie (think “Best in Show”). The places are filled to the brim with individuals who have all sorts of eccentric qualities – and I’m including Jeff and myself in the mix. Because of the unique nature of our jobs, we always have weird and improbable stories to tell and, because we’re only human, there’s always at least a half dozen soap opera-esque dramas playing. I’m pretty sure that the farmers’ market would make such a great movie, I am hereby exercising my intellectual property rights and staking claim to the idea. You read it here first, folks - the Market movie was mentally birthed by Jeff and Ariel of Redwood Empire Farm

Blights and Scapes

Today was another long and hard work day. We weeded, watered, picked, and planted. We spent a few hours trying to help some tomatoes that have a nasty blight from all the rain and cold. I felt like a surgeon trying to remove cancerous cells as I crawled along the rows, reaching up into the plants, and carefully removing blighted leaves. Working with sick plants isn't fun at all. The whole time, I'm sad for the plants, like they're my good friends who aren't feeling well.

The highlight of my day was pulling garlic scapes. If you don't know about scapes, here's the deal. Not long before it is mature, hardneck garlic throws up a long, slender, big chive looking thing thing that, if left, would eventually turn into the flower. It's best to remove the scapes when they appear, because that improves the overall garlic bulb formation. Well, the lucky coincidence is that scapes are great to use in cooking. They taste just like garlic cloves, except slightly more mild and light in flavor (somewhat like chives). My favorite thing about scapes is that they're super easy to use - you just chop them up and use them as you would garlic. If you want to get your hands on some garlic scapes and try them out, we will have them at the market for a couple of weeks or you can check with any organic farmer usually grows garlic. Chances are that if a farmer grows garlic, he'll have garlic scapes.

Garlic Scapes!

Weeds and Bees

Whew! Another busy day on the farm. Along with picking and packing CSA bags, it was the day for tackling all the weeds that are growing rampant all over the farm. I think Jeff mowed and weedwhacked for a solid eight hours straight. The poor guy will probably be wheezing from allergies for days, but the job had to be done. Weed erradication is important because it's really hard to see the farm clearly when it's overgrown. Clearing the weeds is kind of like cleaning the kitchen before preparing a big, complicated meal - you need all the space you can get so you have room to make the next mess.

The highlight of my day was getting to see a wild swarm of bees move into one of the bee boxes that we have on the farm. The last couple of years have been so dicey for bees everywhere that we wanted to introduce extra bees to the property, as well as attract wild bees. Rob the Honey Guy brought us some bee boxes and bees and we also got a bee "trap" box intended to draw in wild bees. Since we got the trap box, we had seen some bees check it out, but it had yet to be fully inhabited by a swarm. Today, though, the swarm descended. I wish I had a better camera so that I could have taken a good picture, because it was the coolest thing. Seemingly out of nowhere, a swarm of bees appeared and filled the air around the tree in which the trap box sits. The swarm was about 30 feet by 30 feet of solid bees...incredible! Within five minutes, the air had cleared as the bees made their way into their new home. I'm telling you, it was so cool. I felt like I was watching some spectacular nature display on the Discovery Channel, but lucky me, it was right on our farm. I'm always amazed how often I see the most special natural occurrences in my day to day life. Even though it may feel like we live in the midst of a concrete jungle full of cars and shopping malls, all that crazy, man-made chaos exists within the much larger natural world. So. even if we aren't actively seeking out nature by going hiking in a park or camping in the wilderness, if we just open our eyes and stay attuned to our surroundings, we'll undoubtedly see nature's most intricate and incredible workings.

So, there's my challenge for you. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, look for nature. I bet that you'll be able to see nature even in the most unlikely places. And if you look for nature enough, I guarantee you'll see something so awesome that it trumps anything on the Discovery Channel.

Let the Sun Shine!

I haven't written anything this week because I didn't want to complain about the weather. When I woke up at dawn on Thursday morning to the loudest thunder and brightest lightning I've experienced in years and then when the sky opened and rain and hail came pouring down, I honestly thought it might be a bad dream. I like rain, really I do, but this May has been something else. Farmers have a schedule that we need to stick to in order to get our crops off in a timely fashion. Usually, April 15th (the last frost date) marks the beginning of a planting bonanza. April and May are the busiest planting months of the year and set the stage for the entire Summer. This year, however, we have had cold temperatures (both at night and during the day) and rain throughout April and May, which has made planting nearly impossible. Every other local farmer that I have talked to has said that they are behind because they simply haven't been able to get into their fields because of the wet weather. The reason wet weather prevents us from planting is because we can't drive tractors in the mud and even if we could work the ground enough to plant, plants planted in too wet of conditions are prone to fungus, disease, don't grow very well. There's a reason why Summer crops don't grow in the Winter - they need seasonal Summer weather in order to grow! Seasonal produce requires seasonal weather, which we really haven't had this Spring.

I'm not complaining, though, because today the weather is beautiful. Hopefully the sun and heat will last and all of us local farmers will be able to get back on schedule.

Enough about the weather! Now that it's almost June, we've started planning the opening of our Farm Stand. Hopefully we will open sometime in June with days and hours to be determined. The exciting news is that last year's rustic and weather exposed parking lot Roadside Stand will be a bit more weather proof and permanent this year. We will be moving our produce stand into the space formerly occupied by Carter's Feeds, which means we'll have electricity (lights!) and shelter from the weather. Initially, we'll be selling our produce, fruit, and eggs, but in time, we hope to expand to create a hub for those involved in local agriculture (both growers and eaters). We have so many ideas and plans - I guarantee it will be exciting to watch how our farm and business evolve over the next year.

It's important to acknowledge that our positive evolution is due in large part to the support of our community and customers and to the green-friendly atmosphere of our society. I was just in Copperfields Book Store and whole displays are dedicated to organic farming, seasonal eating and cooking, and the appreciation of nature. Right now, farming is cool. Because of people's attitudes about the environment and interest in getting back to basics, Jeff and I get to pursue our greatest dreams, live the best lives we're able, and try to help change the world for the better. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true. We are living our dream, thanks to people's genuine interest in what we're doing. So, to make a long story short- We're not content to just stay the same farm year after year; we always want to grow more, grow better, and feed more people. Last year, we grew more than ever before and opened a Road Side Stand. This year, we have more acreage, are expanding our Stand, and started a CSA. And next year? We will most likely be doing (or trying to do) something even more spectacular than all that has come before. I don't mean to sound arrogant at all. It's just that Jeff and I have really high expectations for ourselves and will work as hard as we can to accomplish our goals. What can I say? We're kind of crazy.

A Cucumber Love Story

Last summer, at our Roadside Stand, we sold Armenian cucumbers (along with everything else). For those of you who don't know, Armenian Cucumbers are the greatest cucumber, if not the greatest vegetable ever. These beauties grow over a foot long and curl into crazy shapes, not to mention that they are seedless, don't need to be peeled, and have the most refreshing and perfect cucumber flavor. People who like cucumbers love these. People who hate cucumbers even like them.

Anyway, we were selling Armenian cucumbers at our stand and we had one customer who would come every week and fill her bags full of cucumbers. Every week, she raved about how amazing they were and how much she loved them. After a couple weeks, she told me that her boyfriend had been visiting her and they ate one of our Armenian Cucumbers. That night, her boyfriend got up in the middle of the night and went and ate more cucumber because he couldn't stop thinking about it. The woman and I discussed whether it would be worth it to try and ship him cucumbers, but we eventually decided they probably wouldn't survive the journey. You can be sure, though, that she stocked up on Armenians before his next visit. It just goes to show the things people will do for a really good cucumber.

I'm happy to report that we have Armenian cucumbers in the ground and they are doing their best to grow despite the unseasonably cold whether. Hopefully it'll heat up and those plants can give us cucumbers soon!

To wash or not to wash...

When you buy produce from your local farmer at the farmers' market or you get produce through a CSA, you certainly know more about those veggies' past than if you purchased them at a grocery store. You will probably know where they were grown and, hopefully, how they were grown. Nonetheless, there are still some unknowns, such as whether the produce has been pre-washed before going to market. When I was a kid, I naively thought that if the produce was organic, it meant it didn't need to be washed. Sure, those organic fruits and vegetables may not have the chemicals and sprays on them, but they've still been handled by someone during picking, packing, and transport, not to mention the extra handling they receive while consumers are shopping. For these reasons, I always suggest that folks wash all the fruits and veggies they bring home, regardless of their origin. Washing not only ensures that any stowaway bugs are removed and that any germs and bacteria are washed away, but it also helps lengthen the life of most produce.

Here is a short guide for how to wash and keep many of the veggies that are available now:

Lettuce:

At Redwood Empire Farm, we always pre-wash and spin dry lettuce before taking it to market or packing it for the CSA. Nonetheless, I always recommend that lettuce be rewashed once it gets home. If you wash it immediately and then put in the fridge with a little moisture still on the leaves, it will reabsorb the moisture and keep for quite a long time. Even if your lettuce is looking a little sad and wilty, give it a wash and it will perk back up. The best way to wash lettuce or other cut greens is to fill your sink (make sure it's clean) or a large bowl with cool water. Submerge the lettuce in the water and let soak for about five minutes. Remove the lettuce from the water and gently spin until almost dry. At this point, either put your greens in a plastic bag and into the fridge or you can lay the greens on paper towels, roll up, and then put in a bag and in the fridge. If you take these easy steps when you bring your lettuce home, it should easily keep for at least two weeks in your fridge.

Chard, Kale, and Other Greens:

Chard, kale, collards, and all those other bunched greens are easy to wash and get ready for the fridge. I like to wash them immediately when I bring them home - this makes sure that any bugs or slugs are removed before the greens go in the fridge. Simply wash the leaves and stems, pat mostly dry, put in a plastic bag, and pop in the refrigerator.

Summer Squash and Zucchini:

Wash, dry, and refrigerate. In my experience, squash usually isn't washed before being taken to market. Since squash grows so close to the dirt, it's really important to wash before using.

Fava Beans:

Even though fava beans are protected by their pods, I still suggest that you give them a rinse before using them. Even if you are shucking the beans, bacteria from the outside of the pod could be transferred to the inner bean during preparation. It's true that if you are planning to cook the beans, most bacteria and germs would be killed, but it's still a good habit to wash them anyway. Fava beans will keep in the pod for almost a week, at which point the pods will start to get a little floppy. If this happens, go ahead and remove the inner beans from the pods and keep the beans in a bag in your fridge. They will keep like this for at least a week longer. Be warned, however, that fava beans do lose their best flavor pretty quickly in the fridge. They are best if used promptly.

Broccoli and Cauliflower
Broccoli and cauliflower should definitely be washed before being cooked or going into the fridge. After washing, try to remove most of the excess moisture. The less moisture, the longer the broccoli and cauliflower will keep from spoiling.

Onions:

If they are dry, storage type onions, just remove the dry skin and maybe a layer of the onion itself. If they are spring onions (they haven't yet dried and cured), give them a rinse and dry before putting in the fridge. Unlike storage onions, spring onions should be refrigerated to preserve their flavor and keep them from spoiling.

Although this list is not exhaustive, it's a start. If you're unsure about what to do with a certain item, go ahead and wash it. Washing never hurts (unless you're dealing with mushrooms).

One more thing...

It's fava bean season and everyone wants to know how to cook the darn things. Michele Anna Jordan wrote a great piece in today's Press Democrat that clearly explains the most common preparation method. She also gives some fantastic recipes. Click here to check it out.

May Showers? I thought they were April showers...

I know that my life is special. As I write this, I am sitting outside waiting to send my freshly packed CSA bags home with their families. I hear roosters crowing, chickens clucking, I see cars driving by on the busy street, and I can hear the highway not too far away. I smell fennel wafting from the CSA bags, the smell of yesterday's rain still lingers, and, occasionally, I get a whiff of the flower garden a couple hundred feet from where I sit. While I sit here, Jeff is cruising around the farm, working on a list of things longer than his arm. Even though we’re not working together at this very moment, it makes me so happy to be working with him on this farming project of ours. I know it’s not for everyone, but we work well together even though we’re a couple. Sure we have our moments of frustration with each other, but they are infrequent and usually short lived. My intention is not to gloat about my fortunate life; instead, I just want to offset all the moaning and groaning that we farmers do on a regular basis. I won’t lie. Farming is hard, exhausting work. But farming is what we love to do, it’s what we are good at, and I don't ever want to give in to the temptation to complain too much.

Farm Update:

Everything is growing like gangbusters. We have greens galore, the most beautiful head lettuces I have ever seen (have I mentioned that Jeff is really, really good at growing things?), a jungle of fava beans, fennel, beets, herbs, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and much more. Despite the rainy weather, plants continue to grow and we continue to work. It's crazy to me how, if I pay close enough attention, I can actually watch the farm grow. Sometimes I will intentionally look at one of the younger squash plants in the morning and go back at the end of the day just to see how much it has changed. I do the same thing with seedlings in the greenhouse. A baby plant just starting to poke its elbow out of the soil can double or even triple in size by the end of the day. It's just amazing.

Here are some recent farm pictures:

A Mama Hen and Her Babies

Heirloom Tomatoes...yum!

Spring onions starting to bulb