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

CSA Success!

I don't know where to start. This week has been so incredibly busy. Every day, we have a million things to do, and these things have to get accomplished or else the whole schedule is thrown off. So what ends up happening is we start working first thing in the morning and we finish when it's been dark out for an hour. I think I can say for both of us that we don't mind - Jeff said for the first time earlier in the week, "Finally! I'm tired enough to sleep well at night again!" We both like the fast pace and hard work. It's good for our constitutions...and as my mother would say, "It builds character."

One of the main sources of our increased business is our CSA. This was the first week of our CSA and it took a lot of planning, preparing, picking, and packing. But survive we did! I feel really good about the bags of food we sent home with people. They truly are artisan CSA bags - we hand pick every item in them, we hand wash, and hand pack. I even find myself becoming involved with how aesthetically pleasing the bags are and how well the veggies look together. I firmly believe in the power of intention and I put so many good intentions into what I do on the farm. When I plant, I give the plants encouragement and my blessing. I ask for them to grow big and strong and bare us lots of fruit. When I pack our CSA bags, I wish for the food to help those who eat it, for it to satisfy, nourish, and maybe even make people faster and stronger. I so firmly believe in the power of intention that when I show someone how to plant, I include the step where you have to think good thoughts so the plant can grow well.

Other farm news: this morning we discovered some new additions to the farm. As we were working in the barn, we heard some little peeps coming from way back behind a shelf on a stack of old newspaper. We peered in and found a mama hen with four baby chicks and eggs still to be hatched! Jeff relocated the little family into a super safe pen (he chick proofed it...he's good at that) and gave water to the babies and mom. The hen had been sitting on the eggs for so long that she was visibly weak. Now that's she's had a drink, she can finish hatching those eggs. We think these chicks are Cuckoo Maran crossed with Americauna - Cuckoo American. No, that's not a real variety, but if we breed it, we get to name it.

We've also had a lot going on besides the CSA. We're trying to finish planting our upper areas so that we can get into our bottom pasture and then finally get to our new piece up the road. Meanwhile I've been seeding in the greenhouse and trying to resuscitate cold and rain weary crops, Jeff's been driving the tractor, weedwacking, and mowing, and we've both been trying to settle a lot of administrative mumbo jumbo. On top of all of that, it frosted two nights this week! Good luck trying to figure out what the weather's going to be like - it's looking like it's going to be a year of gambles and adaptation. No matter what, though, it's bound to be fun and exciting.

Announcement: Fava Bean Season Has Arrived!

Fava bean season is officially upon us. For the next few weeks, fava beans will dominate the landscape of our table at the farmers' market. Even though fava beans have regained popularity over the past few years and are featured on the menus of many of the area's restaurants, a lot of folks still don't really know what to do with the darn things. If you happen to be one of these people, don't be ashamed - hopefully I can help educate you about these tasty and versatile beans in a few short minutes.

Fava beans are one of the oldest cultivated crops in history. Before the Europeans discovered America and its bounty of other legumes, fava beans were the only beans eaten in Europe. Although they originated in the Mediterranean region and were enjoyed by ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, fava beans are enjoyed in many cultures and go by many names - broad beans, horse beans, tick beans, field beans, and windsor beans (among others). Despite being called a bean, the fava is actually a member of the vetch or pea family and actually has more in common as far as taste is concerned with the common pea than with other beans. Although the appearance of the shelled bean looks similar to a lima bean, it tastes more like an english pea.

In addition to being used as food since at least the beginning of western civilization, fava beans are also used as a cover crop. Fava beans are easy to grow, in fact, they practically grow themselves. Around here, we plant our fava beans in late fall, allow them to overwinter, and harvest them beginning in May (usually). Imagine Jack's beanstalk and that is what a fava bean plant looks like; the beanstalk is thick and grows to around five or six feet tall and eventually produces long, bulging pods full of quarter sized beans. The fava bean plant produces large amounts of nitrogen (so good for the soil) and when chopped down and tilled in add beneficial green manure back into the ground. Fava beans also produce extensive root systems that break up the ground, making it easier for other plants to grow. Some farmers might argue that fava beans must either be grown for eating or as a cover crop, but we do both. We grow the beans plants as a cover crop, harvest the beans, and then chop the plants down and till them back into the ground.

So now that you know what fava beans are, what are you supposed to do with them? There's a nasty rumor that fava beans are a pain to prepare, but really, they're not that bad. The hardest part is removing the thin, outer skin from the bean itself, but even that isn't too tricky if you know what you're doing. In fact, I find that if the bean is young and fresh enough, the bean can be eaten skin and all. Once the bean is fully mature, however, the skin takes on a different flavor which detracts from the clean, buttery flavor of the bean.

The traditional way to prepare fava beans is to shuck the bean, thereby removing the beans from the pod. Then, parboil the beans by dropping them in boiling water for a couple of minutes. After you remove the beans from the water, the beans will slip easily out of their skins, making them ready for their final preparation.

My favorite way to prepare fava beans, which has everything to do with ease and convenience, is to use the barbecue grill. Heat the grill, brush the fava bean pods with olive oil, and put the whole pod on the grill. After about ten minutes, the pod should look charred and wrinkled. Remove the beans from the grill, open the pod, and the inner beans will be ready to slip out of their skins and enjoy. The pods have enough moisture in them that grilling them actually steams the beans in the pod, both cooking them and making them easy to peel.

You can also roast fava beans! Heat your oven to about 400 degrees, toss the bean pods with some olive oil and maybe some spices, and roast for about 15 minutes. Just like with the grilling method, the roasting allows the beans to cook inside the pod, making them easy to peel and ready to eat. If you want to infuse your roasted fava beans with other flavors, snip off the end of the pod, toss the pods with olive oil, salt, pepper, and any other herbs that suit your fancy, and roast as described above. Snipping the end allows the flavors of the herbs to sneak into the bean and make it extra flavorful.

Once the beans are ready to eat, you can do pretty much anything you want with them. Fava beans are a delicious and nutritious addition to salads and pasta. They are great when made into a seasonal succotash and used as an accompaniment to your main course (especially seafood!). Fava beans also make a mean hummus like spread, which is absolutely stellar on crostini. Mash or gently puree the cooked and peeled beans with some olive oil, garlic, a little lemon juice, salt, pepper, and, if you're really inspired, some Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Spread the mixture on your favorite toasted italian bread and get ready to die!

Watch the Fava Beans Grow!

Just popping out of the ground...

Starting to grow a little taller.

Tall enough to make a fava bean jungle.

Look at all those beans! Just about ready to harvest.

Now that's a familiar sight! Don't get caught in a Redwood Empire Farm fava bean avalanche. On the other hand, that could be kind of fun...

Workin' Hard for a Living

Now that's a Romanesco Cauliflower! Yet another reason why it's great to be a Redwood Empire Farm CSA member!

With this nice weather, we've been keeping plenty busy on the farm - planting, seeding, making beds, weeding, and trying to get organized for the start of the CSA next week. We started the week off by attending Rosso Pizzeria's annual farmer and winemaker appreciation luncheon. John Franchetti and his incredibly gracious staff welcomed a packed house of farmers, grape growers, winemakers, and other local agricultural professionals. We were served dishes prepared with local ingredients grown by farmers who were present and were poured wine made by local winemakers from locally grown grapes. It was such an experience being in the company of at least one hundred other individuals who have devoted themselves to producing local and sustainable agricultural products.

We really are so very lucky to live in a county where we are blessed with a diversity of high quality, locally grown products, foods, and beverages. I can't think of anywhere else in the world where such a variety of fruits and vegetables are grown, where so many different varieties and styles of wine are made, where such interesting cheeses and dairy products are created, and where such a diversity of animals are raised humanely and sustainably. Here in Sonoma County, we do much more than auto parts and wine; we do everything!

I was reminded yet again of how special this area is when I found myself in front of the downtown mall staring at the ground. I don't go to the mall very often, in fact, I typically avoid it at all costs. Yesterday, however, I happened to be passing through and noticed that in front of the mall (by the big hand) the pavement is engraved with notable quotes about Sonoma County's natural and agricultural blessings. Sonoma County has long enjoyed fame for its unique climate and environment, which makes it so well suited for growing most anything. At one point, back in Luther Burbank's day, Santa Rosa was the most popular tourist destination in California. People from around the country and even the world flocked to Santa Rosa to see Luther Burbank's gardens and miraculous horticultural accomplishments. When I'm dying of allergies because of all the pollen in the air, I try to remind myself that the high pollen count in Santa Rosa is a symptom of its beauty.

Here are some pictures showing how much work we've done on the farm over the past couple of weeks. The landscape changes quickly, doesn't it?

Then: Cover crop. Now: Summer squash and lettuce.

Baby broccoli turns into adult broccoli.