Market News

Just wanted to let everyone know that we'll be back at the farmer's market on Saturday (December 5th). We took last Saturday off in order to recuperate from Thanksgiving, but now we're back to work.

What can you expect to see from us at the market? We have beautiful cut lettuce mix, arugula, chard, kale, broccoli, eggs, and more of our soon to be world famous chile peppers. Also, a note about our eggs. We ARE bringing eggs to the farmer's market these days, so even if you don't see them out on the table, ask if we have them stashed somewhere.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and we'll see you at the market!

It's Raining...It's Pouring...

The first storm of the year inevitably results in mixed emotions. Some love it. Some hate it. Rain can wreak havoc for the vineyards if it comes before harvest is complete. Rain can mean much needed water in our rivers and streams that will allow precious fish to run, spawn, and hopefully thrive. So where do I stand on the rain and what does it mean for Redwood Empire Farm?

Well, personally, I love the rain. After months of dry, dusty weather and rock hard ground, rain provides refreshment, cleansing, and saturation that makes the season's finale much easier. Believe me, tearing out crops is infinitely less tiresome when the ground is moist and soft. The rain also recharges the moisture in the ground, allowing us to grow beautiful greens and winter crops. Recharging the groundwater table is especially important for us because we try to use as little water and irrigation as possible.

What, if anything, does the rain harm? Ripe tomatoes still on the vine are prone to splitting and rot, as are figs. Unharvested winter squash (pumpkins included)needs to be watched that it doesn't start to rot or mold. Everything else, however, does ok in the rain. Some crops, such as kale, chard, lettuce, and other greens, even thrive with a rain bath.

A word of warning, though, for those planning on buying tomatoes after the storm. Smell them! Feel them! Pick them up! For tomatoes to be flavorful, they should smell like tomatoes, they should feel heavy for their size, and feel firm to the touch. Remember, tomatoes picked green and hard will eventually turn color, but they will not necessarily develop delicious flavor. Many tomatoes that you find after the first storm will have been picked green and unripe prior to the rain in an attempt to save them from being ruined. So do yourself a favor and thoroughly investigate your tomatoes before buying them so as not to be disapointed.

Peppers are a crop not adversely affected by the rain - they actually benefit from a gentle rain washing. They emerge from the storm clean and polished, ready for action. And speaking of peppers, I have to share my pepper preparation discovery. I cut our italian roasting peppers lengthwise, drizzled them with a little bit of olive oil, and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. I then put them in the oven at about 400 degrees and let them roast for about 10-15 minutes. Once they're a bit soft and starting to look good and roasted, I put a little bit of herb chevre (fresh, soft goat cheese) in them and put them back in the oven for about 5 minutes. Once the pepper are soft and the cheese is bubbly, take them out of the oven and enjoy!

Hooray for the Farm Stand!

For starters, I’d like to apologize for not updating the blog more often. Despite my best laid plans, finding time to sit down and write about what we’re doing on the farm has been difficult. I have a really good excuse though! Most every moment that I’m not picking, planting, weeding, seeding, or selling at a farmer’s market, I’m working at the Farm Stand. And let me tell you, the Farm Stand is a wonderful way to spend my time! Jeff and I really wanted to open a stand as a way of making the things we grow more accessible to the people and families who live in the neighborhoods surrounding the farm. We expected that it would be fairly successful, but anticipated that it would be slow going in this, it’s first season. Boy, were we wrong! Every day that we’re open, more people stop by and get so excited about what they find. Our clientele is growing quickly and with our growing popularity, Jeff and I are afire with ideas of new things to grow, programs to launch, events to hold.

The Farm Stand has rekindled my enthusiasm for growing food in the way that we do. I am so excited that our farm is becoming a part of the daily lives of people all over Santa Rosa. The thing I enjoy most is that our Farm Stand customers are all different. We have parents shopping with their kids who use the Stand as an opportunity to talk about how veggies are grown and to plan dinner together. We have folks who live in retirement communities and come stock up on tomatoes to share with their friends and neighbors. We have people who are shopping for special dinner parties and people who are simply shopping for that night’s dinner. We have caterers and chefs, the affluent and the not so affluent, those who really care about where veggies are grown and those who stop mostly because it’s convenient. All of these different people have one thing in common though – they all go home with our clean, fresh-picked, delicious fruits and veggies. I love that folks all over Santa Rosa (and probably beyond) enjoy the fruits of our labor. Making healthy, local food accessible and convenient to people from all walks of life is incredibly gratifying and makes all the hard work worthwhile.

So, in sum, THANK YOU for supporting us. Your encouragement, patronage, enthusiasm, and smiling faces are the fuel that we need to keep going and growing. Keep sending the feedback, ideas, and requests, because we’re constantly planning what’s next.

September News

CHICKENS!

We hope everyone's prepared because the chickens are about to be ready! The first slaughter day is this Tuesday, September 1st! We are slaughtering over a three week period to give our customers more choice over their chicken's size, so there is still plenty of time to place your order. If you want more information about the chickens and the ordering process, please email us at RedwoodEmpireFarm@live.com.

FARM STAND!

At the risk of boring you with even more farm stand news, our hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 to 6pm. Our location is 55 Middle Rincon Rd, Santa Rosa, CA 95404.

Why should you check out the farm stand? For DISCOUNTS and GREAT DEALS, of course! In addition to the same high quality produce we have at the Farmer's Market, we also offer a wider variety of fruit and discounted produce selections (think squishy tomatoes and blistered peppers).

Already August!

I can hardly believe that it's already August. Every year, we plan and work in preparation for and anticipation of the Summer growing season and every year it seems to start ending before it's even really begun. In a couple weeks, kids will start back to school and people's mindsets will shift to Fall. But the reality for those of us who farm for a living is that Summer is just getting started in earnest and we have miles and months to go before we rest.

Around here, we have a lovely, long growing season. We can usually count on a season that begins in April and lasts at least until Halloween. When we get the heat that is needed for tomatoes, peppers, melons, and cucumbers to thrive is often unpredictable, but it always arrives...eventually. So far, the Summer has been cool, which means that most crops have been slow to ripen. Red tomatoes are changing color faster than I am able to pick them, but the beautiful, large heirlooms are dilly-dallying. Our pepper plants are growing into strong bushes, but the pepper fruits themselves are slow to mature and color. Our watermelons, cucumbers, and beans are growing along steadily, but are taking their sweet time. All these wonderful fruits and vegetables will be ready for us to harvest eventually, but it just means that you can't stop thinking about and enjoying the Summer season quite yet. The kids may go back to school and the fair may be over, but there is still much to look forward to as far as good, fresh food is concerned.

Farm Stand Now Open!

After much anticipation and thought, the Redwood Empire Farm Road Side Stand is now open!

Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 3-6 pm

Location: Our Farm

Middle Rincon Rd and Hwy 12
Santa Rosa, CA

If you want to look us up on mapquest, our physical address is 55 Middle Rincon Rd, Santa Rosa, CA (however don't send us mail there, we won't get it!).

We are selling an abundance of tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, eggs, basil, beans, and have so much more to come.

Please pass the word along to your friends and neighbors - we can use all the word of mouth help we can get.

Hope to see you all soon!

Open House and Farm Tours!

We would very cordially like to invite you to come check out the farm on Sunday, May 24th. You can see how our garden grows, check out the chickens, and ask any questions you may have. We will have somewhat formal tours beginning at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm, however feel free to come any time between 11:00 and 4:00. You're welcome to bring any friends or family, however we kindly ask that you leave your canine friends at home (we have far too many chickens roaming around). So, come for a tour or just pop by to see where you will be coming to pick-up your chickens and where the upcoming FARM STAND will be.

To recap, here are the details:

Farm Tours and Open House
Date: Sunday, May 27th
Time: 11:00 -4:00
Tours begin at: 11:00 and 2:00
Location: 55 Middle Rincon Rd, Santa Rosa, CA 95409

Please park in the gravel parking lot next to the feed store. I anticipate having a sign out, so our location should be very clear.

Snacks and beverages will be provided.

If you have any questions, please email us at RedwoodEmpireFarm@live.com or call Jeff at (707) 953-8671 or Ariel at (707) 953-6150.

History repeats itself...

History and time flow in cycles. Fifty years ago, practically everyone with the space had a backyard garden. Gardening, especially veggie gardening, was an essential aspect of life. Folks knew what real tomatoes tasted like, they knew just how amazing fresh picked sweet corn is, and they understood the seasons and the importance of canning and preserving in order to eat a well-balanced diet year round. Then, with the rise of the shipping industry, our concept of seasonality started to dissapear. We became subject to our desire for instant gratification and started eating fruits and vegetables from all over the world all year long. Factory farming and mass production made everything accessible, but simultaneously stripped the nutrition from our food and made it far too easy to know nothing about producing our own food. We became a society of people who want, need, feel like we deserve to eat tomatoes in winter and who eat out five nights a week.

The past five years (maybe more) have seen a swing back in the other direction. The locavore was born, thank God, and we've begun to realize the cost of industrialized farming, shipping our food from all over the world, and expecting to get what we want when we want it without having to do anything ourselves. Authors like Barbara Kingsolver and Michael Pollan have reaffirmed the merit of eating simply and locally.

Now, with the economy such as it is, eating local is even more important. It's not just good and "green" to shop at the farmer's market or grow your own garden. Before too long, buying local and producing your own food might just be the only way to get food at all. We're so happy to have been practicing our locavore ways over the past however many years because now, when it's really important, we know what to do. It's really not that difficult to be a locavore. The first step is getting used to asking lots of questions because it's not enough to think that something is local...you need to know. The second step is to seek out people who value and subscribe to a locavore philosophy (the farmer's market is a great place to start!). It's much easier to cause real change when it's a movement by thoughtful, motivated people. Next, you use your hard earned dollars to support your local food warriors. The more people believe in us farmers and choose to support us, the more we can produce and the more we can lessen our dependence on non-local sources.

What a Winter!

Ariel with the lucky boar of Florence

Jeff at the farmer's market in Florence

Nothing puts life in perspective quite like traveling. Jeff and I both love to adventure and so we jumped at the chance to take a trip to Europe this last January. We loosely planned our journey and set out with backpacks to conquer the land across the pond.

The first stop was Amsterdam. I must say that I was surprised at how much I liked the city! For the first time in my life, I was surrounded by people who were taller than me...even the women! Thank God the Dutch speak English though, because there was no way I was going to be able to figure out how to pronounce the language. Way too many achs and fhgjghjs.

After Holland we headed south, to Rome, then Florence, La Spezia, and Turin. The $5 Pizza Margherita officially ruined us for any knock-offs here in California. I think we went to a farmer's market in every town we visited and man, were they incredible! I thought that those of us in Northern California had a healthy appreciation for greens and unique vegetables, but the Italians put us to shame. We brought back a bunch of seeds and are planning on growing some incredible varieties of greens, basil, tomatoes, and peppers. And the cheese...don't even get me started. I think the most incredible thing about the food in Italy is that it isn't at all pretentious. They are so accustomed to high quality produce, cheese, cured meat, wine, and coffee that they don't feel it necessary to make a big deal out of it. For them, good food is a part of everyday life. I also felt that the Italians understand that oftentimes, the best food is the most simple food. We ate at a little place in Florence and befriended our waiter who had worked for a time at Tra Vigne in St. Helena. The waiter told us that he didn't understand why Americans liked Michael Chiarello and why we are so obsessed with the food network. He suggested that we make too big a deal out of simple things - like teaching classes on making sandwiches (his words, not mine). I think he is right, though. Some of the best things are wonderful because they are simple. Pizza Margherita, for example. Good crust, a little sauce, fresh mozzarella, and a sprinkle of basil. So basic, yet so good. Or, my favorite, pain au chocolate. Basic croissante dough and ordinary dark chocolate. So basic, yet delicious! Alright, I have to stop the food talk because it's making me hungry...

After Rome and Florence, we headed to the slow food capital of the world, Turin. I'm not going to waste much time on Turin, but I will say that I feel that we embrace the Slow Food movement here in a much more genuine way than they do even in Europe. In California, we understand eating local to be eating food from our town or county. In Italy, local is eating food from Italy and Italy is a pretty big place! The Europeans haven't embraced the organic movement nearly as much as we have either. Jeff and I couldn't help but laugh when we visited the pinnacle of the Italian Slow Food movement, a grocery store aptly named Eataly. Any of our local grocery stores put it to shame in terms of how many local, organic, artisan, and sustainably produced products are carried.

Next stop was France. Nice was nice, but rainy. I think I did the impossible and overdosed on Roquefort cheese. Apparently you can have too much of a good thing. We checked out the farmer's market in Nice and it was similar to those in Italy. The biggest difference was a focus on spices. I think I saw literally a hundred different interpretations of herbes de provence.

After France, we trained it to Barcelona, Spain. We ended up stuck in a wind storm on a train for 10 hours right outside of Barcelona. Since neither Jeff or I speak Spanish, we didn't know how to ask the people on the train with us what was going on or where we were, so we just sat there. After many hours, our fellow train riders realized we didn't speak Spanish and attempted to tell us what was going on. They couldn't believe that the crazy Americans had sat there for that long when we were so close to our destination. We finally made it to Barcelona, though, and we were so glad that we did! The city is everything people say it is: colorful, vibrant, energetic, spirited, ALIVE. Next time we go to Europe, we're definitely going to become better acquainted with Barcelona.

So that was our trip in a nutshell. We went, we saw, we ate, we conquered, and now we're back and so happy to live in Sonoma County. We truly are blessed to call this place our home.