Newsletter 2.10

February 9, 2010

IN YOUR BASKET THIS WEEK

Garlic
Last of the Winter Squash
Swiss Chard
Lacinato Kale
Brussels Sprouts
Broccoli Side Shoots
Lincoln Leeks

NOTES FROM THE FIELD

The most exciting news to share is that our new hired hand and friend, Alder Dolan, is starting with us this week. He is from Redwood Valley and has much experience growing vegetables and handling livestock as well as having valuable construction skills. Alder is a good worker, and we’re grateful for the NCO ARRA grant enabling us to hire him.

The greenhouse should be finished soon, which is a must – we need more space to start our spring vegetable seedlings. We have been working out our crop plan for both Heart Arrow Ranch and the “Hale Ranch” in Potter Valley. We have to plan the crop rotation a couple years in advance. It can be challenging determining the best crop rotation scheme based on the soil needs, what people like to eat, and market prices. For example, sweet corn is very popular, but it hardly makes any money. (We’re going to grow some.) With more labor now, we are getting closer to really expanding our operation and taking advantage of economies of scale. The flip side of this is we still need more operational capital to get the season going, primarily for fertility. The compost we have at Heart Arrow Ranch is not enough for the additional 3 acres in Potter Valley, so we need to buy it from Cold Creek Compost. We need to buy it before the price goes up in March. Pressure of spring is on!

We planted chicory and lettuce this past week. Despite the rain, we continue to weed by hand in the wet soil. Many of our brassica seedlings are ready to transplant this week. The leafy greens and brassicas are still growing slowly because of the lack of sun.

Our sheep are still in the vineyard, happily munching down the cover crop, and our cows are moving to a new pasture area this week. Once we get the second movable chicken coop fixed up, we will have our young egg-laying hens out on pasture near the older birds already outside. It is our intention to pasture the egg layers throughout the vineyard this spring.

Eat well!
Adam & Paula

80-something ewes, lambs, 1 ram, 2 guardian dogs currently in the cabernet

Squash Puree
(from Janie & Bill’s Kitchen)

Ingredients:
1 or more winter squashes
Olive oil
Sage leaves
Salt and pepper
Water

Instructions:
1. Bake one or more winter squashes in a 350° oven for 45 to 50 minutes or so. The squash needs to set on a baking sheet because it leeks.
2. While the squash bakes, fry some sage leaves in olive oil. Be careful to remove the leaves as soon as they turn bright green. They will be crispy and you will want to nibble on them. Save the oil to add to the squash.
3. Remove the squash from the oven and let cool enough to handle.
4. Scoop out the seeds and put them in a colander. Scoop the squash into the food processor. Add most of the oil, some salt and pepper and slightly less than ¼ teaspoon of red wine vinegar. Add enough water to puree the squash to however thick or thin you want it. Adjust the seasonings.
5. Place the squash in a warm bowl, pour the remaining oil over the squash, decorate with the fried sage leaves, grind some pepper over the squash and serve.
6. To prepare the seeds, wash and dry them, toss them in some olive oil and salt, place them on the baking sheet, and return them to the oven. Turn the seeds so they brown evenly. Remove them to paper towels to drain. Serve as an appetizer.

Chicken Time!

Before you know it, spring will be just around the corner – prime time for growing food, including broiler chickens. Once again, we are raising meat chickens at Heart Arrow Ranch. Sign up for our chicken CSA by March 15.

Because we raise less than 10,000 chickens a year, we (Adam & Paula) are able to process and sell fresh chicken directly to customers. These birds are delicious! They are raised on organic feed, pasture, fresh air, and sunshine!

broiler chicks

The day-old chicks arrive in Redwood Valley via FedEx and go right into the brooder where they stay warm and sheltered for about 4 weeks. Right from the beginning, we feed them certified-organic crushed grain from Sonoma County.

We are dedicated to sustainable farming practices, and while organic feed is more expensive, we need to support all organic farmers. More importantly, what goes in the chicken goes into your body when you eat it. Would you rather eat GMO grain or organic grain?

The chickens leave the brooder and move to the garden at 4 weeks.

At about 4-weeks old, we move the chickens to the fallow part of the garden. There, they do their thing – nibbling bugs and grass and depositing their valuable manure on the soil. (We also compost their manure from the brooder.) Many vegetables we grow require a lot of nutrients, and along with compost and cover crops, we need the poultry manure to put fertility back into the soil. Our livestock guardian dogs live with the chickens in their fenced pasture to protect the birds from foxes, bobcats, vultures, and any other predator.

When the chickens are 9 weeks-old, we process the birds ourselves and hand them off to their eaters.

With the chicken CSA, we raise 6 batches of chickens from spring through early fall. One chicken CSA share is equivalent to receiving 1 chicken at each batch, or 6 chickens total. The price for a share remains the same from last year: $108.

Visit our Chicken CSA page, and sign up for a chicken share! We order the first batch of chicks at the end of February, so please do it soon!

Newsletter 2.9

February 2, 2010

IN YOUR BASKET THIS WEEK

Garlic
Various Winter Squash
Firecracker or Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce
Farao Cabbage
Scarlet Nantes Carrots
Mixed Beets

NOTES FROM THE FIELD

Despite the rain, we worked a bit on the greenhouse frame, although we need to weld back together one pole. We are also making little cold frames so we can get more spring veggie starts going. Cold frames are basically like cloches or mini greenhouses. Right now, the greenhouse at Adam’s dad’s house is completely full of spring seedling trays, most of them on heated mats. We have all kinds of brassicas, Asian greens, and chard started.

We are making the cold frames with cinder blocks and panes of glass. Simple, yet protective!

We have pulled out the broccoli that flowered way too early and are transplanting chicory in its place. Many crops, like the cabbage and kale, are also starting to flower earlier than they did last year. This may be because of the warm weather we had late fall. The peas and fava beans have started to flower for what seems like the third time since we planted them in the fall. Hopefully, the cold will not burn the buds again. More Brussels sprouts will be ready next week. Pray for a period of dry weather so we can seed and transplant more crops and maybe get some cultivation in!

broccoli flowering too early

pea plant is starting to flower

FYI, next week we will be sending around short surveys. While we try to make ourselves available to the membership, the survey is a nice venue to formally receive membership feedback.

Lastly, we are planning out our spring, and we are raising CSA meat chickens again! We order our first batch of chicks soon, so if you’re interested, contact us.
Eat well!
Adam & Paula

Three C Salad
(from Cathy and Janie)

Ingredients:

1 carrot
¼ head of cabbage
handful of currants or flame raisins
Annie’s Shiitake & Sesame Vinaigrette
(see homemade alternative below)
Caraway seeds (optional)
Walnut pieces

Instructions:

1.    Grate carrot into a large bowl
2.    Chop off about ¼ of a head of cabbage and slice into thin strips. Add to carrot.
3.    Throw in a handful of currants or flame raisins.
4.    Dress with Annie’s Shiitake & Sesame Vinaigrette. Toss all of the above.
5.    Throw in a couple pinches of caraway seeds if desired. Top with broken walnut pieces.

Alternative Dressing:

Whisk together in a bowl:
3 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
½ teaspoon chili flakes
1 tablespoon mint (chopped)
1 tablespoon basil (chopped)
1 ½ tablespoon sugar
Salt and pepper

** Please email (pmanalo@gmail.com) any recipes you might like to share with the rest of the CSA membership. If its ingredients match the week’s harvest, we will include it in the newsletter. Thank you!! **

baby lettuce

the deluge of water caused this second planting of cauliflower to rot

YouTubey!

Okay, so I attended the annual Eco Farm conference in Asilomar last month, and I totally missed the double session on using social media to market your farm. So, I know I’ve done this completely wrong, but here it is anyway – our own YouTube channel! Maybe we should work on getting a better video recording device first. Oh, well. Actually, just skip the YouTube channel and just check out embedded videos on this website instead.

Newsletter 2.8

IN YOUR BASKET THIS WEEK

Garlic
Various Winter Squash
More Various Squash
Cooking Greens Bouquet
Red Express or Farao Cabbage
Lincoln Leeks

NOTES FROM THE FIELD

It is cold and wet and mighty difficult to get much of anything productive done out in the rain. Reconstructing the greenhouse has been put on hold and all the animals are very wet. We are getting a lot of bookkeeping done though!

While the water is nice, the wet, cloudy, chilly days mean that the vegetable crops have not been growing much. This week, we are doling out much more of the winter squash while it’s still storing well. There is not enough of one type of cooking green to bunch, so we are using our artistic license and creating tasty mixed green bouquets. You will never find it in a grocery store except for maybe at Westside Renaissance Market. The rain pounded some of the small lettuce seedlings, but the second planting of lettuce heads are okay and will hopefully be up to size in a week or two. Again, that depends on how much sun breaks through.

A couple days this past week, we were digging trenches all day to reinforce the drainage system of the garden, particularly the steeper north section. There has been a little erosion and a couple plants washed away here and there, but no major wash outs. The water has been really rushing down the hill and through the little canals we made. We had to dig many lines or trenches across the roads to direct water away as well.

This week, an NRCS staff person will be coming out to the ranch to see what kind of conservation planning and rangeland fencing we could do and receive cost-share assistance for. We are also contemplating possible applying for a new NRCS pilot program that offers cost-share assistance in building a high tunnel – one of those big plastic greenhouse-looking things that helps extend the vegetable season.

Just for fun, here are pix of us harvesting veggies: http://bit.ly/5PBnuV check it out while it’s still online.

Eat well,
Paula & Adam

Cabbage & Walnut Stir-Fry
(adapted from Practical Cookery: Vegetarian)

Ingredients:

1 medium cabbage head
4 tbsp peanut oil
1 tbsp walnut oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
8 scallions
8 oz firm tofu, cubed
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 ½ oz walnut halves
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp poppy seeds
salt & pepper

Instructions:

1. Shred the cabbage thinly and set aside.

2. Heat the peanut and walnut oils in a preheated wok or heavy-bottomed skillet. Add the garlic, cabbage, scallions, and tofu and cook, stirring constantly for 5 minutes.

3. Add the lemon juice, walnuts, and Dijon mustard, season to taste with salt and pepper and cook for a further 5 minutes, or until the cabbage is tender.

4. Transfer the stir-fry to a warm serving bowl, sprinkle with poppy seeds and serve immediately.

Times Story: How Eating Grass-Fed Beef Could Save the Planet

Look – even Eliot Coleman, the Northeast guru of small-scale organic vegetable growing, is raising cattle and sheep!

Perhaps he wants to utilize their fertility in his vegetable farming the same way we do. The animals are vital to our ability to grow your tasty, nutritious winter CSA vegetables.

How Cows (Grass-Fed Only) Could Save the Planet by Lisa Abend

“It works like this: grass is a perennial. Rotate cattle and other ruminants across pastures full of it, and the animals’ grazing will cut the blades — which spurs new growth — while their trampling helps work manure and other decaying organic matter into the soil, turning it into rich humus. The plant’s roots also help maintain soil health by retaining water and microbes. And healthy soil keeps carbon dioxide underground and out of the atmosphere.”

Newsletter 2.7

January 19, 2010

IN YOUR BASKET THIS WEEK

Garlic
Butternut Squash
Red Kuri Squash
Oliver Brussels Sprouts
Red Russian Kale
Mixed Beets
Napoli Carrots
NOTES FROM THE FIELD

It feels like winter! While we welcome rain, the wind at the CSA garden has been challenging. Nature gave us more work to do last Tuesday evening when high winds blew down one side of the greenhouse. Luckily, none of the vegetable seedlings were harmed. We are now trying to get a new (and stronger) greenhouse up, but we will have to wait for the hard rain to stop. Fortunately, we have a little greenhouse at Adam’s dad’s place to house the seedlings. Also, we were able to concrete into the ground the main end posts. So, now we have about 640 lb of concrete anchoring.

We were so proud of ourselves last year for building the greenhouse on a tiny budget and from used material. However, there is something to be said for investing money into infrastructure. Even buying more row cover this year to protect the vegetables was not cheap, but it helps a lot.

Fortunately, we found out that we will receive a grant from NCO to hire another person to work with us and ultimately grow more vegetables. He will start next month. This grant money is ARRA stimulus money. With Golden Vineyards, we are also currently applying to the NRCS EQIP program, which could give us cost-share assistance in repairing rangeland fencing for our sheep and cows. Crossing our fingers for more government support!

We want to make sure everyone gets their winter squash before it goes bad, so you get more this week than in past weeks. FYI, the second planting of cauliflower is starting to head, however, the rain has made some of them rot. It is unclear how much will be harvestable. Also, we have to pull out an entire bed of broccoli starting to flower too soon. We will just plant fast-growing Asian greens in its place. Fortunately, we have another variety of broccoli still growing well. More cabbage is sizing up, and we will be seeding more kale as the first planting is starting to flower.

Eat well,
Paula & Adam

Browned Brussels Sprouts in Parmesan Cheese
(from Angelic Organics Kitchen)

Ingredients:
½ lb Brussels sprouts (about 2 cups)*
salt
½ cup olive oil
1 cup seasoned dry breadcrumbs
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
black pepper

Instructions:
1. Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a large skillet. Add Brussels sprouts & a large pinch of salt; cook until bright green & just tender-crisp, 5-7 minutes depending on size. Drain; briefly rinse under cold water to stop the cooking.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the Brussels sprouts; cook, stirring occasionally, until they
begin to brown, 10-12 minutes. Add the bread crumbs & slowly roll the sprouts around until they are completely covered. Continue cooking until the breadcrumbs are brown, 3-4 minutes.
3. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sprouts to a serving platter & immediately sprinkle with Parmesan. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
Serve immediately.

Goes well with roasted or grilled meats.

*While we double washed the sprouts, be sure to remove any funky outside leaves that have frost damage.

A New & Better Greenhouse

Well, Tuesday evening was wet but also extremely windy at the ranch. So windy, one of the walls of our greenhouse fell over. A couple pieces of wood flew over the garden, but only a couple broccoli plants and leeks were damaged. However, we have more work ahead of us now to build a new and better greenhouse.

It did not take us long to take down all the poles and plastic. Armed with cement, we have secured the main posts. And for now, we have moved many of the early spring seedling trays to Adam’s dad’s house where we have a little greenhouse. Thank goodness for that!

adam digs a hold for a post we will cement in. we have now about 640 lb of cement anchoring this time!

Newsletter 2.6

January 12, 2010

IN YOUR BASKET THIS WEEK

Garlic
Kabocha Squash
Red Russian or Dino Kale
Spinach or Chard
Broccoli Shoots
Bolero Carrots
Lincoln Leeks

broccoli side shoots

NOTES FROM THE FIELD

After a week or so of dry, mild weather, we are happy to greet a bit of rain this week. The warm weather has been great for getting a lot done in January. With the help of our experienced farmer friend, Charles, we have battled back a lot of weeds, thinned beets, and planted much more lettuce that should be ready for this late winter (or early spring). We also cleaned up vegetable leaf waste and gave them to our Berkshire pigs. They especially like funky chard leaves but don’t care for cabbage leaves. Where there used to be lettuce, we also sowed more spinach.

While the main broccoli heads have already flowered or been harvested, there are still a lot of side shoots coming out. Not all of the red Russian kale has bounced back from the bear trampling incident, but at least there is more room for the other plants to flourish. We continue to have to cover most of the greens to protect them from birds. The row cover also helps keep a down pour of rain from really beating up the crops, although water can still go through the cover.

In other news, we still have ½ a Berkshire pig for sale, ready in February or March. Also, we will be hiring someone soon to help us grow more vegetables! It’s very exciting, and more details will come next week.

Eat well,
Paula & Adam

Vegetarian Kabocha Squash Soup
(Mark Bittman’s adaptation of Japanese Chef Umiko Kano’s Recipe)

Ms. Kano soaks the kelp in cold water for about eight hours. But you can slowly heat the water and kombu to save time, as long as they don’t boil, which will turn the stock bitter.

Ingredients:

1 3- to 4-inch piece kelp (kombu)
1 teaspoon light sesame or other neutral oil
1 6-ounce block firm tofu, drained and roughly
crumbled by hand
4 ounces kabocha, pumpkin, or butternut squash
peeled and cut in 1/4-inch dice (about 2/3 cup)
4 fresh shiitake mushroom caps, sliced lengthwise into
strips
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 scallions, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Instructions:

1. Place kelp and 4 cups water in pot over low heat until first bubbles appear; do not boil. Let sit.

2. Put oil in saucepan or medium skillet with deep sides, and turn heat to medium; add crumbled tofu, and cook, stirring, until slightly browned at edges. Add kabocha and shiitake, and continue to cook, stirring, for another minute.

3. Add kelp broth; when liquid comes to a boil reduce heat to barely a simmer and cook until kabocha is tender, less than 10 minutes.

4. Season with soy sauce and salt. Just before serving, add scallions.

Newsletter 2.5

January 5, 2010

IN YOUR BASKET THIS WEEK

Garlic
Delicata Squash
Farao Cabbage
Collard Greens
Spinach
Swiss Chard
Napoli Carrots

NOTES FROM THE FIELD

Happy New Year! The days are finally getting longer meaning the crops should start to grow faster again. The rainfall has been pretty good so far such that the ponds are slowly filling, but we could use more.

For the next week we should have good weather for catching up on weeding and transplanting the seedlings in our greenhouse. The vegetable starts have enjoyed the sun these past couple days. This week, you see you have a lot of greens, which is mostly what is good to harvest right now. As the days get longer, we should have more variety again. The second planting of carrots are sizing up well, and the leeks and Brussels sprouts should be ready to harvest soon. The fava beans are starting to flower, and the peas are holding in there. Next season’s garlic has germinated really well and will soon need weeding, or shallow cultivation.

In other parts of the farm, our sheep are now grazing in the vineyard. They have been there for about a week and a half munching down the cover crop. We also have three new cows added to our small herd. They came from Inglehaven Ranch in Potter Valley. And our few egg laying hens have noticeably increased production. It’s amazing to see the difference additional sunlight has on the animals and crops.

Eat well,
Paula & Adam

Sauteed Cabbage & Onions w/ Garlic
(Vegetarian Feasts, by Martha Rose Shulman)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, cut in half & sliced into thin strips
2 cloves garlic, minced or put through a press
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 pound shredded red or white cabbage

Instructions:
1. Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan or wok. Add onion and sauté over medium heat until it begins to brown.
2. Add garlic and continue to sauté another 5 minutes.
3. Add soy sauce, sesame seeds, and cabbage and stir-fry 5 to 10 minutes over medium-high heat, adding more oil if necessary.  Serve with grains.