4/29/26 Know Your Farmer: Leo
Continuing our show-and-tell of the humans farming your food & flowers and tending this land with Leo.
Leo is a Sonoma County native hailing from Windsor who has been farming with us since Summer 2024. Although often quiet while harvesting or weeding, Leo is contemplating the farm, not only the soil but the design and structures, he’s listening to a podcast to learn more. He loves soil and farming.
As someone who loves understanding how things work, he’s the lead on our irrigation system as well as infrastructure. He took almost the entire month of November last year to help Elizabeth redesign and rebuild two of our high production hoop houses and is already excited to put some upgrades into play with our greenhouse this summer. Leo is the face of the farm at the Santa Rosa Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings. He loves interacting with customers and building relationships. Leo, along with Amaia, lead our CSA pack where his desire to make sure things are just right is so appreciated. He recently gave up doing Santa Rosa deliveries, because he realized he needs more time in the fields with his fingers in the soil.
Despite his love of veggies, when we have a potluck we can count on him to bring tritip to many potlucks. He’s got some great voices.
Outside of the farm, Leo loves snowboarding and when it’s not snow season being outdoors for music concerts or just with family and beloved dog. Leo is marrying his sweetheart Katie this August and we’re just thrilled for them.
This Week’s Box
Red Butter & Cegolaine Lettuces
Rainbow Chard (SR) OR Rainbow Kale (WC)
Fava Beans
Mixed Beets
Mint (Classic) OR Oregano (Family)
Meyer Lemons
Family: Summer Squash, Hakurei Turnips
Produce Notes & Recipes
We are excited to have Fava Beans for everyone today. Fava beans are one of those super seasonal delights that membership in a CSA gives. Interestingly, we have always had these late May and early June. We planted a little earlier but also, the Jan/Feb heat wave sped them along. They didn’t love the journey and between that and the April rains they don’t look great on the outside, but you peel them so it shouldn’t matter. These guys definitely take some extra labor, but enjoy as a seasonal experience. We’ll have one more round in a couple weeks with our second succession.
Fava beans must be shelled twice. Remove the beans from the pod. Then blanch the beans, boil in salted water for about a minute, drain and plunge in cold water to stop the cooking. Drain again and use your finger nail to pierce and slip the skin off each bean. This skin can be a little bitter, inside is a delightful soft green fresh bean. Our toddler used to love eating them straight out of their skins, and still with my kids teams if I’m a busy mom and don’t have time for the second peal, I serve them just blanched and people do the second peel from their plate at dinner, extending a family dinner so we have more time to chat. Here are a couple more ideas...
FYI: 1 pound of fava beans in pod yields about 1 cup shelled fava beans.
Serving ideas:
Make a salad of them or toss them on a salad.
Great with parmesan or Manchego cheese, with herbs and with Bulb Fennel
We make a pesto pasta salad with fava beans and other green veggies.
Make a spread or dip with beans.
Sauté with other spring green veggies (spinach or other greens, peas, articokes, …) and serve over pasta.
Ful (rec by member Chris from Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites)
Ful is a traditional Middle Eastern and North African dish, great with pita bread and yogurt.
2 tsp olive oil
1 c finely chopped onions
5 galic cloves, minced or pressed
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp dried mint (or 2 Tbs fresh)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tomato chopped (I have omitted)
1¾ c fava beans
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice, or more to taste
5 Tbs chopped fresh parsley. (I might add more mint and omit)
Warm oil in saucepan. Add the onions, garlic, and salt, cover and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, ~7 min.
Add mint and cumin and saute for another 2 min, stirring constantly. Stir in the tomatoes, cover, and cook for 5 min. Add the beans and simmer, uncovered, for 5 min, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the lemon juice and parsley. Serve hot or at room temp.
We also have an amazing bunch of Mixed Beets in today’s box. We have always had fun doing a bunch of mixed beets for CSA. The colors and flavors go so well together. Our favorite thing to do with them is roast them either alone (as recipe below) or peeled and cut into wedges with coconut oil which brings out their sweetness. We just save and add to salads… but one could make a salad outright of them or try this one.
Roasted Beet and Citrus Salad (From Cooking Light)
½ lb beets
¼ cup orange juice
1 Tbs cider vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp honey
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
7 c mixed green salad
1 ½ c tangerine or orange sections
2 Tbs shaved parmesan
1 Tbs coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Leave root and 1 inch stem; scrub with a brush. Place beets in foil and bake at 400 for 45 minutes or until tender.
Cool beets slightly. Trim off beet roots and rub off skin. Cut beets in half. Combine orange juice and next 6 ingredients(through garlic) in a
medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add beets, tossing gently to coat. Remove beets with a slotted spoon and set aside; reserving orange juice
mixture in a bowl. Add salad greens and beet greens to bowl; toss well. Place 1 cup greens on each of the 6 salad plates; top each with 1 ½ cups
beets, ¼ cup tangerine sections, 1 tsp. cheese, ½ tsp. nuts. Serve immediately.
This is our last round of Meyer Lemons this year from our friends at Bohemian Flowers. We will continue to have Lisbon Lemons from our CSA Members at Valley Oak Meadow in the add-on store. But we love Meyers for their sweetness, this is our youngest farmer, Annalisa’s favorite desert.
Meyer Lemon Bars (loveandoliveoil.com)
For Shortbread Layer:
1/4 cup (30g) powdered sugar
1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour
pinch kosher salt
For Lemon Layer:
2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temp
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
powdered sugar, for topping
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter an 8-by-8-inch baking pan, then line with parchment paper (the butter will help the parchment stick to the pan).
In a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. Add flour and salt and mix until incorporated. Break into pieces and press evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan.
Bake for 20 min or until top is matte and puffed and edges are just starting to brown. Remove from oven.
While shortbread is baking, wipe out mixing bowl. Combine eggs, egg yolk, and sugar and beat on medium speed until lightened in color, about 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla, then sift flour and baking powder over top, mixing until just incorporated.
Pour lemon mixture over hot shortbread, then return to the oven and bake for an additional 18 to 20 minutes or until top is crackly and set. Remove from oven and set pan on a wire rack to cool completely. For easier slicing, refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight. Dust liberally with powdered sugar just prior to serving.
This week is our first Summer Squash for Family Boxes. For those new to us, we love doing a mix of squash. This year we’ve simplified to the three favorites: Green and Yellow Zucchini and Costata Romanesco. We’re giving out 1 pound this week and starting next week they’ll start going into Classic Boxes. You can expect them on and off throughout the rest of spring and summer!
Extra Shares
Flowers: More Spring Flower Fun 🌸
Lettuce Share: Lettuce Leaf Mix 🥬
Bunching Greens: Toscano Kale
Herb Share: Parsley 🌿
Eggs: 🥚