9/2/26 Know Your Farmer: Amaia
We’ve taken a little break from writing about the people on the farm and it’s time to get back. Meet Amaia.
Amaia has been farming with us since February 2024. She came to us from running a school farm in New Jersey and wanted more experience with a larger operation but with other experience and of course a degree in Neurobiology from USSD. She’s a smarty pants.
While she has been here she’s certainly part of the heart of this farm. She keeps things positive with the crew and her can do attitude. She has taken on many a role in her time here from co-leading the Occidental Farmers’ Market to being a primary back up to other markets (Amaia rocks at markets). Amaia has been leading our nursery since winter and she led our shoots program (remember pea shoots?), she’s one of our tractor driving rock stars, AND Amaia has been our social media queen. If you’ve seen some very fun reels over the past year, that’s Amaia’s doing and has certainly helped with marketing everything from workshops to the CSA to us hiring.
Outside of work Amaia did live on the farm for a year, but moved in with a close Singing Frogs farm friend. That said, she still here so many after hours to hang with the farm crew. We love the community built around this work. She has learned how to DJ and has hosted a couple parties, there’s now a disco ball in our barn as a result!
At Singing Frogs Farm we don’t grow a lot of onions. There are a couple reasons for that but sadly onions are a favorite crop of Amaia’s and so before leaving she asked for permission to experiment and grow a crop of onions here on her own time. She has. She trialed 4 varieties in in today’s box you will find a crop of fresh Sierra Blanca Onions that we’re just barely getting in before she leaves.
Unfortunately we have a lot of big transitions this fall and Amaia is part of that. Next week is her last week. She’s headed off to Cincinnati and will be a part of a grazing operation there. We’ll miss her smile!
Big Transitions
As we are sad for Amaia going… We have a lot of transitions happening this month. We’re just into a pretty big switch over. Last month we had Maggie leave to Tennessee, Kayce had to decrease her hours from 5 days to 1 day. We had our summer interns leave and shortly Amaia and Sam are both leaving. That’s quite a lot, with more coming at the end of this year.
AND we have some amazing new folks coming in. Owen and Pippin started 3 weeks ago. We have Amal plus Glen and Sarah part time all starting this week plus we have Amie and Baldomero who’ve been supportive on the outside stepping in a bit more. We’re grateful for all this new energy and it’s an amazing transition. It’s a little tough to have this transition in this busiest time of the year but we’re managing through it. Thanks to all of you for supporting us so we can support all these young farmers, many of whom are moving on to lead projects.
This Week’s Box
Panisse Lettuce
🍅 Mixed Tomato Quart 🍅
Eggplant (SR) OR Italian Sweet Pepeprs (WC)
Carrots (SR) OR Amaia’s Fresh Onions (WC)
Cucumbers (SR) OR Summer Squash (WC)
Cherry Tomatoes (SR) OR Strawberries (WC)
Parsley (SR) OR Basil (WC)
Family: Rainbow Kale + Kolibri Lettuce
Produce Notes & Recipes
Let’s start off with Amaia’s Sierra Blanca Onions. These were harvested small and fresh to give you a taste of fresh onions. These are quite different from the dry, papery onions you buy most of the year. Storage onions are left to mature fully and then cured so their outer layers dry down and protect them for months. Fresh onions are harvested earlier, while they’re still juicy, crisp and tender.
Sierra Blanca is a white onion variety often described as mild when mature, but these young onions have plenty of fresh onion punch. Use them anywhere you’d use a regular onion: in salsas, tacos, tomato salads, sautés or on the grill. If the raw bite is too much, a quick soak in cold water will mellow them considerably. If you like the raw, don’t miss the chance to enjoy it raw—thinly sliced into tomato or cucumber salads they’re excellent
Because they haven’t been cured, store them in the refrigerator, not the pantry.
Roasted Tomatoes, Sweet Peppers & Fresh Onion with Feta
3–4 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
3 sweet Italian peppers, cut into wide strips
1 fresh Sierra Blanca onion, cut into thin wedges
3 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
½ tsp salt
Black pepper
½ tsp dried oregano
4 oz feta, crumbled or cut into chunks
1 Tbs red wine vinegar
Handful fresh basil or parsley
Heat oven to 425°F. Toss tomatoes, peppers, onion and garlic with olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano on a sheet pan.
Roast for 20 minutes. Stir gently, scatter the feta over the vegetables, and roast another 8–10 minutes, until the peppers and onions have browned edges and the tomatoes are soft and jammy.
Drizzle with red wine vinegar and scatter with fresh basil or parsley.
Serve warm with crusty bread, over couscous or farro, or alongside grilled chicken or fish. For a meal, spoon it onto toast and top with a fried egg.
Those of you in West County have some of our massive colorful Italian Sweet Peppers. There’s a write up in last week’s newsletter. But the quick note is… we love these guys they grow great for us (better than bell peppers) and we use them just like bell peppers raw and cooked.
Santa Rosa has beautiful big Eggplant. As a reminder we have the traditional purple globes but we also have the striped Annina. We love the diversity. Annina is thinner skinned. Both are fresh harvested and so don’t need salting for bitterness but yes if you are concerned about texture. We also are really enjoying our Fairytale Eggplant. We do not have enough of these little guys to do a full CSA rotation (and if we did they’d be coming out our ears on the off week) so it’s a special thing for people with our Pint Share and the add-on store. They have been a hit with the few quarts we’ve sent to market!
I do not have an air fryer but I’ve heard multiple people with one rave about it with eggplant so wanted to share.
Air Fryer Eggplant (via CSA member Catherine)
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp red pepper
1 tsp sweet paprika
½ tsp Italian seasoning
1 Eggplant cut into 1-inch pieces
Combine all ingredients and toss until eggplant pieces are coated with olive oil and spices. Put the eggplant in the air fryer basket.
Air fry the eggplant at 375F for 20 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through.
Note: This air fryer eggplant can be served hot or cold.
Eggplant & Tomato Bake with Parsley Topping
1 large eggplant (about 1 lb), sliced into ½-inch rounds
2–3 medium tomatoes, sliced
3 Tbs olive oil
½ tsp salt (to taste)
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup breadcrumbs (or crushed crackers)
2 Tbs grated Parmesan or other cheese (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly oil a baking dish.
2. Layer eggplant and tomato slices, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle with salt.
3. Mix parsley, garlic, breadcrumbs, and 1 Tbs olive oil (plus cheese if using). Spread evenly over vegetables.
4. Drizzle with remaining oil.
5. Bake 30–35 minutes until eggplant is tender and topping is golden.
7-Minute Sautéed Zucchini with Garlic and Basil (kitchentreaty.com)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium clove garlic, minced
1 pound zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini), sliced into coins (halved if large)
Pinch salt & pepper
5-6 basil leaves, cut chiffonade style
Place a medium sauté pan over medium heat. When hot, add the olive oil and then the garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, for one minute. Add the zucchini along with a pinch or two of salt and black pepper. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until bright green and fork tender, 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and top with basil leaves. Add additional salt and pepper if desired. Serve.
Extra Shares
Lettuce Share: Panisse & Kolibri 🥬
Flower Share: 🌸 Mid-Summer Flowers
Lettuce Share: Lettuce Leaf Mix 🥬
Bunched Greens Share: Rainbow Chard 🌱
Herb Share: Scallions
Summer Pint Share: Fairytale Eggplant
Eggs: 🥚