4/30/25 Early to Late Spring Transition
This Spring has just been flying on the farm! Early Spring is marked by lots of planting and light greens. We’re moving into Late Spring and it’s exciting to see things grow at lighting speed as the days get longer.
What does this mean? We now have 95% of our Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant plus our first 3 successions of Cucumbers, 1st succession of Basil, 2 successions of Summer Squash and 1st succession of sweet corn all in the ground. Summer Squash are already being harvested (read more below), Basil is close behind and Cucumbers behind them!!
On the veg side, the transition from all that planting to now tending and starting to harvest is the move into Late Spring. But wait, we are planting out our first field summer squash and then melons and winter squash and it goes on! It’s always exciting.
On the flower side we have our Cosmos, Marigolds, Strawflowers, first sunflowers in the ground. Next week we’ll start planting our field Dahlias and then Zinnia, Celosia and Gomphrena. We’re in the gap between early spring flowers now our Ranunculus are coming to a close but we have Snapdragons and Larkspur just starting!
We mostly talk about the annuals because those are most of the crops you’re seeing in your boxes but at Singing Frogs Farm our perennials are very important. Yes there are fruit trees but also our perennial habitat for beneficial insects and animals, wind and climactic breaks allow us to farm better and without the use of any sprays. This winter a LOT of perennial work has taken place including the normal pruning of fruit trees but also pruning our hedgerows and a lot of pruning trees that serve awesome functions but when they get too big shade our crop production. The ground has been too wet and so we’ve not been able to bring in a chipper but that finally shifted. Yesterday we had a massive Chipping Day! We pulled in more than half our crew most of the day and we were going all day long. Thanks to all the crew who helped with this.
Late spring also means a change in the biodiversity that calls our farm home. The frogs are still singing at night but not with the ferocity of a warm February night when they’re all out looking for mate. (Yes there is a real reason we’re called Singing Frogs Farm.) The gophers have been very active as all the juveniles are being kicked out and are finding new homes. Sean, Bobby and Leo have been busy trapping. The song birds are still chirping loudly but thankfully the early spring eating of our young crops is coming to a close. The bluebird boxes are filling up and the barn swallows are looking for new places to make nests. We see fox scat so we know our fox friend is around but we haven’t seen them recently… hopefully they’re about to have another brood.
On the insect side we went through our normal flush of first pest insects and then a later but strong swing of beneficials with lady beetles all about in all life cycles, lacewings, predatory wasps, native bees (many of which are omnivorous), ground beetles and spiders and much more.
Getting you out to the farm
Next week we’ll have two 1st Wednesdays Farm Walks. We do these for CSA members once a month at 2 and 6pm CSA day. You can let us know and we’ll leave your first box here. This month we’ll look for insects and maybe get to taste an early Strawberry and harvest a Summer Squash. This month I’ll send out a reminder Sunday or Monday.
We are finally done spring workshops! That’s a relief but we still have more tours. This Saturday we’re collaborating with Daily Acts for a farm tour event on the farm focused on compost: Digging Deep! Soil Heath and Climate Resilience. They didn’t want us to advertise at first, but I was just told they still have openings.
Next week our farm is being honored by Northern CA Public Media with an award for Land Stewardship and Regeneration. Come join the at the Food & Wine Awards - a benefit for environmental reporting.
Produce Notes & Recipes
This Week’s Box
Lettuce Leaf Mix
Kale: Rainbow (Santa Rosa) OR Red Russian (West County)
Scallions (Santa Rosa) OR Hakurei Turnips (West County)
Daikon Radish
1/3 lb. Chandler Walnuts (Double A Walnuts)
Oregano
Family Share: Summer Squash + more Walnuts
Lettuce Share: Vulcan & Panisse Lettuces
Greens Share: Green WinterBor Kale
The Walnuts in this week’s box are from our friends at Double A Walnuts. This is two brothers Alan and Art, we’ve been long time friends with Alan (previously he was an owner of the beloved Sonoma Compost company and currently president of Farm Trails). They are cerified organic and the farm is regenerative and building better and better soil each year. They are based in Forestville but the farm is in Colusa. These are raw Chandler walnuts. We keep them in the fridge to keep them fresh. They are amazing raw, baked or added to oatmeal. Try some Candied Walnuts on your salad this week!
This is one of the items that we keep in our Add-On Store under Pantry. In the springtime when the boxes are very green heavy we like to offer you some different items and this time of year it’s some of our Pantry items (beans last week and possibly oats next week or soon). We love having a few items here that are useful to you and grown locally by farmers we trust but maybe harder to find and not available in stores.
Maple Syrup Candied Walnuts (family friend Meg Parmer)
2 c walnut halves
2 Tbs maple syrup
Mix walnuts and maple syrup until well coated.
Spread on non-stick, or parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake at 325˚F for 25 min, stirring twice, until walnuts are lightly browned.
Cool on baking sheet, walnuts will become dry and crunch as they cool. If you don’t use all, store in airtight container in refrigerator or freezer.
The bunching greens are extremely tender this week we have a Kale rotation…. not because theirs not enough of each but just to keep the harvest on each similar so they continue to be tender. This is their first harvest and they are divine! We’ve been eating them raw a lot so here’s a salad recipe. Rainbow Kale is our favorite kale throughout the year. Leaves are different colors from green to blue to purple. It is an open pollinated cross between Toscano (Dino) kale and Red WinterBor kale. The texture is hearty, the color pallet is beautiful and the flavor is supreme. Red Russian Kale has purplish stems and green serated leaves. The texture is very light but they do best in the spring… so enjoy them now. This rotation will be completed next week, so Weekly boxes will get both.
Shredded Kale & Scallion Salad with Tahini Miso Dressing (OurFourForks.com) Serves: 4 as a side
For the tahini miso dressing:
⅓ c tahini paste
1 garlic clove
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs miso paste
⅓ c water
salt to taste
For the salad:
1 large bunch of kale, very thinly sliced
4 Tbs sesame seeds
½ c shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
4 scallions, very thinly sliced
Make the dressing: blitz all ingredients in food processor or high speed blender until creamy, adding a bit more water if necessary to get things moving.
Toss the shredded kale with the dressing and sesame seeds until well combined.
Top the salad with pistachios and scallions (and any protein and/or grain, if using).
Aside from being Greens Season, it’s spring roots season including radishes and light turnips and we have both in the boxes today. We have Daikon Radish for everyone, they are the white or purple pointy roots. Hakurei Turnips (aka Tokyo or Salad Turnips) are round and going to West County members (with Santa Rosa getting next week). Turnip & Radish greens are quite strong but can be used, they are like a strong Arugula.
We grow a short Daikon Radish - some varieties can get to be 1-2 feet long!! We chose these as they are generally more tender but they are still spicy. That heat is beloved by some, for us we like to do something with them. They’re great in stir-fries (temperature heat will always reduce flavor heat) but highly recommend this Quick Pickle recipe. We love them on salads, tacos, stir fries and more.
Daikon Quick Pickle (Farm Manager Sarah)
Bunch Daikon Radish
1 c. Vinegar of Choice
1 c. Water
1 Tbs (or less) of Sugar
Black Peppercorns (3-5) or Fennel Seeds (1/2 tsp)
Thinly slice or julienne daikon radish (we like to use mandoline), place in container with fitted lid, we use a mason jar.
Boil water and and dissolve sugar, turn off heat and add vinegar. Let sit at least 10 seconds.
Pour mixture over daikon and wait to cool. Seal and store in fridge. We will sometimes use right away.
Families have Summer Squash this week and it is our hope that we’ll have Summer Squash at least for half of members next week. They plants are doing amazing! Our goal is to have them to CSA members by the first week of May and it looks like we’ll make that goal. We’ll have them now through October! Yay changing seasons and crops!!