9/3/25 Wow it’s September Farm Update
We’ve been asked a couple times how the heat affects the farm g. Honestly, we’re really still reeling with the fact that we had such a cold June and July. Please note… we’re only finally happy with our tomato quarts NOW and it’s September. Our summer crops have certainly been hurting AND all of our thoughts are on winter.
Yesterday we harvested an big crop of Red Kuri Winter Squash. They’re sitting on 10 folding tables in the barn to cure. We planted the last Cauliflower of the year yesterday and still have only a little Broccoli and Romanesco! We’re done seeding so many of our regular crops for 2025: Broccolis, Cauliflowers, Cabbages, Beets and of course the summer crops. Our seeding in our nursery is pretty much left to lettuces, asian greens, chicories, fennel and herbs. Everything else for the remainder of this year and into the first months of 2026 is already in motion! Wow!
Our nursery is super busy with all of these going in the ground and we are proud of our robust nursery is so it’s easy to grow a few extra plants. We often share with new and non-profit farms either our extras or grow for them. This week alone we’ve sent starts to Hummingbird Farm in SF, Common Vision for their school gardens in Oakland, Sogora Te Land Trust in Oakland, SSU’s student garden, Summerfield Waldorf School Farm, and next the Sebastopol Library for their Community Gardening Workshops. The first three are via the amazing coordinators at CWLF (Celebrating Womxn’s Leadership in Food) that coordinates these plant shares from Sonoma County Farms to urban farms twice a year. When you donate to the farm via the Farmhand store it goes both to these projects as well as donated produce to Grow-a-Row. Thank you for supporting these projects with us and building a stronger local food system.
Additionally we have starts going into the last Home Farmer Workshop of our three part series this Saturday where we’ll discuss fall and winter farming and send participants home with a flat of starts with our nursery. We still have two spots open, so feel free to join.
This Week’s Box
Lettuce Leaf Mix
Shishito Peppers (SR) OR Eggplant (WC)
Heirloom Tomato Quart
Summer Squash (SR) OR Cucumber (WC)
Basil (SR) OR Parsley (WC)
Strawberries (SR) OR Asian Pears (WC)
Families: Cabbage & Mixed Beets
Our Heirloom Tomato Quarts are really getting full and colorful finally. Many of you have large orange Mountain Spirit Bi-Color or Dr Wyche’s and if not hopefully soon. Member Sarah shared that she’s enjoying making Gazpacho and our family has been having multiple Caprese Salads a week… so let’s make sure we get those summer basics covered!!
We are excited to start getting some of our Tree Fruit into boxes, you’ll be seeing it on and off the next couple months. The next couple weeks (and maybe longer) we’ll just rotate Strawberries and Asian Pears but then we’ll start getting some European Pears in the mix. We’ll also start putting these on our Add-On shop next week. We have over 40 pear and Asian pear trees mixed in and around our crop fields on the farm - we also have a few plums (we had Santa Rosa Plums for you two weeks in July) and we have occasional Persimmons and Pomegranates. We love putting fruit tee
The down side of fruit trees is perennial crops take a very different management, unlike lettuce which we’re planting every week, harvesting every week, we prune these twice a year, compost them once every two years and their harvest can slip by us quickly. This year a heat wave brought many of them to fruition in a quick moment. We are trying to harvest as much as we can as fast as we can.
Everyone has a bag of Lettuce Leaf Mix. This is not a traditional Singing Frogs product but really the baby of our Farm Manager Sean who truly loves growing lettuce. Sometimes heads of lettuce are less than perfect but their individual leaves are amazing or we need to clear a bed but the lettuce are not headed up. These get cropped and mixed together. We’ve gotten rave reviews at farmers’ markets but would love your input as well. For the winter, we have already planted our first, and seeded our second succession of Salanova, a head lettuce that keeps growing back for this purpose specifically. We’re hoping to have much more, especially since it grows faster after first cut when days are shorter due to have already having a root structure.
Santa Rosa Produce Notes & Recipes!
We have so many of our crops in rotation, let me give you recipes broken up that way too! Just make sure to keep those on the off week as we’ll likely keep rotating many of these items.
Insalada Caprese
½ lb fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced ¼-inch thick
2 large ripe tomatoes, sliced ¼-inch thick
1 cup fresh basil leaves
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 Tbs drained capers (optional)
¼ c extra-virgin olive oil
Alternate tomato and fresh mozzarella slices on plate, overlapping them
Tear basil leaves and sprinkle liberally over the slices. Add salt and pepper to taste and capers if desired.
Just before serving drizzle with good quality olive oil (don’t let it sit in oil too long).
Notes: Sometimes I use goat cheese instead of mozzarella or use Balsamic Vinegar instead or in addition to the Olive Oil.
Although we love Shishito Peppers pan fried with olive oil and salt and just popped in our mouths, it’s great sautéed. Sometimes we chop and throw into our morning eggs. A reminder that only 1 in 20 peppers is hot, they are considered a mild pepper and a reminder that any heat decreases spice of any peppers.
Shishito & Summer Squash Sauté with Basil
1 pint shishito peppers, whole
1 lb summer squash (zucchini, costa, or mix), cut into half-moons or bite-sized chunks
2–3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 Tbs olive oil
½ tsp salt (to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup fresh basil leaves, torn or sliced
1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add shishito peppers and sauté until blistered, 4–5 minutes.
3. Add summer squash and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender-crisp and lightly golden, 6–8 minutes.
4. Stir in garlic, salt, and pepper; cook 1–2 more minutes.
5. Remove from heat and toss with fresh basil. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Variation: Shishito–Squash Pasta Toss
Cook the sauté as above, but before adding basil, toss the vegetables with:
8 oz cooked pasta (penne or spaghetti work well)
2–3 Tbs pasta cooking water
Extra olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice
Top with basil and, optionally, grated Parmesan.
West County Produce Notes & Recipes!
Gazpacho
A cold tomato Spanish soup, often defined as a liquid salad. There are many versions but this is basic
2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 sweet pepper, coarsely chopped (optional, for extra body)
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
⅓ c packed fresh parsley &/or basil leaves &/or scallions
1½-2 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded (I don’t do this), and coarsely chopped
1 c tomato juice (I skip this)
¼ c red wine vinegar
3 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced, or a dash of hot pepper sauce (optional)
2 tsp salt
Finely chop, but do not puree, in a food processor or blender all vegetables in batches as fits your machine. (I use a blender because of the quantity.)
Remove each batch to a large bowl, then add juice, vinegar, oil, garlic, pepper and salt. Stir and refrigerate at least 2 hours and serve cold.
Eggplant & Tomato Bake with Parsley Topping
1 lb+ eggplant, 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.
Extra Shares
Flower Share: Mixed Bouquets!
Lettuce Share: Red Butter & Summer Crisp Heads 🥬
Bunched Greens Share: Toscano Kale
Summer Pint Share: Cherry Tomatoes
Tomato Share: More Heirloom Tomato Quarts!
Egg Shares: 🍳