2/18/25 Back to Winter - Rain, Rain & Storm

We’re thankful for a few days or rain after such a long stint of dry. Don’t get us wrong, we absolutely loved the sunny days. It meant we were able to get a lot of beds planted on the farm. This is one of the highlights of running a no-till farm in Sonoma County. Every year that we’ve been at it (18 years now) there has been at least a week and sometimes more in late January and early February where it’s sunny and warm and we can plant like crazy. This year it was ever so much longer than normal and we wished that we had had even transplants that were ready to put in the ground. We gambled on seeding more carrots when it’s normally a little early just because it was so warm and dry (maybe we’ll have early carrots).

Now if we were a tillage based farm, that sunny, dry patch wouldn’t have been worth much to us because we couldn’t get in and till to make our beds ready for the year or maybe just barely before the rain came again. But in our no-till system we are super agile, able to take Mother Nature’s cues and run with them. Even Monday after a rainy weekend we planted several beds of beets and lettuce out in the fields as it was not actively raining.

However the Monday night storm was a little strong. We lost two beautiful oak trees at the top of our property (one took the second on easily out). See the picture in today’s email. It was a goat pasture that we called the Oak Woodland. Two years ago we lost an oak on the vineyard side of the fence, last year we lost an oak to saturated soils, and then this year two more. I’m not sure we can call it the Oak Woodland any longer. We’re out of oaks. What is it that’s shifted. Yes they’ve been wet winters but has the way the water moved changed? It seems like so much. These trees took out a pasture fence (no biggie) and it’s upper branches slammed down on our Red Russian and Curly Kale crops. These crops had some damage but also, they likely would bolt soon anyhow. The problem is we’ll have to do quite a bit of work sawing and clearing.

Flower CSA Start Today 🌸

We’re exciting to be starting today with 12 members. If you get both veggies and flowers, you’ll have a note in your box reminding you to pick up your flowers. Whether you are a Flower CSA member or have ordered some extras, your bouquet will have have your name written on them and they’ll be in a bucket on the side, don’t forget to pick them up!

An Ode to the Russell Family Pick Up Hosts

Many families come and go from our CSA, but the Russell Family was truly a big one. Building resilient community is important for them and they have hosted one of our biggest pick-up sites for over 16 years! Their children are high schoolers and played here at the farm when they were young. Andy Russell even coached his and our girl’s soccer team for two seasons. Unfortunately the large tree in their front yard that shaded all of our boxes came down last year and that meant as of this spring, it was no longer an appropriate pick-up spot.

New Pick-Up Sites

We still have a pick-up site in the Ragle Ranch neighborhood thanks to the Bowen family. If you pick up at this site, you’ve received emails and texts with new pick-up instructions.

As of April 15th we’ll have 2 new pick-up sites!

1. Bramble Tail @ Green Valley Farm & Mill in West Sonoma County

2. Wise Acres @ Arata Lane in Windsor

If you wish to switch to either of these OR if you know of anyone who might join as a result of these new sites please let us know (or them) know.

Spring Workshops

Our Spring Workshops are just around the corner!! Although we’re happy to provide you with all your veggie and flower needs, we recognize that there is no food as good as that you grow yourself. CSA members have a 15% discount on our workshops.

In addition to our Intensive Farmer Workshop, we gave a trial run of a new Home Farmer Workshop Series last year and we loved getting gardeners out, learning new topics each session. We got our hands dirty with different hands on experiences each time from composting, planting, seeding, mulching, cover cropping and more! Plus participants all went home with a flat of transplants each time to get their gardens rolling! Lastly, we’ll have a flower gardening workshop as well this year that we’re excited to start!

This Week’s Box

Toscano Kale Rapini (Tops)

Pea Shoots

Mixed Beets

Brussels Sprout Stalk

Sangre Red Potatoes (Suncatcher Farm)

Inchelium Garlic

Family: Spinach

Produce Notes & Recipes

This week we have Toscano Rapini for you, aka the tops of Kale plants. Lengthening days, which the sunny days   intensify, shifts the plant’s energy into reproduction and sends up these beautiful shoots. This isn’t too shocking. It is a brassica just like the mustards that are blooming in all the vineyards and so that was just a little extra boost. Albeit sad as it means the end of the crop, we have newer kale crops in the ground and newer yet in the nursery. We love harvesting the Rapini. Like Broccoli Rabe is flowering Broccoli. Use these tender, young leaves as well as the flowers as you would a tender kale.  The flavor is milder than full-sized kale — somewhere between baby kale and broccolini, with a gentle brassica brightness but very little bitterness. Because you grow in rich, biologically active soil, these tops are especially vibrant and nutrient-dense — packed with antioxidants, calcium, and vitamins A, C, and K.

Best cooking methods:

• Quick sauté with garlic

• Tossed into pasta

• Added to frittatas

• Lightly steamed and dressed with olive oil + lemon

• Grilled whole and finished with flaky salt

We’re excited to have amazing Beets this February! Our over wintered Carrots were partly a fail but the Beets rock! Today we’ve pulled together a mixed bunch of beets for you with Red, Golden and Chioggia Beets in each bunch. With this rainbow of colors my favorite thing to do is to roast them and have

Roasted Mixed Beets with Pea Shoots, Citrus & Pistachio

1 bunch mixed beets

2–3 Tbs olive oil

1 tsp kosher salt

Fresh cracked pepper

2 cups pea shoots

¼ cup toasted pistachios (or walnuts), roughly chopped

2 oz goat cheese or feta (optional)

Citrus Vinaigrette:

2 Tbs fresh orange juice (or lemon)

1 Tbs red wine vinegar

1 tsp honey

3 Tbs olive oil

Pinch salt

Optional Grain Base:

1 cup farro or quinoa

2 cups water or broth

Pinch salt

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Trim tops and scrub beets. Wrap red beets separately in foil, drizzled with olive oil and a pinch of salt.

2. Roast 35–50 minutes until tender when pierced. Cool slightly, slip off skins, and cut into wedges or thick slices.

3. If using grain: Simmer farro in salted water 20–25 minutes until tender but chewy; drain well. For quinoa, simmer 15 minutes, rest covered 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

4. Whisk together orange juice, vinegar, honey, olive oil, and salt until emulsified.

5. To assemble without grain: Scatter pea shoots on a platter. Arrange beets over top. Spoon vinaigrette over and finish with pistachios and cheese if using.

6. To assemble with grain: Spread warm farro or quinoa on the platter first and toss lightly with a spoonful of vinaigrette. Arrange beets over grain, then pea shoots. Finish with remaining vinaigrette, nuts, and cheese.

It’s possible this is our last round of Brussels Sprouts and it’s possible not. They don’t look beautiful but they still taste amazing with a little clean up. Yes this means longer standing at the sink cutting the base of each to take off the outer leaves.

We have a round of Sangre Potatoes from our friends at Suncatcher Farm in Petaluma. They are a red-skinned variety with white flesh, known for their creamy texture and excellent flavor when boiled or baked.

Extra Shares

Flower Share: Anemone, Hellebore & Daffodils🌸

Lettuce Share: Lettuce Leaf Mix 🥬

Bunched Greens Share: 🌈 Rainbow Kale