The 25th pick-up

In the box: walnuts, delicata squash, tomatoes, figs, apples, summer squash, carrots, lettuce and one more item still to be determined.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. The season has been kind and I have enjoyed growing for you. Already I have planted garlic and leeks for the spring and am close to getting my Fava beans in – remember those from the first pick-up? The garden is slowing down but still chugging along. I will open the Saturday market for a few more weeks but once the freeze hits, I will close for the winter.

Recently I had some left over winter squash and I added it to my morning egg scramble. YUM. Here’s the recipe that feeds two hungry farmers:

4 eggs whisked
2 strips bacon
Half of a baked delicata
Small summer squash

Pre-heat pan. Add bacon and cut into bit size pieces. Drain some oil, cut squashes into bit size pieces and add. Sauté for 5 minutes and add eggs. Scramble it all up and serve. Also great with potatoes, garlic, onions, chard, and so on.

Check out this very cool praying mantis that has befriended me on the garden.

All the best!
Rebecca

One more week :(

This week’s share:

Raspberries, acorn squash, summer squash, sweet peppers, apples, lettuce, greens, radishes, broccoli or cauliflower

 

Dear CSA members,

Thank you for participating in the Sonoma Garden Park CSA this year. After today’s pick-up, you have only one left on November 4, 2009.

I have enjoyed the season and am already looking forward to next year. It has been an enormous learning experience for me and I hope you still have a palette for summer squash and apples.

This was also my first CSA that I managed solo and I wanted to share with you my thoughts and challenges from this year as well as my ideas for improvements. Please note that Sonoma Garden Park is a small operation with mostly hand-cultivated beds, this means we do not rely on a tractor that uses gasoline for energy.

1.     I agree, the season started off very slow. Cool weather was definitely a factor and next year, I plan to increase my spring planting to beef up the bounty in the spring.

2.     I realized how quickly a bed of carrots goes when feeding 15 families.

3.     One of my major challenges this year was my inability to grow a nice crop of beans. I learned that gophers LOVE bean roots – probably because they are so healthy – and as soon as I turned my back on the crop, I lost another two plants. My strategy for next year is to 1) plant a lot more seeds, and 2) grow them in a different area.

4.     Plant more onions, broccoli, and cauliflower, and next year I am hoping to plant parsnips, kohlrabi and much more.

5.     I realized halfway through the season that I was over- supplying you with summer squash. Next year, I plan to increase my variety of crops so I can offer more selection.

6.     This was a very good year for apples.

7.     I loved growing melons and already have a plan to grow more varieties, including the Sugar Baby watermelon.

8.     I plan to increase my perennial vegetable beds and have already added a new bed of artichokes and plan to do the same for rhubarb.

9.     I also plan to pack the bag next year. I always felt bad for the last person to pick up, as he or she was sometimes left with the smallest pieces of produce.

Now, I am curious to hear your thoughts and suggestions so I can improve the CSA for next season, the first week of June to be exact. In the coming weeks an official survey will be sent out but also feel free to reply or add a comment to the blog http://sonomacsa.wordpress.com.

All the best and thanks for a great season,

Rebecca Bozzelli

Garden Manager

Sonoma Garden Park

19996 Seventh Street East

Sonoma, CA 95476

www.sonomaecologycenter.org

RECIPE

Squash Chips

Best with Delicata

Thinly slice squash and brush each side with oil or butter

Roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes, flipping half-way through

Delish! Great as an appetizer or a side to a main dish.

It’s raining, it’s pouring,

The old man is snoring.

He went to bed and bumped his head,

And he wouldn’t get up in the morning

A cute little nursery rhyme that has been going in my head all day as I peak out the window and wonder what the garden will look like tomorrow. Already it seems like two or three inches have fallen, I might be swimming home. Anyway, I decided to spend a day inside while the garden gets a good dose of water. Hooray.

The CSA is starting to wind down and so are the crops. This week in your share you will be receiving:

Sweet peppers, Poblanos, Winter Squash, Apples, Pears, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Pumpkins

This week in the garden I have been harvesting. Almost 400 pounds of winter squash, five bushels of peppers, ten bushels of apples, and lots and lots of pumpkins. I was afraid that this big storm might ripe some limbs off my apples that were laden with fruit so I decided to harvest as much as I could.

Aside from harvesting, we have been working hard to plan for our annual Harvest Festival which will include lots of fun filled family activities including pie, tractor rides, scarecrow building, music and lots more. Saturday, Oct. 24th, 11-5.

This week at home I have been souping it up so I thought I would share my basic soup recipe. This recipe can be adapted for most vegetables, this week I used a combination of summer squash and broccoli. This recipe, as with all my recipes, is not meant to be followed exactly, so feel free to add your own flair.

Rebecca’s Delicious Vegetable Soup!

4 cups veggie or chicken broth

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

1 carrot

12 summer squash or 2 cups, or veggie of choice (broccoli, kale, asparagus, cauliflower, etc)

2 potatoes

s&p to taste

Heat up oil (I like to use bacon fat to add flavor) and saute onions, carrots, and garlic for ten minutes. Add veggie of choice and saute for another 5 minutes and then add broth. Dice potatoes and add to soup and bring to boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Puree and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with croutons or fresh bread.

Rebecca

Hærfest

Hærfest is an old fashioned English term used to describe what we now call the harvest. The harvest marks the end of the growing season for most of the fruits and vegetables grown here in the Valley. If you live near a vineyard, like I do, you can hear all the activity that is taking place both day and night during the grape harvest. What used to be quite vineyards are now thriving workplaces. Many cultures have ceremonies surrounding the harvest season which date back to ancient times. We too are planning a harvest celebration, which is scheduled for Saturday, October 24, 2009. We will have great local food, beverages, mask making workshop for kids, pie judging contest, scarecrow building, and live music! And that is just a small preview of the entire event. If you would like to learn more about the October 24th Harvest Festival, or learn how you can volunteer, check out the Sonoma Ecology Center website for additional information.

Enjoy this weeks selection!
Jessica

In todays bag:

Carrots, tomatoes, Eel River melons, figs, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, summer squash, and Thai basil.

Chilled Melon Soup Recipe:

Ingredients

2 ripe cantaloupe melons-skinned, seeded, and cubed
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup kirsch
1/2 cup creme fraiche
4 sprigs mint
zest of 1 orange
1 1/2 cup heavy cream or 2 cups plain yogurt

Directions

Puree the melon until smooth then add the cream or yogurt.
Add the sugar and kirsch.
Blend until smooth.
Let chill 2-3 hours.
Place in chilled bowls and garnish with 1 tablespoon cream fraiche, 1 sprig mint, and some orange zest.

Crane Melon

This week’s share:

Crane Melons, Beets, Carrots, Tomatoes, Peppers, Cucumbers, Summer Squash, Thai Basil, and apples

The melons are in! I just harvested close to 100 pounds of melon, specifically, the Crane Melon. A deliciously juicy cantaloupe variety. The Crane melon is named after Richard Crane, a famous Sonoma county artist. In 1849, Richard Hope Crane arrived in California for the gold rush and, in 1852, settled in Santa Rosa. The property that Richard purchased was part of the vast Mexican land grant, Cotate Rancho. The Crane Melon Barn was built on Petaluma Hill Road in 1868. It is built entirely out of redwood and was originally used for storing hay, horses and livestock. So sturdy is its construction that it has survived several major earthquakes with no damage.

In time, the land and the barn passed to Richard’s son, Oliver Crane. Oliver developed the Crane Melon at the turn of the 20th century and began selling Crane Melons out of the Barn in the 1920’s. Oliver’s son Richard “Dick” Crane, grandson George, great grandson Rick and great great granddaughter Jennifer Crane have all carried on the family tradition of farming the Crane Melon and selling them at the barn. The Barn is currently owned and operated by father and daughter Rick and Jennifer Crane who are fifth and sixth generation Sonoma County farmers.

Technically, I am growing the Eel River variety of melon. Enjoy and don’t forgot to save the date for October 24th, our fabulous Harvest Festival!

Cheers, Rebecca

This week’s produce:

Peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, apples, Indian Blood Peaches, Garlic, Summer squash, and beets

In the garden:

The changing of the season is taking place and the garden is gearing up for winter. All the winter veggies are going in the ground along with the last crop of lettuce and radishes for your CSA shares. The pumpkins are sizing up and the winter squash is coloring in nicely. Just a few weeks before you will be seeing these in your shares. Can’t believe it’s almost time for winter squash soup. We also received another 20 or so chickens, so if you have time when you pick up your produce go check out the new little ones.

Upcoming we have lots on the calendar keeping us busy. All the workshops are two hours and start at 10:00 am.

September 19th — Basic Composting class by Amy Kessler, a special guest

September 26th – Winter Gardening Class,  Rebecca Bozzelli, and Scott and Kendra from A Sonoma Garden Blog

October 4th – Irrigation To be taught by Cassandra and myself, Rebecca

October 24th – HARVEST FESTIVAL!! 11-5

Recipe of the week. Gazpacho it is. The quintessential summer soup. I found this recipe on the New York Times and love it. Let me know your favorite way to make it.

2 pounds ripe red tomatoes, peeled

4 ounces stale French baguette, crusts removed and diced or torn into pieces (about 2 1/2 cups diced or torn up bread)

2 garlic cloves, halved, green shoots removed, coarsely chopped

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (more to taste), plus additional for drizzling

1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar (to taste)

Salt to taste

For garnish: diced green pepper or, for a spicy twist, diced poblano pepper

1. Place the bread in a bowl, and cover with cold water. Allow to sit for a few minutes, then drain and squeeze the water from the bread. Return the bread to the bowl, and place a strainer over the bowl.

2. Cut the peeled tomatoes in half across the equator, and squeeze out the seeds over the strainer. Rub the seed pods against the strainer to extract as much juice as you can. Discard the seeds. Chop the tomatoes coarsely, and add to the bowl with the bread and tomato juice. Add the garlic, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, and salt to taste. Toss together and leave to marinate for 30 minutes.

3. Transfer to a blender, and blend at high speed until homogenized (you will probably have to do this in two batches). While the blender is running, drizzle in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Pour into the bowl, taste and adjust seasoning, adding more salt if desired. Cover and chill for at least two hours.

4. Serve, garnishing each bowl with diced green or poblano pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Time for Lunch

On Labor Day, which is this coming Monday, September 7th, Slow Foods Sonoma is hosting an Eat-In called Time for Lunch, a National Day of Action to get Real Foods into school. This community potluck, which is happening from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Sonoma Garden Park, is one of hundreds of Eat-In’s taking place all over the country, where community members can share a meal and talk about a very important cause – trying to get healthier foods into our school systems. And because all of you are already well versed about eating healthy, we encourage you to join us in this very important discussion!

This is a community potluck, and you are encouraged to bring a dish that contains organic, local, or sustainably grown foods, as well as your own plate, utencils, and cup. You are also encouraged to bring a friend, or someone who you think will either have something great to contribute to the discussion, or can learn something from the topic of the Eat-In.

Hope to see you there!

Jessica

This Weeks Produce:

Grapes, peaches, apples, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini

This Weeks Recipe:

Apple Glazed Carrots

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup water
• ½ cup apple cider
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 lb carrots, sliced crosswise into 1/3-inch pieces
• 2 cups chopped baking apples

Preparation:

Melt the butter in a large skillet over low heat. Continue gently cooking the butter until it turns light brown; remove pan from heat and allow the butter to cool for a few minutes. Add the water, apple cider, and cinnamon to the browned butter and return the skillet to the stove top over medium heat.

Bring the apple cider mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, and allow it to simmer for 2 minutes. Add the carrots, cover the skillet, and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Add a small amount of water to the carrots, if necessary. Stir the apples into the skillet and cook for 5-7 minutes until the apples and carrots are tender.

Makes 6 servings. Enjoy!

An apple a day

In the barn:

Apples

Cherry Tomatoes

Poblanos (the pepper for Chili Relleno)

Beans – Mixture of Dragon’s Tongue, Purple, Yellow Wax and Green

Basil

Asian Pears

Peaches

Cucumbers

Zucchini

In the Garden:

Apples are on. Do you know their are over 5,000 varieties of apples in the world yet only a few are sold in grocery stores. The apples grown at Sonoma Garden Park are all heirloom varieties. Some of my favorites include the Pink Pearl, Mutsu, and Gravenstein, but this list is forever changing depending on which apple is ripe at the moment.

Unfortunately, these heirloom varieties are fighting a losing battle. They do not lend themselves to large scale orchards, do not pack well, and come in strange, knobbly shapes which some consumers, conditioned to heavily hybridized apples, find distasteful. Commercial apple production is focused on creating consistent, easily packable apples, a far cry from the 18th century wanderings of Johnny Appleseed, the man responsible for the widespread dissemination of apples throughout the United States.

Lucky you get to taste some of these very special varieties as they star in your produce line-up this week and in the weeks to come.

This tree has just been harvested for your CSA box. I am fairly certain it is a red gala, an apple known for it’s crispness and sweetness. Yum. Enjoy.

In the Kitchen:

Zucchini Fritters

A new and easy way to eat up all this zucchini.

3 medium zucchinis, grated

1 onion, diced

1 clove garlic

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

Lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion, garlic, zucchini in oil for about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the milk and flour in a large bowl. Integrate the warm zucchini mixture. Spoon the mixture into a well oiled pan and fry on medium heat for 5 minutes on each side. Squeeze lemon on the fritter prior to serving. Great with salad.

Asian Pears

Some call it an apple pear, although in no way is it related to the apple or the European pear. The fruit are generally not baked in pies or made into jams because they have a high water content which makes them VERY crisp, and very different from the buttery European varieties. They are commonly served raw and peeled – great in salads or accompanying cheese. The fruit tends to be quite fragrant, and they can last for several months in a cold, dry place. Interestingly, Asian Pears are members of the rose family, Rosaceae, same as apples and European pears.

Personally, I LOVE them dried, it is one of the many things I do to preserve the harvest and enjoy fruit in the wintertime. If you happen to own a dehydrator, just slice up the asian pear and let it dry, if not, you can use the oven. I turn the oven to it’s lowest temperature – around 150 degrees – and then arrange my sliced asian pear on a baking sheet and let them dry in the over for 6 to 8 hours. Yes, it does take a while but then once they are cool, store in a sealed bag or jar and then you can enjoy these dried Asian pears all winter long.

This week’s produce line-up:

Mixed Eggplant (Orient Express, Calliope, and Nadia

Mixed Carrots (Carnival and Chanteray)

Asian Pears (of course)

Red Gala Apples

Cucumber (Lemon and English)

Summer Squash

Salad Mix

Tomatoes (Early Girl, Big Beef, Pineapple, Black Prince, Sungold, Cherry)

Onion (Walla Walla)

This might be a good week to try your hand at homemade tomato sauce. Just toss some a carrot, garlic, and onion in some heated oil and toss in as 10 or so tomatoes. Add some oregano, thyme, parsley, wine, and a spoonful of sugar if you like sweet sauces. Stew at a low to medium temperature for a good hour or two and serve with fresh pasta.

 

By the way, we are more then halfway done with our CSA, the summer is flying by and I am starting to summer prune the fruit trees and prep beds for the fall crops: broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, and so on. Thanks so far for a great season,

Rebecca

Happy Full Sturgeon Moon!

August 5th, the day of this week’s CSA pick up, is the Full Sturgeon Moon! Why is the full moon named after a fish you ask? This is because full moon names date back to Native Americans, of what is now the northern and eastern United States. The tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred. There was some variation in the moon names, but in general, the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior.

European settlers followed that custom and created some of their own names. Since the lunar month is only 29 days long on the average, the full Moon dates shift from year to year. The fishing tribes are given credit for the naming of this month’s moon, since sturgeon, a large fish, of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the moon rises, it appears reddish through any sultry haze. It was also called the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.

So now you might be wondering why I writing about the full moon on the Sonoma CSA blog, and the answer is because of the deep seeded relationship that farmers have with lunar cycles. If you would like to do some additional reading on this topic, I have two recommended reads for you. The first is a website, which is www.farmersalmanac.com, and the second is a book, Full Moon Feast, written by Jessica Prentice. Both are great resources which describe the interconnectedness between what we eat and when we eat it!

Jessica

This Weeks Produce:

Garlic, Peaches, Apples, Lettuce, Chard, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Zucchini

This Weeks Recipe:

Tzatziki, pronounced dza-DZEE-kee, is a yogurt cucumber dip, and is traditionally served as an appetizer which can be left on the table as an accompaniment to foods throughout a meal. The key to great tzatziki is the thick creamy texture that allows it to be eaten alone, as a dip, as a spread, and as a condiment.

• 16 ounces (2 cups) of thick Greek yogurt
• 4 to 10 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup of diced or grated cucumber
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of lemon juice

Prepare all ingredients in advance. Combine oil and lemon juice in a medium mixing bowl. Fold the yogurt in slowly, making sure it mixes completely with the oil. Add the garlic, according to taste, and the cucumber. Stir until evenly distributed. Garnish with a bit of green and serve well chilled.

Yield: about 2 1/2 cups