The Sonoma Garden Park is an educational farm and community garden managed by the Sonoma Ecology Center.
SONOMANS ABBY AND JOHN CUNHA look over the seasonal, locally grown produce available this summer on Saturday mornings at the Sonoma Garden Park. Flowers, eggs and freshly baked breads are available along with other locally produced fruits and vegetables. To read the article, click here.
Thanks to The Sonoma Index-Tribune for promoting Sonoma Garden Park and all the wonderful programs we have going on this summer. I couldn’t have said it any better
Week #2: Carrots, Lettuce, Radishes, Kale, Strawberries, Mullberries, Spring Onions, Green Garlic, and perhaps some Fava Beans
The weeds are growing strong, it seems they are growing as fast or faster than my food crops. My days are spent rotating through the gardening prioritizing where to weed and then weeding. I enjoy the solitude of weeding alone, I also enjoy weeding with others. It is amazing how fast we can knock down those weeds in a single morning with a grip of helpers. We knocked down weeds in 5-6 six beds the other day and I was IMPRESSED. Weeds are very time-consuming and a lot of folks ask why organic produce costs more. Weeds is one of the answers. Conventional farmers purchase sprays to knock down the weeds, but here at Sonoma Garden Park (Farm), we use good ole man power. Weeding is therapeutic too, good for the body and mind, so come and join me anytime!!
Farmer Rebecca
Just think, you could be enjoying fresh produce for the next 23 weeks from Sonoma Garden Park, your local educational farm and community garden. Join now or to learn all about how our CSA works on Wednesday at 6pm at Sonoma Garden Park, 19996 7th Street East, between MacArthur and Denmark.
P.S. These fresh berries are a delight and a guarantee in your bag, so what are you waiting for?
So sign up today for the Sonoma Garden Park CSA 2010 season. The produce is picked in the morning and you pick it up in the afternoon. The price is only $18 a week which feeds about 2-3 a week if you are not vegetarian and the season lasts for 23 weeks. Flowers and eggs are also an option, each for $5 more a week.
You can find the application at the Sonoma Ecology Center website.
My days are spent planting the garden so I can create a nice bountiful mixed bag of produce. Expect to eat lots of onions and potatoes this year, along with the regulars like tomatoes, summer squash, lettuce, greens, rainbow chard, and of course, apples.
The rain is coming down outside and inside I am planning out the season. Thursday I start planting my summer veggies, including tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. Sunday is the full moon and somehow the gravity of the full moon help these little seeds get rooted. Perfect timing too in order to plant the little babies out at the end of April and early May. Fingers crossed and weather permitting, that gives us tomatoes in July. That’s over six months away.
Meantime, it’s time to start signing up for these delicious fruits and veggies. This year the CSA starts the first week of June and end the first week of November. Pick-ups are on Wednesday from 3:00-6:00 pm. Your pre-packed bag of produce costs $20 a week and will feed an omnivorous family of 2-3. For merely $4 more a week, you can also take home an arrangement of flowers. Eggs will also be an option.
Beets and mulberries for the CSA.
2010 CSA Season is June 2, 2010 – November 3, 2010
If you are new to the CSA, check out last years blog posts to see some samples of what’s to come (should you sign up). Which reminds me, only 15 members this year so get your application in to reserve your spot.
Signing out for now and hoping to see you soon,
Farmer Rebecca
rebecca@sonomaecologycenter.org
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
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 https://sonomacsa.wordpress.com.
All the best and thanks for a great season,
Rebecca Bozzelli
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 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
Directions
The Sonoma Garden Park CSA 
