My dear community,

It’s been quite a week. I learned a real lesson about water resistant vs. water repellent clothing. Dilemmas of a woman who spent a lot of time in drought ridden California. All the rain was a boost for the veggies, but they’ll tend to be a little dirtier than usual. It’s always best to rinse and spin dry your produce before it goes into the fridge, first removing any tops.
We’ve added another one of my local favorites to our CSA store. Wishbone Wellbeing is a local, woman-owned business creating small batches of bone broth, very often using our veggies, but always organic. Add a jar to your box and let us know what you think.
Please keep your recipe suggestions coming! I really appreciate those who have sent emails and apologize for the late response as my two very young boys rule my schedule.

With connective intention.

CSA Contains:
WHITE CAULIFLOWER
RED CABBAGE
BUNCHED SPINACH
CARROTS
LEEKS
LACINATO KALE
RED LEAF LETTUCE
BUTTERNUT SQUASH
BROCCOLI from SUNRISE ORGANICS
SATSUMA TANGERINES from GLEN ANNIE ORGANICS
BIG BOX: RED BUTTER, CILANTRO, BEETS, TANGERINES, CELERY

FRUIT EXPANSION: FUJI APPLES from CUYAMA ORCHARDS and SATSUMA TANGERINES from GLEN ANNIE ORGANICS
LETTUCE OF THE WEEK: RED BUTTER

JUST the BASICS:
WHITE CAULIFLOWER
BUNCHED SPINACH
CARROTS
RED LEAF LETTUCE
BROCCOLI
SATSUMA TANGERINES
Continue reading →

My dear community,

It’s hard to imagine we were at the beach last weekend. As we head into California winter, things slow down and with the wet weather, get a little dirtier. On the farm we have more greens and less variety. But what we do have is geared especially to keep you healthy during these months. Our farmacy in a box is loaded with antioxidants, vitamins and mineral rich food. Eating locally grown, seasonal produce is the most flavorful there is.

The heavy rain forecasted this week is great and needed for the land, and will definitely keep us busy. We’ll be going off our mental checklist of running around remembering to cover the hay bales and chicken feed, and wading through muddy fields picking veggies. It will give me a chance to catch up on paperwork as well.

We’ve added a Twitter account to our media outlets to keep you inspired with new recipes. Find us @somethinggoodorganics on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @johngivensfarm. Tag us with any new creations you make and we will make sure to share. Keeping our community fed, nourished and inspired to keep eating more plants is our mission.

With connective intention,

CSA Contains:
RED BEETS
LEEKS
BUNCHED SPINACH
LACINATO KALE
RED CABBAGE
GARNET YAMS
ARUGULA
RED BUTTER LETTUCE
SATSUMA TANGERINES
CARROTS
BIG BOX ADD: CARROTS, BLUEBERRIES, ROMAINE LETTUCE, BROCCOLI, DILL

JUICE FEAST:
RED BEETS
BUNCHED SPINACH
LACINATO KALE
RED CABBAGE
ROMAINE LETTUCE
CELERY
ITALIAN PARSLEY
FUJI APPLES
EUREKA LEMONS

JUST the BASICS:
BUNCHED SPINACH
CARROTS
GARNET YAMS
RED BUTTER LETTUCE
SATSUMA TANGERINES
BROCCOLI

FRUIT EXPANSION: SATSUMAS and BLUEBERRIES
LETTUCE of the WEEK: ROMAINE

Continue reading →

My dear community,

It’s been a wild week to say the least. We’ve been enjoying the summer weather, but looking forward to the possibility of rain next week. Rain and cooler temperatures help our orchards produce when springtime finally comes. As much as we love posting up at the beach on a Sunday afternoon, we’d rather hunker down inside and watch the rain quench our parched land.
I’ve been renovating all things chicken. We’ve been trimming trees to make room for more sun to shine through where the chickens are grazing. We are moving the chickens around and planting grass for them to graze on. I’ve made use of a homemade chicken tractor and I’m moving our newest flock around the orchard every day. We’re looking forward to lots of eggs come spring. We will notify you if you are on our Egg Subscription wait list as soon as they become available.
Back by popular demand – Deux Bakery’s Blueberry Walnut Multigrain Sourdough. Enjoy it on the side of a bowl of cauliflower leek soup in the company of your quaranteam.

With connective intention,

CSA Contains:
RED BEETS
LEEKS
GARNET YAMS from QUAIL H. FARMS
SATSUMA TANGERINES from GLEN ANNIE ORGANICS
RED LEAF LETTUCE (you might receive green leaf or red butter as we don”t have enough of one variety this week)
BROCCOLI from SUNRISE ORGANICS
WHITE CAULIFLOWER
BUNCHED SPINACH
COLLARD GREENS
CARROTS
BIG BOX ADD: CARROTS, SALAD MIX, LACINATO KALE, TANGERINES, ITALIAN PARSLEY

JUICE FEAST:
RED BEETS
FUJI APPLES from GOPHER GLENN ORGANICS
ROMAINE LETTUCE
CELERY
BUNCHED SPINACH
COLLARD GREENS
CARROTS X2
LACINATO KALE
ITALIAN PARSLEY

JUST THE BASICS:
SATSUMA TANGERINES from GLEN ANNIE ORGANICS
RED LEAF LETTUCE (you might receive green leaf or red butter as we don”t have enough of one variety this week)
BROCCOLI from SUNRISE ORGANICS
BUNCHED SPINACH
CARROTS
CAULIFLOWER

FRUIT EXPANSION: SATSUMA TANGERINS from GLEN ANNIE ORGANICS and KIWI from WILD RIVER FARMS
LETTUCE of the WEEK: ROMAINE

Continue reading →

My dear community,

I’m taking this week’s blog to focus on something important to me, non-veggie but community related. If you thought the San Marcos Foothills were protected you were only partially right. I just thought the topic needed an intro For the past few months, the local community and CSA members have been working on trying to raise awareness about the impending development of the San Marcos Foothills Upper West Mesa (the base of highway 154 if you’re heading to the Valley). SMFoothills are the last grassland foothills that are publicly accessible from North Santa Barbara to Gaviota. Channel Islands Restoration is tasked with fundraising and Save San Marcos Foothills is spearheading a plan to buy the property from the owner and developer. We are running out of time as the road grading permit was approved on Dec. 17, 2020. We need more people to know about this wonderful place so more people are willing to donate. The CSA program has commited to make a donation and we hope you will too, if you are in a position to do so.

We are extending our CSA store hours until Monday evening at midnight to accommodate orders, with the exception of Deux Bakery bread orders which will remain Sunday at midnight (starting NEXT WEEK). Our CSA software will let you order bread until closing on Monday at midnight, but we will be monitoring orders and removing any bread that is ordered past cut-off. We hope this will come as a better service to you and your weekly meal planning.

With connective intention,

CSA Contains:
CARROTS
CILANTRO
GREEN BEANS
FENNEL
SATSUMA TANGERINES from GLEN ANNIE ORGANICS
RED BUTTER LETTUCE
GREEN CURLY KALE
BUNCHED SPINACH
ROMANESCO CAULIFLOWER
BUTTERNUT SQUASH
BIG BOX ADD: FUJI APPLES, CARROTS, SALAD MIX, NAPPA CABBAGE, RED BEETS

FRUIT EXPANSION: FUJI APPLES and SATSUMA TANGERINES
Lettuce of the Week: ROMAINE

JUICE FEAST:
CARROTS x2
CILANTRO
FENNEL
GREEN CURLY KALE
BUNCHED SPINACH
FUJI APPLES
RED BEETS
CELERY x2

BASICS BOX:
CARROTS
GREEN BEANS
SATSUMA TANGERINES from GLEN ANNIE ORGANICS
RED BUTTER LETTUCE
BUNCHED SPINACH
ROMANESCO CAULIFLOWER

Continue reading →

My dear community,

Happy 2021 everybody. 2020 was definitely a blurry mess, but here we are ready to welcome the new year. While we took a little break over the past two weeks I feel like the veggies did too. The cold weather and short days keeps them from getting big enough to pick. We are on the verge of a big cauliflower crop though, and I’m looking forward to having it in the boxes in the next few weeks. I drove up to Avila to grab a few pallets of freshly picked Fuji apples from Gopher Glenn Organics and I’m working on sourcing local tangerines for the upcoming weeks. The local orchard we source from a lot was sold and I had to make sure we can still have fruit in the future. I’m working on gathering more recipes and sharing on Instagram. Please continue to share with our community what you are doing with your CSA boxes so we can encourage new ideas by using the hashtag #somethinggoodorganics or tagging us @somethinggoodorganics.

Through your feedback, we’ve launched a new smaller box called our Basics Box. While we love loading up your fridge to the max and encouraging a plant based diet, we understand various household sizes vary and so do personal preferences. Our Basic Box will contain 6 items and the contents will be listed weekly along with the other boxes on our blog, as always. For reference, a regular box has 10 items and a large, 15. If this sounds like the best option for you, log into your account at www.farmigo.com/account/somethinggoodorganics, click on the “change” button next to your subscription and toggle between the sizes with at least 3 days advance notice.

Do you make new year’s resolutions? Intentions? Or have other January traditions? I have an annual word. Resilience is my word for 2021. I hope by setting this as my intention it will help ground me in my decision making and goal setting for the year. If there’s anything I’ve learned from 2020, it’s that anything can be done if we rally together.

With connective intention.

CSA Contains:
CARROTS
BABY SPINACH
LACINATO KALE
RED LEAF LETTUCE
BROCCOLI from SUNRISE ORGANICS
RED BEETS
FUJI APPLES from GOPHER GLEN ORGANIC APPLE FARM
SATSUMA TANGERINES from HEATH RANCH
CELERY
ROMANESCO CAULIFLOWER
BIG BOX: GREEN CABBAGE, CILANTRO, ROMAINE LETTUCE, CARROTS, HASS AVOCADOS

FRUIT EXPANSION: SATSUMA TANGERINES from HEATH RANCH and FUJI APPLES from GOPHER GLEN ORGANIC APPLE FARM
Lettuce of the Week: Romaine Lettuce

JUICE FEAST:
CARROTS
BUNCHED SPINACH
LACINATO KALE
RED BEETS
FUJI APPLES
SATSUMA TANGERINES
CELERY
GREEN CABBAGE
CILANTRO
ROMAINE LETTUCE

BASICS BOX:
CAULIFLOWER
CARROTS
BUNCHED SPINACH
SATSUMA TANGERINES
ROMAINE LETTUCE
HASS AVOCADOS

Continue reading →

My dear community,

*We have some blueberries available this week. If you’d like to add a carton (or two or three) onto your order just shoot me a quick email before the end of the day with BLUEBERRIES in the subject line.

This is a really hard year to wrap up. It may not be possible to summarize everything in a paragraph but here’s what I have to say. This time last year I was hunkering down with a brand new baby and family all around me. A year later our lives have completely turned upside down. As spring came with COVID it seemed impossible that Santa Barbara County could go into lockdown, but as it unfolded small businesses would struggle to survive and when you needed family and friends the most, they couldn’t be around to help. It’s been a huge awakening. I’m proud I’ve been able to use our CSA program to funnel food into the community where it’s needed most. I’ve increased donations to the charity Lunch on Me which not only feeds the homeless in LA, but reroutes organic food from the trash into the mouths of those in need. I’ve had the opportunity to speak up about the struggles our farm and small farms like ours face and build community and awareness around us. Even though some days I want to curl up into a ball and wish it away, most days I’m giving thanks for the HUGE amount of blessings we have. Your support has helped me move forward one step at a time.

A final reminder- we will be taking the next two weeks off to recoup and collaborate. I received a new clutch of baby chicks from Alchemist Farm, a Sebastopol, California hatchery doing everything sustainably, humanely and with 100% renewable clean energy. These new chicks will add more colorful eggs come Spring. I’m looking forward to the future of our fruit orchard as it starts to mature. 2021 will surely be filled with more challenges as our farm is forced to get smaller and find avenues for local distribution. If you’re reading this blog chances are you are already supporting small farms. I’m so grateful for YOU. We look forward to seeing you again starting January 6th, 2021.

Be good to each other.

CSA Contains:
CARROTS – loose
ROMAINE LETTUCE
HASS AVOCADOS
RED BEETS
GARNET YAMS
SATSUMA TANGERINES from Heath Ranch
LEEKS
GREEN CABBAGE
BUNCHED SPINACH
CILANTRO
BIG BOX ADD: CARROTS, RED LEAF LETTUCE, RED KOHLRABI, LACINATO KALE, BLUEBERRIES from BELLA VISA FARMS

FRUIT EXPASNION: FUJI APPLES from VIVA TIERRA and SATSUMA TANGERINES from Heath Ranch
Lettuce of the Week: Red Leaf

JUICE FEAST:
CARROTS
ROMAINE LETTUCE
RED BEETS
SATSUMA TANGERINES
BLUEBERRIES from BELLA VISTA
GREEN CABBAGE
BUNCHED SPINACH
CILANTRO
LACINATO KALE
CELERY

Continue reading →

My dear community,

As we quickly approach the official start of winter we’ve already experienced frost in Buellton. Temperatures in the high 20s to low 30s have taken out most of what was left of our summer crops. The mornings are so cold we have to wait until about 9 to pick because the crops are frozen. This doesn’t leave us with a great variety to choose from in our CSA boxes, but we still have the tastiest cabbage. We continue to grow crops and varieties specifically for flavor. Crops higher in natural sugars are harder to store on the shelf and ship across the country. But we continue to grow the sweetest because we can sell locally – that’s the goal. Thanks for supporting what we do.

50 more chickens are arriving on Thursday. They will be nestled in our barn and out of the elements while they grow big enough to roam free. I partnered up with Alchemist Farm in Sebastopol to buy chickens. They breed chickens to survive without vaccinations and we are going to have more colorful eggs come springtime. In a regular hatchery most males are killed right off the assembly line. The Alchemist Farm helps roosters live before they become food or given away to a good home. They are also just amazing people and I’m happy to be partnering with them.

As a reminder, we will be closed the last two weeks of December. We will close the 23rd of December and reopen on January 6th. If you are on our bi-weekly schedule A and you’d like to receive a box on January 6th, please make sure to reach out to me. Otherwise the system will divert your box to January 13th. I’m here to help if you have any questions or last minute needs.

Consider giving the experience of our CSA program to your loved ones. It’s simple to gift a box of fresh organic veggies and other local goodies to be delivered right to someone’s doorstep.

Be good to each other.

CSA Contains:
CARROTS
RED LEAF LETTUCE
SATSUMA TANGERINES
GREEN CABBAGE
BROCCOLI from Fresh Venture Farms
YELLOW ONIONS from Finley Farms
LACINATO KALE
BUNCHED SPINACH
CELERY
BUTTERNUT SQUASH
BIG BOX ADD: CARROTS, LITTLE GEM LETTUCE, RED BEETS, LEEKS, GREEN ZUCCHINI

Fruit expansion: Fuji Apples and Satsuma Tangerines
Lettuce of the Week: Little Gem

Juice Feast:
CSA Contains:
CARROTS
LITTLE GEM LETTUCE
FUJI APPLES
GREEN CABBAGE
LACINATO KALE
BUNCHED SPINACH
CELERY
RED BEETS
ITALIAN PARSLEY

Continue reading →

My dear community,

The holidays are here and so is our annual break. A quick reminder that we will not be making CSA boxes the last 2 week of the year- December 23 through 30th. You do not have to put your box on hold – it’s been done for you. If you have a bi-monthly “Schedule B” subscription and you wish to have a box on January 6th, send me a quick email after December 16th to make the change. Alternatively you can log into your account here at www.farmigo.com/account/somethinggoodorganics, click on the “change” button next to your subscription and follow the prompts to switch to “Schedule A”. This must be done after your box is delivered the week of December 16th.

New product announcement! In continuing to highlight locally made outstanding goods- we’ve added Ojai Jelly to our store. We hope you enjoy its spicy and sweet goodness as much as we do. Check out her story and more here on the Ojai Jelly website.

We are here for your holiday shopping. We can put together a multitude of local goodies and deliver it as a gift. Please feel free to get in touch with me if you don’t see a gift certificate combination that fits your style in our CSA store. We’re happy to help.

Be good to each other.

CSA Contains:
GREEN ZUCCHINI
CARROTS
RED LEAF LETTUCE
BROCCOLI from SUNRISE ORGANICS
GARNET YAMS
RED BELL PEPPERS
BUNCHED SPINACH
LEEKS
ARUGULA
HEIRLOOM TOMATOES
BIG BOX ADD: RED BEETS, CARROTS, RED BUTTER LETTUCE, LACINATO KALE, DELICATA SQUASH

FRUIT EXPANSION: FUJI APPLES from CUYAMA ORCHARDS and FUYU PERSIMMONS from Millean Orchards
LETTUCE of the WEEK: RED BUTTER LETTUCE

JUICE FEAST:
CARROTS
RED BELL PEPPERS
BUNCHED SPINACH
RED BEETS
LACINATO KALE
CELERY
FUJI APPLES from CUYAMAM ORCHARDS
CILANTRO
ROMAINE LETTUCE

Continue reading →

My dear community,

A reminder about this week:

All Thursday deliveries will be delivered on Wednesday to your usual spot. Please wait until your delivery confirmation email as delivery times will vary.

No Friday deliveries. If you would like to pick up a box they will be at the Buellton farm Thursday morning as early as 8a.

No deliveries to Whole Foods. If you moved to another location- make sure to log into your account before Sunday, click on the “change” button next to your location and follow the prompts to move back to Whole Foods for next week.

We have a few extra cartons of blueberries for sale if anyone would like to grab one at $5. We can accomodate any other last minute needs until 5pm today via email.

The holidays always have my mind wrapping up the year and I’m reflecting on what a whirlwind it has been. It’s been one challenge after another and I’m sure there’s still a lot more adversity on our path. Being part of this community and feeling the support that’s given to each other has been a light for me. It makes all the sleepless nights, confusing days and painful moments worth it. I’m so grateful to all of you who have messaged, called, texted and otherwise held me up in a time that I didn’t realize I needed it so much. I’m thankful for each and every one of you, and can’t believe how lucky I am to provide this nourishing food to you and your loved ones.

Lastly, a quick note about our annual break. We will be closed December 23rd – January 1st (no boxes the last 2 weeks of the year). I will be taking this time to raise a new flock of chickens and making sure they are super cozy in this cold season and doing a little hibernating myself. You do not need to put your box on hold.

Happy Thanksgiving!

CSA Contains:
HEIRLOOM TOMATOES
CARROTS
STRAWBERRIES
BROCCOLI
CELERY
ITALIAN PARSLEY
SALAD MIX from SUNRISE ORGANICS
GARNET YAMS
LACINATO KALE
FUYU PERSIMMONS
BIG BOX ADD: CARROTS, LEEKS, BUTTERNUT SQUASH, RED BELL PEPPERS, GREEN ZUCCHINI

FRUIT EXPANSION: FUYU PERSIMMONS and BLUEBERRIES from BELLA VISTA FARMS
LETTUCE of the WEEK: RED LEAF

JUICE FEAST:
FUJI APPLES from CUYAMA ORCHARDS
CARROTS
STRAWBERRIES
CELERY x2
ITALIAN PARSLEY
ROMAINE LETTUCE
LACINATO KALE
FENNEL
BLUEBERRIES from BELLA VISTA

Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:
For the Sweet Potato filling:
2½–2¾ lbs. sweet potatoes (about 4 garnet or jewel medium sweet potatoes)*
¼ cup maple syrup (omit for Whole30)
⅓ cup milk of choice (unsweetened almond milk for Whole30)
1½ Tbsp. butter, melted (ghee or coconut oil for Whole30)
1 tsp. sea salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. chili powder
2 whole eggs (omit for egg-free)
For the Topping:
1 cup pecans (½ cup chopped + ½ cup pecan halves)
3 strips bacon, cooked and chopped (no-sugar bacon for Whole3o)
1 Tbsp. butter, melted (ghee or coconut oil for Whole30)
½ tsp. cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of salt
(Find the full recipe and directions here at The Real Food RDs)

Best Paleo Stuffing (Gluten-Free, Grain-Free)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons ghee or avocado oil or refined coconut oil
3 cups onion diced
2 cups celery diced
1 cup mushrooms diced
1 cup apple cored and diced
¼ cup dried cranberries or dates, chopped
¼ cup flat-leaf parsley chopped
4 teaspoons poultry seasoning
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 cups almond flour
3 eggs whisked
(Find the full recipe and directions here at 40 Aprons)

Kale, Persimmon, & Pomegranate Salad

Ingredients:
1 head kale, destemmed and chopped
1 1/2 cups perfectly cooked quinoa
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
1 large avocado, sliced
1 large (or 2 small) ripe fuyu persimmons, sliced
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
1 bunch fresh mint, chopped
for maple-tahini vinaigrette:
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon hot water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon maple syrup
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
(Find the full recipe and directions here at Camille Styles)

Roasted Broccoli Salad with Lemons and Almonds

Ingredients:
2 heads of broccoli
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup almonds
1/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
4 very thin slices of lemon, each cut into 8 tiny triangles (whatever you change about this recipe make sure you don’t leave out the lemon slices. They’re the best part!)
FOR THE LEMONY DRESSING
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
1 tablespoon honey (or sub maple syrup for vegan)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, grated on a Microplane or very finely minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
(Find the full recipe and inspiration here at The Endless Meal)

Chopped Kale Power Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing

Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (you should get about 5–6 cups)
2 teaspoons + 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
3/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bunch of curly kale, washed, stem removed and chopped (you should get 7–8 cups)
Juice of 1/2 a large lemon
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 large avocado, pitted and diced
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup chopped red onion
LEMON TAHINI DRESSING:
1/2 cup tahini
Juice of 1 large lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3–6 tablespoons warm water, depending on how thick you want the dressing
(Find the full recipe and directions here at She Likes Food)

My dear community,

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and I want to explain the holiday delivery schedule. We will only be making boxes on Wednesday, 11/25. If you plan on skipping Thanksgiving week, please log into your account now to place your hold.

If you receive your box on Thursday, we will be offering Wednesday pickup/delivery at your usual location. If you do not place your account on hold we will proceed with delivering your box on Wednesday and will notify you when it’s delivered.

We will not be delivering on Friday but please reach out to me to schedule your pickup for Wednesday evening or Thursday morning at our Buellton farm.

We are now offering dinner rolls from Deux Bakery over the holiday season for you to enjoy. Please let me know if there’s anything special we can request that will make your holiday shopping a little easier. We are also offering gift certificates in our CSA store. We are here to help you give the gift of veggies and health to anyone in Santa Barbara County.

Be good to each other.

CSA Contains:
CARROTS
GREEN LEAF LETTUCE
HEIRLOOM TOMATOES
GREEN ZUCCHINI
RED BELL PEPPERS
GARNET YAMS
FUJI APPLES or Persimmons or Avocados
RED BEETS
BUNCHED SPINACH
LACINATO KALE
BIG BOX ADD: CARROTS, RED LEAF LETTUCE, NAPPA CABBAGE, ITALIAN PARSLEY, LEEKS

FRUIT EXPANSION: FUJI APPLES and FUYU PERSIMMONS
LETTUCE OF THE WEEK: RED LEAF

JUICE FEAST:
CARROTS
ROMAINE LETTUCE
CELERY
RED BELL PEPPERS
FUJI APPLES
RED BEETS
BUNCHED SPINACH
LACINATO KALE
ITALIAN PARSLEY

Continue reading →