My dear community,

Spring and summer’s vegetables are less hearty so I’m circling back with tips for quick and easy prep. Wash and dry (or spin) and chop lettuce and toss it with some chopped herbs and put into a bag, ready to go. I know I’m more likely to eat a salad that week vs. just setting a head of lettuce in the veggie drawer. Chop cauliflower florets up, drizzle them with olive oil, paprika and nutritional yeast and pop them in the oven. In just 15 mins at 375 you’ll have really tasty, delicately crisp and delicious cauliflower you can add to almost anything or just eat alone. Fry zucchini in a cast iron pan (the pan makes a difference) with coconut oil for a crisp finish on both sides. It only takes about 5 mins per side. Blend herbs into dressing and/or place in a glass of water on your counter top or the front of the fridge to remind yourself to use them. Snap off carrot tops and store with the tips submerged in water for a quick anytime snack for anyone. Plan to use your kale in a salad, soup or bake chips the first few nights to avoid it yellowing or drying out. For me, small tips and tricks like these can make the difference between making an unhealthy decision for lunch or eating a rounded meal. I hope they help you too. Eating more fruits and vegetables are the building blocks for our health. A variety of veggies (and cutting out processed foods) can provide adequate fiber to feed our guts and keep our microbiome happy. We believe this weekly box is part of the big picture of good health and feels more important now than ever.

Be good to each other.

CSA Contains:
CARROTS
GREEN ZUCCHINI
RED LEAF LETTUCE
SWEET SPRING ONIONS
WHITE CAULIFLOWER
STRAWBERRIES
SUGAR SNAP PEAS
BROCCOLI
LACINATO KALE
RED TOMATOES
BIG BOX ADD: BUNCHED SPINACH, CARROTS, CROOKNECK SQUASH, LITTLE GEM LETTUCE, CUCUMBERS

FRUIT EXPANSION: STRAWBERRIES
LETTUCE of the WEEK: LITTLE GEM

JUST the BASICS:
CARROTS
RED LEAF LETTUCE
WHITE CAULIFLOWER
STRAWBERRIES
SUGAR SNAP PEAS
CUCUMBERS

JUICE FEAST:
CARROTS
STRAWBERRIES
BLUEBERRIES
HASS AVOCADOS
CELERY
LACINATO KALE
BUNCHED SPINACH
CUCUMBERS
ITALIAN PARSLEY

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My dear community,

Living on the farm and dealing with day to day life I’m constantly thinking about what the future will look like. We are already established with organic farming practices, a huge composting system and a forward thinking attitude that connects the practices of today with the future of our earth tomorrow. As the demand for stricter practices for insurance purposes mount, small farms continue to get pushed to the wayside for lack of labor (We would need to hire staff just for compliance paperwork) or willingness to comply. I can speak for our farm when I say that we do not want to turn our farm into steel tables, white clean houses and needless record keeping for the sake of selling to big box grocery stores. Keeping our soils healthy is directly related to keeping our bodies healthy. It’s been said that there’s only 60 years left of topsoil left if we continue degrading at the rate we are going.
That’s why it’s our mission to keep our farm small and go above organic and implement regenerative farming practices more and more until it’s all second nature. The food we eat is the underlying blocks our health is built on – it literally makes up who we are. The places we spend our money send powerful messages and we appreciate you supporting our farm.

On a side note – we have plenty of sugar snap peas at $6/lb. If you’d like to add them to your order just shoot me a quick email. In addition – if you see anything on the list below that you want added to your box but is not listed in the store please let me know.

Be good to each other.

CSA Contains:
CARROTS
GREEN ZUCCHINI
RED LEAF LETTUCE
SWEET SPRING ONIONS
WHITE CAULIFLOWER
STRAWBERRIES
CHINESE WHITE RADISH from SUNRISE ORGANICS FARMS **different from last week. these are very sweet
SUGAR SNAP PEAS
GREEN CURLY KALE
RED BEETS
BIG BOX ADD: ROMAINE LETTUCE, CARROT, BROCCOLI, BLUEBERRIES, SUNBURST SQUASH from SUNRISE ORGANICS FARMS

FRUIT EXPANSION: DOUBLE STRAWBERRIES
LETTUCE of the WEEK: ROMAINE

JUST the BASICS:
CARROTS
RED LEAF LETTUCE
BROCCOLI
STRAWBERRIES
ZUCCHINI
SUGAR SNAP PEAS

JUICE FEAST:
CARROTS
CELERY
ROMAINE LETTUCE
STRAWBERRIES
GREEN KALE
RED BEETS
BLUEBERRIES
ITALIAN PARSLEY

Continue reading →

My dear community,

With last year under our belt it’s been my underlying mission to make sure people are advocating for their own health. The human body is profoundly strong, powerful and resilient. This feels like a really good time reiterate having a healthy immune system and understanding our body’s natural defense systems and how to fortify them for optimal health. I believe it’s important to pair modern medicine with healthy eating habits including an array of nutrient packed vegetables. We are literally made up of more bacteria than human cells and those bacteria can thrive when we optimize our food. Check out this cool article with a little more information on all the bacteria that make up our bodies. I hope this snippet of information stokes curiosity and empowers you to create the your foundation of health. Our CSA boxes are your weekly farmacy and medicine has never been so delicious.

Be good to each other.

CSA Contains:
CARROTS
GREEN ZUCCHINI
RED LEAF LETTUCE
LEEKS
WHITE CAULIFLOWER
STRAWBERRIES
CHINESE TURNIPS from SUNRISE ORGANICS
BROCCOLI from SUNRISE ORGANICS
BUNCHED SPINACH
BLUEBERRIES from OCCUPINTI FARMS
BIG BOX ADD: RED BUTTER LETTUCE, CARROTS, STRAWBERRIES, ARUGULA, one more TBD

FRUIT EXPANSION: DOUBLE STRAWBERRIES
LETTUCE of the WEEK: RED BUTTER

Just the Basics
CARROTS
GREEN ZUCCHINI
RED LEAF LETTUCE
WHITE CAULIFLOWER
STRAWBERRIES
BROCCOLI

JUICE FEAST:
CARROTS x2
ROMAINE LETTUCE
STRAWBERRIES
BUNCHED SPINACH
BLUEBERRIES
LACINATO KALE
CELERY x2
ITALIAN PARSLEY

Continue reading →

My dear community,

I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of local food and what it means to me. It all starts in the soil. Our soils have more microorganisms in one teaspoon than all the people living on the earth. Highly complex systems are what drives our produce to not only taste so good, but to also be higher in vitamins and minerals. All those microorganisms also help sequester carbon and keep it in the ground where it best belongs. Most processes on our farm are done by hand. Each little seed gets placed into a seed flat to help it get a good start on the process. We have an easier time helping plants get a head start when they are in a greenhouse protected from birds and rodents. Each tiny plant is then hand planted into the soil and weeded by hand. We use organic pesticides, like essential oils and beneficial bugs, but the key is having healthy soil to begin with. As the plants grow to maturity each is picked by hand and packed into boxes the day before (or the day of) our CSA production. Local food is about creating sustainability with the earth and within our own communities. Food that’s grown locally is using local water and keeping hard earned dollars in the hands of our neighbors. However local food looks to you – thank you so much for considering it. It feels more important than ever that we are supporting the communities we live in.

Be good to each other.

CSA Contains:
CARROTS
RED LEAF LETTUCE
LEEKS
RED BEETS
GREEN ZUCCHINI
STRAWBERRIES
WHITE CAULIFLOWER (might be purple tipped as cauliflower doesn’t like the sun)
CILANTRO
BUNCHED SPINACH
GREEN KOHLRABI
BIG BOX ADD: ROMAINE LETTUCE, BROCCOLI, CARROTS, SPRING ONIONS, SUGAR SNAP PEAS

JUST the BASICS:
CARROTS
RED LEAF LETTUCE
GREEN ZUCCHINI
STRAWBERRIES
CAULIFLOWER
BUNCHED SPINACH

JUICE FEAST:
CARROTS
ROMAINE LETTUCE
RED BEETS
STRAWBERRIES
CILANTRO
BUNCHED SPINACH x2
CELERY x2
LACINATO KALE

FRUIT EXPANSION: DOUBLE STRAWBERRIES
LETTUCE of the WEEK: ROMAINE

Continue reading →

My dear community,

Spring is here and we are welcoming strawberries and zucchini this week. Even though we planted zucchini a month earlier this year, we still didn’t receive any significant amount of squash until now. Although we try and test the boundaries of the seasons, surrendering to mother nature is really the way to go.

Friendly reminder veggie pro-tips: storing your veggies correctly will help them last one to two weeks in your fridge no problem. We are picking within 24 hours of you receiving them. That means the produce didn’t sit in a warehouse, on a truck and then on a store shelf. It’s coming straight to your kitchen from our farm. Wash your greens, spin them dry and put them in an airtight container. Removing the tops off your carrots, beets, etc. help keep the moisture in the roots. Strawberries can be lined between paper towels in an airtight container (if you can resist eating them that fast). If they’re not put away correctly in the fridge, however, they will start to wilt. I pulled a bunch of spinach out that I hastily threw onto a fridge shelf last night. It was pretty wilted and if someone else saw it they probably would have suggested tossing it into the compost.:) But I plunged it in a cool bath of water and within 30 minutes it was perky, beautifully green and good as fresh. If I bring a new box home and I still have greens in my fridge, I toss them in the freezer for a smoothie. Having my lettuce cleaned, chopped and ready to go helps me eat more salads as well. Prepping your veggies ahead of time makes a seamless transition to your mouth when time is tight. Hope you enjoy the bounty this week.

Be good to each other.

CSA Contains:
BUNCHED SPINACH
CARROTS
BROCCOLI
STRAWBERRIES
FENNEL
GREEN ZUCCHINI
SUGAR SNAP PEAS
RED LEAF LETTUCE
LEEKS
LACINATO KALE
BOX ADD: CARROTS, BRUSSELS SPROUTS, SUGAR SNAP PEAS, GREEN LEAF LETTUCE, RED BEETS

JUST the BASICS:
CARROTS
BROCCOLI
STRAWBERRIES
ZUCCHINI
SUGAR SNAP PEAS
RED LEAF LETTUCE

JUICE FEAST:
CARROTS
BUNCHED SPINACH
ROMAINE LETTUCE
KALE
FENNEL
BLUEBERRIES
PINK LADY APPLES
RED BEETS
STRAWBERRIES

FRUIT EXPANSION: BLUEBERRIES from OCCIPINTI FARMS and STRAWBERRIES
LETTUCE of the WEEK: GREEN LEAF

Continue reading →

I’m off celebrating my son’s fifth birthday – more farm news next week. Have a great week!

CSA Contains:
CARROTS
SUGAR SNAP PEAS
RED BEETS
BROCCOLI
BUNCHED SPINACH
RED LEAF LETTUCE
GREEN CURLY KALE
RED RADISHES
LEEKS
CELERY
BIG BOX ADD: CARROTS, BRUSSELS SPROUTS, SUGAR SNAP PEAS, RED BUTTER LETTUCE, BLUEBERRIES from OCCHIPINTI FARM

JUST the BASICS
CARROTS
SUGAR SNAP PEAS
BROCCOLI
BUNCHED SPINACH
RED LEAF LETTUCE
PINK LADY APPLES from CUYAMA ORCHARDS

JUICE FEAST:
CARROTS X2
RED BEETS
BUNCHED SPINACH
ROMAINE LETTUCE
GREEN CURLY KALE
CELERY X2
ITALIAN PARSLEY
PINK LADY APPLES

FRUIT EXPANSION: BLUEBERRIES and TANGO MANDERINES
LETTUCE of the WEEK: ROMAINE

Continue reading →

My dear community,

As we round the corner into spring it may feel like the CSA box is taking time to catch up. But as the days (and especially nights) warm up we will be able to harvest enough spring things to change up the vibes in the box. Speaking of spring – I’ve been spending my days with the newest members of our farm family. Two baby neubian goats were born into this world last week. A very calming reminder of everything that there is so much good in this world. Looking forward to spending time with the momma and babies and eventually getting into goat milk and all the products that can come from it.
Do you know (and love) any local products that we should sell in our CSA store? Drop me a line and let me know. Through the craziness of a pandemic or just making everyday life a little more simple – we’re here to help.

Be good to each other.

CSA Contains:
CARROTS
RED BEETS
ROMAINE LETTUCE
DILL
LEEKS
GREEN CABBAGE
LACINATO KALE
BUNCHED SPINACH
PINK LADY APPLES from CUYAMA ORCHARD
WHITE CAULIFLOWER
BIG BOX ADD: CARROTS, RED LEAF LETTUCE, RADISHES, TANGELOS, HASS AVOCADOS from GREENSPOT FARMING

Just the Basics:
CARROTS
RED BEETS
ROMAINE LETTUCE
BUNCHED SPINACH
PINK LADY APPLES
WHITE CAULIFLOWER

JUICE FEAST:
CARROTS
RED BEETS
ROMAINE LETTUCE
GREEN CABBAGE
LACINATO KALE
BUNCHED SPINACH
PINK LADY APPLES
CELERY
ITALIAN PARSLEY

FRUIT EXPANSION: PINK LADY APPLES and PIXIE TANGERINES from OJAI PIXIES
LETTUCE of the WEEK: RED LEAF LETTUCE

Continue reading →

My dear community,

Just a quick note to say thanks. We so appreciate you being a part of our CSA program and spreading the word. For every member that signs up with a referal (and stays on for at least 6 weeks), we will pass the love back your way via a $25 credit on your account. As we all get back to the new normal we really appreciate you continuing to support local food. Regardless if our day feels normal and calm, or seriously nuts, it’s reassuring to know that a box of freshly picked produce is coming just for you. A lot of this world is experiencing food deserts and might not know where their next meal is coming from. Food banks can’t necessarily stock up with fresh produce. I give thanks for all that we have.

Be good to eachother.

CSA Contains:
CARROTS
BUNCHED SPINACH
RED LEAF LETTUCE
LEEKS
COLLARD GREENS
WHITE CAULIFLOWER
BUNCHED ARUGULA
PINK LADY APPLES from CUYAMA ORCHARDS
EASTER EGG RADISHES
SUGAR SNAP PEAS
BIG BOX ADD: CARROTS, ROMAINE LETTUCE, BRUSSELS SPROUTS, LACINATO KALE, RED BEETS

JUST the BASICS:
CARROTS
BUNCHED SPINACH
RED LEAF LETTUCE
WHITE CAULIFLOWER
PINK LADY APPLES
SUGAR SNAP PEAS

JUICE FEAST:
CARROTS
BUNCHED SPINACH
ROMAINE LETTUCE
COLLARD GREENS
PINK LADY APPLES from CUYAMA ORCHARDS
LACINATO KALE
RED BEETS
ITALIAN PARSLEY
CELERY
FENNEL

FRUIT EXPANION: PINK LADY APPLES and Pixie Tangerines from OJAI PIXIE
LETTUCE of the WEEK: ROMAINE LETTUCE

Continue reading →

My dear community,

I was looking at one of our early summer peach trees that already developed leaves. With those leaves came an onset of leaf curl, which is actually a fungus which will ultimately deform, but only slight effect the flavor of the peaches. I was curious why we didn’t spray (with organic materials and oils of course) the trees earlier in the season. But as a whole we want to stay away from reacting to problems. Ideally we want to learn which trees are experiencing difficulties and grow them from the root up for heartier resistance in the future. I think this holds true across the farm. If we can maintain healthy soil and compost, we are less likely to need external inputs and can work with nature instead of against it.
We’ve already planted corn, zucchini and we are starting on melons this week. Winter veggies will be a thing of the past before we know it, though a lot of those greens will hang on for the ride. Sugar snap peas weren’t plump enough to go into the boxes this week, but they will be a staple soon enough. Please enjoy all the offerings your box has this week and try a new recipe. Fennel always pushes me out of my comfort zone to a happy place, with the bulb roasted and covered in parmesan cheese and the fronds great in salads.

Be good to each other.

CSA Contains:
CARROTS
WHITE CAULIFLOWER
RED CHARD
SALAD MIX
FENNEL
LEEKS
RED BEETS
RED CABBAGE
BROCCOLI from SUNRISE ORGANICS
BABY SPINACH
BIG BOX ADD: HASS AVOCADOS, ROMAINE LETTUCE, KOHLRABI, BRUSSELS SPROUTS, CARROTS

Just the Basics:
CARROTS
WHITE CAULIFLOWER
SALAD MIX
RED BEETS
BROCCOLI
BABY SPINACH

JUICE FEAST:
CARROTS
RED CHARD
ROMAINE LETTUCE
FENNEL
RED BEETS
RED CABBAGE
BABY SPINACH
CELERY
CILANTRO
PINK LADY APPLES from CUYAMA ORCHARD

Continue reading →

My dear community,

I was very excited when I heard over the weekend that zucchini and sugar snap peas are a few weeks out! Then strawberries and tomatoes will follow soon after. The bounty of spring time is nearly upon us. I appreciate everyone who shared countless ways to make all our greens into delicious nourishing recipes. I made a delicious soup that got my whole family into chard last week . Even my 1 year old was slurping down the leftovers for breakfast. An easy and forgiving recipe:

cook down an onion and 2 cloves of garlic in 1/4 cup ghee for about 10 mins
add a whole head of chopped cauliflower with a crushed bay leaf and cook another 10 mins
add a quart of bone broth (see our CSA store for Wishbone Wellbeing Bone Broth) and the washed and chopped chard leaves
as the soup heats add 1 cup of full fat coconut milk and use an immersion blender to mix it all up
of course substitute as desired- this can easily be vegetarian or vegan, switch out or omit the cauliflower, or you could make it even heartier by adding beans or cheese, served over rice…
It was super filling and satisfying. Having chard come in the CSA box when I wouldn’t normally buy it pushes me outside my comfort zone and in turn I reap the benefits of the nutritional powerhouse that is chard – it’s an excellent source of vitamins K, A, and C, as well as a good source of magnesium, potassium, iron, and dietary fiber. Receiving your box within 24 hours of the vegetables being picked, growing the varieties that taste best in our experience and in the appropriate season helps set our vegetables apart from all else. ENJOY!

Be good to each other.

CSA Contains:
CARROTS
WHITE CAULIFLOWER
RED BEETS
GREEN CABBAGE
HASS AVOCADOS from GREEN SPOT FARMING
EAST EGG RADISHES from SUNRISE ORGANICS
LEEKS
FUJI APPLES from CUYAMA ORCHARDS
ROMAINE LETTUCE
GREEN CURLY KALE
BIG BOX ADD: SALAD MIX, CARROTS, BRUSSELS SPROUTS (or tangerines), GARNET YAMS, BABY SPINACH from SUNRISE ORGANICS

JUST the BASICS:
CARROTS
CAULIFLOWER
HASS AVOCADOS
FUJI APPLE
ROMAINE LETTUCE
GREEN CURLY KALE

JUICE FEAST:
CARROTS X2
RED BEETS
FUJI APPLES
ROMAINE LETTUCE
GREEN CURLY KALE
CELERY
ITALIAN PARSLEY
FENNEL
BABY SPINACH

FRUIT EXPANSION: FUJI APPLES from CUYAMA ORCHARDS and GOLDEN NUGGET TANGERINES from FRUIT FAIRY FARMS
LETTUCE of the WEEK: RED LEAF LETTUCE

Continue reading →