Winter Leaves

From the Fields - Thaddeus

The air is brisk and refreshing – big breaths let me fill my lungs in a refreshing way. There are millions and millions of leaves on the farm. They are everywhere just not on the trees. The lawn in front of the house is covered in the brown leaves from shade trees. The apricot orchard is littered with a beautiful, yellow carpet of leaves, and the fig orchard has big brown leaves. Between the leaves, our cover crop is beginning to poke through. The oak trees on the hills are mostly naked, but there are pockets here and there that still have rusty brown leaves. I wonder what it is about those trees or that soil or that spot on the hill that makes them different from the rest?

The mandarins and lemons still have their leaves. They always have leaves and if they don’t, then somebody killed them. The leaves are still different. They are a darker green than normal and more sturdy. The largest difference is that there is no new growth. The tender neon green new growth will not be back until the spring. For now, the trees have one mission: stay alive. As frost comes in, we monitor how cold it will get and may choose to turn on the irrigation to warm the orchard up a degree or two, but we really don’t have much control over this part. All the control we had was when we selected the location of the orchard.

Every December, I am struck by the crisp colors of the apricot trees. Their bark is a fresh, new color, a color that has clearly not seen direct sunlight, but was hidden and protected over the summer by leaves. Now, for the first time being, the bright, rusty red color of the branches stands out and shouts the most beautiful fall colors. Beyond them, the hills too are beginning to paint a new picture. The oak trees stand tall and dark, but beneath them, the golden, dry grass is beginning to show the new green of fresh grass.

Our farm is slowing down. It works out well with the holidays. Our most hardy crops like butternut, leeks, carrots and kale are still being harvested, but they are not growing very much. The harvest is tricky. We don’t want to have people working in the rain and mud, so we work around the weather schedule trying to harvest when we can to be sure the cooler has enough product to fill the rainy day orders.

I can’t believe it is already Christmas. The end of the year is knocking at the door. I hope you all enjoy your holiday season, and thank you so much for your support this year.

Get Well Juice

We adapted this healthy, cleansing juice from Bon Appetit. Drinking this ginger and turmeric juice when we have a cold instantly makes us feel better!

Ingredients:
(makes 1 juice)

1 2-inch knob turmeric, peeled
1 2-inch knob ginger, peeled
1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
sparkling water (to serve)
dash cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons honey (optional)

Directions:

Blender/Food Processor Directions: Finely chop the ginger and turmeric and place in a blender or food processor with 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1/3 cup water and honey (if using). Blend until smooth. Strain and pour into a glass. Add in the apple cider vinegar and sparkling water and stir to combine. Enjoy!

Juicer Directions: Pass the ginger, turmeric and 1/2 lemon (with the peel on) through the juicer. Pour into a glass and stir in the apple cider vinegar, honey (if desired) and sparkling water. Stir to combine. Enjoy!


How To Add Juicing Fruits and Vegetables To Your Delivery: CSA members - head on over to our online Farm Stand Market to customize your upcoming delivery. On the second page of customizations, you’ll find “Produce by the Case” and can stock up if you want a larger batch of produce for juices. The Market is open from noon on Thursday until 10 am, 2 days before your scheduled delivery day. After you confirm your produce items, click the orange button "Confirm and Continue To Other Farm Products" to add the products to your delivery. 

Not part of our farm family? Find out if we deliver to your neighborhood.

Know Your Farmer: Flatlands Olive Oil

Every now and then we come across a farm product that is true to the old-school philosophy of producing slow food; where variety, taste and quality outweigh quantity and convenience - we love that! Meet Susan Ellsworth and Colin Dixon of Flatlands Oil & Mill, a husband and wife duo that are bucking the agricultural trend to go big on acreage and small on olive varieties. In fact, they are going in the complete opposite direction.

Dixon and Ellsworth are located in Winters, CA, where they are continuing the tradition of organically farming and milling their olive oil alongside their mentors and friends, Mike and Dianne of Yolo Press. Their grove includes sixteen varieties of olives, a wide range of perennial and annual crops, hedgerows, an owl and an active habitat that help to promote a healthy and diverse ecosystem for their orchard. Olive trees tend to be drought tolerant and can survive years of little water, creating oil that is bolder and more full-bodied, with even more of those good polyphenols. These trees require few fertilizers and minimal pest management, which make them an ideal crop for sustainable farming.

Dixon and Ellsworth are committed to making olive oil that tastes the way it used to; it can be an ointment, an elixir or a food, but it should never be bland. One thing that may surprise you to learn is that olive oil doesn’t get better with age. Combinations that make oil appetizing, peppery and good for you, break down in the presence of light, heat and oxygen. Flatlands believes in getting oil to their customers that is as fresh as it can be. That's why each bottle is marked with the date harvested.

We are excited to now offer the Leccino Olio Nuovo olive oil, which is bright green, unfiltered and with just enough spice at the finish to guarantee that it has those good polyphenols. The oil is bold, as all Nuovo's are, yet balanced with Leccino's traditional fruitiness. While this oil is great for cooking, consider ways to use it that will feature its fresh flavor: dipping, dressings or toss it with pasta, garlic, herbs and your favorite salt.

How To Add Flatlands Olive Oil To Your Delivery: CSA members - head on over to our online Farm Stand Market to customize your upcoming delivery. The Market is open from noon on Thursday until 10 am, 2 days before your scheduled delivery day. After you confirm your produce items, click the orange button "Confirm and Continue To Other Farm Products" to add the products to your delivery.

Not part of our farm family? Find out if we deliver to your neighborhood.