8/7/24 - 2024 Tomato Line Up! Grab Apple Fair and CSA Logistics
Gravenstein Apple Fair
If it’s not already on your calendar, we highly recommend the Gravenstein Apple Fair this weekend. It’s a sweet little fair but a big event at Ragle Ranch, and it’s a fundraiser for Farm Trails which has been a tremendous support for farms in Sonoma County for over 50 years.
Farmer Elizabeth will be speaking on the panel “Protecting Agricultural Diversity” also including Alice Waters, Dan Imhoff, Kyle & Katina Connaughton (SingleThread), Albert Straus (dairyman), Tuker Taylor (gardener at Kendall-Jackson), Sara Silva (Green Star Farm), and Hector Alvarez (Hector’s Honey) with moderator Clark Wolf. It should be fun! Saturday at 1:00pm and Elizabeth is first in the line up.
Field Manager Sarah will be pouring beer Saturday afternoon. Say Hi.
Sunday afternoon is the Ugly Produce Beauty Pageant. Starting today we’re scouring the fields. In the past we’ve won twice with over large and split kohlrabi.
The Gravenstein Apple Fair showcases 40 small-scale Sonoma County apple farms, producers, purveyors and cider makers, all of whom grow, use and/or incorporate local apples in their products.
What a joy that Gravensteins, are still being celebrated, the original crop that put Sebastopol on the map. There is debate on whether Gravs were first brought to the area by Spaniard missionaries or Russians at Fort Ross but they've been here for the long hall. And still as of recent count, Gravs accounted for just over half of all all sales in the county. Of note, all apples only account for 2000 acres in comparison to grapes at 57,000 acres and veggies at a mere 250 acres. Because of their thin skin Gravensteins don't ship or store well. As such they are truly a local and seasonal delight and worthy of celebration! Their season is mid-July to mid-August so get them now! Make a pie, make some apple sauce, make some cider, but enjoy!
CSA Logistics
This week we have FOUR rotations! Rotations are our way of managing getting you a diversity of crops at the peek of their maturity. As you can imagine, having 140 of one item and yet keeping your box diverse is a challenge. So we rotate. We most commonly split between those picking up in Santa Rosa (Maeso, Glass, Heavner and Devine Sites) and West County (the farm, Russel and Harmony Farm sites).
The every-other-week (EOW) switch means one group is always larger. We are sorry but those who support us with a Weekly box do get more variety. We’d love to have all of you do a weekly box but we recognize it doesn’t work for all people. Additionally Family Boxes get items that we are just starting (like today's Corno di Toro Peppers - soon there will be enough for all) or that we only have a small crop (like today’s Bok Choi).
We do keep track of each rotation and make sure to the best of our ability we complete them with the exception of EOW. This week we made an exception and are giving Corn to EOW members because it is such a treat (and currently it looks like next week we’ll have corn again for everyone and they’ll miss out on that again).
Packaging
We try to keep our packaging to a minimum, but many summer goodies need some protection. You will see our big Tomatoes come in quart green pulp baskets, and you’ll see Cherry Tomatoes, Strawberries and Shishito Peppers come in pint cardboard baskets. As long as these are clean we re happy to reuse them, just send them back. Strawberries are the biggest culprit but the good thing, is all this packaging is compostable.
Our primary concern is waste, as such we hate that packaging is a huge cost for us. We spend $2-3000 a year on packaging. So sending back these baskets really helps.
The corn in today's box is the first succession, planted in mid-May. We chose this variety as it is reliable and tasty, and because the silks are easy to peel. It is always an experiment growing something new. But after watching the corn grow (literally) every day, we are elated to finally be harvesting. For a first year trial, we are more than thrilled by the yield. We have a full share for all boxes today, and anticipating bringing ears to markets over the next few weeks. Our second succession of corn was planted about a month after the first, so it still has some growing to do, and we are anxiously anticipating its arrival. The second planting had some more challenges than the first, mainly because it was in one of our lower fields with poorer soil quality and pressure from rodents and birds. We re-seeded about 14 days after the first planting at an attempt to fill out the beds. Although it is not as perfect as our first succession, it is trying its hardest and we are happy with the results.
The crew made sure to sample plenty of ears while harvesting yesterday, so we are certain it is super sweet. Not only are we eating the ears of super sweet corn, but the soil and farm is also benefiting. It is always beneficial to the soil and farm ecology to bring in more crops and introduce more biodiversity. Additionally, corn is the ultimate “chop and drop”, meaning that once the plants are fully harvested, we will chop the plants below the soil surface, and drop them in the beds and pathways to decompose in place. Our next crops will be planted around the decomposing plants. This reduces the labor and more importantly, creates a system of “living mulch” that will add carbon and organic matter to the soil and help with weed suppression. Additionally, we planted our beds of corn in historically difficult to manage field in order to help with the restoration of the soil.
I cannot say enough about corn. On the farm, it is exciting to have new products and create a space where the crew can advocate for what they want to grow. Harvesting corn yesterday was one of the most joyous days on the farm, filled with giggles and many, many bites of raw corn. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Produce
This Week’s Box
Mini Romaine Lettuces
Kale: Rainbow (SR) OR Red Russian (WC)
Tomato Quart
Summer Squash (SR) Corn (EOW) OR Eggplant (WC)
Genovese Basil (SR) OR Flat Leaf Parsley (WC)
Cherry Tomatoes (SR) OR Strawberries (WC)
Family: Baby Bok Choi &
Corno di Toro Peppers
2024 Tomato Line Up!
It’s time to give you our 2024 Tomato Line up. Hopefully everyone can survive without recipes for a week. Everyone has a quart that includes at least either one heirloom (about 20 of you only have red heirlooms so it’s hard to tell). See today’s PDF to see photos of all varieties.
We farm in the cool Atascadero Valley bottom. We’re much cooler than most of Santa Rosa or even Sebastopol. As such, early on we trialed over 50 types of tomatoes with a focus on early and cool tolerant tomatoes and continue to do trials. This year we’re doing three trials from a seed company in Carbondale Colorado that selects for cool varieties. Our older varieties often have Russian names, they have cooler climates and therefore those tomatoes do amazing for us here. This morning would be a perfect example, it was 45 degrees as we started harvest. This year we’ve spent more time than many a year pruning our tomato plants and so fruits are larger. We’ll see if this will be a win-win at the end of the season.
Red Slicers: We grow Estiva and New Girl hybrids. And Moskvich (an heirloom). These are your basic red tomatoes you’d slice up in a salad, on a burger or sandwich or for a Caprese Salad. They’re high production, basic.
We love the orange Dr Wyche so we’ve planted quite a few. This tangerine-orange beefsteak is the most productive beefsteak we have (generally they love heat rather than our cool). It has a smooth texture and tropical, sweet taste. Slightly acidic. Yes, it did come from a Dr John Wyche who saved it.
Green/multicolored Malakhitovaya Shkatulka come from the Ural mountains, meaning “Little Malachite Box”. The flesh is very flavorful, very fruity and a little smoky. They make an excellent addition to artful display of tomatoes. We don’t have them yet, but soon. They can get soft quickly so eat them quick.
Prudens Purple is an early Brandywine, one of the few we can get to ripen in our cool valley bottom. These fruits are more pink than purple and have a sweet heirloom flavor. In our crew taste test this was the favorite this year. A few of you have these today.
Cherokee Purple by far the heirloom we’re asked about the most common. And we agree they’re amazing. A pre-1890 Cherokee Indian Heirloom they are deep dusky purple-pink color with superb rich flavor. Classic old-time tomato flavor.
Yellow Azoychka is a Russian Beefsteak Heirloom with a sweet, citrusy, complex flavors, slightly acidic. It was brought to the States in the 90s by the Seed Savers Exchange.
Now for our trials of 2024 from Wild Mountain Seeds! In Carbondale, CO at 6400’, they have been using selection pressures such as frost, drought and late blight to find superior heirloom plants with amazing hybrid vigor.
Mountain Spirit Bi-Color Hybrid Swarm are already a winner in our book, they’re delicious and beautiful. In fact it was the favorite of the owner who suggested them for us! Yellow/red bi-color (sliced they have a beautiful red streaking) with low acid that took selecting many varieties to produce (this is what swarm in their name refers to).
Note: this is their photo and notice the snow on the ground!
Indigo Mountain Girl have should have heavy fruit sets but they're only starting to come on and great shelf life. They have a splash of anthocyanin purple for extra an antioxidants.
Mini Red Heirloom are small and highly ribbed. They have an amazing flavor and are prolific.
Insalada Caprese
½ lb fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced ¼-inch thick
2 large ripe tomatoes, sliced ¼-inch thick
1 cup fresh basil leaves
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 Tbs drained capers (optional)
¼ c extra-virgin olive oil
Alternate tomato and fresh mozzarella slices on plate, overlapping them
Tear basil leaves and sprinkle liberally over the slices. Add salt and pepper to taste and capers if desired.
Just before serving drizzle with good quality olive oil (don’t let it sit in oil too long).
Notes: This year I’ve gotten very into using Mozzarella pearls (same flavor, but just little balls). They're fun when thrown in a few cherry tomatoes.
A quick note on Corno di Toro Peppers for Families. These are a sweet Italian pepper, I’ve been using like bell, excellent grilled, roasted and in salads. We’ll have many more coming.