10/2/24 - Meet your Farmer: Bobby Bobby Bobby

Bobby has worked at Singing Frogs for just over 12 months and during that time has become an invaluable part of our team. Bobby initially became interested in agriculture while living in Ecuador. His first mentor was Charito, an indigenous abuela who lived and farmed high up in the Andes. Her dedication to growing food and her joy for feeding those around her was an inspiration that he still carries to this day.

Over the next few years, Bobby sought out more and different learning, including a coffee plantation in Bolivia, a permaculture project in Cambodia and even starting his own garden on the shores of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, growing veggies from seed and perfecting the art of vermicomposting. After nearly a decade of vagabonding abroad, Bobby moved back to the US and started working on a no-till farm in Half Moon Bay, received his Permaculture Design Certificate in Santa Cruz, where he first heard about Singing Frogs.

For Bobby, farming has acted as a grounding antidote to the chaos and change of such a nomadic lifestyle. Bobby is the face of Singing Frogs Farm at the Sebastopol Farmers Market. Bobby deeply enjoys selling at the market as the completion of the cycle from starting veggies from seed, tending them in the nursery, planting them, caring for them, harvesting them and finally sharing with the customers at market. Bobby only just recently is learning our compost management, he has been a ruthless gopher trapper, and continues to bring new ideas and new ways to use system thinking to the farm. He is a treasure to work with, and go introduce yourself next Sunday!

Off the farm, Bobby is passionate about many things. He uses his modest kitchen as a test kitchen to create the perfect granola recipe, ripest sourdough starter, and monthly gnocchi nights. He is a backbone to the farm trivia team, DJ extraordinaire, and has a great three-pointer.

Another driving force for Bobby is the migrant and border crisis in the United States. This past winter, Bobby made four trips to the Arizona-Sonora region of the US-Mexico border to work with the organization BorderLinks. Bobby facilitated and led learning opportunities for students to explore the complex nature of the immigration industrial complex. A 10 day program with BorderLinks includes learning about the historical and current immigration policies and their impact on communities throughout the Americas, speaking with people directly affected by migration, learning about the legal system for migrants, etc. Bobby is excited to be working for an organization whose cause and mission is something he has dedicated himself to over the past many years. He is planning to spend some more time in the desert this upcoming winter, working with both BorderLinks and other organizations doing similar work around migrant justice and immigration reform. Attached to the email & Newsletter Blog online are some resources Bobby has shared with the crew to learn more about these issues.

Heat & the Farm

Late September and early October are a normal time for heat waves but this wave feels bigger. We are finding it hard to do our field work but we are bolstered by the affect on our crops. The heat makes the tomatoes, basil, peppers, eggplant and summer squash so very happy and so we’re thrilled to have a little extra summer goodness. This balances out the affect of shortening days on these crops.

A reminder that if you get your produce and it’s looking less that crisp because of the heat… put them in a bowl or sink of cool water when you get home to rejuvenate them. This is especially true for Kale but also Carrots and Basil.

Produce Notes & Recipes

This Week’s Box

Toscano Kale (SR) OR Rainbow Kale (WC)

Carrots

Mixed Tomato Quart

Summer Party (Squash, Eggplant or Peppers)

Cherry Tomato (SR) OR Strawberries (WC)

Genovese Basil

Family: Extra Basil, Cauliflower

After several weeks of big head lettuces, we’re leaning into our Kale a little and hoping you can enjoy a Kale Salad this week. Both the Toscano (aka Dino) and Rainbow Kale are perfect for salads. Rainbow Kale is an open pollinated mix of Toscano and Red Curly Kale. Just make sure to massage them well.

Kale Salad with Cherry Tomatoes (Brooklynn Farm Girl)

• 10 oz kale rinsed and chopped up

• 1/3 cup olive oil

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved (or 3 medium diced tomatoes)

• 3 small sweet peppers chopped (optional)

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
  1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

• 1 pinch red pepper flakes

1. Add kale to a large bowl. Pour olive oil on top and massage kale for 2 minutes, making sure to massage the olive oil into all the kale.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients on top and stir gently with a fork.

3. Serve immediately or place in refrigerator if you are serving in a few hours.

Yes, the Tomato Quarts are getting a little less full, but as the season is coming to a slow close, we are finding more and more ways to savor the flavors of summer. Here is an incredibly easy recipe for a tomato salad that Farmer Sarah made for her family this past weekend to much adoration. One of the main reasons she loves this recipe is because the fennel-anchovy mixture can be made and stored in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Tomatoes Dressed in Toasted Fennel and Anchovy (alisoneroman.com)

• ½ cup olive oil

• 2 tbsp fennel seeds, crushed

• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

• 8 anchovy fillets, plus more if you like

• 2–3 pounds small-ish very ripe tomatoes, quartered

• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar

• Flaky sea salt

• Coarsely ground black pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a small pot over medium heat. Add the fennel seeds, crushed red pepper, and anchovies, swirling and toasting until the spices are fragrant and the anchovies are melted, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. Scatter the tomatoes on a large serving platter or shallow bowl. Drizzle with vinegar and, if preferred, more anchovies. Spoon the toasted fennel-anchovy mixture over and top with flaky salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Serve immediately.

This week our rotation is being called Summer Party by Harvest Manager Sean as more veggies keep getting added to this party. This week we have Eggplant going to Singing Frogs and Harmony,  sweet red bell peppers going to Russell, and mixed summer squash going to all Santa Rosa sites.

As we are making our way towards winter, another way to preserve the flavors of summer is to make a batch of pesto and freeze it for the long, dark winters. Our Basil is particularly flavorful (and therefore nutrient dense), plus Families are getting extra large bunches, so this is the perfect time to make a batch of pesto, and put some in the freezer if there is any left over. There are so many pesto recipes out there, and lots of ways to diversify based on ingredients in your pantry. Recently, I have been adding fresh squeezed lemon juice to add an extra zing to my pesto recipes. Although traditional pesto recipes call for pine nuts, I have found that both walnut and cashews make great substitutes, for a fraction of the cost.

Basic Pesto (nytcooking.com)

• 1/2 cup pine nuts

• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 2 garlic cloves

• 2 cups packed basil leaves

• 1 up finely grated parmesan cheese

• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Using a food processor, pulse pine nuts in a food processor until they are completely broken down. Scrape down the side of the bowl. Add olive oil and garlic and use until garlic is finely chopped. \

2. Chop basil very roughly — cutting leaves into halves or thirds. Add to the food processor, and pulse, stopping every 15 seconds to push the leaves down with a rubber spatula until the basil is entirely worked in to the oil mixture.

3. Spoon mixture into a bowl and add grated cheese and salt. Stir to combine, then taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

It may feel like summer but in the vegetable world, we are well into autumn. Family boxes are getting our first flush of fall brassicas in boxes this week with a beautiful head of Cauliflower. As with the first of everything, I think the best way to enjoy the flavors is to roast with a simple olive oil, salt, and pepper dressing.

We can’t wait to bring more heading brassicas your way in the coming weeks. Keep your eyes out for more fall crops coming in boxes, and new and fun ways to use them in the newsletters.