1/22/25 Farming with Mother Nature plus more..

Outside of national news, in more local news, you may have heard that deals have been reached to shut down most ranching and dairy operations at Point Reyes National Seashore between The Nature Conservancy and ranchers. It has us thinking about humans and ecology and how we can work together which is an important topic for us. At Singing Frogs Farm we’ve learned that humans can work and even enhance Mother Nature. Yes, we can farm and create habitat. In fact, humans have been tending and living as a part of nature as long as we’ve been here. Why must it be viewed as food factories vs conservation?

We’re hopeful there will be more room for a bigger Elk herd. We’re hopeful there will be more camping and trails for us humans at Point Reyes to connect with nature. We would just like to push back on the idea that it’s humans (and in this case human food production) OR conservation, why can’t it be food production AND conservation.

Food grown in concert with Mother Nature is going to be smaller scale, use fewer chemicals, is going to have greater soil and above ground biology and as a result is going to be more nutrient dense.

I (Elizabeth) had a chat with Richard Straus (dairyman) on Sunday. He and many others in the dairy industry are saddened. He’s saddened because he just came home from Paris where he was talking about how we can have carbon neutral and even carbon positive dairies locally to build our food system. He came home to this and when he questioned it was told by one official that farming and ranching was outdated in the North Bay. He also expressed concern about the 90 families soon out of a job (and maybe home). I asked, aren’t the ranchers getting a good compensation… he said, no, he’s concerned about the families that work these dairies and their families. They had no say.

At the moment I’m also a little fired up on the importance of small farms. This Friday morning, I will be on a panel at the EcoFarm Conference on “Reduced Till Practice is a Matter of Scale” with Paul Muller of Full Belly Farm (400 acres) and Eric of Braga Fresh (20,000 acres).

We strongly believe that no or reduced tillage is of extreme importance, as is producing food in concert with Mother Nature. But maybe that’s a newsletter topic I’ll dive into next week.

Flower CSA & Standing Add-Ons

Our 2025 Flower CSA is taking subscriptions for start March 5th!!

Starting April 16th we will have the addition of a standing add-ons (ie they get added to every or every-other box without you doing anything). We’re starting with Recurring Bountiful Lettuce Share and Recurring Bunched Greens Share Add-Ons. As of last week we started letting in new CSA Members for 2025 from our Waitlist for start April 16th and they had the opportunity to purchase. We only have so many so we wanted to make sure to offer to you as well. Please “purchase” them so we get you on the list (you can always drop it). They are free as of now but there is a cost that will begin April 16th.

Notes from our Farm Family:

In this week’s email newsletter you’ll see two longer notes from our Farm Family:

1. Bobby has been farming with us 18 months and has lived on the farm. He and two extended Farm Family friends are looking for housing.

2. Lucas, our 17 y/o son and two friends are trying to make money and are starting a landscaping business that is off the farm and are looking for clients.

Produce Notes & Recipes

This Week’s Box

Cegolaine Romaine Lettuce

Arugula

Brussels Sprout Stalks

Butternut Squash

Calibra Onions (from West County Community Farm)

Italian Flat Leaf Parsley

Family: Romanesco Cauliflower

This week we have our 2nd and last rotation of Brussels Sprout Stalks. Last year we had 4 of them but we had a seeding issue last July. YES, we really do start these guys in the nursery in June and July, plant them out early August and the are harvested through February. There are not many 8 month annual crops that we grow! Please see last CSA’s newsletter for a write up. We will have some for Add-Ons next CSA (and maybe Family boxes).

We are really excited about this first cut of our new Arugula bed!! It is tender and delicious! This week’s Cegolaine Lettuce is a beautiful but smallish head red and green open romaine type. If it was me, I would put the two together in a salad but here’s also a pesto idea.

Arugula-Parsley Pesto

2 cups packed arugula

1 cup parsley, roughly chopped

1/2 cup walnuts

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1. In a high speed blender or food processor, add arugula, parsley, walnuts, garlic, olive oil, cheese and pepper.

2. Cover and pulse or blend until well combined and smooth.

3. Serve with crackers, toast, or use with pasta.

This week we have Butternut Squash for everyone. Some of them are strange shaped and some are big. One of the benefits of Butternut is you can use a veggie peeler with it and then just slice and use easily. Here are some basic ideas but I also had to include our favorite winter chili.

Butternut Squash Ideas from Real Simple (10/21):

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad: On a baking dish, toss cut-up squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast at 400 degrees until tender. Toss with greens, esp spinach, arugula, mustard greens or escarole.

Sweet and Spicy Squash: On a baking sheet, toss cut-up squash with butter, brown sugar, rosemary sprigs, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Bake at 375 degrees until tender. Sprinkle with pecans.

Sautéed Butternut Squash with Feta: Sauté cut-up squash and chopped garlic in olive oil until golden. Add1/2 inch water, cover and cook until the squash is tender. Sprinkle with sliced scallions and crumbled feta cheese.

Winter Squash Chili (adapted from runningtothekitchen.com)

4 cups butternut squash (skin on, chopped into 1" cubes)

1 green bell pepper, chopped (or Kohlrabi/Greens)

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

15 oz can diced tomatoes (or Roasted/Frozen from summer)

1 Tbs tomato paste

15 oz can pinto beans, drained & rinsed

15 oz can Great Northern beans, drained & rinsed

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp chipotle powder

1/2 tsp tsp cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

salt and pepper, to taste

6 ounces chorizo (*optional)

1. Place all ingredients except 1 can of the beans in the slow cooker (*if using chorizo see note below).

2. Gently stir until combined.

3. Place lid on the slow cooker and set to low cook for 8-9 hours.

4. Remove lid, add remaining can of beans, stir to combine. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

5. Serve with fresh cilantro, sliced jalapeño or other desired toppings.

*If adding chorizo to the recipe, brown the meat in a small skillet on the stove-top over medium-high heat, breaking up into small pieces as it cooks. Add to the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients before cooking.

**I’ve done when in a hurry, cooked in InstaPot instead of slow cooker without beans and then added beans at end.

We have another round of Yellow Calibra Onions from West County Community Farm. They are big and dense!! We’ve been enjoying them caramelized by themselves or  in sauces. Here’s an article in Bon Appetite.

We’re thrilled we still have just a few Romanesco Cauliflower so you can find in Family Boxes today. They are a little crazy, but cut them into florets and they’re a delicious late season Cauliflower.