4/23/25 No-till sets us ahead this time of year
Not only do we have a bounty of greens for you right now, but our farmers’ markets stalls are stock full of them AND we’re even selling them to FEED Sonoma, our local farmer owned distributor. In fact, per FEED we had the first locally grown little gem lettuces and now the first head lettuce to market this year and they sold out in minutes! (They need to bring some in from southern CA by a farm that’s owned locally to keep their customers fed in the winter.) Also, we have Broccoli in Family Boxes last week and now Classic Boxes this week. We work hard to curate a balanced CSA box for you, not just light greens and growing early Brassicas is part of that.
We initially went no-till because we wanted to grow later into the winter and earlier in the spring, and we needed to to pay the bills. The thing is, we couldn’t grow when we relied on a tractor for tilling and prepping beds because it would get stuck in the mud during the winter rains. So our initial steps into no-till, which have since made us famous world wide, were really trying to have produce for our community earlier in spring. It was only later that we learned of science behind the climate farming and that helped us refine our farming model later yet the nutrient density. All of those are now important aspects of who we are and what we teach.
Back to early spring crops… with our no-till methodology we are able to plant earlier in the spring. Luther Burbank chose this area because he believed it one of the best for growing fruits and vegetables. The Broccolis in today’s boxes were seeded in December and planted in the fields in early February. We realize they are small and slightly open heads… but it is Broccoli! The Bulb Fennel in today’s box was planted out the first week of January. It’s not comfortable planting in those months, but at this point in the season we are grateful for those crops.
Spring Means Greens Season
Welcome to the new Members this week! We will keep writing little bits of logistics every week but also there is quite a lot. Look to last week’s newsletter for info on communication with the farm. You can find old newsletters at our online Newsletter Blog on the Newsletter tab of our website (plus every Wednesday’s email newsletter has a preview and link). And look to our Handbook for even more answers.
Right now the Lettuces are popping on the farm and the new bunching greens of 2025 are finally coming on! This week you have Rainbow Chard and some of those are still the 2024 crop that has over wintered with us.
Look to pages 19 & 20 of our Handbook for a write up on Washing & Preparing Greens as well as Greens Substitutions, both of which we find essential skills to managing our CSA boxes well. Note: spending a little time Wednesday evening to wash and prep all your greens makes them last longer and also much easier to use (meaning you get more greens in your diet).
Aside from the Broccoli and Bulb Fennel mentioned, we work to bring in a few heavy products that we don’t or can’t grow. One of those this week are dried Calypso Beans that are grown locally at the SRJC Shone Farm. We enjoy offering you something more diverse that is still locally grown by people we know and trust (Farmer Stu is responsible for most beans at Shone and Elizabeth sold next to him when he was growing these on his own farm 12 years ago and served on the Farmers’ Market board with him). Many of these items are also in our Add-On Store. We have these beans as well as Stu’s Bean Mix, Oats, Wheat, Olive Oil (currently out of stock) all grown in Sonoma County plus we have Quinoa, Walnuts and more flours grown in neighboring counties.
Produce Notes & Recipes
This Week’s Box
Ruby Sky Lettuce
Broccoli (Santa Rosa) OR Mint (West County)
Rainbow Chard
Carola Potatoes (Suncatcher Farm)
Bulb Fennel
Calypso Beans (Shone Farm)
Mint (Santa Rosa) OR Oregano (West County)
Family Share: Mixed Beets & Little Gem Lettuces
Lettuce Share: Lettuce Leaf Mix
Greens Share: Rainbow Kale
The Ruby Sky Lettuce in this box is a red leafed Vulcan Lettuce, but a newer variety for us and we’re loving it. It is crisp and yet tender.
We have Broccoli (small heads) on rotation with Spinach (a quarter pound bag) this week. We do this kind of rotation because there is not enough Broccoli this week for everyone but there will be over two weeks. We recognize that people with an every-other-week subscription will not get every item when we do rotations. Being a weekly member does have the benefit of more diversity. Rotations help us manage the harvests in many ways as having 150 heads of broccoli one week and none the following is a hard act to pull off.
Also on rotation is the second week of a Mint and Oregano rotation. We’ll be continuing to have these herbs over the next few weeks and then move back into parsley, scallions and even basil!
Calypso Beans are an heirloom bean originally from the Caribbean. They have an extremely creamy texture with a mild earthy flavor often compared to potatoes. We love these alone simply with olive oil and salt plus maybe sage. They are also wonderful in soups.
To cook, they’re like many beans… soak them overnight, discard water and simmer in fresh water for about 45–60 minutes until tender (no need to add salt while they cook).
Calypso Bean & Rainbow Chard Skillet
12 oz cooked calypso beans (or 1½ cups cooked, drained)
1 bunch rainbow chard, stems chopped, leaves roughly torn
3 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, diced
½ tsp smoked paprika (optional)
Salt & pepper to taste
Juice of ½ lemon
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and chard stems, sauté 3–4 minutes until soft.
Add garlic and smoked paprika, cook another minute.
Stir in chard leaves, season with salt and pepper, and cook until wilted—about 2–3 minutes.
Add cooked calypso beans and warm through, stirring gently.
Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Serving suggestion: Spoon over toast, mix into cooked grains, or serve as a side with eggs or grilled veggies.
If you’re new to Bulb Fennel, you’re in for a treat—its cool crunch and subtle anise flavor make it a standout in raw salads. To prepare it, simply trim off the feathery fronds and stalks (you can save those for garnish or soup stock), then halve the bulb and slice it as thinly as possible—using a mandoline if you have one. Most people like to cut out the triangle stem as it can be quite fibrous.
Shaved Fennel & Mint Salad
1 bulb fennel, thinly sliced (use a mandoline if you have one)
A handful of fresh mint leaves, torn
Juice of 1 lemon (or 2–3 tbsp white wine vinegar)
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Optional: shaved Parmesan, toasted almonds, or orange segments
Instructions:
Trim the fennel: cut off the stalks (save fronds for garnish if you like), then halve the bulb and slice as thinly as possible.
In a bowl, toss fennel with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Add the mint and gently mix to combine.
Let it sit for 5–10 minutes to mellow before serving.
Serving suggestion: Great as a side for grilled meats, lentil dishes, or layered onto sandwiches. Add cheese or nuts to make it more substantial.
And this week we have a half share of Carola Potatoes. They have a buttery, earthy and nutty sweetness. They are a waxy potato that holds it’s shape well so good boiled but also roasted, grilled and scalloped. We had 5 weeks worth of 3 varieties of potatoes from Farmer Patrick and when he brought us our potatoes he didn’t have enough of one variety and subbed with this variety. We hope to get our potatoes from him again this coming winter as potatoes are one thing we do not grow.