LEF logo (small)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Live Earth Farm (Com)Post
2nd Harvest Week, Season 16
April 11th - 17th, 2011
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
in this issue
What's in the box(es) this week
The "Joy" of Farming
YouTube videos of Pepper and her new kids
Account Login tip - where are the address and directions to my site?
New CSA pick-up sites redux
...but I don't see the new sites in the sign-up wizard?!
I signed up for chicken; when do I start getting it?
Happy Girl fermentation workshop this Saturday April 16!
A CSA within a CSA - Live Earth Farm's "Young Farmer CSA"
Goat's Milk and Cheese from Summer Meadows Farm
Notes from Debbie's Kitchen [Recipes!]
2011 Calendar

" One moment we may be faced with risk and worry, but then, unexpectedly just moments later, one is rewarded with beauty, bounty and a little more humility.
"
- Farmer Tom
  


Find us on Facebook

What's in the box(es) this week
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Occasionally content will differ from this list (typically we make a substitution), but we do our best to give you an accurate projection.


Generally speaking, the Family share will get larger quantities of certain items than the other two shares, so even though lists look similar, they are actually getting more.

For any items not from our farm, we will identify the source in parentheses. 


Family Share
Fuji apples
Artichokes (Swanton Berry Farm)

Broccolini

Carrots
Chard

Fennel

Kale (Red Russian OR Lacinato)
Leeks 

Meyer Lemons (from LEF or Marsalisi Farm)
Lettuce
Dry onions (Pinnacle Organic)

Radicchio

Baby Japanese turnips

Watercress (Santa Cruz Aquaponics)


Small Share
Fuji apples
Artichokes (Swanton Berry Farm)

Broccolini

Carrots
Chard

Kale (Red Russian OR Lacinato)

Leeks 

Meyer Lemons (from LEF or Marsalisi Farm)
Lettuce
Dry onions (Pinnacle Organic)

Radicchio

Baby Japanese turnips


Budget Share
Fuji apples

Broccolini

Carrots
Chard

Lettuce

Bunching onions (scallions)

Dry onions (Pinnacle Organic)
Oyster Mushrooms (Far West Fungi)
Baby Japanese turnips

Bread Option
This week's bread will be three-seed whole wheat

Extra Fruit Option
The "Extra Fruit" option does not begin until May.

Chicken
doesn't start until May; see story below


The "Joy" of Farming
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My writing may at times give an overly romanticized description of farming when I describe it as a dance with nature. In truth however, the often harsh realities of working with the earth can feel jolting, especially at the beginning of the season when too many preparations need to be accomplished in a very short period of time. Juggling what feels like an enormous entanglement of priorities, one can't but feel a high level of anxiety. The soils that only a week ago were too wet are now drying out really fast. Acres of lush winter cover crops are all waiting to be mowed; timing is critical, as the moisture in the soil is quickly being depleted by the fast maturing cover crop. If left to grow too tall the plants become more fibrous (carbonaceous) and soil microorganisms will take longer to break them down once incorporated into the soil.
plowing in the spring cover crop etc.

Cover crop waiting to be mowed; cover crop being plowed into the soil; new apprentice Nick learning to use the spader

Most of the soils we farm are heavy with clay. Their optimal moisture for plowing only lasts a few days. If soil is too wet it sticks together and won't crumble; on the other hand, if it dries out too much it will only fracture into large chunks, which then takes a huge amount of force, both steel and horsepower, to break up. Needless to say, depending on the timing, the effort to prepare a field for spring planting can be particularly taxing on both the human body and farm equipment.

Last week when soil conditions started drying out, reaching that optimal moisture content, I was hoping to get an early start on planting this season's tomatoes (I think I mentioned that last week). But for some unknown karmic reason - although we sure tried - our goal was not meant to materialize. With 15,000 tomato seedlings in the greenhouse waiting to be planted, our 6 foot wide flail mower (critical to chop up the cover crops) broke down twice in 3 days, one of our main field tractors sat idle for half a day with a flat tire (a 5 foot tire filled with water takes some doing to be changed in the middle of a field), soil amendments and fertilizer shipments were delayed, and a cold front passed through Thursday and Friday night bringing heavy frost, which, if we had planted the tomatoes, could have wiped out our entire crop. A close call, one of many I am sure, as we learn new steps to the farm's ever changing tunes and rhythms. I may still call this a dance, although I still feel a bit clumsy at times. It's farming; you roll with the punches, surrender and adapt. Nature, we know, can always fool us with something new each season - like a freeze in April.

I am glad our first week of CSA deliveries, including harvesting and packing, went smoothly.
one of Pepper's babies, just 3 days old
3-days old
By week's end, last Friday afternoon, our first three baby goats were born. One moment we may be faced with risk and worry, but then unexpectedly just moments later, one is rewarded with beauty, bounty and a little more humility. 

- Tom

YouTube videos of Pepper and her new kids
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here are two short videos (40 seconds each) of Pepper, our first goat to give birth on the farm, and her brand spanky new triplets. Shot only hours after birth, and the babies are already on their feet and totally adorable!

Pepper and her new kids - 1
Pepper and her new kids - 1

Pepper and her new kids - 2
Pepper and her new kids - 2
nursing for the very first time! 


Account Login tip - where are the address and directions to my site?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the reasons to  log into your account is to get the address and directions to your pick-up site. It's all there in detail, including a map... but not everyone "sees" this. When you first log in, the default page is your "History" (payments made and shares received). Next to the "History" heading, in the blue bar, you'll see "Contact Info" and then "Pick-up Directions"... you're getting warmer now... that's right, just click on "Pick-up Directions" and viola! Everything's there. And if you look in the balloon down on the map, there is your site name, pick-up day of week, and pick-up times. See - it's easy! - Debbie

screen shot of account with LEF pick-up site


New CSA pick-up sites redux
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I forgot to mention last week that we also have a few new locations down south -- i.e. Monterey County:

Prunedale-Royal Oaks - on San Miguel Canyon Rd.
Salinas - south side, near Blanco Rd and S. Main St.
Pacific Grove - inside Happy Girl Kitchen Cafe!
Marina - easy access from Hwy 1
...and we are hoping to create a new site in Moss Landing soon (stay tuned)

And to repeat last week's info, thanks to Happy Girl Kitchen we now have four new pick-up sites in the peninsula, north and east bay! Happy Girl partnered with us to deliver our CSA shares to the same drop-off locations as their Food Preservationists (motto: "Together we can.") [I just love their motto!] Here are those new joint pick-up locations:

Palo Alto - Barron Park neighborhood
Redwood City - Mt Carmel neighborhood
San Francisco - Bernal Heights
Oakland - Temescal neighborhood

Also, a small movement has been afoot to create a pick-up site in the Naglee Park neighborhood of San Jose. If you're interested, could you email me with something like "Naglee Park - yes!" so I could get some idea of how much interest there is for this; if interest is strong I will work on setting that up as well.

So if you know of anyone in any of these locations that you think might be interested in a LEF CSA share, please spread the word and let them know that they can now sign up and pick up there!

Oh, and YES, if you would like to switch to one of the above locations, you may do so! Just log into your account (see above story), and over on the right side, in the "Summary" area, you'll see a "Change Locations" button. Click there and select a new site. The only thing to know is that account changes of this sort can only be done on a Saturday, Sunday or Monday; the system prevents you from making changes Tues-Fri, as we need Tuesday to run all our reports, and then we harvest and pack Tues/Weds/Thurs for Weds/Thurs/Fri deliveries. Can't have changes happening in the middle of all that! ;-)

- Debbie


...but I don't see the new sites in the sign-up wizard?!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Farmigo sign-up wizard is a little misleading at first glance. It defaults to what appears to be an alphabetical list of pick-up sites... but in actuality it is an alphabetical list of sites by delivery day. So if you don't at first see the site you're looking for, scroll down the list. [I've put in a request to the Farmigo developers to fix this.] 

Alternatively you can click on the "Map" tab and zoom in to your area to see what's close. Click on map 'pins' for site details. 

Oh, and if a site you want is waitlisted, please do select it (to let me know there is demand in that area), but you will need to choose an available site too, in order to complete your sign-up and begin receiving shares.

- Debbie


I signed up for chicken; when do I start getting it?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've been getting this question a lot, so here's the scoop:

The meat chicken option is monthly, and there are six deliveries total. First delivery is mid-May, and remaining deliveries are every four weeks, with the last delivery in October.

I will email all meat-chicken subscribers the week of their first delivery with specific instructions, but if you're curious now, or missed our 'between-seasons' newsletter, I wrote about this new option there.

- Debbie


Happy Girl fermentation workshop this Saturday April 16!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Happy Girl Kitchen Co.Curious or intrigued by the mysteries of fermentation? What's all this talk about 'live culture' sauerkraut and weird beverages like kombucha? You'll hear me talk about this in the recipe section intermittently (I have TOTALLY been bitten by the fermentation bug - fermented foods are not only yummy but really healthy!), but if you act quickly, you can sign up for this Saturday's Happy Girl Kitchen's fermentation workshop, taught by Todd Champagne of HGK right here on the farm! 


Don't wait any longer - sign up now! You will never look back. :-)

- Debbie


A CSA within a CSA - Live Earth Farm's "Young Farmer CSA" 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey Live Earth Farm Community! This is Jeff. I was an apprentice last year on the farm and this year I am continuing as a second year apprentice.  Anna, who started in the fall last year, is also continuing her Live Earth Farm experience.  Together we are spearheading a more advanced apprentice program that we are calling the Young Farmer Program (YFP).  Yes, we are the young farmers.  We have planned and are in the middle of growing vegetables for a 30-50 member "workplace" CSA, and will be doing the Willow Glen Farmers Market on Saturdays as well.  This opportunity is helping us gain the well-rounded experience of starting a farm of our own.
 
We are very excited to have this experience and are working hard in the fields.  We just got our pea trellis up last week and they are starting to climb.  Our garlic that we planted in November is looking strong.  We have beets, carrots, turnips, and radishes all coming up.  We also transplanted broccoli, kale, chard, Asian greens, cauliflower, and lettuce that are rooting in the ground and growing with the sunshine.  This past week I mowed some cover crop and have been working that into the soil to prepare some new beds to plant into. This week we will be transplanting onions that will be ready late summer. In the greenhouse our tomatoes and peppers are looking great, and I know we all can't wait until those start fruiting.  It's looking to be a very good growing year for all the vegetables and for ourselves.

As for our CSA, we're a little different than LEF's CSA, in that ours is a "workplace" CSA, i.e. drop sites would be at a company or place of business (only for their employees), so that employees can pick up while at work. We are specifically advertising to businesses local to the greater Santa Cruz area, so if any of you know any people working in an office anywhere between (and including) Watsonville and Santa Cruz, we would love to have your support! (If there was a groundswell slightly out of that range, we'd be open to discussion.) We only ask for a minimum of 5 employees at any one company in order to establish a drop site. Our delivery days will be Monday and Thursday around 3:00 pm (plenty of time to pick up before going home for the day!).

By joining our Young Farmer CSA you will be supporting the next generation of farmers, as well as the future of our program at the best farm in the bay area, Live Earth Farm!

For more info or to sign up
If you have at least 5 people interested from your office, or if have any questions, please contact Anna Vinitsky --
<> by phone at (831) 728-2021
<> or go to our website: www.liveearthfarm.net/youngfarmers 
<> while you're there, check out our blog
Cost
Our CSA will run for 30 weeks (May - November). The cost is $28/week, and each share will include 10-13 items/week. There will be at least one fruit item in every box. We also will have an optional egg share at $7.00/dozen (LEF's pastured chickens), either weekly or bi-weekly. Pay in one payment and receive a 2.5% discount!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Young Farmer CSA is 'backed by the full faith and credit' of Live Earth Farm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Below: our intrepid young farmers, Jeff and Anna 'out standing' in their field (of garlic); Jeff preparing to plow; a healthy baby beet plant in the young farmer field.
"Young Farmers" Jeff and Anna


Goat's Milk and Cheese from Summer Meadows Farm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is the info I promised last week! Lynn Selness of Summer Meadows Farm raises dairy goats on her small farm on the flanks of Mt. Madonna not far from Live Earth Farm. For several years now, she has been offering a raw goat milk share, including options of kefir, yogurt, and fresh cheeses such as chevre and ricotta. New this year, she is partnering with cheese maker Cynthia Armstrong to make specialty aged cheeses as well! I am happy to let new folks know about her, as well as remind past year members that she is starting up again. The main thing you need to know is you sign up with Lynn, not Live Earth Farm; we just have a special arrangement to bring her shares to you via our CSA delivery. Read on, and then click on the link provided to download her story and details about how her goat share works! - Debbie

Summer Meadows Farm Blessings
Hello friends and members of Live Earth Farm! I come with a grateful and very excited heart to share with you our gifts from our goats this Spring.  A new season is beginning in our goat herd.  The does, heavy with carrying their young, are coming to their birth time.  Each precious kid is a miracle formed secretly within the doe, such a wonder and surprise at the birth!  The does nourish their young with their perfect milk, and the bounty spills over to share with us.  How they enrich us and how intertwined are the threads of our lives! And so we invite you to partake of the wealthy offering of this bountiful season of new beginnings and new life!  Would you like to own a goat share this season?  We have a limited supply, so come and sign up to receive your choice of milk, yogurt, kefir, or cheeses from us. To read all about us in more detail, click here. And below is a word about our exciting new Specialty Cheese option!

Look forward to hearing from you!
Lynn 

Summer Meadow's Farm Specialty Cheese Option
This year, Summer Meadow's Farm is offering a variety of specialty, artisanal cheeses in partnership with cheese maker Cynthia Armstrong. Offered as they are made and as they ripen, these handcrafted artisan cheeses are a delectable treat. Each cheese is made from Lynn's fresh raw goat milk; the flavors are delicate and richly nuanced. If you sign up for the "specialty cheese option", each month you will receive a featured cheese including, but not limited to brie, camembert, farmhouse cheddar, marinated feta, seasoned chevre, mozzarella, montasio, cambozola, and valencay. This option is available on a first-come-first-served basis and supply is limited, so sign up soon!

Below: Lynn's goats out on pasture, a few of her new kids, and the marinated feta from the specialty cheese option.
Summer Meadows Farm goats and new specialty cheese

Notes from Debbie's Kitchen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Click here to go to the recipe database.     

Well I understand last week that the Wednesday shares didn't get the baby bok choi and instead got mustard greens, and then the Friday folks (or at least some of them) got red beets and not golden... aah, such is the nature of a CSA. Sometimes there are substitutions or changes, so it helps to learn how to be flexible in your cooking. That's why my mantra is always "learn how to cook with what you have". It's along the same lines as the "give a person a fish and they eat for a day; teach
 a person to fish and they eat for a lifetime" parable, or my personal favorite: "Happiness isn't having what you want... it's wanting what you already have." So if you keep at this (this "cooking with a CSA" thing), you will discover how empowering it is to play with your recipes, branch out, make substitutions, experiment.  - Debbie

Some very exciting new things in this week's boxes: the Budget Shares are getting the oyster mushrooms that the rest of us got last week, the Small and Family are getting artichokes from Swanton Berry (yum! I can taste them already!), and then new for the first time ever, the Family Shares are getting watercress! This is from a very local producer (literally right around the corner from us in Watsonville) called Santa Cruz Aquaponics - these folks are building a really slick, symbiotic system that co-produces fish and greens (in this case, the watercress). Totally cool - I'm very excited about them and what they're doing... but I digress. The new item we're ALL getting is the baby Japanese turnips, so I'll talk about those for starters.

Oh, and if you're new to artichokes, click here to go to the recipe database for tips and recipes that are artichoke-centric!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
bunched baby Japanese turnipsBaby Japanese turnips. These are roughly the size of golf balls. Very tender, no need to peel them. The greens are totally edible too, so don't throw them away! (Note: I want to acknowledge Square Root Farm up in Washington, give them credit for this photo which I found/cropped/modified from online. Farmer Tom didn't have time to snap a picture of them for me for the newsletter, and their picture most resembled what our turnips look like as well as how they come - bunched. Plus they are beautiful! I hope ours are as lovely!)

When you get them home, trim the root bulbs from the stems (i.e. don't store them with the  greens attached). The greens continue to draw nourishment from the roots, and so if left on the root will become rubbery. Sometimes when I'm in a hurry I'll just snip the roots off, leave the greens rubberbanded together and put both in the same bag in my fridge.

You can prepare these very simply; just slice or quarter them and saute in a little butter and sprinkle with salt. The greens can be steamed or stir-fried until wilted and served on the side with a little vinegar and salt. You can also slice them raw into salads, or juice the greens if you're a juicer. But here is one of my favorite ways to cook the roots and greens together -- in a surprising recipe that includes black pepper and honey! Yes, you heard me right. That was the ingredient 'twist' that caught my eye when I first saw it in a cookbook called "Greene on Greens". This is my adaptation of it for using a farm-sized bunch:

Debbie's honey-kissed baby turnips and their greens
1 bunch of turnips 'n' greens will serve two. Takes maybe 15 minutes to prepare.

Wash turnip bulbs and trim tops and tails. They do not need to be peeled. Cut in half (or thirds or quarters if larger).

Wash green tops, separating out and discarding any yellowed or discolored leaves and keeping the fresh green ones. Spin off excess water and chop greens.

In a heavy-bottomed skillet (I love cast-iron), melt some butter and add a blorp of olive oil. When butter has melted and starts bubbling, add turnips and stir/shake pan to coat and distribute oil/butter. Let cook over medium heat, stirring and turning periodically, until turnips begin to soften and lightly brown. Sprinkle moderately with sea salt, then add a small spoonful of honey. This will melt quickly so stir to distribute, then toss in the greens along with their clinging water. Continue to stir and cook until greens have wilted. Season to taste with additional salt and several good grindings of black pepper; stir and serve!

This dish also keeps warm nicely so you needn't serve it right away like other greens dishes where there is acid involved (lemon or vinegar) which causes the greens to turn an olive color after a short while. You can also refrigerate and reheat the next day no problem.



Watercress. This is a very new green to me - I have only eaten it since getting some samples from Santa Cruz Aquaponics this winter, actually, but I am totally enamored of it. It is a delicate, peppery green with succulent stems and small round tender leaves. I have only used it in salads so far, but I understand the French love to make a watercress soup, so I will find you a soup recipe!

But first, for use in salads, I just wash and spin the greens, and then pinch off the leaf clusters in bite-sized pieces -- the stems are totally edible; it's just a matter of preference as to how much stem you include -- and then toss them into a salad. Mix them with your lettuce, and maybe a small quantity of torn radicchio (remember my discussion on radicchio from last week).

Watercress is delicious in a citrus salad - this, I learned years ago from my "Fields of Greens" cookbook by Annie Sommerville. Her recipe calls for a variety of bitter greens, including escarole, radicchio and watercress, plus a mix of citrus - navel oranges, blood oranges, tangerines, kumquats and grapefruit. And I have made something similar a couple times, but never had all the citrus or all the greens at the same time... but it didn't matter; I made it recently with just watercress and lettuce, oranges and grapefruit, and it was just as delicious. Here is her recipe for the citrus vinaigrette though, as this is what really makes it:

Citrus Vinaigrette (for bitter greens and citrus salad)
from Fields of Greens; makes about 1/3 C

1/2 tsp. minced orange zest
2 tbsp. fresh orange juice, or 1 tbsp each orange and tangerine juices
1 tbsp. champagne vinegar (this really makes the dressing "sing")
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. light olive oil

Now my variation on the dressing is to swap out my favorite roasted walnut oil for the olive oil, but that doesn't make it "better" just different! Both are yummy :-)

Oh, and I would totally sliver up some of those fresh scallions into the salad, or sprinkle them on top when serving. 


Aha! I pulled out my cookbook to give you the above recipe, and SCORED on a different recipe that is perfect for us, assuming you, like me, didn't get to use your fresh beets from last week yet. The thing that's nice about this recipe is you start to put two-and-two together about crossover flavors. Above: watercress-citrus; here, watercress-citrus-beets. Beginning to get the picture?

Beets with Watercress and Orange
also from Fields of Greens; serves 4 to 6. Annie Sommerville says, "The orange juice and Champagne vinegar add brightness to the beets, and because there's no oil, their flavor is very light. We frequently use all red beets, but golden or striped Chioggia beets make this salad exceptionally beautiful."

1 lb. beets, about 2 inches in diameter
3 tbsp. fresh orange juice
1 tbsp. Champagne vinegar
1/8 tsp. salt
Pepper
1 bunch watercress

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Trim away beet greens and save them for pasta or a saute. Rinse beets under cold water and place them in a small baking dish with 1/2 inch water. Cover the dish and bake until the beets are tender, 35 to 40 minutes, depending on their size. Test them for doneness with a paring knife or skewer. Cool and peel*, then slice into 1/4-inch thick rounds, or wedges.

Combine the orange juice with the vinegar, the salt, and a few pinches of pepper; pour over the sliced beets. the color of red beets will run, so marinate them separately if you're using them with golden or Chioggia beets.

Pluck the small sprigs of watercress, discarding the long stems and bruised leaves; wash and dry in a spinner.

Place the watercress on a serving platter and arrange the sliced beets on top, alternating the colors if you're using more than one variety of beet. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.

[Now I could totally see modifying this recipe by introducing sliced oranges amongst the beets, and optionally serve the salad with the citrus vinaigrette, above, instead of dressed as she describes, and add other lettuce to the salad green 'bed'.]

*cooked beets peel easily; I usually hold them under a little running water and they more or less slip off.


Okay, on to the promised watercress soup! I am giving this to you pretty much un-edited -- even down to the asterisk about making your own chicken stock -- because I totally agree with her!

Watercress soup (Potage de cresson)
from a website called "L'Arlier Vert - Everything French Gardening"
The author writes, "Watercress soup is a French classic, and practically the only thing the French do with watercress. In this recipe, impeccable freshness and careful treatment renders humble ingredients into an absolutely exquisite soup."

Ingredients:

1 lb. watercress, fresh and dark green
1 small leek, white part only
1 lb. potatoes (not waxy) such as Yukon Gold
5 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 qt. homemade chicken broth*
2/3 C creme fraiche or substitute non-ultra-pasteurized heavy cream, but do not use sour cream
Salt and freshly ground pepper 

Reserve 28 extra-perfect watercress leaves: wash them, and reserve them in the refrigerator.

Remove the remaining leaves from the stalks, discarding any leaves that are the least bit yellow or slimy. Reserve the top 2/3 of the stalks and discard the rest. Wash and drain everything thoroughly. Chop the reserved stem tips. Clean the white portion of the leek and chop it finely. Peel the potatoes and cut them in 1/2" cubes.

Blanch the watercress leaves in boiling, lightly salted water just until they have collapsed. Drain and refresh under cold water; drain and press out all moisture.

Melt 3 tbsp. butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat and soften the leeks and the chopped cress stems over low heat without letting them color (this is called "sweating"). Add the homemade chicken broth, bring to a gentle boil, and add the potato cubes. Cook gently 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring the creme fraiche or heavy cream to a gentle boil in a small saucepan, and add the blanched cress leaves. Lower the heat and simmer 2 minutes. Add to the soup, then puree the entire mixture in a food processor. Do it in batches and be careful because of the heat of the mixture. Return to the saucepan and heat gently without boiling. Adjust the seasoning. Stir in the remaining 2 tbsp. butter. Note how delicious this soup is.

Divide the reserved perfect cress leaves among 4 soup plates. Pour the very hot soup over them and serve immediately.

*Making good chicken stock is essential to good cooking. Here's how to do it. Select a good, flavorful chicken, free range if possible. Wash it. Cover it with fresh water in a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat and skim off all the foam and scum that rises to the surface over the next 15 minutes. Then add: 1 large onion, chopped; 2-3 carrots chopped; 2-3 stalks celery including leaves, chopped; a leek or some leek greens, cleaned and sliced; a bouquet garni of plenty of Italian parsley, some sprigs of thyme, and a bay leaf; about 6 black peppercorns. I prefer not to add salt, because I often reduce the stock to make sauces, which concentrates its saltiness unpredictably. Simmer for 2-3 hours. Strain and refrigerate or freeze.





2011 CALENDAR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Visit our website's calendar page for more details, including photos and videos of past events. This is a great way to get the flavor of what it is like visiting the farm!

Live Earth Farm Discovery Program (LEFDP) activities 

Wee Ones

3rd Tuesday of every month, 10:30am - Noon [year-round]
(free for children 0 - 3 yrs; $10 - $15 per family)
Mothers, fathers, grandparents, caretakers of any kind... bring the babe in your arms to experience the diversity of our beautiful organic farm here in Watsonville. We will use our five senses to get to know the natural world around us. The farm is home to over 50 different fruits and vegetables, chicks, chickens, goats, piglets, and the many wild members of the Pajaro watershed. RSVP requested.

Art on the Farm Camp 

Three weeks to choose from: June 13th-17th, June 20th-24th, or July 11th-15th
all camps from 9am - 4pm daily

(click here for cost and scheduling info)
We'll be engaging campers in creative expression among our 100 organic acres of fruits, vegetables, farm animals, and wild spaces. During the week campers will plant, harvest, and create in the kitchen and beyond; make cheese, make masks, print, paint, and sculpt with natural materials.

For questions about any LEFDP event or activities, contact Jessica at the LEFDP office: (831) 728-2032 or email her at lefeducation@baymoon.com.

 

Happy Girl Kitchen Workshops at LEF
(all workshops include an organic lunch, as well as take-home items from what is made that day -- these workshops are not to be missed!)

April 16 -
Sauerkraut, Kimchee and Kombucha
May 7 - Cheese
June 11 - Jam with Available Berries
July 9 - Jam with Apricots and Berries
August 13 - Pickles
August 14 - Pickles
August 20 - Tomatoes
August 21 - Tomatoes

(to sign up for any workshop, simply click on its name, above)

Contact Jordan if you have any questions:
jordan@happygirlkitchen.com 
http://www.happygirlkitchen.com
Follow Happy Girl on Twitter! @happygirl_co

Community Farm Days and Events

this calendar was revised 4/11/11; please note changes
April 23rd - Sheep to Shawl
April 27th - Community Night @ Saturn Cafe for LEFDP
May 28th - Community Farm Day - U-pick strawberries
June 18th - Summer Solstice Celebration
July 3rd - Community Farm Day - From Seed to Bread (no apricot u-pick) :-(
Aug 27th - Community Farm Day - U-pick tomatoes (our "Totally Tomatoes" day)
Sept 24th Sept 10 - "Taste of the Fields" wine and hors d'oeuvres fundraiser for LEFDP
Oct 22nd - Fall Harvest Festival and U-pick apples and pumpkins

Medicinal Herb Walks/classes on the farm
April 2nd - Herbs of Live Earth
May 14th - Herbal Basics of Stress Management
June 25th - Herbal Preparations

For more info, contact Darren Huckle at rootsofwellness@gmail.com or 831.334.5177 or visit his website at www.rootsofwellness.net


Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
farm phone: (831) 763-2448
education programs/school field trips: (831) 728-2032
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~