April 26

Farm Notes

It was a fairly quiet and restful weekend on the farm, with a welcomed (for me at least) day of rain all day Saturday. Waking up on Sunday morning, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it felt like the drenching rain had made every leaf and blade of grass turn an extra bright shade of green. And this week it is finally (finally!) time to plant out the rest of our summer veggies. I’ve already planted our first round of eggplant and cucumbers, and later this week our zucchini, okra, basil, and first round of peppers will also go in the ground.

I know everyone’s garden layout/situation is different, but in case it’s helpful, here is some more detailed info about how far apart we space most of our summer veggies. Spacing is always an important detail when planning + planting, because while you want to maximize your growing space, your plants will suffer if they are spaced too close together.

• Basil – 2 rows per bed, 18” apart

• Eggplant – 1 row per bed, 18” apart

• Okra – 1 row per bed, 24” apart

• Peppers – 1 row per bed, 18” apart

• Tomatoes – 1 row per bed, 18” apart

• Zucchini/summer squash – 1 row per bed, 24” apart

No other major news to report around here… the farmstand is humming along and I’m so grateful for all the support we get from our community each week. Seeing photos of dishes that people make with our veggies (and items from other growers that we offer through the farmstand) really does make all the work worth it!

Kitchen Notes

I’m going to be real honest, there hasn’t been a ton of creative cooking happening around here recently! Let’s just say that the most creative thing I made recently was a (very delicious, I might add) quesadilla filled with black beans, red onion, and roasted broccoli.

Alas! I promise that more Farmbelly recipes will be coming soon. In the meantime, I wanted to share a few woman that I have especially enjoyed following recently for cooking inspiration:

• Andrea Bemis (instagram) + Dishing up the Dirt (website)

• Caroline Chambers (instagram) + Caroline’s Website

• Molly Baz (instagram) + Molly’s new cookbook!

• Alison Roman (instagram) + Alison’s YouTube Channel

Today’s Stats

• Low temp: 48F

• High temp: 74F

• Sunrise: 6:30am

• Sunset: 8:00pm

• Moon phase: Waxing Gibbous

• Additional notes: Sunny, breezy and beautiful.

April 21

Farm Notes

I can’t believe it’s been a week since my last update! I’ll be honest that the past few days have been a whirlwind, filled with spring planting and harvesting and mowing and weed whacking and weeding and fertilizing and running the farmstand… not to mention managing work for my other job, which thankfully can all be done from my phone/computer. It’s that time of year when I’m up with the sun and using up every bit of daylight to do all the things, and the farm is exploding with green and flowers (and lots of pollen…) in every direction!

Since it’s been a few days, here are some updates from the farm:

• Last Thursday we finished planting the rest of our tomatoes, which are thankfully (mostly) all in our caterpillar tunnels, so I can lower all the sides on the tunnels to keep them protected and warm as the temps get down to freezing over the next two nights. Each season we grow 3 different types of tomatoes (mixed cherries, larger heirlooms/slicers, and romas/paste tomatoes) and in total I think we are growing about 16 different varieties of tomatoes – which may seem like a lot, but I’m actually pretty proud of my restraint because it’s so hard to narrow down all the options from the plethora of tomato varieties that are available these days.

• We were supposed to be planting heaps of summer veggies this week (zucchini, cucumbers, basil, okra, eggplant, peppers, etc) BUT with the freezing temps that are forecasted for the next two nights, we’re going to hold off and plant all those babies over the weekend + into next week. Just goes to show that Mother Nature is always in charge, and as farmers sometimes we have to throw our plans out the window and work with whatever the weather throws our way.

• LOTS of beautiful spring veggies getting harvested this days! Just to give you a sense for what we’re picking these days for the farmstand + restaurant customers, here’s a quick list: looseleaf lettuce mix, pac choi/bok choi, arugula, hakurei turnips, radishes, kohlrabi, kale, swiss chard, mint, cilantro, dill, parsley. Looks like over the next few weeks, our spring fennel, kohlrabi, and beets will also be ready for harvesting.

Kitchen Notes

I’m excited to announce that tonight I’m hosting the first (of many) Farmbelly Club mini virtual cooking lessons via Zoom + Facebook Live!

TONIGHT, April 21, at 7:45pm EST I’ll be leading a quick (10-15 minute), fun, and informative lesson all about HERBS! During this lesson, I’ll talk about the difference between spices and herbs, when to use dried vs fresh herbs, how to properly store different kinds of herbs, AND how to safely chop various herbs.

Want to join live tonight @ 7:45pm (EST)?! Here are the links for two ways to watch:

• Zoom link

• OR via our private Facebook Page

If you're not able to join live, no worries! The video will be saved on Facebook live, and I’ll also record the video on Zoom and will add it to our Farmbelly Club video google drive HERE.

Today’s Stats

• Low temp: 32F

• High temp: 72F

• Sunrise: 6:36am

• Sunset: 7:56pm

• Moon phase: Waxing Gibbous

• Additional notes: Sunny, breezy and beautiful… getting chilly by the evening!

April 14

Farm Notes

After accidentally whacking myself in the head with a shovel during the farmstand last Tuesday, I’m happy to report that yesterday’s farmstand went smoothly and without any head injuries! Jokes aside, it was a gorgeous day, and I’m really proud of all the veggies we’ve been able to share with our community this spring – SO much lettuce, radishes, turnips, kale, swiss chard, pac choi, edible flowers, etc with lots more to come…

Speaking of which, while we’re harvesting all this spring goodness, we’re also hustling hard to get all our summer plants in the ground! This week, we will finish planting our tomatoes, and we’ll get started on planting our peppers, eggplant, zucchini, cucumbers and basil. The 10-day forecast looks warm and no signs of frost ahead, so we are moving forward to summer in full force!

A reminder that this Friday at 12pm EST I’ll be hosting our weekly Farm Walk just for Farmbelly Club members! This week I’ll give an update on all our new summer plantings (with tips about ideal spacing for summer veggies in your garden), how/why we fertilize our plants with fish emulsion, and my favorite edible flowers (which you can grow at home)!

There are now THREE ways to watch these weekly virtual farm walks:
1) Tune in live on Zoom (this link will be the same every week)

2) The video will be broadcast live to our private Facebook group page. If you can't join the live call, the video will be recorded and saved on the Farmbelly Club Facebook group page, where you can watch back at any time.

3) If you’re not on Facebook and want to watch the recorded videos, I’m now archiving all the Farm Walks in this google drive folder (let me know if you have any trouble accessing this folder).

Kitchen Notes

I was extra excited to cook dinner tonight, because I’ve been dreaming about this Sesame Noodle Salad that I used to make when I worked at Flagstone Pantry in Santa Barbara, and it’s as good as I remembered! It comes together super quickly and it’s very forgiving – feel free to swap out some of these veggies (cucumber, carrots, scallions) with whatever you have on hand (like radishes, turnips, sugar snap peas, steamed broccoli, etc). If you’d like some extra protein, it pairs well with some marinated steak, chicken, fish, or tofu. Also! This salad is great at room temp, so you can totally make it ahead and enjoy whenever you’re ready.

Sesame Noodle Salad

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup honey

• 1/4 cup soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

• 1 pound soba noodles, cooked until tender (or use whole wheat spaghetti or udon noodles)

• 1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced on the bias

• 1/2 cup carrots, thinly sliced on the bias

• 1/2 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced or diced

• 1 cup dry roasted peanuts or cashews

• Handful chopped fresh cilantro (and/or mint)

• 2 tablespoons black (or white) sesame seeds

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a small bowl, whisk together honey, soy sauce, and sesame oil.

2. In a larger bowl add the cooked noodles with the green onions, carrots, cucumber, peanuts, cilantro/mint, and sesame seeds. Pour over the soy sauce mixture, mix thoroughly and enjoy!

Today’s Stats

• Low temp: 57F

• High temp: 82F

• Sunrise: 6:45am

• Sunset: 7:50pm

• Moon phase: Waxing Crescent

• Additional notes: Sunny, breezy and beautiful all day.

April 11

Farm Notes

It was a picture perfect spring weekend around here, and we took advantage of the good weather by spending as much time outside as possible. I was able to tie up some loose ends like weeding, installing irrigation lines, potting up some peppers, planting out some edible flowers, etc – and with Matthew’s help, we started tackling a big project of clearing out invasive plants from around all the trees in the “back five” outside the main garden. Not only did all the invasive plants around all the trees make the area look terrible, but the more established trees were also suffering and being choked out from all the roots and vines competing for space. I wish we had taken a before / after of ALL our progress, but here’s a before / after of a small section that we worked on this afternoon:

BEFORE

AFTER

Even though it was a LOT of work, it’s super satisfying to see this area slowly transforming into a more open and beautiful space. Our hope is to eventually raise a few pigs back here every year, though we’ll need to get some infrastructure in place first (fencing, shelter, waterer, etc)… but let’s just take it one day at a time!

Also! In case you missed our weekly Friday Farm Walk this week, you can view the video via our private Facebook group page here, or if you’re not on Facebook I’ll be saving all the weekly recordings in this google drive folder (let me know if you have any trouble accessing this folder). This week I showed y’all the tomatoes we planted this week (and our different methods for trellising), demonstrate some methods for harvesting lettuce, and I talked in more detail about how we "flip" our beds from one crop to the next. If you have any questions from anything I covered in the video from Friday, just let me know!

Kitchen Notes

Before I dig into today’s recipe, I have a question…. are you interested in some quick, virtual cooking lessons? I'm gauging interest in hosting some short (20 minutes or less) and accessible group cooking lessons, focusing on super helpful topics to give you more confidence and joy in the kitchen! These mini virtual cooking lessons would be included in your Farmbelly Club membership. If you're interested in this idea, please fill out this super quick survey to let me know what kind of topics you'd like to cover, and the best day/time of the week for these lessons! And a big thanks to everyone who has already filled out the survey… it seems like there is a lot of interest in something like this, and I’m hoping to get started in the next week or two.

Okay, time to talk cooking. Whenever I’ve feeling especially tired or un-inspired to cook, I’ve found that the secret to jazzing up an otherwise boring meal is to have a delish sauce on hand. Pesto is one of my go-to sauces for adding heaps of flavor to a meal, and today I’m sharing my recipe for arugula pesto… mostly because I suddenly have a LOT of arugula coming in right now, and also because I like it even better than basil pesto! In general, pesto is a super forgiving sauce, so don’t feel like you have to measure things out exactly… just eyeball it, taste, and adjust seasoning as needed.

ARUGULA PESTO

Photo: The Kitchen Girl

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup walnut pieces

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 2 cups tightly packed arugula leaves

• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to taste

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (and some lemon zest, if you like)

• Kosher salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a food processor, combine the walnuts and garlic and pulse until well blended.

2. Next, add the arugula, parmesan, olive oil, lemon juice (and some lemon zest, if using) and 1/2 teaspoon salt and pulse to blend. If the pesto seems too dry, add a bit more Taste and adjust the seasoning (adding more salt, lemon juice, etc) as needed. Enjoy!

Today’s Stats

• Low temp: 50F

• High temp: 77F

• Sunrise: 6:49am

• Sunset: 7:48pm

• Moon phase: Waning Crescent

• Additional notes: Sunny, breezy and beautiful all day.

April 7

Farm Notes

Well, we had quite an exciting farmstand yesterday! For starters, we filled more orders yesterday than for any other week in the history of the farmstand, which is pretty darn awesome. And with LOTS of beautiful spring veggies to harvest / wash / pack and heaps of orders to fill, I’m grateful to have a friend and fellow food lover, Alison, working with me every Tuesday to get all those orders out the door, because I really couldn’t do it without her help.

Unfortunately, part of yesterday’s excitement involved me accidentally whacking myself in the head and causing all kinds of commotion! It happened so quickly that at first I didn’t understand what had happened… turns out I had dropped a 50lb bag of chicken feed onto the floor of the barn, and I unknowingly dropped it on one end of a shovel, and the shovel’s handle shot right into my face… yikes. At first, I didn’t think it was a big deal, so I was just going to get back to work when I realized that I was bleeding pretty badly. Thankfully, some friends and Matthew were there to help me get bandaged up, and then I had to get back to work to get our record number of orders out the door and make deliveries! (I should mention that when the accident happened, I was no where near any of the veggies, as they were already all washed and packed away, and I fully changed my clothes and was all cleaned up before returning to work.) But it wasn’t until I got home after making deliveries several hours later that I was able to take a better look at the cut, consult with some medical friends + family, and determined that I wouldn’t need stitches, which was a relief. But you better believe I’m rocking a sweeet shiner…

Needless to say, yesterday was a doozy. But we survived! And it was a good reminder that farm work really can be dangerous, and it’s so important not to rush around and loose awareness of your surroundings. Be careful out there friends!

Friday Farm Walks

Okay, now on a much brighter and more fun note – I wanted to quickly talk here a new weekly perk for Farmbelly Club members… Friday Farm Walks! I kicked off this new series last Friday and had a BLAST, so moving forward, every Friday around 12pm EST I will host a (virtual) live tour of our farm, for Farmbelly Club members only! These farm walks will be brief (10-15 minutes), super fun + informative, you'll see what we're planting / harvesting / working on here at the farm, and I'll share helpful tips + resources to help you on your own gardening/farming adventures.

There are TWO ways to watch these weekly virtual farm walks on Fridays @ 12pm EST:
1) Tune in live on Zoom (this link will be the same every week)
2) The video will also be broadcast live to our private Facebook group page. If you can't join the live call, the video will be recorded and saved on the Farmbelly Club Facebook group page, where you can watch back at any time.

Whether you watch live or afterwards in the Facebook group, please do leave any questions in the comments section of the video, which I’m happy to answer for you!

Kitchen Notes

We have officially reached peak pac choi here on the farm, so I figured I needed to whip up some dishes featuring these delishhh spring greens! (Side note, I’ll be real honest that I still don’t know / understand the difference between bok choy, pac choi, tatsoi, etc., despite tons of google researching… so if any of you know the difference, by all means, tell me)!

Tonight I wanted to keep it super simple and let the pac choi shine, so I just made a simple, flavorful stir-fry with the greens, and it was refreshingly good. Because these greens cook super fast, this is an incredibly quick / easy dish to make, and feel free to mix up your sauce ingredients based on what you have on hand.

Simple Stir-Fried Asian Greens

INGREDIENTS

2-3 pounds baby bok choy and/or pac choi

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced

Splash of sesame oil

Toasted sesame seeds (optional garnish)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Trim and discard the rough bottoms from your asian greens. Roughly chop the greens and set them aside.

2. In a small bowl or mason jar, combine the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and sugar. Shake well and set aside.

3. Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the vegetable (or peanut) oil and swirl to coat the bottom and sides. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry until aromatic, about 1 minute. Add the greens, half the soy sauce mixture, and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, until tender.

4. Add the remaining half of the soy sauce mixture and cook for another 30 seconds. Turn off the heat, and drizzle with a splash (ie a teaspoon or two) of sesame oil and top with toasted sesame seeds (if using). Transfer to a serving plate and serve hot.

Today’s Stats

• Low temp: 53F

• High temp: 86F

• Sunrise: 6:54am

• Sunset: 7:44pm

• Moon phase: Waning Crescent

• Additional notes: Sunny and beautiful all day.

April 4

Farm Notes

It was a somewhat stressful weekend around here, as we had two nights in a row with temperatures below freezing, which meant we had to hustle around to cover nearly all our veggies to protect them from frost (the only things we didn’t cover were our alliums – garlic, onions, scallions, etc). While Thursday night ended up only getting down to about 30F, on Friday night it got down to the mid 20’s, and while most of our veggies fared alright, we did still get some frost damage in a few areas, which is a total bummer. Fingers crossed that this was the last hard freeze of the spring, because I really don’t want to have to get that row cover out again! Speaking of which, we buy big rolls of row cover from our local farm store, but if you’re looking for some frost protection for your home garden, here is a similar product to what we use that you can buy online (and that come in shorter lengths).

In other news, let’s talk potatoes! In this area, most people plant potatoes in mid/end of March. Keep in mind that potatoes are frost sensitive, so I’m actually glad that we were a little late getting our spuds in the ground this year, because the shoots still haven’t emerged above ground, which meant we didn’t have any frost damage during the past few chilly nights. so if you haven’t planted potatoes yet, now is the time!

Here are some instructions and tips for planting potatoes:

BEFORE YOU PLANT

1) Source your seed potatoes from a reputable local farm/garden store. While you technically can plant potatoes from the grocery store, your best bet is to buy seed potatoes that are specifically bred to be used to for growing potatoes (as grocery store potatoes are often treated to prevent sprouting).

2) It’s recommended to “green sprout” your seed potatoes a 1-3 weeks before you plant them, which means putting your whole seed potatoes in a box and leaving them in a warm (70-85 F) and dark place to encourage their eyes to begin sprouting. Be careful when handling to avoid breaking off sprouted eyes.

3) If your potatoes are especially large (over 4 ounces) and have lots of eyes, you can cut them into smaller pieces, which allows you to get more out of each potato. Think of the size/weight of a chicken egg as your ideal size, and try to have at least 2 eyes per seed piece. If you are going to cut your potatoes, I recommend doing this the day before you plant, to allow the cut part of the potato to heal over.

PLANTING YOUR POTATOES

1) Prepare the soil by adding compost and any other amendments to you bed. Dig a trench in your bed about 4”-6” deep.

2) Lay seed pieces eyes pointing up in the trench spaced 8”-12” apart for standard potato varieties and 12”-18” apart for fingerling varieties.

3) Cover potatoes with a few inches of soil, leaving a bit of a trench in the bed (because over time, you’ll want to “hill” your potatoes with additional soil from the sides of your trench).

TENDING YOUR POTATOES

1) Generally, potatoes need between 1-2 inches of water per week, which can be provided by rain or you to make up the difference.

2) You should “hill” your potatoes 2-3 times per season by loosening surrounding soil in the bed and pulling it up around the leaves and stems. Try to hill before the stems grow too long and start to flop over. You should pull between 2”-6” new soil up around the plants each time you hill.

After planting and covering your potatoes with soil, you should still have a bit of a trench in the bed, which will help with hilling the potatoes as they get larger over the next few months.

HARVESTING YOUR POTATOES

1) When buying your seed potatoes, make sure to check the recommended days to harvest for each variety. Some potato varieties will be ready to harvest in 60-70 days, while others will need 90-100 days to fully mature.

2) In general, potatoes are harvested after they go to flower and once the foliage begins to die back and turn brown. I’ll cover potato harvesting in more detail when that time comes this June! If you have any other questions about growing potatoes, feel free to send me a message. :)

Kitchen Notes

As someone who loves to cook, but doesn’t love doing dishes / spending hours in the kitchen, I’m all about sheet-pan dinners (ie, when a protein and side dish can cook together at the same time on a sheet pan and voila! you’ve got dinner and only one pan to clean). Last night, we had a darn good sheet pan dinner, and I’m so excited to share the recipe, which is adapted from Food52. It’s for Harissa Chicken with Potatoes, Leeks & Herby Yogurt Sauce. It’s packed with bright Mediterranean flavors, takes only a few minutes to prep, cooks for about 45 minutes in the oven, and makes for a fabulous weeknight meal that also feels special enough for a weekend dinner party.

SHEET PAN HARISSA CHICKEN WITH POTATOES, LEEKS & HERBY YOGURT

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5-2 lbs pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

• 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1” chunks

• 3 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 3 tablespoons harissa

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed

• 2-3 leeks, white and light green parts, halved lengthwise, rinsed, and thinly sliced into half-moons

• Zest and juice of 1 lemon, divided

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt

• 1 small garlic clove

• 1/2 cup chopped soft fresh herbs such as dill, parsley, mint, and/or cilantro leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 425°F.

2. Combine the chicken and potatoes in a large bowl. Season them with 2½ teaspoons of the salt and ½ teaspoon of the pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together the harissa, cumin, and 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Pour this mixture over the chicken and potatoes, and toss to combine.

3. Arrange the chicken and potatoes in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet, and roast for 20 minutes.

4. While the chicken and potatoes are roasting, combine the leeks, lemon zest, ¼ teaspoon of the salt, and the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium bowl.

5. After the chicken and potatoes have been cooking for 20 minutes, use a spatula to toss the potatoes lightly, then scatter the leeks over the baking sheet. Roast until the chicken is cooked through and everything is golden and slightly crisped, 20 to 25 minutes longer.

6. While the chicken cooks, put the yogurt in a small bowl. Grate the garlic clove over the yogurt, add a handful of your chopped herbs and season with the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and juice of your lemon. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

7. To serve, you can spoon the yogurt over the chicken and veggies in the baking sheet, or you can transfer everything to serving platters/bowls. Scatter remaining herbs over everything, add a pinch (or two) of flakey sea salt, and drizzle with additional olive oil and/or lemon juice and enjoy!

Today’s Stats

• Low temp: 43F

• High temp: 74F

• Sunrise: 6:59am

• Sunset: 7:42pm

• Moon phase: Waning Crescent

• Additional notes: Sunny and beautiful all day.