Spring Seeding has Begun

The seedlings are up! This hopeful little guy is a brussels sprout.

We planted several trays of spring crops last week in our new greenhouse. We've planted mostly Brassicas so far because they are the most cold-hardy of plants. Brassicas are cabbage-family crops, like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale, etc. They just started peeking their heads up a couple days ago. So far, so good. The greenhouse is sheltering them from our weird weather. At night it keeps the frost off of them (temps in the low 20's....brrrr!), and during the day we open the doors to keep them from roasting.

Gal made these awesome new tables for our greenhouse this weekend.

This bizarre looking plant is Romanesco, related to broccoli and cauliflower. It's been growing since July, and this is the first one that's ready to harvest! (The white bits are frost.)

A busy and happy New Year

We actually left the farm for a day!

We had a wonderful past week filled with visits from dear old friends, delicious food, and a walk on the beach. Once again we are reflecting on how fortunate we have been in the past year to have continued moving toward our life goals while living in this beautiful place. Thank you all for being a part of it!
The CSA is back this week with regular deliveries on January 4th.

Kristoffer and Christian enjoyed getting to know the chickens.

Farm volunteer, Natalie, was a huge help in finishing the floor of the new greenhouse.

We visited Shumei Farm in Santa Cruz for a farm tour and to learn about the "Natural Agriculture" method.

No Deliveries on Dec. 28th.

We're taking next week off from the CSA deliveries, but we'll be back again on January 4th.

We got a new camera, so we can start posting more pics again soon!

Extra Veggies for Your Locavore Feast

Thanksgiving is coming! It's a great time to be a farmer or a CSA member. We will have our regular delivery on November 23rd, the day before Thanksgiving. This year we are also offering you the opportunity to order extra items for your Thanksgiving feast. Please send us your order by email or phone no later than November 22nd. Current CSA members only.

Available for order:

• Squash and Pumpkins, $2 each: Butternut (avg. 3 lbs.), Acorn (two for $2, 1-2 lbs), Spaghetti (avg. 3 lbs.), Delicata (two for $2, avg. 1 lb.), Sugar Pie Pumpkin (avg. 4 lbs.)
• Roots, $1.50/lb: Carrots, Beets
• Greens, $1.50/bunch: Kale, Collards, Mizuna Mustard Greens, Swiss Chard, Cabbage, Salad Mix, Scallions
• Fresh Herbs, $1/bundle: Oregano, Thyme, Sage

Please visit the "What's in the Bag" page to see what we plan to have in the regular delivery on November 23rd.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Winter Squash and Pumpkin Harvest

Delicata, Acorn, Butternut, and Spaghetti Squash and Sugar Pumpkins

It's really starting to feel like fall around here, and fall means time to harvest winter squash. We have several kinds, and our CSA members will be seeing this lovely cornucopia in their weekly bags starting soon. First, though, we leave them to cure in the sun for about a week. Curing helps preserve them longer, and it makes for a nice fall decoration.

Winter squashes are so called because they keep for so well throughout the winter. They grow during the summer, but are allowed to mature until their skin gets hard, whereas a summer squash (e.g., zucchini) is harvested immature when its skin is still soft, and the seeds have not been fully formed.

The boy next door worked very hard around the farm to earn his pumpkin of choice. He happily harvested this beauty this week.

We Have Chickens!

Soon we'll be offering fresh pasture-raised eggs through our CSA. Please let us know if you're interested.

Turkins grazing in the sun. They are chickens that look like half-turkeys.

The rolling chicken coop made of scrap lumber and parts.

We have a new flock of chickens on One Acre Farm. They are 11 hens and a rooster, all about five months old. They haven't started laying yet, but we expect them to start very soon. These lucky chickens are truly pasture-raised and free-range, meaning they have a large area of space in which to roam outdoors. They are gladly helping us clear the weeds, old plants, and insects out of their area of the field. Once this area has been cleared, we will move them to a new section, along with their rolling coop.

Blue Andalusian hen in a forest of kale.

Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Tomatoes are in their full, messy abundance at this time of year

Our climate; with its dry, late summers; is perfect for drying all sorts of vegetables and fruits, especially sun-dried tomatoes. Sun drying is definitely the most energy-efficient way to preserve foods. In the case of tomatoes, we simply wash them, slice them in quarters, and set them on a clean screen in the sun for 1-2 weeks. Our little greenhouse is an ideal place to do this, as it provides shelter from nighttime moisture, and it heats up like an oven during the day. We could eat the sun-dried tomatoes now, but they are going to be such a nice treat for our CSA members on a cold winter day, after the fresh tomato season is long past.

Farm volunteers, Krista and Laura, setting tomato slices out to dry.

Tomatoes on Day 1 drying in the greenhouse

Tomatoes on Day 10 ready for storage