CropMobster – Helping STOMP OUT hunger.
Listen to the California Report > Download audio (MP3) produced by KQED.
Reported by: Rachel Dornhelm
Agriculture may be one of the biggest economic drivers in California, but the latest farm census from the USDA found that, among the state’s small farms, more than half do not turn a profit.
One family farm in Sonoma County is using social media to try to change that and reduce food waste at the same time.
That farm is Bloomfield Farms in Petaluma. On a recent Sunday evening, after employees had returned from a weekend selling at Bay Area farmers markets, general manager Nick Papadopoulos headed over to one of the barns. He walked into the cooler only to find two pallets of produce that had come back unsold. Read more…
New chick!
A horned Owl!
A tortoise?
Snakes and frogs, oh my!
We love it here on the farm.
We are having a plant sale Saturday April 27th between 9am – 1pm at the farm. We will have vegetable starts, herbs and flowers.
ALSO we are opening our farm stand that day because we have an abundance of produce! There will be Chinese cabbage, mixed greens, spinach, baby Bok Choy, Mizuna, collard greens, red mustard, lots of lettuce heads, kale, arugula, cilantro, mint and carrots.
AND a bonus for us all -Berry Smith Salinas of - Meat Revolution will be there with some of her goodies!
A great time to see the farm if you have not before, ask CSA questions, see what we are selling and take something home with you .
Enjoying spring and looking forward to the warm months ahead? Craving fresh warm season vegetables and fruit from the garden? We are. Twin Palms Ranch invites you to join us in our Third year of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). We had a fabulous season last year and want to continue spreading the good produce in our community. If you want to be part of the CSA membership OR if you want further information send us an email to twinpalmsranch@sonic.net and we will answer any questions you might have.
For 26 weeks we will strive to provide between 6 -10 different fresh items each week and occasionally fresh cut flower bouquets. Our vegetable boxes are suitable for 1 – 4 people, depending on diet. Contents vary seasonally. Pick up of your fresh and tasty weekly produce box is on Tuesday from 3 – 6pm on the farm , Twin Palms Ranch. For any additional favorite seasonal fruits and vegetables the farm stand is open at this time as well Mid-June through October AND also on another day TBD!
I recently read a great article about one of my heroes!
Check it out here!
Luther Burbank by Frida Kahlo
I like the cool crisp air during the winter months. I feel like I have more time to sit down and take everything in. I move slower. I stay longer, gaze further, breathe deeper.
We have a lot of birds that fly over the farm; Canadian geese, snowy egrets, great egrets, herons, ducks. Or visit occasionally; pheasants and wild turkeys. And ones that hang around throughout the year; finches, red wing black birds, scrub jays, swallows, blue birds, hummingbirds, hawks, kites, crows, fly catchers, woodpeckers, warblers and I think I’ve spotted an oriole. We even have two resident barn owls that call the Twin Palms home. I can’t forget to mention the geese – Charlie, Ting Hau and Madagascar. Plus those plump hens – Tula Tula, Nanook, Delight, Wiamea, Raquel, Lucile, Plucky, Orca and the handsome Rooster, Sriracha. It’s a bird lover’s paradise.
Well that was a fast break. Time to start the seeds again.
Bounty. A colorful display on the porch at my folks house!
WOW! What a hot day and its October 2nd. Pretty crazy +101 degrees at the ranch. I had to call cuz Alex to come help me get things harvested – THANKS Alex, you Rock! So if you all haven’t made it by the Thursday farmers market don’t come this week, it’s over. That’s right; it’s a shorter market and finished up last Thursday. But we are starting the Wednesday farmers market, TOMORROW. Come by and say Hi and get some of the last tasty treats of summer. We still have some killer tomatoes and peppers plus some of the usual suspects. It is at the Wells Fargo Center off hwy 101 North of Santa Rosa a few miles. Don’t be one of those to say “WAY UP THERE?” it is only maybe a 5 minute drive, I’ve ridden my bike there in just over 40 minutes.
The Trailer Chicks. Our chickens live in a converted travel trailer, if you haven’t seen it you should. They are starting to lay some delicious eggs. They started out slowly one or two a day which Karen and I can easily use but today they bumped up to four so we will be selling those real soon, too. We just adopted two more geese to guard the front gate and bought two heritage turkeys. The turkeys are supposed to be getting fattened up for Thanksgiving-sort of a test to see if I can grow my own meat. I was told they were both Toms but one starting to look like it might be a hen so now I’m thinking boy a bunch of little turkeys sure would be fun. We will see what happens with that.
Last week Karen & I worked 14 hour days going home at 11pm making some changes to the cooler shed and the area around it. It was kind of a marathon getting things back in order. Thanks to Rob Layman (Layman Drywall) for showing up on Sunday to do the sheetrock and tape the seams to seal it up tight. Big improvement.
Well enough for now, hope you can come to the farmer’s market or stop by the ranch on Tuesday or Thursday 3:30-6:30pm for the farm stand.
Cheers
Your Farmer Lou
Vegetable Breakfast Hash
Makes approx 2 1-cup servings.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
S&P to taste
1 medium sized pre-baked potato (I like Yukon gold, I always make a couple of extra baked or grilled potatoes and keep them around)
1 zucchini
1 ear corn, with corn shaved off
1 large bulb garlic
½ white or yellow onion
1 heirloom tomato
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, given a rough chop
2 eggs
Heat a medium fry pan over medium heat with the olive oil while you dice the onion and crush the garlic. Add both to the pan and mix in to oil.
While the onion and garlic brown, cut corn off the cob, then add it to the pan and mix it in to the other ingredients.
Cut the zucchini length-wise two or three times and give it a fine dice. Add it to the other ingredients, mix together, and lid the pan for 5 minutes.
Dice your potato into ¼ to ½ inch cubes. Add to the pan, removing the lid so ingredients can brown for a few minutes. Also, mix in the thyme and salt and pepper to taste.
Chop your tomato.
Eggs will be prepared either poached or sunny side up, so prepare another pan for one of those. The idea is to leave the yolk runny so you can break it over the hash.
Mix the tomato into the other vegetables, and turn off the pan to let ingredients rest while you cook the eggs.
To serve, put about 1 cup of the vegetable mixture on a plate. Gently place your cooked egg right on top of the vegetable mixture. Hit with one last dash of salt and pepper if you want. Plate your second serving, and enjoy!
