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| photo of farm orchard by Cece Hugo |
"Sondra Bernstein's restaurants have focused on seasonality since 1997."
The new book, Plats du Jour: the girl & the fig's Journey
Through the Seasons in Wine Country is a love letter to Sonoma
and the concept of seasonality, which has formed
It may seem like a current trend, but for Sondra and her partner,
Executive Chef John Toulze this guiding principle
has just "been the way they cook."
has just "been the way they cook."
John is inspired by the foods of Italy, Southern France and Spain,
what he calls "ingredient driven Mediterranean food."
As detailed in the new book, he loves the idea of
letting the ingredients speak for themselves.
As detailed in the new book, he loves the idea of
letting the ingredients speak for themselves.
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| photo by Steven Krause |
"I think of it as the
minimalist approach to transporting food to a plate."
This means the farm project
is an especially important component,
allowing us to get even
closer to those ingredients
as we nurture the food from planting, tending,
harvesting
and cooking what we have grown.
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| photo by Steven Krause |
We wish we could grow enough at the farn
to supply all the produce we use at the restaurants
to supply all the produce we use at the restaurants
but we still have a long way to go to get there.
But in a way, that is really ok as it means we continue
to support our local farmers who been our partners for 15 years.
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| photo: Matthew Ruff of GSA Garden Keepers Greenhouse |
This year, through one of those "partnerships,"
our relationship with Garden Keepers CSA,
we have access to their greenhouse which has allowed
us to go deeper to "seed to table."
We are nurturing starts growing from seeds that will be transplanted to the farm.
If you are interested in saving seeds from plants,
The Heirloom Life Gardener is a great resource.
Written by the founder of the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company
(the company we use for our seeds), this book
is a comprehensive guide to cultivating heirloom vegetables
with tons of tips including how to save seeds
as well as instructions for canning and preserving.
We will talk more about our preserving tips in an upcoming blog.
You can read an excerpt from the book here.
The Heirloom Life Gardener is a great resource.
Written by the founder of the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company
(the company we use for our seeds), this book
is a comprehensive guide to cultivating heirloom vegetables
with tons of tips including how to save seeds
as well as instructions for canning and preserving.
We will talk more about our preserving tips in an upcoming blog.
You can read an excerpt from the book here.
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| photo: Matthew Ruff of how the heirloom tomato starts "started" |
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| and where they are now (Photo: Matthew Ruff) |
We planted tomatoes from seed for three varieties
from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company.
We have heirloom tomato starts for
Pineapple, Cherokee Purple and Violet Jasper tomatoes.
Pineapple tomatoes, yellow with red marbling are large and can get to 2 lbs each.
Since we harvested almost 2,000 pounds of tomatoes,
we will get a workout when we
add the Pineapple heirlooms to our picking this summer!
But these are so sweet, it will be worth it.
from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company.
We have heirloom tomato starts for
Pineapple, Cherokee Purple and Violet Jasper tomatoes.
Pineapple tomatoes, yellow with red marbling are large and can get to 2 lbs each.
Since we harvested almost 2,000 pounds of tomatoes,
we will get a workout when we
add the Pineapple heirlooms to our picking this summer!
But these are so sweet, it will be worth it.
The Cherokee Purple is back from last year's harvest–just too good not to plant again.
This is a true heirloom, pre-1890 variety with a beautiful deep, dusky purple color.
This is a true heirloom, pre-1890 variety with a beautiful deep, dusky purple color.
Another new variety for us this year is the Violet Jasper
introduced from China, which we anticipate will be stunning to see.
Renowned for their violet-purple fruit and iridescent green streaks,
they are also very prolific, considered one of the
most productive tomatoes to grow in terms of what they yield.
introduced from China, which we anticipate will be stunning to see.
Renowned for their violet-purple fruit and iridescent green streaks,
they are also very prolific, considered one of the
most productive tomatoes to grow in terms of what they yield.
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| these starts will soon be Violet Jasper tomatoes |
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| Violet Jasper heirloom tomato |
I'm a city girl and one of the things that really blew me away when
I first moved to California was tasting a tomato right off the vine–just nothing like it.
Makes you want to eat at least one tomato every day during the season.
I first moved to California was tasting a tomato right off the vine–just nothing like it.
Makes you want to eat at least one tomato every day during the season.
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| 2,000 pounds of tomatoes is a lot of tomatoes each day! |
Our other starts are eggplants: Listada de Gandia, Rosa Bianca and Aswad.
The Listada de Gandia, from Spain is a 7 inch long white fruit is with purple stripes.
This will contrast beautifully with the Rosa Bianca
which is a pink-lavendar color with white shading.
Most exciting is the Aswad eggplant–this is the first year this variety
is being grown in the US and we will have it at our farm.
From Iraq, Aswad is used to the climate of the Middle East
and very drought tolerant so it should do well in Sonoma.
This satiny dark purple fruit grows to 3 lbs!
John is already getting creative with ideas for Aswad dishes.
The Listada de Gandia, from Spain is a 7 inch long white fruit is with purple stripes.
This will contrast beautifully with the Rosa Bianca
which is a pink-lavendar color with white shading.
Most exciting is the Aswad eggplant–this is the first year this variety
is being grown in the US and we will have it at our farm.
From Iraq, Aswad is used to the climate of the Middle East
and very drought tolerant so it should do well in Sonoma.
This satiny dark purple fruit grows to 3 lbs!
John is already getting creative with ideas for Aswad dishes.
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| these little starts will grow to the 3 lb purple beauties! |
Our heirloom peppers include Shishito, a favorite Japanese variety which
produces 3 inch long slightly wrinkled emerald green fruit that is actually pretty mild.
And our other exotic pepper is the Thai long sweet variety,
light green about 6 inches long that are especially good grilled.
produces 3 inch long slightly wrinkled emerald green fruit that is actually pretty mild.
And our other exotic pepper is the Thai long sweet variety,
light green about 6 inches long that are especially good grilled.
While we transition from winter to spring at the farm,
we are also gearing up for summer in the greenhouse with these starts.
Once our current harvest is done, we will transplant them to the farm
and then begin the labors of summer farming.
we are also gearing up for summer in the greenhouse with these starts.
Once our current harvest is done, we will transplant them to the farm
and then begin the labors of summer farming.
And you will reap the rewards and truly taste
the "fruits" of those labors at the restaurants.
the "fruits" of those labors at the restaurants.
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| tomato and mozzerella |
we are nurturing another "home grown" project: suite d.
We envision expanding what we do at the farm and the restaurants,
having a new place for classes and events–maybe bringing the bounty of the farm
to suite d for a group canning, preserving party.
You can help us create suite d to a place we can all enjoy.
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