Good for the table, good for the ground

Daylight savings time change confirms we are now officially 

on the other side of summer, and even "early"fall. 

It's the time of year we want to burrow into a favorite sweater 

and are happy to have the aroma of a long 
simmering soup or stew throughout the house. 

Our chefs are also tweaking the menu at the girl & the fig.

A new chicken dish on the menu is this 

pan-roasted half chicken, fall panzanella, butternut squash, 
currants, walnuts, pancetta vinaigrette, which certainly makes 
good use of our prolific crop of winter squash at the farm.

.

It seems to fit the feeling of the season that 

much of what we are growing at the farm burrows underground, 

just the way we are inclined to do under a throw blanket with a book by the hearth.

Even though radishes, carrots, onions and leeks are 

part of the spring bounty at the farm, we also grow them at this time of year as well.

"Plants like onions, garlic, and other members of the allium family confuse bugs 

with their strong scent and just encourage them to fly away," 

so having them in our rotation is a core part of our biodynamic farming plan. 

We've talked about "companion planting" here before. 

Here are some other tips on companion planting and 

which good tasting vegetable plants are also good for your soil.

Baby tri-colored carrots a few weeks ago

carrots growing fast

good for the soil

Not only do the alliums replenish the soil and provide nutrients so 

the beds can thrive throughout the year, these vegetables are 

important ingredients for so many of our Chefs' inspirations.

onions cooking at the fig

Alliums appear in almost every recipe since they are so versatile and 

pretty much essential as flavoring component. 

So, of course we would grow them all year round! 

Shallots are considered a "cousin" to onions and garlic, but they have a milder flavor. 

They are just as "flexible" but chefs use them differently 

than they do their stronger cousins. 

Food writer Michele Anna Jordan describes her relationship with shallots this way: 

"A shallot can insinuate itself into a wide variety of dishes 

without overwhelming other ingredients.

It is suave and elegant, with an appealing subtlety. 

When it is used with other alliums, any dish blossoms with a full spectrum of flavors, 

which is why I always add shallots of my French onion soup."

She considers them indispensable for vinaigrettes, as do our chefs at "the fig." 

And a must-have in your kitchen are our "Pickled Shallots," courtesy of

 Plats du Jour: the girl & the fig's Journey Through the Seasons in Wine Country:

Pickled Shallots
2 cups shallots, sliced
11⁄2 cups red wine vinegar 1⁄2 cup sugar
1⁄2 tablespoon salt
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf

In a saucepan, combine the wine vinegar, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the thyme, bay leaf and shallots and stir to coat evenly. Cook briskly for exactly 1 minute over high heat and remove from the heat. Allow the mixture to stand until it cools to room temperature. Transfer to a sealed container and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Makes 11⁄2 cups 

 How do you like to use alliums?

And what vegetables are simmering 
in that stew on your stovetop these autumn days?

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We'll post here for awhile longer, but like everything at the farm,
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"Lot's happening"

About a week ago, I received a text from Chef John that said, 

"Tomw at the farm. Lot's happening." 

So, the next morning, I made sure to be at the farm
armed with my camera and notepad.
Often as I trail after John or Ray and Matt from Local Landscapers, 

I have to scribble notes so I can keep track of what
they are telling me about everything going on—
not just what's planted where, but the good stuff
about why they are doing what they do—all of which comes naturally to them,
but is new territory for this city girl.

Matt introduces me to a soldier beetle, aptly named as one of the "good bugs"

It's those scribbles that ultimately become this blog.
And indeed that day at the beginning of May,
there was "lot's happening."

 We were all looking ahead to summer as we 

set the stage for a bountiful upcoming season.

The morning began with the guys finishing 

the prep work in the beds—hard work, 

both by hand and tractor to get the farm ready for our planting party that day.

Joining the crew were Seth and Uriel, sous chefs from 

the girl & the fig and ESTATE—their hands-on work at the farm 

confirms their very personal commitment to "farm to table." 

They will truly appreciate whatever they wind up 

creating with the peppers they helped plant.

sous chefs Seth and Uriel

big moment: the FIRST pepper plant in the ground!

It is a wonderful part of the cycle of the farm and our kitchens 

to have the sous chefs work alongside the regular farm crew. 

Executive Chef John Toulze considers his time at the farm some 

of his most precious personal meditative time. 

Hard as the work is to do,
there is a communal energy between everyone.

We all work carefully to give the farm as much support as we can, 

adhering to biodynamic principles and doing as much as we can by hand.

freeing the asparagus plant from weeds

An aspect of biodyanmaic farming that we ramped up 

this season is companion planting. 

We all think the radishes are even tastier than usual, 

so they must like hanging out with the onions!

radish alternating with onions in one bed

photo by Matthew Ruff 

If you want to learn even more, Clare Brandt wrote an intriguing article 

on companion planting. Besides the convincing benefits 

on what is grown near each other, she reminds us that 

some of this is also about what tastes good together. 

For instance, it's hard to deny the perfect combo of basil and tomatoes, right?

photo from Plats du Jour by Steven Krause

The concept of biodynamic farming goes 

beyond simply using organic materials and no pesticides. 

As part of the deeper ethical aspects of all this, we appreciate 

long standing traditions from natural farming that are still working. 

Have you ever heard of "Three Sisters," the Iroquois tradition of 

planting corn, beans and squash together? 

From this tradition, we are reminded, as Clare Brandt shares in her article, that 

"beans (as all legumes do) take nitrogen from the air rather than the soil 

 during the growing season, and so don’t compete for nutrients." 

While we won't have a "Three Sisters" garden at the farm, we know 

we will get some of these benefits to our soil 

from the squash we will plant in the Orchard. 

But we are thinking about nitrogen and how important it is to our plants. 

Knowing that garlic and onion deplete the soil of nitrogen 

we needed to replenish the beds before planting our tomatoes, eggplant and peppers.

As we added bat guano, a natural source of soluble nutrients
high in nitrogen and phosphorus, 

we were harkening back to another ancient farming tradition. 

Did you know that the word "guano" comes from a Quichua language of the Andes 

meaning "droppings of sea birds," and 

was prized as a soil enricher by the rulers of the Inca Empire?

view from the tractor seat

In the midst of the planting party, 

we continued to harvest what is fresh right now at the farm.

So, while we planted that day for summer, we also 

picked pea shoots, garlic and baby carrots

that went straight to the kitchen.

smoked pea sformato radish salad at ESTATE

This particular day in May felt like an important one at the farm,
perhaps the start of the farm's summer?

Hands in the dirt, backs bent over, shovels and hoes, 

plants from the greenhouse that started as seeds going into the ground 

and by afternoon we had planted 100 eggplants, 100 peppers and 150 tomatoes.

tomato starts ready to climb

 A lot happened.

And a lot more continues for us at the farm project. 

More to plant in the upper quadrant, potatoes are growing in the Orchard, 

 John is deciding what else to plant in the other beds, 

a new greenhouse is planned for the half acre behind "the fig"

 and more edible plants and herbs will be planted at ESTATE.

herb beds in front of ESTATE

Follow along the journey with us as we enter the height of the growing season.

And let us know what you are planting 

in your farm project—whether a small backyard space or window sill pots.

Picking something fresh you have grown is a wonder to do and tastes incredible!

The Winter Garden becomes a Spring Garden

While March 20 was officially the first day of Spring,

we were aware of it before then. 

These photos were taken a bit earlier in March,

and you could just feel everything at the farm about to burst!

blossoms on a peach tree (photo by Cece Hugo)

rows of garlic going crazy (photo by Cece Hugo)

Quail egg photos by Matthew Ruff

quail eggs found in one of the rows

and our steadfast egret standing guard at the farm

Our companion planting project has been successful.

Not only are we harvesting more vegetables in the space we have, 

but with the careful work done by Local Landscapers, 

who know what to plant with what, everything is growing more healthy and robust. 

The radish plants interspersed with onions have done especially well.

just picked radish photos by Matthew Ruff

You can decide for yourself how they taste when you enjoy 

 the heirloom radish starter at the girl & the fig: 

mixed seasonal radishes, anchovy butter & grey sea salt 

Another sign of spring is the raspberry bare roots beginning to bud

At this rate, it won't be too long before we are 

repeating last summer's berry picking ritual

Sometimes you just have to sit down on the job!

we have a way to go till before we have a bowl of berries

Our tomato starts growing from seeds in the Greenhouse 

mean this summer's tomatoes will truly be "seed to table." 

greenhouse photos by Matthew Ruff 

Thanks to Garden Keepers CSA for the use of the Greenhouse 

and the loving care from Local Landscapers which will take us from here

to here 

(Last season John and the farm team 

harvested almost 2,000 pounds of tomatoes). 

and finally to here!
Did you know that we can go through

70 pounds of tomatoes a day at the girl & the fig alone?

We are getting excited about all that is growing 

now at the farm and will be sharing 

more updates and photos with you soon.

The winter garden is indeed becoming the spring garden 

and the menus at the restaurants are reflecting that.

And we love sharing what we grow with you, here in the news of the blog,

but of course especially from our kitchen to our tables when you visit us.

We also encourage you to grow as much 

of your own food as you can.

And we hope we inspire you. 

Share your thoughts and successes, ask us questions.

A great resource for your home gardens is Smart Gardner Fresh, 

whose motto is "simply grow great food." 

We aspire to do that every day.

Simply grow great food.

Simply cook great food.