Signs of Autumn

Today is the first day of fall. 

As we've been saying, autumn is creeping up on us 

with the change of light and cooler mornings and evenings, 

but summer holds on, especially during the day. 

Our neighboring winemakers applaud this two-tiered weather pattern 

saying 2013 will be an especially good year for wine, 

while acknowledging that harvest has come early. 

photo courtesy of Hwy 12 Properties 

And, we just hang in there with Mother Nature at the farm, 

as the summer harvest continues a bit longer, still giving us strawberries, 

tomatoes and cucumbers to inspire the chefs.

strawberries still growing at the farm

inspired a recent dessert finale to plats du jour menu:
cheesecake parfait, fresh berries & vanilla crema

the late morning/afternoon heat has brought us
super-sized heirloom tomatoes

which are still abundant at the farm.

We expect to have harvested 4,000 pounds of tomatoes this summer,

and are amazed that the tomato plants are still flowering for more fruit to grow!

while still relishing the tomatoes we bring them,
the chefs' concession to fall is:
oven-dried tomatoes with fresh mozzarella, frisee,
shaved crostini, fig balsamic & California olive oil

But as we've been saying, we have our eye on autumn.

And in fact, we can now see some of what that will be at the farm 

as the winter squash we planted a few weeks ago has begun to make its appearance.

just a few weeks ago, the squash beds in the upper quad

is now overflowing!

soon this beautiful blossom will be bring us a tasty squash

some are already appearing 

We are looking forward to what our chefs will do with our winter squash.

 honey glazed winter squash photo by Steven Krause for
Plats du Jour: the girl & the fig's Journey Through the Seasons in Wine Country

a sure sign of fall is the gourds and squash at our farm's neighbor
Oak Hill Farm in Glen Ellen

There are signs of fall all over the area, "including the 18,000 pounds of pumpkins 

Jim Groverman, owner of Petaluma Pumpkin Patch and Amazing Corn Maze, 

just shipped to pumpkin sellers around the Bay Area."

His "Amazing Corn Maze" has been a popular fall attraction 

for 20 years and is about to open.

You seriously can get lost in this corn maze, even the man who created it! Take a peek:

What do you look forward to in the autumn season?

And what are you growing for fall?

For Sonoma locals, here are some tips on what to plant in your garden for fall.

Now is the "IT" time at the farm

Now is the "it" time at the farm: 

When everything is in bloom, plants are growing like crazy 

and there is almost too much there to know what to do with. 

But we are not complaining and our chefs enjoy 

the creative challenge of what to do with all this bounty.

Chef Jeremy at the girl & the fig

During the hard work of prepping the land and the painstaking labor of planting,

 these are the days we dreamt about.

Chefs Seth (left) and Uriel (right) working the land.
And now they are cooking with the fruits of their labors

As spring turned to summer we went from

 the encouraging signs of taller plants to blossoms to fruit.

All along we knew it would be worth it when we got to the days 

of arriving at the farm ready to collect the treasures.

Asian pears just picked off the tree
photo by Matthew Ruff

Atomic red carrots ready for the kitchen
photo by Matthew Ruff  

And these August days, tomatoes
are the "IT" girls at the girl & the fig.

We are now in the bounty time, picking these beauties daily
 from our farm at Imagery Estate Winery.

mixed heirloom tomatoes are finally ripe and ready

here's how they began: tomato starts May 12 at the farm

July the plants began teasing us

We've been waiting and watching the tomato plants since May, 

anticipating one of the house favorite's at the girl & the fig restaurant—

the heirloom tomato and watermelon salad, now on the menu. 

photo by Steven Krause for
Plats du Jour: the girl & the fig's Journey Through the Seasons in Wine Country

While we are thrilled to have this popular salad
back on the menu during "tomato time,"
what's especially exciting is what new dishes
have been inspired this summer.
The chefs at the girl & the fig created a special that is only available this week:
Albacore tartare(chives, roasted garlic, lemon zest, basil) 
and served with a garden tomato & chili sorbet.

Also, this week's bistro plats du jour features 

our heirloom tomatoes in the ENTRÉE of herb grilled albacore 

with garden tomatoes, leeks, french bread crumbs.

And, our tomatoes share billing with beans from the farm 

in a new addition to the regular menu: crispy Rocky Jr chicken thighs 

and a summer succotash of fresh beans, corn, bacon and heirloom tomatoes.

What will inspire the chefs next week?

And what are you creating in your kitchen with goodies from your farm 

or what you discover at your local Farmers Market?

two of our busy chefs at the girl & the fig

Lush herbs and ripening "fruit"

The basil at the farm is so lush and prolific, you almost want 

to dive in and bury your face in it. 

Besides the beautiful leaves, the scent is certainly intoxicating enough to do that. 

Happy times at the restaurant as this and the other herbs 

from the farm begin to proliferate. 

Our chefs rely on fresh herbs so much that in addition to 

what we grow at the farm, we of course have planted herbs at all the restaurants,

 including our new culinary event space, Suite D. 

basil in herb beds at Suite D

It is so great in summer to go outside and pick fresh herbs 

or easily get them at the farmer's markets. 

We wait all year for this time and then we want to "bottle it," 

so we can have that experience year round. 

There are a lot of great tips for freezing fresh herbs so you have them 

later to enliven your cooking. 

And making herb-infused oils is another idea we recommend. 

There are tips on creating herb-infused oil in Sondra's book, 

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

or here's a recipe courtesy of Once Upon a Plate

The ratio of olive oil to flavoring ingredient is one cup of oil to two cups of tightly packed soft leaved green herb. Since herb infused oil should be used within a week, don't make too much— maybe use 1/2 cup of oil and one cup of herbs.

Fill a large bowl with ice water, set aside.

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add the herbs, blanch for 5 seconds (make sure the leaves are submerged.) Drain into a strainer and immediately plunge the herbs into the bowl of ice water until cold. Drain the herbs well and squeeze out all liquid.

Puree in a blender with olive oil (blender works better than a food processor here.) Strain puree immediately through a fine-mesh strainer. Strain again through three or four layers of cheesecloth (rinsed in clear water and squeezed dry before straining the herbs.) Put the oil in a sterilized glass bottle, cover tightly and refrigerate. For best flavor, use within one week

This technique can be used for making infused oil whether the ingredient is basil, rosemary, oregano, garlic, chiles, chervil, chives, cilantro, mint, mushrooms or citrus fruit. 

And an important tip: It is imperative that no fresh herbs (or any other flavoring ingredient you are using) are added back into the oil before bottling because this could introduce the risk of the food borne illness, botulism.

Now that we are seeing the tomatoes starting to tease us at the farm, 

it will soon be challenging to think about doing anything with the basil 

other than tossing it with these heirlooms once they are ready, 

but we still have a little time until we are in "tomato heaven..."

heirloom tomatoes at the farm

tomato starts at the greenhouse in April

tomatoes at planting party in May

So while you wait for the tomatoes to ripen, go ahead and 

try making some herb oil this summer with herbs from your garden.

And then, in a few weeks you can drizzle the luscious oil 
over the tomatoes and basil!

Also, soon to appear on our restaurant menus is eggplant. 

We are growing several at the farm including 

Listada de Gandia, Rosa Bianca, Black Beauty and Aswad

photo by Steven Krause

first of the Black Beauty eggplants at the farm

Aswad is the Arabic word for eggplant. 

We are especially excited about planting this one.

Available from Iraq, this season is the first time 

these are available in the United States. 

A very heat tolerant fruit, we expect this eggplant variety to fare very well in Sonoma 

(like tomatoes, an eggplant is really a fruit—in fact many vegetables 

are considered fruits—check this out).

Aswads are dark and satiny, almost black and can weigh up to 3 pounds! 

They are perfect for grilling or baking. We wonder what the chefs will do with them?

 This Aswad eggplant will soon be over 3 lbs!

Aswad eggplants growing behind ESTATE

And, talking about proliferation—in last week's post, we talked about 

preparing for Fall with our planting of winter squash in the lower beds. 

Beginning of Autumn plants side by side with our Summer bounty. 

Well, the chefs may be incorporating those squash into menus sooner than we thought: 

Look how much growth occurred in just a week!

Check back at this blog to see what is growing next week 

and what the chefs have created with the gems 

they found at the farm this week.