Seasonal Overlap

vegetable bed in the Orchard

the Insectary in full bloom

As of September 22 Autumn begins.  

We are really feeling the change of season at the farm. 

The light is different, days are shorter and mornings are cooler.

 We are in that moment of seasonal overlap when our basil and tomatoes 

are still going crazy alongside the squash beds. 

A very busy time for all of us who work the farm, 

including the bees who make frequent visits to our crops 

from the nearby Insectary created by the Benziger family

 as part of their biodynamic concept for Imagery Estate Winery. 

see the bee upper left above the blossoms as he zooms in

landing on the top sunchoke blossom

moving to the one to the right of the top one

and a closer look at our Busy Bee at work! 

Sunchokes are also called Jerusalem artichokes, 

although that is a bit of a misnomer. 

They are not related to an artichoke, although their taste can remind you of one. 

And, no they are not from Jerusalem—one theory 

is that "the name is probably derived from the Italian name 

for a sunflower, girasole, which means turning to the sun." 

Do you know they can grow to be 10 feet tall?

harvested sunchokes 

Executive Chef John Toulze has gotten very creative with sunchokes. 

Besides creating sunchoke chips, which we are lovin' more than potato chips,

they were center stage during the girl & the fig dinner 

at the James Beard House this spring roasted 

and served alongside pan roasted black cod.

photo by Phil Gross for the James Beard House
Dish from Plats du Jour: the girl & the fig's Journey Through the Seasons in Wine Country.

Creativity and flexibility is the key for John and the other chefs 

as they harvest the fruits of summer and the early bounty of Fall. 

In a recent interview with The Huffington Post, John said: 

"Nature does not always work in accordance with a chef's schedule. 

You can't predict much," he says. "Normally, rhubarb means 

spring, strawberry is spring and summer, delicata squash is fall. 

There was point last year I was harvesting all those in the same time."

This flexibility about what seasonality really means 

is why you can still find the popular heirloom tomato & watermelon salad 

on the menu at the girl & the fig on the first day of Autumn. 

What Summer farm inspired dish will you soon miss most?

And what Fall delicacy are you looking forward to making?

Small "big" things in the garden

Our last post was about the flurry of activity—a planting party 

tansitioning from winter/early spring to a spring/summer garden. 

As the title suggested, a lot happened that day with tractors going 

and many hands furiously working to plant 

150 tomatoes, 100 peppers and 100 eggplants. 

But actually there is always a lot happening at the farm. 

Sometimes it may not be as visible or obvious as when the tractor is rolling. 

But there is always activity at the farm—whether it is a day 

when just one or two of us are weeding and 

tending to the beds, 

or on those days 

when no one is even there.

garlic bed photo by Cece Hugo

At the biodynamic farm on Imagery Estate Winery vineyard, 
our stalwart assistants, the "good bugs," 
are ever present doing their work all the time, 

 when we can see them and often when we cannot.

   

The soldier beettle is aptly named as an important predator of aphids. 

This little guy is" highly desired by gardeners as 

biological control agent of a number of pest insects." 

So we are careful as we do our work 

when we encounter a soldier beetle 

 to allow him to do his.

And we try to remember, and you should too, that while caterpillars 

may be a nuisance for some plants, they do turn into 

butterflies who enjoy the garden as much as we do, and bring us great pleasure.

photo: Matthew Ruff of Butterfly in sage plant at ESTATE

Perhaps the hardest worker at the farm are the bees.

  "Bee pollination of crops, something that most farmers heavily rely on, 

is responsible for as much as 30% of the U.S. food supply." 

Much has been written about this and the current crisis 

of bees dying at unsustainable rates.

Bees are the premier pollinators of the world, and without them, 
farmers worldwide would experience massive crop failures, especially for orchard fruits, 
berries, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, peppers and other bee-pollinated plants.
Bees are truly a farmer's and gardener's friend.
No question about the phrase, "busy bees!"

carefully peering into the lavender where the bees are hard at work

 The lavender bushes in the Insectary which attract the bees,
are close to our planting beds so they can support our work.  

All of the plants in the Insectary surrounding the farm have been designed
to maintain a natural balance attracting the good bugs.

Our owl house ensures we will have a sentry to help control rodents. 

Certainly the owl monitors all the "small moments" at the farm.  

so much going on in these bushes at the Insectary

And, truly every day there are small things happening
at the farm that are really big moments. 

As one brave blossom appears and begins to grow, 

we can feel the energy of the plant or tree as it begins to "breathe" and stretch out.

one of our first figs

the apricot tree begins to bloom

and pear blossoms in the Orchard

strawberries starting to appear

inspire this vanilla ris au lait with port-roasted strawberries 

The small things in the garden matter as much as the big major events.
And small gardens matter too.
 We are proud of the farm and the orchard
but also appreciate how much we can grow around the restaurants.

this lemon tree right outside ESTATE's bar

makes for a very fresh Lemon Drop (photo by Steven Krause) 

And you can grow so much food at home as well.
Check out Verdura for tips on creating an edible garden, even in small spaces and
we really enjoy A Sonoma Garden for insight and inspiration.

Let us know about the progress in your garden 

and please share links that pique your interest in the gardening experience.