Out the back door garden

 our farm at Imagery Winery; photo by Steven Krause 

To us, the farm is both literal—referring of course, 

to the 2 plus acres of biodynamic land at Imagery Estate Winery 

in Glen Ellen where we grow most 

of our vegetables, herbs and fruits—but our "farm project" also 
encompasses what we grow at the restaurants. 

A blog past last year took you along with Chef John 
and his farm consultant, Colby Eierman as they reviewed
the space behind the girl & the fig, where they first started planting, 

and looked ahead to what else could be done there:

(that's how they decided to plant 300 asparagus crowns 

even though we need to be patient for almost two years until we can harvest them) 

And, in some ways, the "farms" right outside the doors of the restaurant 

are where the Chefs turn for frequent daily inspiration or a quick solution. 

the lavender bushes and apple espaliers at ESTATE are beautiful and delicious!

apple fennel galette photo by Steven Krause 

The gardens at ESTATE are a significant aspect of the environment and 

experience of dining there, where you can enjoy beautiful ornamental plants, 

a climbing rose that is over 100 years old and lush trees. 

Certainly the herb beds and apple espaliers in the front and the lemon tree by the porch do double duty for us, both as part of the landscaping and serving the kitchen. 

heirloom apples grafted on the espaliers

story goes that this climbing rose was a wedding gift to General Vallejo's daughter 

lemon tree right outside ESTATE bar entrance 

But we also take advantage of every bit of sun and space available

with beds of potatoes, onions, carrots and some herbs in an area in the west parking lot 

as well as creatively planting along the back fence. 

The beans, cucumbers, eggplant, chard, and purslane back there are truly 

an "out the back door" garden for the chefs. 

beans 

cucumbers

chard. Did you know this is a plant that makes you happy?

purslane, which tastes like spinach or watercress, appears in our salads. Here are recipe ideas

And behind the girl & the fig, our new greenhouse is ready for micro greens and herbs. 

The greenhouse is a new addition to our farm project 

and will greatly enhance what we can do, especially with 

more fragile plants as well as allowing us to have more control.

greenhouse at the fig in process

greenhouse ready for plants

Chef Jeremy from "the fig" enjoys the convenience of 

dashing out the door to snip some chives—how much fresher could they be? 

And he likes "keeping his hand" in the farm; while he works the beds 

out back, he may get a new idea for something to do in the kitchen. 

What do you plant outside your back door? 

Get some ideas for container planting in the city.

Whatever you decide, here is a great resource from treehugger.com 

about planting a more "earth-friendly" garden. 

And Smart Gardener is a favorite source for innovative ways to garden in small spaces whether in the city or anywhere. 

Being limited for space should not prevent you from the experience 

and the delicious taste of growing some of your own food!

photo by Jerry James Stone 

And if you and some fellow urban farmers want to join forces 

to create a more extensive garden in a city environment, 

read this article for ideas. 

But for us, here in Sonoma, we know we are lucky 

to have the space we do and the bounty we cultivate 
in all the areas we consider "the farm project."

Our chefs and servers are happy to share that bounty with you,

 telling you which ingredients come from our farm. 

Stop in sometime soon this summer to taste what we are growing.

the peas at the farm inspired the chefs at ESTATE 

to create smoked pea sformato radish salad

Summer's approaching...patience at the farm

In a few days it will be the official start of summer. 

While we certainly have already been enjoying the fruits of our labors at the farm, 

we are now preparing to really reap the rewards. 

radishes and onions this spring; photo by Cece Hugo

abundant garlic beds earlier this spring; photo by Cece Hugo

We look forward to enjoying what the chefs will create
from the 350 tomatoes, 100 peppers and 100 eggplants at the farm,
as well as all the herbs and other vegetables.

heirloom tomato & watermelon salad, a favorite at the girl & the fig
featured in our new book, Plats du Jour: the girl & the fig's Journey Through the Seasons in Wine Country
photo by Steven Krause 

photo by Steven Krause

wood roasted shiso peppers from ESTATE

Summer begins the time when a trip to the farm is not only 

about the work we need to do, 

but there is always the promise of leaving with something fresh in hand. 

We confess it is often challenging to wait for summer's bounty, 

but the knowledge of how things do change 

at the farm encourages us along.

apricot tree in the orchard in late April

the apricot tree now

A great article recently talked about how gardening teaches us patience. 

In The Telegraph, author James Alexander-Sinclair says 

"gardening is the last bastion of the patient, as nature cannot be hurried...

often the greatest pleasure is in the waiting: 

to appreciate the progress of the plant at every stage." 

We keep the image of something like our lemon verbena pots du crème

photo by Steven Krause 

as we wait for the lemon verbena to be ready. 

For now, though, as we anticipate summer, 

there are a few special things we are creating with inspiration from the farm.

What are you enjoying from your garden right now?

And what have you planted that you look forward to having this summer?

"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!