Zucchinis... Coming Right Up!

Thanks to a super-warm spring, our zucchini plants are already quite big, and it looks like we may have our first harvest as early as next week. I'm really happy that they look so good because I nearly lost them after transplanting due to an irrigation mistake.

Around this time of year, I always like to clarify the difference between zucchini, summer squash, and winter squash. The short answer is that there is almost no difference. Summer squash refers to fruits that are harvested before their seeds mature, when their skin is still soft. Zucchini is one kind of summer squash, as is yellow crookneck, pattypan, etc. Winter squash are mature squash fruits with hard skins. Winter squash include butternut, acorn, and spaghetti squash. An immature winter squash is a summer squash, and a way overgrown zucchini becomes like a winter squash. Of course, the varieties we know as summer squash have qualities that make them particularly good for that purpose, and same goes for winter squash. To clarify another common misconception, both are grown in the summer. Winter squash are harvested in the fall, and keep well in storage over the winter, hence the name.

Female squash flower with Golden Zucchini forming underneath.

Male squash flower (no fruit forms beneath it)

Our New Logo

Here it is, our beautiful new logo!


Look for it wherever the freshest, most delicious produce is sold (within Morgan Hill, that is).

The logo was designed by CSA member Marieke Ruys http://mariekeruys.com. Check out her collection of hand-printed, eco-friendly napkins, the perfect accompaniment to all your locavore meals.

First CSA Delivery of the Season!

The first delivery of the spring season will be this Wednesday, April 17th! I'm getting very excited seeing how well our spring produce is doing right now. The first bag will include: beets, carrots, garlic, lettuce, mustard greens, tatsoi, bok choy, mint, mizuna, artichokes, and lemons.



Perfect for a stir-fry, with lots of Asian greens!

High Tunnel is Up! Many Thanks to our Helpers!

We finished putting on the plastic this morning.

The high tunnel is just about finished, and we wanted to say a huge "thank you" to all of you who helped us make this happen! Special thanks to our WWOOF volunteer, Madeline, who put in several 10-hour+ days on this project and our neighbor, Dan, who gave us free reign of his tool shed all week and to Mike from People and Planet who kept us fueled up with a big box of bananas and apples. Also much thanks to Bart, Pieter, Nineveh, Ariella, Jynelle, Kyrod, Tim, Craig, Lynn, and Nina who all gave up part of their weekend and plenty of sweat to get it done.

Hanging the first door.

Lots of drilling into steel on ladders- hard work!

Shoveling gravel under the baseboards - also a good workout!

Putting up purlins.

Ladders moving everywhere.

More drilling on ladders.

Victorious!

It's a Barn Raising!

Saturday and Sunday March 23rd and 24th, from 10am-5pm

This is the first arch. We have 11 more to go!

Gal has been busy with the sledgehammer.

It’s actually a high-tunnel raising, but same concept. A barn raising is when members of a community come together to help assemble and raise the frame of a barn — or in our case, a high-tunnel — which is too big a job for the farmers to do alone. A high-tunnel is a type of greenhouse, basically a big metal frame covered with plastic, which we will plant under. We were awarded a grant from NRCS to purchase this high-tunnel, and we need to finish assembling it in time for our April planting. So the race is on!

The posts that form the foundation are already in place, and it’s time to put up those big metal hoops. This is a big job, and we are humbly requesting the help of our community of friends, neighbors, and CSA members. You do not have to be an experienced construction worker or super-strong to help out. Jobs will include piecing together the metal hoops, helping to hoist them into place, and bolting together the supporting pieces. If you have a drill, please bring it. Also, we are greatly in need of a tall, free-standing (A-frame) ladder, 10 feet or taller. The barn raising is both Saturday and Sunday. We hugely appreciate any help you can provide, whether for an hour or a day. We hope this will be a fun community-building time with a sense of accomplishment at the end. We will provide cold drinks and light refreshments.

All are welcome. Many hands make light work.

900 W. Edmundson Ave., Morgan Hill

Thank You,
Michelle and Gal

The finished product should look something like this.

When Life Gives You Lemons....

Save some for later! That's the only answer to the bushels of lemons that are falling all over our driveway. We seem to have an ideal climate for growing lemons. When lemon season hits here, there are more lemons than anyone could possibly use.

I've been working on freezing the juice for the times of year when there are none. It's a pretty straightforward process. I just squeezed the lemon juice through a strainer into a big bowl. Then when the bowl seemed full enough, I began pouring it through a funnel into ice cube trays. After it's frozen, I will pop out the lemon cubes and put them in bags for easier storage. Hopefully, we'll be able to break off a cube of lemon juice whenever we need some.

The lemon juice factory

Our wonderful tree. Actually our neighbor's tree coming over onto our side, but they don't mind.

Happy Chickens on New Pasture

Salad up to her knees! They'll have this area looking totally bare in about a month.

Every 2-4 weeks, we move our chickens to a new spot around the farm. This month their pasture is particularly lush. They are virtually swimming in a salad bar of grass, field peas, and fava beans. Lucky ladies! This is our rainy season in California, and thus, our green season.

Rolling coop in a new pasture.

We move them around for a number of reasons. First, it makes chickens happy. They love to eat fresh greens, and the greens in their diet make better eggs and healthier chickens. The only thing they love more than greens is bugs, and they do a lovely job of cleaning up all the pests out of their area. Of course, their manure is an excellent fertilizer, and by moving them around, they distribute it evenly throughout the farm. They even do us the favor of light tillage with their constant scratching and digging.

We built a rolling coop for the purpose of moving the chickens around. Many farmers use electric fencing for pastured animals, but so far we've gotten by using a plastic chicken fencing, about 3 ft tall. It takes us about an hour of work to move them from one pasture to another. It's a bit of a hassle, it seems worth it.