The Avalon Organic Gardens, Farm, and Ranch Report

Greetings CSA members and friends,

The summer harvests are getting bigger and longer; recipes are shared so all the vegetables are appreciated when eaten, not just the favorites. Some of our neighbors have more friut on their trees than they can handle and have asked us to come in and pick it for them.  We love keeping food from going to waste, and enjoying fresh picked local fruit at the same time.  Water becomes an all day blessing to quench the thirst - you should try several types of Liquados: Mix water with juices from watermelon juice, cantelope, peach, etc., to cool off.  Its August already! And as all gardeners know the next frost is only a few months away- here its coming around mid-October. We have started planting seeds for all the fall crops and some for the winter too. Its amazing what each season has to offer. The greens are sparse now but by next month they should pick up again, so do other greens come back again. What is still surprising to all of us here is that so many plants adapt quite well to hot days followed by monsoon rains, cloudy skies with lots of humidity, some strong winds that brake some branches, and of course some lightning. The Santa Cruz River swelled up so fast that some got surprised. One important reminder: it might rain elsewhere in the mountains which runs off into the river even if you are living in the valleys. To live in the desert is a special treat during these days of extreme changes. So enjoy it, slow down sometimes and notice the beauty all around you.
The watermelons that you are receiving in your CSA shares are freshly picked and they should be very sweet; to us they are the best ever.
See you soon,

-The Avalon Gardens Family

CSA Harvest List:

• Beets w/Greens
• Daikon Radish
• Okra
• Garlic
• Basil (lots for making Pesto or other sauces)
• tres colores Onions (yellow/red/white)
• Summer Squash
• Eggplant
• Cucumbers
• (new) Watermelon
• Hot Peppers (Jalapeno/Serrano type)

Vegetable of the Week: Onion

Onions are native to Asia and the Middle East and have been cultivated for over five thousand years. Onions were highly regarded by the Egyptians. Not only did they use them as currency to pay the workers who built the pyramids, but they also placed them in the tombs of kings, such as Tutankhamen, so that they could carry these gifts bestowed with spiritual significance with them to the afterlife.

Onions have been revered throughout time not only for their culinary use, but also for their therapeutic properties. As early as the 6th century, onions were used as a medicine in India. While they were popular with the ancient Greeks and Romans, they were oftentimes dressed with extra seasonings since many people did not find them spicy enough. Yet, it was their pungency that made onions popular among poor people throughout the world who could freely use this inexpensive vegetable to spark up their meals. Onions were an indispensable vegetable in the cuisines of many European countries during the Middle Ages and later even served as a classic healthy breakfast food. Christopher Columbus brought onions to the West Indies; their cultivation spread from there throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Onions are a very good source of vitamin C, chromium and dietary fiber. They are also a good source of manganese, molybdenum, vitamin B6, folate, potassium, phosphorus and copper.

A Few Quick Serving Ideas:
Combine chopped onions, tomatoes, avocado and jalapeno for an all-in-one guacamole salsa dip.

To perk up plain rice, sprinkle some chopped onions and sesame seeds on top.

Sautéed chopped onions are so versatile that they can be added to most any vegetable dish.

Enjoy a classic Italian salad-sliced onions, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese drizzled with olive oil.

Farmers Market Tucson(Thurs.) / Farm Stand Tubac (Sat.) Harvest List

• Beets
• Hot Peppers (Jalapeno/Serrano type)
• Daikon Radish
• Fresh Garlic
• Fresh Onions red, white and yellow
• Okra
• Eggplant
• Summer squash
• Asian Noodle Beans
• Basil
• Cucumbers
• (new) Melons

Sustainable Agriculture News:  Sanders Field Farm: The Cook, the Farmer and the Local Community

By Naomi Starkman

The drive down the gravel road to Sanders Field Farm in Sebastopol, CA leads me past an 80-year old apple orchard and into a sun-drenched clearing of strawberries, tomatoes, beans, eggplant, and sunflowers. Lowell Sheldon, the proprietor of Peter Lowell’s, meets me at the gate, hands covered in dirt after harvesting food from the farm for his Sonoma county restaurant.

Not far behind him are Daria Morrill and Tony Tugwell, whose 12-acre organic farm is off the grid, running only on solar power. With two acres under cultivation, the couple has designed a compact production scheme solely dedicated to the restaurant—kale, chard, baby lettuces, spring onions, snap peas, and broccoli glow in the afternoon light, set to become part of Peter Lowell’s menu of sustainably grown sustenance.

As we tour the tomatoes—heirlooms grown to spec—Morrill, new to farming, but not to plants, tells me, “This is my gift. I am lucky to get to plant and be outside, with my hands in the dirt…it is my form of freedom.” Morrill spent years nurturing Cottage Gardens nursery in nearby Petaluma, where she started a popular vegetable seedling program. Tugwell—a “tech guy” who spent two decades in “a cubicle banging out code for corporate America”—is the farm’s director of operations, running tractors and hooking up irrigation and alternative energy systems. The couple had their eye on the piece of property for over a year and though they declare themselves “too old to become new farmers” (let’s call them “middle aged”) they are now happily and successfully growing over 100 varieties of produce.

Local farmers frequent local restaurant featuring local produce

he threesome originally met at the restaurant, housed in a LEED-certified building, which is part of the loft complex in which with the couple lives. They quickly brokered a partnership which allows Sheldon to buy directly and exclusively from them. While many restaurants in the Bay Area source locally, Peter Lowell’s joins the likes of Manresa, French Laundry, Zatar, Café Gratitude, and Pauline’s Pizza, which grow their own food.

Sheldon now sources more than 50 percent of his produce from the farm, supplementing from other local farmers, and through Veritable Vegetable. He pays Morrill wholesale prices, but there is a lot more to their transaction. He’s at the farm at least three days a week, helping to harvest and plan the crops. “I honestly feel the cycle of life is at its core [and that is] what inspires me about farming,” Sheldon says. “[It is] the process of transformation from seed to plant and back to seed.” Creating a true farm to table to farm system, all of the kitchen waste is composted on the farm, though table scraps are not. But that’s not a problem, Sheldon winks, “everyone eats all their food.”

His staff of 17 also volunteers at the farm once a week, including his new chef, David Vargas. Often times chef and owner will meet at the farm to work together in the fields, one of the few places they can talk undisturbed. “Working with fresh organic product is one thing, but being able to go out to our own farm and harvest twice a week has a very different feeling,” Vargas says. “To know what is in our fridge and what is in the field and be working from both angles while I am cooking is very inspiring. The creative energy that is out there on the field is one that cannot be found in a book.”

Growing its own food was the obvious next step for Peter Lowell’s, where the signature statement is its commitment to fresh, seasonal, and locally produced food and wine. Nearly everything on the menu is local and/or organic. Sheldon notes that his “slightly off-kilter attitude towards business—one where people, animals, and the environment come before profit, where organic is a way of life, and where the highest quality cuisine is a top priority—is in keeping with our community’s standards.”

And he should know. Sheldon, 29, was raised on two acres in Sebastopol in a back-to-the land environment with animals and a large vegetable garden. Educated at a local Waldorf school, he studied in Washington State, where he worked in restaurants, and then lived overseas, where he worked with at risk youth. Wanting to create a dynamic community space, Sheldon came home and dove into the restaurant business, opening Peter Lowell’s three years ago.

The menu is Italian-inspired and features the bounty of Sonoma County: crisp thin-crust pizzas are expertly cooked, fresh, handmade pasta is finished with local Skipstone olive oil, and numerous salads showcase the stellar farm produce. Sheldon, who for many years was a vegetarian, originally did not serve meat on his menu because he feels that the level of consumption of ranch-raised meats by Americans is unsustainable. “It seems that essentially it is this level of consumption that has led to factory farms and the horrid state of farmed animals in this day and age,” he says. “Of course it is also the inverse, meaning that the economic drive for profit by the ranching industry has led to these farms, in turn putting more pressure on them to sell more meat at cheaper prices.”

He started serving meat not because of an overwhelming pressure from his clientele, but rather because the financial strain of opening the restaurant put him in a position where he needed different options. “Across the board meat should be drawn back on menus; it should make up about as large a part of menus as it should of our diet in general,” Sheldon says. “Restaurants have a responsibility to not only serve exciting and groundbreaking cuisine, but also to show people how they should and can eat more consciously.”

Today he offers local lamb and beef from Sonoma Direct, pork from Zoe’s Meats, chicken from Gleason Ranch, eggs from Felton Acres, and fish from Ports Seafood. Local cheese comes from Bellwether and Redwood Hill and wine list touts sustainably grown, biodynamic, and organic vintners, including local favorites Quivira, Radio-Cocteau, and Carol Shelton.

How sustainable is a sustainable business?

Sheldon’s commitment to sustainability does cost more, often nearly twice as much. “For me, being educated about all aspects of sustainability and what I can do to make my restaurant more sustainable, is very exciting and empowering,” he says. “Even though we are not yet recognized as a world-class restaurant, I know we are doing sustainability as good or better than any urban restaurant in the world. We obviously gain a lot by being true to our ideals. People get what we are doing and come regularly because of it.”

Sheldon’s the first to admit that his previous business partner and he were new to managing the restaurant, which led to a “financial catastrophe.” While he remains in debt, Sheldon now calls his business “stable” (it is nearly always full) and has big ideas for the future. He envisions having a stand at the Sebastopol farmers’ market, to sell the restaurant’s pasta, and a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, to offer his customers a box of farm fresh food to cook up in their own kitchens.

Community Supported Agriculture

Both through the connection to the restaurant and on its own volition, Sanders Field Farm has also become a destination for people who are drawn by its beauty and community feel: one woman is starting a flower growing program there, some volunteers who live just at the poverty line come to work for food, and many others come to pull weeds and escape their offices. “The farm has its own purpose and attracts people who all bring something of themselves with them and take something of the farm away with them,” Morrill says. “I thought my job was about growing veggies for Lowell but there is this whole other dynamic happening where I’m facilitating what is wanted when it shows up and rolling along with the surprises that arise that are quite different from my own agenda.”

That the farm has power in creating community is clear, and it starts from the relationship between the farmers and the restaurant owner. As I left the farm, the light glinting between the 300 knotty apple trees, the team was looking over perfectly serviceable collards, snap peas, broccoli shoots, beets, and potatoes. “Those are a gift to Lowell,” Morrill nods at the boxes brimming with food. “I can’t use them because they’re not perfect, so I’m throwing them in.” “It works out,” Tugwell says. “We’ll come in later for a beer in trade.”

Photos: Naomi Fiss

Originally published on Inside Scoop

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Naomi Starkman is a food policy consultant to Consumers Union and others. She served as the Director of Communications & Policy at Slow Food Nation ’08 and has worked as a media consultant at The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, GQ and WIRED magazines. She was previously a senior publicist at Newsweek magazine and was the Director of Communications for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR). From 1997 to 2000, she served as Deputy Executive Director of the S.F. Ethics Commission. She is the co-founder of Civil Eats and Kitchen Table Talks, a local food forum in San Francisco, a board member of 18 Reasons, a nonprofit connecting community through food, and is on the Circle of Friends Council for the Community Alliance with Family Farmers. Naomi works with various clients on food policy and advocacy and is an aspiring organic grower, having worked on several farms.