Week of July 2, 2024

When I tell people that my favorite vegetable is cabbage, I’m often met with a perplexed stare. The humble cabbage doesn’t have the flash of a red tomato or the storybook charm of a carrot bunch but it’s got layers and layers of versatility and generosity.

It starts at the planting: the spindly leaves are tucked into the Earth and as their cousins of kale and collards and broccoli get taller, the cabbages stay close to the ground, quietly building. They almost seem shy as they bulk up under a blanket of leaves and as we harvest, we peel these outer protective layers away to unveil the most pristine head of cabbage.

The harvest itself feels generous, especially in the spring. Cabbages feel like the first heavy crop and because we can only fit so many into a crate, we bring in crate after crate.

Just like bringing it in from the field, when I’m preparing it, I never realize how much cabbage there is until I cut into it. It’s a vegetable to be shared with others or shared over multiple meals. I think of slaws brought to summer potlucks or roasted with potatoes and sausage on dark winter nights. I remember my first farm job having a community kraut-making day, chopping and massaging handfuls of cabbage with new friends then filling jars that each of us would take to our homes.

I’m grateful for cabbage. In a way, I strive to be like cabbage: grounded, giving, adaptable, and reliable. I hope you enjoy your baskets this week and have a good holiday week.

-Maddie

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In The Basket 

Lettuce – A crispy leaf that works well in lettuce wraps.

Potatoes – Did someone say potato salad?

Onions – Pairs beautifully with a juicy burger.

Cabbage – What more can I write?

Strawberries – Freeze some and pop them into your water or lemonade!

Lavender – A delicate flavor also delicious in some summer lemonade, or dry and use in baking.

Purslane – I highly recommend chopping some for your potato salad, it adds a mild citrus taste and lots of omega-3 fatty acids.

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Sesame Ginger Cabbage Slaw

Ingredients:

1 cabbage, quartered and sliced thin

⅓ cup peanuts or cashews, crushed

¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

¼ cup rice vinegar

1 tbsp maple syrup or honey

2 tsp soy sauce or tamari

2 tsp fresh ginger, grated

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp sesame oil

Recipie:

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together dressing ingredients. I like to put in a jar and shake.

Put sliced cabbage and cilantro and dressing in a bowl and gently combine. Top with peanuts and eat right away for a firmer slaw OR keep in fridge for a few hours for a less crunchy but still delicious slaw.

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Featured Flower 

Statice

Limonium sinuatum

Like Maddie’s humble cabbage, statice is an underappreciated flower. It is hardy as all get out, comes in a rainbow of colors and lasts for not weeks but months. If you hang it upside down to dry it can last for years! These bluish shades are among my favorites, especially the periwinkle.

–Lanette

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Week of June 25, 2024

Lately, I have been running several times a week down Moody Road early in the morning. I like to stop and stretch at a midpoint in the run. Last week I was pushing up against the big steel bridge that goes over Adobe Creek stretching my calves, and as I went to resume running I noticed that my hands were covered in dirt. On closer examination, they were covered with the dirty residue of a wonderful array of lichen that were growing all over the vertical and horizontal surfaces of this large tube steel bridge frame. As a soil aficionado, I carefully smelled the dirt and noted how similarly it smelled to some of our late-stage compost. For the rest of my run I just kept thinking about how much respect I have for these lichens!

Consider how hearty an organism you have to be to set up a home on the vertical surface of a cold, frequently bone-dry piece of thick steel. Given the color variations in the lichens, I imagine that there are multiple types growing there. I’m so inspired by the initiative taken to thrive in such a barren and hostile place and to be the primary producer of what smelled to me like rich soil. In both the books, ‘Entangled Life’ and ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ there is special reference made to the well-supported hypothesis that lichens were earth’s first real soil builders. The theory is that they have slowly worked over millions and millions of years creating the basis for the soil web of life that supports the plants that in turn support the rest of us.

What still makes my brain buzz is the idea that if we notice and pay attention to these things, they are still happening all around us. It’s not just some primordial earth kind of thing. I love the bumper sticker “Compost Happens“. It’s pretty old school at this point and I don’t much appreciate the obvious comparison to “sh*t happens“, but the underlying premise of compost happening without intervention, I find deeply reassuring. The idea that we could gather a random mixture of organic materials and it will be populated by microorganisms that expertly break those materials down into a substance that is nutritious to plants, is nothing short of magical. The realization that lichen can populate a steel bridge and initiate the process of forming soil on a vertical surface feels close to a religious experience for me.

The second law of thermodynamics is that entropy or disorder always increases with time. It seems to me that physics fails to pay enough attention to biology as a physical force. I think physicists would contend that the ordered systems created by the lichens growing eventually succumb to their own death and decomposition. But is that really, on balance, a tendency towards disorder when the contributions of your life’s metabolism as a lichen have created soil that provides a foundation for countless other organisms?

In this framework, thermodynamics seems pessimistic or inattentive to the deep and pervasive forces that drive evolutionary diversity. Living systems grow more complex over time and they carry the processes that create diverse ecosystems. Is that disorder? What about the ancient strategy of fallowing fields? If you have encountered fertility issues or disease pressures let the soil rest. The corrective action of this inaction is evidence of capable regeneration by microorganisms. Soil building is hope manifested. All healthy and vibrant land ecosystems are founded upon healthy soils. To take it from Lanette’s writing from last week, healthy soil is a kind of wealth. Or put another way, Hallelujah! Compost happens!

-Jason

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In The Basket

Summer squash: Once it comes on in force we like to give you guys an ample amount. We will switch to every other week starting next week. Grill, saute, roast, steam, they are very versatile.

Fennel Bulb: Great roasted, shredded into salads and slaws, or slow cooked into sauces.

Garlic: Fully matured now but the cloves are very mild and tender. Salad dressings!

Strawberries: They rock!

Blackberries: I think this may be it for them but an excellent season for these dark jewels.

Lacinato Kale: Try roasting the kale. Chips are overrated but roasting the kale in a light olive oil based garlic sauce makes a delicious side dish.

Mint: More for your salad dressings, teas, yogurt sauces and cocktails.

Red Beets: Our first planting of beets, these delicious tender rubies are best enjoyed boiled for 25 minutes and then the skins rub off easily. Slice into salads or on sandwiches.

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Red Beet Salad w/ Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

One bunch of red beets

4-5 fresh strawberries topped

1/4 cup olive oil

3 T balsamic vinegar

1 t salt

2 cloves of fresh garlic coarsely minced

1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

4 oz feta cheese crumbled

Instructions:

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and add whole beets. Boil for 25 minutes or until a thin knife slips easily through them. Remove from heat and fill the pot with cold water to chill down the beets. At this point the skins can be easily rubbed off and composted. Prepare the vinaigrette by pureeing berries, oil, vinegar, salt, garlic and pepper in a blender or using an immersion blender until smooth. Slice beets into thin crescents and add to a medium mixing bowl. Combine dressing and thoroughly toss to fully coat the beets. Sprinkle feta on top and serve. If you still have cabbage and carrots from last week, this dressing also pairs wonderfully with slaw!

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Featured Flower

Rudbeckia aka Black Eyed Susan

‘Indian Summer’ variety

Rudbeckia hirta

A happy-go-lucky flower if I’ve ever known one. These sunny blooms have a sweet hershey kiss of a center, golden petals and nice long, straight stems. I love their hardiness too. You can seed them in Winter and they will hold as small plants until you’re ready to plant them, even if that means waiting for months! Most plants get testy about such hold times and start to get wonky; blooming on short stems or becoming root bound in their pots. Not sunny Susan, she’ll wait till you’re ready to give her her moment in the sun.

– Lanette

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Week of June 18, 2024

This year for the first time we have an abundance of cherries and blackberries. This week will be the second in a row with enough of the sweet, ruby-red treasures to give half pints to the CSA and the first with blackberries. Not to mention the strawberries! Our cherry bounty has been many years in the making. Seasons of planting and pruning, tending trees and protecting fruit, have finally yielded a bountiful crop. A big thank you here to Dave Roos and Bill Porter for their help in constructing our cherry net structure, without which this would be solely a bird’s bounty to enjoy. That’s how it goes with tree fruit, it’s a long-term investment with a lot upfront for (hopefully) an eventual payout. On the topic of long term culinary investments, I recently learned that there is a bank in Italy that accepts wheels of parmesan cheese as collateral. They’ve constructed a special vault to store and age the valuable asset. I love this!

I think we’ve all gotten a little giddy from our fruit largess. I’ve noticed multiple times that members of the farm team have referred to feeling wealthy with such an abundance. I know what they mean. Though the cherries and berries are not really for the five of us, and they are definitely not going to last, to have so many feels like a kind of wealth. Which has got me thinking, what counts as wealth? How do we measure it? Wealth is so commonly associated with money that the two words seem almost synonymous. But surely the concept is more expansive than that. Apart from this brief but wonderful opulence of cherries and berries, what other types of wealth do I have? Where else do I feel wealthy? It’s a pleasant thought experiment, I encourage you to try. I personally feel wealthy at the library and in my favorite bookstores, where the plentitude of stories tower in shelves above me. I feel wealthy around dogs I love, who look at me with full eyes, as though I possess everything they could possibly want. I asked Jason this question and he shared that he feels wealthy spreading our finished compost on the spring fields, filled with the knowledge of the bounty to come and the satisfaction of feeding the soil. It seems clear to me that we needn’t possess a thing to be wealthy in it and it needn’t be lasting, we only have to recognize and savor the fullness of the moment.

-Lanette

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Crop Descriptions

Cherries – Eat, savor, repeat

Strawberries – Basically the same instructions as the cherries, or alternatively, slice them and add them to your summer salad.

Blackberries – Technically these are olallieberries, a cross between blackberries and raspberries. Pureed with garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt they make an incredible salad dressing.

Potatoes – Spring potatoes taste to me as if they’ve got butter baked inside. Understandably, roasting them with butter and salt is a natural fit.

Leeks – The queen of Alliums, caramelized leeks add a depth and sweetness to just about any dish.

Summer Squash – With the summer heat upon us, I highly recommend slicing these, tossing them in olive oil and salt and roasting on the grill. They pair beautifully with cheddar cheese.

Cabbage – See the saute recipe below.

Lettuce – A fresh salad is just the thing on a warm afternoon.

Carrots – The last of our carrots for a while. I recommend them either graded into a slaw or cut up and roasted in the oven to enhance their sweetness

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Sauteed Cabbage w/

Fennel and Garlic

Ingredients:

1 small/medium head of cabbage (1 1/4 lbs)

3 TBSP olive oil

1 fennel bulb and fronds minced

2 garlic cloves

salt

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tsp lemon juice

2 TBSP grated parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Place cabbage in large bowl and cover with cold water; let stand for 3 minutes. Soaking the cabbage can help reduce some of the enzymes that produce sulfurous flavors. Drain cabbage well and set aside. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add fennel bulb and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic and pepper flakes and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer fennel mixture to small bowl.

Return now-empty skillet to medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon oil, and heat until shimmering. Add cabbage and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover and cook, without stirring, until cabbage is wilted and lightly browned on bottom, about 3 minutes.

Stir and continue to cook, uncovered, until cabbage is crisp-tender and lightly browned in places, about 4 minutes longer, stirring once halfway through cooking. Remove skillet from heat. Stir in fennel mixture, reserved fennel fronds, and lemon juice. Season with salt to taste, transfer to serving bowl, drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon oil, and sprinkle with Parmesan. Enjoy!

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Featured Flower

Godetia

Clarkia amoena

I think Godetia looks positively tropical, and with the warm weather these days it seems fitting. These colorful blooms are delicate and ephemeral, only growing this time of year, but still a favorite.

– Lanette

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Week of June 11, 2024

Hey everyone,

My name is Dov Rossi-Young, and I’m the last member of our five-person agriculture team. This is my first year farming and I’ve never been so happy to be covered in dirt.

Summer is fast approaching, and as such we’re welcoming more summer crops into our share basket. This week’s new additions are Cauliflower and Summer Squash, two vegetables that can be enjoyed in a dozen ways; and Fennel, a crunchy green with a flavor similar to anise and licorice.

Things are heating up around the farm, plants are moving out of the greenhouse and our fields are getting fuller. There is something very satisfying about sitting at the edge of a field and seeing all the growing things, knowing that you helped to cultivate them. With the long hours of sunlight, fruits on the trees are starting to ripen, and the darkening olallieberries are hard not to pluck from the bush and eat, still slightly tart. The first signs of tomatoes–little yellow flowers–populate the beds, and everything seems to glow under the golden rays of sun that beat down, illuminating the rows of crops soaking in the heat. It is nice to feel like a nurturing hand.

– Dov / דוב

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Crop Descriptions

Broccoli– Heads up!

Cauliflower– Like Broccoli after Bunnicula got to it.

Cherries– Sweet as can be, this summer fruit is joining the party in clusters.

Fennel– I love fennel in salads or just chewing on the fuzzy greens. Tastes like licorice!

Magenta Lettuce– Chop with fennel and strawberries for a sweet salad.

Oregano– For your seasoning purposes.

Spring Onions– Great sliced in sandwiches or sautéed in stir-fries.

Strawberries- Delicious right out of the basket.

Summer Squash- Roasted, sautéed, or grilled, these squash have fragile skin and crunchy flesh.

Turnips– Crisp and crunchy, good for salads or on their own.

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Flavorful Squash Pasta à la Dov

I gotta be honest, my method of cooking involves throwing whatever I have on hand together until it tastes good. I usually use mushrooms to bulk up my pasta sauce, but I decided to try it out with our summer squash, and found the results quite tasty.

Ingredients:

• Your pasta of choice (I used Fusilli)
• Marinara Sauce
• Olive Oil
• 1-2 Summer Squash
• ¼ Onion Bulb
• Kalamata Olives
• 3-5 Pepperoncini (whole)
• Oregano

Instructions:

Start by bringing a pot of water to boil for the pasta. I always recommend adding olive oil and salt to the water for flavor. As to the amount, my Aunt says: “Salt the sea.”

While the water is boiling, pour a generous amount of olive oil into a good sized frying pan and bring to medium heat. Quarter and slice your summer squash, dice your onion, and throw them into the pan. Allow them to brown slightly, then toss in a handful of kalamata olives. Leave that on the stove a little while longer then pour in the marinara sauce, a few pepperoncini (I like to add a bit of the pepperoncini brine), and minced oregano. Cover with a lid and simmer, allowing it to burn off some of the excess liquid.

Strain the pasta, add the sauce, and enjoy!

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Featured Flower

Starflower Scabiosa

Scabiosa stellata

What a weird and wonderful world we live in that includes this oddball. Its satisfying symmetry reminds me of childhood wiffle balls and Disney’s Epcot Center. Technically the part that we’re harvesting has aged beyond flower into the realm of seedhead, but pish posh, for the purposes of this segment we’ll call it a flower and call it a day.

– Lanette

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Week of June 4, 2024

My name is Danielle Ness, and I started as one of the two seasonal farm assistants in March. I grew up in Redwood City and so was fortunate enough to come to Hidden Villa on school trips as a kid. I graduated from Cal Poly last December with a focus in environmental studies and it’s my goal to someday start a small-scale farm of my own. For these reasons, I am excited to start my hands-on farming experience with three very passionate mentors- Jason, Lanette, and Maddie. I look forward to meeting you all as the season progresses!

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In the Basket…

Red Norland Potatoes – Since these are fresh from the field and not cured like most other potatoes, make sure to either cook them up right away or store in a bag in the fridge.  

Kale – I like to make a simple kale salad by drizzling with lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and then massaging it all together. 

Carrots – My favorite way to eat carrots is roasted topped with greek yogurt, paprika, and dill. A perfect summer side. 

Hearts of Romaine Lettuce – Can’t go wrong with a Caesar salad. 

Mint – Blend it into chutney according to the recipe below. 

Broccoli – They’ve just begun to show their heads, and they are crisp and sweet! 

Green Garlic – Make sure to save some for this week’s recipe.

Strawberries – Just enjoy!

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Mint Chutney

Ingredients: 

1 Bundle of Mint

¼ C. Green Garlic 

1 C. Cilantro

Juice of 1 lemon or lime 

1 Pepper of choice (I like Jalapeno best, but serrano or any spicy pepper will do, even red pepper flakes works fine!). Adjust to your spice preference. 

1 tsp. Cumin seeds

1 tsp. Sugar 

1 tsp. Salt

Optional:

Like it creamy? Add ½ C. greek yogurt. 

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. Add water or more citrus juice to achieve the consistency of your liking. 

A very flavorful topping or marinade for chicken, shrimp, steak, or grilled veggies. Drizzle on top of Labneh cheese for a pita chip dip. This chutney also goes really well with potatoes, so I often sauce up my eggs and potatoes for breakfast too! 

Keeps in the fridge for about two weeks. 

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Featured Flower:

Larkspur

Consolida ajacis

The name Larkspur actually comes from the blooms’ resemblance to the claws of the meadowlark bird. They’re great attractants of pollinators, such as hummingbirds and butterflies, both of which I have stopped to observe fluttering amongst the field. Native species of Larkspur grow wild across Western North America in many different terrains such as in conifer forests and along streams. These striking flowers come in a variety of colors from blue to purple to pink, with blue as the most common- and it’s even possible to make a natural dye out of the blue Larkspur! 

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Week of May 28th, 2024

My name is Maddie Christy and since February, I’ve been working as the Farm Coordinator here. I know many of you have been part of this community for years and some of you are new here just like me – I feel so fortunate to have this role and be working in this beautiful place.

This is my fourth season farming at a production scale and I’m moving here from a farm in Virginia where I grew veggies and milked cows. I’m originally from Alexandria, Virginia, and after college, I taught elementary school in Washington, DC, for three years.

As we jump into the 2024 growing season, I’m reminded of the parallels between farming and teaching – most notably the cyclical nature of the year. A farm in the spring is brimming with limitless energy and enthusiasm just like the first day of school. Recharged by a well-deserved break, farmers and teachers make plans and set goals while also taking on the familiar tasks of starting again. Whether it’s setting up the classroom or finding space in the greenhouse, we’re setting the foundation for when things start to take off. I love these quiet moments and the anticipation of a new year. We never know what unexpected obstacles we’ll face, but we lean on the people we work alongside and the community that supports us to take on these challenges and grow from them. I’m excited for the growth and the nourishment that this season will undoubtedly bring to each of us.

-Maddie

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In the Basket

Collards – I love these cooked for a long time, made even better when you add some Hidden Villa hamhock. See recipe for a take on beans and greens.

Hakurei Turnips – These mild turnips are crisp and not too overpowering sliced raw into a salad.

Red Spring Onions – These crunchy bulbs are full of flavor and versatility. Don’t forget you can use the greens blended into a tangy salad dressing.

Rosemary – Just take a deep breath in of this fragrant herb. I’ve been crushing it up and baking it into shortbread, yum!

Hearts of Romaine Lettuce – This crisp romaine variety makes a simple spring salad sing. Try using the onion and rosemary in a light vinaigrette!

Arugula – Time for some spicy arugula pesto?

Radishes – It’s a brief window for this spring treats, enjoy them while they last

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Slow- Cooked
Collard Greens & Beans

Ingredients List:

1 bunch of collard greens

2 tbsp olive oil

½ onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup stock (veggie or chicken)

1 cup water

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 can navy or pinto beans (or really any beans you have in your pantry)

salt and pepper to taste

Optional: ½ pound sausage (I used 2 of the HV Garlic Basil sausage links, cut into 1” pieces)

Instructions:

Cut collards into 1” strips (remove center rib of green if you like)

If using sausage, cook in Dutch oven over medium heat just until cooked through then remove. If not using meat, heat oil over medium heat.

Add onion to pot and cook around 2-3 minutes. Add in greens and stir until they wilt, about 3 minutes. Stir in broth, water, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer.

Cook for about 40 minutes until greens are tender. Add in the beans and sausage and cook an additional 10-15 minutes. Add hot sauce for some kick.

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Featured Flower

 

Nigella ‘Delft Blue’

Nigella papillosa

Named for the famous Dutch delft blue pottery, this variety is unique and lovely. Blue is the rarest color in the flower world, apart from black, of which I can think of exactly zero examples, so whenever I find a blue flower that I like it feels extra special. These delicate blooms have the added bonus of being a flower that we can over-winter here. That means that I sow the seed in December, straight into the field, no greenhouse involved. They sprout in the cold, dark days of January and grow with the increasing light through the winter and spring. Now here we are on the cusp of summer and they are having their moment.

– Lanette

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Week of May 21st, 2024

Welcome to your 2024 Hidden Villa Community Supported Agriculture farm season! My name is Jason and I have been helping to run this farm for 18 years now. Lanette and I are happy and proud to be working again this season with a crew of young farmers in training. We are grateful to Hidden Villa for seeing and valuing the need for agricultural career building and for legitimizing the positions that we are offering as full-time, seasonal jobs. I look forward to each of this crew introducing themselves and connecting with you all throughout the season through this newsletter.

I am also thankful for the changes and advancements that Lanette and I have been developing in our positions here. I want to celebrate that Lanette has formally taken the title of CSA Manager meaning that she has oversight of all CSA operations, communications, and supervision of all farm staff. She deserves a lot of praise for growing our program into the bountiful, beautiful, community-connected richness we enjoy today. 

I will definitely continue to work side by side with Lanette and the farm crew this year as my position has evolved into Agriculture Director. This title has me supervising Virginia, our Animal Husbandry Manager and Lukas, our Property Manager in addition to my farming responsibilities. Our vision for this position is to be a clearer statement of Hidden Villa’s commitment to land stewardship through regenerative agricultural activity, fire mitigation practices, and watershed enhancement. I hope to unify the message behind the good stewardship work that we are doing in our property department so that we are welcoming visitors to learn how we steer our management of natural resources to improve biodiversity, sequester carbon, and produce high-quality meat, flowers, and produce. 

This winter’s rains were fantastic but the season did come with a lot of personal challenges for us. My Dad died in March and my Mom is undergoing chemotherapy treatments for the entire summer. These events have brought into sharper focus how healing it can feel to me to be rooted in and attentive to natural spaces and how much I value doing this good work with Lanette. All the wonderful plants, animals, and fungi that we work with and see on a regular basis are such an amazing demonstration of persistence and fortitude that helps me see through darker times. Paying attention to all the dynamic natural things is also so decisively different from being just in my head and that helps too. Makes me happy to be a farmer.

I am feeling really hopeful and pleased so far with how our early season plantings have been going and how our farm team is working. The strawberry plants look great and are just on the cusp of fruiting, you can see the summer squash growing by the minute, the alien-looking nigella flowers are just starting to bloom, and we have multiple, beautiful successions of lettuce at various stages of growth.

Thank you for your participation in our program. We really appreciate your connection and support. 

With hope, Jason

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In The Basket

Winter Density Lettuce– My favorite variety of lettuce is an all star baby Romaine varietal for Caesar salads. If you have ever admired Little Gem lettuce on a restaurant menu, the chances are you were actually eating this variety of lettuce which comes from the same lineage as Little Gem but is a lot less of a prima donna to grow. 

Arugula-The march of greens goes on! Recently I have been really enjoying arugula in pasta and potato salads. The tangy, mustardy crunch is a welcome addition to those savory dishes. 

Lacinato or Dinosaur Kale-This big leafed cultivar is called Black Mamba and produces the finest looking kale leaves I think I have ever seen. Roast, saute, steam, or massage the leaves for salads. See recipe

Radishes, French Breakfast or Red Ball– This is also the best crop of radishes that we have had in years probably owing to us planting them in a spot that had been fallow for one year. I like to immediately transfer my radish roots to a tupperware of water in the fridge. That way they keep fresh and tender and you can use them sliced into salads, onto sandwiches or quick pickled. 

Spring onion-Sweet Walla Walla onions are just starting to size up and flavor up. Use the whole thing-greens and bulb for your oniony purposes. 

Baby Carrots– We will keep them coming.

Mint- Our unique variety of mint is delicious freshly chopped into salads, sauces or made into mojitos!

Massaged Kale Salad with Mint Sesame Dressing

Work side-by-side with Hidden Villa’s Farm team as they grow Hidden Villa’s organic produce. With your hands in the soil, you’ll learn from our farmers how Hidden Villa practices small-scale organic farming. Typical activities include seasonal planting, transplanting, weeding, harvesting, mulching, pruning, and occasionally building. No experience is necessary. If you are interested, please complete our Volunteer Application and Waiver.

Learn More

Week of May 14th, 2024

Hello All,

Welcome to the 2024 CSA season! Whether this is your first season with us or your 31st, we’re so glad to have you as a part of the farm community and we appreciate your support. For me personally, this season marks the 15th year I have farmed in this beautiful, little valley. I have co-managed the farm for the last 12 years but got my start here as a farmer-in-training for 2 years before that. For those of you who have been CSA members in years past, you’ll know that Jason and I always work together as a team, and that will continue this season, but this year will be my first managing the CSA and our farm crew. When I reflect on my time here from intern, to farm team member, then creating the flower program and now to managing, I can clearly see not only my personal growth here but more broadly how this educational farm fosters opportunities for people coming to this good work and growing in their strength and knowledge.

Our educational positions have changed shape over the years from an internship to an entry-level job position, but I am so proud that we’re still offering these learn-by-doing opportunities. They are a much-needed link in the chain to help cultivate the next generation of young farmers. Our crew this year is a group of wonderful, hard-working, young women. Jason and I have both been enjoying getting to know them and seeing their commitment to this work in the fields daily. I’ll let them introduce themselves in the coming weeks in these pages and hopefully in person too.

New farmer and old hand alike, we have all been appreciating the beauty and feeling the challenges of the start of the season, especially a season so generously graced with wet weather and corresponding growth. I’m reminded of the oft-quoted line by Margaret Atwood, “In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” In truth, the dominant scent on my hands, clothes and in the air these days is the smell of cut grass, thistle and other weeds. Farming organically in this way includes a lot of springtime weeding. Which means a lot of hours out in the rows, mostly hands in the dirt. It’s a vital step in cultivating our crops and also in cultivating a connection to this place and this moment on the farm calendar. Some of the highlights in the field for me so far include being joined in the rows by a great blue heron, coyote, and gopher snakes all hunting our plentiful rodents, seeing the overwintered crops of chard, carrots, and foxglove flourish in our caterpillar tunnel and tasting the first of the spring crops in our weekly potluck with Wednesday volunteers. I know there are many more beautiful and delicious moments to come, and I look forward to sharing them with you.

-Lanette

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In The Basket

Chard- To repurpose the Skittles slogan from my childhood, ‘taste the rainbow’ 😉

Oakleaf Lettuce- Wonderfully delicate and light, there’s nothing that compares to spring lettuce for fresh salads.

Mizuna- A mildly spicy salad green, similar to arugula. It pairs beautifully with a sweet dressing.

Oregano- If you have any frozen tomato sauce from summer 2023, here’s your chance to jazz it up. Also, minced or pureed, fresh oregano with green garlic, especially the greens of the green garlic is a great base for a sharp Italian dressing.

Rhubarb- A beautiful and delicious tart addition to baked goods.

Green Garlic- Enjoy this spring ephemeral while it lasts.

Spinach- Delicate enough to be a salad green this time of year this spinach has a slightly nutty, even sweet aftertaste that I really enjoy.

Baby Carrots- So succulent, I eat them straight out of the ground.

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Jason’s Famous Chard Enchiladas

Ingredients:

1 bunch of fresh chard

1/4 cup olive oil

1 medium green garlic head

3-4 Anaheim or poblano peppers, or canned green chilies

2 T fresh oregano finely minced

1 t finely ground coriander

salt

16 oz can of tomatoes

10 large flour tortillas

16 oz of sharp cheddar cheese grated

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375.

To make the enchilada sauce, chop the garlic coarsely and begin caramelizing it in a medium skillet with oil, oregano, coriander, and 1 t salt over medium-high heat. Chop the peppers, seeds, and all, and add them to the skillet. Saute this mixture at strong heat for 15 minutes, adding and stirring in 1/4 cup of water to the hot skillet each time the vegetables get close to burning.

Meanwhile, chop the chard and begin sauteing it in a large skillet with olive oil and just a shake of salt. When the garlic and peppers are tender and golden brown, remove from the heat to a blender, add the can of tomatoes and one cup of cold water, and puree. When the chard is tender, which won’t take long with this new spring growth, remove from the heat. Grate the cheese.

Assemble enchiladas in a large oven tray or casserole pan. For assembly, spread a thin layer of enchilada sauce in the bottom of the pan to prevent burning and sticking. One at a time, add chard and grated cheese to each tortilla, roll it up fairly tightly and place them in a tight row at the bottom of the pan. It is super easy to add too much filling to the enchiladas so be vigilant about this. When all 10 enchiladas are lined up in the pan carefully pour the remaining enchilada sauce and gently spread it over them all so that the tortilla surfaces are coated. Top with any remaining cheese and bake for 30 minutes. Serve with beans and rice.

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Featured Flower

First things first, don’t eat it! I don’t expect that you’re regularly eating your bouquets, but I want to be explicit here that foxglove is poisonous to eat. If you have young children or pets who tend to chew on things, probably best to keep it a counter out of reach. You might recognize its scientific name, “digitalis” as the name of a heart medicine. That medicine is derived from this plant and has been formulated and used in treating heart conditions for over 200 years. In addition to its impressive medicinal value, foxglove is one of my favorite spring flowers. I love its pastel palette and graceful, slender form. Also, I find its “freckles” endearing. In truth they are nectar guides for bees and other pollinators, but they remind me of my sister’s beautiful freckled face and for that I love them.

– Lanette