Wildflowers

Last year when I took a work/ personal vacay up to Santa Rosa to attend the Heirloom Seed Expo I stopped in Petaluma to visit the Seed Bank. I had visions of planting wildflowers at the farm and needed some seed. There is a nice slope in between the bee yard and the growing field that needed some something...something.

The bag of Wildflowers has been calling to me ever since. But as always at the farm it takes a lot of work to do anything. We needed to clear debris ( and I'm talking carpet, buried clothes, box springs) and pull zillions of weeds. But we did it and the seed has been sowed. Thank you to all my helpers, it was quite a task.

I tried to wait until the rain came to plant but since its never going to come I decided to just water. Someday it will rain, right?

Baby Chickens 2

Baby Chickens 1

Baby Chickens

Wow, today was wild. It started out as a normal Sunday morning getting ready to get out of the house and start the day. And then the phone call came....the baby chickens that were suppose to arrive on Tuesday were shipped out on Friday and were sitting at the post office waiting to be picked up. Wait what??? So off we went, a little franticly, to pick up the new baby chickies. Upon arrival to the post office we were met at the gate by a worker that was VERY happy to see us. The first thing we heard when we got out of the car was the chirping of the new little babies, it was music to our ears!! They sounded great. We got them home quickly and into their brooder with the perfect lighting, food and water. They immediately began eating, drinking and having lots of fun being out of their little shipping box. These beautiful Americana Chickens are thriving and looking great. Our little ladies are going to have a great life on the farm!

Farmin'

Fennel-Arugula Salad with Feta Cheese

Adapted from:http://www.self.com/fooddiet/recipes/2009/11/fennel-arugula-salad

I found this recipe to be very adaptable. I've made it without fennel, but added feta cheese. I didn't have any shallot, so I used regular onion, but it can also be left out. Delicious!

Serves: 4

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

5 cups arugula

1 medium bulb fennel, thinly sliced into half-moons (optional)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot

1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)

Instructions:

Toss arugula and fennel in a salad bowl. Whisk oil, juice, vinegar, shallot, zest, salt and pepper in another bowl. Pour over fennel and arugula; toss to coat. Sprinkle feta on top on serve!

Adapted from:http://www.self.com/fooddiet/recipes/2009/11/fennel-arugula-salad

I found this recipe to be very adaptable. I've made it without fennel, but added feta cheese. I didn't have any shallot, so I used regular onion, but it can also be left out. Delicious!

Serves: 4

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

5 cups arugula

1 medium bulb fennel, thinly sliced into half-moons (optional)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot

1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)

Instructions:

Toss arugula and fennel in a salad bowl. Whisk oil, juice, vinegar, shallot, zest, salt and pepper in another bowl. Pour over fennel and arugula; toss to coat. Sprinkle feta on top on serve!

Irrigation

Did you want to water something? Because you can!

Digging and backfilling

Irrigation!

Water!

Thank you Rob from Dugger Plumbing for helping me stay on track.
And thank you Timothy, Tony and Richard for helping me route the water to the field.

Farm Box Contents- this weeks's offerings

This Week's Farmers'

• Fair Hills Apple Farm (Paso Robles):
  • Fuji and/or Pink Lady Apples
• Fairview Gardens (Goleta):
  • Stir-Fry Mix
• Garcia Organic Farm (Murrieta):
  • Satsuma Tangerines
• Jaime Farms (various locations):
  • Speckled Romaine Lettuce
• Rutiz Farms (Arroyo Grande):
  • Delicata Squash, Parsley
• Tutti Frutti Farms (northern Santa Barbara County):
  • Fennel, Rainbow Carrots, Leeks, Green Cabbage
• Kenter Canyon Farms (Ventura):
  • Wild Arugula

That's right.

Greenhouse

Mocking up the walls

Greenhouse

This one will not be blowing away.

Greenhouse

I see a greenhouse, how about you?
Come to the farm this Saturday from 9-3 to help us build it.

Greenhouse build this Saturday the 14th

Hello Long Beach Locals-
This weekend is our monthly 2nd Saturday work day. We will be at the farm from 9-3 working hard to get the farm ready for spring planting.
This month we are rebuilding our greenhouse which was destroyed by last months wind storm. We have a new design and new plan for our new greenhouse. If you are interested in helping us build please come to the farm this Saturday from 9-3. Its best if you are able to come at the beginning of the event and stay the entire day. If you have to leave early that is ok too, we would still love to have you. Even if you are not mechanical you are still welcome to come and lend a hand. There are always farm chores to get done. If you plan on bringing your kids to the farm please read the children on the farm portion on our website.
We plan on breaking for lunch around noon. We are going to fire up the grill and have a communal lunch. If you are interested please bring something to throw on the grill, your own utensils, plates etc. If you care to bring something to share you are also welcome to do that.
And as always help yourself to the mulch pile.
See you this Saturday on the farm.

Sasha Kanno
Executive Director, Long Beach Local
562.230.7207
sashakanno@mac.com
www.longbeachlocal.org

Chicken pick up tomorrow at our Farm Box

If you are interested in purchasing organically fed and outdoor raised chicken from New Frontier Family Farm they will be at tomorrow's Farm Box pick up.

Please contact Heather directly to purchase and then come to our pick up on Wednesday between 5-6:00 to pick it up.

You can read more about him and his family here:

http://www.newfrontierfamilyfarm.com/About_Us.html

and see our calendar here:

http://www.longbeachlocal.org/calendar

Thanks for supporting local agriculture.
Sasha Kanno

Heather Fikel
New Frontier Family Farm
heather@newfrontierfamilyfarm.com
951-533-5396

Watching the sprinklers sprinkle