Our first volunteer weekend was super productive! The crew helped us set up for our weekly in-person Farm Stand in addition to installing hoops and frost cover for some of our field crops. There was also some weeding and general farm tidying involved. Our volunteer program takes place every Saturday from 8:30-11am and is a great way to help keep Sunset Farm a thriving part of the Jordan Ranch community. If you’re interested, we encourage you to reach out to our Farm Team at JordanRanch@Agmenity.com! 

Cone cabbage is in season at the Farm Stand! As you can see in the photo above, this cabbage variety has a unique conical shape. It has a more mild taste than standard round-headed cabbages with a more pronounced sweetness. The sweetness of cone cabbage makes it perfect for enjoying raw in salads or slaws but it’s also equally delicious roasted or grilled. We recommend trying this grilled cone cabbage with miso sauce for a delicious side dish! 

Several weeks ago we started an experimental round of celery in the greenhouse (below). We are happy to report that our celery seedlings are doing really well! Celery is a slower growing crop that prefers cooler temperatures in addition to consistently moist soil. It doesn’t tolerate high temperatures well which can make it a challenge to grow in our climate. Our plan is to transplant our celery seedlings in January in order to yield a springtime harvest.

In Season at the Farm Stand: Romaine Lettuce, Kale, Collard Greens, Komatsuna, Bok Choy, Swiss Chard, Mustard Greens, Napa Cabbage, Cone Cabbage, Broccoli Rabe, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Scallions, Beets, Hakurei Turnips, Radishes, Salad Mix, Arugula, Little Gem Lettuce, Tomatoes, Eggplant, and Roselle Pods. 

Are you joining us for The Harvest Market on Saturday?! We’ve been harvesting up a storm to make sure we have plenty of delicious veggies available for you at this special fall market! In addition to our farm stand, you’ll be able to shop local vendors like Chilesquiles, Verdegreens, Cutleaf Blooms, Casita Coffee, Born Again Granola, and Great Harvest Bread Co. The Harvest Market takes place this Saturday, November 5th from 9am-noon right here on the farm. We hope to see you there!

We’re harvesting a little something new for you this week: Golden Acre cabbage! These compact green heads of cabbage have a delicate flavor and crunchy texture. They’re perfect for slaws, salads, stir-fries, or fermenting into a batch of sauerkraut. We’re partial to roasted cabbage flavored with garlic, lemon, and a sprinkle of fresh herbs like parsley or dill. Here’s a similar recipe if you’d like to give it a try!

In addition to our beautiful heads of Golden Acre cabbage, we’re also harvesting the first scallions for you this week. Scallions, often called green onions, are a great option for adding a mellow oniony flavor to your favorite dishes. They can be enjoyed raw or cooked depending on your preference. We love adding them to vegetable stir-fries. They’re also great sprinkled over roasted beets or a batch of fried rice.

In Season at the Farm Stand: Radishes, Beets, Tromboncino Squash, Scallions, Cabbage, Napa Cabbage, Arugula, Kale, Mustard Greens, Collard Greens, Okra, Eggplant, Sweet Peppers, Cilantro, and Dill.

Bok choy is officially back in season! We’ll have the first heads of it available for you at the farm stand this Saturday. Bok choy is a member of the extensive brassica family that has tender leaves and crunchy stems. Both the stems and leaves are edible and can be enjoyed raw or cooked. Here are a few different ways you can enjoy bok choy: stir-fried with other seasonal vegetables like broccoli and spring onions, sauteed with garlic and soy sauce, added to a batch of vegetable soup, and used in place of Napa cabbage for a batch of kimchi.

In addition to bok choy, we’re harvesting a delicious variety of late winter and early spring produce on the farm! Since we love eating the farm’s vegetables just as much as we love growing them, we’re always experimenting with simple and delicious recipes at home. Alex has been loving cooking with cabbage because it works in both simple and more complex dishes. If you’re going for a simple recipe, she recommends roasting it. If you want to put in a little more effort, stir fry it with other seasonal vegetables and serve it with soba noodles, peanut sauce, and the protein of your choice. Yum!

As for Caitlin, she loves the versatility of kale. This leafy green can be added to so many different dishes from salads to soups to pastas and beyond. Her favorite way to enjoy it is to sauté it with lemon juice, salt, and pepper and top it with some cooked chicken. She recently added it to a batch of fried rice with carrots and snap peas and highly recommends it! If you’d like to try making your own version at home, make sure to pop by the farm stand to stock up on supplies. To see what else we have in season, check out the list below.

In Season: Bok Choy, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Shelling Peas, Salad Mix, Spring Onions, Spinach, Beets, Kale, and Radishes along with Tomato Transplants and Cabbage Transplants for your garden

This week we find ourselves preparing for the next bout of freezing temperatures. This time, we’ll have what is referred to as a “hard freeze” as temperatures will dip below 28 degrees for an extended period of time. In order to prepare, we’ve been doing a lot of bulk harvesting, covering what we can in the field, and making sure our greenhouse and high tunnel are secure and warm. We’ve also delayed a lot of spring planting, namely our high tunnel tomatoes, until after the freeze passes.

The good thing about bulk harvesting before the freeze is that we ended up with a whopping 200 pounds of beautiful cabbage! We highly recommend stocking up at the self-serve farm stand because cabbage is a great storage vegetable. Once you bring your cabbage home, don’t remove any of the outer leaves. You can store it as-is in the crisper drawer of your fridge for at least 3-4 weeks. Or, you can try your hand at making a big batch of sauerkraut or kimchi.

We’re really excited about alliums at the moment! Allium is a genus of flowering plants that includes onions, scallions, garlic, shallots, and leeks. In addition to the leeks we planted a couple of weeks ago, we’re also growing bulb onions. And, we have scallions germinating in the greenhouse! You can see the sprouts in the photo below. In order to spread out our allium enjoyment, we plan on harvesting some of our bulb onions young as “spring onions”. Spring onions have a delicate flavor that works really well with other spring produce like peas and fennel.

In Season: Cabbage, Beets, Spinach, Rainbow Chard, Kale, Kale Hearts, Little Gem Lettuce, and Broccoli

Red Cabbage is officially in season! We harvested the first heads of our Ruby Perfection cabbage variety this week. The heads are dense with a brilliant purple hue and have a sweet and mild peppery flavor. Cabbage can be enjoyed in a myriad of ways both raw and cooked. Try pairing it with our carrots and beets for a winter slaw or adding it to a soup along with potatoes and sausage. For more cabbage recipe inspiration, check out this article.

While trimming off some frost damaged leaves on our Brussels sprouts this week, we noticed the first buds forming along the stem. Brussels sprouts are in the brassica family along with crops like cabbage, broccoli, and kale. They have a unique growing habit in that they produce small edible buds along the stem that resemble miniature cabbages. They might look tiny now, but in about 3-4 weeks we expect them to be ready for harvesting!

Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be doing a lot of bed preparation for spring. We started this week with the vacant beds in our high tunnel. We’re getting them ready for the first planting of tomatoes next week. And the week after next, we expect to have the first cucumbers transplanted as well. Even though it feels like winter just arrived, spring is just over the horizon!

In Season: Cauliflower, Cabbage (green & red), Broccoli, Carrots, Beets, Spinach, Kale, Little Gem Lettuce Heads, and Green Slicer Tomatoes

November 4th, 2021

We noticed that some of our Napa cabbages are in the beginning stages of forming their heads! In the early stages of growth, cabbages produce large, broad leaves like you see in the photo below. Eventually, the inner leaves will begin to curl inwards and grow tightly together to form the cabbage head. We have both green and red Napa cabbage varieties planted. We’re hoping to be able to make the first harvest in the next few weeks.

The cooler weather that arrived this week means we must bid farewell to some of our remaining summer crops. Each crop has its own seasonality and while we’re able to keep summer crops around for much longer here than in northern growing zones, eventually there comes a time when they must make their way out of season. This is the last week you’ll be able to find the following veggies at the farm stand: yellow squash, cucumbers, hot peppers, and sweet peppers. Make sure to come stock up at the farm stand on Saturday from 10am-noon!

We did a big round of seeding in the greenhouse last week and we’re already seeing really good germination with what we’ve planted. Germination is a term for the process of a planted seed developing after being in dormancy. Upon germinating, the first leaves to appear are the cotyledons (like you see in these Merlot cabbage plants below). Here are some other delicious varieties that are germinating in the greenhouse: Kohlrabi, Barese chard, Cegolaine lettuce, Belstar broccoli, and Amazing cauliflower.

Currently In Season: Cherry Tomatoes, Slicer Tomatoes, Broccoli, Kale, Tokyo Bekana, Arugula, Lettuce, Hakurei Turnips, Shishito Peppers, Padron Peppers, Jalapeno Peppers, Poblano Peppers, Eggplant, Yellow Squash, Cucumbers, and White Icicle Radishes