This week at Sunset Farm we were able to uncover many happy surprises! After assessing the field after the hard freeze, we were pleasantly surprised that many of our crops covered by frost cloth still seemed to be full of life. Our plants in the high tunnel and seedlings in the greenhouse were also unphased! Not as a surprise, crops left uncovered are showing signs of wilting and frost burn. However, with such a drastic drop in temperature compared to a relatively warm winter season this year, we can’t help but be filled with a sense of gratitude for the resiliency of nature!

As we are still expecting freezing weather this weekend, our crops will remain covered until we are in the clear. Until then, we also find ourselves keeping warm in the greenhouse as we continue to prepare for the dawning of Spring! This week we are seeding our first rounds of squash, zucchini, eggplant, and flowers. Many of these crops will make their home in our high tunnel as we slowly phase out winter vegetables. Farmer Sarah is particularly excited to bring back the flower patch and all of the bees and butterflies that drop in for a sweet, sappy snack!

Although plants can show signs of stress later in their life after prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures, we are optimistic that our crops will continue producing beautiful produce. In anticipation of another cold spell, Farmer Sarah will not be hosting the Farm Stand this Saturday. However, she plans to stock the Grab-n-Go coolers so you can come at your convenience. Stay tuned next week to get updates on Spring preparation and seedlings we will be planting post-freeze!

In Season: Baby Carrots, Spinach, Celery, Fennel, Green Onions, Green Cabbage, Parsley, Collard Greens, Curly Kale, Tuscan Kale, Swiss Chard, Arugula, and Radishes

As everyone buckles down to prepare for this upcoming freeze, our farmers are busy doing the same. With temperatures forecasted to be in the low twenties over multiple days, we are faced with tough decisions as we begin to winterize the farm. Our standard frost cloth creates a buffer of a few degrees, and as we learned in past freeze events this differential can be enough for some hardy winter vegetables to survive. The high tunnel provides an additional layer of protection and absorbs sunlight to create a much warmer environment. We are particularly hopeful that Spring preparations in the greenhouse will lend a bountiful wave of crops to plant post-freeze.

Bulk harvests are also underway to preserve vegetables that have reached maturity and will store well in the refrigerator for several weeks like cabbage, carrots, and fennel. We will also harvest a big round of bunched greens like chard and kale, along with lettuce, green onions and herbs. Due to the winter storm, our farmers will not be hosting the Farm Stand this Saturday morning. However, if you are stocking up your fridge and pantry, stop by the Grab-n-Go cooler to get your vegetable essentials while we still have an array of beautiful offerings.

Since our first Spring seeding, the high tunnel tomatoes and peppers have germinated and are well on their way to developing true leaves! This week we are excited to seed tomatoes that are dedicated to our field growing space. They include our same tried and true varieties of slicing and cherry tomatoes, along with a traditional sauce tomato, Granadero. This tomato is more dense and rich in flavor making it perfect for fresh sauce or bulk canning.

​​In Season: Baby Carrots, Spinach, Celery, Fennel, Green Onions, Green Cabbage, Parsley, Cilantro, Collard Greens, Curly Kale, Red Russian Kale, Tuscan Kale, Romaine Lettuce Heads, Swiss Chard, Arugula, and Radishes

We spent a large part of the end of last week preparing for the hard freeze. In addition to covering some of our rows with frost cloth, we did a lot of bulk harvesting, especially with our storage crops, to mitigate potential frost damage. A lot of winter crops like carrots, cabbages, and broccoli are meant for storing which means their freshness and quality can be maintained for longer periods in our cooler. Due to all of the bulk harvesting, the coolers are packed to the brim with delicious produce so we highly encourage you to don your warmest coat and stop by!

During bulk harvesting we made the decision to go ahead and harvest both kohlrabi and fennel in their baby stage. You can now find bunches of petite fennel and kohlrabi in the coolers! Fennel (above) has a mellow anise flavor that makes a great base for soups, stews, and tomato sauces. It can also be thinly sliced and added to leafy green salads. Kohlrabi (below) has a mildly sweet flavor similar to a broccoli stem. It can be enjoyed raw in salads, pickled, or paired with your favorite veggies for a simple sheet pan veggie roast.

We sowed the first round of tomato and pepper seeds in the greenhouse and they’re already starting to germinate! Most of this first round will be transplanted in the high tunnel since its more controlled environment allows us to plant more vulnerable varieties earlier than in the field. Among the tomato varieties we planted are the highly popular Sungold and Cherry Bomb cherry tomato varieties along with Big Beef slicers. We also planted a mix of sweet and hot peppers including shishito, poblano, and lunchbox sweet snacking peppers.

In Season at the Farm Stand: Baby Kohlrabi, Baby Fennel, Dino Kale, Curly Kale, Collards, Komatsuna (Asian Spinach), Bok Choy, Swiss Chard, Mustard Greens, Cone Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Scallions, Romaine Lettuce, Butter Lettuce, Little Gem Lettuce, Cilantro, Carrots, Salad Mix, Arugula, Cherry Tomatoes, and Early Girl Tomatoes

Even though we have a couple of nights coming up this weekend with freezing temperatures, we wanted to give you an update on how the farm fared this week. As of right now, everything we covered in the field with frost cloth looks good! There are a few crops that we’ll be trimming and monitoring over the next week to see if they bounce back. If not, it gives us even more space to prepare for spring planting.

The greenhouse was sealed up in preparation for the freeze. We covered everything with frost cloth and greenhouse film as an added layer of protection. We’re happy to report that all of our seedlings look great! A fully stocked greenhouse will allow us to be able to plant a late winter succession of veggies in addition to the first spring crops in a few weeks.

The high tunnel was sealed up as well and almost every crop was covered with frost cloth. The first thing we checked were our carrots (below) and they look great! We couldn’t help but sneak a carrot or two just to make sure they’re still sweet and delicious. Overall, we will have lean offerings the next few weeks as the farm bounces back. The great news is that we’ll be planting some delicious quick-growing veggies this weekend!

In Season at the Farm Stand: Brussels Sprouts, Kohlrabi, Swiss Chard, Kale, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Turnips, and Watermelon Radishes. 

It’s hard to believe that just last week the temperatures were in the mid-teens on the farm! We spent the first half of last week preparing for the Arctic Blast by sealing up both the high tunnel and greenhouse and covering our crops in the field with frost cloth. While we didn't have any losses in the greenhouse or high tunnel, the extreme cold did cause some of our field crops to die. Of the vegetables that survived, some (like the onions above) have little to no damage while others like our kale and cabbage will bounce back over the next few weeks. While this is a significant loss, we were able to harvest a good portion of our crops ahead of the freeze for long term storage.

Over the next few weeks our offerings at the farm stand will be leaner as the field recovers and our quicker growing crops come in. While there will be less variety than you’re used to during this time of the year, there are still plenty of delicious veggies available for you at the farm stand like these Brussels sprouts! Farmer Anna loves to halve and roast Brussels sprouts until they’re nice and caramelized. She coats them in a glaze of soy sauce, honey, and chili flakes before roasting for a delicious sweet and salty mix.

We’re continuing planting in the high tunnel this week. Our goal is to stick to quicker growing crops so that we have plenty of time to grow and harvest before we need the space for our tomatoes. The arugula that we seeded before the freeze has already germinated and looks lush and healthy! You can see it in the photo above. Now that we have the front half of the high tunnel mostly planted, we’re preparing the back half for veggies like radish and broccoli raab. We can’t wait to start harvesting these crops for you!

In Season at the Farm Stand: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, bok choy, hon tsai tai, beets, and watermelon radishes.

Upcoming Events:

• Free Farm Tours on Saturday, January 14th, 9am-noon

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

The peas in the high tunnel are flowering which means we’re really close to the first harvest. Check out the beautiful flowers on our Royal snap peas in the photo above! We have a mix of snow peas, sugar snap peas, and shelling peas growing. Both snow peas and sugar snap peas yield peas in edible pods. Shelling peas don’t produce edible pods and must be shelled (hence the name) in order to be enjoyed. We can’t wait to share the first pea harvest of the year with you!

The arrival of another frost kept us busy with preparations this week. This involves making sure both the greenhouse and high tunnel are sealed and susceptible crops in the field are covered with frost cloth. Though freezing temperatures have the potential to damage our crops, they also have some benefits. They help to eliminate or lessen certain pests like margin beetles and aphids. And, they can enhance the taste of crops like carrots and kale since their cells will begin to convert starch to sugar in order to protect themselves from freezing, which adds a delicious sweet note to their flavor.

The time has finally come to bid farewell to the tomatoes in the high tunnel. These tomatoes were planted as a fall succession last year and have been giving us a steady supply of fruit throughout fall and winter! We’ll be removing them in order to make way for the next round of tomatoes. Before they go, we’ll be harvesting as many green tomatoes as we can. You’ll be able to purchase both green and ripe tomatoes at the farm stand this Saturday. Make sure to stock up because we won’t have any tomatoes for you for a while!

In Season: Cauliflower, Cabbage, Broccoli, Carrots, Beets, Kale, Little Gem Lettuce Heads, Green Slicer Tomatoes, and Ripe Slicer Tomatoes.

January 6th, 2022

Our year began with preparations for the first freeze of the winter season! This involved covering more susceptible crops with frost cloth and bulk harvesting others. Now that we’ve had a few days to observe things post-freeze, we’ve started pruning back crops that will bounce back, like the Swiss chard you see in the photo above. We also treated all of our crops to a healthy dose of organic fertilizer to give them the nutrients they need to recover.

Our first farm stand of 2022 is this Saturday, January 8th. There is a slight chance of rain but all of our beautiful veggies will be safe and dry under our porch. We’ll be set up from 10am-noon with the following: Napa cabbage, carrots, fennel, beets, sprouting broccoli, rainbow chard, spinach, bok choy, kale, dill, slicer tomatoes, and cauliflower. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone! In case you can’t make it during those hours, you can always use our self-serve option.

Last year was our first year sharing our produce with our community through our farm stand. We wanted to take a moment to say thank you, whether you’ve taken the time to stop by the Saturday farm stand or you’ve used our new self-serve option. We truly enjoy growing food for our community and hope that you’ve been able to make some delicious meals with our produce. As we look forward to the year ahead, our main goal is to increase the diversity of crops available in each season. Our hope is that this will allow you to craft beautiful farm-to-table meals for yourself all year round!