Introducing the Oliveto Wheat Project

We got our hand on seeds of three Italian wheat varieties last year, and asked our friendly farmers to grow them out for us in experimental plots. That put into gear a great adventure for us, which we’ll be sharing with you over the next few weeks and months…

This Just In: Brookside Farm’s Flavor King pluots

As often as I come across a “perfect” piece of fruit, however, I rarely employ the philosophy of showcasing its perfection by serving it untouched; as Chef Paul Canales says, “the customer is not paying me to shop for them – I’m here to cook!” Only once or twice a year does a fruit come along that I feel is featured best by serving on its own, without setting it in a composed dessert context. That time has come…

Tomato Watch Week 18 (Part 2): In which we also consider the eggplant

Chef Paul Canales hit up the Derby Street Farmers’ Market yesterday with daughter Eva in tow. The duo got a look at some of the recently ripe tomatoes at Riverdog Farm, Catalan Farms, Lucero Organic Farm, and Full Belly Farm. Tomato season should hit its peak in the next few weeks, giving the chefs time to evaluate…

Tomato Watch Week 18 – Riverdog Farm

In the film below, we visit with Trini Campbell and Tim Mueller of Riverdog Farm back in April after their tomato plants went in the ground. Tim tells us what the next few months will require to insure healthy, beautiful tomatoes by August: lots of attention, diligence, and a variety of essential oils that help to combat against an even wider variety of pests…

Tomato Watch Week 16 – First Tomatoes

We received the following e-mail yesterday from Welling Tom of Brookside Farm in Brentwood: Yesterday (Sunday, July 12) we sold our first tomatoes of the year at the Montclair farmers’ market. It was only a couple weeks ago when we were still watering them, so these tomatoes (Early Girls) were still larger and more water-plumped than ideal, but they were not bad, and people at the farmers’ market have been…

Canales & Fujimoto Walk The Market

Yesterday’s solstice officially marked the beginning of summer, but already the markets are bursting with incredible produce. New things keep showing up every week; out of this world strawberries, followed by cherries and the rest of the stone fruits, summer squashes, pole beans, and…

Jenny Makes A Mess…the delicious kind

This week we got another 40 lbs of Red Cloud apricots from Terra Firma, as well as 40 lbs of dry-farmed Royal Blenheim apricots from Mercy Wong in Vacaville. It was way too much fruit to use, but the always superior Blenheim’s season is so short, I have vowed to buy everyhting that comes my way (I hate it when a fruit goes out of season before I feel I’ve really celebrated it fully.) So far…

Tomato Watch Week 11 – Brookside Farm

Anne Tom and Welling Tom of Brookside Farm in Brentwood stopped by this morning with a tomato update and some pictures of their San Marzano and Early Girl plants. Due to the recent cool weather, Welling estimates the tomatoes will be ready to go to market by mid-July…

Lucero Strawberries Have Hit Their Peak

Among other things, Lucero Organic Farm is known for their long stem Seascape strawberries. Ben Lucero has been growing this same variety of strawberry for years, even after he moved his farm inland from the coast to Lodi. Ben believes that great strawberries are the product of close attention and…

Tomato Watch Week 10 – First Wave of Early Girls

Another thrilling episode from the sunny studios of Dirty Girl Productions!

Last time we heard from Joe Schirmer of Dirty Girl Produce, he had just finished planting his first wave of dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes. It is now June…