Dear CSA Members,
Fog
Fog has returned to the Central Valley! This is good because it keeps the day time highs (temperatures) low, helping to accumulate these precious winter chill hours we need, especially for cherries. We haven’t had a decent cherry crop in three years because of warm winters. So far this has been yet another warm one till now.
Every day I walk through the cherry orchards and examine the buds. They’re actually starting to fatten up (called “bud swell”). This is a very concerning condition. Cherries are always the LAST of our fruits to bloom. It’s just an- other indicator of climate change creating more uncertainty for agriculture.
On the other hand, it’s been really great weather for our winter garden, as the greens continue to grow vigorously, soon to become the delicious new menu items being offered at the Frog Hollow Farm to Table Café at the Ferry Building. Becky and I are also very much enjoying the winter bounty at our own evening dinner table … two kinds of kale, several varieties of mustard greens, spinach, chard, purple and green cabbages, arugula, lettuces, turnips and daikon radish, celery, etc. The list goes on… The fava beans look really good. In fact, just yesterday I was visiting my old friend and long time CSA member Narsai David who lives in Berkeley. He always plants fava beans in his front yard, and I’ve always admired them. But now they look a bit wimpy compared to our own robust bean patches.
Our plan for the winter garden program is to expand it to several acres, maybe by next winter, so we’ll be able to offer all of these delicious veggies and greens to all of our CSA members.