Ready to Plant

We finished setting up the irrigation system on the new field blocks this week. Next week we'll start transplanting the last wave of the cool weather crops and the first of the warm weather crops. We also direct seeded our last planting of carrots until fall.

Peaches are Sizing Up

Peaches are sizing up nicely! We're hoping to start thinning fruit this week in order to allow the peaches to size up.

Date Production Begins

Our male medjool date palms have begun sending out there pollen flowers. We use ladders to climb up into the palms and remove these flowers and set them on drying racks for about a week before extracting. This will help us get the maximum amount of viable pollen. Why do we hand pollinate our date palms, you ask? Medjool dates are wind pollinated not insect pollinated. Because we have a small grove of palms and because wind can be unpredictable, we pollinate all the female fruiting branches by hand. This gives us the best chance of getting consistent pollination and fruit set.

The Barn is Empty

Barn is empty and ready for construction

Construction continues on the Barnone project. We finished clearing out the barn including removing our 15'x30' walk-in cooler. They can start the construction on the actual quonset hut.

Spring/Summer CSA Week 4

Spring/Summer CSA Week 4: easter egg radishes, pac choi asian cabbage, red leaf lettuce, sugar snap peas, baby wild arugula, broccoli, green bunching onions, rio red grapefruit.

This Week's Abbey Kitchen Recipe: Winter Citrus Salad

TO MAKE
Winter Citrus Salad
Serves 2-3
1 grapefruit, sliced into circles
2 sweet Arizona orange, sliced into circles (remove seeds)
1/2 carrot, peeled and sliced into thin coins
1/4 cup red onion, sliced thin

To dress
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tbsp honey
sprinkle of sea salt
fresh tarragon, chopped small

1. Cut the grapefruit and oranges into thin circles, but not too thin as you don’t want them to break their shape.
2. With a knife, cut off the edges to remove the skin. You may decide to peel the fruits before slicing into circles but we found it easier to hold the fruit with the skin on to get the perfect thickness for the slices.
3. Peel and slice the carrot and begin arranging the citrus and the carrots onto your serving plate. You may decide to duplicate or triple this recipe depending on how many people you are serving.
4. Top the citrus and carrots with the red onion.
5. In a small bowl add in fresh lemon and lime juice, the honey, and the sea salt. Whisk together and then drizzle over the top of the citrus salad.
6. Sprinkle on the fresh tarragon and enjoy! Taste to see if you’d like more sea salt or more honey to make the salad suit your tastes!
7. Serve fresh and cold and store any leftovers in an airtight container for about 1 week.

Moving Out of the Barn

Construction is moving along on the Barnone project and we are now mostly moved out of the quonset hut barn. We are going to be living out of shipping containers and a refrigerated trailer in the corner of our field for the next few months. This should definitely be interesting!

Unseasonably Warm

We have been experiencing some unseasonably warm weather which is creating challenges with our crops. The cool weather crops (lettuce, kale, arugula, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc.) think that its the end of the season and start to flower. Meanwhile, we are still waiting for the warm weather seedlings (tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, squash, cucumbers, melons, etc.) to get big enough to transplant into the field. So far everything is hanging in there for the most part. We are crossing our fingers that we wont have a gap in production.

Spring/Summer CSA Week 2

Spring/Summer CSA Week 2: romanesco cauliflower, romaine lettuce, i'itoi onions, rainbow chard, Italian flat leaf parsley, white sonora wheat berries, lisbon lemons.

This Week's Abbey Kitchen Recipe: Vegetable Wheat Berry Soup

Vegetable Wheat Berry Soup
Serves 8
TO MAKE
1 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 gloves garlic, minced
8 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 cup wheat berries, dried
1 can white beans (cannellini beans)
1 cup chopped roma tomatoes
6 cups chopped collard greens (remove the thick stems and chop in bite-sized pieces)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp fresh rosemary
Toppings + Sides:
1 artisan wheat baguette + 1 tbsp olive oil
Your favorite cheese grated

1. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.
2. Add in the onion, celery, and carrots and cook until tender, 5-6 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.
4. Add the broth and cover the pot. Bring the liquid to a bowl now over high heat.
5. Stir in the wheat berries and simmer until they have cooked and are tender, about 35-40 minutes.
6. Transfer about 3 cups of the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Return the blended soup to the soup pot and stir well. Add in the beans, tomatoes, and collard greens. Add in the salt, pepper, and rosemary. Cook all until the collard greens are tender, about 10-12 minutes.
7. As the soup finishes cooking, turn your oven onto broil. On a baking sheet place sliced pieces of the baguette and drizzle with olive oil. Place under the broiler for about 4-7 minutes, until the edges have browned. Watch carefully as to not burn the bread.
8. Enjoy! Serve warm in your favorite bowl, topped with grated cheese and served with a piece of bread.
9. You can store the remaining soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one 1 week or in the freezer for a couple of months.

http://abbeykitchen.com