This Month in Photos: January
This winter has brought lots of rain and long days of preparing for the upcoming year. We officially celebrated our 1 year anniversary of being at the new Van Dyke property and are full of anticipation for the long awaited artichokes! As our first spring flowers begin to creep in, the days also are starting to slowly inch longer. Enjoy an inside peak at what’s been happening around the farm since New Years.
Alexis checks on the Anemomes
Nick and Sam checking on the radicchio transplants that were planted in January and harvested this spring. if successful, Spring radicchio will be a Spade & Plow first!
Radicchio being harvested, a winter time staple.
Sam at the Mentone X Spade & Plow dinner that highlighted our produce
One of the courses at the Mentone X Spade & Plow dinner featuring mustard greens, radishes and turnips.
Totes on totes of Dahlia tubers. We dig up the dahlia tubers to store until Spring when they’ll be separated, sorted, and cleaned for Spring planting.
A sold out stand at the Sunday Mountain View farmers market; a pretty common sight in January. With lower yields, we sell through almost all the produce at our weekly farmers’ markets.
Jenn hauling in the first harvest of Stock and and Anemones. These flowers are over-wintered and are the first to start blooming in the new year. This is the earliest we’ve ever been able to start with flower harvests
Mike with unloading another pallet of cauliflower. Cauliflower makes up a big part of our January harvests.
Alexis packs Romanesco in a CSA box.
Cabbage and radicchio in the fields.
The first of the our small but prized artichoke harvest. Artichokes harvested in December through March are often ‘frost-kissed’, which show up as a blistering and browning on the outer leaves. While these seasonal artichokes often don’t look as good as spring artichokes, they are usually more tender and bring a sweeter and nuttier flavor.
Lots of fresh produce at our Farm stand. On Christmas Eve, and New Years day we set up a pop-up Farm stand at our new home at Van Dyke ranch. Many people in the local community came out. We are planning to start more consistent weekly farm stands this spring or summer.
Fig trees ready to get planted