Laguna Farm

03/24/2021

~A Sad Goodbye - New Beginnings~

Dear CSA Members,

Sometimes in order for something to flourish, it needs to reduce itself before it can grow to its potential. That's where we are with Laguna Farm. After a long journey with lots of ups and downs along the way, Nacho and I have decided to end the CSA program. We’ve stayed true to our lease, have honored our commitment to each other, and have now reached a point where we are parting paths, and moving off of the Cooper Road land and barn.

It’s a good thing, and I’d love to tell you why.

When Nacho and I first purchased Laguna Farm from our then employer Scotty, we had an end plan in mind. I was pretty certain I’d want to move on and Nacho was confident he’d want to carry on the business himself.

Knowing this, we chose to maximize an opportunity to leave the Cooper Road fields early and restructure the business as a farmer’s market and wholesale farm. Leaving Cooper Road dramatically reduces our overhead and allows us to change from a two-family farm to a one-family farm.

Ending our CSA wasn’t a decision we made lightly, but in the end, it would be difficult to continue it without the Cooper Road location. Without the CSA, Nacho is able to concentrate more on farmer’s markets and wholesale; offering our amazing produce to the local community. Nacho’s long-time goal of being a sole-proprietor of his own business is being realized, and my desire to reinvent myself is here.

If you’d love to continue to enjoy Laguna Farm's produce, please find Nacho at the Sebastopol Farmers Market in the square on Sundays. He’ll be thrilled to see you.

Well enough about us, I’d like to acknowledge all of you. By purchasing produce from the farmers who grew it, you’ve strengthened the local economy, dramatically reduced the carbon footprint of your food, you’ve eaten in-season and in a cycle of life so few people are aware of. Some of you are relatively new to the farm while many more are long-term supporters to the point we are friends and family. We’ve watched each other's kids grow and shared stories, experiences, recipes, politics, farming techniques and so much more. Many of you have walked our fields, climbed our trees, dipped in the Laguna, and enjoyed everything Laguna Farm has to offer. We’ve delivered to your houses and gotten to know your kids and dogs and gardens. The relationship of eater to farmer is real and it’s always been me and Nacho’s pleasure. We pride in feeding the community and connecting you to the bounty of the harvest. We are so very grateful for all of you.

This all being said, we have stopped the auto-generated CSA program and our members will no longer receive charges for their upcoming CSA boxes and everyone's final boxes will be this week, ready in the walk-in/delivered on their scheduled day.

Those who have credit on account will be contacted so we can make arrangements. [email protected] is processing all credits so please feel free to reach out to her if you think you have credit on your account.

Please let me know if you have any questions and once again, Nacho and I both would like to thank you for your support of local, sustainable, family-owned agriculture.

Sincerely,
Jennifer & Nacho

11/25/2020

As we come to the holiday season of this wild year, we know a lot has changed. We will all be seeing less of our loved ones than we would like and much of our celebrating will be done 6 feet apart and with masks on. But what has not changed is the love and appreciation we have for those in our lives that make us feel supported and at home. For those of us at Laguna Farm, you are our family. Your support and love through this year (and many before it!!) are what we are thankful for this Thanksgiving. So may it be virtually, distanced, or singular this year, we hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving day.

❤️ Laguna Farm

11/21/2020

📣Temporary CSA Pick-up/Delivery Changes for 11/24 and 11/25📣

As this coming week is Thanksgiving, there will be a slight change in our pick-up/delivery days. If you receive your CSA box on Tuesdays, that will still be the day next week that your box will be ready for you. If you receive your box on Thursdays however, your box will be ready to be picked up/delivered to you on Wednesday 11/25. Same hours of delivery and pick-up apply.

So hurry and make your orders today! Nothing says a good meal like good veggies.

Here is what is in next weeks box already....

Salad mix
Carrots
Sugar pie pumpkin
Sweet potatoes
Cooking greens
Leeks

And juice boxes will have...

Carrots
Persimmon
Ginger
Kale
Navel oranges
Apples
Spinach

10/20/2020

Happy Tuesday!

Now that things are cooling down, its time for some more cooking! And who doesn't love using some delicious quinoa in their recipes? And, with it being fall, lets toss some pumpkin seeds in there to add a little festive spirit.

10/11/2020

Sunday- Funday!

This weeks special veggie: Okinawan Purple Sweet Potato

You don't find a lot of white or beige food in nature. Produce comes in a rainbow of colors, and there's no better example of this than purple sweet potatoes.

Okinawan sweet potatoes are believed to have originally come from the Aztecs. The Spaniards then brought them to the Philippines, and then to China in the 1490s. Sometime during the 1600s, the potatoes made their way to Okinawa, the southern island of Japan.

Okinawan sweet potatoes were soon cultivated throughout the country, and eventually made their way to Hawaii. Today, Okinawan sweet potatoes, sometimes known as Hawaiian Sweet Potatoes, are a part of the native menu in Hawaii.

Okinawan sweet potatoes have a beige outer skin and a deep, blue-purple flesh. They have a mildly sweet flavor, and a very dry, starchy texture.

Okinawa Sweet Potatoes are rich in an antioxidant called anthocyanin, which is what gives them their purple hue. It is the same antioxidant responsible for the color of the color of red cabbage, red wine, and purple cauliflower.

10/09/2020

Did You Know?

Did you know that Laguna Farm is a worker friendly family farm? We provide year-round employment, which offers employees and their families security and stability. Our living wages are enhanced with entrepreneurial opportunities, worker-owned crops, access to marketing through our farm-store, and steep discounts on bulk produce. Field-workers, market sales staff, administrators, delivery drivers, produce packers and both owners all work side-by-side in the spirit of comradery.

10/07/2020

Something sweet to make with your raspberries. And appropriately themed! 🦇

These Bloody Cups are filled with a raspberry sauce - making it the perfect treat for Halloween! They are vegan, gluten-free and only need 3 ingredients!

10/04/2020

Sunday-Funday 🕷🕸 Since it is our first one of October, lets see something a bit more themed this week for the weird veggie/fruit, hm?

Black Sapote!

The black sapote or 'chocolate pudding' fruit does not taste like chocolate pudding at all. It does however, look like chocolate pudding. The flesh is soft, smooth and a deep brown color. It has a great mellow taste when ripe and can be eaten plain or as part of a dessert or smoothie. The fruit measure 5–10 cm (2.0–3.9 in) in diameter. It has an inedible skin that turns from olive to a very dark, drab greeny brown when ripe. The fruit is horribly astringent before ripening and most new to the fruit don’t let them ripen nearly enough. The fruit should be very soft before it is eaten.

Other common names include black soapapple and zapote prieto. This tropical fruit tree is native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. The common name 'sapote' refers to any soft, edible fruit. Black sapote is not related to white sapote nor mamey sapote.

10/03/2020

Fall is upon us (yay!) so its time for some warm, soft harvest bread! 🍞 Nothing pairs better with some apple cider on a crisp evening.

Fall Harvest Bread is a combination of pumpkin, apples, and walnuts along with many spices.

09/29/2020

Ever wonder what its like (and how) to grow a pumpkin patches' worth of gourds? WIRED has you covered.

McGrath Brothers Great Pacific Pumpkins produce over a million pounds of pumpkins a year. A McGrath Brothers farmhand takes us through a pumpkin's journey; f...

09/27/2020

Sunday-Funday! 🌿🐝

This week's unique veggie are Fiddleheads.

Well, residents of New England, especially Maine, may not think these are unique...they are a traditional vegetable dish throughout the region, occasionally served boiled, in a salad or with mayonnaise or butter. For the rest of the country, though, fiddleheads probably look more like like a cephalopods appendages than a vegetable. They are actually the furled fronds of a baby fern called the ostrich fern. One reason they're so rare outside of their native regions is that they are not cultivated. They are only harvested from the wild, and so are only found locally and seasonally. Foraging for fiddleheads is also for experts only: Much like with mushrooms, not all ferns are edible and some are poisonous.

For the successful foragers, they will find Fiddleheads have almost no fat, and they're low in calories. These little beauties are also a good source of vitamin C, niacin, and potassium. Though they are nutritious, eating too many will likely cause digestive issues, so keep your servings small.

09/20/2020

Sunday-Funday!

Here is anther unique veggie for you: the Black Beauty Tomato, the worlds darkest tomato.

A dark, meaty, very rich-fleshed tomato with extreme anthocyanin expression (same antioxidant in blueberries and blackberries). So dark that some tomatoes turn solid blue-black on the skin. Deep red flesh is among the best tasting of all tomatoes. Beautiful to look at, the flavor of Black Beauty is deep, rich and complex. Combined in a tomato salad with red, pink, orange and yellow tomatoes - a real mind-blower! The fruits and the stems are deep dark indigo-black. Inside, blood red.

The first photo is a not quite ripe Black Beauty, the second and third photos show the color change indicating ripeness. Keeps well on the vine and stores very well, and the flavor improves with room-temperature storage.

(This weeks unique veggie was suggested by AliceAnd Ruben Ponce. Thank you!)