Farm News

News from the Farm | April 7, 2025

April 7, 2025

Last week felt like quintessential spring. We had a little bit of all the elements of early April:
spring weather (a wet and rainy day, a windy day, some warm days)
– lots to harvest
– lots of flowers 
– our first events and school groups of the year 
and more!

I challenged myself to capture as much of all the spring-ness between Thursday and Saturday in one minute to share here:

What you’re seeing is:

  • Asparagus! Harvesting plus organizing boxes to be delivered to stores.
  • Our first 2025 school visit! The third graders (with a little assistance from their chaperones) did an excellent job packing the CSA boxes on Thursday afternoon.
  • Flowers! Lots of ranunculus, our pick for the CSA flower last week, plus other spring flowers.
  • CSA Day on Saturday! We couldn’t have had more perfect weather! Thanks to Andrew, Becca, Hannah, and Paul for leading tours, and for all of you who were able to join us. We had a great time talking with you and showing you around the farm!
  • The first Farm Dinner, also on Saturday, which was as tasty and beautiful as always.
  • The lambs and ewes happily munching away.

And that’s just a little bit of what we were doing. Just as the weather is heating up, so is the pace of work and number of things we’ve got going on.

Happy Spring!

Elaine Swiedler, CSA Manager

 

News from the Farm | March 31, 2025

March 31, 2025

The sliver of a new moon peeked through the broken clouds above the farm last night. We had a ½ inch of rain this weekend that brightened the new lettuces, greens, onions, garlic and cover crops here on the farm. What a wonder is the spring!  We begin the harvest of the transplants and seeds sown in the end of January. In the coming weeks you should see new lettuces, tender greens, and asparagus, the peak of spring crops. 

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | March 24, 2025

March 24, 2025

Farmers need to enjoy experimenting, or at least tolerate it, because it’s an inherent part of the job. Conditions are constantly changing; no two years are the same and the need to reevaluate and pivot are constant. We’re very open to experimenting, perhaps more than the average farm, and we have a long history of trying new things, whether it’s working with outside researchers and organizations, or internal tinkering. 

Here’re just a few of the “experiments” we’ve currently got underway:

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | March 17, 2025

March 17, 2025

Thursday of this week is the first day of spring! 12 hours of sunlight, halfway between the shortest and longest days of the year. Everything is very green, and very soon, our spring flower field will be an explosion of color. 

To me, it always feels like a very optimistic and hopeful time of year; lots of future food all around us and a lot of “newness.” Packets of seeds for all types of delicious summer produce keep arriving and soon will be planted in a field or in the greenhouse.

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | March 10, 2025

March 10, 2025

As I mark my 11th year back at the farm, I feel I have settled, ever so slowly and sweetly, into the yearly dance of farming. I have found there is a rhythm that goes along with each season. Of course, there is the ferocity of our summers, spent with our heads down, harvesting and packing, and the forced stillness of winter where we practice patience as the rain comes and to-do lists get made. But the spring! The spring offers a chance at newness which is something I think everyone in this world craves. Even us farmers, who seem to know the change of season like the back of our weathered hands, relish in the buds as they burst forth, shooting stocks unfurling, and bleating lambs resting on green pasture.

The newness is everywhere! The first ranunculus bunch I pick – often just in time for my mother and sister’s mid-March birthdays. The first fragrant lilac that comes from the one bush that’s hidden near the pile of old tires behind the mechanic shed. There is newness even in the seeds we are growing – trials that we hope will measure up. This year that means exciting zinnias and feverfew that a friend-of-a-farmer said was their favorite. We hope that newness will emerge from the soil, and we will add a new variety to our list of favorites to grow year after year.

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | March 3, 2025

March 3, 2025

Another fun lambing season has come to a close! The bulk of it took place over three wild weeks, during which at least two ewes (and at most, seven) gave birth every single day. As of today, we are only waiting on three more ewes to lamb and rejoin the rest of the flock.

The other 81 ewes collectively birthed 163 lambs, and are all happily out on verdant green pasture that winter rains have blessed us with. If you’re into number crunching, here’s a few more for you to chew on: there were 20 sets of triplets born (which is low compared to other years), one quadruplet (all girls and all nursed by their mother!), eight singles, and 45 sets of twins. There are 85 female and 78 male lambs, who are a gorgeous swirl of ebony, mocha, and cream as they dance, run, and doze together. It took three farmers to make it all run smoothly, with help from a few more during the busiest birthing times. Then of course, we needed four cute farm kids to pose for photos with the growing flock.  

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | February 24, 2025

February 24, 2025

We’re a month out from the first day of spring (March 20), but it’s starting to feel spring-like. The hills and fields of cover crops are looking verdant. There’s noticeably more hours of sunlight. At the end of the workday, the sun hasn’t yet dipped below the hills. Almond, plum, apricot, and peach trees are blooming! We’ve got loads of little lambs and tulips!

But it’s not spring yet. The deciduous trees (fruit, nut, and native trees) still don’t have their leaves, so we’re not as green as we could be, and wildflowers are still sparse in the hills. We’re still six weeks from our last frost date, the average date of the last light freeze in spring. A dramatic dip in temperature could wipe out any of those flowering tree crops (almonds and stone fruit)!

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | February 17, 2025

February 17, 2025

What’s the photo above of? It’s an extreme closeup of purple cauliflower, taken by CSA member and longtime CSA host Dave.

This week is National CSA Week – established in 2021 as a week for celebrating and promoting CSAs. The Full Belly Farm CSA has been operating since 1992, so in many ways, the past 1,600+ weeks have been CSA weeks. That feat alone is worth acknowledging!

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | February 10, 2025

February 10, 2025

We got over five inches of rain last week with about 2.75 inches just on Tuesday. See Andrew’s rain gauge above. (Dry) January is over! We were all glad to get some rain, though it meant some cold, grey, damp days, even with rain coats, pants, and boots. On rainy days, the goal is to pick and pack what we need for CSA boxes, orders, and farmers markets and then head out, no other field work.

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | February 4, 2025

February 4, 2025

Dear CSA members and Full Belly Farm supporters,     

This Monday, February 3, our entire field crew of 60 amazing people did not come to work. They joined a nationwide groundswell “Day Without Immigrants” movement hoping to shed light on the economic and social contributions of our immigrant community to the entire US economy.

Our crew chose to stop work for a day protesting the fear and direct intimidation that has been thrust upon the entire immigrant and in particular the Hispanic community. The dehumanizing and inflammatory rhetoric characterizing all brown-skinned people as suspect criminals is overtly racist and destructive to an entire national community of people who work in our kitchens, clean hotels, care for elderly, milk cows, are ’dreamers’, or pick oranges and vegetables. 

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | January 27, 2025

January 27, 2025

Winter is the season for leafy greens, brassicas, and root vegetables. It’s also the time of year for farmer conferences, seminars, meetings, and other opportunities to meet and gather for educational and social purposes.

This was on display last week: 

On Tuesday, Andrew attended the annual meeting for the Irrigated Lands Program, a state-wide, locally administered program to control runoff from farms. While not particularly interesting and inspiring, it’s a requirement, and sometimes there are important updates about program details.

Then midday on Tuesday was the second installment of the Organic Agriculture Seminar Series for Growers, administered by our local UC Cooperative Extension specialists. Winter is when UC Extension, and other ag support organizations, hold classes and trainings, usually targeted at specific sectors. So far I’ve been able to watch the two seminars, covering soil macrofauna (like worms) and pest management, and I’ve really enjoyed them (including the “bioturbation” videos, like this one).

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | January 20, 2025

January 20, 2025

What’s the news of the past week?

Well… like all first weeks back, it was busy: lots of new CSA members, lots of excited customers placing orders, and lots to harvest and weed. And as you can imagine, after taking a few weeks off, it takes us a second to get back up to full speed. Plus there’s always some sort of technology issue to fix (printer problems, email issues, time clock tumult). All things considered, it was a pretty normal week and it was nice to see everyone again.

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | January 13, 2025

January 13, 2025

It’s the first farming week of the year! Welcome back to returning CSA members, and welcome to the many new folks joining our Community! We’re excited for you to get your first boxes.

After four weeks off, we’re ready to start picking, washing, packing, weeding, seeding, and all the other tasks that are needed to get our produce to your tables. The bright, sunny, dry days are quite a change from the rainy, grey, muddy conditions as we started our break. Cover crops have germinated and most fields are covered with some amount of green.

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | December 9, 2024

December 9, 2024

The whole crew at last week’s end of the year lunch with our new sweatshirts!

The last CSA deliveries of the year! The final markets too! As we head to the 14th of December, 2024, we are looking forward to a break– as maybe you all are also. Maybe just now you are thinking of the freedom to cruise the wide aisles of your Safeway or Whole Foods and be tempted by the December plums or peaches from far off lands- or asparagus, tomatoes or grapes that might break the potato winter squash dark leafy green lettuce cabbage carrot monotony of a Full Belly CSA Share. For us, in the same moment, we will be looking forward to tending a quiet farm, without the tug of crops demanding attention or the chaotic hustle of crews racing to fields to fill orders- picking/bunching/digging for your table… Though you may appreciate the freedom of shopping your favorite produce aisle, (we have to admit that) we will miss you, but appreciate the quiet of this generous land.

Our crew will be out of here hours after we close for our winter break. Most will be heading off to see family. They are ready for extended time off, enduring a year of working 5½ days per week since January.  Almost all have seen an increase in wages here and have benefited from overtime after working a 40 hour week. The new minimum wage and overtime rules for those who labor in our fields has been applied to all farmers, creating better wages and a level playing field across California farms. We remain intent on building a model for equity and security in housing for our crew here.  

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | December 2, 2024

December 2, 2024
a field at sunset

Somehow it’s December and we find ourselves almost at the end of another year. Time flies when you’re having fun. And/or when you’re really busy farming. We’ve got this week, next week, and then a four-week break (until the week of January 13).

The weather and surroundings make it clear that seasons are changing. The sun is noticeably weaker, and it gets dark so early. The trees have been turning colors and losing their leaves. The hills haven’t yet turned green, and the fields of cover crops have yet to germinate, so things are looking a little brown. We know that things will look very different very soon, but it takes time. 

Now that things are drying out, we can do more transplanting (lots of starts in the greenhouse!), planting (plenty of summer crop fields that need cover crop seed!), and taking down summer fields (mowing, pulling drip tape, etc.). There’s plenty to do when it comes to getting the farm ready to take a break, and last week was too short and too wet to get anything done. So it’s a good thing we had a few days off for Thanksgiving to rest up before the final sprint over the finish line.

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | November 25, 2024

November 25, 2024
transplanting tulips on the back of a tractor

A telltale sign that we’re about to get our first big fall rain is every tractor in use and everyone operating at a slightly frenetic, faster than usual pace. 

Last Monday and Tuesday, every tractor on the farm was accounted for: mowing fall crops, turning over beds, spreading compost, planting cover crop seed (until long after dark – that’s why tractors have headlights!), transplanting, and planting tulips. We even squeezed an all-hands-on-deck hand transplanting effort in the rain on Wednesday before the soil got too saturated. Did we get everything done before the rain arrived? No – the list of tasks is too long. But we still got quite a lot done, and then got quite a lot of rain, 8.5 inches between Wednesday morning and Saturday morning. 

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | November 18, 2024

November 18, 2024

We are in the season of “lasts” for the year; last tomatoes, last jimmy nardello peppers, last markets (not until the week of December 13!), last box of peach jam, and more. Last Saturday (the 9th) marked our last farm dinner of the year, putting a celebratory end to our 2024 events. As many of you may know, we are not just a working farm! Our beautiful commercial kitchen moonlights as an event space where we host farm dinners, pizza nights, weddings, tours, and other special occasions. 

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | November 11, 2024

November 11, 2024
corn in the field

I wanted to share a letter we got a week ago from a CSA member:

On Wednesday, we picked up our CSA box. As my husband was prepping the corn, he found a little corn worm. Our kids (5 and almost 3) love caterpillar friends, so as we have done many times, we put the little guy in a mason jar with some food and placed him in our kitchen for the kids to enjoy. He was promptly named Caterpilly. We also got to talk about how other animals and insects we share our world with enjoy the same food we do and how great that is. We love our CSA box, and I wanted to share this story because it is so much more than food that comes in those green boxes.  

Keep doing what you are doing. 

Thanks, Meghan

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | November 4, 2024

November 4, 2024
Rainbow over a green field

What’d we do last week? Here’s just a few things (a complete list would go on forever) with photos – thanks to Andrew, Becca, Dru, and Mizu for sharing their pictures!

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | October 28, 2024

October 28, 2024
closeup of chard bunches

This week’s Beet – a short video showing how the many bunches of beautiful, delicious chard last week got from the field to your CSA boxes. Those of you who didn’t get a box missed out!

[Read more…]
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