Nuts, Grains & Oils
All of these products can be purchased in our online farm shop or the three farmers markets we sell at every week.
Grains | Almonds | Walnuts | Olives & Olive Oil | Safflower Oil
Grains
We choose varieties that have great flavor, character, and nutritional value, and we like to have a range of options to satisfy various uses. Many grain varieties are not well suited for organic production, which uses less fertilizer, water and other amendments, nor to our climate. We’ve tried several varieties over the years to find those that are hearty and do well with our growing style and with the Capay Valley.
We currently grow a red hard wheat, hard white wheat, durum wheat, and barley. Our wheat and barley are dry-farmed, planted in fall, irrigated only with rainwater, and harvested in June. In addition to the wheat and barley, we also grow corn: red popcorn and Bloody Butcher dent corn for cornmeal and livestock feed. These are planted in spring, grown with irrigation during the summer, and harvested in fall.
We sell our grains and corn as whole kernels and as flour. The flour is milled fresh at the farm in a stone mill and we mill in small batches to make sure our customers get the freshest, best tasting flour possible. Our flours are 100% whole grain, we don’t sift out any of the bran, thus maintaining flavor, nutrients, and fiber. We use our flour in our seasonal tea cakes, pizza dough, and pasta dough and our wheat is featured at several bakeries and restaurants in the Sacramento Valley and San Francisco Bay areas.
*All flours and cornmeal are milled on the same mill, thus our corn products have potential for gluten exposure.
The best way to store whole grains in order to preserve their flavor is in an airtight container, in a cold dark place. The freezer is the best spot for your flour (up to six months) and the refrigerator is the next best. Flour stored in your pantry has a shelf-life of three months or more if stored in an airtight container. Wheat berries stay fresh at room temperature for up to six months or frozen for more than a year.
Almonds
Almonds are a big deal in the Capay Valley. They have been a staple farm crop here for more than 120 years. Each year, the entire Valley celebrates the Almond Festival in February when the almond trees are in bloom, complete with a competition to crown an Almond Queen.
We grow about 12 acres of almonds, a mix of four varieties (Mission, Nonpareil, Padre, and Peerless). We harvest in early fall, using a shaker machine to get the nuts off the trees. We then rake the nuts into a line on the orchard floor, where they dry in the intense summer heat for about one week. Nuts are then picked up from the orchard floor with a machine that separates nuts from soil, leaves and any floor litter. At this stage, the nuts are still in their hard shell and the fuzzy outer hull.
We then have the almonds hulled and shelled in an organically certified hulling and shelling facility. We do the final steps at the farm which include sorting nuts for quality and cleanliness and freezing the nuts to control for any potential pests. We do not irradiate, pasteurize, or fumigate our nuts.
In addition to raw almonds, we also sell almond butter, candied almonds, and in some years, we sell roasted, flavored almonds too. We’re often told that our almond butter is the best in the world.
Almond butter should be refrigerated once opened but can be stored in the pantry until opening. Almonds are dry and not high in oils. They are fine in the pantry and can be stored there for more than a year.
Walnuts
We grow 12 acres of walnuts. The orchard is an old orchard, planted long before the farm was founded in the 1980s. It’s a beautiful, shaded part of the farm and weddings at the farm are almost always held there. The large, old established trees are planted further apart than more modern orchards. In addition to larger, older trees, our walnut varieties are unique! The majority of walnuts grown in California are the Chandler variety. We grow a mix of varieties; most of our trees are Serr with some Tehama and Hartley.
We harvest our walnuts in October. We shake the nuts off the tree with a shaker machine, sweep them into rows, then pick them up with a harvester machine. The nuts are sent to an organic hulling facility, and then they return to the farm to be shelled and sorted. We wait a bit longer than most farms to harvest our walnuts so that they naturally dry on the tree. Waiting longer means that the nuts get more exposure to heat and we end up with some “sun-kissed” walnuts which have a darker color and subtle, caramelized taste. They’re a unique offering and a favorite with many of our customers.
We sell raw walnuts, sun-kissed walnuts, and candied walnuts. They are raw walnuts and we do not irradiate, pasteurize, or fumigate our nuts.
Walnuts should be stored in a cool, dry place; they are best stored in the refrigerator or freezer (if you won’t be eating them within a month) to avoid going rancid.
Olives & Olive Oil
We grow several varieties of olives — including Ascolano, Frantoio, Leccino, Lucca, Pendolino, Picual, and Tuscan. We harvest our olives in October.
Ascolano olives are large olives that we harvest by hand when they’re green and cure in the Full Belly Kitchen. Cured olives are available refrigerated at Farmers Markets and select stores.
We harvest our other olives with a mix of hand-harvesting and machine (we use our nut shaker) and mill the olives into oil. We use a mix of green, less ripe olives, and mature, dark olives to get an oil with a strong and distinctive flavor.
Time is crucial when making olive oil. The time between harvesting and pressing should be as short as possible, ideally within 12 hours. We’re very lucky to be only 10 miles up the road from the Séka Hills olive mill in Brooks. Right after harvesting, we drop off the olives at the mill, then come back in the morning to pick up our oil. We let any solids settle, then bottle up our extra virgin olio nuovo.
Safflower Oil
Our organically grown safflower makes oil that is a deep, rich yellow color – much darker than safflower oil that you see in the store. This oil is buttery and earthy in flavor. Safflower oil can be used in high-heat cooking and is lower in saturated fats than olive oil. We love using it to make our popcorn!
We plant safflower in February and harvest the seeds in June. We press the safflower ourselves using a very low-heat, slow press.