I have no good reason for not writing in so long, except to say that life has been complicated and more than a little tough. We lost custody of our precious little grandson, Logan, last month, when he was restored to his parents. Fortunately, we will be having a shared custody situation again, with Logan's father, for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, Logan has started kindergarten, and absolutely loves it. He's happy, he sings all the time, and frequently says, "Wherever my Poppy goes, I'm going, TOO." Here he is pictured in our corn patch, sitting on a stepladder.
He helped grow that corn, he'll have you know.
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The "Grow a Farmer" Campaign that I have been involved with since early in the year was a success beyond our wildest dreams. We did not raise the necessary $250K to build permanent housing for the apprentices of the organic farming program at UCSC. No, we raised $380,000. We will not build eight cabins after all. We will build nine.
Pictured here: Chancellor George Blumenthal and CASFS Director, Dr. Patricia Allen, go all American Gothic on us at the ground-breaking ceremony and celebration up at the farm on September 13. (Chancellor Blumenthal, I will remark again, is a tremendously good sport.)
About a hundred people showed up on that Sunday afternoon, to sit on hay bales, be regaled with bluegrass, and to wine and dine on the amazing food by chef Jamie Smith. Now, Jamie's always been a rockstar since he first appeared in Santa Cruz—but his new job as Gourmet Food Director for Santa Cruz City Schools is going to take school lunches to a new level.
When I say "rockstar," let me elaborate. Jamie planned the menu, spent most of his weekend cooking and prepping (with some help from the Friends of the UCSC Farm & Garden's Board of Directors, which included me), and he did it all in the greatest good spirits, for FREE. Do we love this guy? We love this guy. I would chop onions all day for him. The food was fantastic.
Thank you, Jamie dear.
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Moving along with some news about the Santa Cruz Farmers Markets, starting with the BEST. The little Sunday market in Live Oak is now scheduled to be a year-round market. Hooray! I don't think I'm wrong to say that I think it's my favorite market of the week—and the favorite of most of the vendors. With live music (Hawaiian, bluegrass, Roots/Americana, etc.), al fresco seating, throngs of dancing children, and wonderful prepared food to have brunch—it's got it all. And now it will run every Sunday, from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM, just as its companion market does on Saturday on the west side of town.
A new addition to the markets is El Salchichero, "The Sausage Maker," also known as Chris La Veque. If you remember the days of Justin Severino, our former community butcher, Chris worked in Justin's kitchen. He is a hard-working young man, and his entire life has been involved with making food better and better. I came home with a package of Salsa Verde sausage: the list of ingredients along made my mouth water. I think he told me he's getting bigger commercial kitchen space to branch out into charcuterie. Get 'cher sausages, folks!
Pictured here: some of the ravishing dahlias sold by Thomas Family Farm, sustainably grown. Honestly, their booth (and they now have one at Ferry Plaza Market on Thursdays) is as pretty as a booth can get.
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This Saturday would be a great time to visit the West Side farmers market, located at Western Drive and Highway One (the last traffic light going north out of town). An encore of "Seasonal Grillers Delight": grilled meats, seafoods, vegetables, and simple tapas-styled appetizers to shoppers. Cost: FREE. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Come on out and enjoy the scene. Padrón peppers are still in season, as are raspberries, strawberries, stone fruit, peppers, and just about every other thing that grows in our little Garden of Eatin.'
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Swanton Berry Farm knows how to treat its community right. At the end of August, after having been under siege from a huge fire in the Bonny Doon Mountains, farmer Jim Cochran threw a potluck dinner and invited all the firefighters who'd been entrenched up there for two+ weeks. I had the privilege of attending, and boy, when those men walked into the room, the place erupted in cheers and applause.
I chatted with this group, below, who'd been there since the beginning—their uniforms were covered with ash and dirt. Great fellows, and the man with the plate was smiling especially big because he was eating olallieberry pie. He'd driven by the farm hundreds of times, and never knew that they sell fresh pie, jams, berries, chocolate covered berries and macaroons, and more. (Yoo hoo, firefighters, if you want to tell me your names, that would be great.)
A few weeks later, I was summoned again to photograph the entire crew at the farm, for their annual meeting…with an elaborate and delicious spread of authentic Mexican food, made by the incomparable Mama Laura and chef Forrest Cook. (Forrest was on the Board with me for a while: he's another one I'll chop onions for all day, if I'm invited.)
And here are the people who work at Swanton Berry Farm, a 100% union-based farm.
I came home with Loganberry jam (naturally) and ollalieberry jam, and several baskets of lovely strawberries and raspberries. If you live in San Francisco, and you're coming down this way on Highway One, look for the bright yellow farm truck. It probably won't have this bunch of goofballs (the kitchen staff at the tasting room) on it, but you can't miss it.
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Finally, a mention of my favorite restaurant, Gabriella Café, here in Santa Cruz. I resumed my work on their website earlier in the summer, and am I ever grateful for that. The chef, Brad Briske, has been in charge since January, and I love his food so much. SO much. Last night, Bob and I were overcome with the quality of the five-course heirloom tomato dinner, featuring tomatoes from Lindencroft Farm. (Read my piece on farmer Linda Butler here.) I'm sorry: no photos: it was dark and we were seated on the patio—heaven on a warm October night.
Instead, you get a shot of a dish I had a few weeks back, this gorgeous lobster involtino.
I think there's just one more day of Restaurant Week (scroll down for a profile of Chef Brad Briske, a former vegan) here in Santa Cruz, and you should go there. $25 for three courses—every bit of it organic and as close-to-home as possible (lobster excluded). The Sonoma lamb we enjoyed last night for the prix fixe dinner was also offered as the main course on the 3-for-$25 menu.
I'm not shilling: I wouldn't trade my time for food unless the food were exceptional. Brad's is.
You can call Gabriella for reservations at 831.457.1677. (Contrary to local opinion, it's pronounced gay-bree-ELL-a.)
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And that's all for today. It's plenty. I think we should rename Santa Cruz: "Cornucopia, California."
THOGUHT FOR THE DAY: "Shipping is a terrible thing to do to vegetables. They probably get jet-lagged, just like people. ~Elizabeth Berry
Thanks for coming back to visit.
I came across your blog while looking through family farms. I just recently started a documentary film project called From Grass to Cheese which focuses on life on a family dairy farm called Laurel Valley Creamery. We just posted a trailer for the ongoing project and we would love for you to take a look at it.
You can view the trailer here: http://vimeo.com/6939006
Any feedback or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you see fit, please feel free post the video or links to it.
Much thanks,
Todd Tue
www.milkproductsmedia.com
Chicago, IL
Posted by: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=793227312 | 07 October 2009 at 07:26 PM