We were happy to team up with Kings Community Action Organization to teach children about farmers markets this past week. KCAO put together a mock market where children could come and use fake money to pay for their produce. They had the opportunity to ask growers questions and get free, quality organic food for their families.

Before the market, and just as the sun was rising, I was out harvesting for the event. I picked a selection of Dapple Fire, Flavor Grenade Pluots, and Santa Rosa plums. I also packaged up a sampler of Sun Sugar and Super Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes for the kids to try. The kids enjoyed themselves and the parents received information on all of the programs we have available at the farm.

To learn more about Kings Community Action Organization Nutrition Information and Hunger Prevention Department, please visit their website here:

We found a home for our culled Dapple Fire pluots! They will be turned in to a delicious craft beer from Libertine Brewing Company in SLO. Click to learn more about their wild crafted creations:

We look forward to sampling their creativity and were happy to provide them with quality, high brix fruit for their craft!

Last year, we saw the end of the big red tractor that plowed the fields and sculpted the beds. We were not sure what to do and were looking at renting tractors as we needed them. Months of research later, we decided on the BCS 749 with electric start.
BCS tractors are the vegetable farmer's go-to work horse and are used in many small acreage applications. The small size and heavy duty engine make it ideal for bed maintenance and landscaping tasks around the farm. It has a collection of attachments that customize it to whatever job is at hand. The machine is Italian made and should last us for a very long time!

We started the day off bright and early by harvesting all of the vegetables for tonight's CSA pickup. It may have been 7 in the morning, but the temperatures were already climbing. Walking through the rows it was good to take note of how everyone was being effected by this sudden heat wave. Most of the lettuce has given up and has bolted, trying desperately to secure the next generation. The tomatoes, however, are absolutely loving it. They're finally starting to develop from their thick green skinned stage in to the juicy, mouth watering sweet fruit that we all love. The rainbow chard was dancing in the morning breeze, flashing its brightly colored stems. The other summer vegetables are in full swing: cucumbers, squashes, eggplant and peppers. It made me feel very accomplished knowing that I would be sharing this bounty with members of my community later in the evening.