Eating with the seasons teaches us patience. Tomatoes may be available whenever I might want at the store, but few things give me greater pleasure than waiting for that special moment in the season when I can harvest and bite into a sun-warmed, vine-ripened, dry-farmed tomato. Although "dry-farming" sounds ordinary, it is actually the culmination [...]
These last two Saturdays we enjoyed an amazing turnout of people eager to pick their own tomatoes. I am not exaggerating when I say that a couple of tons got picked. Tomatoes were carried away in buckets, carts (Radio Flyers), boxes, bags, coolers and wheelbarrows. I would love to have followed the trail from our [...]
At 91 years of age my mother's love for and excitement about growing plants has not diminished, even though her gardening space is now reduced to the sunny side of a small apartment. When I visited my parents last week, she proudly showed me her first tomatoes, picked from her three tomato plants growing in [...]
We are now officially in our last week of Summer. September 21st marks the Autumn Equinox, and the beginning of fall. It is an odd time of seasonal overlap; we are reaching the peak of the Summer season harvest-wise, yet the foliage on plum trees and native poison oak is changing to red, the daily [...]
With October here, our Coastal Summer has arrived... but will it last? Late season heat waves are not uncommon, but for coastal growers like us, spoiled by year-round moderate temperatures -- when yesterday's thermometer hit a blistering 100 degrees it was a scramble to adjust irrigation, planting and harvest schedules to deal with it. Growing [...]
Last week on July 4th, I celebrated Independence Day in an unusual manner. Having just finished packing shares for Thursday's delivery, I went on my first ever whale watching adventure, right here in Monterey Bay. Now I easily get seasick, so I never would have initiated an outing like this, however our good friends Miriam [...]
In nature it is inconceivable that genetic material (DNA) from one organism is inserted into a different species. Imagine exchanging genes from a rat or fish with those of a tomato. This is nothing unusual, however, with today's DNA technology. GMO corn and soybeans, for example, are grown on millions of acres across the country, [...]
With only 5 weeks left, our 2014 CSA Season is quickly drawing to a close, and with impending rains (we hope soon) the Farm is in transition mode. Tuesday, in anticipation of Wednesday night’s rain, the farm was abuzz with activity. By 7 o’clock in the morning our “Mudder” (high clearance tractor) was out in [...]
"The senses can become tools of choice, defense, and pleasure; they give new 'sense' to our actions in the field." - Carlos Petrini, from his book Slow Food Nation. Call me a sun-worshipper I have always been fascinated by the photosynthetic intelligence of plants, turning light into life. I wouldn’t have a job if it [...]
Camphill Communities California thanks Live Earth Farm for their generous and abundant weekly contributions of fresh, delicious organic fruit and vegetables for the hungry mouths of our growing community in Soquel California. Camphill Communities California is a 501(3)c organization serving adults with developmental disability. Our mission is to provide a nurturing and dynamic residential community [...]
