Discover This!

As camp season came to a close, the Discovery Program realized just how fast the summer is passing and how close we are to fall tour season! In between the hustle and bustle of camps and tours, we have had a couple weeks to take inventory, take a breath and take some much needed vacation time! We have also had a couple of fun groups on the farm and lots of fun in the garden!

At the very end of July, we had the pleasure of working with six upstanding young men from Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo.  These boys dedicated part of their summer to an immersion program where they worked in local raspberry and blackberry fields and took some time to explore the surrounding agricultural area. We spent the morning making pizza dough and touring the farm.  In the afternoon we baked our pizzas in the cob oven and worked in the Discovery Garden and fields. They helped us create a new compost pile, weed the onions, peppers and basil and harvest squash and berries! We had an ongoing dialogue about the differences between our diverse organic farm and the conventional berry farm where they were working. We discussed complex issues like water rights and labor laws in the Pajaro Valley and the importance of eating locally.

We also had a fun group from Gateway School join us for two days in the middle of August. We led a tour and worked in the garden the first day, and the second day we harvested and canned homemade chunky tomato sause, pizza dough, cheese from the goat we milked, and peach tartlets for dessert! This summer has flown by with camps and the Solstice event, summer tours and work in the garden.  As much as we are sad to see the seasons change, we am looking forward to fall and all that comes along with it.

 The youth empowerment organization “Food What?!” brought their summer job program to Live Earth Farm.

Each Friday 20 youth came to the farm and worked side by side with farmers, harvesting, planting, sorting, and weeding. This was a great way to integrate young community members into our farming family. It was mutually beneficial for both groups.

The youth got to see and experience the level of skill and hard work that it takes to farm and the farmers got an opportunity to mentor and share the work load. Over the summer the “Food What?!” youth harvested thousands of dollars worth of organic produce, planted thousands of starts, and killed thousands of weeds.

Live Earth Farm is grateful for the partnership with “Food What?!” and looks forward to the possibility of being a site for the Fall employment program. We are also pleased to welcome youth from the fall catering team to Slice, our fall dinner in the orchard.  The youth will both help serve the meal and speak about their experience working with the Farm and Discovery Program.

-Peter Nelson, Live Earth Farm Discovery Program Program Assistant

We had a great group come to the farm this week. A summer camp from Gateway School in Santa Cruz decided to spend two of their camp days with us at the farm. The first day we took a tour and milked the goat, worked in the garden and harvested some fruits and veggies.

The second day we spent in the kitchen. We made: pizza dough, goat cheese, peach tartlets and we canned chunky tomato sauce which we used on our pizza for lunch! The tomato sauce was an experiment for me.  During the four sessions of camp, we canned quite a few times. We made pickles and pickled carrots, strawberry-rhubarb jam and blackberry jam, but this was the first time canning tomatoes for me.

I was hesitant at first to try canning tomatoes because many recipes call for peeled tomatoes, which seemed like a hassle. But after reading the pros and cons of peeled tomatoes, I decided to suck it up and peel them. It wasn’t that hard and it was actually pretty fun! Your kids will love ripping the skin off the tomatoes!

How to Peel Tomatoes

1. Cut a small “x” just through the thin skin on the bottom of each tomato.
2. Dip the tomatoes in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds or put them in a large bowl, pour boiling water over them, and let them sit for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
3. Lift or drain the tomatoes out of the hot water and quickly dunk them into ice water to stop them from cooking or softening too much.
4. KIDS! Gently pull off the skin and discard!

The recipe we used was simple and fun and made JUST enough for 12 pints of sauce.  If you’re using small tomatoes, I might recommend throwing a few more in!

Chunky Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 5 onion, chopped
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 10 carrots, shredded
• 3 green pepper, chopped
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 cup fresh parsley (ripped)
• 10 tbsp. fresh basil, ripped (or 2 tsp. dried)
• 10 tbsp. fresh oregano (or 1 tsp. dried)
• 10 tbsp. fresh thyme (or 1 tsp. dried)
• 30 cups tomatoes (peeled and chopped-look below recipe for simple peeling instructions)
• 4 cups tomato paste
• 1 tbsp. honey (we didn’t use any honey because our tomatoes were sweet enough on their own!)
• salt and pepper to taste
• lemon juice or vinegar (see below)

Directions:

1. Chop onions, peppers and tomatoes.
2. KIDS! Rip up basil and parsley into small pieces.
3. Shred carrots and mince garlic.
4. Saute onion and garlic in 10 tbsp. oil until tender.
5. Add carrots through herbs and stir well.
6. Add tomatoes, paste, honey and salt and pepper to taste.
7. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove bay leaves.
8. Ladle into hot, sterilized pint jars (or quarts if you are canning a larger amount) to within 1/2 inch of top, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar per pint to assure acidity, seal with sterilized lids and process full jars in boiling water bath for 35 minutes.

Slice CSA Member Discount

We would like to extend a special invitation to Live Earth Farm CSA Members to attend Slice on September 14th for a discounted price.  For two weeks from July 30th to August 13th LEF CSA members will enjoy 10% off tickets to Slice.  In order to get your special price enter the discount code LEFCSA2013 or follow this link.  This discount is only available to the first 50 members to use it, so get yours while you can. To read more about the event that includes a farm fresh, multi-course, wine pairing dinner, live music, silent auction, student art, and a children’s program visit our blog post or the event web page.

Breathe in the farm fresh air while together, we build the future of healthy children, farms and communities.

UPDATE: Since the farm posted this opportunity in today’s newsletter, I have extended the promotion to end next Tuesday 9/3 instead of 8/13. Happy Labor Day folks!

The apple is a powerful symbol of learning, health, and of agricultural prosperity in the Pajaro Valley. On September 14^th, the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program invites you to celebrate our local farming traditions over dinner in our espaliered apple orchard. The funds raised at this event will support our education programs to instill pride in the Pajaro Valley’s agricultural heritage.

You can support healthy food systems and nutrition education in the Santa Cruz area by becoming a Sponsor, donating an auction item, or purchasing tickets to attend the event.  Please choose a sponsorship level using the Donate button on our event web page: http://liveearthfarm.net/slice-sponsorship/

In our fields and orchards, students like Esmeralda learn to farm and the value of that work. Help us supply such students with hands-on farming experiences this year.  Together we can make a difference for all the students we work with including under served youth living in the Monterey Bay Area.

On September 14th, 2013 the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program will host Slice, the 5th Annual Dinner on the Farm to support hands-on, farming programs for kids of all ages.  You can support the event by donating an auction item, becoming a sponsor, or purchasing tickets to attend the event.

Through LEFDP’s programs local under served youth learn to value sustainable agriculture. They actively participate in their own health as well as that of their food system, their community, and their environment.  This is why LEFDP aims to raise $5000 through the fall auction, to purchase and maintain tools and supplies.

The Auction is an area of support that anyone can participate in.  We welcome hand made items.  Knitters, quilters, and fiber artists of all kinds have contributed beautiful pieces in the past.  Amateur and professional jewelers’ pieces are always well loved.  Do you make jam, pickles or sauces at home? People will pay a pretty penny to give them a try. A second home, timeshare or weekend away will make any bidder put pen to paper.  Are you a masseuse or any kind of natural health practitioner? If you have season tickets to any of our Bay Area sports teams or a box at the theater or opera you could share with our guests. Wine club members could share their wine or ask their winery to participate in the event. Please get creative and find a way to raise funds for LEFDP programs through our Silent Auction on September 14th, 2013.

To donate an auction item: Fill out our online form or contact Dawne West at Dawne.West@liveearthfarm.net, 831.763.2446

We are now in the full swing of summer camps at Live Earth Farm!  As our third session comes to a close, we are preparing for our fourth and final week of camp.  This will be our second session of Art on the Farm Camp, following our first ever summer presenting Young Farmers and Sprouts camps.

We have now been running Art on the Farm Camp for five consecutive summers!  Art on the Farm Camp consists of many found art projects on the farm, creating masks, tie dye, pickle making and a couple of cooking projects through out the week.

Our Young Farmers Camp is centered around field projects-harvesting, seeding, sowing and weeding-along with a heavy culinary component and a few art and craft projects.

Sprouts Camp is designed for a younger group of kids, ages 3-6, and their parents.  Instead of running from 9-3 and having a sleepover on Thursday night, we ran a three hour camp each day from 9-12 which included yoga each morning, art projects, baking, canning, harvesting in the garden and a costume party-picnic each day.

With the last week of camp fast approaching, we would like to thank our wonderful leaders-in-training, parents and campers who helped make all of our sessions great!  We hope to have such a wonderful group of kids next year to experience the wonders of our camps! 

Last week during Sprouts Camp, we decided to try out a project that was a little different than our usual arts and crafts.

Earlier in the year, Food What?! made salve from herbs collected around the farm. We decided that this would be a great project for the little ones and their parents.

We made four different types of salve–rosemary and calendula, lavender and yarrow, rose and chamomile and mint and comfrey (though after researching the benefits of the herbs we used, I discovered that comfrey can be harmful if ingested so this week we are substituting plantain for comfrey).

The salves are smooth and buttery and great for things like bug bites, poison oak, burns and chapped lips.  It’s super easy to make and makes an awesome gift!

The recipe below is for one batch of salve (remember we made 4 different types) which will make about 8 oz.  We used 1 oz jars found at at New Leaf and Way of Life.

Live Earth Farm Salve and Lip Balm

1 cup of each herb you would like to use (2 cups total)

1/2 cup of olive oil

1/2 cup of coconut oil

1/4 cup of shaved beeswax

A couple of drops of essential oil of your choice

Double boiler

Cheesecloth

In a double boiler (or a Kerr jar over boiling water in a canning pot) heat the olive oil and coconut oil and herbs for one hour (do NOT boil the oil).  Carefully remove from heat and filter out herbs from oil using a sieve and cheesecloth.  Discard herbs and return oil to double boiler or jar and add beeswax.  Heat oil and beeswax and stir until mixed completely.  Pour into salve jars and let cool.

We wanted to add a broader culinary component to the Sprouts Camp session last week and one of the fruits in abundance right now are peaches!  We decided to try making individual peach tarts with the campers because I had remembered my mom making deliciously sloppy, easy and fast fruit tarts as a dessert for company.  She gave me her recipe and we dove in from there!

Rustic Free Form Tartlets

Flakey Pastry Crust 

Makes 8 oz of dough (we made 8 individual tarts, but this could make one 9-10 inch tart)

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

4 tbsp cold unsalted butter

3 tbsp sour cream (we used almond milk and it worked great)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 F

KIDS! Combine dry ingredients and stir.

KIDS! Add butter and mix by hand until combined.

KIDS! Add sour cream and mix until you have a ball of dough.

Refrigerate while making fruit filling.

Fruit Filling

Ingredients

4 tbsp-1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp flour

3 cups ripe fruit

1-2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp butter

1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

KIDS! Combine all filling ingredients in large bowl and mix together.

KIDS! Take dough from fridge and divide into balls, or take dough from fridge and create one large ball.

KIDS! Roll out dough ball on floury surface (doesn’t need to be a perfect circle, and it can have cracks in it)

KIDS! Lay rolled out dough on buttered cookie sheet or parchment paper.

KIDS! Pour desired amount of fruit filling into middle of dough, leave 2 inch “crust” around fruit filling.

KIDS! Fold up sides of crust to cover fruit filling (no need to cover completely).

KIDS! Pinch corners with fingers dipped in water to prevent tearing.

Put tartlets in oven for 20-30 min (halfway through sprinkle a pinch of sugar on each tartlet).

Enjoy!

Fine Wine, Organic Multi-Course Dinner, and Live Music in Live Earth Farm’s Espaliered Apple Orchard

2011 Small Plates Walking Tour

On September 14^th, the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program will host Slice, the 5^th annual organic dinner on the farm supporting the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program. Chef Jonathan Miller of Eat Right at Home will regale guests with fresh, local flavors from the very fields where the fare is served.  Paired with sumptuous local wines, and accompanied by live music and a silent auction, this dinner will delight. This is a local food and wine event not to be missed.

Dig!

Watsonville, CA, July 12, 2013 – On September 14^th, 2013 Slice, the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program’s 5^th annual farm dinner, will feature local chefs, farmers, artisans and winemakers celebrating the abundance grown in the Pajaro Valley.  Freshly prepared appetizers will be accompanied by live, acoustic music. After the multi-course wine pairing dinner, the event will culminate with student produced entertainment and dessert in the Espaliered Gala Apple Orchard. This year we are pleased to honor local farmers and producers maintaining the tradition of apple production in the Pajaro Valley.

Pajaro Valley Teens Weeding

Esmeralda is a student at Pajaro Valley High School who wants to go to college. For eight weeks this spring she has learned how to secure and hold a job, cook healthy meals, how to be a conscious consumer in our local and international food system, and how to grow food in LEFDP’s education fields. This summer she is back on the farm for her first job.

Through LEFDP’s programs local, under served youth build confidence in learning to be active caretakers of themselves, their community and their environment.  This is why the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program aims to raise $20,000 through Slice, the September 14^th fall fundraising event, to support farm visits, transportation costs, and garden supplies for the 1500 students who will visit Live Earth Farm in 2014.

Sponsorship and volunteer opportunities are available, as well as early bird ticket prices until July 19^th.
http://liveearthfarm.net/celebrations-events/events/

Dig! Silent Auction under the oaks

The Live Earth Farm Discovery Program (LEFDP) is a farm-based education not for profit organization in Watsonville, California.  LEFDP makes seed to mouth, farm to fork, and child to community connections through a variety of hands-on educational programs serving the youth of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and Monterey counties and beyond. A special emphasis is placed on reaching under served people in the Pajaro Valley to bolster individual, community and environmental health.