Contact Suzie's Farm
PHONE: 619.662.1780
CSA Inquiries, please email rodrigo@suziesfarm.com
Local Chefs, please email robin@suziesfarm.com
ADDRESS & DIRECTIONS:
2325 Hollister Street, San Diego, CA 92154
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Restaurants & Chefs
Did you know Suzie’s Farm delivers in San Diego five days a week? Not only that, several acres of our farm in San Diego’s Border State Park is dedicated to custom growing for the specific needs (and imagination) of our local chefs. Can you say boutique and convenience all in one breath? You don’t have to. Just say Suzie’s Farm. Visit our Chef's Page to view our delivery schedule and learn more about our partnership with restaurants.
Recipes
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Most recent entries
- Riot Gear
- Slow Foods Mixer
- Quinntessential Cooking Classes
- February’s CSA Promotion
- Kohlrabi Recipes
- Box Contents February 1-7
- New Offerings!
- Become a Fan of Suzie’s Farm on Facebook!
- New CSA Pick-Up Spots Developing!
- Potato Permas
- We Made Payroll!!!
- March 15
- Damages
- This week’s Box
- Broken Levee
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Robin picked a trial 3-pack of strawberries today. It’s very exciting to think that we have enough strawberries to fill a 3-pack! He actually picked about 10 3-packs. That’s a lot of strawberries for our first round!
They are pretty sandy and a bit bruised from the storms. All that hail will definitely do some damage. He picked them under ripe - about 75% red so that they wouldn’t go bad on the vine. You know how they say to wash right before eating? Well bruised and wet fruit doesn’t last as long ergo the early picking.
The taste is definitely there, though. They are tangy, a tad crunchy not yet sweet. Their bright red color is a harkening to spring, as the Earth warms and the seasons quicken toward summer. With all the rows we planted we might have to hire a crew just to pick strawberries. Strawberries, like zucchini, can get out of control pretty fast if you don’t get to them fast enough.
Bring on the riot gear!
Last night Alchemy Restaurant hosted the February Slow Foods URBAN San DiegoMixer. Suzie’s Farm was there, sampling a beautiful ButterCUP squash soup created by Chef Ricardo Herrera. People were raving over it and begging for the recipe. Chef Ricardo generously sent it to me. We hope you enjoy it as much as last nights Slow Food Members did!
Buttercup Squash Bisque
6 ea. - Buttercup Squash
1 Quart - H2O
½ C. Brown Sugar
2 TBS. Black Lava Sea Salt
3 TBS. Garam Masala
1 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
2 C. Heavy Cream
Garam Masala (½ C. tst. Cumin seed, 1tsp.Cardamon seed, 1 cinnamon stick, 1TBS. Cloves, ½ C. Coriander seed, 1 TBS. Black peppercorns)
Using a coffee grinder, or mortar and pestle, grind spices and combine.
Method
Cut squash in half and remove seeds. Place in a casserole dish or a braising pan skin side up. Add water, cover, and bake in 350 degree oven for 1.5 hours.
Let squash cool. (This step can be done days ahead) With a spoon remove squash flesh and add to a soup pot. Strain braising water and add to cooked squash. Blend together with emersion blender or in batches with standard blender. (Make sure if using standard blender that the squash has cooled before blending) Strain blended mixture into a soup pot, add remaining ingredients and simmer on low heat for ½ hour. Garnish with toasted seeds, and sprig of cilantro.
I was contacted by Quinn Farrar Wilson of Quintessential Cooking about devising a way for our CSA shareholders to make the best use of their boxes. I think it’s a great idea as many people say they don’t recognize some of the items in their box, don’t know what to do with them or maybe they don’t like certain things, but maybe if they learned how to cook them they might like them!
So Quinn and I are looking for feedback. Would you be interested in taking a CSA cooking class devoted solely to figuring out what to do with all of your product.
Quinn has put together a survey to see if there is any interest in such a class. Would you mind filling it out?
Did you miss our January “No Joiner’s Fee” promotion? Not to worry - we’ve got one for this month too!
To spread the love we are offering one box free when you sign up for a 12-week subscription! That’s right! Whether you get a weekly or bi-weekly subscription, if you sign up in February, you’ll get an extra box - FREE!
Contact our CSA Guy (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more details.
And here I found two kohlrabi recipes - and would you look at that?! The first recipe contains more than one ingredient from your CSA box! That’s what one of our CSA shareholders would call a CSA Trifecta - when you use three ingredients from your CSA box for one recipe.
Try Roasted Kohlrabi and Butternut Squash or Sauteed Kale with Kohlrabi both from epicurious.com.
How did you like your kohlrabi?
We’ve got a couple new fun things in this weeks box. As always we try to mix it up for you to keep you on your toes!
Snow Peas
Green Leaf Lettuce
Rainbow Chard
Beets
Red Monarch Kale - I love this stuff! Slice it into ribbons. Chop some onions, sautee with olive oil, when translucent add kale, salt and some water, cover and cook. I eat this at dinner every night.
Easter Egg Radish
Mixed Carrot Bunches - Yellow, purple and orange!
Parsley
Celery
Sage
Butternut Squash - we planted these very late, so they are small, but mighty - mighty delicious that is!
Heriloom tomatoes - they have a bit of scarring but they aren’t “bad” they are organic!
Green bunching onions
Clover sprouts - great in toasted wheat bread and hummus sandwiches
Bonus item this week - Kohlrabi!
Technically these are Sun Grown products, but this weekend at our Poway, Little Italy, Leucadia/Encinitas, La Jolla and Hillcrest Farmer’s Markets we are debuting new sprouts! Come find peanut, garbanzo, pepita, sesame, adzuki and mung bean sprouts!
Are you a fan of Suzie’s Farm on Facebook?
Why not?!
We have found that is one of your favorite ways to communitcate with us. So we like to communicate with you too! We love to post photos, events and general news there.
Join us!
Our January “No Joiner’s Fee” Special has created many new CSA members! As we get new members, we get to expand our CSA area.
Do you know someone who would love to be part of our program but can’t pick-up at one of our current locations? Or maybe you are picking up somewhere and you would prefer to pick-up elsewhere. We have new locations developing now in the Carmel Valley/Del Mar area, La Mesa and Santee.
This is a great time to join!
Last year we created what Robin called Permabeds. A lot of people didn’t know what we were talking about. Even we weren’t sure what we were creating. We were studying a lot about permaculture - which is essentially “permanently” leaving your “agriculture” in the ground. This isn’t normally the way most people farm - even us. It’s something we would like to do, but at this time we depend on more conventional farming practices. Meaning that we use a tractor to make rows, we cover the rows in black plastic to retain moisture, speed seed germination and suppress weeds, we lay drip lines to irrigate and then we harvest.
We were excited about experimenting with the permabeds. The permabeds were basically long raised mounds of farm waste, covered with cardboard (to control the weeds) and then topped with 6 inches of mulch to retain moisture. Last year we made seven beds and filled three with tomatoes, two with peppers and two with tomatillos.
You may remember that the tomatoes grew to Godzilla-like proportions. We watched those puppies reach and stretch toward the heavens. Each plant put out flowers equal to the population of Mumbai. We shook in terror and anticipation. Surely plants that big would put out gigantic lusicous tomatoes the size of basketballs. Right?
And then we waited. And waited. And WAITED.
Where were the freaking tomatoes, man?!
Well tomato plants grow like crazy in a nitrogen heavy medium. Tomato fruit, on the other hand, does not. The permabeds with all of their rich, organic farm waste are essentially long compost piles - heavy on the nitrogen.
So we got wise, see? The tomatoes will not be residing in the permabeds this year.
Part Two of the story is that we planted potatoes last year.
You may be wondering to yourself, “Did I miss the potatoes? I visit Suzie’s Farm at the Farmers Markets. I get a CSA box. Where were the freaking potatoes, man?!”
You did not miss the potatoes. We planted them traditionally, in rows under black plastic and hoped for the best. Well, potatoes need to be hilled.
Traditionally farmers hill potatoes (hoe the soil up around their stems) when the leaves are 6-12 inches tall. The tubers grow on the stem that is extending toward the sun, in spite of you covering it up with soil You continue to hill this you harvest the potatoes, which have been vining up the plant toward the sunWe knew this of course, but they were more of an afterthought. We felt overwhelmed at having just acquired Kiki Town and 40 acres. The reality of all that empty space was freaking us out, so we just planted those puppies and hoped for the best.
Which brings us back to Do-Do-Do-Do.
We’ve got permabeds. We’ve got potatoes.
We didn’t re-mulch the permabeds this winter. The soil there is rich and crumbly. We think we hit the nail on the head.
Two weeks ago we cut the potatoes into 3 eye segments. We let the scar heal. Then we planted those puppies. Today we are re-laying the drip lines. They were blown away by the strong winds from the storm last week. We’ll be going back to check on them once a week, to make sure they are growing and to make sure we hill them. We’ve got 8 different varieties of potatoes going. Fingerlings, Reds, Purples, Golds. All of them yum and all of them coming.
“They are going to be in the ground by March 15”, Robin says to me this morning.
He’s talking about summer.
We’ve already started our warm weather crops. Yes, as I sit here in the office and type this while wearing a long sleeve shirt, a sweater, and a hoodie (hey! it’s cold in the office. the office is located between two coolers) we are thinking about spring and talking about summer.
Robin’s got big plans for this summer. On July 6, it will be exactly one year that we’ve been growing at Kiki Town. At first we were terrified of the big space. How in the world would we possibly fill it, let alone sell it.
Fast foward 7 months and we are doing better than expected. We’ve got great Farmers Markets, we’ve got loyal CSA customers who are passing the word on, and we’ve got creative chefs. We are able to sell our product, not just grow it. And we are encouraged everyday by the feedback that our certificed organic produce is gorgeous and reasonably priced.
This leads us to consider land. We think we might need more.
Our landlord has over 100 acres that he’s on the hook for. He’s not found any other suckers, I mean farmers, to take the land. Which means that he has been paying for the other 60 acres out of his pocket. He’s salivating, falling over himself excited, to know that we might probably possibly take another 18 acre parcel. He wants us to commit Right NOW!
We pay our rent twice a year - once in February and once in August. He wants us to commit Right NOW because he wants to start charging us for rent Right NOW.
Well, I’m sorry Buster Brown, but I’m not going to pay you rent for land that I’m not going to plant for another 6 months just because you are on the line for it.
Is that harsh?
On our current Kiki Town property we have about 23 acres planted which leaves almost 16 acres left. Doing our calculations, on March 15 we will have about 9 acres left to dedicate to the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and okra. In the meantime, we will free up another 10 acres by July. So taking the 18 acres now seems premature. I’d rather sit on the money for a few more months.
Ugh. I think I just did math. There seem to be a lot of numbers in that previous segment.
So harsh.
We still think that we’ll need more land, which is completely crazy. But the plug house is overflowing. So far we’ve got 9 varieties of peppers and 10 varieties of early tomatoes, not including our “regular” plugs - lettuce, cabbage, leeks, broccoli, onion, cauliflower, etc.
I can’t wait to see what our farmers market stand will look like with all of those peppers and tomatoes! I’m already envisioning baskets upon baskets overflowing with peppers and tomatoes of every color catching your eye. I want to smell them tomatoes. I want to bravely bite those peppers.
March 15, here we come.
We’ve been surveying the storm damage for the last few days. Many of you (and we too) were worried that the worst of it would be water damage either by way of flooding from the river, or standing pools of water from the continuous rain. Boy were we surprised to find that the worst damage was wind damage.
Kiki Town is 1/2 mile from the ocean and adjacent to Reahm Field, which is a Navy Helicopter Training Field. What this basically means is that there isn’t a lot separating us from the off shore winds, which last week were blustering up in the 50 mph range pretty relentlessly.
Anything leafy and tender was ripped to shreds. Romaine, radicchio, red and green leaf lettuce, Napa cabbage all look like a scissors wielding 2-year old got to them. The sturdier things - pea vines, the brassicas, the strawberries, root and bulb crops - are all fine.
Luckily the hearts of the leafy greens are intact. Typically the lettuce you end up receiving has had at least 6-8 of it’s outer leaves removed. We are crossing our fingers that as the plants grow, the hearts will continue to bloom with strength and we’ll be able to salvage 6 weeks worth of leafy greens.
If not, it’s going to be a while before we have head lettuce again.
Our CSA week runs Monday to Sunday. Here’s what you’ll get in this week’s box, so you can begin to plan!
Sweet Peas - last week for these
Red Frills - this is a mustard green that looks like mizuna
Romaine Lettuce
Red Cabbage
Rainbow Chard
Cherry Tomatoes
Broccoli - so sweet and yummy!
Cylindrica Beets
Fennel
Wheatberry Sprouts
Radicchio
White Icicle Radishes
Carrots
Dill
Cilantro
We’ve got quite a few new items this week. Those long white things? Not parsnips but White Icicle Radishes. The leafy Burgundy item is Red Frills – it’s like a red Mizuna. Use as you would any leafy green – sautéed with onion and olive oil. It would be cool as a bed for a white fish.
Radicchio is tasty grilled or braised but you can also try it roasted. Preheat oven to 450. Rinse radicchio wedges in cool water, gently shaking off excess. Place in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil; sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Arrange radicchio wedges, 1 cut side up, on rimmed baking sheet. Roast until wilted, about 12 minutes. Turn and roast until tender – about 8 minutes longer. Arrange radicchio on platter, drizzle with balsamic vinegar and serve.
This week’s Bye-Bye crop is sweet peas. We’ve pulled the trellises. No more sweet peas for another 3 months or so. Starting soon, though, are snow peas! There is always something new around the corner.
Yesterday evening we started to hear a rumor about them (I don’t know who they are) deliberated releasinig the Tijuana River pressure by opening a levee. It was a rumor we heard among the other growers and ranchers here and it was on the news.
Our landlord lives around the corner from KiKi Town and was keeping an eye on the river for us. He said he had heard the rumor too.
Well it was in the paper today that the levee broke. Many of you have called, emailed and texted - worried about us and ready to help in any way you can. It’s awe-inspring that you would care so deeply. We can’t thank you enough.
Luckily the levee broke west of Hollister Street. I’ve enclosed this Area Detail Illustration from Sign On San Diego so you can see a close-up of the area.
Our warehouse, potato permabeds, greenhouses and orchard are located at our main property - the Sun Grown/Suzie’s Farm Property. Our address is on Hollister Street, but you have to turn East on Sunset and then go South on the dirt road (indicated by the line perpendicular to Sunset on the illustration) until it ends. You can see that the river is our southernmost border.
Our Kiki Town property (also Suzie’s Farm, but it’s what we call our 40-acre property to distinguish it from the Sun Grown/Suzie’s Farm property), where we grow the majority of our vegetables is located to the west of Hollister Street. On the illustration you would follow the Sunset Ave line west to the next intersection right above where it says “Pilot Channel” to the north of the blue line (the river).
So either way, we are safe this round. We’ll see what today brings. We’ll be heading out to take more pictures soon and keep you posted! And to be honest, the river watch has been foremost on our minds.