Sisters

Yesterday Cara and Alison came down from Oakland with Terry and Lilly for the day. We toured the farm and then went to Santa Cruz for lunch and ice cream as well as a convenient stop at the Patagonia outlet store.


Check out http://thepennyicecreamery.com/about/ to learn about the Penny Ice Creamery. It's a local ice cream shop that has fresh flavors every day made from locally sourced organic ingredients. On Cara's cone: Earl Grey on top of Meyer's Lemon Poppyseed
On Alison's cone: Burnt cinnamon on top of Rocky Road
I delighted myself with a scoop of Earl Grey on top of a scoop of their incredibly creamy vegan chocolate sorbet. YUM! 

さようなら

Yesterday we said sayonara to our Japanese friends. They continued on to Crestone, Colorado to another Shumei farm.

善哉、ぜんざい

Tonight the Japanese youth group made zenzai, a traditional Japanese dessert made from azuki beans and mochi. Mochi is sweet rice pounded into a paste and then molded into shapes. The soup is served hot and is very sweet! 


In ancient Japan it was believed that zenzai had the power to dispel evil and diseases. However mochi is made from polished rice which removes thiamine (vitamin b1) from the grain. In the 1880s, many Japanese sailors whose diet consisted almost exclusively of polished rice contracted a disease called beriberi, which is an impairment of the nervous system caused by a lack of thiamine. Once the sailors were put on a diet that included thiamine, they stopped dying of beriberi.  So I'm not so sure zenzai has the power to dispel disease, but it sure is delicious!


Also, notice the beautiful origami crane.

Allium cepa

Today we transplanted these baby green onions from the greenhouse into the field. It is slightly redundant to say "baby" because green onions are really just common onions which have been harvested before the bulb has formed. Yet so tasty and sweet! 

For the next few days the farm is hosting a Shumei youth group from Japan! Here Ben and our new Japanese friends are in the rows gently placing each onion in the soil. 

I just love onions! And these onions are so cute! 

Myosotis latifolia

Discovered these little Forget-me-nots while gathering kindling this morning. I would have never noticed them had I not been so close to the forest floor. So delicate and lovely!


"It is one of the most interesting minute flowers. It is the more beautiful for being small and unpretending; even flowers must be modest." -Henry David Thoreau

Daucus carota

I arrived at Shumei Santa Cruz farm on Thursday. On Friday and Saturday I helped wash and bunch veggies for the farmer's markets. Look at these HUGE carrots!