Broccoli---The first broccoli of the season. Just steam and eat; nothing fancy. Another idea? Saute up with spring onions, mushrooms, and a bit of broth and throw on top of nice pasta. Top with Parmesan or other hard cheese.
Shiitake Mushrooms---From New Carpati Farm in Sebastopol. We thought you’d like some nice, special mushrooms grown by Steve Schwartz right here in Sonoma County. He started growing these just for us two weeks ago, which is how long they take. Saute them up with onions, squash and broccoli. Special.
Cabbage---Gonzales on Tuesday, Early Jersey Wakefield on Thursday. Both are sweet and crunchy. Try making an easy cabbage salad with a simple dressing of Balsamic (or other vinegar), honey and mayo (or oil). Don’t need much dressing. This is also really good sauteed up. Just chop and cook up with a bit of garlic or onion until tender. May need a touch of water so it doesn’t burn. If you eat bacon, try it with a piece.
Beets---Detroit Dark Red. Cook the greens up like spinach or chard (saute or steam). Grate beets raw into salad, bake, boil or steam. Don’t peel until they’re cooked up. It’s easier that way.
Zucchini---From our friend, Ginger, and her farm, Balakian Organics, in Reedly. We don’t have enough squash of our own, yet, but should the next time around. Thank goodness for other farmers who can help us out. I am of the “steam and eat” persuasion for the first squash of the season but of course these are terrific sauteed or raw as well.
Add one to the sauteed nopales if you make that. It’s a good combination.
Nopales---Cactus Paddles. We figure most of you have never had/ prepared these so we thought we’d give you the opportunity! They are delicious and not that hard to prepare. Don’t be put off by the spines. Just be careful. These are full of vitamins and minerals and also help regulate blood sugar. They taste kind of like green beans, and stay sort of crunchy even after cooking. You can eat them raw if you like but we usually cook them up in one way or another. Here’s how I clean them. I put them flat on a piece of newspaper on my cutting board. I cut around the perimeter to take all those spines/ stickers off. Then, using a paring knife, I slice off each spiny sticker, very carefully. You may want to use gloves. There is a website, rivenrock.com/recipes.html, that says you can clean them with a scrub sponge. Some people use a potato peeler. You don’t need to peel the whole thing, just take off the spines and the t op nodules as well. Then, once cleaned up, proceed with recipe. See onions, below, or other recipes below.
Spring Onions (Tuesday), Stockton Red or Yellow on Thursday---One more batch of spring onions and then the red or yellow are really. Try this with the cactus: saute up some chopped onion. Add cleaned, chopped cactus, along with some canned tomatoes. Cook until all the “cactus juice” has dissipated, about 10 - 15 minutes. This cactus juice also thickens the sauce. Add chile powder or other spice as desired. Serve over rice, topped with a bit of grated cheese of choice.

Nopales on The Grill
from desertusa.com
Prepare the cactus pads as described in the preparation section above. Once you have removed the needles, nodules and thoroughly washed the pads, they are ready for the grill. Cook each pad for approximately 10 to 12 minutes on each side. While grilling, brush each side of the cactus pad with olive oil or a flavored oil of your choice. Pepper or garlic-flavored oil are often used on grilled Nopales.

Scrambled Nopales
from same website above
• 1 or 2 cactus pads • 8 Eggs
• 1/4 lb. of cheese (your choice) • salt & pepper to taste
Prepare the cactus pads as described in the preparation section above. Once you have removed the needles, nodules and thoroughly washed the pads, slice into bite-size pieces. Sauté the sliced pads in a small amount of butter for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside. Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl; add shredded cheese and the sautéed cactus pieces. Pour the egg mixture into a skillet and scramble. Serve warm with salt and pepper to taste

Tierra Vegetables in the New York Times: Last Sunday we were one of a few Sonoma County farms, including New Carpati Farm (today’s shiitakes), featured in a story of sustainable food in Sonoma County. The title is “On the Trail of a Sustainable Feast in Sonoma County” if you want to check it out. It will be on our website soon. Maybe today.











Gift Certificates/ Other Gifts: We will have Gift Certificates available for both the Farm Stand and CSA if you are interested for all
your gift-giving needs. We also have gorgeous wool scarves and blankets as well as beautiful chile vinegar to name a few items.


Wool Products: We have some gorgeous hand woven scarves and blankets/ throws from the WE Tierra Shetland Sheep. Stop in the Farm Stand for a look-see.









Come visit: Please all of you who pick up at drop off locations, come visit. We are open Saturdays from 11 to 6 and you are all more than welcome to come take a walk in the field and visit with your vegetables/ fruits.

HONEY: We’ve got honey from the field: Tierra Vegetables Estate Honey. It is really sweet and flavorful. Scott, our beekeeper at Nelson Family Apiary, is using it for his honey of the month! We can put it in your box. We’ve got two sizes: 10 oz for $8.50 and 20 oz for $12.00. Let me know.



PLASTIC BAGS; We need lots of CLEAN plastic bags, please. We go through a lot and are not ordering any more until we can get the non-GMO biodegradable ones.










PICK UP POLICY NOTE: We are experiencing an issue with boxes not being picked up at various locations, including the Farm Stand, on a timely manner. We understand that sometimes you forget or something comes up that you can’t get your box of vegetables. If this happens, please call me at 696-8148 and we will bag it up for those picking up at the farm or hold it at the drop off locations. Otherwise, boxes left over 24 hours will be donated or used by our hosts. Thank you.

Reminder: The Farm Stand is open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 11 to 6:00.

VISIT THE FARM: Please come on in for a visit whenever you can and bring the kids!


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EGGS---Our chickens are starting to lay their eggs! Hooray. These beautiful and delicious eggs are available at the Farm Stand. Better watch out, though: the customers at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market would take them all if we'd let them. You all get priority! Come check them out and see what a really fresh egg looks and tastes like.




Calling all loyal CSA members. We would love to put your recipes in the Menu. If you have anything that you'd like to share, please e-mail me at evie@tierravegetables.com and most likely your recipe (or comment) will make its way to this little Menu.

Regular Season starts May 29th. If you want to sign up and you haven’t yet, please call or e-mail.

Reminder: The Farm Stand is now open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 11 to about 5:30. Come on in. Bring the kids!