Hakurei TurnipsTuesday, December 01, 2009
Turnip selections
Hakurei TurnipsMonday, November 30, 2009
Baia Nicchia Dinner at Sea Salt
Sea Salt Restaurant, Berkeley CAMonday, November 23, 2009
The Bug is Back
Lady Bug has recovered from the injuries she sustained 6 weeks ago. She's back to eating dry food and running 45 mph at the farm. Thanks to Dr. Louie and Dr. Rohn who patched her up, and Jill who hand-fed her soft food balls for 5 weeks.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Baia Nicchia CSAs
Monday, October 19, 2009
Final Score: Poppy 1 -- Deer 1
Nicole's EulogyPoppy and Lady Bug were the closest of friends and they were together when she died. It is likely that Poppy's body shielded Lady Bug from a direct train hit. Lady Bug is recovering from injuries sustained when she landed next to the tracks after Poppy was pushed into her.
Two years ago Poppy killed a deer at the farm. Now the score is even.
Jordy, the amazing whippet, is going to have to fill in for Poppy at the farm. He is already getting used to lounging on Poppy's cushion, chasing ground squirrels and keeping us company while we work. Lady Bug is annoyed that he gets to go to the farm every day, while she recuperates.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Goodbye Berkeley. Hello Berkeley.

Goodbye Berkeley: Last week we made the difficult decision to stop selling tomatoes and other produce at the Thursday farmers' market in Berkeley. It just doesn't make any sense to take a modest amount of good tomatoes to the market, and bring half of them home. We have been keeping tabs on our sales, and on the other vendors selling tomatoes, and it is clear that supply and demand at the market are not in harmony. Factors that may be contributing to the lack of demand for heirloom tomatoes at the market:
1. Farmers' market saturation. Lots of other markets have started up in the past few years. Why fight traffic in Berkeley, and risk parking tickets, when you can shop closer to home at the Kensington, Temescal, Walnut Creek, etc. etc. farmers' market?
2. The economy. We are all shopping more thriftily. Less people "need" 2 lb ($5) tomatoes when times are tough.
3. Better produce in grocery stores.
Whatever the reasons, we needed to make a change and we wish all of our friends at the market the best. Of course we will be back in the market with our vegetable and herb seedlings next Spring.
Hello Berkeley: We realize that we have developed a customer base in Berkeley that connects with our unique mix of tomatoes, peppers and squash. Anyone missing our veg is encouraged to check out our new CSAs -- both winter and summer. We will have CSA box pick-up on Thursdays in both Albany (Flowerland Nursery on Solano) and in Berkeley at San Pablo and Grayson (at our organic microgreen facility).
Monday, September 14, 2009
The people you meet at the market...
We are very fortunate to work with Guillaume Bienaime the executive chef at Marche in Menlo Park. We met Guillaume at our farmers' market in Menlo Park when he saw our herb starts one Sunday morning. Guillaume is very interactive, and he spends lots of time explaining to us how he uses our produce. He is also quite involved with our farm. He invites us to special dinners that highlight our produce, and this past spring he purchased a plethora of gourmet melon seeds for us to try. We have had great fun learning about melons with him this year. Now he is going to breed a tomato with us, and work on this project starts this week when he visits our farm to choose the two parent varieties he wants to genetically cross.Recently a chef-author contacted us about our potential interest in being included in a book featuring the relationships between local farmers and chefs. Our collaborations with Guillaume will be a nice fit for his book.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Farmers' Markets and Farm Stands
Our tomatoes at the Menlo Park Farmers' Market Menlo Park Sunday Farmers' Market (9AM-1PM)
Sunol Farm Stands
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Keeping up with technology
We don't have any time to twitter. But Poppy Jo has volunteered to tweet a bit, between naps.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Summer Farm Internships

1. Duration of Internship = 120 hours
2. Flexible scheduling. Internship may run anywhere from 3 weeks to a year.
3. Work = approximately 4/5 of the internship
4. Approximately 1/5 of internship is spent discussing organic farming, plant breeding, direct marketing, nursery management, small business development, etc.
5. Intern Projects -- All interns select and grow diverse varieties of a single crop which they choose.
6. Free produce -- Interns may take a box of produce home each week, and may also plant crops at the farm.
What is unique about our business, and our internship?
1. We specialize in using available crop genetic diversity to select the absolute best varieties to grow locally in our nursery and on our farm.
2. We breed tomatoes and squash. We breed organically, and the trait of primary interest is taste. We also breed for unique shapes, colors and for small plant size combined with good productivity.
3. We are a vertically integrated business. We breed. We run a small nursery. We run a small farm. We directly market our products, and we sell wholesale to high-end markets. This arrangement gives us flexibility and a good deal of control over what we do. It also allows us to fetch a sustainable price for our seedlings and our produce.
4. Interns are exposed to all sides of the business, and are expected to critique and evaluate as a part of their internship.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
New this summer -- Green Day and Duro
We have a few new tomato varieties to introduce this summer, including Green Day and Duro.
Green Day is a long cherry tomato with a bold tangy flavor. You'll want to be in the minority of tomato connisiours who get their hands on this tomato when it comes around.
Duro is a small tomato with a fresh sweet flavor. It is also a very long-keeping tomato (on the vine, or on the dining room table). We don't know of another long-keeper tomato with flavor this excellent.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Gopher Catcher
Many mornings there are great blue herons in our fields. It finally dawned on us what they are are doing -- hunting gophers.
The gophers are relatively active early in the mornings, and the Herons wait above their holes and spear them with their beaks.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
32 things that might be true about tomatoes and tomato growing
1. Never, ever refrigerate tomatoes
2. Small-fruited tomatoes perform better in cool weather
3. Small-fruited tomatoes perform better in containers
4. Check the soil beneath tomatoes every morning
5. For container grown plants, water daily when soil is dry at surface in the morning.
6. Grow plants in the ground when possible
7. For plants in the ground, water consistently as plants get established, and then water deeply, only when the soil is dry 3 inches below the surface, or when the plants begin to wilt
8. Once fruits begin to ripen, water less, if you can do so without killing your plants
9. Overwatering at the soil surface promotes disease and algal growth (associated flies & pests)
10. Overwatering leads to mealy, watery tomatoes. It is impossible not to “overwater” tomato plants in containers
11. Pick large tomatoes before they are completely ripe, and let them ripen in a bowl with other tomatoes or fruits – they will ripen more evenly, and you can see when they get perfectly ripe
12. Never, ever refrigerate tomatoes
13. Tomatoes can ripened more slowly between 55 and 65 degrees (and spread out)
14. Tomatoes can be ripened rapidly between 75 and 85 degrees (with other tomatoes)
15. You can’t save money growing tomatoes in containers
16. You might be able to save money growing plants in the ground
17. Never, ever refrigerate tomatoes
18. Don’t wash tomatoes after you pick them. Wash them right before you use them
19. There are no “red” tomato pigments. Red tomatoes have pink, orange and other pigments
20. Throw out diseased plants immediately. UC Davis has a good website for recognizing tomato diseases
21. It is normal for older tomato plants to have drying, “burnt” leaves. The young shoots should look vigorous
22. You can de-capitate your tomato plants. It is often advised when growing in containers
23. Trimming the leaves near the soil surface can reduce disease risk
24. The most common tomato diseases are fungal, and prolonged damp/wet periods promote them
25. Lousy soil will give you lousy tomatoes
26. FoxFarm “Ocean and Forest” potting soil is the best we have found
27. Over-fertilizing with nitrogen reduces harvest
28. Never, ever refrigerate tomatoes
29. Local field-grown tomatoes are in the market mainly from August to October.
30. If you want to know when locally grown tomatoes with the best flavor are available, shop at the farmers’ market
31. Tomatoes are tropical plants
32. Good sources for seeds – Seed Saver’s Exchange, Seeds of Change, Tomato Grower’s Supply
Sunday, April 12, 2009
A tomato worth stealing
Alex, our 10-year-old tomato breeder, devised the cross that produced Blush. He's also helped select a handful of potential new varieties from that one cross. Blush is perhaps the best of those new varieties. The empirical data that suggests such value is this -- When we sampled this variety for folks at the Carmel TomatoFest last year, a number of them came back to our booth later and nicked them. We had a small bowl of them out, for show, and when we stepped away for food or to look at other booths, we had the occasion to view people come up to our booth, look around, and then pop a few in their pockets or bags. Typically, the tomatoes were taken by folks who had sampled them earlier. Since their were no rotton tomato throwing contests associated with TomatoFest, the simplest conclusion is that they liked them enough to pilfer them.
Blush is an elongated cherry tomato, like Maglia Rosa. We will be selling Blush fruits this summer at our farmers' markets.
Friday, April 10, 2009
2009 Seedlings for Sale
Not all varieties will be available at every market! Email us 2 days prior to any given market to order particular varieties. We will do our best to bring them to the market for you (depending on availability). See profile for email address.
2009 Standard Tomato Varieties -- Medium and Large Fruit
Cherokee Purple
Big Rainbow
Hillbilly
Pineapple
Pink Mortgage Lifter
Red Brandywine
Italian Pear
Neves Azorian Red
Costoluto Genovese
Speckled Roman
Amana Orange
Early Girl
San Marzano
Stupice
Silvery Fir Tree
Our Tomato Varieties -- Medium and Large Fruit
Lucinda
Spike
Standard Tomato Varieties -- Small Fruit
Principe Borghese
Black Cherry
Sun Gold
Super Sweet 100
Austin's Yellow Pear
Isis Candy
Green Grape
Reisentraube
Our Tomato Varieties -- Small Fruit
Maglia Rosa
Spain
One
Pink Spain
Tomato seedlings are available at our Farmers' Markets and our Farm Stand now. Assorted herb starts are also available now. Assorted pepper seedlings and basils will be available in May.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Santa Clara Master Gardeners Spring Garden Market
We will be attending for the 3rd straight year, selling tomato seedlings, pepper seedlings, mustards, lettuces and wild mountain strawberries.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Maglia Rosa released by Seeds of Change
Maglia Rosa seeds are now available at Seeds of Change. We will no longer be selling seeds directly, although our previously released varieties (Maglia Rosa, as well as One, Spike, Lucinda and Spain) will still be available as seedlings at our farmers' markets.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Eco-Farm 2009

The Ecological Farming Association holds it's annual conference January 21-24. The theme this year is United We Grow. Anyone with an interest in organic gardening or farming should consider attending this excellent annual conference. We will be giving a short presentation on small-scale organic plant breeding in a workshop entitled Adapting Seed Varieties and Seed Production to Your Farming System.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Farm Dogs
Lady Bug
Poppy Jo







