New Farmstand Hours
Starting July 11th, our Farmstand will be open on Saturdays from 10a to 2p. In July, you can expect to find an abundance of summer veggies, including tomato, zucchini, cucumber, onion, basil, green beans, and more. You will also find some seedlings to add to your home garden, and t-shirts for sale too!
Also please note that our Farmstand and Workday are cancelled July 3rd due to the holiday weekend.
Veggielution Partners with Kaiser San Jose
Veggielution is thrilled to announce our new partnership with Kaiser San Jose to implement VeggieYouth and outreach to the Mayfair Neighborhood which is adjacent to the farm. We aim to bring together diverse youth and adults through the shared experience of growing, cooking, and eating fresh healthy foods – capitalizing on the rich cultural and culinary traditions of the Mayfair neighborhood and San Jose at large. We are excited for this opportunity to develop and deepen our programs to reach more of our community. Thanks Kaiser San Jose!
Thank you for supporting our Strawberry Jam!
Veggielution Community Farm’s first-ever benefit concert—Strawberry Jam—was tons of fun, and a huge success. We were all very pleased with the amount of money we raised as well as the act of bringing many Veggielution fans together.
To the bands, thank you so much for bringing your musical talent and words of support to the stage. To the companies that contributed donations to our raffle, thank you for your generosity. To the volunteers who stepped up to make this happen, thank you for your many hours before and during the concert that went unseen that night.
To everyone who attended or otherwise showed support, we really appreciate it. We hope you had fun while also helping us financially in a big way.
Workshop: Handy Herbs, Saturday 7/31/10
Herbs have been used for centuries for their nutritional, culinary and medicinal properties. We’ll learn the best ways to grow these beneficial plants and how to store them so that they’re ready when you need them. Add to your garden tasty herbs like cilantro, arugula, mint, basil, and more. Here you’ll discover how you can use herbs to combat those winter colds and jazz up your home cooking! Saturday, July 31st at 1:30 pm. Click here to sign up.
Summer VeggieYouth Begins
Last Wednesday, June 23rd Veggielution was excited to welcome 17 youth into our summer program! We have hired local teenagers to work as part of Veggielution’s new youth program, VeggieYouth. The teenagers will be at Veggielution Wednesday through Saturday for a total of 20 hours per week. They will put in many hours of farmwork while also learning about sustainable food production, health, and the food system. The teenagers will also be cooking for each other twice a week, taking home produce and taking field trips to local soup kitchens and production farms. Help us welcome our new summer youth when you see them on workdays and during the Saturday potluck!
A Garden Where Every Child Belongs
Last family day was a very special time for Veggielution families. Besides having over 30 parents and young children to tour the farm and participate in farm-related activities, Veggielution also hosted a special blessing ceremony. The ceremony, which followed indigenous Mexican traditions, was to bless Veggielution’s new children’s garden. The garden is named A Garden Where Every Child Belongs features two spiraling beds, representing the dual male and female energy. The male strip is planted with strong sprouting corn while the female strip is planted with sweet, nurturing cherry tomatoes and marigolds. The planting was done by children, parents and volunteers as a part of the ceremony. The two strips meet in the middle, representing union of the different forces. The entrance is to the east, honoring the rising son and is marked by sprouting willow branches. Although still a work in progress, the space is already introducing children to the wonders of life that can be found in a garden. As we continue to cultivate this space, we invite you and your children to nurture a plant or flower.
New Committees and Teams: Get More Involved
Veggielution’s Committees and Teams are how volunteers can get involved beyond just coming to workdays. Each group offers a different way to get involved, so choose the one that interests you the most. We have 3 committees, Outreach/Education, Farm Planning, and Fundraising. Under each committee there are teams working on different projects such as helping with workdays, the Farmstand, chicken care, Family Day, event planning, canvassing the neighborhood, and tabling. This is a great chance for you to get involved in the inner workings of Veggielution and help in a big way. Learn more on our website.
Volunteer of the Month: Diana Foss
How has she not been it before? This is certainly the question I asked myself when contemplating the June newsletter. Diana Foss does so much for us at the farm that she is practically a staff member, and it’s hard to imagine the farm without all of her dedicated work.
Diana now serves on our Board of Directors as the President. Besides being a strong directing force in Veggielution’s future, she is very engaged in the present. Ever wonder where those freshly made dishes come from every Saturday? Diana was the first one to bring camping stoves and start cooking at the farm for our potluck. She is also leading the Summer VeggieYouth in their weekly Thursday and Saturday cooking. And let us not forget that the wonderful fundraiser banquet Veggielution had last October was planned and cooked by Diana, with assistance all under her guiding force.
And these are just the contributions we can enumerate from Diana. There are a countless number of small tasks, quick favors, insights or suggestions that have been invaluable in the functioning of Veggielution. We truly would not be this far along without her thoughtful and passionate contributions. Thank you Diana!
State of the Farm
I can feel it coming… summer that is. The heat, as well as green tomatoes, are both signs of what is to come. Most of our winter- friendly brassica crops have pettered out with the exception of our every-hardy collard greens. A few other spring crops- beets, chard, and lettuce- are also hanging on. Our wildflowers, which peaked in spring, are also still blooming, but even the presence of these have started to fade as they melt into the summer heat.
Why the lull? you may ask. Well, it is merely a short lull in what is about to be an onslaught of summer crops that is coming. We have already started to harvest a small number of zucchini. The few that we have harvested are both delicious and exciting, but is truly a paltry amount compared to the massive volumes we can anticipate. Similarly, the peppers and eggplants are readying themselves for a fruitful summer.
Perhaps the most exciting news that I can report in regards to summer crops is this: last Saturday, I had the great joy of eating my first summer tomato! Granted, it was cherry tomato, a small, yellow sungold, and yes the skin was a little tough. But the taste was sweet and the message clear: summer is here!
Veggie of the Month: Zucchini
Zucca is the Italian word for squash of any kind, and “ini” is the affectionate diminutive plural. Strictly speaking, one would be a zucchino, but who says panino, either? Despite the Italian name, all squash are native to the New World, and they’re all very closely related, mostly the species Curcurbita pepo. Squash, melons, gourds and cucumbers are all part of the curcurbit family.
We also call zukes “summer squash” in English, referring to the fact that we pick and eat them when they’re small and immature. If you’ve ever been out picking in late summer and unearthed a monster zucchini, and then tried to eat it, you know that they get unpleasantly watery and stringy when they get too big, Pick zucchini when they’re no more than 8 inches long. You can even pick them when they’re tiny little babies, with their flowers still attached, and saute them briefly.
Everyone loves zucchini bread, and it’s a good way to use up a big pile of squash. Here’s a recipe with chocolate.
Chocolate Zucchini Bread
3 Eggs
1 cup Vegetable oil
2 cups Sugar
1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
2 cups Shredded zucchini
2 1/2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Cocoa
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Baking powder
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla. Stir in zucchini. Combine dry ingredients; add to zucchini mixture
and mix well. Pour into 2 greased 8 x 4 x 2 loaf pans.
Bake at 350 for hour or until bread tests done.
Yield: 2 loaves.
Get Involved…
Please join us at our harvest or workday times!
Tuesday: Harvest 8:30a-10a
Wednesday: Workday 2p-4:30p
Thursday: Harvest 8:30a-10a
Saturday: Workday10a-12:30p, Potluck 12:30p-1:30p
Click here for more details on our website
