Food from Farms – The Certifiable Foodie

2015 Cherry Season in Brentwood

The Certifiable Foodie — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 04:15:03 +0000

I’m excited to announce the beginning of the 2015 Cherry Season in Brentwood. I've received updates from Brentwood Cherry Farmers that they'll open on Tuesday, May 5th through Saturday, May 9th.

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Smith Family Farm

The Certifiable Foodie — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 07:46:16 +0000

I discovered the lush Sacramento and San Joaquin River Delta agricultural region and the city of Brentwood over twenty years ago. There were many farms in Bentwood then, before several were converted into large tract home developments. This area has had a rich agricultural heritage going back to the early 1900’s with major crops like cherries, corn and peaches. Sadly, many farms are disappearing and many families have tired of farming decided to move on.

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U-Pick Etiquette 101

The Certifiable Foodie — Sun, 04 May 2014 04:01:21 +0000

For those unfamiliar with farming life and the hard work that goes into maintaining fruit trees and garden crops, I provide you with the following u-pick etiquette 101, to insure we continue to share this enriching experience and pass it down to our children.

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The Story of an Egg

The Certifiable Foodie — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 04:30:27 +0000

Alexis Koefoed, founder of Soul Food Farm was one of the eloquent farmers featured in this enlightening documentary that discusses the following distinction in terms: "free range", "cage free" and "pasture raised" chickens.

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Hip Chick Farms

The Certifiable Foodie — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 19:00:51 +0000

Jennifer and Serafina are some of the hippest chicks in the natural food business. As you know, I attended the informative Sow Your Seed Funding program presented by Slow Money Northern California for Bay Area food entrepreneurs and their supporters. Slow Money’s goal is to connect small food producers with the community (investors and consumers) and create venues to share and learn about the value of a sustainable local food economy and how we can support these trailblazing entrepreneurs. One of my favorites, the Bay Area remake of “Baby Boom” wonder women team: Jennifer Johnson and Serafina Palandech of Hip Chick Farms gave an overview of their home-grown family business and its brilliant success with their delectable free-range or all-natural chicken fingers, wings and meatballs. I was impressed by their delicious free-range and all-natural chicken treats, business ethics and core values. Hip Chick Farms is a small natural food producer based in Sebastopol in Sonoma County. Jennifer and Serafina are more than just business partners, they’re wives and mommies to the sweet Rubyrose, a three-year-old bunny’s ear. I made the trip north across the Golden Gate through the bucolic Sonoma countryside past storybook family farms to sit down with

CropMobster Feeds a Hungry Planet

The Certifiable Foodie — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 23:07:20 +0000

CropMobster™ Supporting Local Producers, Preventing Food Waste and Feeding People! Would you be surprised to learn that nearly half of a small farm’s crop goes to waste? For years, small farms have faced the same dilemma. How to address the issue of food waste and how to get food out of the field and into the market or into the hands of hungry Americans? At the very least, how do hard-working farmers recoup the cost of their seed and water? As a young person growing up on the family farm in Maine, my family and I were always giving our fresh picked produce to friends and neighbors. We’d grow asparagus, tomatoes, carrots, beets, rhubarb, spinach, radish, peaches, squash and pumpkins. Seed is inexpensive and with a handful of children running around, there were always ten hands available to sow a hundred foot stretch of heirloom tomatoes. Perhaps my parents were a tad overzealous when they decided to plant a couple of hundred foot rows of asparagus that all peaked their heads through the cool spring soil like soldiers waking to attention after a long deserved winter nap. It didn’t matter that we were only a family of five. Rain was

Crop Seasonality in Northern California

The Certifiable Foodie — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 01:57:51 +0000

Do you shop for the freshest produce of the season? I’ve just completed a resource for my Northern California readers. Crop availability depends on a number of factors including Mother Nature…

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Peacot

The Certifiable Foodie — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 01:05:56 +0000

Continuing in the stone fruit vein, I proudly introduce the Peacot. One of the latest in a whole family of stone-fruit crosses like Apriums and Pluots. A Peacot is a brilliant combination of peach and apricot. The velveteen skin of the peach and the texture of the peach…

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Peacotum

The Certifiable Foodie — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:43:55 +0000

A Peacotum is a trifecta of flavors bred into one perfectly gilded, blushed beauty. If you’re a fan of stone fruit and the sight of apricots, peaches and plums romance your palate then you must try this new hybrid. Don’t worry, this isn’t an evil Genetically Modified Organism.

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U-Pick in Brentwood

The Certifiable Foodie — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:08:46 +0000

The 2013 fruit season is heating up! Break out the cherry pitters, canning equipment, recipes and baking dishes. Spring in the Bay Area is heralded by a wave of fresh produce that begins in May and continues into well into the winter. Urbane Bay dwellers may be unaware of the bounty right in our backyard. Just one hour due east, sits a community of family farms rich with agricultural diversity. Most of the farms in Brentwood (and surrounding villages) will be open this weekend with u-pick olallieberries, strawberries, cherries, early apricots and peaches. Bring the whole family, meet your local farmers and pick some of the freshest produce you can put your hands on. For more details about the farms in Brentwood, hours, directions and crop updates. Check out the Harvest Time in Brentwood as well as and their debuting app.

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