Black Hen Farm is happy to announce that we are now offering small quantities of fruits and vegetables at the Los Gatos farmers market and the Santa Cruz farmers market. We had a period where no produce was offered due to a back injury (the priority is the care of the animals), but the back is getting better and we'll have more produce soon!
What makes Black Hen Farm produce special? We do not use animal by-products or manure from factory farms. We don't use blood or bone meal, feather meal, fish emulsion, crab meal, and the like, which are commonly used in agriculture, including organic. Instead, we compost the bedding from our organically fed poultry and our goats along with other plant matter, and fertilize with it and kelp. We also don't kill wildlife, but have developed systems to exclude them from crops. Most of the farm is full of ideal wildlife habitat but our fruit trees and vegetable beds are screened off. This type of a system is probably only practical on a small scale. On larger farms, they need to trap wildlife like gophers in order to get a good harvest.
Of course, we don't use synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. Who needs them? The poultry take care of a lot of unbeneficial insects and slugs for us, clear out the weeds before planting every spring, and provide great fertilizer. Plus, we have lots of beneficial insects that live in our forests. Native bees thrive here because of all of the undisturbed land and flowering plants. We double-dig the vegetable beds by hand and don't use oil-powered equipment, which also protects wildlife that might be living and nesting in the area.
We continually apply to sell different produce items at the Santa Cruz market. However, even though we have small quantities that don't even come close to what a larger farm produces, it's more difficult for us to be approved there because they only approve a certain number of vendors for each item. The market manager told me that people had emailed him asking for our produce there; thanks to those of you who took the time to do that!
Produce List and Recipes Black Hen Farm likes to grow unusual items. For some interesting recipes, check these out. Items with an asterisk (*) are approved for the Santa Cruz market.
Be sure to use the greens on our root vegetables! We think that sometimes that's the best part! Our mineral-rich clay-loam soil produces great greens. Try the sesame dressing that follows, or add to soup or saute in olive oil and garlic with a touch of water.
Burdock (Gobo)*, roots and greens Chrysanthemum*, greens and flowers Chinese Cabbage, Loose Head Daikon*, roots and greens Eggplant, Thai*, Italian, Asian Fava Beans* Guava* Komatsuna Spinach Mustard* Limes*, Yellow, Key, Kaffir leaves Mibuna* Misome Mizuna Mustard, Asian, Red, Southern, Heading* Nettles* Okra* Pak Choi (Bok Choi), baby Peas, Snow*, Sugar, Shelling Peppers, Sweet, Low Heat Hot Plums*, Cherry (purple, red, yellow), Camp Joy Radish, Watermelon*, Giant German* Spinach, Japanese Tatsoi Tomatoes, Slicing, Roma/Plum Tomatillos* Turnips, Red*, White, Yellow, Japanese Carrot-Shaped, greens/root
Sesame Dressing -- Gomaae
This delicious Japanese dressing will complement almost any vegetable.
A green vegetable such as spinach, komatsuna, misome, Chinese cabbage, daikon or turnip greens, and so on (approximately 1 pound of greens)
2 tablespoons roasted and/or ground white, tan, or black sesame seeds
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon - 1 tablespoon soy sauce (to taste)
1 tablespoon vegetable broth, sake, or dashi
Combine all sauce ingredients and mix. Boil or steam vegetable. Strain vegetable, cool slightly or dash with cold water, and squeeze to release most of the water. Roughly chop vegetable, for example, in 2 inch strips. Lightly dress vegetable with sesame dressing.
