Happy Birthday, Chez Panisse; a Visit to Crystal Bay Farm, & Other Treasures

On August 28, 1968, Chez Panisse opened its doors. Look what Alice Waters started! I haven't been up there to eat yet—the day I arrived in Berkeley with my friend, Suvir, Chez Panisse was closed, and we were forced to eat next door at César. (Everyone should suffer this kind of deprivation. César was fabulous.)

I know Alice Waters has her detractors, and that not everyone is her fan, but I am an admirer. I got to meet her and photograph her two years ago, at Frog Hollow Farm in Brentwood. It was a sweltering day, and I loaned her my giant umbrella to keep the sun off. It was nearly as big as she was. It's well known that Alice is one of the biggest fans of Al Courchesne's peaches, and the dinner was in the middle of one of his orchards.

Photographing Alice that day was a challenge: she had so many cameras in her face you'd have thought she was the Playmate of the Month. Actually, the Playmate of the Month that day was the perfect Cal Red peach served to each guest at the end of the meal.  And she wandered down to our end of the long table as twilight deepened, and talked to us about the program she'd initiated to have all California elementary schools have a garden.

Despite the television crew, the magazines, and the reporters, I did manage to have a very brief conversation with her when she arrived. I was getting the umbrella out of my trunk when she arrived, and I did get to tell her how much I'd enjoyed the PBS "American Masters" bio on her, which of course featured lots of the farmers I know. (Ooooh, check out those recipes!)

Alice Waters was beguiling, and she has a lovely voice and animated, graceful hands. She reminded me of a very young version of "Maude" in the classic film, "Harold and Maude."

So phooey on the naysayers: I liked her, and I have the utmost respect for her guidance on the importance of eating fresh, local, seasonal produce.

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Yesterday was dandy: Logan and I made a short trip out to San Andreas Road to visit a farm that is new to us: Crystal Bay Farm. It's well-named: the farm has a a million-dollar view of rolling hills and a straight shot across to Monterey through some trees. The Pacific Ocean sparkles below, and the little farm is heavenly sweet. So are the raspberries and strawberries that Jeff Fiorovich grows.

I'd found the farm via LocalHarvest.org, and saw that they had a farmstand. Since I'd missed the morning market, I needed a farm dose somewhere. I was glad we visited in the late afternoon. Jeff happened to be there, and very graciously took us around to see things. A builder by day, he manages to run the farm, as well, with some good help. Being a farmer "doesn't come naturally," he laughed, but nonetheless, he and his brother had taken over growing on the land his mother had bought 25 years ago. The brothers didn't like what they saw happening on the land their mother leased to conventional growers, so they took over the farm themselves.

I was quite taken with the surrounding farmlands, but learned that they are "conventional" growers. The plot across the street, farmed by Dole, is (as you can imagine) using the most egregiously toxic methods to grow poisonous strawberries. It's heart-breaking, as is the lack of public knowledge about the harm not only to your own body from ingesting those chemicals, but the harm to the farm workers. The picture here of Jeff's sunflowers, with a view to a neighboring farm (not the Dole land) is deceptive: Crystal Bay is organic and sustainable: the land across the road is not.

Only about two acres big, the farm produces three kinds of strawberries, raspberries, winter squash, potatoes, and others things (you can see their listing at LocalHarvest). The biggest time of year for Crystal Bay Farm is Halloween, and the pumpkins are coming on strong. The farm will host lots of tours for school children and pre-schoolers.

Logan particularly enjoyed meeting Too Cute, the horse belonging to Jeff's wife, Lori (whom we didn't get to meet this time). Their goats were also as sweet as goats can get. They all let Logan pet and feed them the arugula that Jeff had pulled up.

We left with three baskets of berries: as predicted, the first basket of raspberries (which were phenomenal, and only $2 each) didn't last five miles. I put the basket in Logan's lap while we drove, and he cleaned them out. I'm delighted we visited this beautiful spot, and I know we'll be back soon. I'll get a photo of Jeff, too. Like every other farmer I've met, he's hard-working, and takes obvious but quiet pride in what he's manifested on the green hill by the bay.

If you are driving in the south county, take San Andreas Road out a few miles past La Selva Beach to Zils Road. You can't miss the signs for the little farmstand. It's a gorgeous drive and well worth the little time it takes.

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Sunday market today: my favorite for so many reasons. Today was extra special, as my next-door neighbor was in the jazz ensemble playing. I overheard chef Rebecca King (of Gabriella Cafe) and Joe Schirmer ("Pretty Girl" farmer) saying, "We get the best music at this market." Logan tore around like the little prince holding court, and made some new friends. I'm excited to have met  a young farmer, Adrienne (hope I'm spelling that correctly, but I'll fix it if I need to) working at the TLC booth. We bought some organic eggs and she was very interested to hear about my farm blog. Network opportunities abound: I'm headed to the farm tomorrow afternoon. Chickens, cows, pigs, and goats. Logan will be in heaven.

Adrienne works with ALBA. From their website: "The Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA – meaning dawn in Spanish) is a non-profit, community-based organization supporting the tenuous entity that is the family farm. Our mission is carried out by two distinct centers, the Rural Development Center (RDC) near Salinas and the Farmer Training and Research Center (FTRC) in northern Monterey County. ALBA helps farm workers and other low-income people to become independent small farmers. We promote economically viable agricultural production that protects the environment through sustainable methods."

Finally, Joe Schirmer...such a mensch. He turned me onto a beautiful new thing, and I am the happy (temporary) owner of my very own dragon fruit. Hylocereus undatus is a tropical fruit that is also called a "strawberry pear," with a mild melon flavor that I will report back on later.

Finally, a little note about Ella Bella Farm. Michelle and I were going to get together with the little boys on Friday. (Brandon and Michelle have a baby who is exactly one month older than Logan.) But alas, blight has attacked the tomatoes, and they were putting out wildfires on Friday, trying to control it. Since my #1 rule of visiting farms is not to get in the way of their hard work, we agreed that a visit in a couple of weeks would be better. I'm sad about the problems with their tomatoes: this has not been a good year for some crops. Tomatoes and stone fruits have fared the worst.

Thought for the day...this poem by Robinson Jeffers.

Carmel Point
    Robinson Jeffers

The extraordinary patience of things!
This beautiful place defaced with a crop of surburban houses—
How beautiful when we first beheld it,
Unbroken field of poppy and lupin walled with clean cliffs;
No intrusion but two or three horses pasturing,
Or a few milch cows rubbing their flanks on the outcrop rockheads—
Now the spoiler has come: does it care?
Not faintly. It has all time. It knows the people are a tide
That swells and in time will ebb, and all
Their works dissolve. Meanwhile the image of the pristine beauty
Lives in the very grain of the granite,
Safe as the endless ocean that climbs our cliff.—As for us:
We must uncenter our minds from ourselves;
We must unhumanize our views a little, and become confident
As the rock and ocean that we were made from.

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Thanks for visiting.

Comments

[kitchenmage]

You have such a rough life, between the marvelous food and the gorgeous country, I just don't know how you cope. I am sure it's a trial to once again drive the coast to yet another farm with surprises like dragon fruit. (so how was it?)

btw, tag, you're it! :-)

[lyn]

Yum peaches..your site is beautiful as always! Love the flowers..great color. =^..^=

[max]

And Cal Red peaches -- at least FH's Cal Reds -- are in season RIGHT NOW. Get 'em while you can, I doubt they'll be around much longer.

Looking forward to your Dragon fruit report. Who's growing them?