Old [MacDonald] Had a Farm...

Author's note: due to increasing busyness, pictures of meals and desserts may be sporadic. Thx for your understanding! -- T.

Hello all!

It's been what...a couple of weeks since I last wrote? *YIKES!* But between fighting a cold (courtesy of multiple someones who worked at the restaurant), extreme busyness due to people being out sick because of said cold, and a sudden toothache (darn fillings!), I haven't had much time to blog. Which perhaps is just as well because while the menu was starting to change a bit, the overall operations (and my progress) at Chez Panisse have not. The highlights of the past two weeks was the appearance of Yo-Yo Ma for dinner in the kitchen, and another Alice sighting; this time, she sought me out where I was making crabcakes, and asked for an unbreaded one. Woohoo!

(for those of you who don't know who Yo-Yo Ma is: if you've ever seen the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and heard all those cellos playing in the background music--that was Yo-Yo Ma. He's an outstanding cellist! Google him if you want more information).

Today things got switched up a bit when I visited Cannard Farms in Sonoma, CA and Green String Farms in Petaluma, CA (about 10 minutes from Sonoma). These two farms, owned by Bob Cannard, provide a significant portion of the produce to Chez Panisse. So I got to see where the pre-magic happens!

I met Mr. Cannard, who gave me a tour of Cannard Farms. I got to also meet two of his interns, Oliver and Claudia, who were cleaning the leeks they'd recently picked. Cannard Farms covers about 25 acres and has been in existence since 1976. It grows everything from potatoes, to lemons and oranges, to leeks, to beets, to olives, to sage and rosemary...and everything in between.

Lemon and Mandarin orange trees on Cannard Farms

Produce is picked, sifted through for the best, then washed in a large, flat sink with attached hoses, to get most of the dirt off (they are washed again once they arrive at Chez Panisse, prior to preparation). Cannard Farms delivers to Chez Panisse about twice a week: the driver, Mr. Dhomhaup, drops off plastic flats filled with vegetables ("Farm boxes") that are used for meals in both the restaurant and the cafe.

Farm boxes of freshly picked produce--on it's way to Chez Panisse!

He also picks up vegetable peels and other produce by-products that go into the compost used at Cannard. This compost provides a lot of extra nutrients to the soil, which helps those amazing fruits and vegetables grow. (all those extra nutrients in the compost also make for a very...fragrant drive to the farm).

Part of Cannard Farms (freshly planted potatoes on the left; compost and soil mounds; kale and endive in the distance)

Green String Farms is a whole lot bigger than 25 acres; in fact, once you're on Green String property (at the main station, that is, where the public can buy fresh, seasonal produce on site, every day, 10am - 5pm), I was informed that Green String owns all of the land, as far as the eye could see...and that's a lot of green, rolling hills dotted with trees, grass, planted rows, and cows!

Part of Green String Farm property (as far as the eye can see!)

Cabbages, kale, and lettuces at Green String Farm

Green string also has chicken coops on site, with different types of chickens (one coop had these extremely fluffy-looking chickens, like their feathers had been groomed and teased with a blow dryer). There must have been some sort of timer or something inside the chicken coop, because there were actually roosters crowing "cock-a-doodle-doo!", which I thought was only done at dawn.

Various chicken types at Green String Farm

Finally, we made a stop at the Marin Farmers' Market at the Marin Fairgrounds in Marin, CA. This was one of the nicest farmers' markets I've ever seen...and I consider myself a farmers' market aficionada (so far, the one in Woodstock, NY comes a close second). The produce was off-the-hook good, and I'm not ashamed to say that I sampled my way through every booth (Asian pears, strawberries, samosas, a strange sort of spanakopita-type thing, and some homemade butter--YES! Not to mention the homemade chocolate peanut butter sorbet and the homemade espresso truffle chocolate. Mmm mmm GOOD!). One would be hard pressed to go home without an empty wallet; in fact, I saw a lot of people there on their lunch breaks (dressed in power suits, since the market closed at 1pm) and others, who were also getting things for tonight's dinner, or perhaps a snack later on.

That was the last stop of the day and I was returned to the restaurant, then to home. Tomorrow, I get to visit the Edible Schoolyard (a pet project of the Chez Panisse Foundation) and check out the lay of the land there. Woohoo!

Thanks for stopping by. See you tomorrow!

T.