From the farm
Journal
Every week we send a letter from the fields — the Beet. What's ripening, what's happening around the farm, and the people who make it run.
June 29, 2026
News From the Farm | June 29, 2026
You could come to the farm every week and it would look different. The landscape is constantly changing, especially in warmer months and periods of transition like our recent change from spring to summer crops. The plants are growing fast. As anyone who’s ever grown zucchini knows, we have to harvest those plants frequently to […]
June 22, 2026
News From the Farm | June 22, 2026
It’s easy to complain about the heat. It’s not just a matter of comfort; heat can be dangerous! But as much as we love cooler temperatures and rain, our hot, dry Mediterranean summers come with several benefits. The benefit you’re most familiar with is really amazing tasting summer produce, especially our melons and tomatoes. I […]
June 15, 2026
News From the Farm | June 15, 2026
This week’s News from the Farm is a long-anticipated announcement – we have a new look! We’ve just completed a refresh of our website, and along with that, an update to our CSA member portal, our online store, and the appearance of the weekly newsletter and other communications that you receive. We’re so excited to […]
June 12, 2026
News From the Farm | June 8, 2026
June is the eye of the storm between April and May’s frenetic transplanting, weeding, harvesting activities and July, the busiest month of the year when we’re essentially only harvesting (and irrigating). Mothers Day flowers and all the spring lettuce are behind us and we have an avalanche of melons and tomatoes, plus all the other […]
June 1, 2026
News From the Farm | June 1, 2026
It’s a bit of a joke that farmers always chat about the weather, but it’s true. At any gathering, farmers will inevitably turn to chatting about, and likely complaining about, the weather. We did have a surprise thunderstorm on Tuesday, plus more rain on Wednesday and Thursday (we ended up getting 1.5” in all), and […]
May 25, 2026
News From the Farm | May 25, 2026
May is a big month for transplanting and planting. The past month or so, basically any summer crop we grow has been planted: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, summer squash, basil, leeks, flowers, onions, and more. Plus we even transplanted some new asparagus to replace a field that’s being taken out of production (you can watch a […]
May 18, 2026
News From the Farm | May 18, 2026
Today’s News from the Farm is an interview with Chiho Watanabe, one of our interns. She is one half or our 2025-2026 Japanese Agricultural Training Program cohort. She, like Kouki (you can read an interview with him here) came to Full Belly Farm last September and will be with us until the beginning of October […]
May 13, 2026
News From the Farm | May 11, 2026
Most weeks are busy weeks, but some weeks are a little more busy than others. Last week was one of those weeks, lots of big days with lots to do. We even broke a few farm records! On Tuesday, a visiting class of third graders did the entire CSA line, 456 boxes in all, the […]
May 4, 2026
News From the Farm | May 4, 2026
This week’s beet ended up as a medley—a 3-fer…sorry for its length.. Part 1 Way back in 1981 or so, when the stirrings of Full Belly were just beginning and the notion of Organic Farming seemed a poke in the eye to all farming literati, the USA was in the midst of a farm depression. […]
April 27, 2026
News From the Farm | April 27, 2026
We have some neighbors, the folks at Taber Ranch a bit south of us in the town of Capay, whose family has been tracking the Capay Valley weather for 137 years. According to their records, there have only been three years in that period where there’s been a March without any rain, one of those […]
April 20, 2026
News from the Farm | April 20, 2026
This past Saturday was a really lovely day, and I’m not just referring to the weather, though the weather was perfect! It was our CSA Day, my favorite of our many events, and I enjoyed getting to meet so many people in person! Lots of good conversations, about our yarn and our current knitting projects; […]
April 13, 2026
News from the Farm | April 13, 2026
Exciting news on the planting front! Our first plantings of tomatoes are in, as are the basil and the first summer squash, melons, and peppers. Even more exciting though is that we’ve recently planted two new hedgerows! A hedgerow is a dense row of plants along a road, fence, field edge, or other non-cropped area […]
April 6, 2026
News from the Farm | April 6, 2026
Today’s News from the Farm is an interview with Kouki Takahira! He is part of the 2025-2026 Japanese Agricultural Training Program cohort and one of our awesome interns (more detailed information about the Program here)! He arrived at Full Belly Farm last September and will be with us until the beginning of October when he’ll head to UC […]
March 30, 2026
News from the Farm | March 30, 2026
While we work on most holidays, one holiday that Full Belly Farm does observe is April Fools’ Day. More specifically, Andrew and Rye/Becca’s families are very into April Fools’ Day. Sometimes it’s just interpersonal tricks, but the office is often the site of a few pranks (lots of rubber insects last year), and some years […]
March 23, 2026
News from the Farm | March 23, 2026
We have a guest post this week from Ali Dalsing, the Cafe Supervisor at Vivalon, a Marin-based non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the independence, health, and quality of life of older adults, specifically focused on transportation, nutrition, and social connections. And their Healthy Aging Campus in San Rafael is one of our newer CSA sites! […]
March 16, 2026
News from the Farm | March 16, 2026
This Friday is the first day of spring. Though the forecast for this week isn’t what you’d expect for the last week of winter. It’s looking a little toasty potentially with multiple days over 90 degrees. That kind of heat is standard summer weather (and in the height of summer can even seem cool) but […]
March 9, 2026
News from the Farm | March 9, 2026
Every spring, in early March, we announce the impending start of the CSA flower season in the Beet. My mom or I share our thoughts about growing flowers and encourage you to bring some of the beauty into your homes. I could have probably tracked down what I’ve written in a past year and tweaked […]
March 2, 2026
News from the Farm | March 2, 2026
Photo Credit: Ella Galaty This weekend I caught up on the phone with a friend who asked if it felt like spring yet. It was in the mid-70s on Thursday through Sunday, so the answer was an easy yes. But that’s not all – we’ve got abundant flowers and fuzzy lambs, to say nothing of […]
February 23, 2026
News from the Farm | February 23, 2026
Paul at the Palo Alto Farmers Market For the past 42 or so years, Saturday mornings have been market mornings. Early on, when Dru and I were just getting the farm started, we rented 12 acres of good land near Woodland – just west of Sacramento -12 acres from a family of retiring Filipino farmers. […]
February 16, 2026
News from the Farm | February 16, 2026
The CSA Packing Assembly Line This is CSA Week, a week for celebrating CSAs and encouraging people to join one. Our CSA is open to join at any point, but for farms with a shorter, more distinct farming season, it’s a key time to focus on advertising and signing people up. I encourage anyone who […]
February 9, 2026
News from the Farm | February 9, 2026
So many exciting things from last week! It was a team effort to document all of them! First, as promised in last week’s Beet, some photos of the new lambs. Thanks for the photos Becca! They’re very impressive in addition to being adorable. Mere minutes after being born, the lambs are hard at work trying […]
February 2, 2026
News from the Farm | February 2, 2026
What happened last week? The biggest news of the week was the birth of Georgia Schoenig on Monday, and everyone is healthy and doing well! Congratulations to Hannah and Elliot, and the rest of the Muller and Schoenig families! Georgia isn’t the only new member of the Full Belly community. Our first lambs of the […]
January 26, 2026
News from the Farm | January 26, 2026
One of last week’s CSA boxes Last week, a contingent of Full Belly folks, including myself, headed to the annual EcoFarm Conference. A big thanks to Rye, Amon, and the rest of the team who kept things running while several of us were away. This conference focuses on regenerative agriculture, ecological stewardship, food justice, and […]