-GALA, FUJI, GRANNY SMITH, & BRAEBURN  APPLES

-ASIAN PEARS

-LISBON LEMONS

-BLOOD ORANGES

-MISSION FIGS

-RHUBARB

- BROAD-LEAF, SWISS, & RUBY RED CHARD

-TUSCAN DINO KALE

-BLACK SUMMER PAC CHOI

-CHINESE CABBAGE

-WHITE KOHLRABI

-ASSORTED PEPPERS

-SAN MARZANO ROMA PASTE TOMATOES

-ASSORTED HEIRLOOM TOMATOES

-BABY GREENS (Golden Beets, Mizuna, Arugula, Rhubarb Chard, & Spinach)

-MICRO GREENS (Shungiku)

-ASSORTED HERB BUNCHES

-CILANTRO

-EDIBLE FLOWER BUNCHES

-BELLADONNA AMARYLLIS BY THE STEM

-ASSORTED POTTED PLANTS

ENJOY!

Our first grape harvest began earlier than anticipated due to last week’s surprisingly hot days. Vineyard Manager Samantha Dorsey orchestrated a wonderfully smooth harvest which reaped 1 and ¼ tons of beautiful Pinot noir.   Our crew reacted swiftly to nature’s demand for the early harvest and scrambled to assemble our brand new processing equipment.

The grapes were destemmed and crushed last Friday and are now fermenting in 500 liter tonneaus under Winemaker Margaret Koski-Kent’s diligent care, following our consulting enologist Maurizio Castelli’s direction from Tuscany.  The fermenting fragrance is intoxicating! We’re very excited about the upcoming Syrah harvest, perhaps as early as next week… 

-GALA, FUJI, & BRAEBURN  APPLES

-DUCHESS BRONZE & BEURRE D’ANJOU PEARS

-SEASCAPE STRAWBERRIES

-HOSUI & 20TH CENTURY ASIAN PEARS

-RHUBARB

- CHARD

-TUSCAN DINO KALE

-BLACK SUMMER PAC CHOI

-PURPLE & WHITE KOHLRABI

-PICKLING CUCUMBERS

-CARROT BUNCHES

-BEET BUNCHES

-MAGENTA LETTUCE

-MAGDA SQUASH 

-ASSORTED PEPPERS

-ROSA BIANCA, ORIENT EXPRESS, & LOUISIANA LONG GREEN EGGPLANT

-SAN MARZANO ROMA PASTE TOMATOES

-ASSORTED HEIRLOOM TOMATOES

-BABY GREENS (Beets, Rhubarb Chard, & Spinach)

-MICRO GREENS (Sunflower)

-ASSORTED HERB BUNCHES

-EDIBLE FLOWER BUNCHES

-BELLADONNA AMARYLLIS BY THE STEM

-ASSORTED POTTED PLANTS

ENJOY!

Local chefs are onto our beautiful organic produce, which is as challenging as it is exciting.

Being olive oil producers first, our organic gardening has grown slowly and steadily from a few crops dedicated to staff meals to a multi-faceted, weekly operation of dispersing heirloom fruits, veggies, micro greens and herbs to the masses. Besides the classic pest challenges of any organic farmer and the relatively small plot of land at the ranch dedicated to produce, our biodynamic calendar dictates our harvest schedule, making “fresh from the ranch” goods all the more precious.

Most weeks we sell out before the weekend, but you can stay on top of what’s “fresh” by checking our blog each week for Willow’s delivery list. Otherwise, you can find our organic produce in cocktails, in hors d’oeuvres and on tasting menus all over San Francisco.

Here’s a smattering of local chefs featuring our produce this week:

• Chef Dominique Crenn of Luce Restaurant and Atelier Crenn (opening December 2010) loves garnishing with our edible flowers and micro greens. Here’s a little video of her in action!
• McEvoy spearmint is a regular fixture on mixologist Francisco Benito’s artisan cocktail menu at The Slanted Door
• Chefs Amaryll Schwertner and Lori Regis are serving our organic lettuces and produce at Boulette’s Larder
• Chef Deepak Kaul of Serpentine restaurant will feature McEvoy Pink Lady apples at CUESA’s Sunday Supper this weekend in a beef heart pastrami canape with pink lady-fennel slaw
• 4505 Meats‘ Ryan Farr loves adding our peppery baby greens and cilantro to his sandwiches at the Ferry Plaza’s Thursday market
• Also at CUESA’s Sunday Supper, try McEvoy Anjou pears with fromage blanc by Phil West from Range Restaurant

-GALA, FUJI, & BRAEBURN  APPLES

-DUCHESS BRONZE & BEURRE D’ANJOU PEARS

-SEASCAPE STRAWBERRIES

-HOSUI & 20TH CENTURY ASIAN PEARS

- CHARD

-TUSCAN DINO KALE

-BLACK SUMMER PAC CHOI

-CELERY

-ASSORTED LETTUCES

-MAGDA SQUASH 

-ASSORTED PEPPERS

-BLACK BEAUTY, ORIENT EXPRESS, & GREEN LONG EGGPLANT

-ROMA PASTE TOMATOES

-SUNGOLD TOMATOES 

-ASSORTED HEIRLOOM TOMATOES

-BABY GREENS (Sunflower Shoots, Arugula, & Kyona Mizuna)

-MICRO GREENS (Shungiku)

-ASSORTED HERB BUNCHES

-RED RUBIN, GENOVESE, & LETTUCE LEAF BASIL BUNCHES

-EDIBLE FLOWER BUNCHES

-JAPANESE ANEMONE BUNCHES

-BELLADONNA AMARYLLIS BY THE STEM

-ASSORTED POTTED PLANTS

ENJOY!

Once again, the autumnal equinox is upon us. If one pauses it is possible to hear the quiet hum of anticipation gathering as the trees bend to the weight of the expanding olives. All the signs of the approaching harvest are becoming or have become. Some of us here are predisposed towards being enchanted by the charms of autumn, and others are seasonally converted by a love of olive oil;  it is Fall when all the hard work from all the long days of the year culminates in the spectacular transformation of olive fruit into our unique olio nuovo.

The olives are almost full-sized, the leaves on the poplars are turning golden, Jose and the mill crew are ensuring that all of the milling equipment is in perfect working order before we run the first batch of olives through. The grapes are lovely and purple and nearly ready for harvesting. The pumpkins in the kitchen garden are boulder-sized and turning carnelian. All of these delights are signals that we are preparing for the frenzy and the celebrations that encircle the coming harvest season…

-GALA  APPLES

-DUCHESS BRONZE PEARS

-ELEPHANT HEART & ITALIAN PRUNE PLUMS

-ASIAN PEARS

-RHUBARB

- CHARD

-TUSCAN DINO KALE

-BOK CHOY

-WHITE & PURPLE KOHLRABI

-ESCAROLE

-ASSORTED LETTUCES

-MAGDA SQUASH 

-ISLANDER PURPLE PEPPERS, ACONGAGUA, SWEET CHOCOLATE, PIMIENTO,  CAYENNE,  PEPPERONCINI, RELLENO, & CAL WONDER BELL PEPPERS

-ASSORTED EGGPLANT

-ROMA PASTE TOMATOES

-ASSORTED HEIRLOOM TOMATOES

-BABY GREENS (SPINACH & BRAISING MIX-Red Russian Kale & Red Ruby Chard)

-ASSORTED HERB BUNCHES

-RED RUBIN & LETTUCE LEAF BASIL BUNCHES

-EDIBLE FLOWER BUNCHES

-JAPANESE ANEMONE BUNCHES

-BELLADONNA AMARYLLIS BY THE STEM

-POTTED SEASCAPE STRAWBERRIES, FEVERFEW, LOBELIA, SPEARMINT, & HERB TRIO

ENJOY!

-PINK PEARL & GALA  APPLES

-LISBON LEMONS

-SECKEL ASIAN PEARS

-BROAD-LEAF CHARD

-ESCAROLE

-ASSORTED LETTUCES

-MAGDA SQUASH 

-ISLANDER PURPLE PEPPERS, ACONGAGUA, SWEET CHOCOLATE, PIMIENTO, TIBURON, JALAPENO, CAYENNE,  PEPPERONCINI, & LANTERN BELL PEPPERS

-CHIOGGA BEETS

-ASSORTED EGGPLANT

-FAVA BEANS

-MAXIBEL GREEN BEANS

-SUNGOLD & GREEN GRAPE TOMATOES BY THE BASKET

-ASSORTED HEIRLOOM TOMATOES (Striped Marvel, Cherokee Purple, Persimmon, Green Zebra)

-BABY GREENS (SPINACH, KYONA MIZUNA, ALLSTAR LETTUCE)

-MICRO GREENS (Shungiku & Purple Kohlrabi)

-ASSORTED HERB BUNCHES

-EDIBLE FLOWER BUNCHES

-JAPANESE ANEMONE BUNCHES

-BELLADONNA AMARYLLIS BY THE STEM

-ASSORTED POTTED PLANTS

ENJOY!

Compost is the seam in our circle, the evidence of which is apparent now more than any other time during the year. Currently, we are spreading compost out onto the orchards where it will begin to be absorbed into the soil thereby contributing to its health and vitality. In the long-term it will continue to develop the organic matter content thus enhancing the productivity of our trees.

We produce our own compost from the waste that is yielded by milling oil out of olives. The solid waste that remains after the oil had been extracted still has a high moisture-content and so is mixed with local manure and barnyard material to achieve the proper consistency. The compost is handled in accordance with the regulations laid forth by the CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers) so that it can be certified organic. The transformation from mill refuse to beautiful soil-enriching compost takes about 9 months. The liquid waste, or olive fruit water, is also used in the processing of the compost.

With the waste from all of our own fruit and the fruit of our custom milling customers, we don’t produce quite enough compost to blanket all of our orchards. Instead, we determine which areas could reap the most benefit from the additional nourishment, and–always trying to maintain balance–distribute the resources accordingly. Right now, as we spread compost on the ground we are recycling the nutrients from last year’s olives and we are also clearing off the compost-pad so that the waste from this year’s rapidly-approaching harvest can perform the same magic over the next year.

Fresh this week from our Petaluma gardens (and screaming your name!):

• radishes
• plums
• Fameuse Snow apple
• Asian pears
• peppers (Islander, Sweet Chocolate, Pepperoncini)
• Magda squash
• Sungold tomatoes
• True Gold corn
• Ruby Queen corn
• Rhubarb
• Sungold tomatoes
• Escarole
• lettuces (Deer Tongue, Magenta, Gladstone)
• Heirloom tomatoes
• Roma tomatoes
• Heirloom potatoes (German Butter, Caribe, La Ratte)
• Bull’s Blood beet greens
• baby Sorrel
• Sunflower shoots
• baby Mizuna
• Allstar lettuce mix
• mixed herb bunches  (rosemary, bay, sage, sweet marjoram)
• Rosemary
• English thyme
• Bay
• Winter Savory
• Red Rubin basil
• edible flower bouquets (Snap Dragon, Sunflower, Borage, Pansies, Feverfew, Flowering Cilantro, Nasturtium, Lemon Verbena)

Enjoy!