Jessie's Cosmic Garden: 'Top Picks' CSA
Meet Our Farmers and Food Producers
Note: If our vendor has a website, you'll be able to click their name to bring it up. If we have visited the farm there will an approval note after their writeup. If we haven't, we've spoken personally with the producer at market.
Black Dog Farmstead
Tucker Pyne has been growing sustainable food for his local community since 2011. After living in California and studying philosophy at the University of Colorado, he set out to create a beautiful farm in the beautiful mountains of Southern Oregon. Here at Black Dog Farmstead, we believe in sustainably grown food, lovingly raised animals and a responsibility to the land. We focus our energy on building community, sharing our knowledge and farming for the future. We do not use any herbicides, pesticides or chemical fertilizers and try to maintain as much of a 'closed-loop' method of farming as possible.
Blue Fox Organics
Melanie Kuegler and Chris Jagger began their farming relationship together in Santa Cruz, CA. They moved to the Applegate Valley in 2002 and began growing in 2003. They steward 67 acres of farm land, rotating 15 acres of growing land to allow the fields to rest for years between active growing.
Their farm is chemical fertilizer and pesticide free, Certified Organic and Certified Salmon Safe. The are a mainstay at the Grants Pass and Ashland Growers' Markets.
Circle Star Ranch
Circle Star is dedicated to raising the finest all-natural and sustainable food products. We specialize in GMO-free foods. They include pasture-raised pork, grass-fed/grass-finished beef, buffalo, lamb, chicken and eggs. Our 200+ acre ranch is located in a secluded valley just south of Roseburg, OR.
Coquette Bakery
Denika Voget and Tom Clarke live and bake at Two Creeks Heritage Farm near Jacksonville, OR. Their European style crusty bread, traditional baguettes and pastries are just what you'd expect to find in Provençe but their almond croissants take me back to Mont Saint Michel in Normandy. Let's stuff a 24 oz country loaf, a baguette or pastries in your weekly box. Fresh bread can be tightly foil-wrapped and frozen, then warmed in foil to defrost in an oven.
They source the best bread and pastry flour available, though it is not organic. If it were, the cost of the bread would be prohibitively expensive. Trying to live gluten-free? See our Organicos Bakery offerings below.
Dunbar Farm
The Carpenter Family has been farming along Foothill Road in Medford for over a century. Enticed to come to the valley by Reginald Parsons of the neighboring Hillcrest Orchard, brothers Leonard and Alfred Carpenter planted their pear orchards in 1909 using draft horse teams. Horse teams gave way to tractors, and further changes ensued when nephew Dunbar Carpenter returned to Medford after World War II and took over the operation in 1946.
In recent years the farm has undergone significant change on varied fronts. Most significantly there has been a changing of the guard. Brian passed-away in 2005, followed shortly thereafter by both Dunbar and Jane. The next two generations now direct progress on the farm. The farm has further diversified into a wider variety of crops and has experimented with varied sales systems. The plans from here are to continue development towards greater direct to the community sales.
All of our products are organic, but we aren’t certified and have no plans to do so. We sell all of our products direct and know our customers and they know that our growing techniques and produce is as healthy, fresh and flavorful as it can get.
Farm visited and approved.
The Farming Fish
Michael Hasey and Olivia Hittner are amazing innovators in our area. They are constantly ugrading their aquaponics farm due to increasing demand — for the fish? Yes, but the effluent from the fish tanks becomes the food for the most beautiful, year-round crop of greens imaginable. Within a few years they have gone all-wholesale, mostly to restaurants, but also to groceries as far away as Portland. I'd call that a huge success. That's little Mike feeding the fish. The food, supplemented with all the food waste, is commercial and not organic. Their goal, by year-end, is to pelletize their own organic fish food.
Did you know that 95% of the water in aquaponics is filter through the plants and returned to the fish. This is farming for the future, and especially in drought. Check out the amazing gallery and videos on their website as well as Tilapia recipes that are awesome.
We can place orders for their fish, but unless we want to pay $9 more a pound, we need to gut and scale the fish ourselves. So you will find a helpful video on their site for that task. One of my fondest dreams is having a farm like this situated closer to home, but, for now, they are still well within our parameters of local at their farm outside Rogue River, OR.
Farm visited and approved.
Fry Family Farms
Steve and Suzie Fry and family are one of our principle suppliers of fresh, certified organic produce. They have a number of very productive farms around the Talent to Medford region, and sell at the growers markets and to restaurants and groceries in the region. Their website tells it all, so I invite you to thoroughly explore it. I visited the greenhouses outside Medford in February and saw tray after tray of plant starts just poking their heads above the soil. A month later, those starts were on sale at the first Medford Market.
They are using green alternative energy systems to heat greenhouses and are deeply involved in the local food movement in the region. I was shown one greenhouse that is now planted with extra early tomatoes, so look forward to that! The orchard supervisory staff bases pest control and fertilisation methods on the plants' needs and strives for the least detrimental effect on the environment.
Farm visited and approved.
Hoa Spring Rolls
Tuyet Hoa is the spring roll Queen of Mount Shasta, and she has agreed to keep us supplied with them. She wants you to know the Tempeh rolls are vegan, made with organic tempeh. The Egg rolls are vegetarian, made with local eggs. Both have carrot, cabbage, lettuce, mint, rice noodles, and rice paper. Her rolls are gluten free and have no GMOs.
The dipping sauces come in two flavors. The first is sweet and sour; made with apple cider vinegar, sugar, lemon juice, water, and salt. The second is peanut; made with peanut butter with hoisil, rice vinegar, water, lemon juice, and sugar.
Jason Friendly Foods
Welcome to Jason Friendly Foods - "Where Delicious Meets Healthy". My name is Jason Singleton and I am the owner of Jason Friendly Foods. I'm glad you stopped by and hope you will keep coming back. The goal at JFF is to make food that tastes really good while using only healthy ingredients.
At JFF we make Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free foods. We use as much organic and raw ingredients as we can get our hands on. All of our ingredients are Non-GMO. We NEVER use any artificial flavors/colors or preservatives in our products. All of our products are made locally in Yreka. The packaging for our chocolate and energy bars is compostable. Each of our products is hand packaged. We really do think you will like what we make.
Jessie's Cosmic Garden
This is the latest edition to Jessie's Cosmic Garden — my hand-built chicksaw, which houses 7 Buff Orphington Hens. This year I will increase the flock with 6 or so Australorps and 4 Red Bourbon turkeys. Because I have so few eggs to offer the CSA I made a pact with Hoa Spring Rolls to provide eggs for 'Top Picks' Thursday spring roll orders instead of offering them by the dozen. There is a big garden behind and more to the right with a hoop house for all those crisp cucumbers I love to grow, and fruit all over the place. You will also find a check box for my face cream at the online marketplace (tax included). Other products and books can be found on my online store via the side menu bar of the CSA website.
The first place I will look for your produce is my own backyard. I have found my niche growing specialty veggies like snap peas, shelling peas, butter, baby romaine and bibb lettuces, baby wild arugula, mini-cabbages, lebanese and mini-cucumber, heirloom and paste tomatoes, Italian sweet peppers and some dwarf curly kale. This year I have added 150 new strawberry plants that'll be ready to harvest in 2016. Whatever fruit I have, and it is always a guess in Shasta, I will share with you, including sweet cherries, plums and pears.
Farm visited and approved.
Mount Shasta Mushroom Company
Kevin Rodericks has been fascinated by mycelium and mushrooms since a young age. As a local chef he has been cultivating culinary mushrooms for many years. Stepping up production a bit, his varieties of seasonal oyster mushrooms will now be made more available for the local community to enjoy. These mushrooms are no-spray products.
Kevin produces spawn from certified organic rye berries or purchases certified organic spawn from other producers. The cooler weather pearl oysters are finishing up and the warmer tropical varieties will be available through the summer months. These mushrooms are awesome with vegetables, made into ragouts for pastas, breads, soups and to top meats. He hopes everyone will enjoy these miracle-working medicinal foods.
Northbound Coffee Roasters
Northbound Coffee is roasted in small (tiny really) batches in our 1930’s vintage roaster at the base of Mount Shasta in beautiful Northern California. Sound ideal? Wait ’til you taste our coffees.
We spend a good deal of time sourcing and selecting the finest coffees and then we roast them to perfection drawing out the best qualities of each origin or blend. We only roast to order and date every bag to guarantee the coffee drinker the freshest coffee. We cup every roast to assure you have a quality coffee experience each and every time. Our attention to detail is driven by our passion for quality.
Our love of quality is part of a larger devotion to those things which are built to last and forever produce a phenomenal experience. Sound like too big a promise for just a cup of coffee? Let us be part of your daily coffee ritual and deliver you something pleasantly unexpected.
Facility visited and approved.
Novy Ranches
The ranches are the ongoing life work and commitment of Dr. Lowell Novy, a veterinarian, whose interests in conservation, cattle-ranching and animal welfare have influenced his decision to turn away from “traditional” feedlot cattle production by developing an entirely grass-fed program that is healthy for the land, cows and people.
Grass-fed and finished — meaning no GMO corn, soy or wheat — Novy beef is the premier grass-fed beef at the farmer's markets of Southern California. How lucky we are that the cattle eat that grass right here in Siskiyou County. They have a gorgeous view of Mount Shasta, in fact.
We'll be carrying their frozen ground meat (three options), Polish sausage, jerky, pepperoni, breakfast sausage and summer sausage for weekly delivery. If you want to order a roast, filet mignon, any kind of steak or other beef cut, just let us know and we will have them on your doorstep within two deliveries. Let us know what you want and we'll get you a quote.
Oak Leaf Creamery
Dave Peterson moved out to Grant's Pass from Kennebuck, Maine, where he made a name for himself as master cheese maker and started Oak Leaf Creamery. Are we lucky or what?! His Arti-goat is the best goat brie around and Billie Blue a real winner. We will be offering you all that he makes this year as the milk begins to flow, which might include Snow (another brie), Grayback (Valencay style) and Holey Goat (Swiss).
He uses raw milk from a nearby goat dairy farm (not organic) and makes his own rennet from the Globe Thistle Artichokes (Cardoon) in his garden. Thistle-rennet a traditional coagulating method in parts of Spain and Portugal. All raw milk goat cheeses are aged at least 60 days (to be free of harmful bacteria - and this is by law). Dave pledges to stay small, unique and local and actually turned me on to the style of CSA we've established. Thank you, Dave. See you at the market!
Organicos Bakery
Organicos is getting a lot a attention in the area because their organic, gluten-free, vegan breads are flat-out delicious. We can get them all for you, including the multi-seed (left), Brown Rice, Raisin-Walnut (next photo), and Sunflower-Oat. In addition we'd be happy to pick up any number of organic, vegan, gluten-free pizza crusts for you.
The raisin-cinnamon-walnut loaf is a yummy way to start the day. I have to say I have tried rice-based alternative bread before and had put them at the bottom of my 'wanna eat' list. Organicos breads are darn near the top and I am not restricted by wheat or eggs.
Pennington Farms
In a renovated rustic barn on their large berry farm, the Pennington family all work together to produce a wonderful variety of berry jams and "old school" style baked goods, as well as their fresh berries in season. This 90-acre farm and bakery is located in the heart of the beautiful Applegate Valley in Southern Oregon. With a commitment to only using the freshest and finest of ingredients, the "true family farm products are well-known and always a "sell-out" at the farmer's markets throughout the Rogue Valley.
Being a "true family farm", the whole family works together to grow, pick, process, bake and jam the berries into the freshest, most wonderful baked goods and jams available. All of the berries are grown herbicide-free, and the baked goods are all made "from scratch", using only the freshest ingredients available.
Rogue Creamery
The creation of amazing cheese begins with cows grazing on local grasses and does not end until the final product, aged to perfection, lands on your plate. In between, there are critical yet seemingly mysterious steps that contribute to the quality and flavor of the resulting cheese.
Our animals are bred to produce the perfect milk for cheesemaking — rich in protein and butterfat. Because they are pastured-grazed for much of the year, the milk is supremely flavorful and ideal for producing our award-winning cheeses.
Facility visited and approved.
Salt and Savour
There are three standard flavors in the lineup. They are: the classic, with caraway seed; sauerkraut with horseradish and mustard seed (light touch on the horseradish so it's not spicy, but the combo changes the flavor nicely); and red cabbage and ginger sauerkraut. I source all organic ingredients although I cannot write "organic" on the front label as it is not yet certified. Planning on organic certification this year. Ingredients are sourced from reputable, certified organic producers.
This is a wild fermentation process, using no starter cultures, no vinegar. The product is cold packed, raw - no heat sealing, no pasteurization, which means the beneficial bacteria (probiotics) are intact and live. Each jar should be stored refrigerated, even before opening. The company, Salt and Savour is nearly 2 years old and STILL operated by one individual (who loves nothing more than a good nap now). Hoping to hire help later this year.....
TerraSol Organics
Terra Sol is a small family farm located in beautiful Evans Valley, outside Rogue River, OR. we specialize in raising a variety of certified organic microgreens, ranging from the ever popular pea and sunflower shoots to a spicy mix and brassica blend. These greens are very flavorful, nutritious, and a wonderful addition to many meals and smoothies.
TerraSol Organics was started three years ago by Kyle and Cristi, who have loved attending farmer's markets since they were children and wanted to start a farm that provided wholesome and colorful additions to the home. We hope you enjoy our microgreens as much as we do!
Farm visited and approved.
Tomato Dave
Dave's tomatoes are grown in a hydroponic greenhouse using an ebb and flow system. Although not certified organic many of Dave's growing techiniques are or surpass organic standards. He uses no sprays of any kind and a winning combination of 70% organic teas and 40% commercial tomato fertilizer. 25 years of experience stand behind his produce grown with a minimal carbon footprint to give us a healthy 'Earth Friendly" product.
We will explore his cucumbers, basil and so forth as they come into their unique hydroponic seasons. Check out his website to learn more about Dave, who runs the Medford Farmer's Market, and his growing techniques.
Tonton's Artisan Affections
Our hummus is proudly produced in Southern Oregon using the finest quality, locally sourced, organic ingredients available. Our local Oregon-grown garbanzo beans and Northern California olive oil are transitionally farmed using organic standards. We pressure cook our beans creating an unmatched level of flavor, digestibility and nutritional content.
“If you consume this iconic Middle Eastern dip on a regular basis, you may think that hummus is hummus. Contrary to this common belief, though, not all hummus are created equal. With TonTon’s you won’t find a homogenous, low flavor dip like the highly processed commercial products in grocery cases. Tasters of TonTon’s hummus are taken aback at their first spoonful of the creamy, full bean flavor redolent with really fresh ingredients, such as garlic and parsley…as if they’re tasting hummus for the first time.” -Barb McGee, The Local Dish
Wandering Fields Farm
Ben Yohai and Kristina Porter are farming six acres in the Little Applegate Valley. Their south-facing fields make it a perfect spot for cucurbits and other heat-loving veggies as well as the beautiful root crops they offer. Their produce is certified organic.
Wandering Roots Farm
Wandering Roots Farm is a 50-acre farm located in the heart of the Rogue Valley between the towns of Rogue River and Gold Hill. Farmers, Jeff and Anna Boesch, sell their produce at four different farmers markets and to several local restaurants around the valley. They have a very diverse operation where they grow over 30 differentvarieties of fruit and vegetables on 5 acres.
They also have 20 hair sheep that they are breeding, 100 laying hens, two hoop houses where they grow selected summer crops, a green house where they start all their seeds, and a newly planted orchard with over 200 fruit and nut trees. Everything they grow is organic though they are not yet certified. They are planning on getting certified in 2015.
Questions? TopPicksCSA@heartofthesun.com
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