Meet Kate Gabriel: We have a new Parsnip Mage

~ Kate, Sunshine, and Emiko ~

Kate and her husband Joe hale from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. So the big “W” you see on everything they wear has everything to do with Wisconsin and very little to do with Santa Barbara's Westmont College. They are both über athletes and love the outdoors. They moved here to spend more time with Kate’s grandma who lives in town and her sister who attends Westmont, and now they are “hooked” and want to stay for a while. Kate majored in biology and has done work in environmental science including a stint at a botanic garden and is interested in learning more about our food system and farming. She comes at a time when both Emiko and I have been looking for ways to improve the working environment of the farm: the work is difficult and it can get lonely at times. Kate brings a perfect combination of joy, friendship, and strength to the tasks of the farm. She’s just what Emiko needed. We have tried giving her an official title like “Farm Apprentice” or “Work Crew Boss.” Sarah Jane decided she needed the title “Arugula Slayer” which led Sam to come up with “Parsnip Mage.” I’m not sure how we drifted into fantasy gaming themes… But for now, we have decided to just refer to her as Kate the Great!

Providential Trail Work and Bean Shucking

We had another great group of volunteers visit us on the farm on November 10^th. Providence Hall is a private Christian high school and they set aside time several times a year to do community service. On this day we split our time between working on banking in the botany trail and shucking dried beans. We worked on the trail (and I mean worked!) for about two hours and then did a quick botany walk around the loop. When we got back to the farm we sat around and talked while shucking beans for about an hour. Beans are a staple (and healthy) food source for a large part of the world. We decided that accountants must have originally been farmers – the original “bean counters.” (bad joke) We also learned just how much work it takes to get them ready to be eaten. This must be what people did before culture ended the video age. Thank you for all your hard work. (Sorry for the crumby photos. I forgot my camera and had to use my silly phone camera)

The Harvest Festival Extravaganza

Wow! What an evening! Live music from the Dixie Hicks, over a dozen pots of hot soups, a truly gargantuan salad from the farm, bread donated from Our Daily Bread, fresh organic fair trade coffee from Green Star Coffee, yummy local ice cream from McConnell’s, and about 30 pies for the big competition! You might think that would be enough to call this a festival, but no… we mixed in lots of face painting, hay rides behind the big red tractor, and a crazy silent auction. In the end about 250 people celebrated the Five Loaves Farm’s bounty from this past year. By the time the Harvest Festival arrived the farm had grown and donated over 7 tons of organic produce to the hungry poor of Santa Barbara. Now that’s something to celebrate!

Speaking of celebrating… here are the winners of the pie competition.

Loco for Local (best use of local ingredients ) – Persimmon Pie

Mike and Katie Caterino

Sweetie Pie (yummy sweet pie) – Pecan Pie

Dave Chase (he will not share his secret recipe)

Umami Tsunami (yummy savory pie) – Tomato Galette

Erick Ribbens and Debra Nichols

Most Exotic (uh… most exotic) – Cranberry Marzipan Pie

Jim Manoia

People’s Choice (voted best all-around-pie by all-the-people) – Oatmeal Pecan Pie

Deb and Travis Bush

Thank you to the members of the A Rocha USA board of directors who served as our judges for the pie competition. I’m sure that all of us can feel their pain in having to sample 30+ pies!

Thank you to all of you you donated items for the silent auction: Velo Pro Cyclery, Petunia Pickle Bottom, Savoy Cafe and Deli, Island Seed and Feed, Natural Café, Taffy’s Pizza, Joy in the Small Things, Orchard Hardware Supply, Steve Hanson Landscaping, Green Star Coffee, and to the numerous individuals who donated their time, skills and crafts for the auction. It was a ton of fun and you really helped bring in some much needed funding for the farm. This was an excellent first year.

And a final thank you to everybody who came out for the Harvest Festival. After all the silent auction items were purchased and the donations collected, we raised $1701 toward the Five Loaves Farm operations. Thank you!

Harvest Festival Update

Here's an update on some of the items up for the silent auction. Lots of great donations from several of our friends. If you win an item, you not only walk away with something really fun, but your money goes directly back into the farm to continue blessing the hungry poor of Santa Barbara. So while this Harvest Party is meant to be primarily a Fun-raiser, you can also help make it a fund raiser as well. See you Saturday.

Velo Pro Cyclery - 2 x $50 gift certificates

Petunia Pickle Bottom baby blanket

Savoy Cafe and Deli - $20 gift certificate

Island Seed and Feed $20 gift certificate and hat

Jewelry by KC Kemp

Natural Café - Two entrees

Taffy’s Pizza 2 free pizzas

Joy in the Small Things “Peace” banner by Jill Dixon

One Hour Massage by Ronda Perea

OSH garden arrangement

One hour landscape consulting Steve Hanson Landscaping

Two hours landscaping maintenance Steve Hanson Landscaping

(does not include materials used or disposal fees)

Green Star Coffee and $20 gift card

Soy Candles by Heather Ridenour

Patagonia Jacket

Farmer’s Market bag by Bonnie Fearer

Jewelry by Bonnie Fearer

If you haven't yet given us your RSVP for the Harvest Festival, please do so here. That way we will know a bit better as to how much soup and salad to prepare. Thank you!

Dust and Mulch - Volunteers

The day after our bunny fencing adventure with the Westmont basketball team we hosted a group of volunteers from Santa Barbara Community Church’s high school group. The farm is located on the property owned by SBCC so of course they know what is going on and want to help out when they can. This Saturday found us mulching the road leading into the farm. The road gets really rutted during the winter rains and the mulch helps minimize the damage. The mulch also helps keep down the dust which blows into the field when cars drive up and down the road. Dust clogs the pours of the plants and hinders the pollinators from doing their job. So, we spread a lot of mulch this day. In addition, I put Sam in charge of a small crew to clean up and re-mulch the trail from the church parking lot down to the farm. They did a fantastic job. Nice leadership Sam; you deserved the hammock time at the end of the day. Thank you Benji and Erik for organizing this day and all the youth and mentors who worked with us.