While many rest during the Winter, the coldest months are some of the Farm Team’s busiest! While the trees are dormant and cuddling their energy in their roots to stay warm, we’re out pruning the branches to improve future fruit production, to keep trees down to a manageable height (no ladders on our steep slopes!), and to harvest scions to propagate the trees we sell at our East Oakland Nursery.
Yes, it’s cold out, and sometimes rainy and cold–but we will definitely enjoy the fruits of our labor from late spring to late autumn! (And you can too–keep an eye out for our community fruit tastings starting in May!)
Native Pollinators Blooming in Winter!
[Chaparral Currant]
[Sticky Monkey Flower]
Farm-Herb Fire Cider
We love learning more about the land and our complex relationship with it, so we were excited about the opportunity in mid-December to share knowledge with Sophia Lopez, a Bay Area herbalist, medicine maker, and doula. We made fire cider from many plants growing on the farm, including calamansi, thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage, pomegranate, and rosehips. We add some ginger, turmeric, onion, cayenne, garlic, cinnamon, and cloves, pour in the apple cider vinegar, and now, a month later, we strain, add some farm honey, and we have some immune-boosting, invigorating fire cider perfect for the winter!
[PJ Staff w/ their Fire Cider]
Volunteers Welcome!
Want to get involved? We can't promise fire cider, but you never know...! Volunteers are welcome to join us on the land for rewarding work weekly, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Click here to sign up!
PLEASE NOTE: our Second Saturdays volunteer day is going on pause through February (mainly for the Winter weather, and also for the Winter rest). We will resume Second Saturday Volunteer Days on March 8, 2025. Have a wonderful Winter and hope to see you then!
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