Monday, April 28, 2014

Volunteers Needed this Saturday, May 3!!

We will be finishing ground prep and planting this Saturday, May 3. Please come join us anytime between 9a and 2p.

You can email us to let us know you'd like to come help. Our email address is: citylimitsfarm@gmail.com.

We hope you can make it!

Saturday, April 5, 2014

It's Time to Begin!! Soil amending, prep, and planting in April 2014

It's time to begin our 2014 year!! We will spend the month of April prepping and amending the soil, building planter boxes, planting seeds, and setting up irrigation. We would love to start to get volunteers going with the farm. Keep an eye out for upcoming volunteer requests for the month of April.

Monday, July 23, 2012

CHANGE!!! Regular Operating Hours are now THURSDAY NIGHTS from 5-8p!

We wanted to let you know about a big change at City Limits Urban Farm. In order to preserve people's Saturdays, we are CHANGING REGULAR OPERATING HOURS from Saturday mornings to THURSDAY NIGHTS from 5-8p.

We will harvest on Thursday nights. We will save Saturdays for special service groups who would like to work together on a Saturday or another time of choosing (please contact us to arrange) or for any special service projects for the Farm, for which we will give you prior notice.

We hope you will appreciate this change and will even feel more free to participate on Thursday nights! Please let me know if you have any questions and if you will be able to volunteer THIS Thursday night anytime from 5-8p.

Thank you!

P.S. We will have refreshments on Thursday nights, and we even have a BBQ grill onsite that you can bring your own meat to grill on (let us know beforehand if you want to do this). We can also grill some of the Farm veggies too!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Sign up NOW!! Veggie bags are starting Sat., July 7!

We will begin harvesting and supplying bags of fresh veggies to supporters of the Farm, starting Sat., July 7. Sign up now to receive your bag of veggies!!

Here are the suggested donations:

Small - $60/month (which is $15/week for a 1-2 person household)
Medium - $80/month (which is $20/week for a 3-4 person household)
Large - $120/month (which is $30/week for a 5-7 person household)

Deliveries - For a $20/month charge, you can have the bag of veggies delivered to your door each week. Otherwise, you can pick them up at the Horton house in Menlo Park.

We are going to do monthly donations instead of weekly donations this year to make things easier and to help streamline the process.

Reminder:  After covering modest farming expenses, all donations will be given to a local charity that supports education.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Mormon Helping Hands this Saturday!

Members of a local congregation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be providing service at the Farm this Saturday, April 28, from 9 am to noon, as part of their annual state service project "Mormon Helping Hands."

We are thrilled that the Menlo Park Ward has agreed to perform service clearing, preparing, and planting land; putting up row signs; assembling a shed, compost bin, and tomato cages; and cleaning up the area. Their service will be invaluable, and we can't wait for the fun event.

All ages are welcome to attend. We will have projects for all ages and fitness levels, as well as activities for the children.

Please bring (if you have them): gloves, hoes, shovels, rakes, hammers, crowbars, paint brushes, kids yard tools, beach shovels and buckets, brooms, scrub brushes, old rags, and newspaper. We would also love to have your old garbage cans, if you would like to donate them. And, don't forget your hats and sunscreen!

Directions: The Farm is across the street from 809 Schembri Lane, East Palo Alto (click "Map" at the right), but parking is limited. Please park in the Home Depot/Taco Bell parking lots on E. Bayshore in EPA and look for the shuttle signs near Taco Bell. We will have a shuttle van to take you to the Farm nearby.

Any questions, please email us at citylimitsfarm@gmail.com.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

It's time to start the 2012 season at the Farm! Need volunteers!

We have already had a group of people from Propel Fuels, along with a few others, do some major clearing of the land for the Farm this year. Now we need to finish prepping the soil and get planting!

We plan to do the prepping and planting this Saturday, April 7, starting at 9 am (we will likely be there earlier but want to make the time more manageable for volunteers). We would love all the help we can get!

What better way to celebrate the Easter season than to participate in some good service? Please email us at citylimitsfarm@gmail.com if you will be able to come volunteer. If you have them, bring your garden tools (shovels, hoes, rakes) and gloves--if not, just show up and we'll get you outfitted. We hope to see you there!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Use Your Zucchini (or other summer squash) in a Mediterranean Orzo Salad

You probably are wondering what to do with your surplus summer squash (zucchini, yellow squash, patty pan squash, and/or spaghetti squash).

For zucchini, you can grate the squash, freeze in baggies by the right amount for zucchini bread and have zucchini bread year round (or add to soups/pancakes/cookies/etc., saute as a side dish, put in lasagna, and much more.

For a side dish, you can grate (or chop) any summer squash, saute it in garlic and olive oil, and top it with some freshly grated Romano cheese (or parmasiano reggiano) and a little salt and pepper.

TIP:  Small to medium sized zucchinis are the most tasty. The larger ones are still ok to eat, but have larger seeds, and are usually best for making zucchini bread or grating and putting in things (like lasagna, pancakes, cookies, muffins, etc.).

Here's the recipe for the Orzo, Cous Cous, or Quinoa Salad:

Mediterranean Orzo Salad
Serves 6

2 1/4 cups orzo (cous cous and quinoa work as well)
2 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
15 Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
6 green onions, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 large tomato, seeded and cubed
1 1/2 green bell pepper, seeded, deribbed and chopped

1/2 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
3 tablespoons mayonnaise (optional)

Prepare orzo (cous cous or quinoa) according to package directions. Drain and rinse orzo under cold water to stop cooking process and keep the pasta from being too sticky. Drain again very thoroughly. (No need to rinse & drain cous cous or quinoa.)

Place in a large bowl. Stir in the zucchini, olives, green onions, celery, tomato, and green bell pepper. In a small bowl, beat together the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, dill, salt and pepper. Pour over the salad and toss to coat well. Sprinkle on the feta cheese and toss again. Optionally, add the mayonnaise and toss gently. Chill at least for 2 hours and bring to room temperature before serving.

Per Serving: 546 Calories; 30g Fat; 14g Protein; 57g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 28mg Cholesterol; 553mg Sodium. Exchanges: 3 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 5 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates. Points: 15

SERVING SUGGESTION: Serve with a simple caprese salad: sliced ripe tomatoes, layered with fresh basil leaves, sliced mozzarella and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. Fresh ground pepper over the top finishes it beautifully.

Adapted from:
Leanne Ely, Saving Dinner Newsletter