Your Farm Box — June 25, 2026
Essentials Box
- Lettuce, 1ct
- Summer Squash Mix, 1lb
- Parsley, 3oz
- Cucumber, 2lbs
- Stone Fruit Mix, 2lbs
Original Box
- Essentials Box, plus:
- Kale, 1bu
- Red Cabbage, 1lb
- Avocados, 1lb
- Carrots, 1bu
- Garlic, 1ct
Hearty Box
- Original Box, plus:
- Broccoli, 1lb
- Celery, 1ct
- Onion, 1bu
- Butternut Squash, 1ct
From the Farm This Week
At around two in the morning, Chloe started barking in that particular high-pitched alert tone she saves for something real. I walked toward her voice and smelled it before I saw it: a baby skunk, only about 10 inches long, running what I can only describe as a full tactical defense sequence. It would fake-charge toward us, stomping its front feet to send vibrations through the ground. Then it would scoot backward, digging in and kicking up dirt and debris to make itself seem larger and louder. Then it would shift its angle — tracking exactly where we were standing. It knew what it was doing. I called Chloe off and we backed away slowly. It vanished into the dark. Everyone came out of it fine, including the skunk.
The next day brought a very different kind of chaos. We took delivery of 12,000 lbs of rye grain from Nate Siemens — six 2,000 lb totes, moved one at a time with the telehandler. Partway through, one bag gave out and spilled across the road. What followed was a full Raff family cleanup operation: Wyatt on the tractor, Zoe and Wade with shovels and buckets, Jeremy on the telehandler, Megan coordinating. We got every last grain into a spare tote. No rye for the road.
The whole crew — Wyatt on the tractor, Wade on the shovel.
Jeremy’s take on the situation.
While we had the telehandler rented, we finally tackled something that has been waiting since Christmas Day: the giant cottonwood tree that came down by the creek. We chainsawed the trunk into rounds and moved them up to the woodcutting station with the telehandler, where they’ll dry out and eventually become firewood. The parking area by the creek is clear for the first time in six months.
The parking area by the creek — finally clear again.
The garden is in a beautiful moment. We harvested all of the garlic this week — the full crop — and it’s now hanging in layers on the drying racks in the packing station. If you have the Original or Hearty box, there’s a head in there this week; it came out of the ground recently and it’s curing right now. We replanted those beds with spaghetti squash and butternut squash, and we’re expecting a healthy flush of volunteer garlic to come up alongside the new plantings. They never fully leave.
This season’s garlic on the drying racks.
Freshly planted winter squash beds — the birds are already hunting for stray seeds.
One more thing worth noting: volunteer sunflowers have appeared in the yellow zucchini bed. Nobody planted them there. They just decided to grow. The bees have strong opinions about this and those opinions are all positive.
Uninvited, and very welcome.
The most significant thing that happened this week — the one we’ll be thinking about for a while — happened during a playdate at the farm. Wade was out with a friend who misidentified poison hemlock as yarrow, a native herb commonly used in herbalism. Trusting his friend, Wade picked a few of the small white flowers and tasted them. He overheard the adults talking about poison hemlock shortly after and let us know immediately what had happened. We called Poison Control, monitored him closely for the full window, and he showed no symptoms whatsoever. He is completely fine.
It was a hard and important lesson for everyone: plant identification is genuinely tricky, especially with the white-flowered Apiaceae family — hemlock, yarrow, wild carrot, and others can look similar, particularly to an untrained eye. The key identifiers for poison hemlock are the height (it grows much taller than yarrow) and the distinctive red or purple blotchy markings on its hollow stem. If you ever see a plant on the property and aren’t sure, please ask before touching or tasting anything. The photo below shows what to look for.
Poison hemlock grows much taller than yarrow or wild carrot and has distinctive red or purple markings on the stem. Always ask a plant expert before tasting anything wild.
How to Store This Week’s Box
Herbs
- Parsley (3oz): Trim the stems and stand upright in a jar with an inch of water. Cover loosely and refrigerate. Lasts up to a week.
Greens
- Lettuce (1ct): Refrigerate in a breathable container or bag lined with a dry paper towel. Use within 5–7 days.
- Kale (1bu — Original/Hearty): Refrigerate in a bag or upright in a jar with a little water at the base of the stems. Best within 5 days.
Squash
- Summer Squash Mix (1lb): Refrigerate in the crisper, unwashed. Best within a week.
- Butternut Squash (1ct — Hearty): Store whole at cool room temperature in a dark spot. Will keep for weeks.
Fruit
- Stone Fruit Mix (2lbs): Ripen at room temperature. Once ripe and fragrant, refrigerate and use within 2–3 days.
- Cucumber (2lbs): Cold-sensitive — store at room temperature up to 2 days, or in the warmest spot of the refrigerator (door shelf).
- Avocados (1lb — Original/Hearty): Ripen at room temperature. Once ripe, refrigerate. Cut avocado: store with the pit and a squeeze of lemon.
Brassicas
- Red Cabbage (1lb — Original/Hearty): Refrigerate wrapped tightly or in a bag. Keeps well for 2+ weeks.
- Broccoli (1lb — Hearty): Refrigerate in a bag or airtight container. Use within 3–5 days.
Roots
- Carrots (1bu — Original/Hearty): Refrigerate in a sealed bag or airtight container. Remove any greens first.
Alliums
- Garlic (1ct — Original/Hearty): Store in a cool, dry spot with airflow. Do not refrigerate — it accelerates sprouting.
- Onion (1bu — Hearty): Store in a cool, dry, dark place with airflow. Do not refrigerate.
Stalks
- Celery (1ct — Hearty): Wrap tightly in aluminum foil and refrigerate. Stays crisp far longer than in a bag.
Massaged Kale, Stone Fruit & Avocado Salad
This is the kale stone fruit salad that makes people ask for the recipe. The massage step is non-negotiable — it transforms raw kale from tough and slightly bitter into something dark, tender, and almost silky. Once it’s ready, you layer in sliced stone fruit, avocado, and fresh parsley, and the whole thing dresses itself as the fruit releases its juice. Original and Hearty members have everything in the box to make this as written. Essentials members: swap the kale for your lettuce, skip the massage, and toss directly — it’s a lighter version but just as good.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed, leaves torn small
- 1.5–2 lbs stone fruit (peaches, plums, nectarines), pitted and sliced
- 1 lb avocado (approx. 2), sliced
- 3oz parsley, leaves picked
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp honey
- Flaky salt and black pepper to taste
- Optional: toasted pepitas or pine nuts; shaved red cabbage (Hearty)
- Essentials: substitute lettuce for kale — skip massage
Instructions
- Remove kale stems. Tear leaves into bite-size pieces and place in a large bowl.
- Drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil over the kale and add a generous pinch of flaky salt. Massage firmly with both hands for 1–2 minutes until the leaves darken, soften, and reduce noticeably in volume.
- Whisk the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil with lemon juice, honey, salt, and pepper into a simple dressing.
- Pit and slice the stone fruit into wedges. Slice the avocados.
- Add stone fruit and avocado to the kale. Pour dressing over and toss gently to coat.
- Scatter parsley leaves over the top. Serve immediately, or chill for 15 minutes — the stone fruit releases juice that adds to the dressing and the kale continues to soften.
Tip: The massage is what makes this kale stone fruit salad work — don’t rush it. You’ll know it’s done when the leaves have gone dark green and soft and the volume has roughly halved. Unlike most dressed salads, this one holds up for a few hours in the fridge, making it a good make-ahead option for a summer lunch or potluck.
Why Massage Kale? The Science (and the Feel) of It
Raw kale is tough because its cell walls are rigid and its natural compounds — including certain glucosinolates — can taste sharp or bitter when uncooked. Massaging kale with oil and salt physically breaks down those cell walls, releasing liquid, softening the texture, and mellowing the flavor significantly. It’s the same transformation that heat would produce, done by hand in about two minutes.
What to look for: The leaves will turn a deeper, brighter green. They’ll go limp and feel almost silky rather than stiff. The volume in the bowl will drop by roughly half. If you’re not there yet, keep going — an extra 30 seconds makes a real difference.
Why it holds up: Because the cell structure is already broken down, massaged kale doesn’t wilt under dressing the way spinach or arugula does. A dressed massaged kale stone fruit salad can sit in the fridge for 2–3 hours without going soggy, which makes it unusually practical for summer meals, picnics, or potlucks. The stone fruit continues to release juice as it sits, which only improves the dressing.
Looking for a fresh farm box Lompoc delivery each week? We’d love to have you join our community.
Get Started — Join the Farm