April 2019 - Long Meadow Ranch

April marks the start of calving season at our Tomales Station in Marin County, just 5 miles from the coast. We recently caught up with our ranchers José Luis Flores and Bill Jensen to meet the calves and learn about the operation.

Bill, who was raised in Tomales, shared some interesting observations about this year’s winter weather. Growing up, he and his friends knew March as “Kite Month,” due to its cool and blustery, but often dry, conditions. This year was a particularly rainy season, with the wet conditions extending through the end of April. It left the ranch with an abundance of lush, green grass and some very happy cows, but sadly no kite flying. Over a dozen calves have been born this spring, and we are expecting about 90 total. On the day we visited, mother cows were carefully watching their calves, many of which were dozing off in the grass.

PASTURE BREEDING

In the summer months, José Luis transports our bulls, who live most of the year at our Mayacamas Estate, to Tomales Station. The cows are grouped into pastures in small herds of about 30 cows. Just one bull is placed in each pasture to breed with the females, since allowing more than one bull per pasture results in bullfights. The bulls remain in their respective pastures with the cows for about four months to ensure each cow will bear a calf. The gestation period lasts 305 days or about 10 months, so most of the cows give birth throughout the months of April & May.

FROM NURSING TO GRAZING

For their first few days of life, the calves will only nurse. Then around five or six days old they begin grazing, by watching their mothers and following their lead, they learn to nibble at the ground. The green, lush spring grass in Tomales is easy for them to digest, but the calves won’t rely solely on forage until they are weaned at around six and a half months. In November, José Luis and Bill will move the calves from their mothers into separate pastures and once the female calves mature, they will become part of the breeding program.

Man in cowboy hat standing in a field with longhorns

Have you ever wondered where all the delicious, fresh organic produce in your Farmstead meal comes from? You’ll find the hub of our farming operation just off Highway 29 at our Rutherford Estate, where our farmers grow most of the vegetables and fruits we use at Farmstead and the Farmers’ Market. Each year, the growing season begins in the greenhouse where we cultivate seedlings for over 100 different varieties of heirloom fruits and vegetables. Come on a tour of our two greenhouses with Jess and Noel, Culinary Farm Manager and Production Coordinator, to see what’s growing.

Heading into spring, the greenhouses at our Rutherford Estate are at capacity, and our seedlings and farmers are eagerly awaiting the arrival of warmer, drier weather.

GREENHOUSE 1: THE STARTER NURSERY

Everything grown in the greenhouse is started from seed sourced from certified organic seed banks. The majority of our produce begins its growth cycle here.

Locally grown peppers at Long Meadow Ranch

Greenhouse 1 is kept at a balmy 75 degrees. Seeds are planted directly in a small tray of unfertilized soil then nurtured until they sprout. Once they have two true leaves, we move them to our second greenhouse.

Locally sourced herbs at the Long Meadow Ranch greenhouses

GREENHOUSE 2: THE COOL HOUSE

Greenhouse 2 is kept at a slightly lower temperature. As we transfer the seedlings into this greenhouse, we start to fertilize them, about once a week. We use fish emulsion and a probiotic mix to promote equal root and leaf growth.

The seedlings are coddled in the greenhouses with the warm temperatures and lack of exposure to the natural elements (temperature fluctuation, full sun exposure, wind) so they need to be prepared for their eventual transplant to the fields. To prepare them, they are placed outside daily for an increasing amount of time, until they are stable enough to be transplanted. This process is called “hardening off” and is done to prevent transplant shock.

WHAT’S GROWING ON

We are seeding some popular summer crops including tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant, as well as multiple varieties of microgreens, which are grown year-round in the greenhouses.

Next month melons and cucumbers will be seeded. These crops grow much faster than the other summer crops, so they are started slightly later. Melons and cucumbers will go from seed to planting in only a month, whereas tomatoes and peppers need at least six weeks before planting.

Long Meadow Ranch growing their own herbs at the Beet Greenhouses

TOMATOES

Tomato season is the best time of the year at Farmstead. Our dishes are full of color with a variety of heirloom tomatoes to choose from – copia, cherokee purple, lucid gem, and green zebra. Fried green tomatoes are typically on the menu starting in July, followed by the ripe tomatoes in August.

This year we aim to get ripe tomatoes on the table a little sooner than in the past, possibly as early as June. Jess is growing some of the crop in large containers along the inside edges of the greenhouse, giving them a jumpstart on growth while it is still too cold outside. These plants will come to full maturity inside the greenhouse and be ready for harvest in June. The rest of the tomatoes will be transplanted to the field when warmer Napa Valley nights are here to stay and will be ready to eat later in the summer.

MICROGREENS

Greenhouse 2 is currently full of microgreens. All of the microgreens for the restaurant and Chef’s Table are grown in the greenhouses. Once they are ready for harvest, our farm team delivers them in their trays to the restaurant. The culinary crew then cut and plate them as needed. Anything that isn’t used travels back to the farm for composting.

When it comes to choosing what greens to grow, our farmers focus on color. The chefs like a variety of colors for the plate, so we grow beets, chard, radishes, amaranth for their hues of red and yellow. We also grow arugula, tatsoi, celery, and basil. An assortment of microgreens creates a beautiful texture on the plate.

For Chef’s Table, Estate Chef Aaron prefers a different variety of greens and for them to be bigger than what is used in the restaurant, so our farmers mixed and planted a specific blend of seeds just for Chef’s Table. This year they are also growing radishes and turnips, which are kept small. Chef Aaron simply rinses them off and plates them.

Calving at Tomales Station

PASTURE BREEDING

FROM NURSING TO GRAZING

Rutherford Estate – Greenhouses

GREENHOUSE 1: THE STARTER NURSERY

GREENHOUSE 2: THE COOL HOUSE

WHAT’S GROWING ON

TOMATOES

MICROGREENS

Poultry

THE BEET

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