Fresh from our farmers: Beet Generation Farm expands

A few Saturdays ago, Libby Batzel and her crew at Beet Generation Farm quietly rolled out a second booth -- Beet Generation Kitchen -- at the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market.

The booth features the basket grill that Batzel has been using for several seasons to roast peppers and green beans, an option that has become so popular that it warranted the spin-off. Currently, the booth features grilled Romano beans that can be served neat with just kosher salt or with one of two sauces, cilantro cream or parsley aioli. As soon as the farm’s tomatoes and peppers come on a bit stronger, there will be a third option, roasted tomato and pepper sauce. The grilled Romanos are so popular that the crew can barely keep up with demand.

There are also “bruléed” peaches, yellow peaches sprinkled with turbinado sugar, fired and filled with Straus Greek yogurt and fresh basil. The fresh peaches are from the farm but not sold at the booth, as the market already has enough peach vendors. Olive oil used in the grilling is from Stonehouse, also a vendor at the market.

Soon, there will be grilled Shishito and Padron chilies, with other varieties following quickly.

As popular as Beet Generation Kitchen is -- it will join the Sebastopol Farmers Market at the end of the month -- the farm itself is the primary endeavor, and what a beautifully productive farm it is.

The current harvest includes both red and green okra, both just starting. There are several varieties of beets, too, piled high in a wheelbarrow, from which customers can select a single variety or a mix.

There’s small-leaf arugula throughout the season and, of course, the salad mix for which the farm may be best known. The are several varieties of cucumbers, tiny colorful cherry tomatoes packed into quart jars, New Girl slicing tomatoes, braising greens, summer squash, basil, head lettuces, sweet and hot peppers and several varieties of muskmelons.

In a few weeks, the farm’s delicious spinach, a variety called “Red Kitten,” will be back. A deep purple shell bean, Marvel of Venice, will be available soon, too, as will an array of chiles, including Poblanos, Ajo, Black Hungarian, Jalapeños and Cayenne.

Beet Generation Farm’s 2015 season came full circle, in a sense, with the return of Jill Adams. Adams operated Crescent Moon a number of years ago, from which she introduced Sonoma County to her amazing red okra. She was also, I believe, the first farmer to grow Padrons and Shishitos locally and produced what may be the best chipotle powder I’ve ever tasted. In the late 2000s, she closed her farm and passed the chipotle powder torch to Libby Batzel. After spending a few years in Maine, she returned earlier this year and took a job with the farm she helped mentor into being. This year, she will be in charge of producing the farm’s line of paprikas and powders.

Beet Generation Farm operates a small Community Supported Agriculture program, with produce delivered to drop-off locations every other week. The bags of produce are supplemented with butter from McClelland’s Dairy and with avocados, which Batzel says should be considered staples. The farm no longer maintains a flock of laying hens.

Beet Generation Farm is currently in the process of organic certification. The farm’s practices are more stringent than federal guidelines require, with an emphasis on maintaining vibrantly healthy soils using compost, cover crops and rock supplements.

Beet Generation Farm, founded in 2010 and operated by Libby Batzel, attends the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays. For information about the farm’s CSA program, visit beetgenerationfarm.com or email libby@beetgenerationfarm.com.

Michele Anna Jordan has written 24 books to date, including the new “Good Cook’s” series. Email Jordan at michele@saladdresser.com. You’ll find her blog, “Eat This Now,” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.