Last week Monday we finished getting chile starts and beans planted for the 2025 season. We started the chile plants from saved seed in our greenhouse in late January and they were ready to be in the ground. All the plants are making really great progress and are getting acclimated to their new conditions (I took photos on Friday to include in this email and needed to take new pics yesterday because there had been so much growth!). It feels great to see the chile plants growing new leaves, turning a deep green from their roots establishing themselves in the soil, and to see the plants no longer struggling in the wind.
We decided this year was the windiest planting season of the past 14 years, making chile planting a bit more arduous than normal. After each row of chiles is planted, we go back through and add a shovelful of soil into each hole to hold the chile in place, to offer support, and to make sure the roots are protected. With the wind, the chiles would be basically laying down on the weed plastic after they were popped into place requiring extra effort to make sure all 70,000 chile plants were standing up. It’s also really exhausting to be out in strong winds for hours at a time! Keep on reading for more about our bean planting!
Photos below: Guajillo chile plant showing new leaf growth on the stem // Nacho cultivating weeds with a tractor
Beans are planted across 3 counties in CA!
The beans at our farm, as well as at the other 3 farms in Mendocino, Lake, and Sonoma counties that are growing beans for us, have also all been planted. Check out these photos of our friend Sophia who is planting out our crop of Southwest Gold Beans with her 2 draft horses, Rom and Cirrus, and her old John Deere bean planter.
Below: Sophia Bates and her draft horses Rom and Cirrus // the old John Deere bean planter.
What we're cooking at the start of summer:
Spicy Ranch Dressing with Chunky Vegetable Salad: We wanted to make a spicy ranch dressing that you can customize based on what chiles you have in your spice drawer so for this, feel free to use whatever chile powder or flakes you have on hand. Using 2 tsp of Piment d'Ville was perfect for a medium heat ranch dressing. This dressing's flavor is best if it rests in the fridge overnight before using so that the chile is able to bloom. Make the dressing the night before and you won't be disappointed! Mix up the vegetables headed into the bowl based on the season (we’ve got roasted beets on hand right now! Snap peas would work great as well). Don’t skimp on the Cheez-its!
Sweet Potato and Bean Tacos with Yahualica Salsa: These vegetarian tacos are a favorite weeknight dinner for us, especially with the Yahualica Salsa. They are flavor packed and simple to make, allowing everyone to add whatever they want to their taco. The salsa and roasted sweet potatoes use Yahualica Chile Flakes to round out the heat and flavor.
Grandma Teel’s Old Fashioned Brown Sugar Sugar Rush Peach Peach Cobbler: Stonefruit season has started in some parts of the country, which makes it a great time to make a pan of peach cobbler! If you don’t quite have access to good peaches yet (we definitely don’t!), grab a bag of frozen peaches and this cobbler will taste just as great. Our Sugar Rush Peach chile powder gives this dessert a zippy and fun heat that isn’t overpowering and pairs great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Boonville Barn White Bean Chili: I never tire of eating a bowl of chili. You don’t have to use white beans for this recipe to come together - any bean variety will really work. It’s hearty and simple and comes together quickly if you have beans ready to go. You could definitely use the Tan Tepary beans in this chili.
