April 2026 Heirloom Bean And Grain Club

ORGANIC SUNRISE BEANS

We are so lucky to have these gorgeous organic Sunrise Beans from our dear friends at Blue House Farm, and we mean lucky. Yields were heartbreakingly low this year, so this is truly a special, limited offering just for the club. If you're not familiar with the Zuni bean, also known as the Four Corners bean, it's one of the most beloved heirloom beans around with incredible flavor, silky texture, the kind of bean that makes you want to eat it straight from the pot. The problem? It's notoriously difficult to grow in our changing climate, which is why organically grown Zuni beans are nearly impossible to find. Enter the Sunrise bean. Developed in a multi-year breeding program by UC Davis, the Sunrise was bred directly from Zuni seed with one goal in mind: preserve every bit of that legendary flavor and texture while building in the climate resilience that small family farms need to thrive without relying on chemical and synthetic inputs. The result is a bean that is every bit as delicious as its ancestor and a whole lot more forgiving to grow. We think you're going to love it.

WHAT TO DO WITH THEM

ABOUT THE FARM

Blue House Farm grows drop dead gorgeous beans from the gorgeous, fertile land in Pescadero and San Gregorio, California. Ryan Casey became interested in farming in college while taking agriculture courses. After completing an apprenticeship at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems and working on several farms, he decided to start an organic farm. The farm started in 2005 on 2 acres and has steadily grown to over 75 acres in production. Farming in two different microclimates allows Blue House Farm to grow over 50 types of certified organic farm products. Among the lettuce, tomatoes, herbs and peppers Blue House Farm grows excellent organic beans. 

We are wishing them luck in a challenging year with less to sell, thank you for helping support small farms like Blue House Farms so that they'll be around for generations to come.

CHICO BROWN JAPONICA RICE

Seven thousand years ago in ancient China, farmers first cultivated what we now know as Japonica rice, one of the oldest domesticated crops on earth. It traveled across Asia over millennia before Japanese immigrants brought it to California's Sacramento Valley in the early 1900s, recognizing something in the heavy clay soils of Northern California that felt familiar. They were right. That land turned out to be some of the finest rice-growing country in the world, and it has been ever since.

Chico Rice has been farming that same Northern California land since 1928, and they are doing it the right way. No harmful chemicals, no shortcuts, just a deep and abiding commitment to keeping the land healthy for whoever farms it next. What ends up in your bag is something pretty special: freshly milled brown rice with the full bran layer intact, never sitting in a warehouse losing its fragrance and vitality. The aroma alone will stop you in your tracks, nutty, toasty, and deeply fragrant in a way that most brown rice simply isn't. The texture is chewy and satisfying, the flavor bold and complex.

WHAT TO DO WITH IT

This is a grain worth building a whole meal around, whether that's a grain bowl, a creamy risotto, a sizzling stir fry, or our Cali spin on red beans and rice. Ancient grain, California roots, freshly milled. 

Stovetop Directions:

Rinse 1 cup of rice. In a medium saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to a gentle boil. Add the rinsed rice to the boiling water. Reduce the heat to low, cover with a tight-fitting lid. Simmer on low for 40 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for an additional 5 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve.

RICE COOKER DIRECTIONS

Rinse 1 cup of rice and place it in the rice cooker. Add 2 cups of water and close the rice cooker. Close the rice cooker and start the cooking cycle. Once the cooking cycle is complete, let it sit for about 5 minutes with the lid closed to allow for steam absorption. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve.

INSTANT POT DIRECTIONS

For every 1 cup of rice make sure to add 1 cup of water. Rinse 1 cup of rice. Place the rinsed rice in the Instant Pot. Add 1 cup of water. Close the Instant Pot lid and set the steam valve to seal. Cook on high pressure for 22-24 minutes. Allow for a 10-minute natural release. Turn the valve to "Venting" for a quick release. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve.

ABOUT THE FARMERS

Chico Rice is a father and son operation, four generations into farming the same Northern California land their family has tended since 1928. For years they operated as a certified organic farm, and their commitment to clean, responsible farming hasn't wavered one bit. But they made a decision that we really respect: they chose to let the organic certification go. Not because their standards slipped, but because they discovered that the approved organic practices required significantly more of California's precious water resources to produce what they felt was a lower quality rice. In a state where water is everything, that mattered to them. Rather than burning their fields after harvest, a still-common practice that fills the valley air with smoke every fall, this family blends crop residue back into the soil, building soil structure season after season and creating vital habitat for the wildlife that calls their farm home. The certification may be gone but the ethos is very much alive.

MAYFLOWER BEANS

It is said that the Mayflower arrived in the US in the 1620s, bringing with it the Mayflower bean. More accurately though, the Mayflower bean was returned to its ancestral lands by the pilgrims. Like all Phaseolus vulgaris,the Mayflower would have originated in the new world, descended from beans cultivated thousands of years ago in Peru. After colonists re-introduced the Mayflower to the Americas, the bean was widely circulated among the colonists of the Carolina region of the country. The Mayflower plant has short pods that hold the small, square shaped beans. The beans are a beautiful creamy color with dark-red speckles. 

WHAT TO DO WITH THEM

These creamy, somewhat earthy beans have a silky texture and a delicious bean broth. They are so divine that they need little more than some garlic, herbs and perhaps a bayleaf to produce a delicious pot of beans. All I need is a loaf of good bread to soak up the mouthwatering pot liquor. That broth makes them perfect for our Mayflower Bean 3 Sisters Stoup or try a vegan twist on my childhood favorite food, Heirloom Bean Pot Pie .