Working Hands Farm CSA 2013 Week 11

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Hi friends & farm-ily,

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Boy-oh-boy did we have a productive weekend.  From starting and finishing our onion harvest, to trial runs of a potato harvest, planting fall crops and building onion storage shelves, to weeding the entire (almost) new farm and having the most glorious potluck with our fabulous CSA members!  We’re feeling tired and fulfilled, as we get ready to begin our harvest week tomorrow morning..

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Our Fall CSA.  Early registration for our current members continues this week.  Next week we open up registration to new members and at that time it will be first come, first serve.  We have been busy planning, prepping, seeding and planting and are excited for our best Fall CSA to date!  Check out our Sign Up Page for more information.

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The member potluck was a huge success!  We had such a great time and we hope you did too.  Beautiful weather, lovely conversations, and a variety of potluck dishes… we couldn’t have asked for anything better. We certainly felt your support and love and we thank you so much for making it fun, easy, and an incredibly enjoyable experience.  We feel blessed.  We did miss those who could not make it and look forward to seeing you all this week at farm pick up.

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During the potluck Farmer Brian gave a short speech and encouraged the members to share the reasons why they joined the CSA.   Folks shared that it was to know the source of their food, who it’s being grown by and the farming practices that go into it – to be a part of the whole cycle (not just the product).  All of the other things.. health, community, farmer-member relationship, your own specific food journey, lifestyle changes and how you feel are all a part of it.

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Farmer Brian went on to share our intentions as CSA farmers.  To produce not only the best possible produce but to encourage our members to eat healthy, nutrient dense foods that facilitate long, thoughtful and active lives.  We also shared the most exciting news a couple of young farmers could, “We have bought a beautiful piece of property just down the road!”  With the help of our families and our friends we will have a permanent home in the Hillsboro community.  With access to land of our own we have renewed our commitment to grow better not bigger.  We will continue to limit our membership every season in order to facilitate maximum farmer member interaction.  It is important to us that we know our members and have a few minutes at every drop to talk food, nutrition, recipes, desserts (Farmer Brian’s favorite topic), food politics, documentaries, plants, animals, etc… We believe these interactions to be a corner stone of our CSA and an integral part of building community.

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A view of the new property from the sky..

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This also means, and this is the part you should be very excited about, we will be establishing perennial crops! i.e. asparagus, artichoke, rhubarb, blue berries, currents, plums, cherries, peaches, pears, figs, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc as well as a CSA member u-pick for harvesting in bulk and saving up for the winter. And we will over the next few years be establishing a grass fed beef operation and pastured meat chickens and turkeys.  These changes will not come over night but they will come.  We believe that is it through both organic vegetable production and thoughtfully practiced animal husbandry that we can continue to build healthy soils as well as provide the most nutrient dense organic foods.

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Farm dreams…

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On that note, we encourage you all to listen to this interview on NPR ‘Eating On The Wild Side:’ A Field Guide To Nutritious Food.   Author Jo Robinson speaks about her new book Eating on the Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health.  The book talks of how wild forage that our ancestors used to eat was way more nutrient dense than the food we eat now – deciding to “cultivate the wild plants that were the most pleasurable to eat,” she writes. More pleasurable generally meant less bitter and higher in sugar, starch or oil.   It’s a great listen and we can’t wait to read the book!  She has some interesting facts too.. like how it takes 10 cups of iceberg lettuce to get the same amount of nutrients as ½ cup of loose leaf lettuce.  Or, “compared with spinach, one of our present-day “superfoods,” wild dandelion leaves have eight times more antioxidant activity, two times more calcium, three more times vitamin A, and five times more vitamins K and E.”  It’s why we grow the diverse crops that we do… and probably why you joined the CSA – for the diversity, to eat seasonally and to feed your body the best that you can.  If anyone is inspired and wants to read the book and have a book club type discussion on it let us know.. we think that would be fun!

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Potato Harvest Volunteers.  With one row harvested that means we have 14 more to go.  We plan on harvesting potatoes this Saturday and invite those who like to get their hands dirty to come out to the farm and lend a hand.  Adults will be digging and kids will be picking up the bounty.  Although there’s a slight chance of  rain so it will of course be weather permitting (taters don’t store if they’re wet).  We’ll be digging at the new property (just a few miles down the road from where we are now) 7705 SW River Rd Hillsboro from 9 – noon.  Come out for an hour or stay a few – we appreciate any help we can get.   Let us know if you’re thinking about joining us!

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Remember those crates…

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Many thanks & see you all soon!

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Your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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Dirty hands, clean hearts

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