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“Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and crotchety–
best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light–
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.”
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– Mary Oliver, Why I Wake Early
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Hello Friends and Farm-ily,
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We have made it into the double digits.. here we are at Week 10. As the box transitions out of Spring and into Summer we can look back and appreciate all those luscious, mildly spicy greens, first roots plucked from the soil and the cool brassica crops like broccoli, romanesco and cauliflower. The carrots keep coming and the maters are ripening by the dozen each and everyday. The gods of cool weather are even blessing us with two days of 70 degrees (fingers crossed for a touch of rain, please) and we will relish in the mid week cooling off.
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In 9 weeks we’ve distributed 14,500lbs of produce to all of our members (and we haven’t even had our heavy end of summer/early fall CSA boxes yet)! Let us all be thankful for the bounty this year, the fertile soils of the Willamette Valley, and the farmers who love to toil the soil. ‘Tis a place of bounty and beauty where we can successfully grow a large array of produce that we should always be grateful for (we know we are).
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Friends have the magical ability to simultaneously ground us and lift us up when we need it. It’s the best.
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We had an amazing weekend with friends and farm-ily members who volunteered hours of their time to help these two farmers conquer a harvest of 12,000 onions (with 8 wonderful sets of hands) on Saturday as well as planting 3,200 ft of our Fall Crops with the help of two fellow friends and farmers on Sunday. It’s amazing all the motivation, support and encouragement that these people bring with them to the farm. The can do attitude even through the hottest of weather… no matter what the task it seems that these folks are always game. We appreciate it so much – without it we surely wouldn’t be as efficient or have as much fun or get the chance to listen or chat or discover something new about the folks who believe in this farm, these farmers and themselves. These moments – when shared – offer just the right amount of reflection, productivity and encouragement that make you feel good about where you’re at. It makes the trust you have in yourself, life, nature and other people that much stronger… which is oh-so-important especially when you work 100+ hours in the company of animals..
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Truly a great opportunity for dirty hands, clean hearts.
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Our Fall Bearing Raspberry Polana (usually ready in August) is almost ready to pick for members! Our goldens will be worth the wait as they should be ready in a week or two
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So a very big thank you to those that were able to come out and to those who were there in spirit! Your “likes” on facebook or kind emails detailing recipes you really enjoyed, produce that rocked your world, or thoughts of feeling hungry for knowledge, of eating well and contributing to your community means the most to us and motivates us to do better.
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We hope your food journeys are serving you all well as we make our way into Week 10 of the CSA…
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Training pups amongst the bees, trees, and flowers of summer… Oh, the many different hats you wear as a farmer!
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Please return any crates that you may have this week! We are starting the week over a dozen shy so remember to help out your farmers and return them this week.
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All the best to you and yours,
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your farmers
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Jess & Brian
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dirty hands, clean hearts
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working hands farm 