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Happy New Years friends & farm-ily!

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We hope the winter and holiday season is treating everyone well.  Although the winter has its perks, your farmers are feeling inspired and excited for Spring and another year of farming ahead!  We’ve been keeping busy with many projects around the farm to get ready for the coming season.  We still can’t believe we get to do this every year.  We love what we do and couldn’t be more appreciative of the community around us.  We are so excited for the endless possibilities that 2015 holds.

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As for this year’s winter (so far), it’s surely been a wet and mild one compared to last winter.  Our annual pond has formed where the creek and Tualatin River meet giving a nice waterfront view for our pigs and cows.  As always, we are taking advantage of the mild days and are plowing ahead with projects and are VERY excited for the coming season on the farm.  Spring is just around the corner (thank goodness the days are now getting longer) and this month we’re gearing up to make our seed order, begin seed starting and crop planning in anticipation of our greatest year yet!  We’re so excited to continue on in this journey and to share it all with you.

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As always. a great many thanks for all your appreciation, support and love through the most productive CSA season we’ve experienced to date! – 2014 was a season for the books – over the course of our 28-week 2014 CSA season your (two) farmers harvested and distributed 60,000lbs of freshly picked, organic, nutrient rich, grown with love produce to our CSA members.  We could not be more proud to inform you that during the 2014 CSA season our members paid $1.74 per pound for their fruits and veggies!  By investing in the CSA we are able to invest in you!  Every year we perform a cost comparison by adding up the cost of the produce in each weeks CSA crate and comparing it to our local organic markets and in a typical year our members save in excess of $300 -$400 on their produce.  Not that we think our produce can be compared to that of the super market as ours is harvested by either farmer Jess or farmer Brian and given to you the very same day – you can’t beat the freshness of our produce! Also, a store can’t give you the sense of adventure and community that a local farm can.  With that being said…

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CSA Sign-Up Starts TODAY!  2014 was not only our busiest season but it was also our most productive year yet (over 60,000 lbs of produce harvested and distributed) and we have a feeling that 2015 will be even better!  As you know, our 2015 sign up starts TODAY January 1st with a 2-week priority sign-up for our previous 2014 CSA members.  We will be limiting our CSA to the first 100 members who complete the sign up process so we encourage you to sign up as soon as possible.  The first 10 members who sign up and pay in full will receive a FREE WHF crate!

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2015 CSA Info.  You can read all about our 2015 CSA here – for the Who, What, When, Where, Why & How (much).  We have some exciting new CSA updates in store for you all so please read carefully (below)… As farmers we’ve really come to love the CSA model as members share both the risks and benefits of food production and it keeps us all very connected to where our food is coming from and the practices we use.

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Two types of shares:  Weekly & Bi-Weekly

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Weekly CSA Shares (our best value CSA share!)  We estimate that our Weekly Shares feed 2-3 adults (or a family of 4) that enjoy eating their veggies! Starting in May, for 28 weeks you will pick up your share of seasonal produce each week at the farm.  Shares are 8-16 different items depending on the season and average to be 26lbs per share. With every Weekly CSA you will be emailed a detailed list of vegetables and 4-6 recipes that correspond with the veggies in that weeks share.

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Bi-Weekly CSA Shares (new this year!)  This share is ideal for individuals or for small households that are, shall we say, learning to love their veggies!  With the Bi-Weekly Share you are investing in exactly half the produce of the Weekly Share as you will come and collect your bounty every other week (a total of 14 shares).  Shares are 8-16 different items depending on the season and average to be 26lbs per share.  Starting in May, members will pick up their share on weeks 1,3,5,7, etc… or 2,4,6,8, etc… depending on your assigned CSA start date (the farmers assign the start date, you choose your pick up ‘day’).   With every Bi-Weekly CSA share you will receive recipes and tips on how to store, prepare and fall in love with vegetables!    Note:   Our expectation is that each Bi-Weekly share will contain enough veggies to meet the needs of an individual or small household for one week per pick up.

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CSA Member Benefits:

• In addition to your weekly fruits and veggies you will receive a weekly newsletter full of beautiful photos and updates about the farm.
• Over the course of the season you will have the opportunity to visit the farm at our CSA Member Farm-Day scheduled for June & our CSA Member Pumpkin Day set for late September!
• Exclusive access to our Working Hands Farm CSA Members page to share recipe ideas, kitchen prep successes, food preservation ideas etc.  You have permission to get creative in the kitchen!
• WHF Grass-Fed Beef, Pasture-Raised Pork, Pasture-Raised Chicken, Pasture-Raised Eggs!  As CSA members you will have the opportunity to buy our 100% organic, grass-fed black angus beef, pasture-raised pork, pasture-raised chicken and pasture-raised eggs.

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Market-Style CSA Pick Up  At Working Hands Farm we use a Market-Style CSA Pick Up to display our weekly bounty that is reminiscent of a beautiful farmers market stand!   During CSA pick up you get to pack your own share with the allotted amounts of vegetables written next to each varietal.   It is very user friendly and FUN! Members have the opportunity to purchase one of our WHF farm crates OR bring 2-3 reusable bags to put their produce in.

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Fruits and Veggies After many seasons of trialing a diverse selection of veggie and fruit varieties we are feeling more confident than ever in our experience (which plants grew the best, produced the most, tasted the best and survived throughout all the seasons!) The varieties chosen last year were some of our most productive to date! We have selected the very best from the past 5 seasons and are excited to incorporate a few new varieties, from local seed companies, that we know our members are going to love.  We will be investing in some new perennial herbs and fruit crops like apples, pears etc.. for years down the road, as well as more of our favorites staples – strawberries and raspberries.

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Eggs The ladies of Chateau Poulet appreciate all the love and support this past season.  They are raised on fresh pasture as well as an organic, non-GMO feed (no soy, no corn) made in the Pacific NW by Scratch and Peck – a local feed supply that we are proud to support and share the goal of feeding our communities the best possible product (their tag line is “you are what your animals eat!”).  We believe in our farming practices and in offering the best possible product to our members and community – a product that you simply can’t find in the store.  Everything we do on the farm, we do it out of love for nature, the animals, our environment and the health and safety of our community.

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An important note from your farmers: After sharply rising feed costs over the past three years we have decided that in order to make laying hens a sustainable aspect of our farm we are downsizing our flock of egg layers.   Instead of offering egg shares, our dozens will be available a la carte at the CSA pick up on a first come, first serve basis. We have also raised our prices to $9.50 per dozen as this ensures we make at least a $1 per dozen eggs sold. Make no mistake: these are the highest quality eggs you can buy and take it from your farmers they are worth every penny. Remember you are supporting a food system that does not make compromises! One that pays the farmers that grow the certified organic, non-GMO grains, the local company that distributes the BEST POSSIBLE product and also the farmers who grow, manage, tend to and keep the flock.

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Grass-Fed Beef, Pasture-Raised Pork and Pasture-Raised Chicken As CSA members you will have the opportunity to buy our 100% organic, grass-fed black angus beef, pasture-raised pork and pasture-raised chicken. These products are very limited and the sell out extremely fast. We will let you know when these products are available throughout the CSA season and we sell them on a first come, first serve basis.

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Sign-Up & Deposit.  Once you’ve read about the 2015 CSA season you can sign-up online.  In order to reserve your share we require a $250 deposit that is non-refundable and is applied to the total cost of the CSA.  The deposit is due within two weeks of submitting our online CSA form.  Once your deposit of $250 is received we will send you a confirmation email welcoming you to our CSA program. We encourage those members who can, to pay more than the deposit upon signing up as this helps your farmers absorb the initial expenses that happen at the beginning of the season.  Our farm is a livable wage farm and by being part of our farm-ily you are directly investing in a sustainable agricultural model that doesn’t make compromises!  Because of your investment we will be able to provide safe, delicious and nutritious food for many years to come.  Remember that our CSA operates on a first come, first serve basis so sign up ASAP!

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Quick Links:  2015 CSA Season (the Who, What, Where, Why, When & How Much) & our 2015 Sign-Up Form.  If you have any further questions be sure to check out our FAQs section or send us an email.  We look forward to seeing you all at the start of the season!  Here’s to good food and an amazing community!

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Sign-Up Here!

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And a quick – but very important favor – for your farmers… word of mouth is the best way to help us grow and sustain our small farm. Please encourage interested friends, family, neighbors & community etc… in signing up for their CSA share.  Many thanks for your help from all of us at Working Hands.

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Check out this link to our favorite photos from our 2014 season: it’s amazing how much can happen in a year and there’s so much to be thankful for!  Enjoy this compilation of our best shots of the year.

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Happiest of days to you all!

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Jess, Brian & the rest of the farm-ily…

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dirty hands, clean hearts –

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