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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,
Whoo hoo! We’re officially SOLD OUT for the 2016 Spring, Summer & Fall CSA Season! If you’d like to be added to our waiting list please fill out the sign up form here: https://workinghandsfarm.com/signupform/and we’ll email you should a share become available! We can’t wait for the 2016 CSA season to start! Thank you to all of our amazing CSA members both new and old who have signed up for the 2016 Spring and Summer CSA season!
Winter CSA Success! This week is the final pick up week of our inaugural Winter CSA season and I know we’ve said this before but we LOVE the Winter CSA! We didn’t know what to fully expect back in June when we began planning, prepping, seeding and transplanting for the winter CSA but are so pleased that all the planning turned out even with the wettest winter weather ever – the vegetables proved just how resilient they are and how much we’ve learned over 7 years of growing. It’s given us a whole new perspective on farming and we’ve never ate so good through the winter! Thank you for being willing to experiment with us over the course of this inaugural Winter CSA.
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The Winter Bounty. We started our Winter CSA journey on December 2nd and we’ve made it all the way to the middle of April! Our expectation for the Winter Shares were 5-10 items (dependent on weather) in each weekly share. Over the course of 18 weeks we had 11+ items in each weekly share. We were also impressed with the variety of veggies we harvested through the winter months – most weeks we had more fresh picked produce than storage veggies which is amazing! To top it all off, it was an average of 400lbs per share which comes in under $1.50 per lb of produce.
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So many different kind of goodies in the winter shares…Asparagus, arugula, beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, cilantro, collards, garlic, greens mix, italian dandelion, kale, kohlrabi, komatsuna, leeks, lettuce heads, onions, herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano), pac choi, parsley, parsnips, pumpkins, radish, rapini, radicchio, rhubarb, romanesco, rutabaga, shallots, spaghetti squash, spinach, sprouting broccoli, sweet potatoes, swiss chard, storage tomatoes, turnips, winter squash and more!
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We are so excited to learn and grow for the next winter season! Keep your eyes and ears open when we launch the 2016 Winter CSA Sign Ups later this summer! We’ll be starting Fall and Winter veggie starts in the coming months (we’re always thinking ahead…!)
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A wonderful family visit. After an amazing 2 week visit my folks headed back east to their home in Massachusetts. I can’t express just how much their visit meant to Brian and I. The last time they were able to visit was at our wedding which was almost 2 years ago! It was amazing spending the days together – eating three square meals, talking, working side by side and just enjoying each other’s company. We accomplished so much in just a few weeks time… we were like loaded springs waiting for the turn in the weather and finally, when my parents arrived, there was sun (and even some 90 degree weather!) All the composting, fertilizing, liming, tilling, and planting began! The start of the 2016 growing season had officially begun and it felt right to have them there with us by our sides. They brought their A game and it felt great to reconnect with them as if a day never passed since the last time we saw them. It’s amazing how much we miss them already and hope it’s not too long until we see there faces again. Love you guys!
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After my folks left Brian worked extra hard into the evenings to disc and seed the lower pasture with our old-but-new-to-us seed drill. The extra soggy el nino winter left that bottom acreage under water for a few months time. We talked to a handful of farmers near by and our local forage land specialist at OSU extension and we came up with a pasture mix that we hope will thrive in wetter conditions. It will be amazing to turn those 4 acres into productive ground to graze the cows through the drier part of the season. Fingers crossed this little bit of rain moving through the valley helps germinate all those seeds!
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Calf Update! The last calf, a beautiful (and giant) heifer calf was born to our mama 1047 last week. She has been warmly taken in by the herd and has been running around the pastures with her other two calf buddies. They are so animated and light on their feet, drinking out of the water trough and getting their fill at the milk bar. All three calves take after their sire Jackson, with the British White markings which makes them easy to spot in the pasture and are pretty darn cute to watch!
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The planting and seeding continues.. we’ll be starting our first curcubits (cucumbers, summer squash, zucchini) in the propagation house this weekend as well as a bunch of greens, flowers and other goodies! We have some cippolini onions, cauliflower, pac choi, greens, herbs etc that will be planted this weekend during the forecasted sunny stretch. It’s hard to believe it’s already the middle of April! Pretty soon harvest will begin again and a whole new adventure awaits! #keepswimming #endlesspossibilities
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We look forward to seeing and meeting all our Spring/Summer/Fall CSA Members next month! We’ll be in touch with updates about the start date etc. In the meantime, follow us on Instagram & Facebook to keep in touch with our daily happenings on the farm. Here we grow! Whoo hoo!
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With kind regards,
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your farmers
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Jess & Brian
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dirty hands, clean hearts
working hands farm 
