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Hi Friends and Farm-ily,
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We hope you all enjoyed the first weekend of August!
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We are nearing the big hump of planting and seeding out Fall crops… Greens of many shapes, some roots, more broccoli, cauliflower and romanesco as well as overwintering veggies are all waiting in the wings to be planted in the next few weeks. One of our favorite things about planting for Fall is the opportunity to start again. To wipe clean the mistakes of Spring, the last remnants of carrots that got away from you, or the tiny crops that for whatever reason you tried to plant too densely, etc… It’s the opportunity to transition and wipe the slate clean, to be renewed at the point in the season when it is most needed. The Big Push!
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We had the pleasure of hosting a dear old friend of Farmer Brian’s and part of his beautiful family for the past couple days! Their paths first crossed 9 years ago when they both worked for the same NGO in East Africa. Their passion for fuel efficient cook stoves brought them from Africa to the Caribbean together. He continues the same work today from an amazing organization based out of Fort Collins Colorado called http://www.treeswaterpeople.org. We’d encourage everyone to take a look at what they do and help support the positive impact they are making across the world. Oh! And here’s a video that Brian filmed (& our friends Juliet Zulu edited/produced) while they were in Haiti building and designing the Zanmi Pye Bwa (‘friends of the trees’) cookstove. Click here to view the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd4esdXNKaM At around 2:42 you can see Farmer B 🙂
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Over the weekend, Farmer Brian had a crazy 19 hour shift off the farm where he and Farmer Erik (from Even Pull Farm) went on a crazy quick & long road trip (they left at 7pm and were back the next day by 3pm) to pick up some Shuttle Bins for storing taters, onions and winter squash in. The used bins were a smoking hot deal but were all the way out in eastern Washington which didn’t stop these two inspired young lads. They worked their tetris skills in order to get as many as they could into the van and cattle trailer (it was a work of art). A big plastic, vented bin shouldn’t make us so excited but it feels so good to work smarter, not harder. It will make our lives incredibly efficient come winter squash harvest and we’ll be trying them out with our bulk potato harvest this weekend. We’re so excited to make these tasks way more efficient. Before we would fill up crates (60-80lbs of product) out in the field and then load them on the trailer, unloaded them in the greenhouse or the barn and spread them out to cure and then a little while later we’d have to put them back into a bin where they will be stored for months and month and months. Now we will only have to touch the product once which means way less heavy lifting, better stacking capability and overall a much more enjoyable experience for your farmers. The other benefit is storability, as they are fully vented they will allow the storage crops to breath just enough to maximize their storage life. In the past we have used cardboard gay lords and we would lose about 25% of our crops every winter. Not to mention storing them all in a insulated building which will keep temperatures much more consistent! Its exciting to make a positive change! <all the high fives>
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The visit and “road trip” were a welcome change of pace. When you’re in the thick of it, it can be really hard to gain any outside perspective. It’s definitely that time of the season when “the farm farms you.” With other people around, new energy, new places, new faces… it definitely helps to find a better perspective. We’ve been talking a lot of balance and the opportunity to leave the farm every once in a while which is so important. We look forward to welcoming a new chapter in this crazy farm life that includes more of this balance.
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Bulk Tomatoes! Now that summer is back, we have a feeling that our Bulk Tomatoes will be available in the next few weeks (but as always it all depends on the weather). This is the 5th season in a row that we have had offered this unbelievable deal to our members! We hope to have Mixed Varieties of our “Seconds” (25lb min order) and Classic Roma Tomatoes (20lbs min order) available. We’ll send out an email when we have our bulk tomatoes available! Fingers crossed. We’re growing three varieties of romas this year – our favorite: granadero and 2 are classic heirloom romas known for their flavor. Yippee!
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The big push is on the next few weeks/weekends so send us all the good energy you can. We’ll be trucking along and racing the sun and shorter days. We can do this! Take good care and enjoy the bounty!
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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
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working hands farm 
