Working Hands Farm CSA 2013 Week 8

Posted on 8 Jul 2013
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The admiral in all her glory… she sure is a fine farm truck..

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Hello friends & farm-ily,

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It’s been a crazy first week of July here on the farm.  We hope you all had a happy and safe 4th of July celebration!  The dry summer weather sure has returned and we find ourselves looking for shade and water whenever we can.  July is busy time on the farm – between the bountiful harvests, keeping the water flowing, seeding for the next succession of crops, transplanting, weeding, planning etc – it’s got these two farmers pretty busy!  We have started our most epic  “to do” list yet..  we call it THE GREAT TO DO LIST OF 2013.  Many things have been added but few have been checked off.  Everything we are doing this time of the year we’ve been busy doing through the Spring plus harvest and hot days thrown on top.. it’s a wonder we get it all done but there’s a reason that longer days and sunlight…

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The hard work truly pays off though.  Everything is growing very well in the garden.  The tomatoes are beginning to bulk up as well as the peppers… shouldn’t be too long now before we have a new flush of summer veggies in the crates!  We hope you’ve been enjoying all the greens, Spring/beginning of summer goodies, and the first of many crops to come (you know there aren’t carrots that are sweeter!)  The first flush of raspberries (last years canes) have finished but we’re already seeing fruit on this year’s canes which is exciting!  There’s always something to look forward to on the farm…

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These cows bring such light and magic to the farm… we love them so! 

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Speaking of that.. we hope you plan on coming to our CSA member Potluck!

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The CSA Member Potluck is only a few Saturday’s away on July 27th from 11 – 2pm.  Attendance is highly encouraged as we look forward to spending time with our members.  Both Farming & community are at the heart of the CSA farm model and one would not exist without the other.  Visiting the farm helps build that sense of community, a moment to enjoy each other’s company and talk about stuff that matters.  There are so many interesting & inspiring members that are a part of the CSA and it’s great to bring everybody together over some delicious potluck food & good conversation.

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In the quiet of a Monday evening before our first harvest…

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Plus, that means you get to meet all of our sweet animals!  Besides the heat, summer is their 2nd favorite time on the farm (after Spring and all those lush grasses).  Any extra chard, squash, greens, etc that would go “to waste” take a trip to the barn where we find many a fine animal awaiting a garden snack or two.  As for the heat, we’re doing our best to keep the animals cool on these hot days.  The ladies of Chateau Poulet have a brand new industrial style fan as well as a new dusting pit and the pigs got some pretty sweet misters.  All in all everyone is adjusting and we’re doing our best  to keep ourselves and the animals healthy and safe!

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Movie Nights.  We’re still on the hunt for a digital projector!  Let us know if you or anyone you know would be willing to lend or donate a projector for movie nights on the farm.  It stays light out so late right now that we still have plenty of time to get to evening sunsets that aren’t around the same time as farmer bedtime (before 10pm)!

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Our chatty cathy’s strike a pose – otherwise known as our “ninjas”…

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Crates, berry hallocks, egg cartons, rubber bands…. thanks again for all the good work with returning the vessels in which you receive farm goodness!  We appreciate it!

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So get ready, here comes Week 8!  We’re looking forward to the harvests ahead & hope you have a great start to the week!  We’ll see you all soon!

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All our best,

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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p.s. Here’s a great video we watched at the end of last week.  This video is amazing and is exactly why we love and believe in what we do. Everyday you choose to nourish your body with the simple food choices you make.  “Dr. Terry Wahls learned how to properly fuel her body. Using the lessons she learned at the subcellular level, she used diet to cure her MS and get out of her wheelchair.”

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Working Hands Farm CSA 2013 Week 7

Posted on 1 Jul 2013
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Howdy friends & farm-ily!

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It’s Week 7 of the CSA (yippee) and happy 4th of July!   These newsletters are always nice for us farmers to look back upon because so much can change in just one weeks time.  The weather, notably… 90 degree days, sunny, absolutely sweltering, really.. wasn’t it just rainy – albeit muggy – last week?  Thanks to the long days and sunshine everything continues to grow,grow,grow in the garden.  Whether it enjoys all the heat and sun or is holding on for dear life – it’s hard not to grow on so much sunshine.  Despite all of the rain last week we are on a pretty good watering cycle already.  All the greens, cabbages, broccoli, cauliflowers all perk up when the sun finally sets (the dewy morning is their favorite).  We did pick out first tomato though!  It’ll be a little while before the rest follow but there’s nothing more motivating than finding the first ripened red treasure (they’ll all be here before you know it!)  The animals have been laying low the past few days – seeking shade in the barn which gives us lots of opportunities for cow cuddles *here’s a really sweet video proving that Ellie is really good at those*… all the hot weather doesn’t give you much of a choice in taking a siesta during the hottest part of the day!

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By now everyone is getting into the groove of the CSA.  Making more homecooked meals, feeling more confident in the kitchen, being open to trying new veggies!  We decided to keep the encouragement high as we near the halfway mark of the Spring & Summer CSA with some helpful tips for CSA success!  These aren’t all the ways to be successful as each person’s journey is there own but eating well, preparing food at home, being conscious of our own food journeys, and staying inspired and curious about nourishing ourselves, our families & friends is what it’s all about.  If anything, reading through these should encourage and make you feel great about the choice to sign up for CSA and be a part of your local farm!

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The more veggies the better on homemade pizza!  Beets & feta… mmmmm

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Meal planning.  This is a great way to utilize each weeks bounty.  For those who have their meals planned each week you know that planning goes as follows, pick recipes, make a list, purchase groceries.   That’s because we cook from the recipe, not from its ingredients. With CSA cooking the idea is to start planning your meals after you pick up your share.  If meal planning seems overwhelming, start with just a few planned meals a week.  This change in the process means cooking with what’s in season, and it’s a good habit to get into even without a CSA share.

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Freezing and canning.  Our Week 4 newsletter is full of helpful information and places to start.  Don’t forget that although you’re enjoying your veggies now there’s something satisfying about saving your extras for later in the year!  We are on our last dozen jars of homemade tomato sauce and can’t express how lovely it is to pop open a jar of our summer tomatoes!

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Leftovers.  If you have leftovers share with others or bring it back to the farm to feed the pigs/chickens or fuel the compost pile!  Throughout the week put any veggie scraps that you may have in a bucket or tupperware to bring to the farm and we’ll leave out a compost bin & animal bin to toss them into.  The farm works in a circle, as does nature,  and we are all a part of that.  There is no waste!

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Enjoy eating new vegetables!  One of our greatest examples of this is the amount of people who grew up on boiled to death beets.. or worse, canned tasteless beets.  When people try the beets from the farm in a new way (roasted, in a salad, as burgers or even in brownies) they change their minds and there are so many things that contribute to that.  Mostly, it’s the openness of trying something new or trying something in a new way.  Branch out and explore your palette and see what tastes great to you.  You have your farmers to consult and a wealth of resources at your fingertips so don’t hesitate to be inspired!

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It’s beginning to rain rainbow carrots here on the farm…

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Get inspired by Seasonal Cookbooks & Recipe Blogs.  Books, such as, An Everlasting Meal, Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Vegetables, The Four Season Farm Gardener’s Cookbook,  Simply in Season or The Flavor Bible .  Blogs, such as, The Year In Food, Smitten Kitchen, Naturall Ella or any of the others listed in the week 3 newsletter!

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Eating in season!  We live in such a fertile part of the US and should relish in all the wonderful things that grow where we live.  Waiting for those first seasonal crops  can be hard after a winter of root veggies, brassicas, soups & bread but everything tastes that much sweeter (because it’s fresh, in season and grown just down the road in the dirt & in the open air!)  It’s easy to enjoy the conveniences of the grocery store (that’s what it’s their for) but we tell ya that waiting all winter and spring for that first seasonal vine ripened tomato is the best thing for ya!
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Getting your fridge ready for fresh goodies!  Take the time the night before to make space for a new box of goodies, and to take inventory of any veggies that would love to be used up in a ‘end of the week’ stirfry or soup!  Making vegetable stock is always a happy solution for extra veggies – rough chop them, simmer them in a few quarts of water (a cup or two of veggies to one quart of water) for 30 – 40 minutes, and you have stock. Strain it, freeze it, and so versatile!  Flavorful, rich in vitamins and minerals.. we included a recipe in the Week 3 recipe sheet that has some helpful guidelines for making vegetable stock!
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Our first tomato to ripen – of the extra early Siletz variety we are trying (one of 25 different varieties we’re growing)!

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Processing & Storing your veggies for the week.  It’s many hours, days, love & light that go into producing vegetables.  From the seed starting process, to being transplanted, weeded & taken care of, to harvesting.. it can be anywhere from 2-5 months before a veggie is brought to your home.  So it’s important to properly process the vegetables in order to preserve their integrity through the week.  Such as washing all your greens, chopping them up and putting them into a pyrex with a damp towel.  This helps make more room in the fridge and maintain their moisture better.  It’s also helpful to separate your greens from the root veggies (as they tend to draw the moisture out of the veggie).  Something appear to be wilting?  Throw it in some icy cold water for 30 minutes and it will perk right back up!  See next bullet for a video on processing!

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An Everlasting Meal. In this book Tamar Adler reminds us of ‘forgotten skills such as boiling, suggestions for what to do when cooking seems like a chore, and strategies for preparing, storing, and transforming ingredients for a week’s worth of satisfying, delicious meals.’ Here’s a little video that reminds us of the practical pleasures of eating – of just how washing or soaking the greens, pre-roasting/cooking, & storing veggies can make for many more homemade meals in a busy week, increase the longevity of the produce and make cooking enjoyable (as it should be!)

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When in doubt – roast!  (then you’ll be doubly sure of it next time… MMM)

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More veggies, please.  Add or double the amount of vegetables in your meals!  See how many different vegetables you can pack in to what you’re already cooking,

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Eat or drink vegetables for breakfast! For breakfast try a simple sautee with greens & garlic, biscuits, with eggs, in a quiche or veggie pancakes.  Drink your veggies!  There are so many great veggie drinks out there (heck, we just enjoyed an apple, kale, strawberry & carrot smoothie) – whatever is in there give it a go!
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As your CSA farmers our responsibility is to provide you with the most nutrient rich, organic, thoughtfully- grown – with love, fresh picked, local produce!   To grow produce according to the seasons and to the best of our abilities.  To introduce you to new kinds of produce & new ways to prepare it!  To encourage you to enjoy your time in the kitchen, be playful and to have fun.  After you pick up that crate full of bounty we pass the torch to you.  We’re a part of each others food journey and we look forward to hearing week to week about what you’re cooking, what was eaten first and what you really enjoyed.  It completes our food journey here on the farm to hear and see how the hard work is being utilized and enjoyed!

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A new perspective of the farm from the window of a friend’s 60 year old single prop plane… amazing!  

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Enjoy the journey and stay inspired!  We hope you have something fun planned for the 4th.  Don’t forget to set out or bring back your crates & berry boxes.  We’ll see you all real soon!

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with fondest 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 CSA Week 6

Posted on 24 Jun 2013
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Hey friends & Farm-ily!

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Week 6 is upon us.  Looks like the last bit of rain before the summer sun here on the farm.  The soil is rich and decadent when the rains come.  These long days are like magic.  When plants go seamlessly from sprouted cotyledons to plants with flowers and ripened fruit.  We forget just how quickly things grow when we’ve patiently waited forever since February and March for things to sprout & grow.  When it takes months for the peas to reach up high, or the peppers to be safely planted outside in the ground.   It’s an amazing thing to cultivate vegetables and even more amazing that we get to share in that bounty with you.  Take a moment this week to notice just how everything looks in the garden because in the coming weeks things will have doubled or tripled in size and may even be bearing fruits!

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Cow Update.  We’ve officially begun the drying off process with Ellie.  It’s been about 3 days since we began and she has been doing surprisingly well despite her change in diet and in routine.  Although she still appears swollen we’re hopeful the drying off will take and over the next week her body will re-adjust to no longer making milk.  She really appreciates sympathy cheek rubs though so bring them along with you this week.

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It’s bittersweet as we’re sad to see strawberry season come to an end… but excited to welcome raspberry season!

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Chicken Update.  With all the warmer weather the ladies of chateau poulet egg production has slowed down a bit.  We introduced a handful of new birds to the flock in order to boost our numbers.  Naturally, things tend to slow down when hens molt (our 2nd year chickens), get broody, or become stressed by the heat. We have our 30% shade cloth out there in hopes of creating a cooler environment for the girls.  Alas, it’s all part of nature and we hope as the summer season rolls on that the hens in the house regain some balance.

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*Happy chicken news!  Our chicken feed company – Scratch and Peck – received Organic Certification effective June 13th!  We are proud to support the ONLY feed company in America to be 100% Organic and Non-GMO Verified.  Go Scratch and Peck!  You are what your chickens eat.

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Our favorite new tool.. the wheel hoe!

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Our Favorite Farm Tool.  Your farmers would like to give a shout out to their wheel hoe this week.  This fantastic tool has broke new ground for us on the farm (even farmer Brian loves weeding more) as it helps us to finish weeding multiple beds in the time it would take us a day or two to do it by hand.  It’s amazing what can get done when you’ve got wheels!  And like the package says, “if you see the weed you are too late…”  – well these two farmers are on top of it now.  Saving our hands and our bodies – working smarter, not harder – and onto the next chore to conquer…

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Fall CSA.  We’ve had many thoughtful inquiries about the Fall CSA (we can’t get enough of the delicious bounty) and so we’re planting the seed as we prepare for buying seeds, amendments, soil etc.  As our CSA members you will be the first to know all the details so be sure to look for that information in the coming weeks!  Yay for fall crops!

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Time to get ready for fall seedlings!

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4th of July.  A few people have asked about 4th of July which is a week from Thursday.  Our pick ups/deliveries won’t be changing that week – everything will be just as it always is.  But, if you will be out of town & would like your box donated or will have someone picking up for you that week, just let us know by Monday, July 1st.  Normally, if you are taking a vacation or will have other folks picking up your box, 24 hours notice works just fine for us!

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Movie Nights.  We’re still working on borrowing a projector for the summer.   Ideally, it would be one that we could keep at the farm (we set up movie nights each week a few hours in advance to make sure all is working).  We have the speakers and computer to hook it up to – all we need is the magic of a digital projector!  Put it out there into the universe for us as this would be a fun summer treat!

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Belstar makes an amazing head of broccoli.. this one weighed in at 2.5lbs!

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Crates.   We’re starting the week off short a few crates so please be sure to bring back crates for this week’s pick up/delivery.  Your farmers thank you kindly!

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See you all this week!

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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 CSA 2013 Week 5

Posted on 17 Jun 2013
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Hey friends & farm-ily!

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Boy, have we been having some beautiful weather on our off-harvest days.  Flowers are blooming everywhere in the garden making it incredibly easy to anticipate the summer goodies that are just around the corner..  Looking ahead it seems like another week of potentially rainy harvests but it takes a lot more than that to get these farmers down.  The plants could definitely use a few more rainy days before the summer days of dry & heat return for good – especially the garlic, potatoes & onions – as they make there final growing push in the next month or so before harvest.

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There are a few exciting celestial events happening this upcoming weekend… the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, is just a few days away (on Friday) &  a “supermoon,” the closest the moon will be in 2013 will be happening on Sunday.  We certainly feel all the energy as we’ve been working pretty late in the fields this month.  We’ve been getting better at taking breaks during the hottest times of the late afternoon/early evening to make dinner and get back out in the fields at 7 for a few hours.  We call 7-9pm the “magic hours” here on the farm… from the low, glimmering sunlight to the cooler breeze – it’s just such a joy to be out in the garden getting our hands dirty.  The animals love it too – they’re all out there filling their bellies – in the settling of the day – before perching or laying down for the night.  On the farm, we’re all ready to hit the hay hard by the end of the evening.

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Movie Nights.  We’re still working on borrowing a digital projector for our summer movie nights.  If anyone has any leads or ideas about where to find/borrow one we’d appreciate it!  Some of our favorite evenings on the farm last summer were watching old movies out in the field amongst the growing garden.  Being out there at night was neat, as it helps to give a new perspective on the place the surrounds you.  Plus… Picnics & blankets, the most beautiful sunsets you can imagine, night time country sky with stars, and new friends… couldn’t be better.

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CSA Members Potluck.  We’re excited about our members potluck at the end of July.  Mark your calendars for Saturday July, 27th from 11-2 pm.  It will be a laid back afternoon where everyone should bring a potluck dish, sun hats & your smiles!  We encourage members to bring a guest if they’d like.  It will be a day to get to know your farmers, your community and share in the beauty of your  farm.  Your farmers will be making a small presentation of sorts (around noon) and will be plenty of time for good conversation, good food & meeting fellow members in your community.  It’s a great time to slow down & enjoy the beauty of the farm when it’s in “full bloom.”  We’re hoping that weekend will be good for the majority of our members as we know the summertime weekends quickly fill up on the ol’ calendar!

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Two Farmers, One Farm.  In the first 4 weeks of harvest, your farmers have distributed 2,100 pound of produce to our CSA members.  All of that produce has been grown thoughtfully and with love.  Prepped, Seeded, transplanted, weeded & harvested by 2 sets of hands (yes, each and every berry was picked by farmer Jess or farmer Brian).  That puts us on track to grow and distribute 18,000 pounds of organic fruits and vegetables.  Two farmers on a three acre veggie garden, “can’t feed the world” – well, I’m guessing you know how WE feel about that.  It’s a pretty amazing number and we look forward to seeing how much more we grow in the next 5-6 months.

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Crates, egg cartons, berry boxes.  You guys have been the BEST about returning crates.  Let’s keep it up as we head into week 5 of the CSA.  It’s great for your farmers to not sweat the small stuff… we can just focus on filling up those boxes for you week to week!

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Farm Compost & Farm Animal Snacks.  In keeping with a more sustainable farm model (and since everything in nature moves in circles) we will be keeping a few bins at the farm pick ups for our compost pile & pig/chicken snacks.  If you happen to have any leftover greens, tops, bit n pieces etc from any Working Hands Farm related produce feel free to bring it in your own container and disperse it in the appropriate farm bin.  The garden and animals thank you in advance! <go team go!>

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We look forward to seeing you all soon.. until then, enjoy the start of your week!

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Our best to you all,

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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 CSA 2013 Week 4

Posted on 10 Jun 2013
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Hi friends,

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Welcome to Week 4 – Month 1 – we can hardly believe it.  We’ve been busy this past week/weekend trellising the tomatoes, weeding, and digging up new ground for new succession plantings of carrots, parsnips, beets, greens, winter squash, corn and pumpkins.  Sun up to sun down.  These longer days mean longer hours for your farmers (don’t get us started on our to-do lists) and it feels incredible to check a few things off before the next thing sneaks on to the list…

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All of the beans, and second plantings of cucumbers and squash we planted the week before have happily come up in the garden with all the sunshine and warm soil.  Both the sweet & storage onions are beginning to bulb out as well as the garlic (there will be more garlic scapes this week!)  The tomatoes & tomatillos all have there first rounds of flowers as well as the first few flowers on the peppers.  The snap peas keep producing like champions of the garden and have proved to be the perfect garden snack through all its phases (small & tender to juicy & big.)   And, oh yeah, red raspberries are happening!   And it’s just the beginning…

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Dreams of Tomato, basil.. anyone..?

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With so much bounty already this season our farmer minds have turned to thoughts of preserving.  With greens, berries, cabbage, and many other delicious veggies, making there way into our daily lives, we wonder what to do with it all.  Fresh is best but preserving delicious veggies and fruits, to enjoy long after the growing season is finished, can be just as nutritious, exciting to your taste buds and more sustainable, if you’re looking for ways to utilize extra/leftover weekly veggies.  (Plus, it’s a better option than buying processed foods at the store that include preservatives, additives etc…)

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There are many options if you find yourself with a little extra bounty in your fridge each week or if you just want to try something different.  Fermenting, dehydrating, freezing, canning & traditional techniques (such as using salt, oil, sugar, vinegar etc) are all glorious ways to preserve and enjoy the bounty.  We have included some great resources below for your journey with food preservation.  Some of our favorites over the years include fermentation, quick pickling of extra goodies, making krauts or kimchee with salt (a traditional method), freezing herbs for the winter & sun drying tomatoes in the window of our truck on a sunny day (a little sea salt, pepper, olive oil… delicious!)

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Helpful links:

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Food Preservation –OSU Extension Services a great source of information for many things.  This link has pdfs for preserving fruits, vegetables, meat, pickling, drying etc.  They also offer workshops & classes and can contact your local Extension office for a schedule.

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Freezing Fruits & Veggies – Another great article from OSU about freezing your fruits & veggies.

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Best Way to Preserve Vegetables – An article on Mother Earth News that includes preferred methods of storing common garden produce.

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(pounding) Stakes and maters for breakfast on Sunday…

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Preserving at home is fun and easy as pie – did you know that expression comes from eating pie, not the making & baking part of it hehe – especially after the first couple of times.  Growing up my mom always had a pantry full of jams, jellies, relishes, pickles, tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes etc – not to mention a freezer full of veggies, homegrown meat & berries – and it makes me so happy to see my own pantry full of garden grown goodies.  Here are some go to books for all your preservation adventures…

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The Fermentation Bible:  Wild Fermentation – by Sandor Ellix Katz  Fermentation makes foods more nutritious, as well as delicious. Microscopic organisms transform food and extend its usefulness.  Hundreds of medical and scientific studies confirm what folklore has always known: Fermented foods help people stay healthy.

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Many of your favorite foods and drinks are probably fermented. For instance: Bread, Cheese, Wine, Beer, Mead, Cider, Chocolate, Coffee, Tea, Pickles, Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Salami, Miso, Tempeh, Soy Sauce, Vinegar, Yogurt, Kefir, Kombucha.

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Preservation using Traditional Techniques: Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning – this book was written by gardeners and farmers of Centre Terre Vivante in France that uses traditional techniques (using salt, oil, sugar, alcohol, vinegar, drying, cold storage & lactic fermentation). This book is also the antithesis of many canning or preserving books you can find out there.

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Homemade Kimchee!

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Some go to Canning, Preserving Books:

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Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round

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Sunset books:  Home Canning, Preserving, Freezing, Drying  

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Ball Blue Book of Preserving

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The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest

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Ball Complete Book Home Preserving

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Canning for a New Generation: Bold, Fresh Flavors for the Modern Pantry

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We have most of these books in our kitchen library so feel free to ask any questions (we just might have an answer.)  More importantly, if any members have any other great books or go to recipes for preservation of fruits and veggies feel free to email them our way or post them to our facebook page.  We’ll be including a great “stock cubes” recipe this week written by one of our wonderful CSA members.  Preservation is a great thing to keep in mind as the greens keep coming and the first tomatoes ripen on the vine… you’ll want to savor the farm flavors year round!

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Let us all continue to share in the bounty and share the knowledge that each one of us possesses.  Thanks to you all for our own success here on the farm.  Your encouragement, feedback and general thoughtfulness are what help these two farmers get up when the sun first rises.

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Can you find Farmer Brian?

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You guys are CRATE!  Keep up the good work returning your crates, egg cartons and berry boxes!  It makes harvest days that much easier when your farmers have all that they need.

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Enjoy the week, stay inspired & we’ll see you 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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Working Hands Farm CSA 2013 Week 3

Posted on 3 Jun 2013
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Hi folks,

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We’re cruising right along into week 3.  Hard to believe it’s only the first week of June.  It just feels so summer-like and because of that we keep having these urgent farmer moments, “we have to plant more of this,” “we have to seed this,” “what about planning for the Fall CSA?” etc etc… and then we realize it’s only June 3rd.    Of course, those thoughts of planning are always in the back of our minds – as you only get so many months of the year to grow food and now is the time – but we’re so happy and thankful for the weather, for our health & for becoming more efficient farmers (it is just the two of us here on the farm!)

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We spent our weekend in the fields seeding our dry beans, bush beans, a second succession of summer squash, cukes & melons and transplanted our beautiful cutting flowers.  We’ve been catching up with the weeds, block by block and see a lot of healthy growth on all our plants.  As we near the summer solstice, the plants really do thrive in the garden with all the extra sunshine!  The bees have been busy in the garden and we’re already seeing some pink fruit on the raspberries… won’t be too long now until we have some new berries in the CSA boxes (exciting!)

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Cow updates.  We’re preparing to dry off our sweet jersey cow, Ellie, and are mostly coping with the idea of not having milk, cheese, yogurt, butter for a few months(sigh.)  Drying off the cow allows her some time to get her body ready for calving.  Which means we’ll be reducing the energy content of her diet (i.e. grain & alfalfa) and feeding her a primarily high-fiber diet in order to reduce milk production.  Being a creature of habit, she won’t like the change (she loves her grain) but we’ll be slowly changing her diet over the next few weeks until we dry her off completely.  She’ll freshen again in September when she has her next calf (fingers crossed it all goes well) and we’ll look forward to all the homemade ice cream we can eat and of course, an adorable new addition to the farm.

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Movie Nights.  We LOVED movie nights at the end of last summer.  Some of our favorite memories from last summer happened on those movie nights (Singin’ in the Rain on a full moon – the same night that Ellie calved with Maribelle!)  We’re hoping it will be something we are able to do this year but alas, we need some help.  A member and friend last year let us borrow her digital projector last year and it worked out great.  It’s not in the farms funds this year to purchase a projector so we ask you – our members, friends & family – if you might perhaps have one we could borrow for the season?  There’s no better plan to watch a movie on a summer night than out on the farm…

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Dirty Hands, Clean Hearts.  We hope everyone is feeling inspired in their kitchens.  Don’t forget to send along some of your favorite recipes or ones you’re looking to try.  We make 3 (or sometimes 4) meals a day and always have ideas how to use produce (as it’s what we grow it’s most of what we eat!)  We’re always here to help so feel free to ask questions.

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There may be times where you’re unsure of the best way to use or cook your goodies – which is why we’re sharing some of our favorite recipe blogs below.  Adventuring through old cookbooks or on the web is a great way to utilize all of the farm fresh goodies each week.  And if you happen to have any left over greens or kale, try your hand at Kale Chips, a simple soup or sautee or maybe even a green smoothie (with a spoonful of peanut butter, Farmer Brian’s favorite!) .

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The Year In Food 

Lottie & Doof

Happy Yolks

Smitten Kitchen

Mollie Katzen

101 Cookbooks

Naturally Ella

Sprouted Kitchen

My New Roots

Cookie & Kate

Seven Spoons

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–Married to the soil…

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Crates.  A big thanks for bringing back (or setting out) your crates, berry boxes, egg cartons & rubber bands last week.  We were two happy farmers at the end of each harvest day with just enough crates to do our job well.  It makes our days easier and we appreciate your help!  Keep up the good work!

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Well, we’re off… as it’s an early, early wake up call tomorrow in response to some really hot days ahead!  Stay cool out there and enjoy the sunshine.

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Our 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 2013 CSA Week Two

Posted on 27 May 2013
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When the community is connected to its soil the plants are not the only things to grow roots. – Farmer B

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Hi CSA-ers,

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Welcome to the farm-ily!  We had such a wonderful first week of harvest here on the farm thanks to you.  All of your encouragement (in person, through email and in kindly written notes) has been much appreciated!  Don’t ever stop being inspired to share your thoughts and let your farmers know what you’re cookin’ in the kitchen!  We love it!  Seriously guys, it’s been a great start to the season already.  With both our returning members and new members this season your two farmers are starting to really feel a part of something bigger (and it means more than we can say.)  We feel as if a strong, sturdy, inspiring, supportive and thoughtful foundation is being laid before us – one that could stand the test of time for many, many years. Your thoughts mean the world to us and make us happier farmers and ultimately a better and more productive farm!  It’s an incredible feeling and we thank you for all your positivity as we dive into week two!

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The Return of the Rain.  We loved receiving all your words in regards to the recent return of the rain.  We take pride in the fact that our CSA members are paying attention to the effects that weather has on the crops (i.e. lying awake at night listening to the rain (like us) wondering how all the vegetables are fairing).  It’s both funny and wonderful when you start thinking about all the meals and food that is yet to be harvested – out there surviving in the elements – until it reaches your home and eventually your plate.  It’s an incredible journey that these veggies take from seed to fruit and you get to reap all the lovely benefits of their journey.  The rain hasn’t slowed anything down yet.  It’s funny what a few really soggy days will do for perspective.  Suddenly on those days when the sun bursts through with a little bit of wind you feel so thankful (and so do those strawberries).  Harvesting in the rain isn’t a farmgirl or guys favorite but we know there are many sunny, warm harvests ahead and will take our cool mornings while we have them.  Plus, it’s not all bad…  the brassicas and cool weather crops are sighing in relief while the summer crops are anxiously awaiting the return of summer.  It even looks as if the sun might return to these parts come this weekend… here’s hoping!

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Your Favorite Veggie Recipes.  We decided that we’d love to ask for a few of everyone’s favorite veggie recipes to be included on the recipe page of our weekly CSA handout.  As the vegetables come up in season we’ll use 1 recipe (out of 3 or 4) as a CSA member’s favorite.  (Returning CSA-ers, here’s a chance to really shine by sharing some of your own favorites from last year)!   It’s inspiring to see what others are dishing up in their own homes and to introduce new flavors and combinations of things to your own home cooked meals.  Feel free to email them to us when you’re thinking of it and we’ll use them throughout the season.

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Eggs.  ‘Tis the season for an extra dozen or two of eggs.  The ladies of Chateau Poulet have been laying like champions due to all the copious amounts of sunlight (even longer days are ahead of us) and rich, lush, spring pasture and welcome you to support their cause!  Whether you’d like to buy extras in addition to your egg share or buy a dozen separately they are available to all.  For farm pick ups, we will have extra dozens available in the fridge – please check with your farmers first about available quantities.   For home delivery, if you are interested in purchasing a dozen please send us an email with your order!

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Returning Your Crate.  It’s really important to return your crate each week (an empty crate in exchange for one bounding with produce, sounds pretty good, right?).  We believe that building crates is more sustainable for our farm – more than cardboard or plastic – as we will use them for years to come.  Making crates takes a lot of time and energy but what more beautiful way to distribute your veggies from farm to table.  It’s a small but very important role that you play in order to make this CSA flow smoothly and we thank you in advance for helping us in that regard.  You guys are crate! (get it)?  For Home Delivery, please leave your empty crate where your CSA box was distributed the previous week.  If you have any questions please let us know!

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Reuse Egg Cartons, Berry Boxes & Rubber Bands.  Thanks to all of those members who came to pick ups with egg cartons in their hands (or even picked up on our deliveries).  It was such a simple and wonderful gesture that really made us feel like part of a community.  So thank you and keep it up!  We also reuse our berry boxes and rubber bands.  It’s a great way for us all to reduce the amount of waste we produce, save the farm some money and create a lesser impact on good ole mother nature. (Farmer Brian says, no egg cartons with egg shells, please).

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Many, many thanks for all of your support and encouragement!  The transformation of eating fresh is upon us all.  Take notice and take pride in the way that you will feel over the course of this journey, be inspired to try new things and like one of our members said to us recently, give yourselves a pat the back for joining a CSA this season!  We feel honored and excited to get to know each of you better this season and to be able to produce fresh food from our farm to your table.

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Our kindest 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 2013 CSA Week One

Posted on 21 May 2013
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Hi friends!

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Thanks so much for your words of encouragement after announcing our early start to the season.  We’re so happy to have your support and makes us feel great about all that we do.  We’re just as excited as you are to let the season begin and to celebrate with a bountiful harvest this week!

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Flow of the CSA.  Over the next few weeks we will all begin to get into the flow of pick ups, harvests, seasons, you name it.  Habits are interesting things (the human mind in general is mind blowing) and a CSA helps to hone in on habits and ultimately changes your lifestyle (in one form or another).  We remind you to be patient, to be excited and to enjoy it.  There are so many decisions that one person must make everyday, a daunting task at times – revel in those food choices your farmers/seasons are making for you each week.  Get creative & be inspired.  Ask questions & be open – you’ll be surprised what you might find as the season unfolds.  Past members have suggested going to the grocery store after you have received your crate.  It saves you trips and also may save you from going to the grocery every week (Your farmers know that you always leave the grocery with way more than you intended)  thus cutting down on food costs!

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When weeding in the garden on Sunday a friend and I were speaking of how the garden helps to show you to yourself.  A little metaphor for all the things we go through in life on a whole.  How difficult and how beautiful it can be all in one.  It’s about the process – and through this process we are all learning together.  Feel free to find a little community in this farm – be proud to be part of something important – and to pat yourself on the back for taking care of yourself (and loved ones.)   These veggies (and eggs) that you will be nourishing your bodies with for the next 20 weeks are grown with love, passion & happy living soil.  We hope that you truly enjoy all the benefits of eating fresh (picked THAT morning), eating seasonally (sorry, no tomatoes in December), and local (your local farmer, Brian and I, need the support of his/her community)

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Home Delivery.  Home deliveries will take place on Tuesdays (May 21st – October 1st) in the late afternoons.  We will drop off your crate on your front step, porch, or lobby if you live in a building.  Please let us know if you have any questions ahead of time.  Your produce will be there to greet you upon arriving home today!

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Farm Pick Up.  Farm Pick Ups take place on Wednesday (May 22nd – October 2nd) & Thursday’s (May 23rd – October 3rd) from 4 – 6 pm (make sure you come on the right day!)  We harvest everything fresh that morning so it’s important to come between the pick up times to give your farmer’s the time to harvest, wash and pack all the CSA shares. (Farmer Brian says, No we will not pack your box early for you so don’t ask.)  Pick Ups also need to take place by 6pm as we need time to cook dinner, milk the cow, feed the chickens, muck the stalls…

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There will be a sign for farm parking (which is by the white barn) and pick ups will be beneath our shade structure upon entering (if it’s raining we may switch to the barn.)  All the crates are packed exactly the same and on the first couple of pick ups we’ll have everyone sign in before grabbing their crate.  Your farmers will be available at pick ups to say hello, answer any questions and share recipe ideas etc.  If you are unable to come pick up your share, you can either arrange for a friend or family member to pick it up for you or give us 24hr notice and we can donate your box of goodies to Truffle the pig and maybe Otis too!  All unclaimed boxes will be donated as we don’t have any means of storing them (i.e. refrigeration) on the farm.

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Crates.  Our CSA crates are hand built (by your farmers) as the hope is to use them for years to come.  We believe this to be a more sustainable practice as the alternative (cardboard, paper etc) only last a year or two – not to mention we love the aesthetic and nostalgia it brings together with all the fresh bounty nearly toppling out of it.  It is an extra thing we do for the CSA (at cost to your farmers/farm) and we love it.  In order to keep producing crates, it’s very important to return them each week.  It’s one of those things that makes a huge difference to your farmers in performing at our highest efficiency as it’s just the two of us harvesting for 25 families everyday (if we don’t have enough crates there is nothing to put your produce in.)  Past members suggest leaving it in the trunk of you car, on your door step or by your back door (so you remember to grab it.)  It’s a small but very important role that you play in order to make this CSA flow smoothly!  We thank you in advance for helping us in that regard.

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Egg cartons, Berry Boxes, Jars etc.  For all those who purchase egg shares or buy eggs at the store we reuse our paper egg cartons!  Please save up your egg cartons for us and return them, or leave them in your crate for home delivery (please no plastic or styrofoam.) We also reuse all berry boxes (1/2 pints, pints, quarts) so you can return those as well.  We are a thoughtful farm in terms of minimizing waste and reuse what we can!

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We have any exciting season ahead with over 60 different types of vegetables and several different varieties of each (it’s never a dull moment on the farm!)  Enjoy the leafy greens and cool weather brassica crops that you will find in the first few week’s of the CSA.  As well as the sun sweetened strawberries whose season is never long enough!  The greens will be tender, delicious and untouched by the heat that summer brings.  Enjoy them while they are here!  Thanks again for all your support and we look forward to sharing in the bounty with you this season.

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Many thanks & cheers to a happy harvest!

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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CSA Starts NEXT Week — 2 Weeks Early!!

Posted on 14 May 2013
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Hello Friends!

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Important exciting news regarding the start date of the CSA…. due to record breaking sunny, warm weather we’re ahead of schedule and the CSA will begin 2 weeks early which means beginning next week (the week of May 19th) our first succession of crops will be ready for your enjoyment!
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It’s been an unbelievable Spring so far with sunshine and temps as high as 90 and were beginning to wonder if summer had already sprung here on the farm.  We’ve been working real hard to keep up with all the planting, seeding, weeding and especially with watering on these long, sunny, hot days.  We’ve been missing our idyllic Spring planting weather & are happy to see some 60+ days on the horizon.
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Over the past week, the sunny weather has also sprung some questions in your farmers minds… especially when the strawberries started ripening and the broccoli heads started forming extra early.  Sometimes as a farmer you can only plan so much only to find that mother nature always has the final say.  As it is the nature of the CSA (being open to what nature intends) having produce early is a wonderful perk about eating seasonally & locally!   That said, mother nature and your farmers have decided to start the 20 week CSA season – NEXT WEEK – a full 2 weeks ahead of schedule!  So, we’re going with it (the strawberries say we don’t have a choice).
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New CSA Dates.  Your 20 week CSA season will begin NEXT WEEK – 2 weeks ahead of schedule – on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, May 21, 22, 23, 2013  on your assigned day and end the week of October 1,  2,  3, 2013 (please check your email to confirm your pick up or home delivery day).  Farm pick ups are from 4 – 6 pm and if you have someone else scheduled to pick up for you please let us know 24 hours in advance.  Home delivery will take place sometime in the late afternoon on Tuesdays!
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Many Hands Make Light Work!  As always it’s go time around here on the farm which also makes it an extra special exciting time of the year and it’s just the start of many good things to come!  Over the years we’ve learned that being flexible is a huge part of farming (and to be better farmers) as we’re still planting and planning like crazy.  We’re farming two properties this year and will be able to offer new kinds of veggies for both the 20 week Spring & Summer CSA and our extended Fall CSA (Insha’Allah, ‘god willing’).  We’ve been busy trying to catch up with all the weeds (that come with the freshly fallen rains) and would love to have some folks come out this Sunday from 10-2 to get their hands dirty, hang with their farmers and to see the farm at the beginning of the season!
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Please send us an email with a simple message or hip-hip hooray (to the early start of the season) to confirm that you’ve received this message (we don’t want to miss anybody on their first CSA box).  We’ll be sure to phone anyone we don’t hear from just to make sure!  As our CSA members, we welcome you to an exciting year ahead and thank you in advance as we appreciate your time and flexibility!  Your farmers and the animals are so excited to see and meet you all!
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Until then we’ll be scurrying about trying to finish up out one of a kind CSA crates as well as transplanting and weeding and mowing and seeding until the sun goes down… ahhh the life of a farmer (we love it).  
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Many many thanks!
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your farmers,
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Jess & Brian
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dirty hands, clean hearts
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p.s. Keep an eye out for a follow up email with more information regarding the flow of home delivery or farm pick ups, returning crates each week, saving and reusing our egg cartons etc!
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Bee-zy on the Farm!

Posted on 24 Apr 2013
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Hello friends,

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Things are moving right along on the farm as April has brought much anticipation of what’s to come and motivation to get it all done!  It has been an incredible Spring so far and we feel blessed to be farmers in the Pacific Northwest.  We are about a MONTH ahead of schedule compared to last season and feel really good about the days ahead.  March – June is always a crazy time on the farm – lots of seeding & transplanting of summer and fall crops, prepping of beds, weeding, building CSA crates, taking care of beez-ness, not to mention the beginnings of harvesting the farm’s bounty!  We are so excited to offer over 60 different types of vegetables and several different varieties of each (that’ll keep two farmers plenty busy).

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Our new beehives have been installed and the strawberries are packed with flowers.  Our brassica crops are in the ground and thriving and our summer crops are getting big and strong in the greenhouse.  We’re just a week away from our area’s “last frost date” so we will be extra busy in the coming weeks getting the rest of our garden planted.

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Special Egg Sale.  As a treat for our members, we are having a buy one, get one free egg sale until May 1st for our CSA members.  Our eggs (gmo free, no soy, no corn) are $7.50 per dozen and for those of you who have purchased an egg share for the 20 week season we will honor the discounted egg share price of $6.50 per dozen.  Please send us an email to place an order and we will send you a message with availability.  Thanks so much in advance for your support in our CSA off-season!  Your support gives us the opportunity to offer a product we believe in and we couldn’t be more grateful.

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We have included many pictures in this month’s newsletter so be sure to check out all the things happening on the farm.  We’re almost a month away from the start of the CSA and look forward to seeing you all in the coming weeks!  Time to get bee-zy on the farm!

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With fondest 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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Welcome Spring

Posted on 19 Mar 2013
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Hello Friends,

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We’re just a day away from welcoming the first of Spring!  We’ve had an incredibly mild winter this year and are so thankful for it as we’ve planted 2,000 strawberry plants and over 8,500 onions over the course of the last two weekends (a big shout out to our friends who came to help plant strawberries!).  Our first round of seedlings are maturing and some are just popping up in the warmth of the greenhouse.  Our spring chickens are just about ready to be introduced to our flock and all will be comfortable and cozy for the ladies of Chateau Poulet.  Ellie and Maribelle are loving the lush green grass and couldn’t be happier or healthier on this little farm.  Truffle & Otis the guinea hogs have stirred up some trouble (breaking a pipe and making quite a splash aka mud bath on one of the warmer sunny days last week) but love running around on the pasture and grazing on the grass and, of course, being on the receiving end of some belly rubs.

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Happy farmgirl news.  And for those who haven’t yet heard… we have some happy farm girl news!  Our very own farm girl -Jess- is featured (along with some other really great farm girls) in the April edition of MaryJanesFarm Magazine! It’s currently available at your local newsstand (New Seasons & Barnes & Nobles carries it on their shelves)!

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Easter Eggs.  Place your orders for your very own Easter Egg-ers this week and next!  Our eggs come in a variety of colors and will make for a naturally wonderful dozen for Easter celebrations (not to mention the vibrant color of the egg yolks when soft or hard boiling)!  Such a treat!  See also this fun and natural way of using vegetables and spices to dye your eggs as well.  Such a fun process for kids and adults alike!

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CSA Shares.  For those who want to sign up for the CSA we recommend signing up as soon as you can!  We are down to just a handful of farm pick up shares and Spring is always the time people start thinking about fresh produce (we know we are…)!  *Also, the last day to pay your remaining balance is May 1st*  Thanks for all of your support so far.. this farm and your farmers are constantly encouraged by the love and energy of it’s wonderful community and we think you guys are the best!
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Local Food.  We heard this article on NPR and were moved to share it with our members (local food may feel good, but it doesn’t pay).  This is the part of farming that challenges us every year.  To work smarter, not harder as we scrape by season to season and keep our dream alive to be better, not bigger.  It’s hard making one “liveable wage” between two people (without health insurance) but, we do not lack hope, only it encourages us to be better farmers.  Each season of sweat, tears and hardworking hours we grow all the wiser.  We love what we do and we’re not going anywhere and slowly but surely we will make this work because we believe in it.  So, thank you for believing in us.
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And, in case you missed it, our not-so-little Maribelle turned 6 months at the beginning of March.  Here’s a slideshow documenting just how quickly she’s gone from calf to cow and how much love we have in our hearts for her!
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Cheers to the first of Spring & to a new season & to spending more time in our kitchens!
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With many thanks & fond 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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Happy Farmgirl News!

Posted on 15 Mar 2013
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Happy news! Working Hand’s very own farm girl -Jess- is featured

(along with some other really great farm girls) in the April edition of MaryJanesFarm Magazine!

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It’s available at your local newsstand so be sure to check it out!
(A big thanks to Meg & staff.. it’s an honor to be a part of the farm-ily!)

Miss Maribelle

Posted on 1 Mar 2013

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Somebody turns 6 months old today…. what a journey it’s been!

She’ll be back with Ellie again soon and we couldn’t imagine our lives without her.

The Seeds of Spring

Posted on 13 Feb 2013


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Hello friends,

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It’s here.  The 2013 year has officially started as we have seeded our first trays of kale, broccoli and onions in the greenhouse!  The longer days and mild winter weather have been really good to us these past few weeks and we look forward to seeing what the Spring will bring.  And on another happy note, after days and hours of thumbing through seed catalogues, our seed order is complete.   Now we just have to wait in anticipation for a big ol’ box of goodies in the mail in the next week or so!

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Thank you to those of you who have signed up for the CSA!  Registration is available here and we will be limiting our CSA to the first 75 members to sign up so we encourage you to sign up as soon as possible (as we are over the half way mark).  You can read about the 2013 CSA here.  And if you have any questions please feel free to call or email.

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Fresh Eggs.   We have Chateau Poulet eggs (free range, no soy, no corn, gmo free) available at our winter price of $5/dozen.  Please send us a note to place an order and we’d be happy to put it together for you!

 

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Thanks again for all your support and we look forward to seeing you all as the season progresses.  Stay tuned for some happy farm updates in the near future!

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Faithfully yours,

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Frosty Farm Update

Posted on 22 Jan 2013
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Hello friends,

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We are just a few weeks away from February which means getting the greenhouse prepped for some seed starts and dreams for the new season.  We’ve had several sunny days in a row here on the farm which is enough to thaw everything out during the daylight hours and even move some dirt!  Thank you to those of you who have signed up for the CSA!  Registration is available here and we will be limiting our CSA to the first 75 members to sign up so we encourage you to sign up as soon as possible.  You can read about the 2013 CSA here.  And if you have any questions please feel free to call or email.

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Local Food Heroes.  Have you guys sent in your nominations for Edible Portland’s Local Food Hero?  Nominations are due by the 31st and they include these categories – Farm, Restaurant, Food Artisan, Beverage Artisan, Nonprofit, and Retailer.   Let’s support the good work of our local food culture and weigh in with our thoughts, experiences & inspirations!

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Fresh Eggs.   We have Chateau Poulet eggs (free range, no soy, no corn, gmo free) available at our winter price of $5/dozen.  Please send us a note to place an order and we’d be happy to put it together for you!

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Thanks for all your support and stay warm out there.  Bring on Spring!

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Faithfully yours,

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Here piggy, piggy, piggy

Posted on 9 Jan 2013
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Hello friends,

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We wanted to take a moment to introduce to you the newest member of the Working Hands farm-ily. … Truffle, an American Guinea Hog, who has taken up residence next to our dear Ellie.  Truffle will be one half of a breeding pair for years to come.  She’s as sweet as can be and loves a good head and belly scratch.  Her breed is known for grazing on pasture and is a perfect fit for our small farm as they are noted for their small size, intelligence, and docile and friendly temperaments.  She looks forward to meeting you all in the coming year!

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A little history.  The American Guinea Hog is a unique North American heritage breed.  The name derives from the origins of the Guinea hog in the Guinea coast of West Africa.  About 1804 Thomas Jefferson acquired some of these pigs, which had arrived from Africa via the Canary Isles. The original strain, although basically black, also had a hint of red and were consequently called Red Guineas; that strain, well known at the beginning of the 19th century, is extinct.

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Later they were crossed with other breeds, including Appalachian English pigs, Essex pigs and West African Dwarfs. This new breed, the American Guinea hog retained its black colour but lost the red tint and is sometimes called a Black Guinea. These pigs were popular with subsistence farmers, not only through their ability to forage for themselves, but also because their habit of eating snakes made the farmyard safe for children and livestock.

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CSA Sign Up.   Registration for our 2013 sign up is now open!   We will be limiting our CSA to the first 75 members to sign up so we encourage you to sign up as soon as possible.  You can read about the 2013 CSA here.  If your have any questions please feel free to call or email.

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On the farm goodies.  We have some winter squash (delicata & acorn) available on the farm as well as fresh eggs (at our winter price of $5/dozen).  Please send us a note to place an order and we’d be happy to put it together for you!

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Check out our picture slideshow and of course, this short video clip of Truffle!

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Thanks for all your support,

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean heats

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Working Hands Farm 2013 CSA

Posted on 1 Jan 2013
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December days on the farm…

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Happy New Years friends & farm-ily!

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Looking out the window on the last day of December 2012 the farm is covered in icy frost.  In just a few months time that frost will have lifted with the coming of Spring and we can hardly contain ourselves!  Until then we will be huddled up in the greenhouse, starting our plants for the Spring and Summer and getting ready for our biggest year yet!  We’re so excited to continue on in this journey and to share it all with you.  As you know, our 2013 sign up starts, TODAY, January 1st!   We will be limiting our CSA to the first 75 members to sign up so we encourage you to sign up as soon as possible.

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You can read about the 2013 CSA here.  We have some exciting new changes in store for you all so please read carefully (below)!

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The newest nest of eggs we found in a crate of dried lavender.  Only the best for the ladies of chateau poulet…

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New Crops: A big thank you to all of our CSA members who filled out their CSA surveys last year and know your efforts help us meet more of your needs.  Weather permitting, we will be growing enough garlic to meet you household needs (which is already planted in the garden), we will be planting more types of onions so we have a consistent supply throughout the season, more heirloom sweet corn because we know you all love it and a few more verities of classic summer favorites.  And yes, we have planted lots and lots of strawberries!!!

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Egg Shares: The ladies of Chateau Poulet have grown in numbers as demand has risen.  We will be keeping a flock of 100+ heritage birds next year and that means we need to sell eggs!  Our eggs are the most affordable organic free range eggs that you will find and the freshness and flavor of these deep yellow yolkers can’t be beat! (pun intended!)  Egg shares are selling for $130 a season which supplies you with a fresh dozen every week throughout the course of our 20 week CSA.  If you need more than a dozen a week just let us know and we will get you taken care of.  Remember eggs are limited and will go to CSA members on a first come first serve basis.

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We’ve been making lots of delicious, rich butter and yogurt this winter!  Yum!

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Home Delivery: We will be switching up our drop/delivery model for the 2013 season. We are going to focus our energy on Tuesdays for Home Delivery (delivery will take place anytime before 6pm) and Wednesdays and Thursdays for our farm pick-up day (farm pick up takes at our farm from 4 to 6pm).  This means that we will no longer have drop sites in Lake Oswego or in SE Portland but will offer, as a convenient alternative, home/office delivery!  Home delivery also allows those folks who would like to participate in the CSA but have varying schedules to become an important part of our farm. In order to qualify for home delivery you must live within 6 miles of the Burnside Bridge in downtown Portland. If you think you are located outside of our delivery range just Google map your home address.  If you know you are outside of our delivery range but still want to participate in our CSA send us an email and maybe we can work something out.  Last year was our first year experimenting with a home delivery CSA model and so far our members have loved it!

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Cost: Our goal as farmers is to ensure that our community has access to the freshest possible produce and one of the ways we do that is by keeping it affordable while making sure Jess and I can sustain ourselves and the farm.  This year you will see a $1 to a $1.30 increase per week which will help us to absorb the rising costs of seed and organic amendments etc.

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Farm Pick Up – $645 (We have raised the price from $625 to $645 that is an increase of $1 per week over 20 weeks.)

Home Delivery – $725 (We have raised the price of our home delivery option from $699 to $725 which is an increase of a $1.30 per week.)

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Somebody turned 4 months old this past weekend… our sweet & not-so-little calf Maribelle…

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Deposit: In order to reserve your share we require a $200 deposit that is non-refundable and is applied toward the total cost of the CSA.  The deposit is due within two weeks of submitting our online CSA form.  Once your deposit of $200 is received we will send you a confirmation email welcoming you to our CSA program.  We encourage, those members who can, to pay the total cost upon signing up. Remember that our CSA operates on a first come first serve basis, so sign up ASAP!

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Here is the sign up form for 2013 season.  And if you have any further questions you can consult our Q&A section or send us an email.  We hope you will all be joining us again this year as we can’t imagine a season with out you!

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Happiest of days to you all!

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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One of our lovely and most favorite hens, Finn.  

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In the morning, when we rise…. (our greenhouse doors and the most intricate of icy patterns)

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The ladies have taken to Maribelle and barn exploration this winter… 

A New Year, A New Season

Posted on 18 Dec 2012


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It is with big hearts and smiles that we share with you, a reflection and video compilation of our 2012 season.  Our farm would not be the same without the great thoughts, hearts & support from you and each day that we get our hands dirty we are reminded of that.  Feel free to share this video with friends & if you can, watch it in HD and it’ll almost feel as if you are right here on the farm, reliving some of our most tender moments.
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Sign up for our 2013 season begins January 1st so please look for more information in the coming weeks via email and our website for the sign up form etc!  Thanks again for all your support.  We farm and we dream and we dream and we farm and that helps us to make this world a better place.
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Our warmest regards,
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Jess & Brian

Fall CSA Week 6

Posted on 10 Dec 2012
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Hello friends,

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We can hardly believe that the middle of December is upon us and that we’ve reached the last CSA week of the 2012 season.  It’s amazing what we are all capable of when we put our minds to it and we really do feel thankful that, even now, we continue to be farming after 7 months of harvest!  It’s hard to believe that a year ago from now we were in Uganda building & designing sustainable cook stoves for vanilla bean farmers, building an organic 5 acre vegetable farm from the ground up and of course, practicing our jungle survival skills.  At the beginning of 2012, we knew that only good things were bound to happen when we put our heads together, but, honestly, we couldn’t have imagined that we would accomplish as much as we have.  Our goals were simple… we wanted to grow fresh, nutrient rich produce for our community and to do it year round.  Add in amazing new csa members, some animals and a lot of new learning curves to the equation and we arrive to this very moment.

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For 7 months, 100+ families, friends, a local Headstart program + a few restaurants have all enjoyed our seasonal bounty.  8 months ago, 67 chickens & 2 cows came to be at Working Hands and we couldn’t imagine the farm with out them.  Amazingly enough they turn our pasture into food whether it be in the shape of an egg or a tall glass of milk or a bowl of yogurt or ice cream for all to enjoy.  And all of it came from the love and labor of your two farmers.  It is with purpose, love and thoughtfulness that we work with the land and nature to provide fresh food for our community.  We love what we do and are so happy you have chosen to be a part of our journey this year.  Your words are endlessly uplifting and your appreciation inspires us each and every day.  We hope you continue to learn and grow with us well into the future….

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With the start of the new year comes the start of our 2013 season.  Perhaps the best holiday gift is one that lasts all year long!  We will begin our CSA member sign up at the start of the New Year.  We’ll be sending out an email but be sure to check our website come the first week of January to sign up for the 2013 season.  As you know, it is important to sign up and pay for your share as early as possible for two reasons: to reserve your CSA share, as shares are limited to 75 shares (and membership fills up every year) and most importantly, to help your farmers absorb the initial expenses in the beginning of the season.  We are getting excited to grow better as both people and farmers in the 2013 season and are gearing up to order our seed, soil amendments, etc… to begin a new exciting year!

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We have to admit that we’ll miss you all until the start of the new season but encourage you to keep in touch over the start up months.  There are always things to be done on the farm and if you ever need a break from the city, or a morning to get your hands dirty, or an afternoon hanging with the ladies of Chateau Poulet or our lovely cows, we welcome you.  There is so much to learn and always so little time so when you do get a moment we’d love to hear from you!

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Our little ones in their new home… for more pics check out our December Days post!

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Still hungry?  For those still interested in purchasing greens, squash, potatoes, milk, eggs & other goodies etc throughout the next few months please let us know and we’ll keep you updated week by week of what we have available here on the farm.

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Extra eggs & the last of the crates.  We will have extra eggs this week at farm pick up if anyone is interested so come prepared!  We know it’s the height of baking season and it always seems to be brunch o’clock or second farmer/hobbit breakfast here on the farm!  There are also a few missing crates out there in the world so don’t forget to leave them out or bring them along for the final CSA pick up!

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Happy holidays to you all!  May it be spent in the warmth of family and friends.  We’re so happy to know each and every one of you!  We also hope that the video below inspires you to keep on cooking for the months to come (and until the CSA starts up again)!

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Our best to you all,

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Jess & Brian, Ellie, Maribelle & the ladies (both big and small) of chateau poulet…

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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