Posts from the “CSA” Category

CSA Week 4

Posted on 3 Jul 2012

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Happy 4th of July!

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Hello farm friends,
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And another month begins!  How quickly the season is already whirling by and at 4 weeks we have so many special surprises for you!  We hope you’ve been inspired in the kitchen by all the fresh produce and are also feeling a bit lighter and more energetic.  We know we wouldn’t be able to keep up mentally, physically and spiritually as farmers if it wasn’t for all the nutrient rich food we eat all day long.  Even now at 9:30 pm we’ve just finished a harvest of raspberries and are winding down a long day of planting and mowing in the sun.  This life is pretty good I tell you what.
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But it’s getting to be that time of the season where we could definitely use some extra hands.  Try as we might we can’t get everything done and we feel confident in asking for the help of our loved members and friends.  So, we invite you out this Saturday, July 7th, (10am-5pm) for some fun in the sun and hang out time with your farmers and community.  If you haven’t had a chance to come out to farm this will be a great opportunity to get your hands dirty and to get to know your farmers, Jess and Brian.  We’ll be weeding, planting, prepping, seeding – you name it!  Our to-do list is getting pretty long so if you’re planning on coming by drop us an email.  If you’re unable to make it on Saturday and would still like to come out some time during the week let us know and we can work something out!  Either way we look forward to seeing you at the drop this week!

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Thanks to everyone who brought their old mason jars last week.  It was incredibly thoughtful and it easily gets us into the harvesting spirit seeing all the empty jars sitting on the shelves just waiting to be filled with delicious goods!  Also, the berry cartons can definitely be reused so feel free to save yours and bring them back to us at the pick-ups.  Reduce, reuse, recycle – every little bit counts!
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And if anyone wants to talk animal husbandry this week we have open ears as we’re looking to purchase a few grazing animals for our 3 acres of open pasture.  We’re thinking a dairy cow and a couple of heritage hogs.  So, if you have any advice to give or experience to share we’d love to hear it.

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Until then,

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Your faithful farmers

dirty hands, clean hearts

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CSA Week 2

Posted on 26 Jun 2012

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a week’s worth of bountiful produce just for you…

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Greetings friends,
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We’ve had an amazing start to the CSA this year and we have you to thank for it’s success!  We hope you’ve been enjoying all the fresh tender goodies that late Spring and early Summer have to offer.  The summer bounty is on it’s way with flowers appearing on all the squash, cukes, peppers and beans and young tomatoes forming on the vine.  If there are any recipes you swear by or have tried for the first time you can email it to us and we can post it on our blog.  Which reminds me, have you been checking in with us on the blog?   We recently posted a recipe for Kale Chips and some lovely photographs from our volunteer day back in May.  Too adorable.

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Wolf Carr’s bees are buzzin’ all around the farm these days..

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Also, a big thanks for all of you for bringing your crates back last week and of course, for your appreciation and smiles.  We really love what we do and couldn’t be more happy to be able to share it with you!  We appreciate the wonderful communication about pick ups – whether it be a friend picking up for you, or that you will be out of town etc – it really makes our days easier and more efficient when we’re harvesting for those who will be picking up.
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That being said, a few people have asked about 4th of July which is a week from Wednesday.  Our pick ups/drop offs 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 2nd.  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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Potato-ville it all it’s glory!

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Tomatoes!  It’s not too late to plant tomatoes.  We have some beautiful organic, heirloom varieties in 1 gallon pots for sale.  We are saving all our pennies for a doe eyed Jersey cow.  So, we suggest if you love fresh butter, milk or cheese you should buy a tomato or two, if not for you, for a friend!  They are $5 a piece and are perfect for planting out in a garden or potting up into a large container on a patio.  We’ll have them for sale at our SE location (13th & Ankeny) tomorrow and at our farm for the rest of the week.
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We look forward to seeing you all in the coming days.  Until then, if you have any questions, feel free to send them our way.  It’s going to be another great week!
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Faithfully yours,
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your farmers

dirty hands, clean hearts
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‘Tis the season… (two for you, one for me, two for you….when we’re picking and filling boxes)

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p.s. If anyone has any pint, quart or gallon mason jars lying around (with or without lids) I would gladly accept them for the canning that is about to ensue here on the farm (i.e. jam, pickling, sauce etc)!

My Ode to Kale

Posted on 25 Jun 2012

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As most of you know I have a very big love for KALE.  Growing up my family would eat it every now and again but since living in Hawaii I’ve turned a new leaf  and have become the biggest kale advocate.  It all started when I was living in Hawaii and treating myself to a fresh kale & banana smoothie every morning.  We’d eat it raw, as wraps for sandwiches (bread is really expensive out there), in soups and stir-fries and sometimes, if you were in a rush (was I ever really in a rush in Hawaii?), by itself.

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Last spring, when I returned to the main land, I realized just how much eating kale had positively impacted my body, mind and spirit.   So, I promised to celebrate and spread my love for Kale and the richness it offers to us all in so many ways.  But, before that point, I was like most of you, who often wondered what else you could make with Kale besides Kale Soup?

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Which leads me some things you should know about KALE:

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  • Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium.
  • Kale, as with broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane (particularly when chopped or minced), a chemical believed to have potent anti-cancer properties.
  • Kale is also a source of indole-3-carbinol, a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells and appears to block the growth of cancer cells.  Kale is also a good source of carotenoids.

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Need I say more?  Honestly.  Chop it up and throw it in a veggie stirfry, grate it into long, thin strips and throw it on top of a salad, whip it up into a delicious kale smoothie or make some deliciously easy Kale Chips.  And that’s where we’re going to start today.  These chips are just as tasty as any potato chip (better in my opinion) and much better for you!

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I realize it might be a stretch, for those of us who are used to enjoying kale in the winter and fall in a delicious soup, but let’s take it one step at a time with this simple recipe.  I promise you’ll be singing Kale praises after you try out this simple recipe and I think you might know where to find an endless supply…

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Baked Kale Chips

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Experiment with crispiness to figure out what tastes best to YOUR palette!

1-2 bunches kale

1  – 2 TBsps olive oil

Pepper & Sea salt, to taste

Optional: A few loving handfuls of nutritional yeast (which you can find at your local CO-OP or Natural Foods Store in the bulk section)

Other seasoning options: cayenne, garlic, chili powder, cumin, sesame oil, sesame seeds etc.

Be creative, have fun and try things out!

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1.  Preheat oven to 300°F for a shorter amount of cook time OR 220°F for about 40minutes – hour to keep it green, raw & crispy.  Rinse and dry the kale.

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2.  Remove the stems by “stripping” the leaves from it.  Use you thumb and forefinger at the base of the leaves and with a little bit of force “strip” it off the stem.

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3.  Cut into large pieces, toss with olive oil in a bowl then sprinkle with salt, pepper & any other seasonings you might enjoy.

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4.  Arrange leaves in a single layer on a large baking sheet.  I used two baking sheets because I stripped two bouquets of kale.  Some people use parchment paper for easy clean-up but I just put it right on the sheet.

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5.  Bake for 10-15, or until crisp. Or, if you are a raw foodie you can bake it at 220 for about 1 hour.  Bake until the leaves are crisp to the touch but still a dark green.  If you’re thinking about using the chips for a seasoning on Popcorn or something like that – you can let them get really crispy and then hand crush/sprinkle them right over the bowl.  Along with some dill, nutritional yeast, olive oil etc… YUM!

A Little Reminder..

Posted on 19 Jun 2012

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Hello friends!

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We’re excited to start off another week of harvest & thoughtful conversation with our little farm community (that’s you!).  We also look forward to seeing you all this week and hearing how you enjoyed your first round of spring produce.  Brian has been busy in the workshop finishing the last round of cedar crates and it couldn’t smell any better.   It’s also our little friendly reminder to make sure you bring your crate to your pick up this week and we’ll exchange it for one that is full of delicious bounty!

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Here’s to another exciting week full of tasty, sun ripe surprises…

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Faithfully yours,

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Farmer J

CSA Week One.

Posted on 12 Jun 2012

Endless rows of tomatoes warm our farmer hearts. 

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A very warm welcome to all our CSA members!
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This week marks the very first of the season and we’re so excited to meet your acquaintance, whether it be at one of our pick up locations or at the farm!  (pick up locations and hours can be found here).  There are plenty of spring time greens in this week’s box!  Enjoy the young tender greens while the weather is still mild.  Your CSA box will be heavy on the greens and little surprises for the first few weeks as we wait in anticipation for the sun kissed summer bounty of tomatoes, peppers, corn melons, cucumbers and squash!
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For us, this week brings everything we do into focus.  Why we work 80+ hour weeks & find ourselves only ever talking about the farm.  To be able to meet the community that supports our cause and to feed them a bountiful CSA crate each and every week for 5 months.  To put faces to all the names we have on our member list and for you to put a farmer’s face to the food that you are nourishing yourself with.  A couple of farmers that you can trust and a small farm where you know first hand how your food is being grown.

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We are happy to have the wonderful, Wolf Carr and his bees at our farm. 

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We love what we do.  For us, farming isn’t work, it’s a way of life.  There is no question about it.  Everyday when we get up with the sun and watch it slowly fade into the horizon, there is no question, only purpose.  And with your support, your enthusiasm and commitment this farm dream is not only possible but it becomes a reality.  So, remember, you are not just a member of this farm but the integral foundation on which this farm stands.  You put your faith into a few crazy hearted young farmers (that you might not have even met -yet!) and it takes a special kind of person to do just that.  And for that reason alone we feel both happy and blessed to have the members that we do this year.  We hope that we are here to serve you for year’s to come and that you enjoy the bounty, the hard work and the love that goes into it just as much as we do.

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Sugar Snap Peas blowin’ in the breeze.

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We look forward to many refreshing conversations, outdoor dinners, volunteer parties, movie nights and picnics on the farm.  Our farm is open to you as a place to enjoy life, nature and the good company of others (and our new flock of chickens).  But, until then, we look forward to seeing you all this week and sharing, with you, what we love the absolute most.
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Let the 2012 begin….
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Your faithful farmers

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Our new handmade cedar crates full of bountiful produce. 

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Our sweet new gals getting comfortable in Chateau Poulet.

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Livin’ it up at Chateau Poulet.

New Beginnings

Posted on 6 Jun 2012

many hands, make light work

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Hello dear friends,

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We are just a week away from our first CSA drop off and we are gearing up for a great season!  We are still reeling from this past weekend, which was spent alongside some of our amazing CSA members and their families.   We can’t believe the turn out on Saturday and look forward to sharing many more moments with you all as the season continues.   For those of you who spent time with us on Saturday, you worked so hard weeding those beds and transplanting those tomatoes and basil – you made your farmers proud and you should be too!  Our hearts, minds and bodies are filled to the brim with good energy and we look forward to meeting the rest of our members next week!

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We’re in need of a final push to fill up the last 10 shares  in the CSA, so any help by spreading the good word is helpful to the success of our little farm.  Here’s the link for our pick up share and home delivery share (both are currently available).  It’s thanks to you that we can fully live this dream and feed the people and families in our community.  It means the most to us, so, thank you again for all that you do!  

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enjoying lunch at the community table

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Before we part, until next week, here’s a quick reminder of the drop off locations and times:

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Tues. 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm at SE Ankeny St. & SE 13th (near Old Wives Tales)

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Wed. 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm at 12101 SW River Road Hillsboro OR 97123

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Thurs.  4:00 pm – 6:00pm at Blue Moon Coffee & Bakery 3975 Mercantile Drive Lake Oswego, OR 97035

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Thurs. Home Delivery CSA

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And as always we could use some helping hands hilling potatoes, transplanting peppers and tomatoes and weeding!  Send us a message or give us a call if you’d like to get your hands dirty with us this week.  We love spending time and getting to know each and every one of you.  

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Our best to you and yours.

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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p.s. Stay tuned for more pictures from Volunteer Day at the farm! 

Helping Hands.

Posted on 1 Jun 2012

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Hello farm friends!
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Today marks the first day of June and we’re really excited to get the 2012 CSA season underway in just under a few weeks time.  There is much to be done around the farm and we’re inviting you to stop by tomorrow (Sat. June 2nd) for a volunteer day.  We welcome your help with open arms any time after 10.
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It looks like an overcast 60+ degree day which means It’ll be the perfect day to transplant and enjoy some good company and good conversation.
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We’ll be working on many projects – transplanting the rest of our sweet peppers, tomatoes, leeks & onions, hilling potatoes, weeding the freshly sprung weeds from our garden beds and hanging out with our new flock of chickens!  
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So send us a note if you plan on coming by.  We look forward to getting our hands dirty along side our favorite farm friends!
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Thanks for all your support!
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p.s. If you can’t make it out Saturday, but would like to give us a hand next week, feel free to get in touch and we can make it happen.  

Fun in the Sun

Posted on 4 May 2012

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Your Helping Hands at the Farm…

Looks like the sunshine will be returning for the next week or so (fingers crossed), so, as always, we welcome you out to the farm to get your hands dirty and soak up some vitamin D!  Anytime after 10 am works for us and we’ll be happy to have the helping hands.  We’ll be transplanting seedlings, weeding the freshly tilled beds, celebrating cinco de mayo, and digging in the dirt.   Feel free to drop us a line at workinghandsfarm (at) gmail (.) com if you want to join in on some good ol’ fashioned fun in the sun! 

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p.s. A big thanks to those of you who ventured out last week.  Your support was felt in the most glorious ways and we are reminded of the hard work and kind hearts every time we walk amongst the spring crops.  Thanks for all the good work!

Working Hands Farm Presents: CSA Home Delivery!

Posted on 30 Apr 2012

Click Here to Sign Up! –$625 (cost of the CSA) + $75 (cost of home delivery) = 20 weeks of delicious organic fruits & veggies delivered to your front door. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ – CSA Home Delivery: –Working Hands Farm is now offering a CSA home delivery service.  We understand that the classic CSA model may not work  for those folks who have varying schedules, yet want to support local farms through a CSA model.  In order to make home deliveries possible we are choosing a specific geographic area that is within a radius of approximately 5 miles of the Burnside bridge in downtown Portland. The cost of the CSA home delivery service is $699 per share delivered to your front door.  We believe that this is a…

Many hands make light work.

Posted on 27 Apr 2012

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“Many hands make light work.”  – John Heywood

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Hey Portland!  It looks like another weekend of warm, sunny with-a-mix-of-clouds type of spring weather and we’d love to have some helping hands out on the farm.  There are hundreds of babies that need to be planted now that the beds have been prepared.  So, if you’ve ever wanted to learn how to lay irrigation, plant seedlings, use a hoop hoe or just get your hands dirty, you are welcome to come by anytime on Saturday or Sunday after 10 am.  Send us a little note if you plan on coming to workinghandsfarm (at) gmail.com.  We can’t wait! 

Installing Bee Hives in Three Easy Steps

Posted on 18 Apr 2012

Welcome Wolf Honey _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Working Hands Farm would like to welcome Wolf Honey to our little farm.  Wolf Honey is owned by Wolf Carr who is a devoted a bee keeper, a fine barista at Stump Town Coffee and a passionate vocal coach.  We are thankful that he will be keeping his beautiful hives on our farm and we appreciate all the great work he and his bees will be doing throughout the summer. The pictures below document the installation of 19 of his hives. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  Step 1 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Wolf believes in anti-biotic free bee keeping. He trusts his bees and I trust him.  By working with nature we become stewards not competitors. A philosophy that we promote in all aspects of farming.…

The Scary Part

Posted on 3 Apr 2012

– This is the time of the season that these farmers have to see past their fears.  To trust their instincts and to have faith that through hard work and perseverance it will all work out.  We have twenty members signed up and a little over two months to sign up an addition forty five  members, which we desperately need in order to cover all of our costs.  We sit and ponder, when that rain is falling and the farm chores are complete, how to market, how do we find those forty five CSA customers.  Do we focus our advertising efforts on the blog or social media, do we shake hands in front of food co-ops, do we post craigslist adds or put up…

How to buy your CSA share?

Posted on 3 Apr 2012

__________________________________________________________________________ Your Contribution (as easy as 1, 2) The full payment (of $625) is due when signing up for the CSA.  Once your payment is received we’ll send you a confirmation email welcoming you to our CSA program.  It is important to sign up for your share as early as possible in the season for two reasons: to reserve your CSA share, as shares are limited to 75, and to help your farmers absorb the initial expenses in the beginning the season.  If you prefer to pay for your share in two installments please contact us at workinghandsfarm@gmail.com and we can make and specific arrangement. __________________________________________________________________________ (Step 1) Send a Check Make it out to ‘Working Hands Farm’ and send it to 16200 SW…

Tools I Love

Posted on 12 Mar 2012

I have an unyielding love for old tools both because I can learn to fix them myself and because they make me feel as though I am part of something greater, something that has history. I often imagine the dinner tables or rocking chairs that were brought forth from these machines. I think of the families that sat around those tables and the grandsons that sat on the knees of grandpas as they rocked to and fro.

This is a 1950’s Delta Rockwell Jointer that I will be using to build our CSA farm crates. I bought it for next to nothing from an old timer in Damascus. It needs a little TLC but I am lookin’ forward to learning more about the machine and to restoring it to its’ original glory.

Tools I Love

Our 2012 Seed Order (Part 1)

Posted on 5 Mar 2012

Qty Item # Description Price 1 TM875/L Ananas Noire Tomato Organic – Ananas Noire Tomato Seeds Organic $3.25 1 PP678/P Ancho Magnifico Pepper – Ancho Magnifico $8.25 1 ML462/S Athena Melon – Athena Melon Seeds $3.65 1 BR088/P Belstar Broccoli – Belstar $11.95 1 SQ795/P Benning’s Green Tint Squash – Benning’s Green Tint $3.35 1 SQ790/B Black Beauty Squash – Black Beauty $5.55 1 EG327/P Black King Eggplant – Black King $5.75 1 TM909/L Black Plum Tomato Conventional & Organic – Black Plum Tomato Seeds Organic $2.85 1 TM890/S Black Tomato Conventional & Organic – Black Heirloom Tomato Seeds $3.05 1 SP782/P Bordeaux Spinach – Bordeaux $4.65 1 ON551/S Borrettana Cipollini Onion – Borrettana Cipollini Onion Seeds $2.35 1 TM889/P Brandywine Tomato Conventional &…

Blessings of a Craftsman

Posted on 21 Feb 2012

As a farmer who doesn’t own land, who doesn’t have a proper workshop and who dreams of having a Fire engine red tool box some day, I love this.  It helps me to dream and to have confidents in those dreams.  It is a blessing to have a craft… to be a craftsman.

http://vimeo.com/31575162

Volunteer

Posted on 18 Feb 2012

Volunteers are the community that is Working Hands Farm.  Without friends, family, the occasional stranger that willingly reaches out, the passerby that pulls in, and the thoughtful friend of a friend who knows this one person who loves pulling thistle bare handed, Working Hands could not exist.  So come out and spend a day, week, month or life on the farm getting your hands dirty.  Shoot me an email at workinghandsfarm@gmail.com and get inspired.

Summer CSA, Portland Style

Posted on 17 Feb 2012

Reason #2 to join our CSA. Know your farmer and spend time on your farm.  A home aways from the city at Working Hands Farm.  Juliet Zulu spent a day with us last summer while we toured around Portland giving away mini CSAs to the businesses we admire in the city we love.

About Us.

Posted on 15 Feb 2012

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Working Hands Farm

is a small organic CSA farm located 17.4 miles outside of Portland, Oregon.  We utilize a variety of different environmentally friendly farming methods such as, cover cropping, integrated pest management, inter-planting, composting, etc…  We believe that it is essential to feed our community safe and nutritious fruits & vegetables. Our farm specializes in growing European varietals that should inspire new gastronomic adventures in all of the households we feed.  Working Hands Farm was started in 2010 by Brian D. Martin, a Portland native, with the goal of bringing a new perspective to our urban farming community.  We invite you all out to the farm to come see and experience how we are doing things differently.  Bring a nice bottle of wine, a blanket and something to snack on and enjoy the beauty of our garden.

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“When the community is connected to its soil the plants are not the only things to grow roots.” -Brian D. Martin

Brian was born and raised in Portland, Oregon and will forever call it his home.  He attended the University of Oregon for his formal education and received B.A. in English Literature in 2007.  He has since spent the majority of his time abroad on a variety of humanitarian projects: starting as a volunteer in Argentina while studying spanish, then working professionally in Uganda (where he had his very first garden) and most recently working in Haiti.  These experiences have served as a catalyst in his life and in many ways are what lead to the birth of the farm, moving from chaos and contradictions to the peace of meditative labour, one giving strength to the other and back again.  Brian started Working Hands Farm in 2010 and with the support from his friends, his family and his CSA members he hopes to farm for the rest of his life.

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From Oregon to Louisiana, Uganda and India, I recall meals at wooden tables, in multi-family living rooms, under thatched huts, and on concrete rooftops. Every day of work on the farm is a remembrance of these gatherings and of the associations I have with people, places and things. I see each task as an opportunity to appreciate the tales our lives tell. Beets, kale and bacon are among my favorite things to eat.