Two Farmers, One Farm (week 6)

Posted on 24 Jun 2014

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There’s nothing more relaxing than a freshly mowed & organized farm (Gloucester thinks it helps with hunting purposes…)

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Happy Solstice friends & farm-ily!

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The solstice has come and gone which means a few things on the farm…. we’ve been EXTRA productive with these long days (seriously, on top of seeding, weeding and planting like mad farmers, rotating all the animals etc Brian decided to mow the entire farm) and it also means that Farmer Jess is only 3 days away from turning 30 (cue in this song). 2014 is already shaping up to be a pretty darn good year for us and the farm….

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Two farmers, One farm. In 5 weeks of harvest we’ve distributed 6,800lbs of produce to our 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 over 40,000lbs of produce this season. It’s a pretty amazing number and we look forward to seeing how much more we grow in the next 5-6 months. **Last year at this time we had distributed 2,100 lbs of produce to our members which means that the weather is working with us and your farmers are improving and learning from years past. This is our 5th season running the CSA and every year it just gets better and better.**

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The cutest cucumber, running melons and sweet fragrant basil.. must be summer after all…

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Each share has had a minimum of 10-12 items with a handful of new veggie varieties in the box each week! Although it was an unseasonably dry Spring it’s shaping up to be our most productive season yet. Of course, with every season that comes and goes your farmers are becoming better. With farming there can be a steep learning curve but we’ve learned to adopt this mantra – stop, look, go – that keeps us aware of the little things (the soil, the plants, the fruit, the bugs, you name it) and helps us to prioritize what’s next on the list and keeps us focused and productive. We believe in what we do (7 days a week, 24 hours a day) and love the way good food makes our community feel. By putting so much love into the soil, the farm, the animals and our members we all become more productive and it’s so important because as we all know.. time is short and life goes so quick!

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Thank you all for your appreciation, inspiration and general awesomeness. Our Tuesday morning harvest is always a good reminder that this is what we get to do everyday and that everyday is truly a gift! Here we go Week 6….

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Our old broken farm truck and an after evening walk puppy snuggle .. the right kind of balance..

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July 12^th – Farm Day for CSA Members! Yippee! This is a great opportunity for our CSA members to come out, see the farm, chat with their farmers and fellow CSA members as well as take a farm tour to see all our happy livestock! Come on out at 11 am on Saturday, July 12^th for a farm tour and potluck. Farm tour will begin at 11am and a potluck lunch at noon (12pm). Please bring a potluck dish, your own plates & forks & protective sunwear! Your farmers will be making a small presentation of sorts and there will be plenty of time for good conversation, good food & meeting fellow members in your community! There will be an RSVP to follow….

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Farm Goods for Sale!

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With all of our farm goods we believe in offering the best possible product to our members and community – a product that you simply can’t find in the store….

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Organic Pasture Raised Chicken Now Available! We’ve made some big farmer steps this season and we are happy and proud to say that we have Freedom Ranger Fryers available for purchase exclusively to our CSA members! Please check your email regarding purchasing information and order forms.

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Just about to pop – my volunteer sunflowers that I transplanted and those sweet little lost boys (Curly, Nibs, Tootles & Slightly)…

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Egg Shares Available! Our young layers are well on their way to being a productive part of the flock which means we have a handful of egg shares available for purchase. Egg shares are available on a first come, first serve basis which means the early bird gets the worm! These 14 week egg shares will start the week of July 1st until the week of September 29^th. A prorated cost of $105 for a single egg share or $210 for a double egg share. Please sign up and fill out the form on Our Egg Share Page and bring payment this week to begin pick up next week (the week of July 1^st)!

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Final CSA Payment due by July 1st. Final CSA payment is due by July 1^st (only a week away)! Please bring your check to the weekly CSA pick-up this week, or, if you prefer you can mail your check to our farm mailing address: 7705 SW River Rd. Hillsboro, OR 97123. There will be a CSA check jar by the sign-in sheet during the CSA pick-ups.

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From seed to field… transitions never stop… day to day, season to season.. we must enjoy each moment!

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And last but certainly not least… remember your crates! Thanks for all your returns last week.. sure makes it easier on your farmers when we have plenty of crates to start the week of with. Egg Cartons. Please only return our Working Hands Farm egg cartons.

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We look forward to see you all this week…

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With 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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Sow it Begins (week 5)

Posted on 17 Jun 2014

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The freedom rangers have been such a joy to have on the farm. They are happy, active, healthy and a really cool looking fryer bird. We move them around the farm 2-3 times a day!

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Hello Friends & Farm-ily,

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We can’t believe how quickly the time passes between one harvest week and to another. We’ve been extra bee-zy this weekend as we’ve ceremoniously begun sowing seeds for our Fall succession of crops. Does anyone else think June is just flying by… ?

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Our very good friend and fellow farmer – Beth – made an appearance on Saturday and helped us weed, transplant, wash eggs & move our little turkeys out to pasture – we even got to socialize a little bit! It paved the way for some very productive farm-time but there is still much more to do. It’s looking like we may be seeding in the greenhouse this week during pick-ups in order to keep up with it all so if we don’t see ya this week that’s where we’ll be!

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Sowing in the greenhouse begins, the turkeys are out on pasture and the potato flowers are poppin’.

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Thankful for the clouds. Thank goodness for all the beautiful farming weather we’ve had this past week on our off-harvest days (cloudy & 60’s… just perfect for being out in the garden). Flowers are blooming everywhere making it incredibly easy to anticipate the summer goodies that are just around the corner.. Although we didn’t get as much rain as we had hoped last week we are thankful for the little rain we did receive. Our second successions of cucumbers, squash, beans and melons all rising up in the garden and are thankful too!

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The summer solstice, the longest day of the year, is just a few days away (on Saturday). We certainly feel all the energy as we’ve been up with the sun at 20 past 5 and heading in at sunset around 9. 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. 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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Lots of new veggies are ready for your boxes.. get ready!

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Thankful for our members. Have we mentioned how much we love our CSA members? Well, we really do! One of our fantastic members bought a share and is successfully eating it all on her own (you go girl!) She writes thoughtfully on her blog HELLOKIRST on how to.. Eat Yo Vegetables: A Guide to Your CSA Share. Get inspired and check it out. Tell us how it’s going in your own kitchen as we love hearing about your favorite recipes, ways to preserve the fresh bounty, etc each week. That’s what we’re here for!

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Missing Crates. At the end of last week we were short a dozen crates for this week’s harvest. Please remember to bring your crates! It’s always a good idea to keep a few bags in your car to transfer produce into in case your crate is forgotten (that way a crate is always being returned to the farm). A big thank you to those folks who were able to bring by your crates over the weekend. We really appreciate it!

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Tomatoes are coming and we can’t wait to have a radicchio salad in the next few weeks!

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Keep up the great work and stay inspired in the kitchen…. time to get back to some cow fencing before the sun goes down…. we’ll see you all soon!

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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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p.s. In honor of the Solstice we wanted to share one of our favorite “summer poems”….

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The Summer Day

by Mary Oliver

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Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

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Stop, Look and Grow (week 4)

Posted on 10 Jun 2014

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Sowing the seed, my hand is one with the earth. Wanting the seed to grow, my mind is one with the light. Hoeing the crop, my hands are one with the rain. Having cared for the plants, my mind is one with the air. Hungry and trusting, my mind is one with the earth. Eating the fruit, my body is one with the earth. – Wendell Berry

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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We’re a month into the CSA and we hope everyone is feeling lighter and brighter with all this farm fresh food. We certainly have been enjoying watching the garden grow and really take shape this season. We’re constantly amazed by farming.. that over 5 months ago – back in January – we began this season.. ordering seeds, planting the seeds etc and we are now reaping the rewards of all that energy, growth and time. It’s an amazing cycle that we are so happy to be a part of.

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Stop, look, grow. Farming is all about planting. From January until October we are planting. Planting, planting, planting (Farmer Brian knows I mean business whenever my farming notebook is out!) Most of our crops (from February – April) are started indoors in our propagation greenhouse. We seed in 50 cell trays and fill up the tables, then move to the floor until the greenhouse is overflowing with starts. Come early to mid-March we are able to till and transplant, transplant, transplant. This time of the year (May-September) we direct seed in the garden as well as start seeds in trays for our Fall crops. Always thinking 2-5 months ahead.. of course, every season is different (there are just too many seasonal/environmental factors that contribute) but over the past 5 years we’ve found a balance and a planting schedule that works for us. Lots of hard work, trust, paying close attention and taking risks have led to us feeling pretty confident about when and how to plant. It also helps that we make a pretty darn good team.

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Farming is a craft.. part intuition part passion part science. Each season we get one chance to grow most of our crops…such as Potatoes, Tomatoes, Peppers, Berries, Winter Squash, Sweet Corn etc. For others, we get 2-4 chances a season. Added up over a lifetime that’s about 30-40 chances to grow the best potatoes, tomatoes etc that you can grow which means make every season count! Farming is a way of life (24 hours a day) that is full of endless possibilities, yes, but is also full of opportunities that need to be seized and paid close attention to. Your “farm” and everything else are very much a reflection of you… which reminds me of the post I made on gratefulness (Gratitude on the Farm) this past Spring.. a great reminder during such a busy time!

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Over the last two weekends we’ve seeded beans, summer squash, cukes, melons, greens etc. They are all germinating well and loving this early summer weather. This week we’ll be seeding in our winter squash, corn & pumpkins. 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 too and there is an endless supply of wild blackberries for them to forage on around the perimeter of the farm (the highest nectar flow for local honey bees comes from the blackberries).

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Sun up to sun down. These longer days also 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… like putting the first lines on the tomato trellises or hilling the potatoes one last time. We are hoping for some rain (even just a little bit of moisture in the soil?) later this week to till up some space for new succession plantings (think: Fall) of carrots, parsnips, beets, etc. The farm is just brimming with goodness and we love it. It’s also been a very warm and very dry Spring this season. With all the sun and warmth it’s hard to find a balance when there’s so much physical labor to be done (not to mention all the water that needs to be hauled to thirsty animals). But we do what we can and enjoy the crisp, cloudy mornings until that hot afternoon sun makes way for a mid day respite.

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Flower Power. The onions are beginning to bulb out as well as the garlic. The potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers & tomatillos all have their first rounds of flowers as well as some fruit on the tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. The taste of sunshine in every bite..

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The dirty dozen. We read an article last week – that we wanted to share- highlighting the fruits and veggies found at the grocery store with the most pesticides (a single strawberry tested for 13 kinds of pesticides – yikes!) As CSA members, you know that it’s so important to know your farmers and to know your food. When buying in bulk, at the market or directly from a farm, be encouraged to ask the farmers about their growing practices (especially now that it’s veggie and fruit season) or to look for the organic label. Unfortunately, the labels at the grocery store (organic or conventional) don’t reveal all that much… but it’s important to be informed! We’re a no spray farm but not all farms are. Here’s the Environmental Working Group’s – Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. And the article that sums up the list of the dirty dozen fruits and veggies.

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Remember your crates this week (berry boxes and rubberbands too)! You guys have been doing a great job remembering! We will have some A LA CARTE EGGS available this week at the CSA pick-up. First come, first serve. They will be in a red cooler if we have any available! $7.50/dozen Please bring checks only.

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See you all soon!

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All the best,

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your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Striding Ahead (week 3)

Posted on 3 Jun 2014

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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Week 3 is here and everyone is getting into the groove of the CSA (including your farmers!) Making more home cooked meals, feeling more confident in the kitchen, being open to trying new veggies! We decided to keep the encouragement high 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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Newsletter & Recipes. First and foremost, read the weekly newsletter and recipe print-out each week! There are lots of farm updates that you don’t want to miss out on.. as well as some tried and true recipes and suggestions from your farmers on how to prepare your weekly share. We love growing the food but it’s just as important to us that you are eating and preparing the food and therefore have a life changing and positive experience!

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Broccoli and lettuce and mix – oh my!

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Meal planning. This is a great way to utilize each week’s 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 to eating better and feeling great.

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How to stride ahead. This is a great video showing the simplicity and ease of processing veggies when first bringing them home. Oh, 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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Our bagged greens should keep wonderfully during the week but it’s important to prep bunched greens and lettuce heads by washing, chopping and storing them in a tightly sealed container with a moist paper towel or try washing them wrapping them in a moist towel/paper towel and putting them in a bag. Otherwise the refrigerator has its way with them and sucks out all their moisture… leaving much to be desired. Take those tops off! Root veggies (beets, carrots etc) and other bulb veggies (radish, turnip, kohlrabi, onions, fennel etc) all have leafy greens attached. Make sure to cut the greens and store them separately so that they stop drawing moisture out of the veggie (if your carrots, radishes, beets etc get floppy.. now you know why).

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The bees are keepin’ beezy and the first flowers are blooming…

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Freezing and canning. Our Week 4 newsletter from last season 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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Save those scraps! Save the stems from the kale, collards, chard, spinach, the thick stalks from the broccoli, the ends and peels of carrots, tops of peppers, radish stems etc… Wrap up the scraps as you accumulate them (a pyrex or a bag with a moist towel works) and stash them in the fridge. At the end of the week you can make a delicious stock. Some folks make a gallon sized bag of “stock items” and freeze it for later… Check out this helpful blog post with all the details!

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Our newbies this year… the cows and the piggers are happy, healthy and mowin’ up a storm… just something about all that Spring grass.

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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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Get inspired by Seasonal Cookbooks & Recipe Blogs. Books, such as, An Everlasting Meal, Vegetable Literacy, From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce, 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, Happy Yolks or any of the others listed in the week 3 newsletter from last season!

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Truffle is the best mama pig ever. Her little ones are not so little and are gettin’ ready to be weaned. Hard to believe they’ll be 8 weeks soon!

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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 there 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, curry, soup, roasted veg, kale chips, smoothies, or green pesto! 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..

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We still can’t get the thought, “you only have 30 chances to grow potatoes” out of our heads… we love farming!

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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 smoothies out there – whatever you have give it a go!

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As your CSA farmers, throughout the 28-week season we provide you with the most nutrient rich, organic, thoughtfully-grown–with-love, fresh picked & seasonal produce! We strive to…. grow produce according to the seasons and to the best of our abilities. To introduce you to new varieties of veggies & include delicious ways to prepare them! To encourage you to enjoy your time in the kitchen, be playful and to have fun. Each week that you pick up your 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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Ahab and Una on their lunch break.. these workin’ dogs sure do enjoy a good nap in the shade…

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Remember your crates this week (berry boxes and rubberbands too)! We may have some A LA CARTE EGGS available this week at the CSA pick-up. First come, first serve. They will be in a red cooler if we have any available! $7.50/dozen Please bring checks only.

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See you soon!

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Our kindest regards,

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Busy as a Bee (Week 2)

Posted on 27 May 2014

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“There are moments when the heart is generous, and then it knows that for better or worse our lives are woven together here, one with one another and with the place and all the living things.” – Wendell Berry

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Hello Friends & Farm-ily,

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Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your enthusiasm and encouragement last week! After only a week of harvest we are feeling GREAT about all the hard work, thoughtfully built infrastructure, love and sweat that has been put into the dirt in preparation for feeding our awesome members. This is what it’s all about! We feel like the luckiest farmers ever and think our farm-ily is the bees knees.

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We are ready for Week 2 of harvest here at the farm and we are seeing RED (lots of it) – did somebody say strawberry season? Well, in case you didn’t hear… the season is here! And what crazy weather we’ve been having… not so much rain this Spring and lots of sun. We’re seeing flower buds on the peppers as well as our first tomatoes forming on the vine.. it’s true! And it’s only May 26^th? We’ll take it!

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The freedom rangers out on fresh pasture and red berries for days…

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The farm is looking great! All our fruits and veggies are growing, growing, growing and loving these longer days. We hope you’ve been enjoying the tender greens that only Spring brings. Your farmers have sure been eating a lot of fresh salads for breakfast (with a couple hardboiled eggs), lunch (as a side or right on a sandwich) and dinner (sometimes just a touch of olive oil, balsalmic vinegar, salt, pepper & parmesan will do the trick) with some of those delicious radishes too! YUM. We’ve been busy seeding in successional crops of greens, brassicas, melons, squash, cukes, beans etc.. with corn and winter squash on the horizon… (these farmers are already thinking Fall crops). This time of the year is amazing for planting/growing as things start growing like weeds (just so different from early Spring.. when you’re waiting, waiting, waiting, sooo patiently for things to sprout!) It’s amazing to think how many hours, days, love & light it takes to produce vegetables. From the seed starting process, to transplanting, weeding & tending, to harvesting.. it can be anywhere from 2-5 months before a veggie is brought to your home. What an incredible food journey!

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‘Tis the time of the season for Brassica crops.. beautiful kohlrabi and kale. The flea beetles have been doing their best at getting the first few bites of the leaves.. pesky little guys..

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Though it’s our busiest time of the year of the farm, these hardworking farmers have had an extra set of hands this past week – my amazing Dad! But – in reality – when my dad is around it’s like having a whole team of hardworking folks by your side! We’ve accomplished an incredible amount in the 7 days that he’s been here.. and the farm has never looked better! In the weeks leading up to his trip out here he was working real hard on finishing up all his lobster traps and getting his gear ready for the beginning of his lobster season back on Cape Cod. He put his stuff on pause to give us a hand and spend some quality time on the new farm – his first time out here – and it has been amazing having him here. We’re surely going to miss him…

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My dad is someone who knows a lot about all sorts of things… from gardening and beekeeping, to fishing and hunting, machinery and tools etc, he’s a pretty talented guy with a fine attention to detail and basic understanding of most things. It’s amazing that with almost all things he knows, he knows the most efficient way possible to get the job accomplished. He’s like the ultimate puzzle solver and I’ve never met anyone else quite like him. And for those who have had the chance to meet him.. I think they’d say the same. He also has endless energy and it’s easy for us to work the long hours (5:30 – 9) and have fun doing it. Sometimes I realize the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree…

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Gloucester follows us everywhere on the farm… even during egg collection. We’re not sure how we managed it but we hit the kitty jackpot upon taking him home!

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My dad and the tractor have been getting to know each other pretty well while he’s been here (after all.. we’re the young farmers who should be doing the heavy lifting!) and he’s managed to mow a good 20 acres + which hopefully means encouraging the grass to grow and outcompete any pesky weeds. Having a third person around the farm helps to move projects forward and to always have an extra set of hands to help if you need it. Plus, Brian and I both love being around my Dad. We learn so much from him and he’s funny to boot. He loves us and believes in us and it feels great having him here. Now we just have to get him to retire and make him the official grounds keeper at Working Hands Farm. (THANK YOU DAD for all your help!)

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Bees. One of my favorite moments of his visit was going through and inspecting /cleaning the hives. We added a second medium to all the hives as they already have one deep and one medium full of healthy brood and even capped honey! It was amazing. It helped that we started this year with equipment left over from last year’s hives with lots of happy built up comb to give these new bees a nice start as well as some saved honey frames for food. It also helps that we’ve had a very sunny Spring which has led to 9 thriving hives! My dad and I were in awe of how well all the hives were doing. The hive that survived the winter last year is going just as strong (if not stronger) than the new hives. The blackberries and raspberries are flowering and those little buggers couldn’t be happier…

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Poultry. After finding 8 little eggs a few days ago our little layers have been moved in with our big layers. So far, so good in the hen house… The freedom rangers are also moving up in the World and have happily relocated to their spacious moveable chateau. We’ve been enjoying the Freedom Rangers a lot and are very pleased with our experience thus far! The little turkeys are almost feathered-out and ready for their own brooder expansion in the coming week… they certainty have minds of their owns and are making trouble already. So far we’ve found 3 little turkeys upstairs in the barn. They jump from stair to stair and perch amongst the stored bee equipment.. we have to admit.. they are pretty darn cute.

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The first tomatoes are appearing… and are the best looking maters we’ve ever seen! The turkeys have won over our hearts the past month and can’t wait to see them out walking about..

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Cows & Pigs. The Angus herd has made friends with Ellie and Maribelle and are enjoying the sunny days in the never-ending pasture. They’ve been eating an incredible amount of Spring grass and are doing a great job maintaining our new pasture and there’s no better feeling than that. All the pigs are back at the beginning of their pasture rotation. So much lush, green grass! Those little American Guinea Hogs are just the coolest. Truffle and her little piglets have successfully been moved to fresh grass where they are now all enjoying the green stuff! As for our trio, they continue to grow at an exponential rate. They are fast and curious creatures who are getting more and more used to us all the time…

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A few reminders… please remember to bring back your empty crate this week in exchange for one full of fresh, delicious produce. Your farmers thank you in advance. If you are sharing a share and you are unable to coordinate returning your crate each week, the best way to ensure a crate is always being returned to the farm is to transfer your weekly share into a couple of reusable bags and to leave the crate at the CSA Pick-up. Also, any rubber bands or berry boxes may be returned as well!

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Artichokes and sweet potatoes… it’s gonna be a great season!

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The CSA recipe books were ordered last week and we expect them to arrive sometime this week. With the holiday (and them being such a small company) we imagine we won’t have them until later this week… but if they miraculously appear we’ll have them at the drop with folks names on them!

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Keep being awesome and stay inspired in the kitchen.. there are lots of new goodies on the horizon that we’re getting hungry for already…

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All the best and 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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A Season of Endless Possibilities

Posted on 25 Apr 2014

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“Where are you, what are you doing, and who are you with when you most feel like yourself?”

– from one of our favorite posts by Happyolks

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Hello friends,

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April showers bring May flowers…. The past month has been one for the books. We’ve been graced with plenty of sunshine and warmer days mixed with Spring showers & cloud cover – perfect for transplanting and prepping the soil. The happy greenhouse starts are beginning to flourish outside in the soft, brownie mix like soil (soil that has been farmed for the last 130 + years) and we couldn’t be more excited! We love Spring in the Pacific Northwest!

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Everyday there’s just a bit more green and a whole lot of inspiration. Our days toiling the Earth may be growing longer – 7am-9pm, seven days a week – but we are more encouraged than ever. Our farm lists never get any smaller but we enjoy waking up with the sun, prioritizing the next things on the list and getting them done. So much food is currently growing outside with much more to be planted in the coming weeks (we’re talking our first tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, squash…. they’re coming!) The brassicas all love this weather (kale, collards, broccoli, romanesco, cabbage, kohlrabi, cauliflower etc) as well as our first successions of carrots, beets, chard, mixed greens, lettuce… are you guys hungry yet? We know we are….

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The bees are back in town!

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This month we also welcomed new life onto the farm. Our dearest sow, Truffle, had a litter of 5 healthy piglets. She’s doing a great job being a second time mom and we couldn’t be more pleased. We love our little American Guinea Hogs and were pleased to see that they’ve moved from the Livestock Conservancy’s “critical list” to the “threatened list.” Our newest trio of pigs (large black/tamworth crosess) are still on the critical list but we aim to preserve & encourage species diversification from heritage breeds to heirloom seeds here on the farm.

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We also received 100 healthy and thriving Freedom Ranger broilers and with any luck they will be ready come the end of June. It will be our first experience with broilers but we look forward to offering a product that our members know and trust (ourselves included)! Lastly, we are so happy to have a flurry of honey bees back on the farm! After the up and down winter weather this year we only had 1 out of 7 of our hives survive. We recently picked up 8 new nucleus’ that are now happy and thriving in their new homes. There is nothing like the the buzzing of bees working beside you… we are just so happy to see them thriving again. It truly is the beginning of the season that holds the most possibilities…

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April is a month of plant, plant, plant & build, build, build, build!

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Spring is always a busy time on the farm and a great reminder that everything we do on our farm is done with the utmost love and appreciation for the environment and our community! Whether it’s growing and providing nutritious, safe, organically grown produce & berries for our CSA members or happy, healthy eggs for our Egg Share members or the other avenues that Brian & I are personally exploring on the farm (bees, animal husbandry, honey, meat, dairy etc) we do it all with love. Throughout the season we encourage and welcome you to ask us questions about anything that relates to the farm, food, food policy, nutrition, recipes, etc. These conversations are the connection that we have to each other and why you’ve joined the CSA and why we do what we do… so let’s get excited about food & farming together!

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The start of the CSA. So let’s get down to it… our projected start of the 2014 season is the week of May 20^th.As the seasons vary the CSA may begin up to two weeks before or after our estimated start date of Tuesday May 20th and continue on from that date for 28 weeks. We will keep everyone posted as we get closer! Our bodies and minds are eager to begin harvesting from the garden…

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Time to get ready for the CSA with a few recommendations from your farmers…

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Finding a quiet moment every once in a while to take it all in…

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Farmer Recipe Book recommendations:

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From Asparagus to Zucchini – This book is a great guide to cooking farm-fresh seasonal produce just for CSA members. 420 original recipes written by farmers, members & cooks who love veggies in Wisconsin. **BULK BOOK PRICE: If more than 10 of our members are interested in purchasing this book we would be able to get a bulk price on them. $13/book + UPS ground shipping cost + $1 handling fee per order. Email if your interested and we’ll see if we get to 10 or more!**

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An Everlasting Meal – I love this book written by Tamar Adler. It breaks down cooking and preparing foods in the most simple and delicious of ways. Great recipes for using what you have, wherever you are. From how to properly boil foods to ‘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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Vegetable Literacy – A beautiful cookbook written by Deborah Madison featuring over 300 vegetable recipes. “Destined to become the new standard reference for cooking vegetables, Vegetable Literacy shows cooks that, because of their shared characteristics, vegetables within the same family can be used interchangeably in cooking.” Fascinating and inspiring (both in written and visual form) for the cook in the family!

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The girls have been loving their luscious new pasture.. it’s so amazing to see cows out there everyday..

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Recipe Website Recommendation:

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CSA Cookoff – Get Farm Share Recipes – The CSA Cookoff is HOMEGROWN.org’s ongoing series devoted to putting their weekly farm share bounty to good use. Click on their photos for their weekly CSA recipes.

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Preservation! Check out our write-up on preservation ideas (and book recommendations) for all your extra weekly goodies and getting creative in the kitchen.

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Our recommended food blogs – Check out our write-up on some of our favorite food blogs. Also, be sure to check out one of our member’s blogs – Miss Kali Martin – who is the cook and creator of all this delicious at Bird is the Word.

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PIWe’ve decided that piglets are the most adorable baby animals on the planet (look at those wrinkles!)

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Farmer Documentary Recommendations:

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To Make A Farm – This one hits close to home. It was inspiring, heartwarming, hopeful and very real. A must watch! This doc explores the lives of 5 young farmers who have decided to become small-scale farmers. “exceptionally hopeful, giving us a close-range view of humanity along with a detailed portrayal of the nuts and bolts of agriculture.” The trailer can be found here… it’s available on Amazon, google play & itunes.

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Food, Inc. – This one is a few years old now but it’s one of our favorite food documentaries. This is a great example of why we do things the way we do and keep it small, safe and the best! Here’s the trailer and it’s available on Amazon, google play & itunes.

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More than Honey – These little honeybees are at the heart of our food system so why are they facing worldwide extinction? Beautifully filmed revealing a fascinating, complex world in crisis. Find the trailer here and it’s available on Amazon, google play & itunes.

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Chickens LOVE this time of the year.. they are just so darn productive! In a month’s time our immature layers will move into the Chateau!

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Quick Web Videos/Interviews:

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Author Jo Robinson in this interview on NPR ‘Eating On The Wild Side:’ A Field Guide To Nutritious Food. The book talks of how wild forage that our ancestors used to eat was more nutrient dense than the food we eat now – to “cultivate the wild plants that were the most pleasurable to eat.” More pleasurable generally meant less bitter and higher in sugar, starch or oil. It’s a great listen. She has some interesting facts too.. like how it takes 10 cups of iceberg lettuce to get the same amount of nutrients as ½ cup of loose leaf lettuce. Or, “compared with spinach, one of our present-day “superfoods,” wild dandelion leaves have eight times more antioxidant activity, two times more calcium, three more times vitamin A, and five times more vitamins K and E.” It’s why we grow the diverse crops that we do… and probably why you joined the CSA – for the diversity, to eat seasonally and to feed your body the best that you can.

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Birke Baehr: What’s Wrong With Our Food System – How can you not love this kid? 11 year old Birke explains what’s wrong with our food system and what we can do to help.

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Robyn O’Brien at TEDxAustin 2011 – Say no to GMOs! Just another reason why we do what we do…. she’s talkin’ kids, food allergies from GMOs, and why every other country bans the “food” that we consume in the U.S. here.

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Our pups are getting too big, too quick… farmer Brian is already on schedule for his 5 minute recharge nap after lunch.

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There are plenty more books, videos, documentaries etc that we could recommend but this is a great place to start! We are looking forward to the season ahead and sharing the bounty with you all. Thank you for your support, encouragement and positivity! All that energy gets stored up in us and inspires us to grow better, not bigger. You’ll be hearing from us soon.. until then keep root-ing on your farmers… it’s GO TIME!

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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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p.s. You will find the biggest slideshow of images ever below…

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Forward March!

Posted on 12 Mar 2014

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“Why do farmers farm, given their economic adversities on top of the many frustrations and difficulties normal to farming? And always the answer is: “Love. They must do it for love.” Farmers farm for the love of farming. They love to watch and nurture the growth of plants. They love to live in the presence of animals. They love to work outdoors. They love the weather, maybe even when it is making them miserable. They love to live where they work and to work where they live. If the scale of their farming is small enough, they like to work in the company of their children and with the help of their children. They love the measure of independence that farm life can still provide. I have an idea that a lot of farmers have gone to a lot of trouble merely to be self-employed to live at least a part of their lives without a boss.” – Wendell Berry

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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Forward March! March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb… and in the first week of March it has definitely felt like both (a rainstorm, some flooding, sun, clouds, light rain showers and warmth). With all the snow and rain in February our bottomland on the property flooded out into a glorious pond. A week ago the water level was already back to where it started and then another rainstorm came through at the end of last week – and it has risen again! We appreciate the water though as it is the perfect way to bring in March and celebrate the coming of Spring (not to mention all the beautiful minerals the flood brings to our farm from the coastal range). There is so much growth and green already around these parts…

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Many new things have been happening on the farm since our last update. We’ve been seeding like crazy and are pumped for the coming months and the glorious transformation of the farm. Seeds are sprouting in the greenhouse and we are just a few weeks away from planting them in the ground. For us, there’s nothing better than a greenhouse brimming with glorious & healthy seedlings. This week we are starting all our peppers and tomatoes as well as leafy greens, our second round of brassicas (cauliflowers, kohlrabi, cabbage) etc. Now is the time to spread the good word as we have less than 10 shares available for the 2014 season and are so excited for fresh vegetables and fruits! Help your farmers to grow better and spread the farm love!

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Also, just a friendly reminder that your first CSA payments are due by April 1^st. Please email us if you have any questions. Checks can be mailed to 7705 SW River Rd. Hillsboro, OR 97123 or if you would prefer to drop off your payment in person send us an email to arrange a time.

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Ahab our pup and Gloucester our barn cart..

Welcome to the farm-ily! We welcomed a few new (furry) members to the Working Hands Farm-ily last week. A very fuzzy pack mate for Una, little Ahab and our amazing new barn cat, Gloucester that we picked up from the amazing folks at Quail Run Creamery in Gaston (if you haven’t tried their little goat feta you are missing out!) Gloucester is already the best barn cat we could have asked for. He fancies his new life here on the farm and greets us each time we step into the barn. True to his nature – he is a great mouser and Ellie and Maribelle are big fans of him as well.

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Our little pup Ahab is a great pyrenees/maremma mix which means he’s a working dog through and though. Ahab and Una have been a great balance for each other. We’re excited to see how they learn and grow together as they teach these two farmers a thing or two. Raising pups takes a lot of hard work but they are eager to learn, discover and find their place here on the farm.

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They have such a sweet bond already…

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Greenhouse # 2. We’ve been busy putting up our second greenhouse – piece by piece – and have hopes of raising the bows later this week! We are just too excited about season extension here on the farm….

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Pasture, pasture, pasture. With all the rain and sun our pasture is really taking off! Last week we moved the pigs out to pasture and let us tell you, they are some real happy pigs. We’ve been rotating them around an area we had a hard time tilling up last Summer/Fall and are letting them plough it up and fertilize it for us. So far they’ve done a great job. The flooding has taken over their area a bit so we’ve had to improvise on our rotation but nonetheless they have been extremely adaptable and are meant for this kind of living! We’re hoping by the end of the month that the cows should be out on pasture too (it needs to dry out a little bit before we turn the heavier critters on it). We’ve been busy enclosing the main pasture fence and aren’t too far away from seeing the cows out there in the fresh grass and sunshine…

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Piggies on pasture.. what could be better?

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The chicken pasture is now enclosed with electric netting (to keep them safe from the many predators who enter the farm as well as making it highly moveable for your farmers). The girls love all the bugs and sprouts they are finding outside. We will over-seed their second pasture this week and rotate them between both pastures throughout the season.

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In just a few months time the younger laying hens will be ready to move into Chateau Poulet. Until then, we built a sweet little mobile chicken coop for them (also, in anticipation for our Freedom Ranger – meat birds – that will be arriving later this Spring). When the Freedom Rangers are old enough they will be out on pasture in their new cool pasture shelter. So far the little ones love their new little space and even after a few seasons of raising chicks – still can’t believe how quickly they grow! Also, we will have egg shares available to purchase for the upcoming season SOON!

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Not so baby chicks are moving on to greener pastures…

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Fresh, pasture-raised eggs! ‘Tis the time in the season to support the ladies of Chateau Poulet. With the longer days the hens are starting to lay again. If you are already signed up for the CSA and are interested in buying the best darn eggs this side of somewhere. Email us and we will put them in the cooler for you. All of our hens are fed an organic, corn/soy free, verified non-GMO diet and have access to pasture 24hrs a day. A quick tip-trip saver- our eggs are super fresh so buying several dozens at a time will keep longer and save you a weekly egg trip! Give the ladies some love!

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Volunteer Day – Strawberry Planting. Many Hands, Make Light Work… This week we will be receiving a large shipment of strawberry plants, which means we’ll be planting 10+ 100ft rows of strawberries this weekend (here’s hoping for dry weather)! Last year we planted a similar amount and it took us 2 full days with a dozen or so enthusiastic helping hands! Please send us an email if you are interested in coming to help and we will keep you updated towards the end of the week with all the details!

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The green garlic grows and the fencing continues..

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‘Tis the time of the season to send your farmers some love as we continue to seed, till up the first ground of the season, finish up the pasture fencing and construction of greenhouse #2, construct the new shade structure and pick up area for the CSA, lay irrigation for the vegetables etc etc… phew.. (we LOVE it!) Here we go! Bring on Spring!

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Enjoy that (almost) Spring sunshine,

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Your Farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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A Winter’s Day

Posted on 10 Feb 2014

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“I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder

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We took advantage of the down time to share a Winter’s Day with you all. We hope you are enjoying the snow, the quiet, the coziness & inspiration… you just never know what mother nature will bring so enjoy it while it’s here. A good friend wrote and asked, “is it really this idyllic?” and our response was.. “It is – although appropriately balanced with all the blood, sweat and tears.” About sums it up. Many thanks to you all for watching our little film! Drive safe out there.

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Our warmest regards,

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

February on the Farm

Posted on 5 Feb 2014

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One of our farm mottos…. The trick is to say, “this is what I get to do today” not “have to do today.”

Everything rides on those two verbs. No matter how long the list gets. Everyday is precious.

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Hello Friends & Farm-ily,

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Happy February! The month is off to a very frosty start but it looks as if the rains will return soon enough (fingers crossed)! Things have been moving right along on the new farm. We spent the weekend amongst great friends who helped us resurrect our greenhouse in hopes of starting our first seedlings next week! We’re getting closer and closer everyday and after 3 moves already it feels great to have a forever home for our greenhouse and a place to “put in our roots.”

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CSA Update. A big THANK YOU to all of you who have signed up for the CSA in the last month! There is no greater encouragement than having only a handful of shares available come the beginning of February. We are working hard to make 2014 the best season yet and we thank you all for your support, love and encouragement! So far we’ve been feeling the farm love and look forward to growing and providing for you all this year!

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Word of mouth. Also, a big thanks to all of you who have shared the CSA love with friends, community and family members. A majority of our new members have been led our way by you – our community – and word of mouth really is the best way to help us grow and sustain our small farm. There are only a dozen or so spots available so please encourage interested friends, family, neighbors & community in signing up for their CSA share – this small gesture goes a long way! Quick links to our 2014 CSA Season (the Who, What, Where, Why, When & How Much) & our 2014 Sign-Up Form.

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We also have a few cute February farm updates for you all…

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We welcomed a few new feathered and furry members to the farm last week… the newest layer chicks (a mix of pearl white leghorns, red stars, arucaunas & americaunas) to be added to the rest of the flock this Spring. They grow SO fast. In just a week’s time they already have their wing feathers and are trying out their hand at flying. After this week’s cold spell they will go to live in their fancy brooder in the chicken coop. They’ll be out on fresh pasture, laying eggs before we know it…. Check out this sweet little sneak ‘peep’ of the girls set to a little diddy by Pete Seeger.

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We also welcomed Una – our 3 month old Great Pyrenees/Anatolian cross to the farm. Her breed is also known as a “LGD” (Livestock Guardian Dog). They are incredibly smart and have been bred to be independent thinkers. They imprint/bond with the animals they live and grow up with and will protect those animals within their perimeters at all costs. They are also nocturnal and she will be our eyes and ears during the night – watching and listening for predators while we’re sleeping. There are plenty of coyotes on the new property and it seemed a very natural fit to have a guardian on the farm that is bred to protect. They are very cool farm dogs to say the least.

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So far she’s been a quick study (walking on a leash, commands – sit, come, lay down & stay are all under her belt) and we feel so lucky to welcome her to the farm-ily. It has been unbelievably good for us to learn to be ‘leaders of the pack’ – giving us confidence and understanding through this process and in all areas of our lives. Farming, animal husbandry, running a business, leading the “pack,” etc all teach us so much about ourselves… and if you are willing and eager you will learn so much and become a more positive and productive person. A big thanks to Cesar Millan & his dog whispering ways.. we love that guy. Here’s a little video of miss una being sweet.

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Ellie, Maribelle and the pigs are doing exceptionally well in the new barn. These sunny, warmer winter days have been a tease and we can’t wait to set everybody up outside come Spring. Ellie has been the most “interested” in the new pup. She was pretty fixated on her (in a very dominant way) and now that a week has gone by she seems less interested but still displaying some signs of fight (definitely not flight). We know with time Ellie will begin to accept her into our herd and farm-ily and will grow to tolerate the pup as she gets older (Maribelle seems to care less about the whole thing..) The piglets are continuing to grow oh-so-fast and we just love having them on the farm. Here’s a funny little Pigs n squash video. They aren’t so good at sharing…

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This month we will continue to move forward as we near the start of Spring and have officially declared February as “fence month.” We’re hoping to have our 3,000ft pasture fence finished come the start of March – the animals (pigs, cows, chickens etc) can’t wait to forage on their new pastures. We have officially sent in our seed orders for the 2014 season and can’t wait to get started in the greenhouse in the coming weeks… so many things to look forward to in just a matter of a few months time. Whoop whoop! And look.. we finally have barn doors!

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Farm Fresh Eggs Available. We have our organic (non-gmo, no soy, no corn) eggs available for purchase (at $7.50/dozen). Please send an email with your order/# of dozens as well as your preferred day/time for pick up and we will promptly respond with our availability!—

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Be well and keep warm out there! In the meantime, stay in touch with what your farmers are up to – on our facebook or instagram page. We look forward to seeing you all later this Spring! Until then.. enjoy the stillness and quiet that Winter brings.

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All our best,

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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 2014 CSA

Posted on 1 Jan 2014

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“No man is born in possession of the art of living, any more than of the art of agriculture; the one requires to be studied as well as the other, and a man can no more expect permanent satisfaction from actions performed at random, than he can expect a good crop from seeds sown without due regard to soil and season…Nothing is more conducive to happiness, than fixing on an end to be gained, and then steadily pursuing its attainment.”

— J.C. Loudon – An Encyclopedia of Agriculture, 1825

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Happy New Years friends & farm-ily!

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We hope the winter and holiday season is treating everyone well. Although the winter has its perks, your farmers are feeling antsy for Spring and another year of farming ahead! We’ve been keeping busy with many little projects around the farm to get ready for the coming season (clearing & cleaning the front of the property, re-building the greenhouse & shade structure/veggie processing area, putting in irrigation, as well as animal infrastructure for the pasture and clearing out the last bits of farm stuff at the old farm). We still can’t believe we get to do this every year.. we love what we do and couldn’t be more appreciative of the community around us. We are so excited for the endless possibilities that 2014 holds..

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This time of the year we’re surely missing homegrown, fresh, organic goodies from the garden.. we’re getting hungry for the 2014 season already!

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As for this year’s winter (so far), it’s surely been a funny season since the end of the Fall CSA. The end of November and December have been awfully cold for this area and we’ve only had 25% of the rain that we usually do this time of the year. But because of this we’re making headway on the new property and are VERY excited for the coming season on the new farm. Spring is just around the corner (thank goodness the days are now getting longer) and we’re gearing up for our seed order, raising of the greenhouse, seed starting and planning in anticipation of our greatest year yet! We’re so excited to continue on in this journey and to share it all with you. And as always.. a great many thanks for all your appreciation, support and love through one of the busiest CSA seasons we’ve experienced to date!

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CSA Sign-Up Starts TODAY! 2013 was not only our busiest season but it was also our most productive year yet (over 36,000 lbs of produce grown) and we have a feeling that 2014 will be even better! As you know, our 2014 sign up starts TODAY January 1^st with a 2 week priority sign-up for our previous 2013 CSA members. We will be limiting our CSA to the first 85 members to sign up so we encourage you to sign up as soon as possible.

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The piglets are growing up so quick and are as cute as the day they were born!

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2014 CSA Info. You can read all about our 2014 CSA here – for the Who, What, When, Where, Why & How (much). We have some exciting new CSA updates in store for you all so please read carefully (below)!

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28 week CSA. Our 2014 CSA season is 28 weeks and now includes the “Fall CSA.” We had initially started the Fall CSA 3 years ago with hopes that we could grow successfully through the cooler Fall months. Well, the last two Fall seasons have been a success (the most recent Fall CSA was probably our favorite CSA season to date) and have decided to permanently extend the CSA to 28 weeks. We love eating seasonally and there’s nothing better than seeing the seasons through when you’re eating fresh out of the garden! As the seasons vary the CSA may begin up to two weeks before or after our estimated start – the week of May 20th and continue on from that date for 28 weeks.

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The bees taking a moment a few weeks ago on a 50 degree day to clean out the hive.. they might have moved farms but haven’t skipped a beat!

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Crops. As we prepare for the 2014 season we feel more confident – about the varieties of crops that we grow – than ever! Last year we grew the most diverse produce we’ve grown to date. We did this to get an idea of which plants grew the best, produced the most, tasted the best and survived throughout all the seasons. We have selected the best from 2013 and are excited to incorporate a few new varieties of veggies that we know our members are going to love. We will be investing in some new perennial crops this year like Artichoke, rhubarb asparagus, apples, pears, etc… and our raspberries we planted last season for this year are looking great – as do the strawberries and we’re excited for that first taste of homegrown berries…

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Sign-Up & Deposit. Once you’ve read about the 2014 CSA season you can sign-up online. In order to reserve your share we require a $250 deposit that is non-refundable and is applied to the total cost of the CSA. The deposit is due within two weeks of submitting our online CSA form. Once your deposit of $250 is received we will send you a confirmation email welcoming you to our CSA program.

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We encourage those members who can, to pay more than the deposit upon signing up, this helps your farmers absorb the initial expenses that happen at the beginning of the season. Our farm is a livable wage farm and by being part of our farm-ily you are directly investing in a sustainable agricultural model that doesn’t make compromises! Because of your investment we will be able to provide safe, delicious and nutritious food for many years to come. Remember that our CSA operates on a first come, first serve basis so sign up ASAP!

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The ladies of Chateau Poulet LOVE their new home and can’t wait for the coming of Spring!

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Egg Shares. The ladies of Chateau Poulet appreciate all the love and support this past season. We will be keeping a flock of 150 heritage birds in the 2014 season and that means a lot of eggs! They are raised on fresh pasture as well as an organic, non-gmo feed (no soy, no corn) made in the Pacific NW by Scratch and Peck – a local feed supply that we feel lucky to be working with. Our chicks are due in January which means they will be laying come the start of the CSA season. Egg shares will be available for purchase in May coinciding with the start of the CSA season. Remember eggs are limited and will go to CSA members on a first come first serve basis.

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Farm Pick-Up. All weekly CSAs are collected at our farm from 4-7pm. You will be able to choose the pick up day that you prefer while space is available (Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday) and the pick up day you select will be your assigned day for the duration of the season. Your famers make a point of being available from 4-5pm at each drop and do this to facilitate a sense of community within our CSA with good food at its core. Our farm is located in Hillsboro at 7705 SW River Rd 97123 – just 2 miles north from our old farm (on the other side of Farmington).

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Ellie & Maribelle are queens of the barn in their spacious new barn stall & can’t wait to let them loose on pasture in the Spring. What a glorious day!

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Quick Links: 2014 CSA Season (the Who, What, Where, Why, When & How Much) & our 2014 Sign-Up Form. If you have any further questions be sure to check out our Q&A section or send us an email. We hope you will be joining us again this year as we can’t imagine a season without you!

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

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Check out the slideshow below for wintery updates from the farm as well as this link to our favorite photos from our 2013 season.

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May 2014 be filled with love, adventure, laughter and all good things for you and your family!

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Happiest of days to you all!

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Jess, Brian & the rest of the farm-ily… Ellie, Maribelle, Truffle, Otis, the piglets & the ladies of Chateau Poulet

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Working Hands Farm Fall CSA Week 7 & 8

Posted on 18 Nov 2013

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Hey Friends & Farm-ily,

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It’s Week 7 & 8 of the Fall CSA, which means the last pick-up of the season! We can hardly believe it’s been 28 weeks since we started our 2013 harvest season. Little did we know what a season we would have when we began seeding trays back in January. We’ve come a long way this year and what a fruitful season it has been! Thanks for believing in your farmers every step of the way and for being a constant reminder of why we do what we do everyday. We look forward to serving this community for years to come. Y’all are the best.

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We hope you all had an inspiring journey during this 8 week season (and for many, all 28 weeks) – we hope many meals were shared and enjoyed in the warmth of your kitchen, that you enjoyed trying out some new veggies/varieties & won’t miss the farm fare too much during the winters months… we’ll all be dreaming of tomatoes come the middle of January <sigh>. This week there will be a “Week 7” share table and a “Week 8” share table in the barn for pick-up – be sure to grab one of each! There will be another table with greens, eggs and a few other choice items. Your farmers will be there to greet you until 5pm and will leave the barn lights on until 7pm.

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The Fall CSA shares all averaged in at a weight of 30lbs per week! And for organic, fresh picked, local produce we think $1.20 per pound is a great deal! All of the Fall shares contained 13-16 items with a great variety of crops and delicious tasting veggies that have inspired many fantastic home cooked meals (thanks for sharing all your delicious accomplishments in your kitchens!) Thanks so much for your recipe contributions, affirmation and excitement. We have enjoyed the Fall CSA so much and feel great about ending the 2013 season on such a high note!

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Fun Farm Fact. We’ve grown, harvested & distributed over 36,000 lbs of produce to our members and community this growing season. Who says small farms can’t feed the World? This is a number that we’re super proud of (and more then we initially projected..) as it’s a lot of food being produced on 3 acres of land by two people! And…12,000 lbs of the total number were produced during the 8 weeks of the Fall CSA! Cheers to our biggest (and best) year yet.

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Feelin’ blessed. We’ve been enjoying the variety (over 60 different kinds of vegetables and even more varieties) and bounty these 28 weeks. We feel blessed as farmers in the Pacific NW to be able to grow such a beautiful array of vegetables for our community. From berries and melons to brassicas and winter squash we can grow just about anything here! Every season we try out a few dozen or so new veggies and varieties. Making our seed list in January is one of our favorite things to do in the winter… checking our notes and remembering which varieties grew the best, tasted the best etc. What we’re some of your favorite veggies this season?

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Keep Moving forward. We’ve made some awesome headway on building winter housing for the animals in the barn. Ellie & Maribelle’s spacious stall is built out and then we’ll continue on with the pig stalls in hopes of moving everybody over at the end of the week. We’ve moved all our hens over this weekend into their new coop far away from the barn (and are so happy we’ll never have to do THAT again.. what a ta-do…). They seem to love the new coop and have plenty of space in there. With breezy windows, better roosts and egg boxes what’s not to like? Plus, we’re pretty pumped that we can “build stuff now.” The year of learning (all around).

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Ending the season with a bang. Looks like we’re in for a chilly double harvest for our last CSA week (with temps in the 40’s during the day and high 20’s at night). But, luckily, for us, we have our dear friend – Farmer Beth – who will be helping out with our double harvest and with her help we haven’t any doubts that cold, wind, rain, or double harvest will slow us down! All the hard work will keep us nice and warm anyway…

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Winter Veggies & Eggs. We’ll keep everyone updated about any veggies we may have available during the month of December. Eggs will be available for purchase during the Winter and Spring months as well and will be taking orders via email!

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2014 CSA sign-ups will begin in January and we’ll keep everyone in the loop (our members will have the first chance to sign-up before we open it up to the public). Whoo hoo! We’re excited to overhaul the website, make a new farm-y video and nestle in a bit and get creative! Keep in touch with your farmers through our website, facebook and instagram!

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Crates. Just a friendly reminder to return any CSA crates – that you may have at home – this week! We’re missing a dozen or so and are hoping to get them all back as it’s the last week for pick-up. This week’s “double share” pick-up will be in the barn (just too many goodies to fit under the shade structure) and there will be a spot to leave them there. If you have any at home be sure to set them out or put them in your car to make it easy! Thanks so much in advance.

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Hope it’s a great start to the week. We look forward to seeing you all soon!

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Many thanks and the happiest of holidays next 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 Fall CSA Week 6

Posted on 11 Nov 2013

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Hey Friends & Farm-ily,

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We’ve made it to week 6… which means there is only one more week of pick-up left for our Fall CSA! We’ve had an amazing time with the Fall CSA this season – such a wonderful bounty with incredibly thoughtful & amazing CSA members!

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Turnip the beet! Next week’s “double share…” Next week you will be picking up shares for week 7 & 8. This is a great way to spread the love during the Thanksgiving holiday! Most of the veggies are storage crops and can be kept for weeks and weeks (some even months). Storage onions, potatoes, winter squash will all keep in a cool place. Root veggies such as carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, rutabaga & leeks & cabbage too will all keep in the fridge (when preparing to store carrots, beets and other root vegetables in plastic bags in the refrigerator, sprinkle in a few drops of water as you pack each bag. Ideally, a few drops of condensation should form inside the bags after they have been well-chilled in the fridge.) Blanching and freezing is also great for any extra hardy greens, carrots, or broccoli.

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Depending on what Mother Nature is up to we might have some extra goodies for harvest during the month of December. For those interested in purchasing greens, storage crops, eggs & other goodies throughout December 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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Progress, progress, progress… We are getting there! Thanks to the help of our dear friends – Beth & Erik – we were able to disassemble our green house this weekend. It took about two days but we did it (thanks to the help of our tractor… that machine gets MVP for all the things it’s helped us accomplish this year…)! The new chicken coop is finished and awaiting the arrival of our ladies. This week, we’ll begin building out a few stalls in the barn for Ellie and Maribelle and make plans for pig shelters and fences. We’re cruising right along now and it’s only a matter of time before we’re moved over completely! <big farmer smiles & high fives>

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It’s been an exciting process this year and we’ve never worked harder. We welcome the hard work and although it’s made for some long days we have chosen to live this life because we believe in it. Thanks for believing in us and being the best kind of positive reinforcement these two farmers could get. We so appreciate it and can’t wait to share in the beauty, the bounty, the hard work and the excitement during the 2014 season at the new farm! Cheers to that!

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Crates! As we begin to wind down our Fall season we will be keeping an eye on our crate inventory. If you have any crates piling up at your house be sure to bring them by to this week’s pick up. You have all been great about returning crates this season and we so appreciate it! Thanks so much in advance.

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Favorite Thanksgiving Day recipes. Have any veggie related turkey day recipes that you’d like to share? Feel free to email them our way for next week’s recipe handout! Yum.

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Just a heads up… we have taken the green house down but most of its metal parts won’t make it to the new farm until next weekend. The metal pieces are around the periphery but please be mindful when parking and exiting the parking lot this week!

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Enjoy the start of your week and we’ll see you all soon…

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Our best,

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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 Fall CSA Week 5

Posted on 4 Nov 2013

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Hey Friends & Farm-ily,

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Here we go, Week 5! We missed seeing you all last week – your farmers have been unbelievably busy with building/creating new infrastructure for all the animals and moving the farm (piece by piece)! Our heads are still above water so no need to worry about your farmers – all the “sweet” treats we received last week surely put smiles on our faces. We appreciate our amazing CSA members – such thoughtfulness and inspiration is found in our connections to our community. We think you guys rock!

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We hope you all are appreciating that “extra hour” of sleep this week. We can get the day started a bit earlier but of course that means sunset is now around 5 pm (those long summer days are gone…) It’s officially Autumn in our minds.. even though the weather is just starting to show signs of November the shorter days and colder nights remind us that the season is slowing us down (even though there is much to do).

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We’re keeping it short and sweet this week as we make our way through the longest farmer to-do list of 2013… Thanks for all the love and support! Remember your crates. Eggs will continue to be available for purchase and email us any recipes you might have discovered with the help of your CSA bounty!

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We look forward to seeing you all this week. Stay dry and enjoy the warmth of your kitchens.

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Our best,

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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p.s. You might notice that our Farm Sign is no longer out on display on the road (we’re slowly taking down and moving all our farm stuff this month). We are still there and pick-ups will continue at this farm for the remainder of the Fall season!

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Working Hands Farm Fall CSA Week 4

Posted on 28 Oct 2013

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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Week 4! We’re half way through the Fall CSA season and nearing the 1^st of November (can you believe it?) We never thought we’d have quite the sunny season extension.. we knew we’d be busy, busy this Fall but never thought we’d be this productive! All season our mantra has been January (as a short period of rest for your farmers and marks the calendar at a little over a year since we began the new farm project) – here’s hoping that we get there…

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We seriously love it though (otherwise I don’t think we’d willingly choose to be farmers) and the slowing down/end of Fall hibernation will set in soon enough. Looks like tonight might be the perfect opportunity to light up a fire with temps in the lowers 30’s – high 20’s. ‘Tis the season to nestle in and get into hibernation mode (reading, writing, creative projects, cozy fires, comfy sweaters, warm kitchens, big meals, planning… our favorite!)

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Happy Farmer News…

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Happy Farmer News! Ok, so, we have some happy news to share with you all this week… your farmers are gettin’ hitched! Brian asked Jess – in the company of a few really amazing friends – and was pleasantly surprised to hear a big, glorious “yes!” We’re both pretty excited to see what the next year will bring. Thanks for all your encouragement thus far. We are truly humbled by the amazing community that surrounds us (both near and far). It’s the best!

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Farm-ily updates. All of the critters are happy and healthy and the piglets will be a month old this Thursday. The veggies look pretty great, we’ve officially moved out of our old house and into the new, we’ll be finished siding the barn this week and have moved all our storage crops into the barn, the garlic is already sprouting!, progress on the chicken coop continues and we’ll begin “operation move lots of farm stuff” starting with the green house this weekend. One step closer all the time… <high five>

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Just a friendly reminder… the last CSA pick up will be the week before Thanksgiving and on that week you will receive a double share (week 7 AND 8). Plenty of goodies to share around the Thanksgiving holiday… yum!

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A big thanks for bringing your crates last week! Your farmers sure do appreciate it – keep up the good work!

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Enjoy the start of your week and we’ll see you all soon! If you tried any new and inspiring recipes recently email them our way…

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Happy Hallows Eve,

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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 Fall CSA Week 3

Posted on 21 Oct 2013

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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Hope you all have been enjoying the goodies so far! We’re pleased to be going into our 3^rd week of the Fall CSA (and still without our first real frost). 70’s during the day and in the 30’s a night is a very stark contrast and it’s got your farmers wondering what’s up with Mother Nature this Fall (must be making up for all the rain in cold we had in September). In any case, the sunshine and good weather sure does help when you’re moving one farm to the other.

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We feel like we blinked and it was the start of the week already… must be all of the sunshine and productivity here on the farm. Farmer Brian and crew have made some serious progress on the barn siding. We’re hoping by the end of the week we’ll be able to move all our storage crops inside as well as Ellie & Maribelle’s food source for the winter. A dry place also means the beginning of moving all our farm, equipment, animals, greenhouse, tools, shade structure etc. We imagine taking it piece by piece for the next 5 weeks or so.

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More of our summer crop blocks have been tilled in awaiting to be cover cropped. The new Chateau Poulet is also coming along. We’ve been working on it in the wee hours before harvest/siding and just before sunset. Hopefully we’ll be able to put in some serious man-hours this weekend and get Chateau Poulet up and running so that sometime in November we can move all the ladies over.

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Harvest went well last week (with Farmer Jess on her solo mission) and we’re both feeling blessed for the endless energy, inspiration, excitement and sunshine. Not to mention, our awesome members who keep us smiling and stored up on good energy! Thanks for that!

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Miss Truffle’s piglets are thriving and are starting to look like little linebackers. These days, despite the chilly morning temperatures and the call of the heat lamp and a good pig pile, they are just as eager to be fed in the morning as mama. They are in and out and all over Truffle’s feeding trough eager to see what’s for breakfast (besides mama’s milk). So far their favorites seem to be beets, rotten melon, apple & pumpkin. We are still figuring out their accommodations at the new farm but know they will be excited for there are many a fallen walnut and rotten apple at their disposal aka piggy paradise.

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Eggs. Just a friendly reminder that “egg shares” don’t carry through to the Fall CSA and we are offering them for purchase during the pick-ups at $7.50/dozen. Their supplemental feed is made up of whole grains that are local, organic AND gmo free. Can’t get these delicious pasture-raised eggs at the grocery store!

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Crates & Recipes. Please remember your crates this week. And if you’ve enjoyed any new recipes be sure to email them our way! We love sharing and trying new recipes!

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Enjoy the week! It’s another double duty week for your farmers (with siding the barn and harvesting) so wish us luck! We’ll be available from 4-5pm at the pick ups and look forward to seeing you all soon!

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Many thanks,

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Working Hands Farm Fall CSA Week 2

Posted on 14 Oct 2013

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily!

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Happy second week of the Fall CSA! We hope you all enjoyed the first week’s bounty. It was such a pleasure meeting all our new members and welcoming back familiar faces. We’re happy to have a community surrounding us that loves food as much as we do! Feel free to email any favorite recipes you find along the way… or if you’re in need of any ideas we’re there to talk about food at the drop!

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Fun little produce note: You’ll notice as the cooler weather comes in that the brassica crops will sweeten up! Plants produce more sugar to keep their cell walls from bursting and we benefit greatly in terms of the flavor.

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Updates from the field. Thanks for all your well wishes of sun… it looks like we finally got our wish! At the end of our harvest week, we began our Fall/Winter prep and covered all our more “tender” greens with frost protection. In the summer months we use a lighter weight fabric as a bug protectant (a much better and easier method than spraying) and in the winter we switch to a thicker weight that protects against frost. We had a few nights dip into the high 30’s. Our first frost last year was October 1^st so we’ll see just when this year’s frost will be. It’s amazing to us how different each season can be.. and the 10-day forecast looks like we’re all in for a real treat!

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Thanks to the beautiful weather we also planted all our garlic! We’ve been slowly building up our garlic seed over the past few years and this year was our biggest planting yet. Organic garlic seed ain’t cheap (at $20-24 per pound and at 10lbs per bed it adds up quick) but we use garlic in every meal and believe it to be important as a part of our CSA. We hope to include more and more garlic as the years go on. Enjoy all the richness you will find – different levels of spice, earthiness, vigor. We just can’t get enough of the stuff.

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The bees are gearing up for the winter. Upon our inspection last weekend we found that the majority – 6 out of 9 hives – had high bee numbers, there was plenty of food stored for the winter and that there is a healthy, laying queen. Three of them appeared to be weaker and showed definite signs of the varroa mite (which weakens their immune systems indefinitely). Did you know that worker bees live 4 to 6 weeks during the active season and those reared in the fall may live as long as 6 months? They are such awesome creatures. We hope that the odds are in our favor and that they live through the winter. The Pacific NW is somewhere in the midrange of overwintering loss (at 30%) so we’re hoping for the best! We’ll be moving over the bees come November to their new home on the farm.

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Updates from the new farm. Operation build new chicken coop also began this weekend. So far we have the bottom floor in and have begun framing the sides. The new coop will include a place to store feed and a space for a brooder (for new young chicks!) Checking off a few more items on our 2013 TO-DO list aka the longest to-do list ever! The barn roof continues to go up and Farmer Brian and friends will begin siding the barn this week coinciding with our harvest (go farmer Jess, go)!

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Updates from the barn. Our little piglets sure are thriving. At just a little over a week old they are beginning to stretch their legs and even their bounds (we found one had escaped into the field just the other day). They are mimicking all of mom’s gestures – making a nest and burrowing in it, distinguishing where the food is, where to go to the bathroom, have started rooting in the dirt etc – they are such smart creatures! We’re excited to share the piglets with our members and welcome those who are interested to accompany their farmers into the barn to take a look. We ask that folks enter quietly as the tiny piglets sleep most of the day so the less stress the better – for mama pig too! Interesting pig fact: Pigs hate being picked up off the ground! They squeal and squeal. Turns out they like having all their feet on the ground at all times…

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Chicken update. Thanks to our friend, Naomi – at Naomi’s Organic Farm Supply in Portland – we believe we’ve come up with a much better system for feeding our layer hens! Over the past few weeks we’ve changed our system and feel as though they are now eating a more adequate amount of food paired with their forage on pasture. We now use just a simple feeder bowl on a cinder block and mix in a little water so that the fines (minerals and other nutrients) don’t just get flicked or left behind. We can’t believe how well it works with little to no waste (and chickens can be the most wasteful of the bunch)!

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Eggs. The gals of Chateau Poulet thank you for all your support last week! There will be eggs available this week for purchase.

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Thanks again for your support and encouragement! We had a great start to the Fall CSA and feel pretty wonderful about the next 7 weeks! In this blog post we mention some of our favorite recipe blogs. And, if you’re looking for ways to preserve your extra goodies and get creative in the kitchen click here! Don’t forget – all of the root veggies and winter squash should store for several weeks. Enjoy and we’ll see you all soon.

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Remember your crate! Also, we reuse rubber bands, egg cartons & berry boxes.

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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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Working Hands Farm Fall CSA Week 1

Posted on 7 Oct 2013

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Hey friends & farm-ily,

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Welcome to the beginning of our Fall CSA! It’s hard to believe it’s already October but we couldn’t be happier to extend our season for another few months into the 2013 season. With all the mix of sun and clouds of late we’ve been able to get a lot of work done on both farms. Putting our beds to rest, shucking garlic for a fall planting, harvesting the rest of our winter squash and rolling up irrigation lines until we need them next season. We haven’t had our first frost yet which means that things are growing while they still can. Everyday we are losing a little bit of light which means the plants, the animals and the farmers have to slow down just a little to reserve their energy for the winter ahead.

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And if you didn’t hear the news already…. (or, see one of these amazingly cute videos we posted over the weekend – one, two & three)

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The piglets are here! Our sow Truffle had her first litter of piglets during the ‘tail end’ of the CSA drop on Thursday. They sure are an adorable bunch (the little girl even has a spotted pink nose). Ellie & Maribelle stood outside Truffle’s stall chewing their cud to watch the new piglets in action (too funny). The first few days were long for us – checking in on mom and babies to make sure everyone was a-ok and getting what they needed. At first we thought Truffle had a bout of mastitis but now we believe she just hadn’t let down her milk (a farmer friend informed us that first time pig mamas can sometimes take up to 3 days to let down their milk). After a few sleepless nights things seem to be going well. Truffle has been a great mama through it all. The animal barn will be closed this week to visitors, as we want to keep the stress factor down for mama while we all adjust to this new change. Thanks so much for understanding!

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How the CSA works. For those of you who are new to the CSA – WELCOME! We are so excited to meet you and your families and to feed you for the next few months. For all those lovely folks returning, and for those we’ll see back in the Spring we appreciate all the goodness you bring to the farm and hope you all enjoy the bounty ahead!

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Have fun with food! 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! We include weekly recipes with the box that guide you through that week’s bounty. We grow over 60 + types of vegetables and fruits over our 28 week season – all brought to you during their peak ripeness – and “time” in the season! We grow several varieties of each kind of veggie/fruit which makes for 100’s of delicious varieties to enjoy throughout the season.

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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 8 weeks are grown with love, passion & happy living soil. We pride ourselves on offering the best possible produce to our community and we believe all that hard work shows. 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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Pick-Up times. We sent out emails last week with your pick up day and time and location. Please let us know if you have any questions. On your pick up day just follow the sign where you will find parking between the greenhouse and the white barn. We’ll have pick ups in the shade structure until the weather turns and we’ll leave a light on for folks who come from 6-7pm. Your farmers will be available at Fall pick ups from 4-5pm to say hello, answer any questions, take part in food related chats & general farmyness, 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. 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, 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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Compost. 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. If you happen to have any leftover greens, tops, bit n pieces etc from Working Hands Farm produce waste (please, only waste from our farm) feel free to bring it in your own container and empty that container in the farm bin provided.

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Reduce, reuse, recycle. For all those who purchase eggs or buy eggs at the store we reuse our paper egg cartons! Please save up your egg cartons for us and return them (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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Eggs. Our delicious pasture raised, organic, non gmo certified, no corn, no soy eggs will be available a la carte (separately) for the Fall CSA. $7.50/dozen. The grass is green and those yolks are brilliantly orange! The ladies of Chateau Poulet give thanks for your support (and by the end of this month we should have some new baby chicks…!)

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We look forward to seeing you all this week! Be sure to check out this week’s farm slideshow for more adorable pictures from around the farm!

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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

– Hi folks, – 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…

Bee-zy on the Farm!

Posted on 24 Apr 2013

– Hello friends, – 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…

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!

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