Posts tagged “grass-fed beef portland oregon”

Here We Grow 2015 (week 1)

Posted on 18 May 2015


STRAWBMATER

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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Let the 2015 harvest season begin!  We are so happy and appreciative of all your support and encouragement over the last 5 months (since our 2015 season started).  It’s been months in the making and we look forward to the season beginning and to celebrate with a bountiful harvest this week!

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Flow of the CSA.  Over the next few weeks we will all begin to get into the flow of pick ups, harvests, seasons, you name it. Spring is a great time to adapt-to and learn new habits, to eat seasonally and fresh. We remind you to be patient, to be excited and to enjoy the ride.  There are so many decisions that one person must make everyday – a daunting task at times – revel in those food choices your farmers and the changing of the seasons are making for you each week.  Get creative & be inspired.  Ask questions & be open – you’ll be surprised what you might find as the season unfolds.

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Enjoy all the benefits of eating fresh (picked THAT morning), eating seasonally (sorry, no tomatoes in May), and local (your local farmer, Brian and I, need the support of our community)!ots of sun, longer days and warmer temps means happy, happy plants!

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beets

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Farm Pick Up Time.  Farm Pick Ups take place on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday from 4 – 7pm (please double check on your assigned day). Note: Bi-Weekly share members pick up their produce every other week throughout the course of the 28 week CSA season (a total of 14 shares). Members will pick up their share on weeks 1,3,5,7, etc… or 2,4,6,8, etc… depending on your assigned CSA start date.  It’s important to pick up between 4-7pm on your assigned day (and not a minute before) as it’s just the two of us and we harvest everything fresh that morning so your farmer’s need the time to harvest, wash and set up the pick up area.

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Parking. There is a nice big parking area for a convenient and stress free pick-up.  Park thoughtfully as folks tend to come in waves and the parking will fill up fast!   There are also children and families who will be moving from the pick-up area to the parking lot so please drive slowly.  We are located on a busy country road so please be patient coming and going from the farm (oh the pros and cons of living on a main country road!)

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Pick-Up Area.  We are breathing new life into a very old and forgotten farm property so you will see it become more and more beautiful as the seasons and years go on… 2.5 years ago all that remained on this property was the old farmhouse by the road.  The CSA Member Area is now located on the side of this original farmhouse (“Freda’s House”) built in the early 1900’s. Thank you for growing with us and for being a part of this process!

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WHF

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The Pick-Up.  Please sign in before grabbing your goodies.  You will enter the member area and move counterclockwise, packing your own share with the allotted amounts of vegetables written next to each varietal.  Please bring 2-3 reusable shopping bags to put your produce in.  We recommend bringing a bag or two even for folks who are purchasing a crate (for bunched greens etc).

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Pick-Up is also a great opportunity to meet other members and share over the common bonds of food, health and community!  If you are unable to come pick up your share from 4-7pm on your assigned day, you can either arrange for a friend or family member to pick it up for you. If you cannot find anyone to pick-up the box on your behalf please give us 48hr notice (emails are best).

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Be sure to visit our FAQ’s for any other questions you may have:  https://workinghandsfarm.com/q-a/

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PANGREENS

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CSA Crates.  For those who of you who reserved a WHF crate, they will be ready to collect on your first CSA pick-up!   If you have not yet paid for your crate, please bring a check for $25 and one of your farmers would be happy to assist you.

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Egg cartons, Berry Boxes, Rubberbands etc.  For all those who purchase eggs, please save up your WHF egg cartons for us and return them. We also reuse all berry boxes (1/2 pints, pints, quarts) and rubberbands so you can return those as well.  We are a thoughtful farm in terms of minimizing waste and reuse what we can!  There will be a place to return these items by the sign-in sheet.

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WHF Pasture-raised Pork, Grass Fed Beef &  Pasture-raised Eggs.  We are excited to share that we will begin taking Pork and Beef Share orders NEXT WEEK!  We will email you early next week with all the details.  For egg orders, check out the email that was sent out this morning “WHF Monthly Egg Shares” for all the details.

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radish

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CSA Recipes.  There will be 2-4 recipes emailed to you with each weekly share.  These recipes have been tried and tested (and doubly approved by your farmers)!  If you happen to try a different recipe with some of the veggies from that Week’s Share feel free to send it our way so that we too can try it and share it with others!  Check out the CSA Cookoff, Food Preservation Tips from your farmers, and some of our favorite food blogs for more ideas!

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Working Hands Farm CSA Group on Facebook!  Share your CSA recipe success… Invites (emails) have been sent out to join Working Hands Farm CSA Group on Facebook.  A place for Working Hands Farm CSA members to share recipe ideas, kitchen prep successes, food preservation ideas etc! Check your email or visit this link to join the group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/696698667079657/  Participation is highly encouraged 🙂

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COOKBOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:

From Asparagus to Zucchini – A book made for CSA MEMBERS!  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 as well as the best preservation methods for the different kinds of veggies.

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Farm-Fresh and Fast – This book was created by the same CSA coalition that put together From Asparagus to Zucchini.  Even more recipes, a fancier layout and preservation methods.

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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.

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Vegetable Literacy – A beautiful cookbook written by Deborah Madison featuring over 300 vegetable recipes.

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The America’s Test Kitchen Complete Vegetarian Cookbook – ATK’s newest cookbook with 700+ recipes in this comprehensive collection show you inventive and uncomplicated techniques for making boldly flavored main dishes, appetizers, soups and stews, pasta, pizzas, and more.   With over 700 recipes you’re surely never to run out of ideas!

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goatersun

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Farm livestock.  All of our members will have the opportunity to see/visit the livestock on our farm during our to-be-scheduled CSA Farm Day. Keep in mind that almost all of our livestock are kept inside of electrified fences so parents please keep a close eye on you children during this day. On a weekly basis, feel free to say hello to our wee farm greeters and blackberry management team – our goats – the “Lost Boys” – Tootles, Nibs, Slightly & Curly.  The woven wire fence enclosing them in on the parking lot side is not electrified.

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Volunteering, CSA Farm Day, Pumpkin Day, Newsletters etc.  Throughout the season we offer opportunities to volunteer, enjoy a CSA Member Farm Day, pumpkin day etc all on the farm.  Also, to keep our farm-ily connected to the farm, the seasons and what it takes to grow food locally we send a weekly farm newsletter so be sure to read the whole thing through! We post frequently on instagram, facebook to share in our day-to-day and to stay connected with people (as you can imagine we spend 99% of our time with vegetables and 2-4 legged critters ha!) All of these opportunities are a great way to see the farm, chat with your farmers, meet other CSA members in the community and enjoy the seasons on the farm.

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Thank you again for all your support! It’s been a busy Spring and there is much anticipation to get this season started.  We have another exciting season ahead with over 70 different types of vegetables and several different varieties of each (it’s never a dull moment on the farm!)  Your farmers have been working harder than ever to get the season started early and have more variety in the shares early on!

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Enjoy the leafy greens and cool weather brassica crops that you will find in the first few week’s of the CSA (the Spring seasons natural cleanse… after a Winter full of root crops and heavier foods).  As well as the sun sweetened strawberries whose season is never long enough!  The greens will be tender, delicious and untouched by the heat that summer brings.  Enjoy them while they are here!  The bounty will continue to grow and grow and grow as we near the longer, warmer days of Summer!  Thanks again for all your support and we look forward to sharing in the bounty with you this season.

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With kind regards,

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Your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

The Root of the Root

Posted on 5 Mar 2015

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“here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)” – e.e. cummings

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Hello friends & farm-ily,

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February was a whirlwind month on the farm for these two farmers. It was a month of extremes. In the garden, it started off pretty rainy but the rest of the month’s weather proved to be absolutely beautiful.  With all the sunshine and dry days we’ve been crossing projects off the list left and right.  Our propagation greenhouse is brimming with our first starts of the season (kale, broccoli, beets, lettuce, collards, chicory, onions, cabbage, herbs etc… to name a few).  We’ve begun working up the soil and have already planted our first crops of carrots, beets, bunching onions, spinach, peas and fava beans.  In the garden, we have never felt more prepared, productive and ahead of schedule and it feels really good.

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At the beginning of the month, during an incredibly rainy time, our sweet Rosie had her first litter of piglets and has been an extremely successful first-time mama. She gave birth to 12 healthy babies and they all continue to grow and thrive. We have been most impressed with Miss Rosie (she’s ‘some pig’) and look forward to cultivating that relationship more and more over time. The heritage pigs have been a great compliment to our small farm and we constantly feel inspired by life through all the animals and plants that we tend to and keep.

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The late Winter/early Spring is a magical time on the farm – full of endless possibilities. Getting the chance to work outside so early in the season feels incredible. To move the body, build, till, mend, fix and cross things off the list. But at the beginning of last week we encountered a major setback on the farm that would impact our beef herd. As many of you know, just a week ago, on February 23rd in the wee hours of the morning, our herd was involved in a terrible freak car accident (for more of the story, you can read about it here). Three of our cows were injured and two of them (our steers ages 16 months & 7 months) were so badly injured that we had to put them down. Thank the Lord the driver of the vehicle was okay but we suffered an immeasurable loss that morning.. physically, mentally, emotionally and financially…What had spooked them? Why they had bent their brand new Behlen gate like a banana and ventured all the way to the road was a question we could not answer. To see them there, in the dark hours of that morning, was like a bad nightmare. It felt senseless and lacking purpose. So many hours, days, months, even years had been put into the care of these animals and it felt like – just like that – they were gone and it was out of our control. As a fellow farmer said, we are “so sorry for this loss of their lives; your labor and their companionship.” We love our cows and truly believe they are the most amazing creatures and, as farmers, our hearts have never felt more broken.

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We’re learning though that something’s in life are just out of your control – no matter how hard you work or how much care you can put into something. 
The afternoon, after we buried the two cows under the oak tree, I told Brian, “there is no amount of magic in the world that can keep us from experiencing such pain, but it is BECAUSE of the magic that we don’t give up.” We hurt and it’s hard but we will keep the faith cause it’s all we got. I suppose it is these moments that are a catalyst and reminder to truly enjoy the moments in between such horror and tragedy. Enjoy every moment. Be present and love well.

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The root of the root. In the most challenging of times you must pick yourself up and venture forward and do better. Often times it is after life’s darkest moments that we find a truer, more meaningful sense of life and self. In the wake of their death we have found so much life and love and inspiration within our community. Friends, farm-ily members, fellow farmers and admirers from afar have stepped up to help us out: emotionally, spiritually and even financially. We are in total awe, appreciation and admiration for the community that surrounds us. It has been our saving grace and inspiration during this time of sadness and tragedy. We truly feel touched by every comment, “like”, email, note, and donation that has been sent our way over the past week. “We are rooting for you!” We read every single comment and email that we received. It filled our hearts and left us feeling humbled by all the love that was shown to us. Just knowing that other people are thinking of us gives us strength, inspiration and helps us feel even more connected to our community (near and far) and to the root of the root of why we’re farmers.

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As tragic as this accident is there is a silver lining. We have never felt more connected, aware and inspired as both farmers and individuals. Thank you to everyone who has helped – whether it was a kind message or a generous donation… your outpouring support and love has truly opened our eyes to all the goodness that life can bring when you open yourself up to it. Life is a balancing act and, while we have felt a wide range of emotions this past week, we mostly feel grateful, humbled, connected and inspired to grow better.

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Ready to welcome Spring... Spring is surely is an exciting time of the year with many endless possibilities ahead.  Your farmers have been extra busy planning out a year of delicious seasonal crops. We are getting hungry for the 2015 harvest and are looking forward to the delicious bounty in the coming months. Every growing season is different but we work very hard to grow better with each passing year.

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seeds!

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Thank you to everyone who has signed up for the Working Hands Farm 2015 CSA season.   We have only a couple dozen veggie shares available so be sure to sign up soon!   You can read all about our 2015 CSA here – for the Who, What, When, Where, Why & How (much).  As farmers we’ve really come to love the CSA model as members share both the risks and benefits of food production with their farmers and it keeps us all very connected to where our food is coming from, how it’s being grown, who your farmers are, the organic practices we use…. etc

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Share the CSA Love (a note from 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 2015 CSA share.  Many thanks in advance for your help from your farmers at Working Hands.

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dogsgarlic

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Our hearts are full as we enter the month of March and we thank you all again for your commitment, support, inspiration and encouragement. We are your farmers, who are dedicated to growing you the best, most delicious, safe, nutrient dense, farm fresh food and we believe in excellence as our standard – no compromises. Thank you for believing in us and thank you for investing in yourselves and your health. We look forward to growing for you all in the 2015 CSA season.

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“And the world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles, no matter how long, but only by a spiritual journey, a journey of one inch, very arduous and humbling and joyful, by which we arrive at the ground at our feet, and learn to be at home.”  – Wendell Berry  From a great reminder post about gratitude called, Gratitude on the Farm.

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With our fondest regards,

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your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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piggiescover

Working Hands Farm CSA 2015

Posted on 1 Jan 2015

 

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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 inspired and excited for Spring and another year of farming ahead!  We’ve been keeping busy with many projects around the farm to get ready for the coming season.  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 2015 holds.

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As for this year’s winter (so far), it’s surely been a wet and mild one compared to last winter.  Our annual pond has formed where the creek and Tualatin River meet giving a nice waterfront view for our pigs and cows.  As always, we are taking advantage of the mild days and are plowing ahead with projects and are VERY excited for the coming season on the farm.  Spring is just around the corner (thank goodness the days are now getting longer) and this month we’re gearing up to make our seed order, begin seed starting and crop 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.

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brian

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As always. a great many thanks for all your appreciation, support and love through the most productive CSA season we’ve experienced to date! – 2014 was a season for the books – over the course of our 28-week 2014 CSA season your (two) farmers harvested and distributed 60,000lbs of freshly picked, organic, nutrient rich, grown with love produce to our CSA members.  We could not be more proud to inform you that during the 2014 CSA season our members paid $1.74 per pound for their fruits and veggies!  By investing in the CSA we are able to invest in you!  Every year we perform a cost comparison by adding up the cost of the produce in each weeks CSA crate and comparing it to our local organic markets and in a typical year our members save in excess of $300 -$400 on their produce.  Not that we think our produce can be compared to that of the super market as ours is harvested by either farmer Jess or farmer Brian and given to you the very same day – you can’t beat the freshness of our produce! Also, a store can’t give you the sense of adventure and community that a local farm can.  With that being said…

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CSA Sign-Up Starts TODAY!  2014 was not only our busiest season but it was also our most productive year yet (over 60,000 lbs of produce harvested and distributed) and we have a feeling that 2015 will be even better!  As you know, our 2015 sign up starts TODAY January 1st with a 2-week priority sign-up for our previous 2014 CSA members.  We will be limiting our CSA to the first 100 members who complete the sign up process so we encourage you to sign up as soon as possible.  The first 10 members who sign up and pay in full will receive a FREE WHF crate!

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2015 CSA Info.  You can read all about our 2015 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)… As farmers we’ve really come to love the CSA model as members share both the risks and benefits of food production and it keeps us all very connected to where our food is coming from and the practices we use.

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strawberryfieldsforever

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Two types of shares:  Weekly & Bi-Weekly

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Weekly CSA Shares (our best value CSA share!)  We estimate that our Weekly Shares feed 2-3 adults (or a family of 4) that enjoy eating their veggies! Starting in May, for 28 weeks you will pick up your share of seasonal produce each week at the farm.  Shares are 8-16 different items depending on the season and average to be 26lbs per share. With every Weekly CSA you will be emailed a detailed list of vegetables and 4-6 recipes that correspond with the veggies in that weeks share.

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Bi-Weekly CSA Shares (new this year!)  This share is ideal for individuals or for small households that are, shall we say, learning to love their veggies!  With the Bi-Weekly Share you are investing in exactly half the produce of the Weekly Share as you will come and collect your bounty every other week (a total of 14 shares).  Shares are 8-16 different items depending on the season and average to be 26lbs per share.  Starting in May, members will pick up their share on weeks 1,3,5,7, etc… or 2,4,6,8, etc… depending on your assigned CSA start date (the farmers assign the start date, you choose your pick up ‘day’).   With every Bi-Weekly CSA share you will receive recipes and tips on how to store, prepare and fall in love with vegetables!    Note:   Our expectation is that each Bi-Weekly share will contain enough veggies to meet the needs of an individual or small household for one week per pick up.

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CSA Member Benefits:

  • In addition to your weekly fruits and veggies you will receive a weekly newsletter full of beautiful photos and updates about the farm.
  • Over the course of the season you will have the opportunity to visit the farm at our CSA Member Farm-Day scheduled for June & our CSA Member Pumpkin Day set for late September!
  • Exclusive access to our Working Hands Farm CSA Members page to share recipe ideas, kitchen prep successes, food preservation ideas etc.  You have permission to get creative in the kitchen!
  • WHF Grass-Fed Beef, Pasture-Raised Pork, Pasture-Raised Chicken, Pasture-Raised Eggs!  As CSA members you will have the opportunity to buy our 100% organic, grass-fed black angus beef, pasture-raised pork, pasture-raised chicken and pasture-raised eggs.

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Market-Style CSA Pick Up  At Working Hands Farm we use a Market-Style CSA Pick Up to display our weekly bounty that is reminiscent of a beautiful farmers market stand!   During CSA pick up you get to pack your own share with the allotted amounts of vegetables written next to each varietal.   It is very user friendly and FUN! Members have the opportunity to purchase one of our WHF farm crates OR bring 2-3 reusable bags to put their produce in.

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Fruits and Veggies After many seasons of trialing a diverse selection of veggie and fruit varieties we are feeling more confident than ever in our experience (which plants grew the best, produced the most, tasted the best and survived throughout all the seasons!) The varieties chosen last year were some of our most productive to date! We have selected the very best from the past 5 seasons and are excited to incorporate a few new varieties, from local seed companies, that we know our members are going to love.  We will be investing in some new perennial herbs and fruit crops like apples, pears etc.. for years down the road, as well as more of our favorites staples – strawberries and raspberries.

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Eggs The ladies of Chateau Poulet appreciate all the love and support this past season.  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 are proud to support and share the goal of feeding our communities the best possible product (their tag line is “you are what your animals eat!”).  We believe in our farming practices and in offering the best possible product to our members and community – a product that you simply can’t find in the store.  Everything we do on the farm, we do it out of love for nature, the animals, our environment and the health and safety of our community.

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An important note from your farmers: After sharply rising feed costs over the past three years we have decided that in order to make laying hens a sustainable aspect of our farm we are downsizing our flock of egg layers.   Instead of offering egg shares, our dozens will be available a la carte at the CSA pick up on a first come, first serve basis. We have also raised our prices to $9.50 per dozen as this ensures we make at least a $1 per dozen eggs sold. Make no mistake: these are the highest quality eggs you can buy and take it from your farmers they are worth every penny. Remember you are supporting a food system that does not make compromises! One that pays the farmers that grow the certified organic, non-GMO grains, the local company that distributes the BEST POSSIBLE product and also the farmers who grow, manage, tend to and keep the flock.

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Grass-Fed Beef, Pasture-Raised Pork and Pasture-Raised Chicken As CSA members you will have the opportunity to buy our 100% organic, grass-fed black angus beef, pasture-raised pork and pasture-raised chicken. These products are very limited and the sell out extremely fast. We will let you know when these products are available throughout the CSA season and we sell them on a first come, first serve basis.

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Sign-Up & Deposit.  Once you’ve read about the 2015 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. We encourage those members who can, to pay more than the deposit upon signing up as 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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Quick Links:  2015 CSA Season (the Who, What, Where, Why, When & How Much) & our 2015 Sign-Up Form.  If you have any further questions be sure to check out our FAQs section or send us an email.  We look forward to seeing you all at the start of the season!  Here’s to good food and an amazing community!

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Sign-Up Here!

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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 this link to our favorite photos from our 2014 season: it’s amazing how much can happen in a year and there’s so much to be thankful for!  Enjoy this compilation of our best shots of the year.

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Happiest of days to you all!

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Jess, Brian & the rest of the farm-ily…

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dirty hands, clean hearts –

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