Posts tagged “pasture raised chicken 2016”

The Spring Avalanche (CSA Week 3)

Posted on 31 May 2016

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Reminder: Final CSA Payments are due by tomorrow, Wednesday JUNE 1^st !Please see email “Final CSA Payment Due by June 1st” for details.

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The Spring Avalanche.

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It’s that time of the year where all the things on the farm must be done. Tending to early Spring crops, harvesting, preparing beds for mid summer crops, seeding, transplanting, weeding, flame weeding, watering and irrigating, filling trays and starting seeds for Fall crops and thinking of all the things to be started later in the month for over wintering/the Winter CSA. And then there’s 3,000lbs of produce that we harvest each week for our amazing CSA members. Rotating the livestock, building fences, irrigating the pasture, loading and stacking the first of the hay… Some farmers call it the Spring Avalanche. Now it feels like it’s turning into the Summer Tsunami. Where the lists keep growing and you hardly have time to cross something completely off the list without something else quickly taking its place. It’s kind of insane and a whole lot of crazy. We must be crazy, right? The good kind? It’s a pretty darn productive kind of crazy.. but crazy nonetheless. And we love it (that must be the crazy part). Makes us think of this quote,

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“‎A farm is a manipulative creature. There is no such thing as finished. Work comes in a stream and has no end. There are only the things that must be done now and things that can be done later. The threat the farm has got on you, the one that keeps you running from can until can’t, is this: do it now, or some living thing will wilt or suffer or die. Its blackmail, really.” -Kristen Kimbell

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The most important thing we can do is eat well because that’s what keeps us so darn productive – gotta take good care of ourselves. Farmer Brian wanted me to mention that his favorite kind of cookie is oatmeal raisin if any of our members happen to be baking near or on their CSA day.. who’s he kidding.. he likes all kinds of sweets 😉

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It’ll probably be another long week for us with the 10day forecast (98 degrees?!) The days always start out with taking care of the livestock followed by early morning harvest, irrigating and other random things that need to get done followed by some planting, seeding or weeding after early dinner (have you seen the video of the new Stand ‘n plant we bought last week? It’s been a game changer for planting!) We’ll be busy prepping new ground over the next few days with compost, fertilizer and lime for our winter squash, pumpkins and melons. An acre of delicious goodies all ready to be planted! There is too much to get done, as we ease ourselves into 16 hour work days, so we probably won’t be at pick ups this week but do cheer us on and send us some of that awesome energy you all are storing up from the tasty veggies. We always appreciate a friendly wave if you see us bouncing along on the tractor or hoeing the fields!

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Our 10,000^th CSA Share! We figured out that this week marks harvesting our 10,000^th CSA share! Two farmers, one farm… that means we’ve each harvested roughly 5,000 shares each and it also means by the end of this year we’ll have harvested and distributed over HALF A MILLION POUNDS of produce total over the last 7 years! Crazy sauce.

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Learn a little bit more about your farmers…. Last Fall your farmers had the amazing opportunity to be interviewed for the Farmer to Farmer podcast with Chris Blanchard. Chris asked us about the start of the farm, how we manage the farm as a couple and we even take a trip to Uganda. The Farmer to Farmer podcast has been a huge inspiration to us and many other farmers and we couldn’t have been more excited to participate! Have a listen at the link below and enjoy.

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Podcast Link: farmertofarmerpodcast.com/episodes/powers or look up the Farmer to Farmer podcast episode #40 on iTunes.

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Last October I reflect on how farming brought Brian and I together and you can read more about that here: https://workinghandsfarm.com/2015/10/13/to-adventure-week-22/
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Words of Encouragement. We wanted to give a shout out to all our members for their amazing feedback and slurry of food and recipe related posts on the WHF Members Page of Facebook. You all have been killing it. SERIOUSLY! It’s been such a huge source of inspiration for us – we eat a lot of vegetables (as you can imagine) and it’s been SO fun to cook and prepare some new things! Thank you all for sharing. It’s really such an amazing resource for members both new and old. And as we’ve said before it completes our food journey here on the farm to hear and see how the hard work is being utilized and enjoyed! We love it so so much.

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Online WHF Farmstore. Have you visited our online farmstore recently? Here’s the link: http://workinghandsfarmstore.com/collections/all We have updated our online farmstore featuring NEW and improved USDA recipes and cuts that make our pastured heritage pork shine! We now have products available by the share and by individual cuts.

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We are thrilled to be working with a new USDA certified processor who is also a lady farmer and has been selling custom cuts at the Beaverton Farmers market for the past 16 years. Her and her husband have built a beautiful new facility and proudly provide a completely allergen free environment (for those concerned about peanut, gluten and dairy allergies). Between their knowledge of providing the finest uncured/no nitrate added options and our unbelievable heritage pork we couldn’t be more excited to offer these new products to you.

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Exciting New Uncured & Nitrite-Free** Items!

**No Nitrites/Nitrates Added except for naturally occurring nitrates in celery powder and sea salt

Applewood Smoked Uncured Bacon
Applewood Smoked Uncured Shoulder Bacon
Small Boneless Uncured Hams (2-4lbs)
Canadian Bacon Uncured
Smoked Pork Chops
Spare Ribs
Baby Back Ribs
Pork Tenderloin

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Over 10 different kinds of Fresh & Smoked Sausages!

Fresh Bratwurst Sausage Links
Fresh Country Breakfast Sausage Links(sugar free too!)
Fresh Spicy Italian Sausage Links
Fresh Hot Italian Sausage Links
Fresh Sweet Italian Sausage Links
Fresh Linguica Links
Smoked German Sausage Links
Smoked Kielbasa Sausage Links
Ground Hot Italian (no links) – Your Farmer’s Favorite!
Ground Pork Sausage (no links)

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And we’ll be adding a few more items next week! Spread the good word and forward the WHF online farmstore link: http://www.workinghandsfarmstore.com to friends and family! Help us to build a great customer base full of folks that want to invest in sustainable agriculture and reach out to family and friends about our amazing pastured pork.

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Enjoy this week’s veggies! We look forward to hearing and seeing what you all come up with this week!

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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

Bringing It Home (CSA Week 2)

Posted on 24 May 2016

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Reminder: Second CSA payments are due by June 1st (in one week!) Check out the email ‘Final CSA Payment Due by June 1st’ for more details!

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily

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CSA Week 2 is here and over the next few weeks everyone will be 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 you 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 emailed recipe pdf 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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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 follow: collect your CSA, pick recipes, make a list and then purchase complimentary groceries. With CSA 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. Pro tip from farmer Brian: Try preparing a meal that will provide sufficient left overs the night before you collect your CSA. This way when you arrive home with your share you have time thoughtfully break everything down and store it without anyone getting hangry!

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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!) And as one of our tenured CSA members said last year, “Make friends with your knife, cutting board, sink, dish towel, salad spinner, stove, and oven. They aren’t instruments of drudgery, they are keys to liberation. The time you spend prepping and cooking food is time to think and be present in the moment–“mindfulness” is a free benefit of CSA membership, so take advantage and enjoy it!”

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Storing the veggies: 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 right where they meet the root and store them separately so that they stop drawing moisture out of the veggie through the process of respiration (if your carrots, radishes, beets etc get floppy.. now you know why).

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Our bagged greens should keep wonderfully during the week in the “Bio-Bags.” One feature of the BioBag is that it “breathes” without leaking. This unique benefit allows excess moisture to evaporate, which keeps fruits and vegetables fresher, longer. For other items, 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.

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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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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! Or, try out this recipe by Tamar Adler for Garlicky Leaf Stem and Core Pesto! Or, as one of our awesome members pointed out – make a quick pickle out of the stems (chard, beet, kale, collard stems etc)! Pickled stuff is delicious with all meals.

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Eat More Veggies! 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. Eat the most tender greens and veggies first! For breakfast try a simple sautee with greens & garlic, biscuits, with eggs, in a quiche, simple salad 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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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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Join the Working Hands Farm CSA Member Group on Facebook. The WHF Facebook Group is a safe place (a private group) for Working Hands Farm CSA members to share recipe ideas, kitchen prep successes, food preservation ideas etc! Check your email (titled, ‘WHF Member Page’) for the link and instructions on how to join!

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Get inspired by Seasonal Cookbooks & Recipe Blogs. Check out our Farmer Approved List here: https://workinghandsfarm.com/2016/05/16/whf-farmer-approved-cook-books-food-blogs/

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Freezing and canning. Our Week 4 newsletter from a few season’s ago is full of helpful information and places to start. Some suggestions include: The Fermentation Bible: Wild Fermentation – by Sandor Ellix Katz, Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round, Ball Blue Book of Preserving etc. 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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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 etc 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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As your CSA farmers, throughout the 28-week season we provide you with the most nutrient rich, organic, thoughtfully-grown, 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 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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Thanks again for all your support and we look forward to sharing in the bounty with you this season. We leave you with some of our tenured member (Hazy Katz) tips for CSA success!

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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

It’s Go Time! (CSA Week 1)

Posted on 16 May 2016

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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Let the 2016 Spring harvest season begin! We are so happy and appreciative of all your support and encouragement over the last 5 months (since our 2016 season started). Our Spring, Summer and Fall CSA has 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)!

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Safety note on pick ups: We are putting up a new pole barn near the pick up area (check out our post from Sunday for the details). Please watch your children and keep them away from the heavy machinery. The project is set to finish in early July so we will keep you all posted with updates. The wee-farm goat greeters! The goats should be back upfront after the building is finished. The “Lost Boys” are currently mowing our backyard and eating back the Himalayan blackberry hedgerow around the farm’s periphery. *It’s also important while the pole building is going up that folks do not arrive early so that the building crew can tidy things up before members arrive. *

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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). Bi-Weekly 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.

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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 most everything fresh that morning so your farmer’s need the time to harvest, wash and set up the pick up area. *It’s also important while the pole building is going up that folks do not arrive early so that the crew can tidy things up before members arrive.

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Parking. There is a nice big parking area for a convenient and stress free pick-up. Please park facing the new pole barn as this will help to keep a consistent flow of traffic which will help to keep children crossing the parking lot safe. 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… over 4 years ago all that remained on this property was a dilapidated old barn that was covered in 12ft tall blackberries and 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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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, a crate or some members even use a laundry basket to put your produce in. It’s nice to have a few bags for heavier items and a bag for bunched greens/more fragile items 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, family member, colleague etc to pick it up for you. If you cannot find anyone to pick-up the share 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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WHF Pastured Pork, Grass-Fed Beef Shares & Pastured Eggs. All available items are updated on our Online Farmstore! You can make an order there and we will have your order ready to pick up at your next CSA pick up day. We will be updating the online store this weekend with even more selections of ham, new blends of sausage, smoked pork chops etc! Our Grass-Fed Beef shares will be available at the end of this summer/early Fall. For egg orders, we are sold out of egg shares for May & June but expect to have more shares available when our newest layers come in to egg production in July. Please send us an email with your interest and we’ll add you to our waiting list! To learn more about our golden yolked eggs rich in color, flavor and nutrients: click here.

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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! Click here to check out your farmer approved cookbooks and food blogs!

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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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Working Hands Farm CSA Member Group on Facebook! An email has been sent out with instructions to join the Working Hands Farm CSA Member Group on Facebook. It’s a safe place (a private group) exclusively for Working Hands Farm CSA members to share recipe ideas, kitchen prep successes, food preservation ideas, articles, resources etc. Check your email to join the group. Participation is highly encouraged!

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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.

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CSA Farm Day, Pumpkin Day, Newsletters etc. Throughout the season we offer opportunities to enjoy a CSA Member Farm Day, pumpkin pick 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). 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

It’s not the end, it’s just the beginning (winter csa share week 17 & 18)

Posted on 13 Apr 2016

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

Whoo hoo! We’re officially SOLD OUT for the 2016 Spring, Summer & Fall CSA Season! If you’d like to be added to our waiting list please fill out the sign up form here: https://workinghandsfarm.com/signupform/and we’ll email you should a share become available! We can’t wait for the 2016 CSA season to start! Thank you to all of our amazing CSA members both new and old who have signed up for the 2016 Spring and Summer CSA season!

Winter CSA Success! This week is the final pick up week of our inaugural Winter CSA season and I know we’ve said this before but we LOVE the Winter CSA! We didn’t know what to fully expect back in June when we began planning, prepping, seeding and transplanting for the winter CSA but are so pleased that all the planning turned out even with the wettest winter weather ever – the vegetables proved just how resilient they are and how much we’ve learned over 7 years of growing. It’s given us a whole new perspective on farming and we’ve never ate so good through the winter! Thank you for being willing to experiment with us over the course of this inaugural Winter CSA.

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The Winter Bounty. We started our Winter CSA journey on December 2^nd and we’ve made it all the way to the middle of April! Our expectation for the Winter Shares were 5-10 items (dependent on weather) in each weekly share. Over the course of 18 weeks we had 11+ items in each weekly share. We were also impressed with the variety of veggies we harvested through the winter months – most weeks we had more fresh picked produce than storage veggies which is amazing! To top it all off, it was an average of 400lbs per share which comes in under $1.50 per lb of produce.

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So many different kind of goodies in the winter shares…Asparagus, arugula, beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, cilantro, collards, garlic, greens mix, italian dandelion, kale, kohlrabi, komatsuna, leeks, lettuce heads, onions, herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano), pac choi, parsley, parsnips, pumpkins, radish, rapini, radicchio, rhubarb, romanesco, rutabaga, shallots, spaghetti squash, spinach, sprouting broccoli, sweet potatoes, swiss chard, storage tomatoes, turnips, winter squash and more!

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We are so excited to learn and grow for the next winter season! Keep your eyes and ears open when we launch the 2016 Winter CSA Sign Ups later this summer! We’ll be starting Fall and Winter veggie starts in the coming months (we’re always thinking ahead…!)

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A wonderful family visit. After an amazing 2 week visit my folks headed back east to their home in Massachusetts. I can’t express just how much their visit meant to Brian and I. The last time they were able to visit was at our wedding which was almost 2 years ago! It was amazing spending the days together – eating three square meals, talking, working side by side and just enjoying each other’s company. We accomplished so much in just a few weeks time… we were like loaded springs waiting for the turn in the weather and finally, when my parents arrived, there was sun (and even some 90 degree weather!) All the composting, fertilizing, liming, tilling, and planting began! The start of the 2016 growing season had officially begun and it felt right to have them there with us by our sides. They brought their A game and it felt great to reconnect with them as if a day never passed since the last time we saw them. It’s amazing how much we miss them already and hope it’s not too long until we see there faces again. Love you guys!

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After my folks left Brian worked extra hard into the evenings to disc and seed the lower pasture with our old-but-new-to-us seed drill. The extra soggy el nino winter left that bottom acreage under water for a few months time. We talked to a handful of farmers near by and our local forage land specialist at OSU extension and we came up with a pasture mix that we hope will thrive in wetter conditions. It will be amazing to turn those 4 acres into productive ground to graze the cows through the drier part of the season. Fingers crossed this little bit of rain moving through the valley helps germinate all those seeds!

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Calf Update! The last calf, a beautiful (and giant) heifer calf was born to our mama 1047 last week. She has been warmly taken in by the herd and has been running around the pastures with her other two calf buddies. They are so animated and light on their feet, drinking out of the water trough and getting their fill at the milk bar. All three calves take after their sire Jackson, with the British White markings which makes them easy to spot in the pasture and are pretty darn cute to watch!

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The planting and seeding continues.. we’ll be starting our first curcubits (cucumbers, summer squash, zucchini) in the propagation house this weekend as well as a bunch of greens, flowers and other goodies! We have some cippolini onions, cauliflower, pac choi, greens, herbs etc that will be planted this weekend during the forecasted sunny stretch. It’s hard to believe it’s already the middle of April! Pretty soon harvest will begin again and a whole new adventure awaits! #keepswimming #endlesspossibilities

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We look forward to seeing and meeting all our Spring/Summer/Fall CSA Members next month! We’ll be in touch with updates about the start date etc. In the meantime, follow us on Instagram & Facebook to keep in touch with our daily happenings on the farm. Here we grow! Whoo hoo!

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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

A Planting We Will Go (winter csa week 15 &16)

Posted on 30 Mar 2016

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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Let the planting season begin! This week marks the first week all winter and Spring that we are able to get into the garden and plant and seed like mad farmers. Onions, kale, broccoli, collards, chicory, chard, lettuce, kohlrabi, peas, cabbage and more will all be transplanted this week! Carrots, turnips, cilantro, peas, favas and more will be direct sown in the dirt! Yesterday, we were able to get in 9,000 onions with the help of my parents who are here visiting all the way from Cape Cod, Massachusetts and our wonderful hardworking friend Meaghin. With their help we were able to lime, fertilize and compost half the entire farm (usually a task that would take at least a week or two). For the next 4 days we will have our heads down and our hands full of dirt.. planting, planting, planting!

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It surely is an exciting time on the farm! An thank you for all your sun dances – they worked!

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Two out of the three calves due this season were also born last week. One bull calf and one heifer calf. The British White genes are strong with them and they look a lot like their dad, Jackson. All the cows were turned out on pasture over the weekend for the first time this Spring and it sure is one of the best sights to see. They jump and kick and frolick through the grass. The baby chicks are now 6 weeks old and have gotten most of their primary feathers. The piglets are little muscle machines enjoying their time with mom in the sun… once the bottom land dries up a bit they will be moved to the lower pasture where it’s a touch cooler for them in the late Spring and Summer months with plenty of high protein forage to munch on.

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Know your farmers, know your food! The Spring, Summer and Fall CSA is drawing near and we only have 2 shares left for the 2016 CSA season! Help us get there by spreading the good word because it makes all the difference. As a farm-ily member once said, “keep your friends close and you farmers closer.”

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3 Steps to Signing Up:

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1 Read all about the 2016 CSA season

2 Fill out the CSA Sign Up Form & Member Agreement

3 Mail or drop off a Check or Make a Payment Online to reserve your share

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We can’t wait for the 2016 growing season to start! Thank you to all of our amazing CSA members both new and old who have signed up for the 2016 Spring and Summer CSA season!

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REMINDER: that first CSA payments are due by this Friday, April 1st!!

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The WHF Farmstore is full stocked with new nitrite and sugar free items (bacon, fresh sausages, canadian bacon, hams etc), an amazing Winter Pork Sale & individual cuts for purchase! We also have a some fresh Spring Pastured Eggs available too from the Ladies of Chateau Poulet! #dirtybeakscleancrops

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Visit our online WHF Farmstore here: WHF Farmstore

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Be well, enjoy the sunshine, and root your farmers on! It’s officially game time! *And there’s just two weeks left of the Winter CSA!*

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p.s. You Winter CSA-ers will notice that the goats have moved! They are currently in our backyard eating back the ever-growing Himalayan blackberry! They say hi 😉

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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 WHF Ark (winter CSA week 13 & 14)

Posted on 16 Mar 2016

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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Well, we’ve loaded up the ark and are ready to set sail! Just kidding.. (kind of) but the flood is back! After 7+ inches of rain in the valley last week the rushing rivers are cresting as we speak. El nino certainly has had other plans for us this season compared to last year. Last year it was sunny and 70 and we were able to get in our strawberry and onion plantings. This year, we’re waiting out the rains and testing our patience, as these two farmers are ready to go! Our first plantings of chard, kale, broccoli, beets, lettuce etc are all ready to get in the ground too. The 10-day looks promising as the rains begin to taper off. We’re gonna need a week of sunshine to dry out the soggy fields before we can plant. We’re keeping a close eye on things though for any opportunity we might get! We’re ready to get our hands dirty. #dirtyhandscleanhearts

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It’s crazy to think that we have just a month left of harvest for our first ever Winter CSA. Crazy! The Winter CSA has been a blast and we are so excited to reflect on the successes and to do even better next season. In just 4 months time we’ll be planting for winter harvest. Time sure is a funny thing on the farm.

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Some excellent news! Remember when we asked you guys for a little good luck a few months back? Well, we have some good news: we received the funding through the NRSC’s High Tunnel Initiative and will be putting up a few new high tunnels this Spring and Summer!!! WHOO HOOO! This will allow us to grow even more through the winter months under covered space which is coveted on the farm. Having any bit of insurance when you’re working with nature, the elements and everything in between really helps to mitigate risk. Exciting times!

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New Nitrate Free Products & Winter Pork Sale! We are excited to share that the WHF Farmstore is fully stocked with new nitrite and sugar free items (bacon, fresh sausages, canadian bacon, hams etc), an amazing Winter Pork Sale & individual cuts for purchase!

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We are thrilled to announce that we are working with a new USDA certified processor who is also a lady farmer and has been selling custom cuts at the Beaverton Farmers market for the past 16 years. Her and her husband have built a beautiful new facility and proudly provide a completely allergen free environment (for those concerned about peanut, gluten and dairy allergies). Between their knowledge of providing the finest uncured/no nitrate added options and our unbelievable heritage pork we couldn’t be more excited to offer these new products to you. –

Visit our online WHF Farmstore here: WHF Farmstore

As you all know, our pigs live a wonderful completely stress free life and are raised in the sunshine on pasture. They are fed a supplemental diet of certified organic/non-gmo grain that is grown locally by farmers in the NW and vegetables from our organic garden. And as they are raised on pasture they have more heart healthy omega 3 fatty acids and are higher in conjugated linoleic acid, a type of fat that’s thought to reduce heart disease and cancer risks. As with all of our livestock our animals are raised without use of antibiotics or hormones.

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Know your farmers, know your food! The Spring, Summer and Fall CSA is drawing near and we have a few shares left for the 2016 CSA season! We are really excited and are waiting patiently for the CSA to fill up this year… help us get there by spreading the good word because it makes all the difference. As a farm-ily member once said, “keep your friends close and you farmers closer.”
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3 Steps to Signing Up:

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1 Read all about the 2016 CSA season

2 Fill out the CSA Sign Up Form & Member Agreement

3 Mail or drop off a Check or Make a Payment Online to reserve your share

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We can’t wait for the 2016 growing season to start! Thank you to all of our amazing CSA members both new and old who have signed up for the 2016 Spring and Summer CSA season! Reminder: First CSA payments are due by April 1^st!!

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So send some dry and sunny wishes our way… as we are eager to get our hands dirty. Thankfully there are always things to do on the farm so we will be keeping plenty busy in the mean time.

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With kind regards,

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your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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In Like a Lion (winter csa week 11 & 12)

Posted on 4 Mar 2016

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“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” ― Henry David Thoreau

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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Welcome March! Spring is certainly in the air and March has definitely lived up to the whole ‘coming in like a lion.’ Hopefully the ‘out like a lamb’ rings true too. The 10-day is looking awfully soggy and we keep crossing our fingers for a dry stretch at the end of it. There are strawberries and onions to plant in the next few weeks followed by our first crops for the Spring/Summer CSA season. The soil has to be dry enough to plant so keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer to the sun gods above!

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In between the rainstorms we continue to push things forward in the field. The cover crops have been mowed and disc-ed. Brian spent a few solid days drop spreading lime and compost. We picked up our custom fertilizer blend yesterday from Marion Ag. Step by step, now, we wait for the sun so the soil can dry out and become workable (and practice patience!) If we work the soil when it is too wet it will become cloddy and more difficult to transplant, cultivate and weed. But some years you have no choice otherwise it will push back the start date of the CSA too far! Fingers crossed for 3-4 days of solid sunshine!!!

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Besides getting our ducks in a row with our fertilizer order we’ve also been busy researching pasture grasses to seed in the lower area of the farm. With all the flooding and rain this year most of the bottom pasture was under water for 2+ months – December and January. We’ve talked to a handful of farmers near by and our local forage land specialist at OSU extension and have come up with a mix that we hope will thrive in wetter conditions. Now we just gotta wait until the sky clears and the rains wane so we can get out there to seed! Everything seems to be waiting on the sun…

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In the meantime, we will be turning up soil in our 100ft high tunnel/greenhouse and transplanting a few crops and seeding in a few things. We are on week 12 of the Winter CSA which means we have 6 more weeks to go (18 total). We didn’t know what to expect back in December when it started but are so pleased that all the planning turned out even with the ups and downs and slog that the winter weather brought our way. It’s given us a whole new perspective on farming and like we’ve said before… we’ve never ate so good through the winter!

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The true test of a winter CSA. The winter CSA has been filled with new challenges that we have faced for the first time and it has also been filled with incredible unforeseen successes. This period in the season will prove to put your farmers through the ultimate test! We are coming up on a challenging time for harvest. The hunger gap. It’s very much an in-between time where the crops that were planted last fall are beginning to bolt (i.e. rapini) and go to flower. The soil is still too wet and cool for things to really germinate quickly which is why high tunnel/greenhouse space is so valuable this time of year. Many of the storage crops are on their last hurrah (onions, garlic etc) who are all starting to sprout as the longer/warmer day are upon us (they say, let us grow!) This part of the season is the true test of a winter CSA. Thank you for being willing to experiment with us over the course of this inaugural winter CSA.

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New life! The propagation house is really filling up with Spring and Summer starts. We have eggplant and peppers on the heat mats waiting for germination (they like the soil to be hot, hot, hot) and in the next few days we’ll be seeding tomatoes, leeks, onions, etc.. The fun never stops.. whoop whoop! It’s crazy to think that in 4+ months we will be enjoying the bounty of summer – tomatoes, peppers, eggplant etc…

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The trials and tribulations of garlic! Every Fall we plant a significant amount of garlic (this year we planted 3,000 ft/6,000 cloves) that over winters and gets harvested June-July. As past members might remember, our 2015 crop of garlic was hit with the awful Rust fungus which lead to significantly smaller bulbs, smaller yields, less storability and buying all new garlic seed since ours didn’t size up enough. 80lbs of garlic seed x $20/lb adds up quick but we love garlic and are hopeful that this years yield will be better (we buy all our organic garlic seed from a local Pacific NW company – Filaree Garlic Farm)! There’s so much to learn all the time especially with the changes in weather and seasons.

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Beds are prepped and ready to irrigate (before flaming!), planting garlic and mulching with straw

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Garlic can be a tricky crop to grow. It seems easy for the first few years but after that your weed seed bank gets churned up and you have way more competition to deal with from weeds come Spring. They are also in the garden growing for 8 months which is a pretty long time! We usually plant in October and this year we wanted to do better so we decided we would prepare the beds in August (compost, fertilize, till 2 months before planting) and lay irrigation to germinate weeds and put our trusty new flame weeder to good use. After a few weeks (once the weeds were established) farmer Brian went through all 10 beds and flame weeded the germinating weeds. It takes about 15-30 minutes per bed to flame them. Once flamed we watered them again. Waited a few weeks and flamed them again. By October we were looking at some pretty weed free and perfect stale seed beds for planting garlic into. We were hoping all that pre emergence flame weeding would really cut down or eliminate or need to hand weed it in the Spring (ouch my back!) In October, after we dibbled the beds (made holes for the cloves to go into) Brian flamed the beds again while I planted behind him… ensuring once and for all (3 times a charm) that weed issues of the past would be a distant memory. To top off all our hard work we put a nice thick layer of organic straw ontop of the beds. This is where things get hairy….

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Our nice thick lawn of straw popping up in the garlic (center) and (on the R & L)removing all the mulch and cleaning it up last month!

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In October & November, the rains came back which was great because the garden loves the rain. A few weeks after we planted the garlic and mulched we noticed there was a lawn growing – a nice even layer of grass coming up in the whole garlic patch. Our hearts sank. We did not know that the straw was full of viable seed as we bought it from a trusted local source who failed to inform us that the ‘straw’ we purchased was in fact not ‘straw’ at all as it was full of seed (that the grains had been lodged while being harvested.. so they knew, they just didn’t tell us). We had a perfect stand of straw growing where we had just invested so much time, labor, resources and energy into. Would we be able to save the crop? How many hours of labor would it take to remove all the straw and weed the new thicket of rye we had growing (not including all the labor we already put into it). It was crazy. So, for the past month Brian and I have each spent about 40 hours each removing all the straw and pulling out the grass/weeds. It was such a bummer but after all the hard work we have successfully rescued the garlic. We have also decided to go sans-mulch on the garlic this coming Fall. It’s really hard to find an organic local source of straw (especially straw that isn’t full of seed apparently…) so we’re gonna try not using any after seeing the success other fellow farmers have had without mulching. We’re hoping that the worst is over and that any weeding needing to be done from here on out can be done with our Allis Chalmers G cultivating tractor. Onward and upward!

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Spring Piglets! Tami decided to celebrate #nationalpigday on Tuesday by having her first litter of piglets and she did great! She had seven piglets in the wee hours of the morning. This is her first litter and she’s showing a strong maternal instinct and is keeping her little ones close. We are amazed at how different our two mama sows are – as Rosie (Tami’s mom) has a much more relaxed mothering approach. Tami who is 300+ lbs moves slowly and carefully around her 1-lb piglets – lifting a single leg if she hears a squeal or grunts until everyone is on one side of her before she lays down. She has also positioned her body in such a way to keep the piglets in their house so she can easily watch them. Rosie lets you come in and give her a pet and observe the piglets – no problem.. Tami on the other hand seems to like it better when no one else (including other pigs) is around. Her litter is a cross of a few different heritage breeds – LargeBlack/Tamworth/Berkshire x Duroc.

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This year’s newest layers arrived last week so there’s a lot of peeping going on in Chateau Poulet They grow so fast and in 20-24 weeks (4.5-5months) they will be integrated with the rest of the flock and laying their very first eggs. It’s amazing though how quickly they imprint and discover how to eat and drink for the first time. Watching them scratch and dust and fan and do all those chicken things right off the bat is amazing.

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2016 CSA Spring & Summer CSA! Thank you to all of our amazing CSA members both new and old who have signed up for the 2016 Spring and Summer CSA season! There are less than a dozen shares available for the 2016 season so be sure to sign up quickly! We are really excited and are waiting patiently for the CSA to fill up this year, more so than ever, as a full CSA and a tight finanical projection means we will be able to hire our first employee! Help us get there by spreading the good word because it makes all the difference. As a farm-ily member once said, “keep your friends close and you farmers closer.”

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3 Steps to Signing Up:

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1 Read all about the 2016 CSA season

2 Fill out the CSA Sign Up Form & Member Agreement

3 Mail or drop off a Check or Make a Payment Online to reserve your share

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We can’t wait for the 2016 growing season to start!

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So send some dry and sunny wishes our way… as we are eager to get our hands dirty. Thankfully there are always things to do on the farm so we will be keeping plenty busy in the mean time.

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p.s. Has anyone watched the Cooked series on netflix with Michael Pollan? Check out the trailer here. We’ve begun it this week and encourage you all to watch it too (as Farmer Brian said, “finally, something worth watching!) Here is the write up: “Explored through the lenses of the four natural elements – fire, water, air and earth – COOKED is an enlightening and compelling look at the evolution of what food means to us through the history of food preparation and its universal ability to connect us. Highlighting our primal human need to cook, the series urges a return to the kitchen to reclaim our lost traditions and to forge a deeper, more meaningful connection to the ingredients and cooking techniques that we use to nourish ourselves.” Check out the book too!

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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 February Fly By (winter csa week 9 & 10)

Posted on 19 Feb 2016

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“A seed is small but rich with possibility, like love, which is as humble as it is powerful.” —Pir Zia Inayat-Khan

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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February is just flying by and your farmers are keeping pace as things keep moving right along here on the farm! The first seeds have sprouted in the greenhouse and are even forming their ‘first true leaves’. We worked extra late on Tuesday and Wednesday night to get the first seeds in the ground (outside in the field) and to beat the rain and stormy weather that was headed our way. Hence, the tardiness of the newsletter… one step at a time.

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We’ve had a blast figuring out stuff this month. So many projects to begin and so many fun things to check off the list. We got our soil test results back a couple week ago and our soil is looking healthier than ever! Soil Organic matter is up almost 2% over the last couple years! Based on the this years test results, we’ve just about finalized our 2016 custom organic fertilizer blend, which means let the bed prepping begin! Liming, composting, fertilizing, tilling all that in and getting the ground ready for the first transplants in March. Hopefully we have a nice long stretch of dry weather coming up so we can work the soil. The few days of dry followed by a few days of wet doesn’t allow the soil to dry out quite enough to the texture and consistency that we like to plant and seed into. Fingers crossed!

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The custom cover crop we seeded in late September – of triticale, peas and vetch – has really taken off with the mild temperatures and soon we gotta get that tilled in too. It takes about 6-8 weeks, depending on the weather, to fully incorporate it, break down and let the soil dry out. Cover cropping is so important in our long term fertilizer program as it’s nitrogen-fixing, soil-conditioning, erosion-preventing & bio-mass-building. Since we officially turned ground on this property in 2013 the soil’s health just keeps on getting better (before that we were farming just few miles down River Rd. from 2009-2013). It is because of our CSA members investment and our methodology that we can improve the soils on our farm! And it is working! We have the tests to prove it! We have really enjoyed learning about the history and the soil here and making improvements from season to season. It’s amazing that we get to invest only the best into our soils in order to produce healthy, organically grown, fresh, nutrient rich produce! “If I grow good soil, I can forget about the vegetables.” – Nigel Walker Here’s to another season of growing and learning and everything in between!

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This poem fits. Not Anyone Who Says by Mary Oliver. photo taken in 2011 at the Nile River

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In the midst of the February projects and excitement, Valentine’s day had me looking through some old photos of Brian and I when we first met. Some of you already know the story (if not, you can read about it here) It doesn’t feel like time passes by too quickly while you’re living it but looking at those old photos… it’s crazy to see just how much time has passed or how many things have happened in between. It’s really nice to remember where you were and how far you’ve come and to appreciate the person who’s been there with you through it all.

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Brian and I have both grown a lot as individuals and as husband and wife, as friends, farmers and business partners. Through it all we both feel grateful that the universe brought us together. Together we thrive and we absolutely love what we do every single day. We bring out the best in each other and it’s not always easy – the farm being a manipulative creature and what not – but every day we give it our best shot. Farming is the reason we met and were brought together. We had a good chuckle and a bunch of smiles while looking through those old farm photos. All the hand dug beds, hand seeded crops, city deliveries, extra back breaking labor etc.. that this farm was built upon – the work – the challenge – the risk – the excitement – the bounty – the stick-to-itiveness – the ‘growing’ better from season to season – and the deep satisfaction of providing safe, delicious, fresh produce to our community with a connection to the farm and it’s farmers. In our infancy as farmers these are the things that brought us together and helped us to build upon that foundation and really see it thrive. Those smiles that seemed to go on for miles without a dime in our pockets but plenty of dirt under our fingernails (and vegetables in our bellies). We definitely don’t have it all figured out but looking back on earlier farming days I’d say we have figured out some things… 😉

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2016 CSA Spring & Summer CSA! Thank you to all of our amazing CSA members both new and old who have signed up for the 2016 Spring and Summer CSA season! There are only a dozen shares available for the 2016 season so be sure to sign up quickly! Keep spreading the good word because it makes all the difference. As a farm-ily member once said, “keep your friends close and you farmers closer.”

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3 Steps to Signing Up:

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Read all about the 2016 CSA season
Fill out the CSA Sign Up Form & Member Agreement
Mail or drop off a Check or Make a Payment Online to reserve your share

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We’ll be spending a lot of time in the propagation greenhouse the next few weeks seeding a lot of our first successions of crops (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, chicory etc.. the list goes on..) Pretty soon the greenhouse will be brimming with starts and as the end of March approaches we will be putting plants in the ground. Exciting times!

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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

Winter Momentum (winter csa week 7 & 8)

Posted on 3 Feb 2016

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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Welcome February! The ol’ groundhog – Punxsutawney Phil – did not see his shadow yesterday which means an early Spring is coming. And ol’ El nino ,with it’s crazy winter weather all around the states, seems to be telling us that is bringing an early Spring too – we shall see! (Did you see that 2015 was the warmest year on record?!) All we know is that it sure has been lovely weather of late with some extra spring-like weather on the horizon (60’s and sunny next week?!) A break from the rain sure has been nice.. and just in time it seems as we’re all geared up to start the first of the 2016 seedlings in the propagation house in the next few days. Whoo hoo! Let the sowing begin! We’re so excited for the 2016 growing season!

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February really is an exciting month on the farm as it’s a time for pushing many things forward on the farm. It’s a month when we bring out ‘farmer ninja mode’ to the max. A time where we’re feeling rested from the change of physical pace that winter brings and feeling extra inspired by the momentum of CSA sign ups, seed orders, planning etc…. and there’s oh-so-much planning to do!

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Soil tests, crop planning, seed starting, tractor tune ups, building projects and more, oh my! One of the first things we like to do in February is get our custom made fertilizer for the garden all set to go. The first step to soil success is submitting our yearly soil test to A&L Labs which we happened to get back last week. Next to seed orders this is seriously up there with Christmas! How did we do? What can we do better? The challenges and possibilities that farming brings starts right here in the planning stages. Our custom made organic fertilizer mix paired with the omri certified garden compost we’ve been using has really improved the soil over the past 3 years and it’s fun to see those previous seasons soil test results change in a positive way! “If I grow good soil, I can forget about the vegetables.” – Nigel Walker It brings a big smile to these farmers faces to see the land become more productive over time and to see things truly thrive (it’s members and farmers included) from season to season. This week we are working with a local lady soil guru on organic soil recommendations specifically for veggie production on our farm and look forward to feeding the soil and all of our wonderful members through our 7^th growing season! Whoop whoop!

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Feeding and building the nutrition in the soil and rotating all the 70+ different kinds of veggies we grow around the farm is so important (in order to combat disease and pests etc and make sure there is the right amount of nutrition to meet the needs of the many different crops that we grow). We also need to plan out our successional crop plantings in order to have food for our members each and every week! It seems like a crazy amount of information to grow so many different crops for over 120 households for 7 months (+ 5 months of winter CSA) of the year which is why the systems we’ve created are so important for the two of us to run this ship smoothly. We’re buttoning up the crop plans for the season and are really excited about the crops and varieties of veggies that we’re growing this year. With all the hot weather 2015 brought we feel better prepared (mentally and physically) for whatever 2016 will throw at us. Nature waits for no one and the more experience we take on (high fives!) the better prepared we will be.

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Tuning up the tractors to make sure everything is in working order is also at the top of February’s list. Brian has been having fun tuning up and tending to the old 1953 Allis Chalmers G to get it in tip top running order as it won’t be long now before we’re spreading compost, making beds, and cultivating! We even worked on it together one day and it was fun to problem solve with such an old piece of machinery (they definitely don’t make em like they used to! and there sure isn’t a lot of helpful information to be found on the world wide web!) Strawberry and onion plants will be here before you know it and although these two farmers might be a little soft and out of shape it’s nice feeling to know the tractors are rearing to go!

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Farmer ninja mode begins when we’re bringing all the plans together. In any given day you might start 5 different projects and finish one… the work is “never done” as we say but we’re also never bored.. so there’s that 😉 We are multi-tasking extraordinaire’s (or, trying to be!) Starting seeds, prepping ground, mowing cover crops, prepping beds and setting down occultation covers in the garden – where weeds germinate in the warm, moist conditions created by the tarp but are then killed by the absence of light. Thinking weeks and months ahead so that when May rolls around we are greeted with the first bountiful harvests of the Spring season.

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And what kind of Spring would it be without anticipation of new life? We’ve got a new batch of layer chicks heading to the farm later this month as well as Tami’s first litter of piglets. It sure will be a sweet way to welcome the coming of Spring with new life.

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And in the midst of the season that lies ahead, we are just a week away from the halfway point of the WHF Winter CSA! We can’t believe that this is the first season that we’ve grown through the Winter. We are seriously loving it and already talking about growing and making plans for next winter. We really do feel that it’s an amazing addition to the farm to provide produce through the shorter days of the year all while providing supplementary income to the farm that will help us achieve some balance in the crazy months of summer. We are big fans all around – eating delicious farm fresh veg in the winter – yes please! We definitely set a low expectation when we embarked on this journey last fall as the winter weather is more variable than other times of the year. Crop losses can happen from a hard freeze, disease pressure, bugs, etc… and many of these things are out of your farmers control. Also, keep your fingers crossed we applied for a grant through the NRSC’s EQUIP program for a couple new green houses for next winters veggie production! We should find out if we will receive the grant in the next couple of months!

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And we’ve had a pretty up and down winter as far as weather goes – we’ve had cold, and warm, sunny, and frozen, windy and rain – record breaking – rain. Despite the variability in weather we have experienced many winter farming successes and has given us a greater perspective when it comes to growing in extreme conditions! The shares have been larger than we expected – with 11-12 items in each week’s share – as opposed to the 5-10 that we were hoping for (whoop whoop!) It’ll be fun to see what the rest of the Spring will bring! It is February which is also the beginning of the “hungry gap” in the farming world. “The hungry gap” is the “gardeners’ name for the period in spring when there is little or no fresh produce available from a vegetable garden or allotment. It usually starts when overwintered brassicavegetables such as brussels sprouts and winter cauliflowers and January King cabbages “bolt” (i.e. run up to flower) as the days get warmer and longer.” We assure you, as always, that no one will go hungry at WHF as we have some amazing “over-wintering” crops that are just now beginning to produce after 200+ days of growing (so cool) among other fun things. And as we’ve said before, you have gotten to know Brian and I, and our work ethic over the course of this season (and for the majority of you over several seasons) and you know we will do our very best to ensure you have food on your table all winter long!

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2016 CSA Spring & Summer CSA! Thank you to all of our amazing CSA members both new and old who have signed up for the 2016 Spring and Summer CSA season! We have just a few dozen shares available for the 2016 season so be sure to sign up quickly! Keep spreading the good word because it makes all the difference. As a farm-ily member once said, “keep your friends close and you farmers closer.”

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3 Steps to Signing Up:

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Read all about the 2016 CSA season
Fill out the CSA Sign Up Form & Member Agreement
Mail or drop off a Check or Make a Payment Online to reserve your share

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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

The Muck & Mire (winter csa week 5 & 6)

Posted on 20 Jan 2016

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Mire definition: n. 1. An area of wet, soggy, muddy ground; a bog. 2. Deep slimy soil or mud. v. 1. To cause to sink or become stuck in mire.

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Hi Farm-ily & Friends,

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Ohhh January and the moss that is beginning to grow behind our ears… We hope you all are keeping busy and enjoying the slower pace that the winter season and rain brings. We had a few days of sun a few weeks back (remember..?) and it appears that the rain is back. Between the overflowing creek and the rising ground water the lower pastures are flooded out again. The Tualatin is just beginning to break it’s banks to join the party. Such a different winter than we’ve had the past two years – both which were a lot drier. They are saying that El Niño is having it’s second peak currently through the early part of the year and we should have higher than average temperatures Jan-March. We shall see!

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We’ve said it before that we are constantly amazed at the resilence of the plants growing in the garden with all the weather we’ve been experiencing (mostly wet, along with a few weeks of freezing temps and some bone chilling winds). We’ve been through it all in the past 12 months – extremely dry conditions and excessively wet… all of it feels like we’ve gained a greater perspective and new found respect for each season. Each one comes with it’s challenges and successes and we welcome the opportunity to grow better through them all and to have the experience and the confidence to know better the next time around.

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We’re still hoping for a little winter sun here in the 10-day. We just need a few days coming up to give the garden and the pastures a moment to drain and feel the ol’ sun on our faces. It’s amazing what a little sun will do! When it graced us for several days in a row Brian and I couldn’t believe the difference it made in our energy level and excitement to be outside. It felt like a renewed sense of vigor! We’ve been making progress though – both inside and outside. Two weeks ago we finally hit send on our big 2016 seed order and are busy making the crop, field and planting plans. A few days ago we headed down to Concentrates in Milwaukee to pick up a few 6 cu ft. totes of organic potting soil and a whole pallet of organic amendments for the garden and minerals for the cows. We spend more time off the farm this time of year (than any other) preparing for the season to come. Once the end of February comes along we seldom leave the farm except when we need some diesel for the tractor or need to restock the pantry with the food items that we don’t grow. My Dad came to visit a few years ago for 10 days in May and still jokes that he didn’t see me leave the farm once… haha. It’s a different kind of lifestyle that’s for sure… that always manages to keep us busy and able to grow amazing, fresh, nourishing food for our community!

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There is plenty to do on the farm too. One of my next projects is to get the propagation house all ready for the first vegetables seeding of 2016.. it’s less than a month away! We’re also getting the tractors all tuned up for another season of growing… so many things to maintain during the winter months and opportunities to improve upon the systems that are already in place. All day long while we’re working we talk about how we can improve the systems on the farm to make the work load easier, more efficient, more enjoyable and more balanced. It seems impossible to talk about farming as much as we do… but somehow there is always something to talk about (and get started on…) 😉

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The Winter CSA has been one of those opportunities that means finding a little bit more balance on the farm. Giving us the ability to spread out some of the workload throughout the year. . which could mean some pretty exciting things for us moving into the future. And can we just say that we have been loving the Winter CSA! The best perk so far is having access to so much delicious fresh food in the winter – with the Winter CSA it means that we (the farmers and the farm’s members) have eaten better than ever before. It’s been a truly enjoyable addition to the WHF CSA growing season and we’d like to extend a big thank you to all the first WHF Winter CSA members for joining us on this new journey! We’ve got some yummy winter goodies coming your way this week and look forward to hearing all the delicious home cooked meals you’ve prepared with them. Keep up the great work!

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And…. a big thank you to all of our amazing CSA members both new and old who have signed up for the 2016 Spring and Summer CSA season! We have just a few dozen shares available for the 2016 season so be sure to sign up quickly! Keep spreading the good word because it makes all the difference. As a farm-ily member once said, “keep your friends close and you farmers closer.”

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3 Steps to Signing Up:

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Read all about the 2016 CSA season
Fill out the CSA Sign Up Form & Member Agreement
Mail or drop off a Check or Make a Payment Online to reserve your share

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Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have. We hope you all have a great week and stay dry out there!

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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

Ready, Set, Go! (winter CSA week 4)

Posted on 6 Jan 2016

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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Wow! What a whirlwind of excitement it’s been since our last Winter CSA distribution – between the holidays, the weather and the 2016 csa sign ups! We hope you all had a healthy, happy holiday and New Year! Although the winter has its perks with the shorter days, your farmers are feeling inspired and excited for Spring and another year of farming ahead! Thank you for all of your support this last season – we couldn’t be more excited for what is in store for 2016. Because of you and your investment in our farm it continues to thrive and get better and better with every passing year. The learning curve is becoming less steep, and we are feeling more confident no matter what ol’ mother nature throws at us.

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As most of you know sign ups for our 2016 CSA Season began last week! You can read all about our 2016 CSA here – for the Who, What, When, Where, Why & How (much).

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3 Steps to Signing Up:

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Read all about the 2016 CSA season
Fill out the CSA Sign Up Form & Member Agreement
Mail or drop off a Check or Make a Payment Online to reserve your share

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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 the amazing community it brings together!

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2016 was our best opening CSA day to date! We are just 6 days into January and we are more than halfway there to being full for the 2016 season. A big thank you to all of our amazing CSA members both new and old! Keep spreading the good word because it makes all the difference. As a farm-ily member once said, “keep your friends close and you farmers closer.”

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And how about that snow, huh? The crazy cold winds and brisk weather before the snow left a lot of crops looking a little lack luster and dried out in the field at the end of last week. But it seems as though the snow and the milder weather that January has brought in has reinvigorated all the veggies that remain in the field. Vegetables really are incredibly resilient! Being a farmer is all about keeping the faith and being willing to take risks (and like it, to boot!) On a personal note, the snow was a warm welcome as it has this way of slowing everything down. The roads get a lot quieter and everything looks peacefully tucked into a giant blanket of white. The crunch beneath your feet.. all of it allows you to be exactly where you are and appreciate nature and the seasons. Change is a welcome thing.

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It seems we went through it all in the 2015 season… after experiencing our driest Spring/Summer CSA season to date ol’ December was the wettest we’ve ever experienced here on the farm. The record breaking rain last month brought the biggest flood we’ve seen as well.. the pigs and cows have had a nice waterfront view for over 3 weeks and we’re happy to see our pastures again.

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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). Winter can be a time of rest and recuperation for farmers but it is also a time for planning, revisiting notes from the previous year, solidifying the crop plan, ordering soil amendments, getting the propagation house up and going for the start of seeding, submitting the seed order, going over financial projections, figuring out ways to manage workflow in the busy season better etc, as well as some winter projects outside. This week, we’re buttoning up the rest of our seed order (we’ve made it to Peppers in the ol’ seed catalogues!) and are in the midst of our crop plan in anticipation of our greatest year yet!

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We’re so excited to continue on in this farming journey and to share it all with you.

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Stay warm out there!

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With kind regards,

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Your Farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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