Working Hands Farm CSA Week 17

Posted on 9 Sep 2013

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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Here we are at Week 17 and it looks like summer is holding on here in Oregon with highs in the 90’s and many sunny days ahead. How’s everybody feeling? We know we’re feeling lighter and stronger these days – eating straight from the garden in very high quantities. Picking up and hauling 100’s of pounds of produce each day… this time of the season really is something.

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Savings. Here’s a fun little farm factoid for you all… last week the produce in the crates weighed 25lbs! Which means all the produce in the box cost $1.30/lb (can’t beat that!) There was also a total of 15 items in the box. We’re having a great growing season this year but it also means that you’re farmers are becoming better growers and who better to reap the rewards than the community that supports us. It’s what it’s all about!

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The barn goes up!

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Picnic-and-a-Pumpkin Potluck. On Saturday, September 21st from 11 – 2pm we invite our members to come visit with us at the new farm and to celebrate the start of the autumnal equinox. We tried our hand at growing pumpkins this year (an extra little treat) and they are almost ready! For those members that are interested, we will have one pumpkin available per share and will be ready for pick up during the potluck. Food will be enjoyed around 12. Pumpkin picking around 1:00.

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This will be “picnic” style potluck – members should bring either a picnic blanket or chairs, a potluck dish and their own set of forks, knives and plates as it will make clean up easier for everyone. It will be a great opportunity to visit the new farm before we make the big transition over this Fall & early Winter.

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Fall CSA. We’re a little less than a month away from the start of our Fall CSA. Check out our Fall CSA page here. We’re growing lots of delicious food and are excited to share it! Spread the word and support your two favorite farmers.

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Canning. If you’ve always wanted to try it now is the time. The tomatoes are at their peak and it’s such a wonderful thing to eat homemade sauce in the winter months. We made some heirloom tomato sauce over the weekend and it’s delicious. We use the skins and all. The way we work our sauce magic in the kitchen is to put a bunch of maters in our vitamix (or food processor) and puree them before throwing them into the big saucepan. They cook down beautifully this way and we love it.

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If anyone is interested in purchasing 10, 20, 40, 60 + lbs of tomatoes please let us know. They make great sauce, soup, salsa, ketchup and more for filling up your pantry (when you’re missing the taste of fresh, homegrown goodness).

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We hope you all enjoy the week. Stay cool and we’ll see you soon!

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p.s. Ellie’s “due date” is coming up quick. No signs yet but you will all be the first to know.

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With fond regards,

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your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Working Hands Farm CSA Week 16

Posted on 2 Sep 2013

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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We hope everyone has made the smooth transition into September – although it still feels like summer in the air! We hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend as we know school is starting back up for the little ones and the change of season will be upon us in the coming month… it’s definitely a time of transition.

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September is one of our favorite months here on the farm. The days are still holding on to the light but the nights feel cool enough for a light sweater. Those pesky flies lessen and the cows are much happier for it. The summer crops give their heaviest bounties in preparation for the gray days ahead. The kitchen slowly becomes the place to be again..with thoughts of roasted veggies and soups lingering in the distance. Autumn is our favorite (especially mine, having grown up in New England) what with the leaves on the trees all changing color, the squashes and pumpkins ripening, the root veggies & kale plants becoming sweeter, things slowing down just a little, with cooler mornings and warmer days and on and on and on…

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Our not-so-little Miss Maribelle turned 1 on the 1^st and we expect a new baby calf sometime in the next week or two. Truffle (uffagus) is due with piglets on the 28^th. If all goes to plan it’s about to get pretty rowdy up in these parts. Stay tuned for updates on all our sweet gals.

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Movie Night on the Farm. We’re happy to announce (thanks to some awesome members) that this Friday (September 6^th) we will be showing The Princess Bride. A classic fairy tale, with swordplay, giants, an evil prince, a beautiful princess, and yes, some kissing (as read by a kindly grandfather). Movie starts around 8:15pm but feel free to come a half hour early to enjoy our beautiful new farm along with the sunsets. Make sure to bring a few layers with you for when the sun goes down, as well as some snacks and a blanket and/or chairs. We’ll be at the new farm 7705 SW River Rd. Hillsboro. Let us know if you’ll be joining us so we know how many people to expect!

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Picnic ‘n’ Potluck. On Saturday, September 21^st from 11 – 2pm we invite our members to come visit with us at the new farm and to celebrate the start of the autumnal equinox. This will be “picnic” style potluck – members should bring either a picnic blanket or chairs, a potluck dish and their own set of forks, knives and plates as it will make clean up easier for everyone. It will be a great opportunity to visit the new farm before we make the big transition over this Fall & early Winter.

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Our Fall CSA. We’re almost a month away from the start of our Fall CSA and have a handful of shares available! Check out our Fall CSA page here. Your farmers will be available during the CSA pick ups if you have any questions.

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Just a reminder about TOMATOES! The time is now! We’re offering them at a steal of a price, in bulk for canning purposes. If anyone is interested in purchasing 10, 20, 40, 60 + lbs of tomatoes please let us know. They make great sauce, soup, sundried tomatoes, ketchup, jam and more for filling up your pantry or giving as Christmas gifts! We just finished up our last quart from last season with homemade pizza… mm mm mm!

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We look forward to seeing you all this week. Enjoy the start of September and we’ll see you all soon!

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with regards,

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your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Working Hands Farm CSA Week 15

Posted on 26 Aug 2013

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Hey Friends & Farm-ily,

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Week 15. It’s the week before labor day (did anyone see that one coming..?) and it makes you ask yourself.. where does the time go? Despite the warm temperatures there seems to be a shift in the air… autumn doesn’t seem too far away. It’s almost starting to feel like the halfway mark of our farm’s 7 month season is here. Sometimes the slight change in weather helps process just how fast time really does go by. It seems like we’ve been blessed with such sunny and lovely weather since April and feels somewhat strange to see clouds, wind and even a few rain showers here and there. It’s been a great season though and we have no doubt that mother nature will ease into autumn and fall (our favorite time of the year)…

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Harvest has been keeping these two farmers busy 5 out of 7 days a week. It’s the time of the season where most of our hours are spent reaping what we’ve sown. It’s amazing how many pounds of produce can come out of just a few cultivated acres. We had estimated a number of 25,000 lbs for the season… and have been keeping track of the weight of the weekly boxes (last week they weighed 19lbs!) and will let you know the final numbers come November. The days that we’re not harvesting we’re prepping 100 ft beds at the new farm for our last successions of crops, tilling in grass and prepping the new pasture for a fall planting (which will be forage for the critters in the Spring), staying connected to the health of all our girls (who will soon be calving & farrowing – fingers crossed!), prepping our new perennial herb beds, weeding, storing crops, seeding, sowing, transplanting, finishing up our honey harvest….. the list is always long and plentiful and keeps us young, productive & motivated! 🙂

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This year’s tomato varieties!

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Tomatoes.

‘Tis the season… for sauce, sundrieds, ketchup, jam, stewed, paste, chili, salsa, soup, you name it! For those of you who are interested in purchasing sauce tomatoes in bulk for canning purposes we will begin taking orders from now until the first frost (generally the first week of October) upon availability. We sell our “sauce tomatoes” or “seconds” in quantities of 10 – 50lbs or more for a steal of a deal. And we promise that a pantry full of sun grown sweetness will help to keep you happy and warm all winter long! (and also make great Christmas gifts!) In our farm pantry we are just getting to our last quart of sauce…. just in time to make some more….

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And peppers and eggplant… same goes for bell, hot peppers (jalapenos, Hungarian hot wax, anchos, carrot pepper, fireball, habanero, thai chiles, cayennes etc) for any relish or pickled peppers. Eggplant is also available for pre-cooking/freezing for ideas visit this page.

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This year’s sweet & hot pepper varieties!

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Our Fall CSA. Get inspired, sign up, tell your friends about your favorite farmers and encourage them to sign up for our Fall CSA and read about it here if you haven’t already. We’ll be available at the pick ups this week for any questions you may have. We look forward to seeing you all this Fall on the farm.

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Eggs (à la carte). We’ll have some à la carte Chateau Poulet eggs available for purchase this week! Look for the à la carte egg cooler for any extras you might need for the holiday weekend!

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Crates. We were short on crates last week, which means that we’re starting the week short on crates as well. Be sure to set out or bring back your crates during delivery and pick up as it helps out your farmers efficiency immensely! Many thanks in advance!

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Enjoy the week and we’ll see you all soon! Here’s hoping to some drier weather along with good ol’ fashioned sunshine (send some your farmers way)! Be sure to check out this week’s slideshow for updates on how things are growing over at the new farm… we’re excited! Stay bee-sy!

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Our best to you all,

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your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Working Hands Farm CSA Week 14

Posted on 19 Aug 2013

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Hey friends & farm-ily,

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Week 14. Hope you all have been enjoying those extra summery boxes last week…we know we have! We’ve been making lots of salsa fresca and so many beautiful veggie dishes with all the bounty of our summer crops. What have you been making with yours?

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With a little help from our friends we’ve been able to sit back and slow down (even just for just a second) and enjoy a few moments with the simple gifts of summer…a swim in the Yamhill River, early evening archery sessions, endless summer meals beneath the shade structure, and even an evening by the fire on the new farm. Our list of farm chores never gets any shorter this time of the year but it’s so important to find and maintain a balance especially in the company of others. It felt incredible to meander down the river, soak in some sun and shade, enjoy the company of friends and cut into our very first watermelon of the season. It’s the little things… and the funny thing is it makes us hungry for the good work i.e. the farm.

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‘Tis the time of the season to sign up for our Fall CSA. The cooler weather crops are growing at the new farm at an impressive rate and we are looking forward to a whole new season of inspiring veggies! We love spending our afternoons and evenings in the kitchen when the cooler weather hits. Turning the oven on and letting the veggies roast in olive oil and garlic. Making crust and filling the contents of summer and fall within its boundaries. Enjoying the last few tastes of the summer sun and welcoming the smells of hibernation, inspiration & warmth. It’s all too hard to picture it as summer is still upon us and the days are still long… but oh it’s nice to dream. Get inspired, sign up, tell your friends about your favorite farmers and encourage them to sign up for our Fall CSA and read about it here if you haven’t already 😉

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Farm Dream Update… our new little farm is growing quite rapidly. With only one 100×100 foot block empty and ready to be filled with our last successions of fall crops we have successfully filled two farms – their contents brimming. It’s an amazing challenge that appeared before us this Spring and so far we have come prepared to meet and conquer. We are getting better at our craft and enjoying every second of it.. the good stuff, the hard stuff.. it’s all worth it. It’s exactly what we dream of and believe in. This week begins the excavation for the barn (the heart of the farm). We’ll build the bones in hopes that there will be a roof and soon enough (in the next few years) proper wooden siding. Come October – December we’ll be calling on all those friends who said they’d lend a hand in the breaking down and moving of structures, implements, farm stuff & our animals. It’s almost time to make this new farm the heart of this farm-ily.

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Thanks for all your encouragement, kindness and general awesomeness. We are humbled and blessed and feel like two very lucky farmers amidst a pretty wonderful community. We hope you all enjoy the week and we’ll see you soon.

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Our best to you all,

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Your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Working Hands Farm CSA Week 13

Posted on 12 Aug 2013

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Hi friends and farm-ily,

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We hope August is treating everyone well. As farmers this time of the season always feels like the “in-between” time. When most of the fall crops are in and the summer crops are just beginning to really go off and ripen, when we anxiously await the arrival of a new calf, piglets and anticipate celebrating the first year of our young heifers life.

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It’s a great time of the season to remember the magic.. to stay inspired and appreciative of all that the season and warm weather brings. A time of the year that brings the bounty that sustains us throughout the winter months… it’s a wonder how it all works but it’s so neat. Harvest becomes a longer part of our days but hopefully by now (after so much love) the plants are being productive on their own. We are still amazed when the tomatoes decide to turn on the light switch and begin ripening hundreds at a time vs. the slow trickle of ripe fruit in the beginning. All that anticipation and then the inundation… and just when we think we can’t harvest or eat another one the weather shifts and turns our efforts indoors where we can, plan and put up food for the winter.

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As the summer bounty gets started think of all the ways to put up your extra veggies! Pickled cukes, beans, squash, beets, onions, peppers etc. Freeze or dry herbs, peppers, tomatoes, squash, beans etc. And tomatoes.. so many things to do with tomatoes! Stewed, sauce, salsa, jam, ketchup, paste & sundried! Sunshine in every bite all winter long. If you find yourself with more time in the Fall & Winter months (vs. the busy-ness and heat of the summer) .. it’s always great to put tomatoes in a freezer bag to process later in the season when there’s more time. Here’s an easy little how-to for sauce that we put together at the end of the season in 2011.

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Pickling Cucumbers. We have pickling cucumbers for sale for those of you who are interested in putting up some pickles for winter or gifts. Please let us know how many lbs you would like and we can let you know availability and get those orders ready for you for the coming week. $2/lb.

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Sign up for our Fall CSA continues… you can read more on our Fall CSA Page where you will find the sign up at the bottom. We’ve been working real hard and are SO excited for the fall season ahead. In order to be added to our official member list be sure to sign up online and drop off/mail your CSA deposit as soon as you can. CSA shares are available on a first come, first serve payment basis and we expect to fill up quickly. We look forward to sharing in the bounty with you through the Fall season!

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Enjoy the week and we’ll see you all soon! We have some visitors this week from Austin, Texas (and might recognize them from our CSA Farm Video) so be sure to say hello and welcome them back to Oregon! They’ll be here for the next couple of weeks.

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Wishing you all the best and enjoy another beautiful summer week in Oregon!

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your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Working Hands Farm CSA Week 12

Posted on 5 Aug 2013

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Hey friends & farm-ily,

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Week 12. We’re well on our way into the summer season and your farmers are lovin’ it! We know you could get used to fresh veggies all year round, couldn’t you.. It’s funny how you start to miss certain veggies or even begin to crave them. With the change of the season comes the change of the bounty and as we make our way into August, the colors on the farm are beginning to resemble all colors of the rainbow.. red, yellow, purple, white, striped, gold…. it’s getting really pretty in these parts. We spied a few sizeable melons (water, honey dew, cantaloupe, tropical, Asian – to name a few) this weekend, which means they can’t be too far away (aka sunshine in every bite). And there’s a whole lot of baby green as we get ready for fall crops… new successions of greens, brassicas, root veggies, vines of winter squash bearing loads of tiny fruit… too exciting! It’s been such a great season so far and we’re excited to see what’s in store over the next few months!

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Bee update. The bees are keeping ‘beesy’ as they make their way into the final push of storing up for the winter. It’s their first year here on the farm so we want to be sure they have plenty of food to keep them nourished and strong through the winter. This means we’ll have a smaller harvest in order to better their chance of survival. As you all know the winter honey bee survival rate has been at all time lows in recent years with colony collapse disorder, nosema (disease bearing parasites), pesticides etc. According to a recent article on the subject, Scientists discover what’s killing the bees and it’s worse than you thought, “it has wiped out an estimated 10 million beehives, worth $2 billion, over the past six years.” Although the odds aren’t in their favor for winter survival we will do our best to give them what they need to flourish, grow and survive through the wet grey winter months. We love keeping bees and they are vital to our little farm and are doing our best to work with and better understand our relationship with them. They are such a fascinating creature.. did you know that worker bees live for 6 weeks during the busy summer, and for 4-9 months during the winter months? We just love having them on the farm!

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A BIG THANK YOU to all those who came out over the weekend to get their hands dirty & to help out with the great WHF potato harvest. We can’t thank you enough. What took us 2 months last year (just the two of us, digging with our hands in the dirt, no tractor, implements etc) only took us 3 days this year. Your encouragement, hard work and big hearts really made the difference and we can finally cross potato harvest off the list for this season! We had a great time with you all and are seriously amazed at the wonderful members and community that surrounds us. We are blessed.

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Our Fall CSA sign ups are here and we’ve been thinking a lot about what this time of the year means for us as farmers. It gives us a chance to slow down (for just a minute, in the height of the season) to reflect on all our experiences thus far, what we’ve learned and what the farm needs in order to sustain. As a farmer you are constantly looking at the puzzle – building piece by piece – learning – growing and moving forward. Each year on the farm is different (with weather, life changes, etc) but as the members of our CSA you hold an important piece – the backbone and foundation of this farm – you support and believe in what we do, this farm and the food that is produced as a result of all the hard work & love.

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The Fall marks a time in the year in which the farm receives the remainder of it’s income in order to sustain through the late summer and fall. This is always a scary time of year. A time where we have to ask ourselves, “is it working?

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As we reflect on all of this we’re reminded of a blog post that farmer Brian wrote more than a year ago call The Scary Part. Here’s a little excerpt…

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We want to build a community of people that are passionate about the pursuit; the pursuit of healthy living, healthy food, healthy relationships and healthy conversations over wine at old wooden farm tables. We want to see families on the farm playing catch with dad and watch children munching on veggies straight from the soil. All just because their favorite farmer told them that it was delicious and safe. To watch parents watch their kids eat veggies for the first time and then glance at me like, ‘how did farmer Brian get them to eat that?’ And to see our “lost generation” of young professionals invest their money in a CSA because they want to choose a sustainable lifestyle, to pursue a diet that keeps them energetic and their healthcare costs to a minimum. We want to attract those folks who take time to do the math. All of the math. Folks that realize that the produce we are growing is cost effective. That it costs about forty bucks a week and it is enough food for three people to share. That breaks down to thirteen dollars per person per week and the food is fresh, it is harvested just hours before you have it in your home.

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We hope to have the types of members who’ll take the time to understand that their farmer works eighty hours a week and make $1,500 a month, which equals four dollars and sixty three sense per hour, half of the minimum wage in Oregon. And we want those people to know that this salary is not a problem because we are happy and we love what we do. For that we are so grateful, we are living our dream.

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It is the families, the friends, the time we get to spend alone, thoughtfully harvesting our carrots or watching a community of strangers come together to watch ‘Cool Hand Luke’ in the pasture on a hot summers night. These things are a gift.

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We believe that the CSA business model is sustainable for us and for our community, we have to believe it . Through this process of learning to be better farmers/small business owners we have come to a new definition of wisdom. That wisdom is the renewed faith in ones self that leads them to believe they are capable of surmounting all fears that lie ahead. Now is the time when we choose to believe that we are capable. We believe that small farms are necessary for the health of our communities and our local economy. And maybe that is just it, maybe community isn’t something that one finds but is built by all of us.

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And the funny thing is… it is happening! The potluck was such an amazing time to share and be challenged by likeminded folks and the potato harvest this year went off without a hitch thanks to the help of a dozen friends/members. We continue to move forward and we continue to build this Community Supported Agriculture farm. Thanks for believing in us and for investing your time, energy and money into something we believe in. With all of us here we make one heck of a farm-ily!

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And with that being said, Sign ups for our Fall CSA are now open to everyone! We’ve been working real hard and are SO excited for the fall season ahead. In order to be added to our official member list be sure to sign up online and drop off/mail your CSA deposit as soon as you can. CSA shares are available on a first come, first serve payment basis and we expect to fill up quickly. We look forward to sharing in the bounty with you through the Fall season!

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Thanks again for all your love and support. We look forward to seeing you all this week and to sharing in all that the garden has to give us this week.

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Our best to you all,

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Your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Working Hands Farm CSA 2013 Week 11

Posted on 29 Jul 2013

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Hi friends & farm-ily,

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Boy-oh-boy did we have a productive weekend. From starting and finishing our onion harvest, to trial runs of a potato harvest, planting fall crops and building onion storage shelves, to weeding the entire (almost) new farm and having the most glorious potluck with our fabulous CSA members! We’re feeling tired and fulfilled, as we get ready to begin our harvest week tomorrow morning..

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Our Fall CSA. Early registration for our current members continues this week. Next week we open up registration to new members and at that time it will be first come, first serve. We have been busy planning, prepping, seeding and planting and are excited for our best Fall CSA to date! Check out our Sign Up Page for more information.

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The member potluck was a huge success! We had such a great time and we hope you did too. Beautiful weather, lovely conversations, and a variety of potluck dishes… we couldn’t have asked for anything better. We certainly felt your support and love and we thank you so much for making it fun, easy, and an incredibly enjoyable experience. We feel blessed. We did miss those who could not make it and look forward to seeing you all this week at farm pick up.

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During the potluck Farmer Brian gave a short speech and encouraged the members to share the reasons why they joined the CSA. Folks shared that it was to know the source of their food, who it’s being grown by and the farming practices that go into it – to be a part of the whole cycle (not just the product). All of the other things.. health, community, farmer-member relationship, your own specific food journey, lifestyle changes and how you feel are all a part of it.

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Farmer Brian went on to share our intentions as CSA farmers. To produce not only the best possible produce but to encourage our members to eat healthy, nutrient dense foods that facilitate long, thoughtful and active lives. We also shared the most exciting news a couple of young farmers could, “We have bought a beautiful piece of property just down the road!” With the help of our families and our friends we will have a permanent home in the Hillsboro community. With access to land of our own we have renewed our commitment to grow better not bigger. We will continue to limit our membership every season in order to facilitate maximum farmer member interaction. It is important to us that we know our members and have a few minutes at every drop to talk food, nutrition, recipes, desserts (Farmer Brian’s favorite topic), food politics, documentaries, plants, animals, etc… We believe these interactions to be a corner stone of our CSA and an integral part of building community.

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A view of the new property from the sky..

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This also means, and this is the part you should be very excited about, we will be establishing perennial crops! i.e. asparagus, artichoke, rhubarb, blue berries, currents, plums, cherries, peaches, pears, figs, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc as well as a CSA member u-pick for harvesting in bulk and saving up for the winter. And we will over the next few years be establishing a grass fed beef operation and pastured meat chickens and turkeys. These changes will not come over night but they will come. We believe that is it through both organic vegetable production and thoughtfully practiced animal husbandry that we can continue to build healthy soils as well as provide the most nutrient dense organic foods.

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Farm dreams…

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On that note, we encourage you all to listen to this interview on NPR ‘Eating On The Wild Side:’ A Field Guide To Nutritious Food. Author Jo Robinson speaks about her new book Eating on the Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health. The book talks of how wild forage that our ancestors used to eat was way more nutrient dense than the food we eat now – deciding to “cultivate the wild plants that were the most pleasurable to eat,” she writes. More pleasurable generally meant less bitter and higher in sugar, starch or oil. It’s a great listen and we can’t wait to read the book! She has some interesting facts too.. like how it takes 10 cups of iceberg lettuce to get the same amount of nutrients as ½ cup of loose leaf lettuce. Or, “compared with spinach, one of our present-day “superfoods,” wild dandelion leaves have eight times more antioxidant activity, two times more calcium, three more times vitamin A, and five times more vitamins K and E.” It’s why we grow the diverse crops that we do… and probably why you joined the CSA – for the diversity, to eat seasonally and to feed your body the best that you can. If anyone is inspired and wants to read the book and have a book club type discussion on it let us know.. we think that would be fun!

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Potato Harvest Volunteers. With one row harvested that means we have 14 more to go. We plan on harvesting potatoes this Saturday and invite those who like to get their hands dirty to come out to the farm and lend a hand. Adults will be digging and kids will be picking up the bounty. Although there’s a slight chance of rain so it will of course be weather permitting (taters don’t store if they’re wet). We’ll be digging at the new property (just a few miles down the road from where we are now) 7705 SW River Rd Hillsboro from 9 – noon. Come out for an hour or stay a few – we appreciate any help we can get. Let us know if you’re thinking about joining us!

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Remember those crates…

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Many thanks & see you all soon!

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Your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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Dirty hands, clean hearts

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Working Hands Farm 2013 Week 10

Posted on 22 Jul 2013

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Farming is all about successions, thinking ahead & a bit of good luck…

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Hello friends & farm-ily,

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We’ve made it to the half way mark and there are so many things to look forward to! Brian & I have been on our hands and knees in our 5 foot tall tomato rows seeking out red, yellow, purple, orange & green gems! They are so laden with fruit we know that it will only take a flip of a switch & all at once they will be ripening (so worth the wait). Same goes for all our green fruit on the peppers (both hot and sweet), cherry tomatoes and tomatillos! Our eggplants are the size of our fingers and we expect the beans to be here next week… all of it is on its way as we creep into August…

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A few of our onion varieties are beginning to fall – a sign that means it’s almost time for a bulk onion harvest (all 8,000+). And for some reason this Spring we decided to plant 15 100ft rows of potatoes (besides harvesting we were thinking seed for next year too – as they get pretty expensive!) That’s all well and good until you have to dig, sort & build big potato crates in 80+ degree weather. In the last week our Yukon Golds potatoes have really fallen back so that means we can begin harvesting them (the fingerlings, reds & blues will all follow). We’ll be trying out a new method this year with our middle buster that will hopefully save our backs, fingers and minds. Diggin’ taters is hard stuff.

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CSA Member Potluck. We hope to see you this Saturday from 11-2pm at our summer potluck. If you haven’t yet RSVP’d or told us you’d be attending in person please let us know this week. We ask that folks bring a potluck dish and their own set of forks, knives and plates as it will make clean up easier for everyone. Don’t forget water bottles, sunscreen, hats etc. Your farmers will be giving a little talk around noon and plan on eating shortly thereafter around our big farm table in the shade. Mostly it’s a great opportunity for conversation, delicious food, meeting/getting to know new friends/community and enjoying time on the farm. Can you guys believe it’s almost August?

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You guys have been treated wonderfully by the berry gods this season!

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Fall CSA. Planning, seeding & prep has begun for our Fall CSA and this week we’ve opened up registration for the Fall CSA shares! Yippee! Current CSA members have an early bird sign up for the next 2 weeks (July 22nd – August 3rd)! New members looking to join can sign up on the website starting August 4th (so be sure to tell all your friends & family). This year we will be expanding to an 8-week Fall CSA season starting the week of October 8^th and ending the week of November 19^th. The last CSA pick up will be the week before Thanksgiving and on that week you will receive a double share (week 7 AND 8). For all the details please visit our 2013 Fall CSA & Sign Up Page. We have lots of goodies planned and look forward to extending your CSA season into the Fall!

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Beautiful Write-Up. 2013 is a big year for Working Hands Farm and both your farmers. Meaghin Kennedy did a beautiful job capturing the essence of our little CSA farm and is a truly gifted writer & photographer! She is currently writing a farming together series featuring young full time farming couples in Oregon. We jumped at the chance to meet with Meaghin and are so glad we did. If you haven’t read the article already please visit here – Cultivating Food & Community – to read a little bit about your farm & get to know your farmers better! We didn’t know what the season would bring farming two different properties this year, but to be honest, Brian and I have never felt more energized or purposeful. There’s also a bit of happy information in there about the future of the farm and where we’re headed! Cheers to that!

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Photo taken by Meaghin Kennedy of These Salty Oats

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Projector, Recipes, Crates… We’re still on the hunt for a digital projector and would love to have a few movie nights on the farm in the coming months! If anyone has any leads let your farmers know. Recipes. If you’ve whipped up anything in the kitchen that has knocked your socks off or has become a go-to in your kitchen feel free to send it our way as we’d love to include it in our weekly recipe hand out. Crates. You guys rock at bringing back your crates! Thanks for all the good energy, support and love you bring to the farm.

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Keep cool out there and we’ll see you all this week!

With fondest regards,

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your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Working Hands Farm CSA 2013 Week 9

Posted on 15 Jul 2013

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Hey friends & farm-ily!

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Can you dig this heat? 85, 88, 95, 88 degrees…. phew these farmers have been a sweatin’! It’s been early, early mornings for us and late evenings too. Workin’ outdoors this time of the year is best just before the sun goes down.. while seeding some Eastham Turnips (my dad’s seed from back home!) I caught myself wondering why can’t it always be dusk for a farmer in the summer? Alas, the plants sure do grow like wild flowers with it and we really have been blessed thus far especially when weather across the U.S has been testing some farmers more than others.

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A very dear friend shared with us an article (Calling All Localvores Why you Should Hug A Farmer Today) – that was written by a farmer in the southeast who has been experiencing an incredible test of her spirits due to the torrential rains, and all that comes with it (pests, fungus, rot, disease, shortage of crops, etc). It’s easy to empathize and to feel the heartache they must feel. It definitely helps to put some perspective on a few things – such as the importance of the community’s role in supporting local farms, the labor of love that is farming and the uncertainty that Mother Nature can bring to a farmer. Most of all, it allows us to take a step back, enjoy and really appreciate the moment and all that the season has brought to us with each passing week.

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As we near the half way mark, it feels great to take a step back. We feel blessed to have a community that supports and believes in us no matter what the season may bring. The kind of trust can bring certainty to the most uncertain of situations. It truly lightens the load when the weight is carried with many instead of just one (or in this case two). It’s the belief and trust in each other, our members and ourselves that gives us the energy, drive, passion & purpose to do the very best job that we can do. We’re looking to leave this place a little bit better than we found it and if in doing so you believe in yourself a little bit more each and everyday.. well, then we’d say life is pretty good.

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So, thanks for believing in us. We hope that as we near the middle of the Spring & Summer CSA season that you, your friends & your family are enjoying this food journey as much as we are!

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Feelin’ hot, hot hot. Some high temps are expected these next few days so your farmers might be taking the opportunity to beat the heat and spend their late afternoons after harvest in cold bodies of water. Home Delivery – if you have a big cooler we suggest leaving it outside for us to pack your goods in or ask a friend/roommate to bring your bounty inside where it’s cool. Farm Pick Up – Any bunched greens that make there way into the box this week will be left in cold water for you to grab at pick up – otherwise we’re afraid they might get wilty! We’ll leave signs so you don’t forget!

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CSA Member’s Potluck. We hope you’ll be joining us a few weekends from now at our Members Potluck on Saturday July, 27th from 11-2 pm. We sent out an e-vite this afternoon so please RSVP! We ask that folks bring their own set of forks, knives and plates as it will make clean up easier for everyone.

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Cow Appreciation Week! July 15th is ‘cow appreciation day’ so in celebration we are have deemed it cow appreciation week! Over the weekend we celebrated our one year anniversary with Ellie and are so appreciative of all that she does for the farm. She’s a hardworking lady with a heart of gold and makes our lives that much better. We honestly can’t remember farming without her here with us… she really is the sweetest. And our little Maribelle – well, she’s not so little anymore – she will be turning 1 in just a few months time… my oh my how time does fly! All we know is we’re fond of our cow-calf pair and look forward to many years ahead.

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Crates! Oops, we were short on crates last week so please make sure to bring back any extras you might have at home. Thanks to everyone for their great efforts so far – we realize that summer can be crazy around the homestead and appreciate all your help!

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Enjoy the week & we’ll see you all soon!

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With fondest regards,

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Your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Working Hands Farm CSA 2013 Week 8

Posted on 8 Jul 2013

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The admiral in all her glory… she sure is a fine farm truck..

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Hello friends & farm-ily,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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All our best,

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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

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Working Hands Farm CSA 2013 Week 7

Posted on 1 Jul 2013

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Howdy friends & farm-ily!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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with fondest regards,

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your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Working Hands Farm CSA Week 6

Posted on 24 Jun 2013

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Hey friends & Farm-ily!

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

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

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

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

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

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Our favorite new tool.. the wheel hoe!

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

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

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Time to get ready for fall seedlings!

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

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

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

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

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See you all this week!

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your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Working Hands Farm CSA 2013 Week 5

Posted on 17 Jun 2013

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

Working Hands Farm CSA 2013 Week 4

Posted on 10 Jun 2013

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Hi friends,

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

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

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Dreams of Tomato, basil.. anyone..?

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

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

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Helpful links:

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

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

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

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(pounding) Stakes and maters for breakfast on Sunday…

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

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

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

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

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Homemade Kimchee!

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Some go to Canning, Preserving Books:

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Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round

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Sunset books: Home Canning, Preserving, Freezing, Drying

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Ball Blue Book of Preserving

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The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest

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Ball Complete Book Home Preserving

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

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

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

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Can you find Farmer Brian?

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

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Enjoy the week, stay inspired & we’ll see you soon!

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Your farmers,

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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Working Hands Farm 2013 CSA Week Two

Posted on 27 May 2013

– When the community is connected to its soil the plants are not the only things to grow roots. – Farmer B – Hi CSA-ers, – Welcome to the farm-ily! We had such a wonderful first week of harvest here on the farm thanks to you. All of your encouragement (in person, through email and in kindly written notes) has been much appreciated! Don’t ever stop being inspired to share your thoughts and let your farmers know what you’re cookin’ in the kitchen! We love it! Seriously guys, it’s been a great start to the season already. With both our returning members and new members this season your two farmers are starting to really feel a part of something bigger (and it means more…

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