There's Hope!

I knew I hadn't posted for a while.  Didn't mean for it to be this long!  Happy New Year! 
The above picture was taken today from our back porch.  This is the wettest we have seen it all winter.  It doesn't take long for it to dry out, once the rain stops.  And, at least it isn't stinging rain.  You know, the kind that blows so hard against your face it stings. 

Been dreaming about and planning for the new season.  Working on Harvest Jubilee plans for September 22, 2012 when local farms will be open for a tour.  If you're just starting out, this is a great little tour, it's free and you will get a lot of ideas about growing, farming, sustainability and one farm is focusing on permaculture. 

So, this weekend, Doug and I were out trying to get ideas for putting together a chicken tractor. (More on that later!)  We were at a farm store wondering around, and I heard him exclaim, "hey, come over here, you've got to see this!"  Yup, I saw it alright.  Oh, no!  Garden seeds!  Great selection of certified organic seeds from Irish Eyes, Botanical Interests, Lake Valley Organics.  Great prices too!  They had other seed companies represented, but we had to stick with the organics.  Plus, after two hours of trying to remember what we already had, picking up packets and putting them back, we finally got out of there.  And yes, Doug did buy some seeds ... two packages?  I think.  Make it a great day and think spring!

Produce Stand - Sept, 30, Oct 1, 2 and 3

This is a picture of Dave and Sonja Austin.  They are harvesting honey from the hives that they keep on our place.  After I took this picture, Sonja shared some honey comb with me.  Yum, I had never eaten raw honey that way.  Not sure how the honey harvest is going to go for them, but they provided the produce stand with some awesome local honey ... very reasonably priced.  Best of all, fresh and local. 

So, there will be honey, priced between $6 and $9 a jar, depending upon the size of the container.  We also will stock creamed honey. 

Sophie, a close friend, figured out how to recycle her woodworking sawdust and old candles.  She made them into fire starters.  They work really well and burn about 20 minutes.  Great deal at 75 cents each or (as she says with a grin) two for a $1.  Great idea, since she and her hubby Dick love to do woodworking projects.  She is also a fabulous knitter. 

Veggies currently stocked include beets and beet greens, swiss chard, cucumbers, kale, zucchini, crookneck squash, patty pan, scallopini, red and white potatoes, winter squashes: buttercup and delicata, spaghetti.  If you like butternut, you will love buttercup.  Anne and I spent this a.m. harvesting most of it.  So, it's good, fresh and nutritious!  Also, if we have some thing listed and you don't see it when you stop by, feel free to give me a call.  We think vine ripened is best. 

The goal is to keep the stand open Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 11 ish to dark through the end of October.  (Unless we sell out, then we'll take the signs down and close 'er up.) But if the nights cool down to into the low 30's, it will slow or stop veggie production.  Can't complain, though, it has been a magnificent late summer!  Make it a great day! 

Harvest Jubilee Comments

Wow!  We had a great time visiting with everyone who stopped by!  If you participated in Harvest Jubilee, thank you for supporting local farms and agriculture! 

Our produce stand was sold out (I think we had over 300 lbs of food on sale!)  Sold out ... until this weekend, Sept 30.  The rain is supposed to ease up toward the end of the week ... we hope!  LOL  There will be spuds (Red and white), kale, beets, carrots, cucumbers, spaghetti squash, swiss chard, and odds and ends of a few types of squash and anything else that's ready. 

Produce Stand Open - Saturdays Only or by Custom Order

Hi there - Wow!  We are being overwhelmed by the produce ... finally!  Just wanted to let you know that we will stock the stand on Saturdays.  So, if you are planning a visit to the produce stand on any other day ... please call ahead, 425-220-3903.  It seems that the produce lasts longer when it's in the garden.   So, we are leaving it in the ground or on the vine as long as we can.  So, if you can't make it out on a Saturday, we will put together custom orders ... and remember not everything on the list will be available all the time.  (See prior blogs for price listing.)  Make it a great day! 

Price List for Produce Stand

Wow!  Every time we go out into the garden this time of year ... it's full of surprises!  Last week the cucumbers were on and this week the green beans are ready!  So, here is the list of what we have in the produce stand: spuds (red and white), zucchini, patty pan squash, garlic, cucumbers, green beans, yellow wax beans, onions, kale, swiss chard, lettuce ... we will also do custom orders.  Sometimes we have a few of something or it keeps better left in the garden.  Not everything on the list is available all the time. 
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Apples  $2.50 lb Beans (Green)  $2.00 lb. Beans (Dry)   Beets  $2.00 lb. Broccoli  $2.00 lb. Cabbage  $1.25 lb. Carrots  $2.00/bunch Celery   $1.50 lb. Chard (Swiss) $1.00/bunch Cucumbers  $1.25 lb. Garlic  $5.00 lb. Herbs (Parsley, Basil, Sage, etc.) (Refrigerator)  $1.00 bag Kale $1.00/bunch Lettuce (In Refrigerator)  $2.00/bag Onions (Green)  $1.00/bunch Onions (Bulb)  $1.25 lb. Peas (Sugar Snap) $1.20 lb.  Potatoes  $1.20 lb. Squash   $1.50 lb (unless otherwise marked) Zucchini $1.50 lb.

TA DAH! The Produce Stand is Awake!

Wow, a dream come true!  Finally, we now can provide friends and families an opportunity to get on the "Buy Local" wagon!  We unofficially opened on Wednesday last week, but today we actually got the refrigerator plugged in and have unwashed lettuce and chard in it.  

Another purpose for the stand was to provide an outlet for those veggies that ripened between our CSA harvests.  The cucumbers and the zucchinis were the worst behaved.  Those zucchinis!  My word!  Turn your back on them for a second and they've changed from a cute, tasty little guy to something you want to put wheels on and drive around the yard.  You laugh, but you know what I mean! 

  So, here's the inside.  Not much to look at yet.  There are both red and white spuds, garlic, new red potatoes, some nice zucchini and the lettuce and chard in the refrigerator.

It looks empty now, but wait ... there will be reasonably priced green beans, cauliflower, beets, onions, a big variety of squashes and lots of other good stuff ... and later in the season, local honey.  All grown on the Farm.   In the lower left corner of this picture is the old antique scale ... the white thing ... we can't get it to balance ... maybe because it's a "money" scale and not a vegetable one.  Make it a great day!  LOL  (Oh, almost forgot.  Since it's on the honor system, the plan is to keep the produce stand open every day that we have produce.  We'll get it stocked with fresh produce by 11:00 a.m. and keep it open until 6:30.)

Farm to Fork Dinner. Is It Really Over?

Wow!  Pretty good when the hosts even have a great time!  Yup, I'm talking about our Farm to Fork Dinner event that we had on July 16.  We so enjoyed visiting with everyone. 

The picture is of the band that we had playing, Cabin Fever.  They are really a great group, good music and friendly.   Our guests wanted to sit around and listen to them play after their awesomely delicious meal.   But, we had asked them to start playing a little bit too early.  They played and sang for about four hours.  It was wonderful toe tapping fun!

After all of the turmoil it took to get ready, including trying to figure out how to keep the insistent swallows out of the dining area; all of the favors we pulled in from family and friends, equipment breaking down, produce not ready, it deserves repeating:  "We had a great time and it was because of all of the nice people who attended."  We can't ask for anything better than that!  And, yes of course, we will do it again! 

Why?  Because of the wonderful group of people that we met.  And how blessed we are that all were so gracious.  Don't even think it's about the money.  Someday, it will have to be, but not yet.  Everyone totally understood that Mom Nature really does affect what we eat and when we eat it.  Aside from the fact that the food wasn't produced on our farm, it was still awesome!  Goes to show that local and fresh is what it's about!   Thanks to Chef Devra, author of Cavemen, Monks & Slow Food and her assistant Jade.  Chef Devra developed the halibut recipe just for our event and she was kind enough to put it on her blog for all to share.  The vegetable recipes (that everyone was raving about) were from Debra Daniels-Zeller's Cookbook, The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook.  Thank you to both of these sweet ladies for helping to make this event spectacular!  Speaking of sweet, dessert was from Stanwood Cupcakes.

If you didn't attend, you missed out on fabulous door prizes donated by Chef Devra, Authors Debra and Kathy, Discover Cooking With Lavendar.   

Next year we'll plan for later in the season and the meal will be "Chef's Surprise!"  or "Gardener's Surprise!"  

Check out the picture that Amber took of our Pasek Cellars wine table.  It was one of those days that started out rainy and windy, then around 3 p.m. the sun came out and provided our photographers with perfect lighting!   Take good care!