So I’ve been holding down the ‘fort’ this last week and for this next week as Jared is on a tour. Before he left we tried to get as much done as possible, since while Jared’s gone, it’s a lot harder to get forward progress accomplished when I’m all by myself. Last week the Puget Sound region had record breaking heat in the high 90s-low 100s, which, by comparison to other parts of the country will make me sound like kind of a wuss, but we hardly ever see that kind of heat. It was really hard to get anything done in the middle of the day, which was very hard for me. The last couple of days have been much better, and I’ve gotten some help from a few of our CSA members, Tea, and Kristin, our faithful helper, Tammie, and Carley, another community member who contacted us to come lend a hand. I would not be able to get all this done without these ladies help, so (if you’re reading this) thank you very much! We’ve accoplished some weeding, some harvesting and some transplanting together this last week. The weeds love the heat, so they’re pretty much at my throat right now (metaphorically speaking, thank god) so having help getting them out is much needed. The squash, tomatillos, and cucumbers are all coming on strong, and the tomatoes are ramping up. So far we’ve only had enough for the CSA, but should be able to start having them at the market soon. We’re also trying to get all of the space vacated by harvested lettuce, broccoli, beets and herbs with all of our summer seed starts.
Jared and I also separated the hens and roosters before he left, and I have had a time trying to keep the roosters away from those hens! almost every day I find a rooster lurking outside their fence, and occasionally find hens over by the roosters. I’ve been taking the chance to clip their wings though! I’ve gotten quite good at doing it all by myself, which I’d never thought I’d be able to do, woo! The ducks have also been laying eggs, I’d say anywhere from 4-8 every morning!
Alright, time for me to get back to work!
sara here! sorry for not blogging sooner. Jared Has been out on tour for almost 3 weeks now, and I’ve been going it alone. It’s funny how you think that you’ll have sooo much time, I mean, 3 weeks, right? well, best laid plans…
the first week was rainy, it rained, POURED for 3 out of the first 5 days, and then the winds came. They blew out the rain, but also everything else. One of our canopies is now out of commission, both of our chicken houses were damaged, and the plastic over the melons at the lincoln property just doesn’t want to stay on. The day it happened I was out on a CSA delivery, so suffice to say chickens were everywhere when I got back. I believe I recovered all of them, but a number of broccoli plants fell victim to the chickens. Gotta love those silly birds!
Now it’s sunny and warm, and the crops are loving it! The weeds were encouraged by the rain, so I’ve been working to get them out, and between that and harvesting for the markets, and CSA’s there hasn’t been much time for anything else. In the remaining time I have left I plan on tilling/cultivating and transplanting as much as I can. Hopefully I can get all the peas out of our last greenhouse and get the rest of the eggplant and peppers in. We’ll see how it goes! Off to it! I hope to figure out how to get my camera phone pictures uploaded so we can finally have some pictures back on! I also enjoyed our first ripe tomato the other day! delish!!
They are turning the dirt and hoping to be successful enough to turn a profit, and to become a valuable part of their communities as suppliers of organically grown food.
Peaceful Valley is giving them a head start by offering them special pricing as part of this Freshman Farmer program.
| Freshman: | |
| New Farms Coming Soon! | |
| Sophomores: | |
![]() | Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA |
![]() | Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT |
![]() | Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA |
| Graduates: | |
![]() | Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA |
![]() | DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA |
![]() | Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA |
![]() | EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO |
![]() | Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA |
![]() | Four Frog Farm Penn Valley, CA |
![]() | Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA |
![]() | Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA |
![]() | Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA |
![]() | Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA |
| Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA |
| DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA |
| Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA |
| EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO |
| Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA |
| Four Frog Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT |
| Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA |
| Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA |
| Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA |
| Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA |