Knee High by the 4th of July

We've delivered for about five weeks, and soon we'll be having our peppers and tomatoes to add to the list. The last couple of weeks have provided some delicious raspberries, and our blueberries are just getting started.

Every year it seems like the conditions are right for some plants, while not as much for others. This year, for example, our onions are growing as never before--we have huge Walla Walla Sweets, our carrots have been great, as have our snap peas. The broccoli is very slow, however, and the leeks have never really taken off. Our corn is easily knee high, and it looks like we will have a great crop, and the potatoes are looking great too.

The semi-greenhouse we have over the tomatoes and peppers is really helping them along. With the 90-degree Fahrenheit heat this week, we should be able to send some peppers in our boxes next week.

First Deliveries

Last week we made our first CSA deliveries. We decided to use wine boxes, because we are in Oregon Wine Country, and they are just about the right size. Included in the box is a list of the produce, and often a recipe.

This week, here is what is in our box:

Tom Thumb Lettuce
This unusual miniature butterhead lettuce produces heads about the size of a baseball, ideal for individual salads. Dark green somewhat fleshy outer leaves wrap around a creamy yellow mild-flavored interior.

New Red Fire Lettuce
A feast for the eyes as well as the palate. The most ruby red loose-leaf variety in our Territorial Seeds company trials. New Red Fire produces an impressive loose leaf head, excellent for the specialty market or gourmet restaurant gardener.

Zlata Radish
This flaxen, soft-skinned beauty comes to us from Poland. Zlata is a silky yellow, medium-sized, round to plum shaped radish with a crisp, bright white interior. Its crunchy texture and excellent, mildly spicy flavor will add zing to any relish tray or salad.

Yaya Carrots
A very sweet, crisp Nantes carrot that raises the bar on flavor and quality. Yaya's 6 inch, bright orange, cylindrical roots hold very well in the ground making it an excellent choice for a fall crop. Add the extra sweetness that comes along with cool weather and you have one delectable carrot. Strong tops make Yaya a great variety for bunching.

Rhubarb

We don’t know what kind it is, as Thelma McKibben had it on the farm. We know it is hardy though, as it has survived being moved three times. Bestma’s Rhubarb Crunch recipe included.

Walla Walla Onions

Just a few early ones.

Salad Greens

A combination of Beet Greens, Swiss Chard. Add to your salad to give it an added zip, or add to a stir-fry.

Oregon Giant Peas
This snow pea has unusually large, broad pods growing to 5 inches long. They are thick, very sweet, and tender, and remain so longer than others. The plant is 30-36 inches tall, similar to that of Oregon Sugar Pod II. Developed by Dr. Jim Baggett at Oregon State University.

A loaf of Jeff's Oatmeal Bread

Soon, very soon

It looks like we will begin deliveries for the CSA members next week. The sunshine as of late has helped us catch up a bit, and the semi-greenhouse we built a couple of weeks ago will also help with the peppers and tomatoes in this area. We transplanted more tomato and pepper plants from Territorial Seeds, which Jeff was able to stop off at on his trip down to the ELCA Oregon Synod Assembly last week. Included are a range of tomatoes that include chocolate cherry tomatoes and Gill's All-Purpose, which Territorial describes as "A cross between Wasatch Beauty and Pepper tomato, Gill's All-Purpose was bred in 1947 by the Gill Brothers Seed Company in Portland, Oregon." We also put in some sweet peppers and Italian pepperoncini, and the corn is finally up!

It was a beautiful day out on the farm, so our Oregon Pioneer Roses are in full bloom, the first to bloom each spring. We're trying out a recipe for rose jelly, where you make a "tea" with rose petals, and then make it into jelly. As Mom put it, "We'll either have some rose jelly, or a nice syrup to pour over our pancakes." We'll let you know how it turns out, and for the CSA folks, you'll know by whether it is labeled as "Oregon Rose Jelly," or "Oregon Rose Syrup..."

We've been doing a lot of planting for the CSA, although the early stuff is quite a bit behind given all of the rain we've had. We've talked with a couple of others gardners, and most of us are running about 3 weeks behind what the normal growing season is. We've put in some corn, planted more lettuce, and planted the first round of green beans.

We also built a bit of a greenhouse structure over two of the beds in order to help with production for the tomatoes and peppers. The latter often suffer a lot out here, given all of the wind we have coming through the Van Duzer corridor from the coast. The tomatoes just need heat!

Hannah, Miriam and our friend Kristy helped us put up the greenhouse. We've also had Beth and Erik over several times working on the the garden, and that has been a big help. Below are some pictures of what we've been up to!

Article on Ethical Eating

Siobhan Phillips writes an interesting article on Ethical Eating, where she looks at whether or not people can eat the way that Michael Polan (Omnivore's Dilemma) or Barbara Kingsolver (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) suggest. On the one hand, I am heartened by the fact that she concludes that yes, one can. On the other, I find it interesting that her original perception of eating locally, more carefully, and simply is something that is elitist--rather than something born out of excess and a reliance on people processing our food for us. Still a good article, given her goal of trying to find out how it can be done.

Signs of Spring at Barn Owl CSA

There are signs of spring at the BOF-CSA, especially since the last major planting in March's tsunami-like conditions. Beth and Erik came over and we replanted spinach and transplanted peas (the latter to replace the lovely meal provided to the voles). We also planted potatoes, including the staple Yukon Gold, but also some Territorial Seeds All Blue Organics

and Russian Banana Fingerling OrganicPotatoes.

The sun is out, although who knows for how long, but trees are blossoming. We're also assuming that our barn owl couple is nesting, as they are now very upset when we go in the barn...

Enjoy a few spring pictures

Two indications of spring; the goldfinches have changed color, and the pear trees are in bloom.

Sunrise on the farm...

...and a bit of sun for planting.

Oregon Spring--rain and voles

The week before spring break we were able to get some seeds into the ground, in some ways taking a chance on the weather given that the forecast was for rain. And rain it did. Even with the raised bed, I wondered about whether or not the seeds would be washed away, and some of the lettuce (which is planted very shallowly) probably did. It has been so cold and wet, that germination is taking it's time, and I still have yet to see whether or not some of the beets and spinach will come out of the ground.

We are having a particularly big year for voles, which are a smaller version of a mouse almost, and their holes and paths are everywhere. When I got back from Guatemala went out to the garden and noticed three nice 18 inch wide rows of pockmarked soiling, almost looking as if a golf ball had been dropped onto the ground repeatedly. The voles had gone through and dug up every single pea individually. One of my former students and her husband (Leslie Lukas-Recio and Manuel Recio) run a specialty farm called Veridian Farms (Shameless Plug: check them out at the Portland Saturday Market if you get a chance) took one look at that and said, "yep, need to transplant seedlings." You would think that with two barn owls, two cats and all the hawks around we would keep them down a bit, but there are some real vole hotels around this place.

The good news is that we got our Territorial Seed potatoes; they will be ready to plant this week, and we will get another load of mushroom compost to get the rest of the raised beds filled. In the meantime, some more of that nice warm weather would be nice!