I hope you enjoyed your first week of produce and found the process to be smooth! It was very nice meeting our new members and seeing some familiar faces again too. Please let me know if you have suggestions for making the process better.
Some members have never tried microgreens before. Microgreens have 4-6x more nutrient value than the same mature plant and significantly more than sprouts. Broccoli shoots are especially valued for their cancer fighting properties. You should see an article in the Courier soon featuring Daily Blessings Farm and my microgreen growing process. It was written by Mary Ann Bullard and photographed by Tim Bullard who have both served Josephine County for many years. This is what it looks like before I cut and package them for you.
We’ve had quite a shift in the weather this week. Two nights with frost warnings and our first days reaching into the 90’s. This creates extra need to protect plants at night with row cover and then removing it during the day, and then shifting to shade cover during the day for our tender seedlings that are being transplanted this month. This is all very tricky when it’s windy and could easily become the next America’s Funniest Video. One evening was so windy, it blew the chicken’s shade tent over the fence and punched a sun roof into it. It also blew a whole shelf of seedlings over inside the greenhouse. I hastily transplanted all the Swiss chard in the field as fast as possible hoping to save as many as possible. A few volunteers helped plant the cauliflower and Romanesco this week.
Romanesco is often overlooked at the market because it’s unfamiliar. It’s a cross between broccoli and cauliflower and is a pointed lime green head. It’s much more flavorful than traditional white cauliflower having a nutty flavor but retaining the familiar broccoli texture and aromas when cooked.
Introducing Organic Bread Options: This week I’ve added the yummiest bagels ever from Painted Rooster Bakery (PRB) in Kerby. Choose from a variety of flavors this month as we begin offering their wonderful homemade bread. This week, I’ve chosen all my favorite bagels: Sundried tomato parmesan, Everything Seed, Jalapeno Cheddar, and Blueberry. $7 for a pack of four. This week’s bagels are not gluten free.
With the onset of dry conditions our fire season has begun. I have filled and placed the blue fire water barrels on the property for extra resources should a fire occur. I receive many questions by visitors as to what’s in the bright blue barrels. They also help to direct traffic to the parking area between the gates. This week we may have lost one of the queen bees and one colony swarmed away. We are still hoping the queen is with us but the beekeeper (Keith) couldn’t find her in the hive. Keith shared what drone comb looks like this week and a few of our farm share members got to watch a drone bee (the male bee) hatch right out of the comb when they came by to pick up their produce box. It was super cool.
I lost three hens to a hawk and fox this week so I’m closing up the coop at night now and moving Luna into the poultry pen to keep close guard on them. Luna works all night and sleeps much of the day so I can sleep. With the windy evenings we had, there are feathers everywhere! Some visitors ask why I don’t just shoot at the wildlife, so I’ll share my values of being a wildlife friendly farm. My family has lived on this property since 1973 and appreciate the native wildlife that comes with rural living. I find ways to live amongst and with the wildlife using multiple deterrent (look for the owl balls and flash tape) and exclusion methods that don’t cause harm nor impact the natural food chain. I accept that some loss is imminent and plan for some percent of loss annually due to wildlife damage. Luna is quite effective against the large mammals and wild turkeys, but the hawks are difficult to monitor all the time and well…..foxes are just sly and fast.
A couple notes for this week’s pick up:
Please remove the plastic liner and take it home with your produce. I cannot reuse them for food safety purposes, so you might as well take it to re-use for a garbage bag or something else. You may opt to bring a reusable grocery bag to transfer your produce to and take home for ease of transport.
Thank you to those who wore a mask on the farm last week. At this point, if you maintain 6 ft. social distance and remain outside, I think we can remove our masks.
On Farm Pick ups: When you drive through the gate, please turn left and drive down the hill a bit to park up against the perimeter fence.
True Juice Pick ups: I have confirmed their hours remain the same. In fact they have expanded hours to be open on Sundays. So you may pick up Fridays between 10 am and 5pm. Remember, however, your produce is not refrigerated so the earlier you pick up, the fresher it will be.
Let me know if you want to come help on the farm! There is much to do and it's a nice way to get to know you better.
Blessings,
Carrie
