Archive for the ‘Farming’ Category

U-Pick & CSA Farm Day

Saturday, July 24th, 2010
Blueberry Verbena Cooler Cocktail

Blueberry Verbena Cooler Cocktail

Today I’ll be heading out to the nearby farmlands of Carnation, Washington for an annual visit to our CSA farm. After about a 45 minute drive from our home within the city limits, I’ll be standing on the rich earth that produces our local, organic produce all summer long. And, I’ll be chatting with Cathryn, the woman who owns and runs Summer Run Farm, which is one among a few that work as The Farm Girl Collective to produce the bounty we bring home – for relatively cheap – each week during summer. I love getting the chance to visit the land where so much of our food is grown, to walk the country fields on a summer day, to smell and hear the sounds of the natural creek running with cool, fresh water off the nearby Cascade Mountains. And, as an extra special treat, Cathryn puts together her open farm days when her neighbors’ U-pick blueberry farm is open for the season. That’s today!

Although I grow quite a lot of food in my own garden, including blueberries, there’s really no way I could produce enough to feed us from this lot. Well, maybe that’s not true, but as a lover of all things horticulture and as a believer in diversity, I want a few trees, shrubs, perennials and patio spaces to enjoy as well. So, my urban farming spaces have their suburban-living constraints. I can grow plenty of berries to toss into oatmeal or snack on as I weed, but I can’t produce enough to make jams or a big round of these delicious cocktails we invented last year after our U-pick visit. Although I could have purchased a flat of non-organic, relatively local berries at the market for about $8.00 yesterday or I could order pre-picked berries from the u-pick farm for about $4.25/lb, I find some satisfaction in picking my own right off the bushes, and paying $2.60/lb for my efforts. And, yes, these are local, organic berries!

Now, before I head East to the farm, I’m snipping a batch of lemon verbena and making up a simple syrup to cool. I know when we get back — all hot and dusty from the farm — my picking partner and I will be ready to relax on the patio with a cool berry-licious cocktail. And, I know this one is just the ticket! (more…)

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Garden Coach on Community Supported Agriculture Programs

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

I’m so appreciative to live in a part of the world where delicious, local, organic, sustainable agriculture is readily available to me. Each week, year-round, I can visit any number of farmer’s markets in the greater Seattle area any day of the week. Not only can I purchase fruits and veggies, but whole grains, fresh fish, delicious meats, eggs, honey and all sorts of great dairy are offered in these fun, friendly environments. Sure, offerings get a little spotty in winter, but the point is, they’re still available. And this time of year, summer? Well, the smorgasbord is unbelievable.

Caption

Summer Run Farm Stand at the Ballard Farmer's Market

Last summer, a year when my own garden harvest was less than ideal, I found myself buying loads of fresh veggies each week to eat and even more food to preserve for winter. As I was filling up bag after bag of potatoes from one of my favorite vendors, Summer Run Farm, I spied farmer Cathryn’s sign up form for her 2009 Farm Girl Collective CSA program. In the end, after watching one of her 2008 clients empty his weekly box into his bicycle bags and seeing all the great food he was getting each week for what amounts to about $28, we signed up and prepaid for 2009 in October of 2008. By paying early in the year prior to pick up, our funds help the farmers get through winter, procure supplies, and make various repairs to their farms.  Even if you haven’t signed up for a CSA yet, many still accept members at pro-rated prices, mid-season. Read on for more details on CSA programs, where to find them, what comes in a CSA box, a lemon-blueberry cocktail recipe, and more…

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Easter Veggie Garden Harvest Including Easter Eggs

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

Today, Easter,  was our first big harvest out of the veggie garden in 2009.  We’ve been stealing a few leaves from lettuces, spinach, sorrel and kale all winter. And, we’ve had herbs a-plenty throughout the freezes. But, today began what looks to be a bountiful year of fresh foods from the garden.

Easter 2009 Edible HArvest

Easter 2009 Edible HArvest

Before we headed out to the farmer’s market this morning, we opened our hoop houses to let the lettuce, spinach, kale, cauliflower, chard and cabbage drink in the heavenly downpour that arrived today. There’s nothing like water from the sky (rather than the spigot) to make a plant happy. I took note that it is time to start harvesting lettuces, near-flowering dinosaur kale that had overwintered, sorrel that is spreading, and that spinach is just days away. This meant huge savings for us at the market.

After I returned from the market with potatoes, carrots, hot cross buns, a dozen eggs and a couple loaves of local bread, I donned my gardening gear and braved the downpour. I divided and transplanted lettuces from 4″ pots to gallons and from gallons to larger decorative containers. Then I potted up cauliflower and cabbage into gallon containers to give them some more space. I moved tomatoes from sterile mix to 4″ pots. And I topped everything with vermicompost from our wormbin, and I watered everything in. I took a quick peek at the sterile starts from last weekend and found basil and corn germinating readily. Curbits, cilantro, and beans are poking along a bit more slowly. I set out some egg crates and compostable takeaway containers filled with sterile mix & watered those to soak so I can seed zinnia, marigolds, sunflowers and more beans soon.

Easter Eggs for the Gardener

Easter Eggs for the Gardener

Then, I looked around and asked my beautiful garden for dinner table volunteers. Kale waved its budding tips suggesting I pull them before the flowers made them more bitter. Heads of buttercrunch lettuce threatened to squirm out of their too-tight pots in order to plop into my basket. Sorrel shot upward into my hands.  Pansies winked their colorful eyes just begging to be included in the mix. Crowded garlic begged I thin a few to throw into our stew. And finally, down below, in large pots on the floor of the greenhouse, I caught a glimmer of pink and a flash of red — low and behold the culmination of my Easter hunt — a first fistfull of easter egg and red icicle radishes to make our basket (and our dinner salad) that much better!

So, what did it save me? Well, I honestly can’t tell you exactly how much soil, water and individual seed has cost to grow these plants. But I bet it’s cost less than $5 to grow all of this (and the additional crops to come). Compare that to today’s farmer’s market prices:

  • $4/bunch for sorrel
  • $2.50/bunch for radishes
  • $5/bag for salad mix
  • $5/bag for braising greens (my closest kale comparison)
  • $4/bunch for baby leeks (my closest garlic comparison)
  • and I didn’t see any pansies for comparison.

Interested in growing your own food? It’s not too late to get started! Get in touch here to set up a gardening consultation now!

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Victory Garden at the White House Campaign

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

The idea of getting the new President to convert some of the White House Lawn back to an edible or Victory Garden has been simmering for months now. Today, the Washington Post ran an interesting historical piece on edible gardening at the White House, complete with some great photos. Read more here. The idea of growing food at the White House is not new. And what better place to set a national, if not international example, of sustainable, edible self-sufficiency? Why not use the property owned by Americans to teach Americans that they can grow food on their property and reduce the need for lawn along the way!?

And, you can join the campaign to to encourage the lawn conversion here. Do it fast! There are just over 4 days left to sign the campaign petition.

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Planning a 2009 Veggie Garden…and More!

Monday, December 29th, 2008
Summer Garden Party

Summer Garden Party

December 2008 has been a rough month for Seattle gardens. Even before the first day of winter, snow and ice blanketed garden beds and temps stayed abnormally low. Now that the first round of real winter weather has passed, I find myself planning and plotting for the warm months of 2009.

Earlier today I read a disheartening article on gardenrant.com warning that what may appear to be organic isn’t necessarily so. And, it isn’t just that the organic food we pay a premium for could be the same as the non-organics. The problem is that the amendments we gardeners and farmers are buying may be tainted. So, short of building all our own fertilizers, soil, and raising our own seed, we may not ever be sure if our organic garden really is 100% so. Still, I have hope.

And I hope to translate that hope into reality this year by planning to start as much of my edible garden this year from seed as possible. It may be surprising to hear, but I often find myself picking up organic starts for many of my edibles. I go to local plant sales and reputable nurseries for them, and I grow them on in my little greenhouse until the time is right to set them out in my garden beds. Why? Well, honestly, I’m a very busy professional gardener, so my personal gardening time tends to suffer. But, this year I’m getting a jump start on things!

Over the past weekend, as I watched the last patches of snow melt away, I sat in my dining room with a notepad and seed catalog in hand. Recently, I discovered a local Washington seed supplier Irish Eyes. Irish Eyes offers a fantastic array of seed, much of which is certified organic and many are heirloom. To me, this is critical. In a world where Monsantos and others are buying up seed and claiming patents on what nature created, I seek to buy from the little guy who keeps ancient strains going and maintains seed that isn’t “Roundup-Ready”. So far my list includes several types of potato, carrots, broccoli, kale, lettuce, and beans. My pen is marking the pea and parsnip page, so my list isn’t done yet!

Greenhouse Abundance in August

Greenhouse Abundance in August

As well, I spent some time walking our garden spaces with my husband to determine the best spots for some of our garden changes for next year. Bob has a knack for building, and this year (along with all his other projects) he hopes to build a real greenhouse for us. (Last year we made due with a pvc-wire and plastic-zipper one that was a great start but doesn’t hold up — especially when I’m sick during a snowstorm and neglect to knock off the breaking snow weight. ) Bob determined that the footprint of this structure’s plans would work in our back garden. We also discussed tearing out the raised beds in our front garden to put in a second greenhouse there, but that may come in a few years and would allow us to keep a lot of food going year-round!

Red Fingerling Potato Plant

Red Fingerling Potato Plant

And, I do need to mention that we’re both very excited about putting in wooden bins for potatoes this year. In the past I’ve grown them in nursery tree tubs, which has worked pretty well. But, we’re up for a new technique that may yield much more food while looking a lot prettier than the ugly black tubs.

So, for those of you wondering what to do in the garden right now, my best advice is look and plan. Unless you have broken branches that need trimming, best to leave the garden be for now. The beds are saturated and susceptible to soil compaction if you start tramping on them. Perennials and annuals that finally gave up the ghost in this last freeze aren’t going anywhere. So I suggest spending your energy on planning for the months ahead. Get out those seed catalogs, measure beds, and dream of garden fresh tomatoes, fragrant summer phlox, and juicy blueberries. Order those seeds soon or a few months hence you may find yourself standing in line to buy spendy packs of seedlings instead of early-harvesting seed grown greens you can be proud of!

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