Wrapping Up the 2024 CSA Season
Another CSA season in the books! Thank you to all of you, our CSA members, for eating your way through the year with us! Spring, with its fresh greens and tulips, seems ages ago now. More recent memory is the summer abundance, particularly berries and cucumbers come to mind. Then fall still lingers firmly in mind with all that HUGE cauliflower! I hope that your bodies were nourished this season from the produce we grow and, whether you are committed to eating seasonally, supporting local agriculture, or whatever your motivation is to...
read moreRains and Rainbows
It’s wet season on the farm. In the past few weeks, heavy rains have rolled through the valley, the water table has risen, and those of us working outdoors have been thoroughly drenched. One week, we had rainbows every day – sometimes many in a day, arching broadly across the sky. There were single rainbows, double rainbow, partial rainbows. Rainbows that started and ended at Red Dog. Rainbows in the distance. We had a hailstorm. It came in a flash, thudding down all around us, bouncing off kale leaves and windshields. We’ve had...
read moreCozy Winter Squash Bread
Whether you’re seeking inspiration for what to bring to your next festive gathering or craving a seasonally sweet treat, winter squash bread is the perfect answer. It’s great for those that may be nostalgic for summer zucchini bread and may be a new dish for others. Altogether, this recipe takes about two hours to make between curating the squash puree and bread itself. I made squash bread this past weekend which not only was a scrumptious treat but a way to lean into the coziness of the season by sipping tea and listening to Amy Winehouse as...
read moreFinding Satisfaction in Muddy Places
I have had the recent honor of being appointed as one of the farm trench cleaners! The trench runs the length of our packshed at the center of slightly sloped floors and collects all the mud and debris left over from washed vegetables. At this time of year the mud is prolific. Clinging to our knees and shins in clumps that stick long after we stand up. Speckling our faces like fake freckles when we spray a beet at the wrong angle. And of course, completely coating all the root vegetables we pull from the ground. The crates we bring in from...
read moreWhat to Grow? Spreadsheets Offer an Answer!
How do farmers decide what crops to grow each year? So, so many variables go into that decision. Of course, we like to grow what our customers want to eat. (Speaking of which, keep your eye out for our annual survey that will be sent to our CSA members in a few weeks!) We take into account year-to-year crop rotations, negotiations with local grocery stores, sales volumes of previous years, and even how much the crew enjoys tending to each crop. We also have to make sure we’ll have time to care for each crop, and so we try to...
read moreA Farmers Market Vignette
In August, guiding a box truck onto Tyler Street in preparation for our farmers market was challenging. Three rows of tents, more vehicles, and even more people filled the street then; all bustling to arrange wares before the market bell sounded. We drove in carefully and unloaded quickly. We looked over our shoulder while setting up tables to check if the path remained clear. When it wasn’t, we negotiated with kind neighbors to clear a route. There were tight lips as the truck’s high white wall cleared craft displays by a few feet. There...
read moreHauntings in the Fields
As the days are becoming shorter and the veil is thinning, things are getting a little spooky here at Red Dog. Every morning, we arrive one by one, our headlights illuminating the gravel drive as we slowly make our way towards the dark silhouette of the farm. As the sun creeps its way over the valley it reveals a thick layer of mist that clings to our long rows of crops, concealing what lays within. The muffled cries of birds awakening seep out of the fields as we sip our morning coffee and cover ourselves with layers until only our eyes are...
read moreWelcoming the Wind: Appreciating Fall on the Farm
With wind howling through the valley in recent days, the stormy season is upon us. With that in mind, there are many months behind us since we first seeded our crops, and we’re now getting a good perspective on which crops have done well in their fields. For the curious, it might be nice to get informed look at how some of your favorite veggies are growing.An observation from the field as we get geared up for storage is that the beets this year are rather large! In the previous year, the red variety got up to a pretty big size, while others...
read morePesto for Fall
Thanks to David Conklin for the photo above! Fall has arrived. She has wrapped us in a blanket of reds and rusty yellows; fallen leaves, Madrona berries, morning light streaking heavily across the sky. Suddenly, all across the farm, the fields are open swaths of soil. Crops have been tilled in, left to break down and return to the soil again. Gone are the days of surprise cauliflower harvest – 800 pounds in a day! Gone are the summer squash, hot afternoons with scraped and itchy arms (despite our love of zucchini, no one has expressed grief...
read moreAutumnal Kraut
Thanks to David Conklin for the photo of Solomon planting tulips for next spring! October is filled with change – the dramatic dwindling of the sun, cold mornings and hot days and everything in between. All the crops and fields on the farm reflect and respond to these shifts. As a part-time employee, these changes are exaggerated and measurable to me, especially after frosts. I enjoy being in relationship with the changing seasons and learning how to adapt and respond to the unpredictable. Fall prompts us to consider what we’re ready to...
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