Relentless Farmers
Like you and so many across the west coast, we are dealing with the challenging reality of forest fire season. The hazy days briefly trick my brain into thinking it’s just another beautiful foggy fall day on the Olympic Peninsula. Here on the farm we are doing our best to prioritize our employees’ health while providing food for our community.Although this time has brought many problems to be solved, I can’t help but to be inspired by farmers everywhere and their relentless drive to handle anything thrown at them. When unforeseen...
read moreKilldeer at Work
Lately I have really been appreciating the killdeer that grace our farm fields. Killdeer are a small brown and white bird with dark bands across its chest, long legs, and a long thin beak. Perhaps best known for their practice of performing a broken-wing charade to distract predators from their nest, their piercing call is also very distinctive. They seem to travel in small flocks, often working over a patch of the field.What I love the best about killdeer is that they eat soft-bodied insects. This summer and fall I have been noticing an...
read moreSummer Tomatoes Meet Autumn Squash
Happy September! Time to do all the summer things you wanted to do in the next couple weeks: eat a watermelon, go swimming, make jam, let your toes out of your boots, find a friend with a boat and get on it! Feels like the tomatoes just started to ripen and I thought, “Ah, summer is here.” Now I’m sitting by the wood stove wondering if it’s too early to make a fire.This is a very fun time of year to be a farmer, though: the beautiful fusion of the sweetness of summer fruits and the depths of a fall bounty. There is a very short moment in time...
read moreEasy Dip Ideas
Late summer is the perfect time to dip into the world of dips. With autumn seemingly in the air but temperatures still high, we’re all taking as many dips in our local swimming holes as we can. And upon returning from a long day of fun in the sun to a stuffy house and a fridge full of delicious Red Dog veggies, who would want to stand over their oven making a hot dinner? Heat and vegetable abundance combine to make dips, crudités, and handheld salads the ideal August meal. With a fresh bowl of your favorite dip in hand (or better yet, a...
read moreMoving Pipes and Packing Produce
Hello, readers! My name is Sean. I worked at Red Dog Farm in 2016 and 2017, and I am happy to be back!The farm day starts a little differently for me than it did before. Usually a drive down the dusty farm road settles me in before I walk to the pack shed, where I might see farm dog Maggie waiting for Karyn, looking forward to seeing what they will do that day. When the crew has all arrived, farm manager Lane and crew lead Julia give us a morning briefing and we begin our day.But now, to keep everyone healthy, instead of gathering for a...
read moreSummer, Tomatoes, and an Easy Balsamic Reduction
Normally here, I’d like to write about goings on out in the field, and include some amusing anecdote followed by a recipe. Unfortunately, I’ve been out of the field for a time, nursing a torn tendon in my ankle. Chances are, however, that the tender and juicy green beans you are receiving this week were bagged by yours truly. The crew wanders in and out of the packing shed throughout the day as I bag various veggies, and I get to know these folks. Among them are some truly hilarious storytellers, gifted athletes, sailors, plant nerds, and at...
read moreThe Vibrant Wildlife of Organic Farms
Summer mornings on the farm are misty and cool. Usually we spend them in the field closest to Chimacum creek, harvesting greens like spinach and arugula in the crisp morning air so they stay fresh before the sun burns away the fog and the day really begins. Quiet mornings like these are some of my favorite times at Red Dog Farm. We work steadily in the gentle light, to the tune of the lively morning chorus of birds cheerfully carrying on in the hedge rows, flitting among the fruit trees, foraging for insects in the fields, and flocking in...
read moreThe Flavors of Summer
As we come to the end of July, the farm is getting deeper into the harvest of more and more varieties of produce. For example, for carrots, we’re harvesting orange carrots, purple carrots, and rainbow carrots, which come in colors from pink to pale yellow to orangey-red to deep purple. I’d love to see everyone taste the different flavors offered in each of the carrots grown at Red Dog, as well as the colorful assortment of other tasty veggies. Each one has its own unique flavor. For anyone looking for a recipe on the decadent side and...
read moreSun Versus Rain: A Farmer’s Pros and Cons
Hot! Hot! Hot! Only days ago we were all moaning about the gray glum and rain, and now, look at the world- sunny, blue skies, and dry earth- woohoo! Aside from the emotional, mental and suntan impact the weather has on us farmers, early summer excessive rain or sun can set the course for the rest of the season. Effects of rain Pros: Irrigates the crops for free Helps crop roots get deeply established, which reduces susceptibility to disease and pest pressure later Reduces aphid, flea beetle and other pest pressure Cons: Makes it impossible to...
read moreSummer is Veggie Grilling Time
Summer now seems upon us, the inclement weather of spring is dissipating, and the sun is warming our little patch of earth at the farm. With the change in weather comes summer vegetables of all sorts! Dainty yellow flowers in the squash field have transformed into plump zucchinis, and slender green beans hang delicately near the potato flowers. We have been popping Walla Walla onions out of the field along with fennel with their fragrant, anise-scented fronds. The potatoes are being dug up from their soil slumber, and red beets are rounder...
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