Time to Bolt
When you drive by the farm, you might notice a row or two or eight of yellow flowers towering above luscious leafy greens. I hope you enjoy this little trip through time to tell the story of why there are so many yellow flowers across our fields. We grow brassicas throughout the year – all the crunchy, delightful plants in the kale family, including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, bok choi, brussels sprouts, turnips, mustard greens, and this year, romanesco! All these plants were wild cabbage plants, and over thousands of...
read moreSong of the Farm
The day often begins with good mornings and conversation with beautiful smiles. Music floats through the air in all directions coming from the packshed, greenhouse, and fields. It’s a nice rotation of pop, rock, folk, disco and just about everything in between. A beautiful thing about being here is that there is music everywhere. You’ll catch a melody just about anywhere you listen coming from the crew humming and singing as we work. I find myself leaning a little closer to get a better listen. Not only do the melodies come from the people...
read moreA Day in the Life of Garlic
As far as harvest goes on the farm, Spring is my favorite time! Especially April and May. The fields start to look lush with green as the plants are shaking off their winter slumber and bursting to life. We are entering that exciting time of year where every week we have new crops ready to harvest and enjoy. And perfect timing too, as our winter crops begin to dwindle in number. Just as I was about to start mourning garlic, our Spring garlic popped to life.This garlic began its life way back in October, when seed garlic arrived at the farm....
read moreTulip Mania!
April is one of my favorite months at Red Dog! I love seeing baby plants pop up all over the farm and watching green tulips come into their arrays of colors. While the rest of the year we are working hard to bring a lot of food to the tables of our community, tulip season is a moment for appreciating inedible beauty. I’ve learned a lot about tulips in my three seasons here at Red Dog. This year, we are growing 26 different varieties that range in color, shape and texture, and each ripens in their own unique way. We harvest tulips twice a day...
read moreMy Warm Welcome to the Red Dog Crew
Wheee, astonished, captivated. These are just a few words to describe my new adventure joining the Red Dog Farm crew. A few of us started our journey three weeks ago, and coming from hot and chaotic Texas farming, it’s been a joy of an adjustment. I joined an amazing crew built with love, respect, trust, and a thriving passion to provide scrumptious local food to their community, which a few of us newbies can now say we are a part of. The farm is awakening from the mild winter, as some of you might agree with. The warm greenhouses are stocked...
read moreApril Invitation
By and by, dear heart The illusion of absence slipsUp the valley North washed against our shadowAn absence of rain A voice sings in the Southern field Do your feet remember me?There were, and are, no deer In this valley And, antlers bend with the feral kale Things bend by AprilTime will SpringBack into the shape of strawberries Return to us, dimpled dreamsFor the saffron daysRevoke fire across this tawny land Protect us from directnessElse would we not make these bodiesThese vinesThese pea greens These spinning blades Forging from fallow...
read moreThe Season of Bursting Forth
Karyn, Farm Owner, and Karyn, Farmer’s Market Manager, tip toe through the tulips while discussing the nuance of harvesting different varieties. Thanks to Rod Just Realtor for the beautiful photo! Ahh Spring! Sunny days that make you feel alive (amidst rain showers and windstorms that remind you it’s still early yet). Baby animals peaking out of the brightest green grass imaginable. The sudden urge to take off shoes, sink hands into soil, plant seeds. Increasing days, awakening energy, a bit more ambition for outdoor tasks of all kinds....
read moreAnother Season of Success, Thanks to Your Support!
Another CSA season drawing to a close, another farm season slowing and winding down. Where does the time go?! It seems like only yesterday it was April and we were seeding baby lettuces, picking tulips, greeting our new 2025 crew, and packing your first CSA shares. Thank you all for participating in our CSA program this year! Whether you joined us for just one month, or all nine months, we are thankful for your support. I hope that you ate well, learned some new recipes, maybe even tried something new and surprised yourself by enjoying...
read moreWinter Market Bounty
The best writers say, when in doubt, write about what you know. So, as your local RDF farmers market guy, allow me to paint you a picture of what our PT Saturday market is looking like nowadays.The seasonal transition has, from what I can tell, impacted just about every area of our functioning by this time. The waning daylight hours affect our daily routines, the weather changes have altered our spare time activities, and, as local produce consumers like yourselves are well aware, the availability and variety of farm goods is no exception.If...
read moreGratitude in the Fields
If some kind of agriculture lives near the heart of human communities, some version of the ‘Harvest Festival’ is basically ubiquitous. Pongal (India), Samhain (Ancient Celtic), New Yam Festival (Nigeria), Sukkot (Jewish), and the Mooncake Festival (East Asia) all revolve around the gratitude, rest, and shared bounty brought by a successful growing season. The Harvest Festival is about relief; on some level, it asks us to slow down and consider the fruits of our labor, the people we love, and the land we live/work with, and revel in the fact...
read more