A Poem for Autumn
There comes a timeWhen roots are truly ready to be pulled from the earth.And we all feel the transitions.Cool foggy mornings have us in our thick coatsAnd the spinach is covered in frost.The sun still moves east to westBut with different hues and angles.We see each other in new ways.Our coolers are full of more color than they’ve seen all year;It turns out, the roots and bitter, spicy things show more signs of life,And they pull us all in by charming our eyesUntil we feel grounded. There’s a pile of squash at the Farmstand,You’ll see it.We...
read moreWelcome to Squash Ball Season
With the transition into the fall season solidly behind us and the “Spooky Season” right ahead, autumn has given us a warm welcome. And with this new season, we’ve officially started one of the most beloved activities to those of us who work at Red Dog: squash harvest. Not only are we excited for the many beautiful types of squash that we now have in our Farmstand and market booths (including crowd favorites like delicatas, butternuts, and red kuris, plus lesser known delicacies like the odd-shaped buttercups and the ghostly blue hubbards),...
read moreThe Story of Betsie’s Bulb Planter
Last Thursday we pulled out our beast of a bulb planter and planted 26,000 tulip bulbs with four people in one hour. Every year it takes a little coercion to get the bulb planter to want to move again, and this year was no different. This implement was likely made in the 1950’s and is only used for about one hour every year. Talk about a specialized tool! Once we got it going, it did what it does best, plants bulbs!While we were planting, Nicole asked me how I came to grow tulips and own this planter and she enjoyed my answer so much, I...
read moreHarvesting the Fruits of Our Labor
Red Dog Farm is a magical place this time of year! With fall right around the corner, it’s very exciting to see just how much the farm has transformed since the spring. There are many moving parts on the farm as well as many people who come together to accomplish the tasks that translate into collective results. It’s really a treat working here. It’s a very dynamic and engaging job—every single day. This year was my first year on the farm, and I’ve learned so many things! I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to learn to operate the...
read moreAlways Improving
As the crew hurriedly and with great haste hustles to harvest the bounty that is a September harvest, it is also a time to hustle to finish up projects before the rains come! September is the great intersection of summer and fall: where sweet juicy tomatoes sit next your beets on a dinner plate, where the fog sits heavy in the valley in those sweet cool mornings, where you wear your sweatshirts for a couple hours longer in the morning. It’s a month where you reflect on the summer, think towards next season, plant bulbs and seeds that will...
read moreLate-Summer Elotes
September is a pivotal month on the farm. With the harvest moon rising this Saturday, we’re in the last month of our high-production season. We’re still swimming in strawberries: while our crew’s been hustling to pick them all, the squash have been steadily growing underneath their big green vines and are, suddenly, everywhere—decorating the farm in green, orange, red and blue. Now, the rising sheets of white remay, multicolored brassica blocks and emerging green lines represent the next phase of carrots, winter radishes, kale and spinach....
read moreTaking Your Veggies Hiking
When most people think of hiking food, they imagine trail mix, energy bars, and PBJ sandwiches. I’d like to suggest that veggies can also make excellent trail food. Hiking is a thirsty endeavor, and sometimes plain old water doesn’t quite quench the thirst of someone who’s been active in the sun for hours. But there’s nothing more refreshing than a crisp cucumber after a good sweat: not only are cucumbers 95% water, they also offer a host of vitamins and minerals to reintroduce the pep to your step. Red and yellow...
read moreComing Together in Late Summer
Hello, end of August! Time has flown by this season and with only a week(ish) left before September and the onset of fall, it truly feels like this summer was too short. But working on the farm, feeling the heat of the sun, makes me reflect and be thankful for the opportunity to be part of a wonderful crew. All who make their way to Red Dog Farm, whether they’ve traveled along the Pacific Coast, made a farther trek from the East Coast, or come from somewhere in between, all share a joy in the work we do together. It’s not often you can find a...
read moreVegetables the Size of Your Head
Hello CSA fam, Well, we’ve made it – ‘tis the season of abundance! Almost every field here at the farm is full right now of growing veggies. Some are new successions of young greens like spinach and arugula that we will harvest for our delicious salad and spicy mixes. Others are growing big and tall like our corn (probably a few weeks out), onions, kale…lots of things, really! I’ve always been impressed by the size of the vegetables we grow here at Red Dog. Left to their own devices, our lettuces, kales, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini and...
read moreA Farm or a Canvas?
Working on the farm feels to me like working in an art museum. Around every corner, in every row, and under every leaf there is something beautiful hiding, and the longer you look at it, the more you’ll see. Tomatoes peeking out from underneath the greenhouse tarps show us their rainbow from green to red as they ripen, growing heavy and bright on the vine. The green beans from afar appear to be small bushes with nothing to discover, but once you begin peeling back layers of vines the bean pods reveal themselves, standing out from the vines in...
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