The rain has been relentless this week.  Our bottom field is flooded all the way to the river again, the third time this year.  This is seasonally wet ground, so the flood doesn’t do any harm for now since we don’t expect these fields to be dry until sometime in May.  Still, a full fledged flooding of the river to our ground usually only happens once a season, so it feels like something!  In fact, we are breaking rainfall records for March, so the feeling of too much rain isn’t just a “spring in the Pacific Northwest”  kind of grumble.  There has been A LOT of rain this week!

In spite of the somewhat oppressive feeling of the weather in general over here, though, I still find myself outside in a break from the wet, harvesting parsley for market tomorrow and breathing in such fresh, fresh air, thinking about how absolutely beautiful it is out.  Happy to be breathing, bathed in the smell of the cut herb, intoxicated by a tree full of cherry blossoms overhead, thrilled at the wildness of the patch of baby parsley’s all gone to seed and perennialized–my favorite kind of garden.

The children are climbing trees while the baby giggles from below.  I have my favorite hot pink gardening gloves on that were picked up on the cheap by the farmer for me and aren’t nearly the best we have on hand, but do the job and bring a smile to my face at the same time and are much easier to keep as a pair than his millions of left handed ones on the porch with no match!

And then we walk to the main field, grab some rutabagas for dinner with a lazy, old black dog and spry, young black cat following us, the two most favorite companions of our small boy right now, so he is laughing at them as I hold him in one arm, the harvest in the other.

Did I mention the air is so fresh?

And I am just so in love with it all–this farm, these kids and their father, this wild and precious life.

Sometimes it is impossible to live your dream and I don’t think we all get the chance.   And I really do know full well that at any moment I might lose the chance I have been given.  But there are these moments, and I just can’t believe the simple happiness of it all.

Last week the weather went from snow to glorious-the angels-are-singing-and-I-will-stay-outside-and-move-compost-and-plants-way-past-dinnertime-sun in one day.  That sun was pretty much gone by Sunday, but for the few days it was here we reveled.   The last few days have been rainy and feel a little like a let down even when they are not unexpected.  After a few days of being able to be outside almost all day, the house feels cramped with paper scraps and toys.

We have gotten out, of course.  We get outside every day and the smallest boy doesn’t care what the weather is; he announces, “shoe! shoe!” at the door almost first thing in the day.  Really the rain at this time of year is made all the more bearable by the warmth.  Yesterday he and I harvested some veggies for the family and a trade account and it was so nice I had to take off some of the wool I set out in.  And the birds, so chipped themselves with all that bird song.   It is hard not to stay outside even as our pant legs get soaked.

We are at that point in the year when our bodies and minds feel a driving energy that time inside just doesn’t suit.  We can get creative and stave off true cabin fever for now, but who doesn’t really just want to be out in the dirt right now?  I know I do.

Filed under: children, family, gardening, home, spring, weather Tagged: family, home, seasons, spring, weather ]]> http://growingwildfarm.com/2012/03/28/rainy-days/feed/ 10 growingwildfarm rainy days I rainy days II rainy days III rainy days IV out! http://growingwildfarm.com/2012/03/21/a-happy-spring-and-a-happy-birthday/ http://growingwildfarm.com/2012/03/21/a-happy-spring-and-a-happy-birthday/#comments Wed, 21 Mar 2012 21:07:49 +0000 growingwildfarm http://growingwildfarm.com/?p=1441 ]]>

Eight years ago on a spring equinox in Nebraska, our sweet Luca was born.  It was decidedly sunny and warm and I was out hanging clothes on the line first thing in the morning when labor began.

This year, the farmer took our birthday boy and his brother up to the mountains to play in the snow because this boy loves the snow and proclaims winter his favorite because of it.  The funny thing was, it almost snowed here yesterday on a decidedly grey and cold first day of spring.  The weather has been colder than it seems it should, with more snow in the foothills and sometimes the valley itself in March than I can remember in our wee seven years of living here.  We had a goal of finishing our greenhouse by March to plant in expecting a long spring, but now we are really pushing to finish because it seems we are having a long winter too.

That’s ok though, because this boy was named in honor of the lengthening days the equinox brings (Luca means “bringer of light” in Italian), and now I often call him my sunshine boy because his smile and cute dimple and twinkling eyes really do light up my life and our home, no matter the weather.

He is our down to earth and practical child, preferring real work to flights of fancy, and if we had to wager on who would be the future farmer, he would be our bet.  He spends his free time outside digging giant ponds and building forts and often joins his papa in the woodshop to make wooden swords by the millions–seriously, we have so very many wooden swords!   He is also the most diligent field helper of the lot, and I think his daddy is having a lot of fun spending that extra time with him.

He is a bit reserved but quite friendly, and sometimes quiet–it can be hard for him to get a word in with his boisterous older brother around.  But he is so, so thoughtful; totally sweet and kind.  He has a big, big heart–and sometimes it’s a tender one.

But mostly, it shines.

And maybe, the sun will do some of that soon too.  Another spring has begun, hooray!  And another year for a very wonderful boy, hooray, hooray!

Everywhere I look, green.  At every meal of the day, collard greens and mustard greens and kale greens, alongside dark green kale rapinis and light green turnip rapini.  There are some purples working there way in as we harvest wild violets for fun and the sprouting broccoli from the field, and the purple cape cauliflowers are heading up nicely.  But mostly, it is green, green, green.

The grass is growing–really growing–a bright and tender green. The willows have new neon looking leaves coming on and soon the other trees will start to put on their clothes too.  Everything is greening up as we get so close to the spring equinox I can barely stand it; I am so excited for more sun, or daytime as it were here in the Pacific Northwest.  Even though we have had snow (!) more than a few times this March, and even though spring for us means rain and rain and more rain, the changing landscape and longer days feel good.  So refreshing.

And yesterday,  in the midst of getting ready for a small birthday sleepover for our second boy, born on the spring equinox eight years ago, we all scrounged up something green to wear and checked our Leprechaun traps for magical creatures and treasure in honor of St. Patrick’s day.

This used to be an “enjoy a–or many depending on what age we are talking about–Guinness or other finely brewed beer” day.  Now it is a fun for the small fries kind of day since they love holidays so much and in our home this usually means some kind of feast.  St. Patrick’s day is the easiest, Irish fare being so simple.  Some lamb maybe, or sausages.  Potatoes, cabbage, onion–all good mid-March farm food.  And that is usually it, our passing nod to Ireland and our own heritage (we have Irish blood on both sides).

This year, since we were having extra children over and because it was Luca’s choice, we had homemade pizza instead.

And this year, as the farmer and I start to think about studying history with the children as they get older, I was particularly struck by this article.  We are finding ourselves hard pressed to keep things simple and pleasant as we delve deeper into these studies, even as we try to take things slow.

Our smallest learn history through stories.  They can get an idea of how people lived in other times without too much blood to worry about.  Sometimes we can investigate further and visit museums or check out other books about various time periods to extend our understanding.  All in all, though, we don’t tend to get into any of the nitty gritty.

But our precocious older child, so keen on growing up faster than he needs to–once he finally reaches the level of maturity his taste for talking about current affairs and the seedier side of history necessitates, I hope to share both the good, the bad, and the ugly with him so that he can learn to critically examine the things that have happened before him in this tale of humankind so that he will then be able to critically examine the things that are going on around him.

The history of Ireland is just one of many stories that isn’t all that pretty.

And as the article points out, the great potato famine provides a pretty important lesson for today.  As the genetic diversity of farmed crops and the seed banks both shrink, it doesn’t hurt to give the lumper potato and the famine in Ireland some of our time.

For the farmer and I, we find that there is still so much to be learned from the past.  So much that we weren’t introduced to in our studies of history at school.  So much misinformation or generalization it is maddening.

So this St. Patrick’s day we looked a little closer at this time in Irish history.  When our kids get (much) older, we’ll discuss it with them too.

For now, while they are still so innocent and young, I am happy to get a pinch before I get dressed for the day when I didn’t go to bed wearing green, and to imagine that at the end of every rainbow there really is a pot of gold.

And it is both of these things that are so important to do as we live this life.  We must look hard to discover both the shining gold and the smoke and ashes of our story.

With just a little over a week until the SPRING!! equinox, the farm is coming to life again.  The greenhouse is full of baby plants, seeds have been sown in the ground, and although there is still quite a bit of time in the day for the farmer to work in the shop on some woodworking projects as well as an infrastructure project, the list of things to do in the greenhouse and field continue to grow.

Our kitchen has seen the first taste of the season’s sprouting broccoli–bright purple and oh so delicious, not to mention a big jar of nettle pesto to help brighten up those pots of lentils we enjoy in winter.  Last year, the spring was so long that the harvest of one of our favorite early spring crops, the rapinis (flowering heads of overwintered brassica plants), went on for much longer than usual.  So long, in fact, that we began to grow weary of it (a first I can assure you!).

Still, as the first of the rapini in our fields make there way to our table, we have come around to them again just like we do with all the other seasonal crops.  Rapini and spring go hand in hand and even though the flavors are much like the greens from the plants they grow on–flavors we have been enjoying all through the winter–a new shape and texture, and new ways to cook them (roasted rapini=yum) bring a bit of excitement to the plate.

Livening up, things are!

We have splashes of yellow daffodils all over the house, more sun in the day than we quite know what to do with yet as we adjust to everyone having a bit more energy after dinner than in the dark center of winter.  Routines are starting to shift; thankfully, the process is slow and building.

And speaking of building, that is part of what the farmer is doing in these last few winter days.  Here’s a sneak preview of what he is working on, a little buffer in case this spring is long like the last two have been.

Because as happy as we are when spring arrives, and as much as it might seem like it would be our favorite season–and the faith in the seed and the earth and the plan of the farmer and gardener each and every spring is a thing of wonder, truly–summer is a pretty darn important in the grand scheme of things.  It is the season we must try to capture the most of.

But not to jump ahead too much, spring is definitely where it is at, right now.

Every season at its inception is fabulous.  In spring, there is so much looking forward, so much promise in the air.  There is this wonderful mix of certainty from a season’s worth of planning and the mystery of just how this particular growing year will unfold.  I can’t wait to find out!

Filed under: changes, farm, farming, rapini, spring Tagged: farming, rhythym, seasons, spring ]]> http://growingwildfarm.com/2012/03/11/springing-forward/feed/ 1 growingwildfarm looking ahead sneak preview http://growingwildfarm.com/2012/02/03/looking-for-spring/ http://growingwildfarm.com/2012/02/03/looking-for-spring/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:59:48 +0000 growingwildfarm http://growingwildfarm.wordpress.com/?p=1334 ]]>

Today was so brilliant!  It was decidedly sunny and that sun felt so good.  The kids and I spent nearly all day outside.   We started out there this morning with songs and times tables, and after a quick trip inside to do some writing, we happily returned out of doors for picnics and stories and card games.  And although we didn’t do much in the way of farm work (the kids and I that is…the farmer was harvesting for Saturday market), we did make it out to the fields for an adventure.  After lunch, my daughter announced that we needed to go on a walk and find “spring” stuff to bring inside to decorate with, and it seemed just the thing to do–it felt so spring-like out there!

Of course in reality we are still just making our way out of winter a bit at a time, so we didn’t really find anything that satisfied her quest (no flowers!).  Things look a lot like winter out in the field and around the farm still.  There are a lot of bare trees and brown hues and winter hardy garden plants that always look a little worse for wear at this time of the year.  And so, we decided to refocus our efforts, and began instead to look for signs of spring coming. 

And even though our walk showed only the smallest of these signs, we did find some.  There is new growth on the winter greens and the very teeny tiny beginning of sprouting broccoli florets.  There is more green surrounding those food plants in the garden, too.  The weeds and grass in the path are definitely starting to grow and right now, while they are just at the starting, they are a nice sight, all green and fresh and tender!  The daffodils are popping out of the ground, the cherry buds are forming!

Small things, yes!  But small things emerging from underground, budding, and growing–all signs of good things to come!

For the last two months or so, the farmer has been sleeping in.  Sometimes just sleeping in a little compared to being up and out in the fields before anyone else is awake; sometimes sleeping way in, while the rest of us rouse, eat, and start our day still waiting at 9:00 for him to say good morning!  I am not quite sure if he has ever taken the winter months to practice this bit of extra restfulness before, or if this is just the first winter I noticed it.   I do think that up until now he most likely still had a pressing feeling  in the winter to keep busy because this is the first winter that he has been all the way through a full year of full-time farming, with the business now more or less solvent without needing either of us to work off of the farm.  I think this year he could fully relax while the sun slept in too and the temperatures were so cold.

I, too, have noticed that even though I wasn’t sleeping in, I was feeling more sleepy when I did wake in the mornings.  There was a subtle difference–less get up and go and a lot more snuggle under the covers than jump up and greet the day.  Since neither of us have changed our sleeping routines, I can’t help but think that this extra sleepiness has something to do with the season.

And then this morning, I woke early to the sound of the farmer leaving the bed.  I could see that there was a faint change in the color of the sky, but really, it was mostly dark and dawn was barely on its way.  After falling back asleep for a little bit before getting up, I went out to find that this morning, all of a sudden, the farmer was back to work.  He had finished his tea, organized seeds, and was heading out the door already, practically bristling with excitiment.  He said something about so much to do! and was off to the greenhouse.

At first, I was surprised at the sudden change, finding myself equally bristling with excitement at early morning work and all that it implied , but nevertheless, not fully there myself in that get back to business mode.

And then I was struck by the significance of this shift happening today, the day pagans used to celebrate as the halfway point between the darkest day of the year, winter solstice, and the first day of spring.  Imbolc, an ancient holiday, encompassed in modern times by little more than a groundhog peeking out of his whole in Pennsylvania (tomorrow), but still a nod to the fact that spring is, indeed, on its way.

The energy has shifted outside as it will continue to shift throughout the month and on into the heart of spring.   And without skipping a beat, the farmer, so very connected to this land and his work, experienced that same shift.  Just like that, he shed his winter slumbering and awoke with excitement and enthusiasm–it is the perfect energy to jump start the season.

And so, early on this Imbolc morning, some seeds were sown, the first of 2012.

This morning, even though the farmer usually starts harvesting for tomorrow’s CSA and market first thing, we lingered over our cups of coffee talking greenhouses.  This is a topic that often comes up, but it is at this time of year that we think about it most.

When we started farming, we used a small little house constructed of pvc-pipe given to us by a friend.  We covered it it in recycled plastic sheets removed from another friend’s large hoophouse when he was replacing it with new plastic.  It was a fine size for using as a place to start our seeds in late winter/early spring, and that was what our immediate need for a greenhouse was.

Every spring, though, when the winds would rise, and usually before our starts were all planted out, this flimsy little greenhouse would get ripped apart.

The last time this happened, the plastic we were using was finally too shredded to reuse.  And so we had to take all that plastic to the dump:  we could hardly stand it!

Since that time, and always really, we haven’t been able to decide how to fit the use of plastic into our vision of sustainable agriculture, or our original driving principles of permaculture, which aims to create a permanent agricultural system.

There has also, however, always been reality to deal with too, and the truth of the matter is that season extension is pretty important in many ways, the most significant being, we want to provide as much food as we can year-round for our community.  Just as strongly as we believe in sustainability and permanence, we believe in eating locally.  For all of you to be able to continue eating delicious and fresh, locally grown food in the winter months is just as important as is is during the abundance of summer.

And we really, really appreciate farms like our fellow farmer’s Denison Farms at the Saturday market, who with the use of lots of hoophouses are able to bring a wonderful variety of foods year round.

We also, quite honestly, need to be competitive, and every other farm in our area uses some  hoophouses or grows partially on black plastic.  Our crops grown out of doors and in the soil will always be behind those grown in these conditions.  We have a small amount of crops covered in mini hoophouses in the field, using more recycled plastic from old greenhouses, but we could easily  see the benefit of having so much more covered.

Two winters ago, we built this wood framed passive solar greenhouse off the south side of our machine shed.  We didn’t want to hassle with that flimsy pvc framed house blowing around in the spring anymore, and we had reached a time when we needed more space anyways.  The intention with this greenhouse is to ultimately cover it with glass.  For the first year, we again used the plastic we had around.  This year we replaced that with corrugated fiberglass that came from a small greenhouse we helped remove from someones property.  This will be somewhat more permanent until we get all the glass together and installed.  This is the kind of greenhouse we always envisioned.

Inside, we have been able to play around with a layered system, providing multiple uses beneficially.  Underneath the tables we use for starts, we scattered straw innoculated with elm mushrooms.  Last year we used the space to brood our baby chickens at the same time we were germinating most seeds and this added warmth to the greenhouse at a cold time of the year.  This year we switched to water barrels to collect the sun’s warmth and bring up the temperature inside.  We added a wall to the west end and created a mini space inside of the larger space to keep extra warm in order to start our warm weather crops like tomatoes and peppers.

The farmer is experimenting with growing carrots in large pots, has peas growing up the unused wall, already harvested a small crop of bok choy with no flea beetle damage, and has the basil that will stay in the house all summer potted up.  It has been fun and useful and we only which it were bigger.

This morning we started talking in earnest about doing just that, making larger versions of such a greenhouse.  The farmer is tired of me pushing him to consider moving towards getting some hoophouses, but I have always felt pretty stongly that we needed more space in season extension.  So, we are going to draw up some plans and figures and just go with our guts on this one.  To actually build these, we will have to get some funding, something we have yet to do formally in our business venture.  But we feel that it will be worth the extra cost to keep both our idealism and practical business needs happy.  If it seems doable in the end, and the finances are there, we will hopefully be building these this winter!  Then next spring, no matter how long the cool and wet weather seems to last (we ended up starting a fire last night!), we will have a warm and dry–and even spring pest free–place to grow more food.  That is a happy thought!

Filed under: challenges, farm, farming, greenhouse, local food, newsletter, seasonal eating, spring Tagged: farming, newsletter, planting, seasons, spring ]]> http://growingwildfarm.com/2011/05/27/thinking-about-greenhouses/feed/ 0 growingwildfarm greenhouse 1 greenhouse 2 greenhouse 3 greenhouse 4 greenhouse 6 http://growingwildfarm.com/2011/05/26/this-week-at-market-the-flavors-of-spring/ http://growingwildfarm.com/2011/05/26/this-week-at-market-the-flavors-of-spring/#comments Thu, 26 May 2011 15:18:31 +0000 growingwildfarm http://growingwildfarm.com/?p=982 ]]>

Spring it still is, even though today marks the start of our “summer” farmer’s market, the McMinnville Farmer’s Market.  Farmer’s growing in hoop houses or on black plastic can nudge the season ahead a bit, but with the long lasting springs we have been having last year and this, even our friends who use these growing tools more extensively than we do will most likely still be offering “spring” produce as we start the market season today.  Baby beets, large spring onions, turnips…these are crops a week or two away for us, but have been ready for the last month from other farm’s at our Saturday market.

Otherwise, the main crops that spring offers in abundance are greens, greens, and more greens!

Some, of the lettuce variety.  In fact, there is always so  much lettuce at the market’s at this time of year that we no longer worry about growing too much head lettuce to bring.  Instead we focus on our salad mix, many a local’s favorite and one of our signature offerings.  Right now, we especially love the mix which includes not only baby lettuces in a wide variety, but young greens as well as small brassica florets.  It is so beautiful and delicious!

All of our other greens fall more into the cooking greens category.  This week we are bringing a braising mix full of young greens, dandelion greens, nettles, baby kale mix, full size kale, and rainbow chard.  The color of spring for us is definitely green!

But saute a little green garlic, another spring treat that you really are only going to find at your local farmer’s market, perfectly light for spring cooking with its pleasantly mild garlic flavor, and add this to your cooking greens and you have everything you need–delicious!

But what is really exciting (even though it is equally depressing in some ways) is that we will also have spring rapini at this first market, and maybe for a while longer!  Because it has been so cool this spring, our brassica plants that we overwintered in the fields began to go to seed later than usual.  When these relatives of the ever popular broccoli go to seed, they produce equally edible florets that are yet another spring crop usually only offered by your local market farmer.  Similar to broccoli raab in appearance, but with each kind offering a unique flavor depending on which plant it comes from (turnip, kale, cabbage, etc), these are one of our spring favorites!  We wouldn’t normally have them at this time of year because their push to set seed would be stronger than our ability to harvest them if the weather were just a bit warmer.

But it isn’t really warm nor very summery yet, so relish these spring flavors we will!  They are just as yummy as the produce to come, and for those of you who might otherwise miss out on being able to shop from a farmer’s market when our Thursday market isn’t happening, what a treat for all of you!

• was warm!
• brought color to our skin
• kept us out of doors all day
• brought visible growth in the plants from one day to the next (this is always exciting when one has watched plants sit in the field growing so slow in the cooler weather!)
• meant hard work–most of the whole main field was weeded and is almost entirely planted
• was filled with near constant splashing after the pool was filled for the summer just in time for what was deemed “hot enough to swim weather” by the small folks around here
• we picnicked repeatedly
• the children and the farmer pitched the tent and slept outside
• the farmer’s morning routine of slug hunting was less needed as the heat helped us kill a bunch of these nasty critters
• we watered! (which just means that we are moving along in the season…a good thing!)
• we negotiated the fine details regarding the up and coming strawberries (the farmer and the kids and I will be splitting them 80/20)  There is still debate brewing about this, because I think we could eat and preserve them all, but the farmer assures me there will be SO many, we will have to share…soon by the looks of things in the field!

We hope that wherever you are, either here with us in the Willamette Valley soaking up some much appreciated warmth and sun, or farther away with your own spring/early summer weather, that you enjoyed the feeling of excitement and business that comes as we work hard now getting ready to enjoy the coming dog days!