Spring 2024!

Peaches in Full Bloom

Hello, greetings and happy Spring to all! Always a great time of year, amazing to see things growing when it started to seem like dormancy was the permanent norm. The hills over here are green and the flowers, wild & domestic, are blooming profusely. We had a good Winter with a few exceptions, but good to take a break from all the farming chores. Weather wise there wasn’t much snow and we had some very cold temperatures, the coldest we’ve had since we’ve been here in 35+- years. For many locales in Eastern Washington minus ten isn’t that unusual, but here in the Lake Chelan valley it is. That’s one reason we can grow many of the things we grow, like many of the soft fruits. ( I’m mostly referring to the areas away from the main agricultural zones in the lower elevations, close to the big rivers). Anyway, it was much to our surprise when we discovered that the cold pretty much wiped out our peach/nectarine crop and many of the apricots and still yet to be seen what else. Some plums, apples, pie cherries and Asian pears look to have decent blooms on them, so now to wait and see how pollination goes.

I mentioned to some folks at the market that last year that we weren’t going to be bringing the amount of tomatoes and green beans and other various garden crops we had been, we are scaling back some. I still plan on continuing with the tree fruit and what garden produce from our reduced production. Without the peaches this year, I’m guessing my presence at the market in late July and August will be less than what has been normal. Our farm has always surprised us with what we can come up with to bring over after smaller setbacks over the years, the diversity has served us well, so we’ll see..

Most of the trees look like they weathered the cold well, with the exceptions of the blooms. Some trees don’t look great, so we wait and see how they do. Actually, the peach & nectarine trees will probably do very well without the burden of a crop and grow abundantly, so maybe next year.. The next few weeks will be critical for pollination, hopefully we’ll get some warm weather and let the bees get out to do their work, this is always the way it is!

The Burbank Plum Bloom

I hope to see you all in early July. Thanks again for supporting us all these years!

Thank You! Fall 2023

Greetings! I hope this finds you all doing well and warm as we head into the cold season. We want to thank everyone who has supported us all these years by coming to shop with us at the market (and battling traffic and limited parking in the U-District). We couldn’t have done for so long without you, it really means the world to us. Thank you so much!

I also want to give a hearty thank you to my most excellent crew that have been helping me at the market for the last few years. Elizabeth, Alison, Forrest, & Robyn and others in seasons past. All truly amazing people that are a pleasure to work with and spend the day with at the market. Thank you all!

AND.. not at all least is the also amazing staff that makes the market happen every week, all year. Farming is a lot of work, almost always a challenge of one sort or another, old news.. But for small operations like ours and many others, to have an outlet to sell our produce in the city, to a willing and receptive population makes small farms a possibility. So to all of you who help facilitate all the markets at the Seattle Neighborhood Farmers Markets, Thank you, Thank you! I think you all are often overlooked with the weekly hub-bub of markets, how much work it takes to pull it off. We show up and it’s all ready to go, we pack up and go home, often without a thought of what it takes to make it all happen. Bravo! And again, Thank you.

My apologies if I’ve left anyone out.. I and we are thankful for many things, we have shelter, food, warmth etc. Our hope for all who aren’t as fortunate, to have it as well..

We’re doing good, trying to get things all buttoned up before Winter settles in. So far it’s been a mild Autumn and we’re looking forward to the off season. I look forward to seeing you all next year. Thank you all!

Fall 2023

Greetings All –

Just a quick note to let you all know that I won’t be at the market this weekend, the 28th. But I will be back on November 4, next Saturday. That will likely be our last market for this season. I’ll have apples, pears , Asian pears, and hardy kiwis.

We got our first frost last night, we almost had our first snow a couple of nights ago, it came down to about 300-400′ above us. So grateful it didn’t snow here, too early! Last year the first snow came on November 6, almost a foot, very much too early. Hopefully we’ll get another month before it sets in this year. There’s always a lot to do to clean and get things ready for the dormant season, Thanksgiving is our usual ‘traditional’ first snow date.

We didn’t have any serious bear issues this year, thanks to our bear dog Zora, and the movable electric fencing. The skunks were another issue, somehow post fire and..? was the right conditions for the skunk population to soar. No major issues, but an occasional smelly dog.. No major fires too close and not as smokey as it could’ve been, yeah!

Another season finishing up, I am looking forward to the break. We sincerely thank you all for your continued support, and coming to the market every week. We couldn’t do it with out you! Thank you! See you on the 4th.

Summer 2023

Mulberries

Hello! This weekend (July 1) will be our first market for 2023. A little unexpected, with the cold late Winter/early Spring I thought for sure that everything would ripen later, but the warm April & May seems to have sped things up.. Anyway, I plan on being at the University District farmers market on Saturday.

Early Apricots

We won’t have a lot of product, some apricots (Early Blush and an Aprium, a plum/cot cross), and mulberries, and Summer Squash. And maybe something else, depending on what’s ripe out there. Overall things look pretty good in the trees, there are some blanks as usual, but I plan on being at the market all season. I won’t be there the next weekend, July 8, but from the 15th on through the Summer.

Afternoon Thunder Storm Brewing

As I mentioned above, it has been a warm Spring, but the last week or so we’ve had thunderstorms build in the afternoons. Not a lot of rain, but beautiful clouds and cooler temps. Very nice. I expect that we’re in for the fullness and heat of Summer to hit shortly. I hope you all are doing well, I very much look forward to seeing you soon and throughout the Summer & Fall. See you on Saturday!

April 2023 – Greetings

April 16, 2023

Greetings! I know it’s been a while, I intended to write way back in November and December, but here it is.. We’re doing good, finally into Spring. It’s been a cool and cold season so far, the plants are moving along, though very slow, I noticed that our early apricots are just now beginning to show white (from the flower buds), some years they’re in full bloom by now. It will be nice when it does warm up, but I’d rather have this situation then it being warm early and an early bloom, with a higher likelihood of getting damaged by the cold.

Early Apricot ‘Showing White’

It was a long Winter, our first snow fell on November 6, and it kept on snowing.. Our traditional first snow usually falls around Thanksgiving. It took some getting use to by all involved! With the warm Autumn last year, the leaves didn’t fall from the trees all Winter, there was a bit of tree breakage and it made pruning the trees a challenge. But that’s all behind us, the snow/ice had melted off and we’re mustering our enthusiasm for another season. Too early to tell what’s what in the orchard as far as any crops go, but it looks promising.

First Snow, November 6, 2022

We hope you all are doing alright and enjoying the Spring (it will warm up). I look forward to seeing you in July. And again, THANK YOU all for your support all these years! See you soon.

From a Year or Two Ago..

Last Market (For the Season) November 2022

Greetings All.

A quick note to let you know that this Saturday (November 5) will be our last market for this season.

We’ll have a variety of apples, Asian pears, European pears (Bosc), walnuts, honey, and some plums.

It’s been a busy year and good season for us. The gardens did well and the orchard was quite productive despite the weather challenges in the Spring and post fire and all. Being as diverse as the farm is surely helps, a few crops didn’t work out, but having a mix of varieties contributes to having enough for a market week after week.

AND Having the support from all our customers and friends makes it possible. Thank you all so much!

Also want to give a nod to the dog: Zora our Karelian Bear Dog has pretty much kept the bears out and protected the fruit. Along with us figuring out the movable electric fence, we had very little loss from our Ursine neighbors. She is most always keeping watch and moving along whatever animal comes through. And she’s a good time too! Thanks Zora!

Take care, have a good Winter and I look forward to seeing you all again next year. Thank you!

Summer 2022 – Almost There..

Greetings!

We hope this finds you all doing well and enjoying the Summer. So nice that it hasn’t been as hot as it was last year. Things here are going pretty good, but as most of you probably know, it’s a late season start. A cold Spring and cool Summer up until a few days ago has pushed our start at the market until next week, July 23rd. It is strange to be starting that late, but we really don’t have the produce to warrant an earlier start.

Romano Green Beans Showing Promise

Overall there is a mixed bag of what fruit set and what didn’t. Some trees are blank, while others look good so far. Some trees were hurt by the fire, most of which are bouncing back after a severe pruning, while most of the lack of fruit is due to the cold weather during bloom. I’m frankly amazed at how well it looks considering.. It’s almost always like that, some of this and maybe not so much of that, but just a bit more this time.

Tomatoes Coming Along

The wet Spring has been a boon to the wildflowers growing in the burn area, with the fertilizer effect the ash provides, less competition and more light has produced an amazing display. In areas that burnt less severely it is hard to tell that it had burnt, as long as you don’t look up! It’s obvious that this ecosystem needs periodic fires to keep it healthy, though less catastrophic is preferred from our small perspective.. One plant that is quite prominent after the fire is Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) which is also an excellent honey plant, just starting to bloom.

Lush Growth After a Fire

I hope to have Apricots, Montmorency pie cherries, red currants, hopefully some mulberries, summer squash and what ever else is ready. I am looking forward to seeing you all and being back at the market! Take care and see you then.

Sagebrush Mariposa Lily – Calochortus Macrocarpus

Full Disclosure – May 29, 2022

Greetings all. We hope this finds you all doing well and enjoying the warm-ish weather, don’t worry, it will get hot. As with most all in the Northwest, it’s been a cool Spring here east of the mountains. I don’t think we got frosted out, but it was cold and somewhat wet during a lot of the bloom time, so the bees and other pollinators didn’t get out and do their thing. There were warm intervals where pollination did happen, still a bit early to tell whats what in the orchard. And there’s alway a ‘June Drop’ in early to mid month where many little fruits drop off, we’ll see. So far it looks like the Apricots did well, but still a ways off until they’re in the box.

Spring

We want to let you all know that we dropped our organic certification last year, from the Washington State Department of Agriculture and the NOP (National Organic Program). Generically we’re still ‘organic’, but legally if we aren’t certified then we can’t say we are organic. We haven’t changed the way we farm and all our inputs are still WSDA/NOP and or OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) approved. If anyone wants to ask us about it, feel free when we’re back at the market.

We were certified for 25 years, and we were happy to do it. The program has changed, and now more geared to bigger operations, and there are more compromises to big producers which compromise the whole program. AND, as time goes by and has gone by, we are beginning to sunset out of the business, I still plan on continuing for a few more years, but this is a step towards finishing. We understand if anyone wants to question the legitimacy of us claiming we’re clean, organic etc. without the official paper(s), and we do welcome any queries about it. But we wanted to let you know about these changes.

I plan on being back at the market in July, depending on when things ripen, which is looking like later and later unless it warms up. I look forward to seeing you all then. Thanks!

Spring 2022-Greetings!

Hello and happy Spring to all! It feels like it’s been a long time coming, but it seems to be on now. It was a real Winter, this last one. A lot of snow and some pretty cold temps, the biggest snowfall for 25 years, we had about 40″ on the ground at the peak, lovely! I adore Winter, the cold & snow and everything under cover, a respite from the farm chores, and time to pursue our creative endeavors.

Winter 2022

Like most places in the northwest, it’s been a slow, cold Spring. Some early warmth, until this last week it’s felt more like February. It’s good that Spring doesn’t come on too fast and that the snow doesn’t melt off too rapidly, but too cold can damage fruit buds and if it’s too cold for the bees to get out when plants are blooming then there won’t be pollination. Which has happened to a lot of growers, we’ll see how the crops do across the region as time goes by. For us, being a late spot for bloom and dormancy break has served us well this year. When it was cold earlier this month the flowers were still tight and less prone to cold damage and no pollinators wasn’t an issue without the blooms open. The last few days have been warm-ish, enough to move the blossoms and bees too. Still to early to know, but here’s to a fruitful crop!

Apricots are susceptible to late freezes, being on the first fruit trees to bloom, but are surprisingly hardy

A lot of the work going on here has been and continues to be fire clean up. We and all our neighbors have been cutting down burnt trees and shrubs and cleaning up the messes from that. Trees close to our orchard and house have faired better then everything beyond that, we still have a green zone with the orchard but most other trees are dead. It’ll take a few years to get it all cleaned up, time will tell the extent of the tree mortality close to home. We lost a fair amount of fruit trees and plants that are on the edge, and some were damaged but may still come through, we’ll see.

An edge of our farm, the grapes in the foreground didn’t make it, but we’re hoping they’ll sprout from the roots..

Overall things look good, the warm weather is encouraging. The young tomato plants look great, we usually plant them out sometime after the 10th of May or so (generally our last frost date). We hope to have as close to normal (whatever that is anymore) season.

Young tomato plants patiently waiting for mid-May

Overall we’re doing good, trying to keep up with everything, and enjoying the Spring. We hope you all are doing well and healthy. I look forward to seeing you, probably around Early July sometime. Take care!

Spring at last!

Thanks – 2021

We hope you all are doing well and warm as we head into Winter. Things are going well here on the farm, done with the building projects we planned on for this Fall and mostly done with getting the orchard and garden cleaned up and ready for the dormant season. The chickens have a new house and we have a covered space for our tractor again.

New ChickenFacility

We have a lot to be thankful for. We’re so lucky to still have our house and workshop and our livelihood is still intact, not to mention being in good health and spirit. Also so thankful for the help we’ve received this year after the fire and for all the years of support for being our customers all along, we couldn’t do it without you all. So thank you, thank you, thank you! Happy holidays and take care ! – Liz & Michael