Flooded Snoqualmie River
My farm reports dropped off in the early winter due to a couple good showings of nature’s glory. First the flooding in November, then we had some crazy snow (up to four feet!) that isn’t typical for us. Then more flooding in January hitting record levels. Between the natural disasters, holidays and guests, and the fact that everything is just quiet this time of year there’s been little to really report on. We’ve also been doing a bit of belt tightening so that’s scaled down the projects we might otherwise be undertaking. I’ve kind of given up on getting a farm report out until things pick up for the spring which really isn’t too far off.
The only news of late has been sad/bad news. After losing a couple young chickens this summer we hadn’t seen any loses, but the winter storms have taken their toll on the predators around here and in the last month we’ve lost four more chickens (7 lost, 6 alive for those keeping score). My layers are dwindling down at this point and the rooster is wearing on my nerves. He may not live many more weeks at this point. Not only is he slacking as prime protector but he’s gotten aggressive towards me specifically which I’m not amused with in the least. We just placed our order for this spring with 12 meat birds and 13 layers. Since odds have it that at least a couple will be roosters I think we are going to “try again” with the rooster. We were just talking in the car on our commute home from work about the whole thing and I struggle more with the decision to off Bucket, the rooster, because it’s much more subjective than objective. Raising meat birds knowing that they’ll end up on the dinner plate is very different than deciding I don’t like Bucket’s attitude and therefore he needs to go. I don’t know of another solution to the situation though, and it’s the reality of farm life. So, I guess I’ll get my first taste of on-farm slaughter in the coming weeks. Not something I can say I’m *thrilled* about, but, again, it’s the reality and I’ll either work through it or become a vegetarian.
I’m working on a post about our garden plans this year. I’ve already placed our minimal seed order for the year, but there’s more to it than that. I’ll try to work on it and get it posted in the next few days.
In the meantime we are still here and our thoughts are certainly turning to spring!
We are back from hawaii. So far only general kitty chaos damage, but we need to go check on the goats this morning and pick up the dogs still.
This post was originally posted to Fresh From The Market – my food, farm, cooking blog.
The farmers markets and farm stands are just getting started in our area. It’s been a very slow season for everyone so many producers don’t have quite enough product to get going. We’ve visited a few of them as they’ve opened but the selection is meager so I’m not sure they warrant their own posts. Here’s a brief overview of where we’ve been:
Woodinville Farmers Market – This is a Saturday market and the first we visited for the season. The location is kind of industrial being on a piece of land that is being prepared for some commercial buildings and therefore isolated from any sense of community or agriculture. They had of-the-moment asparagus, fresh flowers, and several vendors or food products or crafts. We were a little disappointed in the selection after coming from the very large and diverse markets in California but it is what it is. Spring onions, asparagus, some cold storage apples and potatoes from last year and a the occasional greens were the extent of what was available. We will quickly learn that is the effect of a long, cold spring.
Carnation Farmers Market – This is the first of our “local” markets and is held on Tuesdays. It sported much the same fair as the Woodinville market with some beans and more variety in the greens and lettuces. Many of the vendors are selling vegetables starts in place of crops, but they also had cheese, honey, eggs, bread, pastries, and greenhouse tomatoes. I think this is the market to watch if one was inclined to do such a thing. It’s in the heart of the King County agriculture region and provides many of the big city restaurants and markets with their products. We still visit this market as often as we can and are partial to the Golden Glen Creamery Medium Cheddar and Kittitas Valley Greenhouse heirloom tomatoes.
Duvall Farmers Market – This is our actual local market held in downtown Duvall on Thursdays. It certainly seems larger than it did on our chance encounter with it last year and the ratio of food to crafts seems tipped farther in the favor of the food. Similar to the other markets many producers are selling starts still, but things are slowly starting to flesh out.
Remlinger Farms- We’d been to Remlinger Farms before and seen their market, but some advertisements I’d seen lately for the farm gave the impression that they had more of a farm stand. We made another trip to see for ourselves and while they do offer flash frozen local fruit and u-pick they do not really have a “farm stand”. I’m certain we’ll still visit Remlinger Farms for some summer picnics and the farm zoo with the kids, but it’s a little too commercial and ambiguous for my preference.
Minea Farm – This is more of a farm stand and they don’t appear to have a web site. They are located on Woodinville-Redmond Road near to Root Connection. We were driving through and their whimsical eggs and cider signs always made me curious so we stopped in. We picked up a quart of apple cider, it might have been Pink Lady? I don’t actually recall, but man was it good. We don’t do many juices (or sodas) around our house so it was quite a treat. As it turned out I was coming down with a cold, but the heaviness of the juice was extremely soothing on my sore throat and the sweetness just right. I think I drank most of the quart with in two days of purchasing it and I keep craving more, but just can’t justify a trip for just juice. I might just justify it shortly by buying enough to freeze the extras for the coming months. Overall there is quite a bit of local agriculture, but the farmers market isn’t the place to be as it was in the bay area. It’s really understandable because the towns are smaller here and many of them know their local farmers and suppliers already. The farmers market doesn’t get the farmers quite the bang for their buck, or really, their time, that they do in more urban areas. It’s completely logical but not something I’d considered before we moved. It does give us the push to go out and visit the farms and stands ourselves though which is also quite wonderful. I’ll have to post soon about us doing exactly that last weekend.
This post was originally posted to Fresh From The Market – my food, farm, cooking blog.
We are finally (mostly) settled in to our new home and state. With that it does mean that this blog will be transitioning from SF Bay Area-centric to the Puget Sound. I’m very excited to start 
learning about my new environment. We’ve already scoped out some good stores and have definitely noticed the lack of year-round farmer’s markets (understandably so). The actual season of winter with the occasional snow shower and noticeably shorter days, has us hunkered down and wallowing in the warmth of comfort food which is a very nice change. We hope to start our new year off slowly in the spring with a small backyard garden, the usual containers, and maybe some chicks. Our ultimate intent is to get dairy goats, but we will be working up to that. We also hope to put in a small orchard and expand the garden. Our land is tucked safely in the hills along a valley so we suffer no concerns of flooding which isn’t uncommon in the valley fields, but we will need to be creative and conscious about how we choose to utilize our land to best effect while also maintaining it’s integrity. I’m sure the novelty of it all will eventually wear off and we will be cursing our decision not to go with a nice flat piece of valley floor, but for now the trees and creek are just lovely even if our little farm doesn’t get going as easily.
The details for those inclined to curiosity: 15 acres of wooded land, back property line is a year round creek that is rumored to be home to salmon and trout. The house’s elevation is about 70 and the peak of the land is around 200 or 250. The house is in the front right corner of the property near the road. Our land does include a dirt road easement to the 45 acre property behind us, but conversations with the land owners have gone swimmingly to date and we will be working with them to move the easement to a location that better suits us (further from the house) as they plan to start building in the coming year. The house is 20 years old, 2000 sq ft., 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, certified wood stove, septic, well, and several well placed sky lights. Septic and well might make other’s cringe, but we are happy to be more of a “closed loop”. Power loss is not uncommon in the area during the stormy months so we also have generator back up and the heating (air and water) is on propane year-round. Internet service and TV are provided by satellite. We don’t think we are particularly remote since we are 2 miles from a town of 6k, but services are slim. Our neighbors consist of a sheep textile farm, a tree farm, and several small farms with horses, goats, alpacas, chickens, and the like. The area is currently zoned such that on the wooded/hill sides of the valley there may be only one residence per 10 acres, on the valley floor it’s one per 30 acres. The valley is Cherry Valley, the creek is Cherry Creek, the town is Duvall, WA.
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