We've had an amazing late Spring, that is up 'til now.  Not that the future is interminably bleaky, it just looks that way on the NOAA weather website.  We've all been out in the garden taking full advantage of the weather up until now and have gotten most of the garden under control in terms of weeds, seeding, transplanting, and of course, making it bigger and better than last year.  Jason put it a big new garden patch and filled it up (almost) with potatoes, with a long row of hot peppers on the side.
Michael has been getting in touch with our farming friends east of the Cascades and it's been confirmed; Summer will happen, fruit will ripen, we will bring it west to fill our fruit stand for the 13th year with amazing Washington sunshine packed inside drippy, sweet berries, stone fruit, melons, pears and apples.
I've just finished moving this website from SFC, where it was born and lived for the last 1+ year, to Weebly where, as far as I can tell, it will live forever more.  It looks different, isn't as sophisticated as before; you can't send in order forms, per se, for your poultry or meat or csa membership or winter subscription, but you can still get those things ordered from the site via our contact form.
Iris continues her gardening education, becoming an ever more adept weeder, plus planting seed and helping to transplant "little baby plants" in her spare time.  She also knows how to manage the operating end of her shovel and rake to help sift soil and scoop up weeding piles for the compost.
Jen's busy season is on with her day job teaching the masses about the importance of environmental awareness for the health of our bodies and our planet, and how to make better decisions about the products we choose to buy for cleaning our homes, taking care of our bodies and managing our yards and gardens for weeds and pests.
Whew!  What a busy household!
Today we're stewing chicken and kidney beans on the woodstove for dinner and staying inside.  Thank You Gaia for the showers!

Jeannine

Posted 2/24/2013 by Jeannine
This was the scene at Madrona Grove's Summer Fruit Stand at Building Earth Farm in December of 2011; a great photo taken by a neighbor on her morning walk.  Now it's February 2013.  We've made it through the deepest, darkest aspects of Winter; this year without any snow to speak of.  Daffodils and crocus are starting to pop up everywhere; buds are swelling on trees and shrubs and Spring pushes past the chill and dark of Winter to offer us markers of Summer's promise.  We're still eating last Summer's fruit from the pantry and freezer; ever grateful for the amazing bounty that comes to us from Eastern Washington fruit farmers, and dreaming those warm dreams of fresh berries, cherries, apricots...and so the list of deliciousness begins.  Snuggle in against the lingering frosty bite and dream your own warm dreams of Summer; we'll be seeing you soon!

Posted 1/17/2013 12:22am by Jen

I am the ideal csa member.  Ridiculously pleased by freshness that feels hand selected in the market of my dreams.  Perhaps because I love her so, I can feel Jeanine's tangible blessings for health and well being through amazing tasting food radiate from the glowing box that lands on my countertop, without fail, for the brightest part in winter's menu planning.

and people!  people!  i am getting the left overs.  Sure, I might get more chocolate truffles than you did in the sweetness that was the just before christmas box.  oh.  You didn't get chocolate truffles in your christmas box?!

ahem.

I am sure we can all agree that it's the little things that make the boxes so special. The certain juice of the satsumas on your chin.  The visions of a hearth fire roasted on the hazelnuts. The way the greens keep for three weeks in the fridge without even trying. Was I the only one who had never tried CHEESE AND COCOA TOGETHER?!  Who knew that decadence could be so healthy?

I hope that you are all enjoying winter's sweetness as much as I am.  I have been on the sunday box countdown for two weeks now.  A new month dawns and I start counting Sundays. and satsumas!

Posted 1/11/2013 11:32pm by Jen

Cold

Dark

Still

The farm feels like we all seem to feel this near the darkness of winter’s solstice.  Solstice means to stand still. We hold our breaths. 

Waiting for what comes next.  Also we are dreaming of new.  Something fresh that still lies deep in slumber. 

The liminal space between inhale and exhale holds us tenderly. We wonder for a moment that breathe will indeed fill again.

So much trusting.

The potential.  Promises we make from a place of untested hope.  

After the holidays are complete, winter is simply winter again.  Dark. Cold. Still. 

The farm feels just like us.

Posted 10/16/2012 12:39pm by Jeannine Anderson

I don't always have the time or energy to make regular postings during the fruit season; here's one I thought shouldn't be missed.  Like Fire and Fruit, it speaks to the hard work of growing food:

Sleeping in our van in the parking lot at Rest A While Fruitstand.  This farm was owned by Bill and Lois Woods when we first started buying the fruit from here.  Their son Tim and his wife Connie also worked here; Tim in the summer months when he was off from teaching school in Brewster, and Connie in the fruitstand bakery creating recipes for all of the fabulous fruit coming in from the trees.  The Woods’ had to relocate here after their original farm was flooded by the Columbia River when the Azwell Wells Dam went in.  There used to be a photo in the stand of Bill and his Grandfather on that farm; Grandpa was driving the tractor, pulling toddler Bill along in his wagon.

Tim inspired his father to change the farm over the years, working with integrated pest management, then replacing old standard packing house fruit varieties with a more diverse, delicious selection of seasonal fruit from apricots, to cherries, to early peaches, mid-season peaches, late peaches, nectarines, heirloom and gourmet apple varieties.  Now the farm belongs to Amy Wu and this year she got her organic certification.  Thanks to the Woods' and Amy Wu for keeping this farm alive and producing amazing summer fruit!

How much work goes into the fruit on our tables? How much struggle, love, devotion, perseverance?  How often do these questions come to you as you enjoy the bright, fresh flavor of summer sunshine as it fills your palate and drips down your elbow?

Sleeping here at the farm, listening to the wind toss the tree branches, knowing that there is fruit hanging on those branches, being tossed as well, it’s easy to get a sense of what it takes.  How much?  Only the farmers really know how many hours they spend listening to the weather as it rangles their crops around with wind, rain, hail, drought.  They are the ones clocking the hours for pruning, tending, chasing birds; driving fans around the orchards to blow rain of the cherries; watching crops rot on trees from lack of pickers or lack of a price worth paying for the crop to be picked; counting and reporting the number of trees destroyed by unseasonable weather; waiting for the packing houses to pay for the fruit they send them.  Only they know the frustration that comes with raising the best crops they can just to have those packers demand a lower price for their efforts.  What Michael and I do gives us a small glimpse into their realities, and we in turn share our stories with our customers, because we want them to have a small glimpse as well.  We hope it expands their appreciation of the food they get through us, from those farmers who are willing to share the products of their efforts with us.

Think about the food you eat, while you eat it.  Consider the number of hands, hours, resources that goes into producing it.  Do you know where it comes from, how it was grown and by whom?  Do you know that the farmer that grows your favorite old timey apples comes from a family of farmers that stretches back 6, 8, 10 generations?  Do you know how rare that is, and how crazy (I mean truly insane) it is that such a thing is a rarity?

I find myself thinking about the Bullet Tree boys in Belize and their wisdom: “Jah provides, but life is work and work is life.  Ya mon. Inspiration, more time. Yaaaa!”

Posted 10/16/2012 12:23pm by Jeannine Anderson - Site Administrator.

The 8th Annual Apple Affair is this Sunday, October 21st at Rignall Hall from 12-4pm.

Here's the list of apples we'll have - there may be a few varieties on the list that won't be harvested in time to make the event, but there will still be a wide variety of rare and unusual apples.  See you there!

APPLE VARIETIES FOR APPLE AFFAIR 2012
Ambrosia
Arkansas Black
Baldwin
Blushing Golden
Bramley's Seedling
Brock
Calville Blanc di Hiver
Cox's Orange Pippin
Elliot
Gold Rush
Golden Russet
Hudson's Golden Gem
Kindil Sinap
Karmin de Sonneville
Lady Apple
Macoun
Marlboro
Mullein Golden Delicious
Muscat de Burney
Newtown Pippin
Nittany
Northern Spy
Orin
Rich-a-Red
Rhode Island Greening
Rubinette
Shizuka
Smokehouse
Spitzenberg
Spy Gold
Stayman
Suncrisp
Temptation (Gold Blush)
Tydeman's Late Orange
Wickson Crab
Winesap
York Imperial
Yellow Bellflower

Over the last nearly three weeks, Washington has been on fire in the East from lightening strikes that ignited over 60 locations in one night.  Driving up the Columbia for fruit has been a surreal experience these last two trips as tens of thousands of acres of forest and sage lands go up in smoke so thick the Sun's vital warmth can barely make it to trees and ground to provide the finishing heat needed for melons, apples and pears to reach their sweetest potential.  Again, I am amazed and what every farmer or gardener faces from the elements, still managing to provide food enough to create the bounty we are used to seeing in our home pantry, local farmer's markets and grocery stores.

It's always good to remember just what it takes to put food on our tables, and to offer a silent, or very loud, thanks to the people who work day to day to grow it up out of the ground, full of nutrients and flavor, for the good of our bodies, minds and spirits.  And to the people who work tirelessly to protect as much of our wild lands, property and persons from the fury of nature's flames.

We're only a week away from our last day for the season and while I'm still hoping for more sunshine to soak my bones, seeing it rain on the burning East would be sweet relief for the people, animals, trees and land there, and I would be grateful for that even more so.

We are still eating peaches and melons.  Fresh apples and pears have just started coming in.  Still the sweetness of summer lingers.   We'll be celebrating the season next Tuesday with refreshments from 4:00 - 7:00 pm.  Stop by and join us!

Posted 9/19/2012 11:45am by Jeannine Anderson - Site Administrator.


Sunday, October 21

Noon - 4:00 pm

Rignall Hall just off

Steamboat & 81st

Taste and buy over 25 varieties of apples from three or more Washington farms.

Indulge in tasty apple dishes from the community apple potluck and if you have a favorite apple dish, bring it and the recipe to share.

We’ll provide Olympic Mountain Ice Cream, coffee, tea and hot apple cider.

Apple supplies will be limited on the day of the event, but you can order apples by the box for pickup on that day by sending us an email at madronagrove@farmandfruitstand.com

Posted 9/18/2012 10:49pm by Jeannine Anderson
These lingering Summer days are gently easing us into Fall and beyond.  It’s hard to think about the shorter, darker days of Winter, but let me carry you there for just a moment to remind you that it’s time to consider signing up for the Winter Box Subscription.  Once a month we’ll do our best to pack up some sunshine and sweet breezes to send you home with.  From winter storage fruits, veggies and nuts ripened in our own Washington sunshine to California citrus and tender veggies to other exotic treats from the tropics around this beautiful globe, you’ll get a bright taste of sunshine sweetness blended with the hearty goodness of Fall and Winter coziness; all a tasty reminder of the long, warm days of Summers to come.  To top it all off, you’ll get a selection of food items including baked goods and cheeses from local producers.  It’s a food present you give yourself to put an extra bright spot into each month from November to March. 

Registration for the Winter Box Subscription closes on October 21, 2012.  Participation is limited and provided on a first come first served basis.

You can find out more about the Winter Box on our website: www.farmandfruitstand.com, or send us an email at madronagrove@farmandfruitstand.com.

Enough with winter thoughts, now step away from the computer and get back out in that sunshine while it lasts!  I’m going to!

Posted 8/24/2012 11:55am by Jeannine Anderson - Site Administrator.

Stop on by for a new harvest of summer fruits from our farming friends in the Okanogan.  We've got ORGANIC Santa Rosa Plums, Flavor Top Nectarines, Red Globe Peaches, Marvelous Heirloom Melons, plus more conventional Nectarines.

Ya'll come: the Fruitstand is open Tuesday and Friday 12:00 - 7:00 pm and you can find us at the Shelton Farmer's Market on Saturday from 9:00-3:00 (but come early because variety and volume becomes limited after 1:00).

YUM!