Posted 7/5/2012 11:54am by Jeannine Anderson - Site Administrator.

This morning started off at Rest Awhile Fruit Stand in Pateros, where we picked up the first peach of the season; Queen Crest.  She's early and kind of small but the smell in the van is almost intoxicating.  Amy Wu bought this farm from Bill and Lois Woods about five years ago and began working to change it from a conventional IPM farm to a certified organic farm.  This is Rest Awhile's first year as a certified organic farm.  Congratulations Amy!

Now we're waiting for the rainier's to be packed at Bartella Farm in Omak.  We've been buying organic and conventional fruit from John and Cindy Bartella for eleven years, since we first started Madrona Grove.  During the course of those years they phased out conventional farming practices across the board and now the farm is fully certified organic.  This will be their last year farming here though, because they have sold the farm to a young man named Autumn, who plans to continue growing most of the fruit varieties that John has perfected here up on the Omak flats.  We are really going to miss John and Cindy but are relieved to know that we'll still be able to get the high quality organic fruit we've come to expect from this farm.  We've also heard little rumours that John won't be able to completely give up farming, and his new spot down by the Okanogan River sounds like it's good for growing food, as well as fishing for steelhead.

So stay tuned, and be sure to come on out to the fruit stand on Tuesday or Friday from 12:00 to 7:00 pm for a taste of summer sunshine from Eastern Washington.

 Posted 7/2/2012 7:38pm by Jeannine Anderson - Site Administrator.

Michael and I just got back from another fruit loop from Wenatchee to Yakima.  Come on out for black and red cherries and two varieties of apricots.

Stop by tomorrow from 4-7 to celebrate the opening of fruit season with snacks and beverages.

See you there!

Posted 5/17/2012 1:44am by jen.

Here I am, publically marking the timing of the first tinges of overwhelm as they sneakily creep in.  Always hoping to postpone it but being caught up in its tendrils in random moments.  A quiet shower to realize how far behind on marketing we are, as May’s operations quickly surpass winter’s planning. 

This winter was filled with planning as we created a farm business plan for our farm.  This labor of love has been so much work and clocking in at 20 pages is an impressive road map for the farm and life we are creating.  I will share more of the specifics in the introduciton pages soon as I figure out how to paste it in there!

 I love May –Love it!  Coat-less and peeking over the edge of summer’s green hill.  It is always a wild ride around here!  Careening down that hill while Cramming in as much fun as possible.  The real challenge is making everything fun – digging in the new garden beds, planting tiny seeds of hope and faith, grateful to May’s sun for creating watering chores, barbecuing last summer’s bounty, eating the last of 2011’s preserves, beach combing, hot afternoons in the cool forest, sand box castles, bicycle/tricycle rides and honestly, the list of play and chores goes on and on.  This is May. Turkeys in the brooder, pigs and lambs ripening in the field and on the verge of hundreds of peeping chicks.  Fresh and fanciful salads lighten us all up as surely as the promise of summer lends its energy.  The sunshine is the anecdote to overwhelm.

 Welcome to another glorious farming season!