46 North Farm

Joyride! Squeaky wishes desperately for both opposable thumbs and a set of keys…

It’s hard to believe it, but it’s that time of year again.

Seeds are germinating as I type this.  Our 2013 crop planting plans are done, we’ve inventoried seeds, ordered more where needed, and seeds we ordered last week have begun arriving already.  I spent the day transplanting perennial herb plant starts in the greenhouse, giving them all some fresh soil, a bit of late winter fertilizer and some heartfelt words of encouragement.  I LOVE this time of year! « Read the rest of this entry »

It was a little after 5 o’clock yesterday evening and I was driving back to the farm from my Other Job in Seaside when it struck me: 10 years ago on January 14th Packy and I were settling down for our first night as Oregon Farmers.  We didn’t know enough at that point to know that it would be quite a while before anything that we did on the property would resemble actual farming, but we were nothing if not optimistic. « Read the rest of this entry »

I have loved having our friend Kelly work on the farm with us this past season for so many reasons. Her back and knees are many years younger than mine, for one, and her skill and passion for farming are an inspiration to me at times when I feel like I’m crazy for trying to make this farm work.  But one of the biggest reasons I adore her is that she has introduced me to many new plants that are fast becoming favorites of mine. Right now, my favorite plant introduction of 2012 is komatsuna. « Read the rest of this entry »

When we first moved to the property that would become 46 North Farm, there was something not quite right about the landscape.  I couldn’t have told you what it was exactly, it just felt…odd. Somehow blank. I had a hard time feeling connected this piece of land, which was weird for me.  I told myself that I just wasn’t used to it yet, that I was exhausted from the ‘buying the farm’ ordeal, followed by the ‘moving the farm’ ordeal, in tandem with the ‘working full time while trying to restart the farm’ challenge. Certainly, all those things were part of the oddness, but it turned out that there really was something missing here. « Read the rest of this entry »

This time of year is often a frantic race to get the farm put to bed for the winter before the frost, rain and shorter days make conditions too cold, muddy and dark to work the soil, or work outside in the daylight hours available to us.

It is a challenging fact that everyone who is helping 46 North Farm grow has another job off the farm, and some of us have a serious problem with over-volunteering for community projects as well. There are times when the only perfect sunny day in a given week is the day you are stuck inside at your other job, and the day set aside for farm work is the day that the rain is blowing sideways and everything is a mucky wet mess. « Read the rest of this entry »