And the harvest keeps going and going and going....

People keep asking me - so Farmer Georgie, you must be about done for the year? 
Um...actually...not really.  We've got gobs of food and loads of work left to do!
Yesterday we have our 2nd big potato harvest party.  Brought in another, close to 4000 or so lbs of potatoes.  And we have about one more days worth of potato harvest still to go.  So yep, we've got taters!
And winter squash!  I set two of the interns, Kate and Sabrina, to finish harvesting all that was left in the field.  It seemed like a rather poor winter squash year this year...cool summer and all, the squash didn't seem so prolific.  Nonetheless...they STILL harvested 3 truckbed loads of winter squash.  Those big ole winter squash leaves can hide a lot of squash under them! That's in addition to the about 2 truckload beds we already had.  I was quite surprised when I saw the big piles of squash in the barn. 
Garlic.  We'll we've got plenty of food garlic left for all the garlic lovers to enjoy.  And even a bit more seed garlic if you haven't gotten yours planted yet (not to worry, we haven't started planting ours yet either!  Hopefully next week...).

Tonda Padana, an Italian Pumpkin

And then there are the dry beans...The Rockwells and Arikaras are done.  Dried and threshed and even somewhat cleaned and sorted.  But...we've still got Tiger Eyes, Peregions, Black Cocos, Cannellinis, Barn Floor Soup Mix and a few new trial varieties to go.  Yikes! 
All that food to be harvested and sold is of course, in addition to cleaning up, seeding cover crop and generally "putting the crops to bed" for the winter.  Oh, and did I mention we are building a new greenhouse right now?
(Sometimes I wonder why I feel so busy and then I just go read what I wrote in this blog and I remember, oh yeah...).
So where, do you ask, do you find all this lovely fall food for purchase?  Well...at the Bayview Farmer's Market!  We are bringing the whole squash, potato, bean and garlic (plus more!) show to the Bayview market today and for the next two weekends.  (The Bayview Farmer's Market runs til the end of October). 
And then...starting I believe that last weekend in October, we will start the "Endless Summer" produce list.  What's that?  Well, it's a collaboration between Willowood, Rosehip Farm and Garden, Prairie Bottom Farm and a few other farmers to offer a list of great fresh local seasonal produce.  Email goes out, you order, we pick and pack your order (first come first serve) and you come pick it up on Saturday at Rosehip Farm and Garden in Coupeville.  If you are reading this via facebook and not on my email list, make sure to send me a note to get added.  Only those on the email list get the Endless Summer list!  We typically run the Endless Summer list through sometime in December, depending on weather on how much food we have.
Anyways, back to the good stuff....Here is what we will have at Bayview Farmer's Market today!:
* Winter Squash & Pumpkins - Delicata, Sweet Dumplings, Sweet Meats, Queensland Blue, Spaghetti, Red Kuri, Jarradhale, Winter Luxury, Blue Ballet, Speckled Hound, Tonda Padana, ButterNutter...
* Ornamental mini pumpkins - so cute!
* Potatoes - loose and 10 lb bags of Yellow Finn, Carola, Mountain Rose, Purple Majesty, German Butterball, Maris Piper.  Fingerlings as well!
* Garlic - assorted varieties for food and planting
* Mesclun and Arugula bags
* Radishes!
* Beet bunches
* Onions - including 5 lb storage bags
* Shallots
* Leeks
* Cucumbers
* Tomatoes (some of the last!)
* Basil (definitely the last!)
* Peppers
* Chard
* Kale
* Collards
* Celeriac
* Head Lettuce
* Kohlrabi
* Cabbage - Late Flat Dutch and Italian Purple Savoy
* Dill
* Salad Onions
And Mikey from Whidbey Green Goods is bringing some corn, broccoli, mushrooms and plums!  Yum!
Hope to see you at market!
Farmer Georgie
Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie

Harvest time is in the air...(and in coyote stomachs!)

ANNOUNCEMENT - Next weekend is the huge Coupeville Harvest Festival (and last Coupeville market of the year).  We are not sure yet...but it is possible we will not be at the Bayview Market because we will have the entire crew in Coupeville.  If you have not attended to the Coupeville Market, this is the one to do so.  If you are NOT blown away but the HUGE amount of produce we bring there then well, I'll retire my farmer hat.  It's serious food time folks with loads of food for stocking up for the winter.  Plus you can see giant pumpkins, zucchinis and watch my fabulous interns participate in the Gifts of the Heart food bank relay race fund raiser.  Good times and Good Food!  Now, back to the regularly scheduled program...
I know it's harvest time of year.  Not because we started threshing dry beans (woot! woot!), or that yesterday we cut and harvested a truck bed load of winter squash or that today we plan to dig about 10,000 lbs of potatoes...But how do I really know that it's the harvest time of year?  Because the coyotes keep trying to harvest my chickens/ducks/geese/turkeys! 
Last night I heard them yip-yip-yipping outside of the Poultry Palace and since two nights previously I had found two piles of white feathers and missing young turkeys, I was motivated to act.  So at 1:30 in the morning I jumped into my truck and started paroling.  I finally saw two of them trotting from our property behind the barn.  The chase was on!  And while I admit, I didn't not actually end up injuring or maiming a coyote, I would say that I put the fear of God (or Georgie!) in them. 
You see, the adventures never end when you are a farmer! 

10 lb storage bag of taters - great for fall and winter!

Meanwhile, today's adventure is - markets and potatoes!  That's right, we have a big crew digging potatoes today.  In fact, if you want to venture by the farm and check it out and pick up a few potatoes, feel free to do so.  We will be digging from approximately 10ish til probably around 5 or so.  We hope to bring in about 10,000 lbs of potatoes.   Cool taters, huh?
And while the crew is digging, we will have others at the Coupeville and Bayview market of course, including bringing 10 lb storage bags of potatoes!  And lots of other goodies of course, including...
From Willowood Farm
* Potatoes - 10 lbs bags and loose potatoes
* Head Lettuce
* Mesclun bags
* Arugula bags
* Food and seed grade garlic
* Winter squash
* Kohlrabi
* Cabbage
* Summer squash
* Beets
* Kale
* Chard
* Onions galore
* Leeks
* Roma Beans
And more!
From our friends at Prairie Bottom Farm:
* Spinach
* Cucumbers
* Corn
* Green beans (actually yellow and purple but you get the idea)
* Dill
* Salad onions
And Mikey from Whidbey Green Goods will be there peddling figs and mushrooms as well...
Gotta run now, time to load up the market van!
Thanks for your support of local food!
Farmer Georgie
Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie

P.S.  We just threshed the first of the dry beans yesterday, we expect to be bringing those to market starting next weekend!

Lots and lots and lots of food!

Well, the suns out and I'm running late this morning!  So I'm going to get right to it...
We've got LOADS of food coming this morning to the Bayview and Coupeville farmer's markets.  INCLUDING ROCKWELL SHELL BEANS!  Here is the complete list:
From Willowood Farm:
* Potatoes!  We are bringing 9 varieties of potato to the market this morning.  A tater for every desire!
* Garlic - loads of both food grade and seed grade garlic for planting!
* Head lettuce - big and crispy
* Mesclun (Bayview only)
* Arugula
* Red Kuri Squash - first picking!
* Rockwell Shell Beans - the first picking!
* Summer squash galore
* Onions, onions and more onions
* Leeks
* Shallots
* Chard
* Peppers
* Tomatoes
* Basil
* Yellow Wax Beans
* Dragon Langerie Beans
* Shelling Peas
Coming from our friends at Prairie Bottom Farm:
* Cabbage
* Kale
* Herbs
* Purple Beans
* Dill
And more!  Hope to see you today at market!
Farmer Georgie
Willowood Farm

Garlic. Need we say more?

"Vostani," a Porcelain variety

This past week I had the intern crew over for a "garlic tasting."  I talk a lot about how different garlic varieties are good for different uses but it is one thing to hear Farmer Georgie talking and another to taste it yourself.
I roasted, chopped raw and sauteed one example of each class of garlic we have (rocambole, porcelain, marbled purple striped, glazed purple stripe, purple stripe, asiatic, turban, silverskin and artichoke).  We sat around the table and ate a lot a lot of garlic!  (And then we all had a bit of a garlic "buzz."  I've experienced this before when eating a lot of garlic, particularly raw.  Your head feels all tingly and your body quite warm...).
The verdict?  Well, I think the interns were all surprised to find how different the garlic varieties really can taste!  But generally, here is what we determined:
Mildest Raw:  Artichoke
Most Pleasant Raw (spicy and rich but not too hot): Rocambole, Marbled Purple Stripe
Hottest Raw:  Asiatic (hands down.  Yowser!).
Best Sauteed:  Turban, Purple Stripe, Rocambole.
Best Roasted:  Porcelain, Rocambole, Marbled Purple Stripe

"Red Toch", an Artichoke Variety

Now.... we could get even MORE detailed.  I didn't offer samples for instance, of EVERY named garlic we grow (we grow over 20 varieties).  For instance, we have 4 kinds of Porcelain garlic.  Which is the best of the best of the roasted?  Georgian Fire, Music, Romanian Red or Vostani?  That will have to be a job for another day, or better yet, come down to the market today and take home a bunch to try and trial yourself!  And let me know what you think.
And yes, we will have the garlic this week at the Coupeville and Bayview farmer's markets!  And not such food grade garlic (although plenty of that!), but also seed grade garlic as well.  Because, well, it is seed garlic time of year!  (Best time of year to plant garlic is September through November.
What is the difference between seed and food grade garlic you ask?  Well, in garlic at least, size DOES matter!  Seed grade garlic is the "biggest and the best."  (Although not all seed garlic sellers adher to this rule.  Sadly enough!).  Why?  Because the size of the crop you reap is directly related to the size of the seed you sow.  Start with small seed, you will get a small crop even with great growing techniques (it might be SLIGHTLY bigger than what you planted).  Start with large seed, and with decent growing techniques you should harvest a large crop.   The garlic you see us selling as "seed" represents years and years (some varieties we have been growing for 9 plus years) of continually saving and selecting the best of the best and planting it for next years crop. So every year, we sort out our smaller bulbs and sell those for "eating garlic."  The larger ones we save for ourselves, or offer for sale to other gardeners like you!

Purple Glazer, a Glazed Purple Stripe

Not only that, our seed garlic is simply THE BEST you can get for Pacific Northwest gardens.  Why?  Because it is grown in the Pacific Northwest.  Garlic acclimates to local conditions, essentially by growing the same varieties over and over on my Pacific Northwest farm I have developed "Pacific Northwest" strains of all the garlic varieties I grow.  These varieties are adapted and ready to go in our wet and mild conditions.  Even garlic grown in Eastern Washington is not as adapted to our conditions - being as Eastern Wash. has a pretty different climate than the Pacific Northwest!
If you would like to learn more about the garlic we offer, check out our website www.willowoodfarm.net and click on the gourmet garlic link.  You can also order online (for shipment if you like) or email me directly with an order we can bring to one of the markets.  Lots of pretty pictures too!
But now, the roosters are crowing and pretty soon the morning will be dawning.  Much to do and veggies to pack up for market!  So here we go with the list of veggies for today....
Coming today to the Bayview and Coupeville farmer's markets:
From Willowood:
* Food and seed grade garlic (in case you didn't read above)
* Potatoes!  Red, Purple and two yellows.  Plus baby mixed bags and fingerling bags
* Head Lettuce
* Onions.  Many, many onions!
* Carrots
* Beets
* Shelling Peas
* Sugar Peas
* Heirloom tomatoes (Bayview only)
* Japanese turnips - red and white
* Summer squash (we are awash in it!)
* Yellow and Dragon Langerie beans
* Summer Leeks
* Chard
* Kale
* Basil
From our friends at Prairie Bottom Farm:
* Spinach - red and green
* Cabbage
* Green beans
* Baby Onions
* Herbs
* Flower bunches
And more!
Hope to see you at the market!
Farmer Georgie
Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie

Yes folks, it's really summer!

Cherokee Purple Tomatoes

And how do we know that summer has finally, really, truly arrived?  Because we have tomatoes!  Beautiful, precious heirloom tomatoes!  Grown in a plastic greenhouse of course (hey, it IS the Pacific Northwest), but tomatoes nonetheless. We are newby tomato growers really.  Last year was the first

Cour di Bue Tomatoe

year with the big hoophouse (plastic greenhouse) so we experimented with varieties and techniques.  Took what we learned this year and keep tweaking.
What we do know?  We love heirloom tomatoes!  Cherokee Purple - a big, "black" tomato and Cour di Bue, a lovely deep rosy pink Italian heirloom tomato are so far, two of our favorites.  But there are many more including Pineapple, Green Zebra, Cosmonaut, Black Prince and Jubilee. 

And coincidentally, tomatoes go very very well with...GARLIC!  Which we also have in force now.  Did you know that at Willowood we grow more than 20 kinds of garlic?  Because we really, really, really love garlic!  We will have a great selection of all our favorites at the markets today. Georgian Fire - so fabulous creamy and garlicky roasted; Japanese - HUGE cloves that are very sweet roasted but super hot raw; Belarus - rich and spicy, great for sauces and roasting; Kilarney Red - aromatic and super tasty roasted. 
Currently we are just offering food grade garlic for sale at the market, but starting next week we will also be bringing seed garlic!  Or...you can preorder your seed garlic and we will bring it to the market for you to pick up.  Check out our website to place an order www.willowoodfarm.net and follow the "Gourmet Seed Garlic" link.  Our seed garlic is well adapted to the wet, mild conditions of the Pacific Northwest and thrives in local gardens!
And of course, while it might seem like a good idea, one cannot live on garlic and tomatoes along (well, maybe for a short while!), but never fear...we have LOADS of other veggies to round out the nutritional package including:
From Willowood Farm
* Potatoes! Potatoes! We've got baby mixed and fingerling bags this week as well...
* Shelling Peas.
* Sugar Peas
* Yellow Wax Beans
* Dragon Langerie Romano Wax Beans
* Oodles of Onions - Big Ailsa Crag, Red and Yellow Cippolini, market favorite Red Torpedoes...
* Broccoli
* Head Lettuce
* Mesclun Mix
* Arugula
* Japanese Turnips
* Summer Squash.  Oh my, lots of summer squash!
* Leeks
* Celery
* Parsley
* Basil
* Kale
* Chard
* Garlic Scapes
* Beets
* Carrots
* And dry beans...
That's quite a list isn't it?  And believe it or not, all grown on one farm!
Our friends at Prairie Bottom have loads of food too, adding to the mix:
* Cabbage
* Green French Filet Beans
* Purple Beans
* Herb Bunches
* Flower Bunches
And lots more...
So, we hope you are hungry and we hope to see you at market!
Farmer Georgie
Willowood Farm

Even more food than last week? Well, yes, yes we can!

Torpedo Onions, a market favorite!

Yep, it just keeps coming and coming and coming!  This time of year, we were are in a literal deluge of vegetables, it's hard to remember back in January, February (and even March, April and May this year!), when the simplest head of lettuce of leaf of kale was so very precious!
No, instead, this time of year we are just trying to keep on top of getting everything picked when it needs to be!  Pick, pick, pick.  Done picking?  Great, day a day off and then...pick some more! Phew...
So on that note, I'm going to get right into the HUGE list of vegetables coming to market this week because I got to get out there and pack them up!
From Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie:
Onions!  Loads of them....
* Torpedo Onions w/ greens
* Ailsa Crag (big sweet onion) w/ greens
* Tonda Onion (gorgeous sweet red onion) w/ greens
* Red and Yellow Cippolinni onions w/ greens

* Walla Walla Onions (cured, not greens)
And then lots of potatoes this week including:
* Carola
* Mountain Rose
* Purple Majesty

Heirloom Cherokee Purple Tomatoes

* German Butterball
* Peas - Dwarf Gray Sugars
* Yellow Wax Beans
* Dragon Langerie Beans
* Raab Bunches
* Mesclun bags
* Arugula bags
* Spinach bags
* Kale
* Chard
* Kohlrabi
* Head Lettuce
* Summer Squash
* Beets
* Carrots
* Tomatoes - Multiple heirloom types!  Yum, yum!
* Celery
* Fava Beans
* Garlic - lots of it!

It's garlic time!

And that's just our farm!  Our friends at Prairie Bottom Farm are also packed to the gills.  From them we will be bringing:
* French filet beans
* Shallots
* Cauliflower
* Shelling Peas
* Cabbage
* Purple Beans
And loads more...
Now the big trick?  How to get it all packed in!  Yikes! Hope to see you at market today!

Farmer Georgie
Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie

Oodles and oodles and oodles of food!

All of a sudden, a "little bit of beans" turns into 50 or so lbs!  A "few bunch of carrots" and suddenly we've got 50 of them.  Oh, and "I think there might be a few Japanese salad turnips" turns into 65+ bunches of big, gorgeous turnips.  Multiple bins of perfectly gorgeous (and big!) broccoli heads. And then there's the summer squash....(need I say more?).

 
A harvest day like yesterday, makes it all seem easy and the weather that didn't cooperate, the crops that failed, the bugs that prevailed, the water that didn't happen...all just a faint bad dream.  I guess a day like yesterday is why we farmers do it!  Of course, the growing and picking is just two parts of a three part equation - the third (and in many ways most important) part?  The selling of course! 
And that's where you folks come in...So, hope you are ready to play your part because we are coming to market with a serious BOUNTY of beautiful food.  Here goes...
From the fields of Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie:
* Yellow Wax Beans! First picking, so beautiful and tender!
* Japanese Salad Turnips - red and white!
* Kohlrabi - They just keep coming!
* Peas - our favorite heirloom edible podded variety, kinda a cross between a snap and a snow pea
* Potatoes - A mix of yellow, white and red this week.
* Garlic, garlic, garlic!
* Carrots - Gorgeous white and orange bunches
* Beets - Red and Golden
* Garlic scapes

* Chard

* Kale
* Spinach bags
* Pea Vine bags
* Walla Walla Onions w/ greens
* Torpedo Onions w/ greens
* Red Tonda Onions w/ greens
* Fava Beans
* Broccoli
* Summer Squash - mixed types including pattypans!
* Squash Blossoms!
* Peregion Beans
* And....a few big, beautiful and scrumptious heirloom tomatoes (Bayview market only this week).
From our friends at Prairie Bottom farm:
* Herbs
* Scallions
* Lettuce Mix
* Cabbage
* Cauliflower
* Baby Beets
* Braising Mix
* Carrots
* Haricot Vert Beans
* Summer Squash
And we've also got Kamut, Purple Barley and Hard Red Wheat bags from Georgina, the grain lady.
Hope to see you at market!
Farmer Georgie
Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie

What a perfect day...

So the sun is shining yet it is not 120 degrees, the sky is blue, the fields are green and the mountains are gorgeous.
What more could a farmer ask for?  Well sleep would be nice.  I have a love/hate relationship with July.  Love all the crops that are coming out of the ground, especially all the beautiful, beautiful garlic.  But keeping up with the harvest, the weeds, the watering, the bugs and the fertilizing seems to need more hours than a day AND night allows.  And every year I seem to forget how crazy it is.  I think it's like childbird - you don't remember the horrible pain you just look at this beautiful thing you produced (or all the beautiful produce).  Well, at least with farming, you could at least eat what you produce!

And since I've still got things to pick this morning, and garlic to dig before I head off the market, I going to post a beautiful picture and then get right into the important stuff...what is coming to market TODAY!
So here goes:
From Willowood Farm:
Garlic
Potatoes
Fava Beans
Head Lettuce
Spinach
Pea Vines
Carrots
Garlic Scapes
Kohlrabi
Kale
Chard
Walla Walla Onions
Torpedo Onions (Bayview only)
From Prairie Bottom Farm:
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Beets
Herb bunches
Spring Onion bunches
Peas
And more...
Off to pick and pack now.  See you at the market!
Farmer Georgie
Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie

Got Veggies? Then Juice!

This time of year, this farmer gets so darn busy that enjoying the fruits (um veggies) of my labor sometimes just doesn't happen.  Who has time to cook when there are SO MANY vegetables to pick? (Not to mention water, fertilize, weed and plant).

Not that I don't eat them, I just tend to "graze" a lot on raw things while in the fields (carrots, kale leaves, turnips, raw potatoes) and then collapse with a piece of toast and a fried egg when the necessity for sleep hits me.   But this year my husband has helped us to take the next step in actual eating all the Willowood Farm veggies in a quick and convenient way for this ridiculously busy farmer - he got a juicer!
Now this thing is a bit scary!  It's got a lot of bottoms and some scary looking blades, numerous screens and assorted wonky gadgets and straps and what not.  (And my husband says I HAVE TO clean it IMMEDIATELY after every use.  Okay, yes, okay honey....)
But after about a month of being completely intimidated by the thing, I finally conquered my fear and...what fun!  Turning my fresh veggies into an elixir of tasty goodness (the fine dry pulp it spits out is great for the compost pile too!).  This combined with the fact that I've been delivering fresh veggies to the new health food store on Front Street in Coupeville and sampling all the delicious smoothies they make has really sparked my interest (and taste buds!) in juicing.  Check out Eagles Song in Coupeville if you want to try some really great fresh vegetable/fruit juices without the hassle of cleaning the juicer - http://www.eaglessonghealth.com

Some of the things we have been juicing from the garden are "green" leaves of all types, including kale, lettuce, pac choi, mustard greens, collards, turnip greens and then beets and beet greens, carrots and kohlrabi.  And this is just a start!
Now, according to what little I've read about the topic, juicing is a great health benefit because raw juice is chock full of nutrients and because it allows you to easily eat a lot more of your veggies than you might on a given day.  But..."green juice" (i.e. the juice made from green leaves) is such powerful stuff that it is best to start out slow and not overdo it.  They also tend to the bitter side so adding a "sweetener" either carrots or apples is a great way to naturally cut the bitter.  And a half a lemon or lime is also a great "brightener" and seems to give the juice that extra little oomph.  Ginger is good too - but not too much!  Here is another great website with loads of tips on juicing - www.juicingbook.com
And so why am I talking about all this today?  Well...because we have a lot of great veggies that are perfect for juicing this week at the farmer's markets in Coupeville and Bayview!  And on that note, here is the complete list...
Coming FRESH FROM EBEY'S PRAIRIE today to the Coupeville and Bayview farmer's markets:
From Willowood Farm:
* "Green Juice" bags (aka saute/braising bags...a mix of baby pac choi, turnip greens and mustard greens)
* Carrot bunches
 * Kohlrabi
* Lettuce heads
* Mesclun (aka spring mix) bags
* Arugula bags
* Lettuce Mix bags
* Broccoli
* Romanesco Cauliflower
* Shelling Peas
* Basil
* New Potatoes
* Kale bunches
* Japanese turnips (red and white)
* Walla Walla Onion bunches
* Garlic scapes
* Fresh garlic
* Bulb Fennel
* Artichokes
From our friends and neighbors at Prairie Bottom Farm:
* Spinach
* Chard
* Cress
* Endive
* Head Lettuce
* Lettuce Mix
* Broccoli
* Cauliflower
* Beets - Golden and Red
* Spring Onion bunches
From Ebey Road Farm:
* Emmer
And Michael from Whidbey Green Goods will have (Bayview market only):
* Snow and sugar snap peas
* Cherries!

Hope to see you at market!
Farmer Georgie
Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie