And it's raining...

So it's raining.  Big deal.  It's the Pacific Northwest, it rains.  Get over it. Put on the raincoat and some rubber shoes and grab your umbrella.  Or if you are a TRUE Pacific Northwester, you don't even own an umbrella (because you know right after the rain comes the wind at which point you loose your umbrella) and slog through it.  Wear your pasted to your head wet hair with pride. 
One of my favorite all time quotes (which I will quote from memory not directly) is from the great, and wacky, Pacific Northwest writer Tom Robbins.  He talks about walking in a Pacific Northwest rain without a rain hat and if you duck, and hide and try to rush through it well the rain just seeks you out like little wet missiles, pelting your head.  But if you stand tall and proud, and enjoy the weather, the rain seems to just caress and envelope you.  I swear this is true - try it sometime!  Especially in a warm wet day like today, I quite enjoy a nice soaking. 

Building greenhouses in the rain.  Sunglasses are a must.

My father asked me last night as the downpour started what I thought of the rain for our crops.  Well, I told him, like most weather related things with farming - it has it's good and it's bad points.  The good - Well, a lot of things in my fields are getting parched.  Yes, the fields are dry.  And I just planted a whole bunch of fall/winter greens and other crops that need to be watered in if they are going to grow so this rain - fabulous!  And the fava beans are setting and were getting parched so this rain - fabulous!  And the dry beans super need a big drink to really set well, so this rain - fabulous!

Properly attired for planting starts in rain.  Rainproof jacket AND pants!

Sure, I could be "watering" instead of hoping for rain.  But when you have 10 acres of veggies all needing a drink at once - well, believe me, it's a full time job and a half to keep the hoses/sprinklers/drip lines running and moved.  And once you've lost 400 feet of newly planted lettuces to take that one Sunday afternoon off to take the kids to the pool instead of watering the ever-demanding plants, well...a free big drink from other nature is well appreciated.
 The bad side of rain?  Well the potatoes and the garlic.  With the potatoes it's kinda a mixed bag - I do need to water the potatoes BUT...having wet leaves for more than 8 hours can lead to blight and other fungal diseases in the potatoes this time of year.  I've been spraying compost tea religiously so hopefully that will help the taters "fight off" any fungal attacks.  We shall see.
The garlic - well we are harvesting garlic right now and wet conditions make that critical "curing and drying" stage that much more difficult.  I have developed an arsenal of "oh crap, the garlic is getting moldy" emergency techniques however, so I'm ready to go with them as needed. 
The other bad thing about the rain - the markets.  Farmer's markets are typically way down on rainy days.  A lot of vendors won't even come on a rainy day (granted, for some crafters, their product can be ruined on a wet day).  At Willowood farm however, have to pick and pack the day before the market and considering we never know for sure what market day we will bring and because we still have the food to sell, rain or not, we come...regardless! And we sure do appreciate those customers who make it out on a wet and rainy day, umbrella or not, to make it all worth it!  That is what is called a win-win situation rain or not! So on that note, here are the lovely wet veggies coming to market today...
From Willowood Farm:
* Garlic
* Garlic Scapes
* New Potatoes
* Shelling Peas
* Arugula
* Raab
* Head Lettuce
* Kale
* Chard
* Carrots
* Beets
* Walla Walla salad onions
* Kohlrabi
* Braising Greens
From our friends at Prairie Bottom Farm:
* Cauliflower
* Snow Peas
* Sugar Snap Peas
* Spring Onions
* Broccoli
* Head Lettuce
* Beet
* Chard
* Kale
And Emmer from Ebey Road Farm!
Hope to see you at market!
Farmer Georgie coming to you from the wet and muddy fields of Willowood Farm

Can it GET any wetter?

It's wet.  Really, really wet.  I  haven't heard any report on how many inches we've gotten in the last few days, but it's been a lot.  We are SOGGY!  And with a currently predicted 90 percent chance of rain for today!
Wow.  And not in a good way.  Well, good for the late fall/overwintered seeds I planted out on Tuesday.  But NOT GOOD for the dry beans and winter squash that are trying to dry and ripen in the field.  Well...as I told a friend of mine who was trying to grow harvest grains in this soggy, soggy September, it's not over til it's over and the last plant from the fields are harvested.  (My friend responded by remarking, "Farmers are such gamblers!"  Well yes, we are.  Not to mention stubborn.).
Anyways, what can we do but carry on?  So we shall.  And are off to market today despite the likelihood of a really really soggy day (hence much less customers).  But hey, we've got plastic pants!
So, bring out the rubber boots and the umbrellas and the rain jackets, and head on down to commiserate with us!  It's PacNW fun time!
Coming to market today.....

From Willowood Farm:
- Head lettuce
- Beets

- Onions
- Potatoes

- Garlic
- Cabbage
- Baby Pac Choi
- Green (but not green) beans
- Shell Beans
- Garbanzo Beans
- A few tomatoes

And more....
From Prairie Bottom Farms

- Spinach (Coupeville only)
- Arugula (Coupeville only)
- Lettuce Mix (Coupeville only)

- Carrots
- Cucumbers
- Summer squash
- Dill
- Basil
And from Mikey at Whidbey Green Goods (Bayview only)
- Apples
- Mushrooms
- Tomatoes
- Figs
- Green Onions
See ya in the rain!
Farmer Georgie
Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie

Maybe rain? Please, please, please....

Yummm....coffee....
Definitely a morning for coffee. It looks like it might rain! The National Weather Report says a 50% chance! Now, I know that means that many of you may not venture out to market today (wimps!), but I'd gladly trade that for a chance to dampen down the dust bowl we currently have on the farm.
It is DRY! And DUSTY! I just cleaned my truck last week (I know, a rare occurrence) but it already has at least an 1/8 inch of dust on it again - inside and out!
Watering (and voracious bugs) are probably the two biggest challenges to summer time gardening. We spend about 1/2 of our time on the farm these days moving water, fixing water, thinking about water....no water - no crops!
I definitely feel for those farmers in California and other "prolonged drought-stricken" regions. Some of those places, I just don't know how they will be able to keep farming.
Here on the prairie, we get the "seasonal drought." Always July-August-September is pretty darn dry. In fact, a lot of my neighboring farmers depend on it to ripen their grain crops and cure their hay. Some years, (like last year), our summertime drought starts in May and doesn't end til mid October. That sucks. This year was much better - and while many of your were complaining about the endless rain of the spring, I was happy - more rain in spring means my crops get better established and I don't have to start watering on the first of May!
So...here's to a cloudy and gray sky and hopes that 50% chance of rain delivers rather than just teases!
And coming to the Bayview and Coupeville markets today....
(P.S. Coupeville folks - NO farmer's market next weekend during Arts&Crafts festival so make sure to stock up this week!).
From Willowood Farm
- Golden and Chioggia beet bunches
- Fava beans (last chance on favas so get them while you can!)
- Onions galore - torpedo onions (awesome grilled) and Ailsa Crag (sweet onion)
- Lots of chard!
- Kale - 3 kinds
- Collards!
- Loads of potatoes
- Plenty of garlic!
- And more...
From our friends at Prairie Bottom Farm
- Baby carrot bunches
- Leaf lettuce mix
- Giant beet bottoms
- Arugula bunches
- leeks
- More onions
And more...
See you at market!
Farmer Georgie
Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie

Rain, rain and MORE RAIN!

So what's a farmer to do when it's raining an inch and an half and you have market the next day?  That's an easy one!  You get wet!  Really, really wet!

This is Dan.  One of the farm's interns this year.  He is working on putting up a plastic greenhouse.  Our first one!  Right now, I think he is thinking - "If this darn thing was only finished, I would be dry instead of SOPPING wet..."

Here's Lydia, another of the farm interns.  Planting lettuce starts.  Lydia discovered that apparently "waterproof" slickers are only waterproof, up to a point...

And this is Matthew, the 3rd Willowood Farm intern, picking peas.  Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of him earlier when we he was wearing a garbage sack.  He looked like a garbage monster in the pea patch. Grr!!!!







And while this rain, rain, rain means Farmer Georgie won't be planting her 3 acres of dry beans today (sigh), we like to look at the good side of things on the farm.  One good thing - well, we really did need the rain!  Things were quite dry out there.  Second good thing - despite the rain and thanks to my intrepid crew, we STILL have loads of veggies picked and waiting to come to my brave and stalwart market customers who we know will venture out, umbrella's in hand, to find the local veggies.  It's a team thing, this locally grown food and farming...We grow and bring you the food, rain or shine, and you come and buy it (fingers crossed) even when the weather is less than "market friendly..."
Or so we hope.  And for those of you who do brave this gray and muddy day, you will be rewarded accordingly with the following yummies at the Coupeville and Bayview markets:

From Willowood Farm
- Peas, peas, peas!  At both markets!  We understand peas sold out WAY too fast last weekend at Coupeville, so we are bringing the goods this week.  Delightful, dwarf grey sugar peas.  Sweet, tender, yummy!
- Head lettuce, head lettuce, head lettuce!  The Willowood Farm famous head lettuce is back and in abundance.  Big, beautiful.
- Green onion bunches, young and tender.
- The very last of the giant yet amazingly good radishes!
- First picking of tender baby Japanese turnips!
- Fabulous spinach bunches and bags
- Mache
And more...
From Prairie Bottom Farms
- Baby beet bunches
- Chard bunches
- Kale
- French Breakfast radishes
- Lettuce Mix (Coupeville only)
- Spinach!
And more...
So we hope to see you there, rain or shine!  We'll be there.  Soggy, wet and wonderful!
Farmer Georgie
Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie

I awoke this morning to the welcome sound of raindrops! What a dry, dry summer we've had. Of course, would have been nice if it would have held off for market day but then on the other hand, I know a little bit of wet certainly won't keep away our loyal customers! (Hint, hint...).
Weather is such an amazingly important thing for a farmer, yet, we have ABSOLUTELY NO CONTROL over it. This is a dilemma. In the spring, when you ponder your crops and make your decisions, a lot of your success (or lack of it), can be directly linked to the weather.
Last spring, when it just kept raining and raining and raining and everybody kept whining and whining and whining...Every where I went people were complaining about the weather. At ths coffee shop - "Will this rain ever stop? I'm so depressed..." At the post office - "I can't get outside to jog, I've put on 5 lbs?" At the grocery store - "I think my tulip bulbs are rotting! My flowerbeds look horrible." Yet, for 99 percent of the folks, the endless rain was really just an annoyance. It didn't actually affect their ability to do their job or make their paycheck.
Now, for a farmer? Unseasonal or unusual weather can literally wipe out your profit for a year. Just think of the poor tomato and potato farmers in the East Coast this year? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/11/AR2009081100754.html
If your smart, you have a diverse planting scheme and so weather that affects one crop hopefully won't bother others. But still. Loads of work down the drain (sometimes literally!). I read recently where some financial evaluation of the business of farming and they were noting how there were really, a lot more inherent risks in farming then perhaps had been previously factored in. From literally day to day decisions (do I go watch the kids piano recital OR...plant the beans on what turns out to be the last day before I can't get into the fields for 3 weeks due to endless rainstorm...) to those "unknown" variables such as weather events. Yet, the funny thing is, most farmers I know (at least the ones that have been doing it for a long time) are the least likely one to complain about the weather. A few shrugs, a "well, it's been an awfully wet/dry/cold/hot (insert one) year...Yep." And you move on. Farmers are nothing, if not eternally, ridiculously optimistic!
So on that note, I'm moving on because guess what, we have LOADS of fabulous food coming to the Bayview and Coupeville markets!
From Willowood Farm
- Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes!
- Garlic, garlic, garlic!
- Winter Squash
- Summer squash
- Head Lettuce
- Turnips
- Shell Beans (probably the last hurrah on those, next stop - dry beans!)
- Cabbages
- Loads of gorgeous broccoli
- Kohlrabi
- Squash blossoms (maybe, if isn't raining too hard when we try to pick this morning!)
And I'm also bringing seed garlic and bags of my own naturally grown small-seeded fava beans that are perfect for fall cover crop plantings!
And the fabulous sweet corn from our friends and neighbors Ebey Road Farm (organic certified to boot!).
From Prairie Bottom Farm
- Beet Bunches
- Dill (hasn't he had THE BEST dill...)
- Winter squash!
- Summer squash
- Spinach
- Lettuce Mix
- Cucumbers - slicing and pickling styles.
- Leeks
Also, Michael from Whidbey Green Goods should be bringing some goodies as well including tomatoes, corn, some local fruits, maybe some green beans!
So, after all this, we hope we see you at the market today! Rain OR shine!
Thank you for your support.
Farmer Georgie
Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie
www.willowoodfarm.net

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain!

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful, and Farmer Georgie is feeling delightful...
Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain."
Yes folks, 30 some days of record no rainfall and farmers start getting a little crazy. Tourists might like all that sunshine, but farmers, ESPECIALLY PAC NW FARMERS, well we count on a few grey and wet days, at least in the spring! Hearing that rain start last night was beautiful music to my ears! It's still not enough, and I've got sprinklers going 24-7 in the bean patch (about 1/3 of my crop didn't come up, just sitting in the soil where I planted, waiting for a little moisture!). But it's a start!
So, we'll hope for a nice sunny and pleasant day for market tomorrow, but if it is raining???? We won't too sad and rain, or shine, we'll be out selling food no matter what because its picked, packed and ready to go!
So coming tomorrow, rain or shine to the Bayview and Coupeville farmer's markets -
Willowood Farm
- MIXED NEW POTATOES!!!! These are the true new taters (i.e., so tender, their skin is not cured). Amazingly sweet.
- Head lettuce (some more huge ones, and the first of some gorgeous new plantings)
- Broccoli
- Swiss Chard
- Kale - several kinds
- Salad Turnips - red and white
- Chioggia beet thinnings
- Huge kohlrabi
- Walla Walla Salad Onions
- Red torpedo onions with greens
- Fresh turban type garlic
- Garlic scapes (see recipe below)
- Green spinach bunches

From Prairie Bottom Farm
- Red beets w/ greens
- Carrot bunches
- Bulb fennel
- Green onions
- Some peas!
- Head lettuce
- Red Chard
- And more that I'm forgetting...

Also, I wanted to list the pickled garlic scape recipe, courtesy of Chef Joe Scott at the Oystercatcher in Coupeville. Everyone RAVES about this recipe so here goes (and we are offering a great quantity deal on scapes tomorrow!):



Quick Garlic Scape Pickles
• Garlic scapes, however many you want to pickle, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• Champagne vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
• Rice Vinegar
• Dash of salt
• Sugar to taste
• Pinch of whole fennel seed
You will need equal parts of the vinegar, how much depends on how much you are going to pickle. Chop garlic and pack clean mason jars. Boil equal parts of both vinegars, add sugar and salt to taste. Sugar should balance the acidity of the vinegar. How sweet – versus tart – you make it is a personal preference depending on how you like your pickles. When boiling, pour over scapes. Add a pinch of whole fennel seed. Seal lid. These pickles are ready in 4 hours. If you prefer to keep the scape whole (which gives you a very cool shape on a plate), you should plan to let the pickles sit for at least a week (or more) so they absorb the pickling juices. By chopping the scapes you provide more surface area to absorb the pickling juices quickly.





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