April on the farm!!

Hello from the farm!  Spring seems to have come early this year, at least the spring temps seem to be ahead of schedule.  It’s been a great year for fruit bloom, with lots of sunny days, and active bees.  We are hoping to see a bumper crop of peaches and cherries as well as more apples that we got last year.

Things are rolling in the garden as well.  Planning and planting for 150 shares is vastly different from planting for 10 shares.  Kind of hard to convince myself that I need 200′ bed feet of sugar snap peas, when 12′ was enough last year.  We are finally winning when it comes to bed prep as well.  The wonderful rain we have had has made it slower to get into the areas the pigs went through last fall.  In part, this is because the weather has been warmer, and grasses have started growing sooner/faster than usual (or at least faster than I expected).  This has necessitated more soil prep than we had planned, but as I said.  We are winning!  We are still probably about 4 weeks away from our first share delivery, and we still have room! (Click here for the sign up form) We are asking folks go get their deposit in to hold their spot ($200), and to try to get paid in full as soon as they are able.

On the CSA / Farm Share side, we have partnered with some great folks for pick up locations!!!  We will have Tuesday pick up available in downtown Marysville!  The location is close to the freeway, and we are excited to be able to bring our food to a widening community of friends!!!  We also are super excited to have a location in Seattle!!!  Just North of Greenlake, and south of Northgate Mall.  We are still working out the day of the week that we will be delivering those shares (early sign ups’ can weigh in on that decision).  Our web based sign up sheet has been updated to show the two remote pick up locations (no extra fee), and if you have any other comments or questions, please feel free to use the comment field at the end of the sign up for that.  You can also print it off and mail it in, or just give us a call, and we can walk through it for you!!!

Our Spring Farm Open House is also in the final planning stages.  More info to come on that, and we’ll have that on Facebook and in an email invite, so keep your eyes peeled!!!

Both our dairy does have kidded now, and we are once again enjoying all the fresh milk, cheese and yogurt we can eat!  We only had boys this year, but they are still cute, and fun.  They will be on hand at the open house, and will be weaned shortly and able to go home with new owners.

Once again, Farm Open House is coming in another couple of weeks, and if you have questions about our CSA Farm Share, Here’s the post that talks all about it.  Ready to sign up?  Just fill out our order form HERE, and we will invoice you for the deposit!

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What is a CSA, and who is Adalyn Farm?

First, we are Adalyn Farm.  Adam and Joscelyn Stevens (along with our daughters and extended family).  We are a small farm (5 acres) in Stanwood Washington.  The calling on our hearts is to care for our planet, locally and through community.  There is more about that, and our story here.  And here are a couple videos from last year on the farm….

So there you go, that’s us.

So what is a CSA?  Well, here’s another video!  It’s way better than me trying to explain it.

And that’s what we are doing this year!  Here’s a link to the Flickr gallery of all 25 weeks last year.  Last year was a pilot year with Adam still working full time off farm, and we expect the shares to be even more bountiful this year as we plan on transitioning to full time farming!  We are offering on farm pick up and delivery.  You can get Hayton Farms fruit with your share this year, and Deanna is doing flowers if you want local beauty on your table all summer long!

Family Farm January update!

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year from the farm!

It’s been a wild open to the winter season!!! We are again reminded why we did not buy land in a valley, as many of the valley farmers we know are currently watching water flow through their green houses and over their fields. We have had our share of “liquid sunshine” here on the farm, and there are some ares that are boggy enough to pull off your boot, and then ask for your sock too. Maintaining dry footing and bedding areas for the animals are about our only outdoor challenge at the moment.

 

Taking advantage of some clear weather to spread more wood chips in the goat pen.

Even with a flat tire on the trailer, the farm help stuck with it, and got the job done!

We love the Christmas Holidays here on the farm.Quiet whispered phone conversations, evergreen needles stuck in socks, more sugar than what’s good for us, and fires in the wood stove. There are also wonderful “dark days” crafts, games and more treats!

It’s also a chance to start thinking of the new year. The farm plan for the CSA is under way, and with one full season under our belts, we can’t wait to start the 2016 Adalyn Farm CSA. It is going to be 100% local. And delivery is an option if your spring and summer schedule is hectic. There are two share sizes available, standard, and premium. If you are still learning to love your veggies, we would recommend the standard share. If you know you love them, then we would recommend a premium share. If you are single, empty nesters or grow a garden of your own, we would suggest you split a share. Splitting a share gives you a full share, every other week, and with the first shares coming out in May, and running for 25 weeks well into the fall, it’s a way to make sure your kitchen is stocked with fresh veggies before and after the “zucchini flood” that most home gardeners suffer from in late July and August. If you are interested in splitting a share, just mention that in the sign up sheet, and we’ll invoice you for half the cost of a full share.

 
These are some sample shares from the 2015 season.

If you have any questions on how this might work, please get in touch!

This really is a fun time of year, when things have slowed down and we look at the crop information from 2015, yields, germination and harvest timeline, taste tests, and recipes that we loved, and if we liked the food, decide what’s going to get care, love and attention again here on the farm, and what’s going to get skipped. Not that running a farm with veggies, hens, geese, pigs and goats ever really has a slow time.

-Your farmers.

Are you ready to sign up for fresh veggies in 2016?

HERE IS THE SIGN-UP LINK!

Adalyn Farm 2016 CSA sign-up’s are HERE!!!

All Farm CSA!

This is what we have been working towards for almost 5 years!  First, let us tell you what a CSA is.  CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  First coined in the 80’s, it was a farming business model that allowed local customers to have easier access to local, seasonal food, while taking a little bit of the risk from the farmer and sharing it with the customers (traditionally surplus is also shared with the customer).  The local food scene and eating in general has changed a lot since the 80’s and so have some CSA’s.  

We are striving to get back to the roots of a CSA, while leveraging modern technology to give today’s customers what they want.   All of the vegetables and meat you get will be from our farm, we DO NOT buy in any vegetables or meat from other farms.  We feel local food security is important, and local means local.  Even the flower and berry add-ons we offer are grown within 20 miles of our farm, not trucked in from California’s central valley or Mexico.  This does mean some things will not be available all season long.  You will have choices, not every week, but as much as we can.  Through our weekly CSA email update, when the harvest allows us the flexibility, you can select different options depending on your share size and what is in abundance or scarce.  If we have an abundance, you might get to choose between more lettuce or more carrots, or between a new veggie or some of the more traditional garden fare.  

You will have the choice to do on-farm pick-up of your share, or have it delivered to your home for an additional cost.  We highly recommend on-farm pick-up for several reasons: the chance to pick up surplus veggies beyond what is in the shares (depending on availability), to pick up eggs that are available on a first-come, first-served basis, to see what’s happening on the farm, to visit some friendly animals, and so you can get to know your farmers and where your food comes from.  

Week Seven

Week Five

Week Six

We are also partnering with two other local farms to provide berries and flowers as add-on options with your vegetables!!!

We are excited about partnering with Twig and Vine as they explore offering a flower CSA.  Deanna has been arranging for weddings and custom orders and is excited to have folks all over the area enjoying her flowers!  Her 10 week season will start in July (when the blooms are ready), and will run for 10 weeks.  Your arrangement will be in your box at pick-up, or delivered if you select CSA delivery as an add-on.

 

We know how much our family enjoys seasonal fruit, so we are very excited to offer an add-on for a berry share.  Hayton Farms is a fifth generation farm growing organic berries in the Skagit Valley.  Your berry share will include different varieties of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries as they come into season.  Each share will include 1/3 flat, that’s four pint baskets of local, organic fruit!!!  The season starts in mid-June and will run for 17 weeks.  They will be in your box at pick-up, or delivered to your door if you select for CSA delivery.

Lastly, Community Supported Agriculture is supporting the farmer and the community.  Giving back to our community through our farm is a key piece of our farm plan.  We will be working with several local churches to donate multiple shares to families in need in our community, and we want to partner with our customers in this.  If you would like to help us give additional shares, please indicate so on your order form.  You pick how much, even $25 will go a long way!  We will update our Farm-ily with the impact they make through this.  (Our goal this first year, with your help, is to donate 10% of the total food grown on the farm.)
  
 Here is the breakdown of what we are offering.  To hold your place you only need to pay the $200 deposit (which applies toward your total).  We will invoice you monthly for the balance (full payment due by April 31st).

 Farm CSA with choices! 25 weeks of a variety of fresh, organically-grown veggies and greens.

1. 1. Share Size
      1. Premium Share $795 (7 or more items, larger volume of each item, more choices, feeds 4-6 people each week.)
      2. Standard Share  $545 (5 or more items with some choices, feeds 2-4 people each week.)
2. Add-Ons
   1. Delivery to Stanwood, Camano Is. and Arlington!
      1. $135 for the entire season.
   2. Farm Bouquets!  Arrangements from the talented, local floral artist at Twig and Vine.  Included in your box starting in July and running for 10 weeks.
      1. $200 for a 10 week season.
   3. Berries!  A variety of local, organic berries from Hayton Farms.  1/3 flat (that’s 4 pint baskets) included in your box starting mid-June and running for 17 weeks.
      1. $204 for each 17 week share (Fruit lovers can get a second share for the reduced price of $195.)
   4. Adalyn Farm Organic, Pasture-raised Chickens!
      1. $30 each, must be picked-up on farm on specific dates. (This item is pending insurance underwriting, we’ll invoice once we have a green light.)
   5. Donation for a Family in Need
      1. You determine if you would like to give a monetary gift toward helping us provide fresh, healthy food to a family that is struggling to feed themselves.

 

Are you ready?  HERE IS THE SIGN-UP LINK!

Additionally, if you refer a friend to us, we will discount your CSA share by $20 for each family who signs up for either of our two share sizes.  This credit can only be applied to the main CSA share and cannot be applied to the Add-Ons.  To receive credit, your friends need to put your name in the field at the end of the sign-up form where we ask if anyone has referred them to us.  Just think, you could have a free share this summer!

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Things not yet seen.

Oregano. We trimmed this several weeks ago for our CSA, and today I was thinking about how it’s grown back stronger and better since we trimmed it. Although at the time it looked rough.  We feel the same way right now, rough.

Hebrews 11:1 talks about faith in things not yet seen. While that perspective fits with farming on any given day, it is especially true for us right now. We are at the point on our transition to farming, that we need to step out in faith, towards our goal. Right now, that means opening the order forms to start accepting deposits and orders for 2016. It also means making the go/no go decision on a winter CSA/Farm Share. We think our community would like access to local fresh vegetables through the winter, but we can’t be sure. We are also not sure that enough folks would find out in time to put us at the threshold to go for it.  The winter CSA/Farm Share decision is also complected by my full time job. If we offered it, I would need almost all of the daylight hours to get the planting done in August and September, to be able to have the veggies grown for the winter. I have a very understanding boss, but I’m not going to ask him to pay me while I do a bunch of fall planting.

Having faith doesn’t mean making poor decisions though, and there are just a few more details to work out, before we open the store.

If you want to support us, please keep your eyes on our social media. We also will be doing some kind of capital campaign. We have some problems that we need to address before we go full scale.  We are a resourceful people, the Apollo 13 astronauts were able to fix their doomed craft with tape, socks, the cover to the flight plan, some parts from flight suits, a bungie cord and some lithium hydroxide canisters. We are no less resourceful, and although not a space ship, a covered wash station would be really nice.  We have also had folks who are not close enough to be customers ask how they could support us, and be part of the farm.  We want to serve our community, but in truth, the community we are part of stretches from Stanwood to Puyallup, to California, Mexico and New York.  So stay tuned!  If you have questions, please feel free to get in touch!  Farmers(at)adalynfarm.com

Community Seed Exchange (Take that you big, nasty government/big ag bully.)

I saw at least two stories over the holiday about seed banks and seed exchanges being in trouble.  The premise is that seed companies need to sell seed that has a standard germination rate, set by the “industry,” so folks don’t spend good money on bad seed.  In order to enforce this, some states have laws about seed that is distributed being germination tested.  Most community seed banks can’t afford this, or do it in-house as many commercial seed companies do.  Really it all comes back to money, and trying to protect the consumer, but it gets hijacked by some brain stem with a pulse in government who doesn’t want free seed being given away unless it is germination tested…..  Sound silly?  I thought so.

So, for a second year (Not in a row, that would be too puny.) we are coordinating a community seed exchange.  The details are below, and the only request is that you jump on Facebook and indicate that you are coming.  That way we can make sure we have enough zip-tie handcuffs for all you wild law breakers out there.  Just kidding about the handcuffs, but we do need to have an idea of how many folks will be there.  It’s also a bit of a potluck/snack bar, so please let me know if you want to bring something, and I can put you in touch with the person that is coordinating food. After all, too much guacamole is too much of a good thing, especially if there are no chips to go with it.

From the Stanwood Community Seed Exchange:

“Are you ready for the 2015 garden season? Do you save seed from your garden to re-plant next year, or do you want to learn how? If you have seed to swap, plan to bring 4-8 shares (enough for a family garden), please germ test the seed if at all possible, and please pick just one or two of your favorites. Details on the actual exchange process to follow… And we do have a start on some door prizes…. And just to be clear, you don’t need to have seeds to swap to come, but if you don’t have seeds to swap, you won’t be able to participate in the seed exchange.

Our goal is to involve folks in the Stillaguamish Valley and surrounding areas, as we all share common seasonal variations that make gardening here unique. I am trying to line up a few folks to give informal talks or presentations, and we plan on having a light snack/lunch potluck. Kids are welcome, with parent supervision, because seeds are small and kids are quick.”

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Polar Vortex, done.

It was cold.  For us anyhow.  I have family in Michigan, close enough to Lake Michigan to get some wicked lake effect weather.  I try not to complain too much, since they tend to treat my grumblings like childish whining.  Regardless, our critters are used to 40’s, not teens.  So when we run daytime highs around 28, I whine on their behalf.  Chores are all about water and extra food, dry bedding and checking for drafts.  The nice thing about cold weather at the farm, it means sun, and no mud!!!  Here are some shots from the farm instagram feeds.  Both Farmer Joscelyn and Farmer Adam have started using Instagram, not because we’re all hipster, but because it so easy to share what’s happening, real time.  So here are some shots, of the frozen ground and fuzzy critters…

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The geese are complaining because their pumpkin is too frozen to eat.

A post shared by Joscelyn Stevens (@adalynfarmgirl) on Nov 13, 2014 at 11:56am PST

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On these frosty, freezing cold mornings, the goats wait in the doorway of the barn until the first patch of sun hits the corner of their yard; then they run over there high stepping like Irish dancers because the grass feels funny. They stand soaking in the sun with eyes closed and looks of bliss on their fluffy faces. They will stay with the sun as it moves through the paddock-like faithful sun worshippers.

A post shared by Joscelyn Stevens (@adalynfarmgirl) on Nov 13, 2014 at 12:04pm PST

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Mr. Fluffy (the rooster) basks in the sun against the rabbit hutch. This silly boy likes to roost in the tree at night with his favorite girls, so on freezing nights we pluck them out of the tree and put them in the nice, warm coop. Do they learn to just go in the coop themselves? Oh no, just like us people they are too stubborn to admit they're wrong, so we repeat the process each night.

A post shared by Joscelyn Stevens (@adalynfarmgirl) on Nov 13, 2014 at 12:11pm PST

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Last of the year. It's 32 outside as of 9:30. Glad I grabbed these last two little gems..

A post shared by Adam Stevens (@adalynfarmboy) on Nov 10, 2014 at 9:23pm PST

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A post shared by Adam Stevens (@adalynfarmboy) on Nov 21, 2014 at 2:30pm PST

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Toasty pig. No food, no facetime.

A post shared by Adam Stevens (@adalynfarmboy) on Nov 21, 2014 at 2:31pm PST

It’s actually raining now, with the temps up.  And we are hi fiving, as some of our winter greens test garden came through with little to no damage!!!  These were all harvested after the run of mid teen overnight temps.

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Pushing the envelope on salad greens. All from the hoop house after a week of nightly temps below 20°. 8 different leafy greens. #adalynfarm

A post shared by Adam Stevens (@adalynfarmboy) on Nov 16, 2014 at 8:30pm PST

This bodes well for next winter.  We might just have a few shares of winter greens to offer up.  Stay tuned.

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Fall on the Farm.

It was getting cold.  But then yesterday, it was 70…  That does mean that winter greens are a full go.  In fact, we are trying out some really late sowing.  Elliott Coleman has written several books about winter greens, and he lives several degrees north of us.  So we get more sun, and less snow.  It’s a process right?

So’s the farm.  Turkey’s go to ice camp later this week, and we had a stretch of nice weather, so I figured I’d show you around the farm.

Mist and spiders…

We love winter root veggies.  Roasted.

Chard Delta (like a river delta, get it?)

Spinach (with renegade Bok Choy).  So far pest damage is almost nill in the hoop house.  #ftw

Just a few more days.  Moved twice a day, you should see them hit the grass when they get moved to a fresh spot.  Even with a full feeder.  Crazy.  #pasturedturkeys

So, there is the farm!  For today anyhow.  It changes from day to day, and really from moment to moment. Next year is going to be similar but really different too, as in more of the same. We are looking forward to next year. After this winter, cause just like the garden, and pasture, and dairy does, we all need rest.

Time to mow.

 

 

 

Have gas, will mow.

 

It’s a little daunting, but it needs to be done.  Although we run chicken tractors, rotationally grazed dairy goats and children on the farm, there are some areas where a tight close urban style cutting is required.  Specifically to keep pests out.  Weed and rodent.  Around the house (especially in the fall) we cut the grass close, to create a bit of moat to keep the rats at bay.  Around the garden, we mow during the summer, to reduce wind blown seed, and to discourage rabbits and voles from hiding in the tall grass to wonder in and much on the tubers, greens and young plants…  Works like a charm.  When it gets done.  When it doesn’t, we have trouble.  Last year, we lost 80% of our bean crop, and 75% of our potatoes to voles.  This year, I have gas, a non bagging mower and will power.  Now I just need the time….

Mooving forward.

Well, we are insane.  That’s a sure thing now.  And it’s part of the lack of blogging.  It’s busy, in the spring, on a farm.  Heck, it’s busy all the time on a farm, spring just seems busier I think because there is a sense of the clock ticking. It hits you one day, as you sit milking, that there is more green in the dawn, and that it’s brighter sooner, and that the birds are louder and that you can’t see the neighbors house anymore, and then you realize it’s because of the leaves. Cripes you think, that means I should have greens in the ground, or at least started in the hoop house. But that needs to be weeded, as does the garden. But it’s spring, and after another 10 days of rain, and only two days of ‘sun’ the ground still isn’t back in shape to till. So it’s sit and wait on one thing, and try to get another done. And hope that dry earth, and weekends lineup. And after this little monologue with a slightly sleepy milk doe, you shake your head, and realize that if you don’t kick it up a notch, you won’t be getting down the driveway in time to make a respectable start time at the office. And you shake your head and think “why am I trying to farm and carry a full time off farm job”.

Because it’s fun. It’s hard work. It’s rewarding. I’ve met more cool people, had more rewarding conversations, and felt more satisfaction after a day of working outside than most anything else. And that’s probably because I’m doing it with my family. And that makes all the difference.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard work. And adding 5 bull calves that we are bottle feeding hasn’t reduced our workload. We are handling it, and the kids are loving it. The calves are being grown out for meat, to be butchered sometime in late 2015. As with most stuff here, the calves are already spoken for. Some of the meat is going in our fridge, and the rest is going to the family that’s going to be pasturing them, once they have weaned. We just don’t have the room to do everything we want to here.

So here’s Copper.

 

And again…

 

The other four are Zinc, Mercury, Calcium, and Thorium.  Photos of the lot are on our flicker, and on my instagram…  Copper and Zinc are Jersey, Thorium is Holstein and Merc and Cal are Jersey Holstein crosses.