Sunrise

Good morning! We're up early, baking bread and watching the sunrise. Mmmm.... this is my favorite part of the day, hands down. I was talking with a friend recently about how when I sleep in and miss the sunrise I feel different throughout the day. I move slower, feel a little off and generally distracted. Which isn't necessarily good or bad, but definitely different. Hmmm. 

I will say, regardless of how early I rise the wind makes me feel a wee bit craaaazy. The last couple days have been pretty windy and it made my body tense and mind nervous. Ordinary day to day tasks suddenly felt like a much bigger deal. Maybe the wind is blowing in winter?!!!! Who's anxious and ready to see snowflakes dancing from the sky? I am I am! 

I remember growing up how excited my brothers and I would be for the first 'big' snowstorm. You know what I'm talking about, the one that covered the ground just enough that we could ride sleds down the driveway. The driveway that is barley steep enough to keep a sled moving, even with a running start. Oh yea. We would bundle up after dinner and play outside in the dark until Mom dragged us inside. Then we would keep our fingers crossed that it would snow all night so school would be cancelled, which NEVER happened. We even had a morning where the school bus got stuck in a snow bank a mile or two from our stop. Can you imagine the excitement?! Well... until the snowplow drove by and pulled us out. And off to school we went.

My younger brother is visiting next week... you better believe we will attempt to go sledding if there's enough snow on the ground! Fingers crossed.

Ok, maybe I've had too much coffee this morning... Maybe.

Garden update. The lovely Fall weather has kept things growing, and happily. So we are harvesting today and delivering bountiful shares to Ridgway and Telluride. There are a couple shares left... call me if you're interested. 

Most of the garlic is finally planted! Wahoo. Six varieties are in, and one to go. Hopefully that happens tomorrow morning.

Have a beautiful day!!! 

Fall Projects

Enjoying a beautiful and soothing week in the garden. Friends are in town, the weather is dreamy and hugs are everywhere. 

The garden is slowing down and nothing is too urgent or pressing, so we are slowly tackling projects. One of the hoophouses is now planted with spinach, kale and a variety of other things for the winter. The second and third will be planted in the coming days. Whoop whoop! 

The potato harvest is almost complete. Up next, flipping beds, planting garlic and spraying a round of biodynamic preparations.  

The cover crops we seeded earlier in the season are thick and looking great! I think they have really benefitted from the regular rain this season. 

The garden is still producing so the harvests will as well! Keep a look out for emails and updates here with upcoming harvest details. 

Sending love!

Fall Magic!

Aspen groves, with their radiant leaves rustling and dancing in the wind, are so magical! Wow. Are you loving the colors and these warm, beautiful days!? I remember last season being much cooler and by mid-October a snowstorm or two had already covered the garden in a blanket of white. 

The garden is still producing like mad and the greens and roots are getting sweeter by the day. So... let the harvests continue! I am suddenly craving kale and potatoes?! Quite the change from endless pesto and tomatoes a few weeks ago. 


The hoophouses are transforming. We are pulling the tomatoes, peppers and basil out and making room for a Fall planting of greens! I am excited to experiment with growing various greens (salad, spinach, kale, mustards, etc) throughout the winter. Might as well, right? 

And the task of harvesting potatoes has begun. I like to hold off (err procrastinate) on digging potatoes until it is cool enough to wear a sweater. There's something about sweaters and potatoes, I don't know. It just feels right.

Ok, enough rambling... 

Cheers to finding daily magic!!

CSA Harvest - Week 18

It suddenly looks and feels like Fall!! The changing leaves and snow covered mountain tops are so beautiful. Throw in a couple rainbows and I almost cannot handle myself!  

I am being told a frost is near... and have been busy trying to prepare the garden for the cold nights ahead. 

There are so many things to do in the garden before the first fall frost... and decisions to make. Should I harvest those? Will they handle a freeze well? Does that bed need covered? Hmm. I get distracted, text friends for their thoughts, walk in circles, procrastinate, repeat. And then, it's suddenly getting dark and I run around making frantic decisions to do this or that?! Yeah, very organized here. Maybe in 10 years I'll know exactly what to do and making decisions will come easily. Hopefully. 

We cleaned and sorted the garlic that has been curing in the barn for the past couple months. Expect several garlic bulbs in the CSA Share this week! 

Depending on what the weather does... this week's share should include:

Salad Greens

Spinach

Bok Choy

Carrots

Tomatoes

Cherry Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Summer Squash

Peppers

Celery

Onions

Garlic

Herbs

Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Seeded (Sesame, Flax, Sunflower, Quinoa and Oats)

Fall Dance

Loved the crisp, clear blue skies this morning!! The mountains looked especially inviting and were taunting me... So much so that I ran off and spent a playful day in the forest. Great kickoff to fall hiking!

Playing fueled me for a productive afternoon. The sourdough is shaped and rising... waiting for it's time in the oven tomorrow morning. I harvested tomatoes, pulled onions and danced through the garden. Everything looks happy after several evenings of dreamy rain. 


I am slowly tackling items that have been on the to do list for a very long time. Squeal alert, on Saturday I finally cleaned the kale and cilantro... and here they are looking lovely!! I'm amazed at how much seed is produced in such a small space. Yay seeds! 

Next up, garlic. I need to clean and sort the garlic bulbs and determine how many pounds to replant this fall. Decisions decisions... I think they're easier to make in the Spring when it is super busy. 

CSA Harvest - Week 17 (only one week left?!)

Salad Greens
Spinach or Arugula
Kale or Chard
Bok Choy
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Summer Squash or Eggplant
Cucumber
Onions
Carrots
Herbs

Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Herb Fest

CSA Harvest - Week 16

Gorgeous week! I have been loving the perfectly warm days and cool evenings. Mmmmm.

We are in squirrel mode here. Spending hours inside preserving food... canning tomatoes, relish, pickles, etc and freezing things like pesto, ratatouille, and baba ganoush. Next up... spicy salsa and peaches.

The cover crops we seeded last week before the rain have all germinated and are growing quickly. A late seeding of green beans has been flowering recently and just started to form beans... so if the weather holds we should have green beans?! The bunnies ate the tops of the first couple successions of beans... so this last seeding (which I think was in early August?) was a gamble. We'll see?

The greens are gorgeous and getting sweeter by the day! They love the cooler temps and the flavors are really starting to shine. Enjoy!

The dahlias are making a real showing too. Their delicate blooms and vibrant colors are so distracting in the garden... 

Ok, on to the harvest details for this week:

Salad Greens
Spinach
Chard or Kale
Bok Choy
Carrots
Turnips or Radishes
Scallions
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Peppers
Cucumbers
Summer Squash
Edible Flowers
Cilantro

Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Plain

CSA Harvest - Week 15

Rain and rainbows! Wowza, it is soggy outside and the thick fog cloud rolling through looks a little bit like... winter! Yeah, I said it. Getting bundled up and ready for a beautiful harvest morning. Oh giddy!

The greens are loving all the moisture and cooler temperatures. The bok choy and tokyo bekana are really filling out and huge this week. It looks like the next couple nights are going to be cold... but lets hope a frost holds off for a few weeks.

I flipped more garden beds and seeded cover crops prior to this storm and am excited to see how quickly everything germinates. 

Savor the taste of summer! The tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, etc. will continue to come on but they're definitely slowing down a bit. 

Harvest details:

Spinach or Salad Greens

Arugula 

Bok Choy

Tomatoes

Cherry Tomatoes

Sweet Peppers

Hot Peppers

Cucumbers

Summer Squash or Eggplant

Scallions

Herbs

Carrots or Turnips

Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Seedy (Sunflower, Oats and Flax Seeds)

Have a beautiful day!

CSA Harvest - Week 14

Happy September!!!? Wait a minute... where did August go? 

I was up early harvesting for the Ridgway Farmer's Market on Friday and the temperature dropped down to 39 degrees.  Brrr! A little cooler than I like to see in August but since that dip the weather has been amazing. Sunshine, breezy and just the right temperature. One thing is for sure, the Fall breeze feels pretty inviting.

Garden tasks and kitchen projects are keeping me very busy at the moment. But at the same time I catch myself slowing down in the garden. Sitting and observing. For instance, I love watching bumblebees climb into the snapdragons, disappear for a minute while they collect pollen (at least I assume that's what they're doing) and move along to the next. I also wander and check this or that, like the chamomile that I never find time to harvest and the sweet peas that are going to seed but suddenly blooming like crazy again after the rain and colder temps. 

Mmmm. Life is good. Thanks for being a part of the farm this season, I love sharing the weekly bounty with you.  

Harvest details for Week 14:

Salad Greens or Spinach
Chard
Arugula
Bok Choy
Tomatoes (lots!!)
Cherry Tomatoes
Peppers
Hot Peppers
Cucumber
Summer Squash or Eggplant
Scallions
Basil or Cilantro

Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Plain

Have a beautiful day!

CSA Harvest - Week 13

Rain rain rain! Mmmm I love it and am excited for the interesting... or should I say muddy harvest tomorrow morning.

The harvest madness continues here. I think the recent cool temps may slow down the hot crops for a minute, but they should pick back up as soon as warmer weather returns. 

Harvest Details:

Salad Greens
Chard
Bok Choy or Chinese Cabbage
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Peppers
Hot Peppers
Cucumber
Squash or Eggplant
Herbs
Scallions

Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Seeded (Quinoa, Sesame and Oats).

CSA Harvest - Week 12

Dreamy rain and a touch of Fall this morning. The cool damp air had me piling on layers as I headed outside. It felt amazing.

Quick and fun week here. We seeded more greens and fall roots, tackled a few weeding projects and harvested like mad. The gardens are producing crazily and I am trying to keep up. I find myself easily distracted though... the mountains keep calling. 


A thunderstorm rolled through this afternoon and brought quite the downpour. I LOVE when it rains minutes after I complete a seeding project. There was a short burst of hail that made my heart race for a minute but thankfully it did not cause much damage.

This week's CSA Share should look something like this:

Salad Greens
Chard
Bok Choy or Mustard Greens
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Peppers
Eggplant or Summer Squash
Cucumber
Scallions
Herbs

Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Rosemary Roasted Garlic

CSA Harvest - Week 11

Summertime! The days have been dry and pretty hot this week, but the clouds brought a welcome cool down yesterday.  Fingers crossed for rain the next couple days! In anticipation of this rain I had quite the seeding frenzy last night. 

The Gardens are looking gorgeous and buzzing with life. Things are more and more colorful as fruit ripen and flowers bloom. 

CSA Harvest - Week 11:
Salad Greens
Arugula
Chard
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Cucumber or Summer Squash
Sweet Pepper
Hot Peppers 
Carrots
Basil
Edible Flowers
Sweet Pea Bouquet

Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Plain

Carrot Love

Gorgeous week here. Beautiful weather, dance parties, howling with the dogs and enjoying fresh delicious food. Oh Summer, how I love you. 

This week brought more rain, rainbows, a little hail and I even saw fresh snow in the mountains this morning. I squealed with excitement when the clouds broke and the sun shined on the mountain tops... putting the fresh snow on full display. Stunning. 

Today was all around lovely. The cool and overcast skies let me sleep in a little and made for a dreamy bread morning. 

We built a new section of beds this weekend and they are already filled with spinach, kale, bok choy and cabbage. Fall crops are going in... woo wee. I guess I need to accept that it's August?!

We may do a short Fall CSA that would start the second week in October and run through November... details and more information to come in a few weeks. It would entail a lot of fall storage crops (onions, potatoes, garlic, winter squash) along with lots of cool weather loving greens and root crops. 

Lets focus on this moment though... onto the Summer bounty!

CSA Harvest - Week 10:

Salad Greens
Arugula or Mustard Greens
Chard
Carrots
Herbs
Tomatoes
Hot Peppers!!
Cucumber or Summer Squash
Eggplant or Kohlrabi
Garlic
Onions

Sourdough Flavor(s) or the Week: Whole Wheat or Seeded (Quinoa, Oats and Sesame Seeds)

Yum! 

Soaker

Wow. What a beautiful week!! Playing catchup in the gardens and feeling giddy. We received a beautiful rain on Thursday afternoon, showers throughout the weekend... and then Monday night brought a soaking rain. The kind of rain I have been dreaming about and wishing for! 

The excitement here this morning was kind of wild... oh what a little rainfall can do. It's like a powder morning, only better.  Mmmmmm. The smell of soggy pine forest was insane. I wish I could trap that scent in a bottle. So amazing. 

Ok ok... enough blabbering about my obsession with rain and the smell of soaked pine trees. 

All kinds of exciting things to report... the melons and winter squash are all weeded and mulched. This is big and has been on my list for a while. Next up... onions, leeks and beans. 

We harvested half of the garlic and have it hanging in the barn to cure. 

Some of the wheat planted early in the Spring is growing amidst the crazy weeds and looking gorgeous! Hmmm... currently scheming how to grow a lot of grain in the fields next season. Next season!? Whoa... lets slow down.

Tomatoes are ripening, sunflowers are blooming, melons are forming and and and... harvest details.

CSA Harvest - Week 9:

Salad Greens

Arugula

Chard

Carrots

Garlic

Onions

Tomatoes!!! oh yeah, it's on! 

Rhubarb

Cucumber or Summer Squash

Sweet Bell Pepper or Padrons

Herbs

Sweet Pea Bouquet

Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Plain 

CSA Harvest - Week 8

The heat of summer has arrived. It has been HOT in the gardens the last few days. The early mornings and evenings have been so dreamy and perfect though... mmm. 

I am excited to see a few clouds in the sky this morning. Maybe rain this afternoon? 

Tomatoes and peppers are coming! They're so close... next week?! We will have a few cucumbers, summer squash, pardons and shishito peppers this week. The harvests are about to get really colorful and fun :)

I'm off to harvest the following for this week's CSA Share: 


Salad Greens
Kale or Chard
Arugula
Fava Beans
Carrots
Green Garlic
Onions
Basil
Edible Flowers
Cucumber, Squash or Padron Peppers

Sourdough Flavor of the week: Plain

CSA Harvest - Week 7

Good morning! 

Hopped up on coffee and raindrops here. Mmmm. Fingers crossed more is on the way. 

We flipped a lot of beds this week. Out with the old and in with the new. Salad, spinach and carrots are all germinating. I have a few beds ready for seeding this evening... radishes, turnips, beets and cilantro. More head lettuce, kale and some fall brassicas are all ready to be transplanted as well... soon enough :).


The weeds are getting a little crazy (err really crazy) in the Montrose garden. So we spent several early mornings in the field with the stirrup hoe this week. The melon patch is looking gorgeous and we started tucking the melons in with a thick layer of mulch yesterday...  in hopes of keeping them happy and the field a little less weedy. 

Ooooo! Exciting news, I harvested kale seed yesterday! So much fun. I loved the sweet jingling of seeds in the dry seed pods.  This seed saving project happened by accident really... as most great things do. A section of kale overwintered in the garden and before I had a chance to harvest it this Spring it bolted and started flowering. The honeybees were enjoying the flowering kale... so we let it hang out for a while and now we have freshly harvested seed. Whoop! 

We also harvested chamomile and calendula flowers to start drying for future cups of tea. The scent is heavenly.

Harvest Details for Week 7:

Salad Greens
Kale or Chard
Basil (Italian, Lemon or Thai)
Carrots
Garlic Scapes
Mini Onions
Fava Beans!!
Asian Cabbage or Kohlrabi
Edible Flowers

Herbs (Chives, Oregano or Parsley)

Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Whole Wheat with Flax and Sunflower Seeds