Wednesday, November 12, 2014

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!!! 

Thursday, October 23, 2014

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!









Wednesday, October 15, 2014

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!!

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

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)



Tuesday, September 23, 2014

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

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

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




Wednesday, September 10, 2014

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!