News from the 2010 growing season...
The blueberries are blooming, the bees are buzzing and so are we as we gear up for the growing season. It's that time of year when nothing grows better than the grass. As I zoom around on the mower I can't help but imagine when our new mowers will come home in June. This year we are introducing two Babydoll Southdown wethers (aka neutered boy sheep!) to help with farm chores. They will join the chickens and geese as they move around the farm, foraging for their feed and providing us with weed and insect control as well as valuable fertilizer.
This July we will have blueberries for sale at First Alternative, Corvallis Local Foods, and direct to you! We are also planning to offer U-pick for a couple of weekends in mid-late July. Also in July we will have garlic, garlic, garlic. We are growing 8 varieties this year and have also planted an assortment of flowers and herbs to include in braids that can hang on your kitchen wall, providing you with local, organically grown garlic all winter long. Later this fall we will have potatoes again, 11 varieties this year. Winter squash and onions will round out our fall harvest. As the season progresses we will try to keep the website updated. For more information on specific crops visit our crops page, soon to be updated!
Our small family farm is located on the banks of the Luckiamute River in the Hoskins area of Kings Valley, Oregon (20 miles northwest of Corvallis). Our mission is to provide unconventionally grown food with a minimum of off-farm and petroleum-dependent inputs for the people of our local community. To us, unconventionally grown means we take a systems approach in our efforts to balance our food production with our responsibility for our local forest, field and river life and with the health of our planet. While a good portion of the farm is fenced to keep out deer and predators we do have wildlife corridors, hedgerows of native plants, and insectary plantings for native pollinators and beneficial insects. We plant disease resistant crop varieties, especially in our orchard where we practice ZERO spraying (and are pleased to report we harvested our first, blemish-free peaches last summer!). Animals are an integral part of the farm system. As they rotate through our perennial crops the geese and sheep (coming in June!) turn grass and legumes into fertilizer. The chickens pick up dropped berries that can harbor disease causing organisms and scratch for grubs and larvae in the soil. They also "recycle" the manure of the other animals, picking out any parasites and grain that passes through. As we incorporate more animals into the system we hope to become less dependent on imported compost for fertility and fuel for cultivation. We are certified organic through Stellar Certification Services.