July 24, 2006

Blue House Farm

March 28, 2007

It’s spring time on the farm. We’ve had an interesting weather related winter. The year began with an incredible cold spell which frosted our strawberries and onions, then limited rain and an early warm spring. And just this morning I went out to the potato beds to find frost on the ground! Farming is always changing, in part, thanks to the weather.

We returned from our winter break and hit the ground at almost full speed. We’re expanding production this year and will have close to 3 acres at the height of the season. Recently, we’ve been taking advantage of the warm spring and dry ground to get into our fields and mow the cover crop. Then we return with a disc to incorporate this lush vegetative matter into the earth, to feed the soil and ultimately feed our crops. Our last step in mechanical tillage is to pass over our beds with a spader. The spader is an appropriate piece of technology that our fellow farmers in Europe have been using for some time. This piece of equipment has the ability to cultivate a deep and rich planting bed. It does so in a gentle way as the tines or teeth of the machine turn the soil in a way that doesn’t completely invert the soil layers. By acting like gentle spades, the spader prepares a beautiful bed while conserving the soil. It’s not fast, nor is it quiet but it allows us to invest in the future of our soil. Thanks to Beth Craig and family for loaning us this piece of equipment.

This yearly event of turning in the cover crop is one of the key pieces of organic farming that creates a regenerative and sustainable practice. Through incorporating cover crops back into the soil, we are cycling organic matter and nutrients held in the crop tissues back into the soil and preparing the site for subsequent cropping. Our winter cover crops are a special blend of legumes and cereal grains. The legumes, with the help of beneficial soil bacteria and fungi, fix nitrogen. They have the capacity to take nitrogen out of the atmosphere and convert it into a usable form which is then available for soil microorganisms and ultimately our veggies. The cereal grains add organic matter and carbon which literally builds the soil and invests in the future. We are physically improving the structure of our soil, creating greater tilth and allowing for more moisture retention and nutrient absorption. The positive concentric rings of this yearly event can be felt and tasted in the high quality and flavor of the Blue House Farm crops.

In other news, we had our California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) inspection last week and we expect our organic certification very soon! Part of the CCOF and USDA Organic regulations require an extensive paper trail, which can be cumbersome, but has really helped us track the farms’ inputs and outputs. In the end, this will help us be more effective in our business practices and land stewardship goals.

Lastly, thank you to all our early CSA members for signing up. We still have plenty of space for this growing season, but we do expect to sell out all of our available shares. Please send in your application ASAP. Your full payment helps us invest in the farm during this lean time and creates a rich opportunity for a super successful year. Thanks!

Ned Conwell

January 23, 2007

Here are some photos from a road trip Ned and I took down to the southern tip of Baja this winter. Note Ned's big catch.

November 18, 2006

The farm has changed dramatically over the last few weeks. Most of the main back field has been turned under and planted in cover crops of bell beans, peas, vetch, and oats. We've planted strawberries, garlic, onions, and leeks in new fields for next year. We've had to say good-bye to our summer interns Ryan, Jackie, and Isaac (thank you much) and welcome our new intern, Conner, to the team. The long-awaited outdoor solar shower is now complete and when the valley is not fogged-in, warms water without electricity. I welcome the rains and enjoy the slower pace and shift in routines that come with them. Now it is time for reflection on the last year, organizing the build-up of paperwork, woodpiles, irrigation tape, etc… and lastly, the time to dream big for next year!

Ryan

November 4, 2006

Thank You!!!

What an amazing season we've had at Blue House Farm. Now with the fall officially here and the change in daylight, we're beginning to transition the farm to winter rest. We are so thankful for such a successful first year. A lot of our success is due to our Community Supported Agriculture members and friends. Not only did you help us secure a financial future for the farm but through your kind words and praise, you've raised our spirits. We've been able to continue-on, especially during the longest, exhaustive days. Through your commitment to local, organically grown food, we've invested more into the future of the farm. We've created Blue House Farm as a community farm and we thank you for your involvement.

Ned

September 4, 2006

FARM STAND NOW OPEN ON HWY 1 (farm stand closed until spring)

You can now find our produce and flowers on Hwy 1, just north of Ano Nuevo. We've partnered up with Nancy, Jered, and Karen of Pie Ranch (www.pieranch.org) and opened a farm stand in the historic Green Oaks roadside barn. Pie Ranch is now selling amazing blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, and eggs. We grow the veggies, and both of our farms bring in flowers. We are open on Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00-7:00. Stop by and check it out. Stay-tuned for the date of our Grand Opening celebration in October!!!

Peace, Ryan

August 18, 2006

The farm looks beautiful. I've just returned from two weeks of working for the Wilderness Youth Project in Santa Barbara. It’s a great feeling to drive up to Blue House Farm and see all the abundance. We’ve begun canning, saucing and preserving that abundance in the form of roasted tomatoes, pesto, dilly beans and pickles. Things can get busy around the farm this time of year but luckily we have had some help. We had some student visitors from Utah, who are traveling around in a veggie oil powered bus. Their educational trip consists of visiting farms, gardens and sustainable design projects. At each stop they leave the site better than they found it by doing a service project. They spent many hours here at the farm weeding, pruning, thinning and planting. Thank you! Also thank you to all the volunteers who pass by the farm.

Tomatoes are here! Delicious, red, ripe and full of juice. Dry farming really works well here in our valley. Next year we hope to expand our dry farming to potatoes, beans and squash. Eaten like an apple or cut up into salad, Early Girl tomatoes are excellent raw. They can also be preserved by canning whole, as sauce, roasted or as spicy salsa. We love them roasted with a little bit of goat cheese.

The Blue House Farm is also helping to grow a healthy wild mammal population. Every morning we walk out to the field to see more deer sign. Scat and tracks every where. Not to mention feeding sign on most of the crops. But they do have their preferred nibbles. Peppers, wild mustard, Asian greens and squash are their favorites right now. We've also had fun tracking raccoons all over the farm. In and out of the compost and licking the vegetable oil tanks that we use to fuel our vehicles. Barry, the farm cat, loves all the healthy gophers and mice around the fields and barn. And Tina, the other farm cat, loves attempting to catch the barn swallows nesting in the old farm buildings.

Keep it wild and organic!

Ned

July 24, 2006

Hurray! Our website is off and running. This marks the first of many farm updates. Ned and I will try and add a new one every other week. Over the last two weeks this incredible warm spell that has covered most of California is really making the veggies grow fast. The tomatoes are in their element and even the peppers and eggplants are finally looking alive and happy. We are starting to harvest the first of the tomatoes this week, way earlier than we had expected. The field is overflowing with those lovely leafy greens- kale, chard, collards, turnip greens, beet greens, Asian greens, lettuce, etc… With the newly completed outdoor kitchen on the farm we now have two places to show-off our newest experimental recipes. Lately we have been drooling over the newly released Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables. Highly recommended. You are likely to see many of these recipes (or revisions of) popping up on this site. We are also thrilled to be a few weeks into our new CSA. It just feels great to be growing such good food for people and also to be seeing some new faces on the farm. Today our friend Erik Newquist, blacksmith extraordinaire did some welding work on a bunch of our tractor implements. It's a joy to see such new life brought to these aging tools. This ring roller was dragged out from the willows along the creek, who knows how long it has been in there? Thank You Erik!

See you in the Field,

Ryan

Return to Newsletters