Hi Everyone,
In this update we'll touch on the following topics:
1. What happened to the winter updates?
This is the longest period of time in over ten years that we haven't sent out a newsletter. Many of you have written wondering if we're ok. We are ok. And I actually have written a couple of updates. But for one reason or another they never got sent. Those reasons taken together may constitute a kind of unintended "cocooning," which would be appropriate for the kind of metamorphosis that we have been experiencing since the end of October. But more of that later (see below: 4. Farming Changes for the 2007 Season).
As most of you probably know, the election-day flood was very serious for us. In our valley it was the biggest flood in recorded history. The water was eight inches higher than it was in the previous largest flood of 1990. The good news is that we had time to prepare. We got the cows, the chickens, the pigs, all the tractors, the backhoe, the combine, the trailers, and a few other items on the critter pad and they didn't get touched by the flood. It was a veritable Noah's Ark! Some of you probably saw the news footage of the farm on television. The barn itself ended up with about four feet of water in the north end, and two feet of water in the south end (the barn was built with a two foot drop in elevation from south to north for easy washing). But we were able to get most everything elevated in both the barn and the loafing shed before the water came.
The bad news was that we got water into our home. It was pretty messy, but we stayed in the house through the flood and for a week that followed. Eventually we had to move out and got all our furniture and belongings out so the repair work could begin. The floor and walls had to be removed and replaced. That was in early November. We just started moving back in two days ago. So we were out of the house for just about three months. We stayed with our neighbors and good friends just down the road from us, and were with them through the wind storms, the power outages, and the snow storms.
It has been a challenging time for us. Our neighbors were wonderful, and we couldn't have asked for a nicer, more convenient, or more stress-free place to stay. But it still wasn't home, and that weighed on us more than we expected it would. Perhaps the wind storms and very cold weather made it worse. It was also just very awkward to have everything packed up in boxes - some in the barn, some in one of two storage units, some in the car, and some who-knows-where!
It was also problematic that the flood hit so early. We expect floods from Thanksgiving on, but usually after Summer Session ends we have three or four weeks to get the farm put away. We didn't get that this year. Instead we got hit with a massive clean-up job that we still haven't finished!
So that is what has and hasn't been happening for us this winter. We've certainly had better winters, but we survived. And we had a lot of time for reading, thinking, and planning some big changes for the farm that we hope to initiate this upcoming season.
2. Winter Session CSA starts February 7th
You don't have to wait until the Summer Session to engage the discipline of eating well or to show your support for our farm. Signing up for a weekly box of the best organic fruit and vegetables available is a great commitment to improving your winter eating habits!
Our Winter Session begins this week, with our first delivery being Wednesday, February 7th. The deadline for applications is, as always, noon on the Monday before the Wednesday delivery (that is Monday, February 5th for this Session). Usually we've have had a couple of newsletters prior to this to remind people to get signed up. This year we haven't, but it has been gratifying to see how many of you have remembered and signed up without the reminder. If you didn't get signed up yet (you sign up and pay on our web page, www.jubileefarm.org) and you still want to get in on the Session, let us know by noon Monday and we'll get you in for the full Session. If you get this later than Monday, you can let us know anytime this week and we'll get you signed up for the remainder of the Session and prorate the cost.
We have one reminder for those of you who are signed up for the Winter Session (or plan to). If you were in the Fall Session and have your box from your last delivery, please return it to your depot this Wednesday when you pick up your first box. Thanks!
3. A look back at 2006
It was a very good year for us at the farm. This season we were able to begin in a significant way to move toward our strong desire to bring greater fertility and greater diversity to the farm. In the spring we undertook and completed a very time-consuming mineralization program that was based on extensive soil testing. We sensed strongly the impact of the minerals this year, and believe we will see even more impact in the future. Although our CSA membership grew substantially this year, we felt, and so many of you confirmed our feeling, that this was our best year ever in term of quality and variety of produce.
We also began our Summer CSA delivery again this year. We had delivered the year prior to this season, but at that time we felt at the end of the season that it wasn't working. So we didn't deliver for one Summer Session. But this season past we went back to delivering, and we're happy to report that at the end of the season, we all felt it had been a good thing. So that will be continuing.
After the fall and winter we've had, it's hard to remember just how much of a drought we had last summer. But we saw only one brief shower all summer. That made us completely dependent on our irrigation systems, and we are pleased that we were able to do the whole summer without rain. With the weather changes we've been experiencing these last few years it seems likely that having the ability to farm through droughts could be very important in the future. Living in a flood plain has its drawbacks, but the sub-irrigation it provides, and the river that brings the floods, both also allow us to farm throughout a season like we had last year. That's a pretty good trade off.
4. Distribution changes for 2007 Summer Session
The single biggest change in 2007 for the farm from an agricultural standpoint is the transition to Biodynamic farming that we have committed to undertake this year (see "Farming changes for 2007," below). But we are also making some changes in distribution this Summer Session. The following are some changes and some features of this year's program that we want to emphasize:
a. Wednesday pick-up. This year we will add Wednesday as a pick-up day. The hours will be a little shorter than Tuesday or Friday. Wednesday's hours will be 12:00 to 4:00.
b. Saturday pick-up will continue this year from 10:00-2:00.
c. We want to encourage you to tell your friends about the Summer CSA program, and this year again we want to offer a "thank you" to those of you who do. We have this year for the first time established a cut-off number for membership beyond which we will not go. We are planting based on that number. We want to reach it, and we are happy to offer again this year a forty dollar "bonus package" for every new Summer Session member you introduce to the farm. That's right, this is your chance to get those extra tomatoes, raspberries, strawberries, pumpkins, jam, salsa, or whatever we have that you would like.
There is a place on the application for new members to give the name of current member(s) who "recruited" them. Be sure the people you get to sign up put your name on their applications!
d. Summer delivery will be on for this year again. Delivery members will have the option to pick up at the farm any week by calling us no later than noon on the Monday of the week they want to come to the farm.
e. This year we will limit the number of members who pick-up each day to 100. We are doing this to try to minimize congestion in the market, in the parking lot, and in the fields.
5. Farming changes for the 2007 Season
It's often hard to say exactly how change occurs; it's even hard to say why it occurs. But at some point what begins as an obscure idea somehow takes hold, grows, and in some cases becomes as powerful as a divine imperative. Most of you who have read our updates know that I began reading Rudolf Steiner a couple of years ago. It was fascinating reading, but at that time it seemed, to be honest, a little "out there." Yet there was a philosophical undercurrent in Steiner's writings about agriculture that was unmistakable and highly appealing to me. This winter Wendy and I have both read a great deal more of Steiner, and a number of other works on his Biodynamic system of farming. We've also talked to biodynamic farmers, and what initially seemed to be very peculiar has gradually became understandable, then convincing, then compelling, and finally irresistible. In a word, Wendy and I have decided to begin this season to transition Jubilee Farm into a Biodynamic farm. The transition will take several years to complete. But like so many things, it begins with a commitment, and we have made that commitment.
So the questions arise: What is Biodynamic farming? Why did we decide we need to become Biodynamic? These are legitimate questions and all of you have a right to know both why we are changing and what we want to become. Unfortunately, neither question is easily (or quickly) answered. I've struggled a great deal with how to explain all this and that although there were plenty of other reasons for not getting a newsletter out this winter, I also just couldn't quite think of how to adequately answer these questions. What has finally brought peace is the recognition that I don't have to explain it all at once. So I'll say a few things here, and continue these thoughts in the next few updates, whenever they may come. And rather than start with the more complicated task of defining exactly what Biodynamic farming is, I'll start with the "why" question first.
There are three main reasons why we've decided to become Biodynamic (abbreviated BD). In this update I'll just take on the first of these, which is a reason that I consider to be the least substantial, but one that is, I think, readily understandable and therefore a good starting point.
Many of us who practice what used to be called "organic" farming now find ourselves at pains to try to distinguish ourselves from what is now officially "certified" as organic by the federal government. The difference between what most of us picture as an organic farm and the reality of today's organic mega-farms - farms that practice mono-culture, never use compost, feed each crop with purchased "organic" inputs, and give little or no thought to the quality of the soil or the quality of the food it produces - well, the difference is like that of night and day. This has been documented and rightly decried throughout the media of late, and I know that most if not all of you are aware that when we buy organic food at a retail outlet and the source of that food is not identified, we can be fairly certain we're not supporting what we wish we were with our food dollars. (Thankfully many of our local purveyors of organic produce do identify the source of their organic products.)
And so we have the situation in which under the umbrella of "organic farming" we have some farmers who produce truly healthy food utilizing sustainable practices and upholding the traditional organic values of diversity, crop rotations, composting, appropriate use of machinery, and respect of the rights of farm workers. We also have some farmers who produce food that is organic in name only. In this case, the produce and the farm may meet the minimum standards set by the Federal Government (which has been heavily lobbied by corporate interests to establish low standards!), but except for the limiting of certain inputs, these farms are indistinguishable from non-organic, agribusiness farms; minimal changes have been made to accommodate the requirements of certification for the purpose of making a greater profit.
I have become convinced that the same cannot be said for BD farms. It simply does not happen that farmers jump to BD for the sake of profit. Moreover, it is not possible for the designation of BD to be added as a veneer to a "business as usual" farm. Practices of BD farming are just too demanding, the standards are too stringent, and BD has built into it an ontological commitment from which the practices of BD farming cannot be separated. You might have guessed that these two points (the nature of the practices and the metaphysical component of the practices) make up the second and third reason for us wanting to go BD - reasons I'll get to in subsequent newsletters.
You know that it was because of the compromised standards of organic certification that we decided years ago to no longer be certified. We have since existed in a kind of no-man's-land, being organic but not certified. We now have found a group of like-minded farmers in the BD tradition. The group is small, but uncompromised, and offers a genuine alternative to the mixed-bag of the "organic" world. And it entails both a set of practices and an underlying metaphysical commitment that distinguishes it from both conventional and organic farmers. I'll explain these two facets of BD farming in the next newsletter.
6. Next Year's Work Share Program
Although the Work Share program was something we began with reservations, it has turned out to be a blessing both for us and for the farm. In case you don't know, work share members come to the farm and work for four hours each week in trade for their share. Originally, work share membership was only available during Summer Session, and all work share members came to the farm on harvest mornings to help us harvest for CSA pick-up. Like all things, the work share program has evolved. We have many more work share members now. Many still help us on harvest mornings, as that is a time we need lots of help, and harvesting is very satisfying work. But we now have some work share members who help us in the market, some that help us with our web page, some that help with recipes, and some that come at various times throughout the week. This past summer and fall we had a number of students from Bastyr University and other colleges come to do work shares. Because we now have a Saturday harvest, we have had many people who work during the week and could not otherwise have participated join us for work share on Saturday.
I can't begin to express what a joy it has been to work with so many, enthusiastic workers. Why do they do it? Well, if you do the math, you can see it is not because it's such a great financial deal. Some people do it because they are farmer "wantabees" and want to learn about farming and see how they like it. Some do it for exercise and conditioning. Some do it because they enjoy productive work and the camaraderie of like-minded folks. Some do it for therapy; some just want to escape their cubicles (or children, or, well, we'll stop there . . .). But regardless of the reason, most find it to be a rewarding experience. We work together, and we learn with and from each other. Many friendships have begun in the fields while work shares "share" in the work of the farm.
Having said all that, we want to encourage any of you who have an interest in being a work share member during any of our upcoming Sessions to let us know. This year, we want to explore the possibility of a "half-season" work share for people who can't commit to the whole 20 week Summer Session. Other means of accommodating the schedules of work share members have evolved through the input of past work share members, like "banking" hours for vacation time. And we're open to any ideas. Involving members in the life of the farm is something that we have always valued, and being a work share member is a great way to find out first hand what is involved in farming. No experience necessary. We'll show you exactly what you need to do. If you'd like more information or an application for the work share program, send us a note at jubileefarm@hotmail.com.
7. Beef available now
We butchered one of our steers just before the holidays and have one half of one side of beef available. The hanging weight was 160 lbs. We charge 4.99/lb hanging weight which brings the price of the meat at $800.00. We pay all the costs of cutting and packing. We would be happy to work out a payment schedule that will meet the needs of the buyer.
This is a chance to buy beef that was raised from a calf by us here on our farm. It was grass-fed, rotated daily to fresh pasture, and free of any kind of hormones, medicines, or chemicals of any kind. If interested, contact us: jubileefarm@hotmail.com.
8. Composting class February 24th and 25th
One of our members is hosting a unique opportunity to both learn the principles of making "perfect" compost, and become acquainted with Barbara M V Scott, MSc, who holds a well-respected reputation as the founder of Aurora Farm, and as a Biodynamic consultant, a lifelong gardener, seedsperson, mother, and Reiki Master.
The workshop will be held at Summer Winds Farm, a 14-acre farm/homestead in Snoqualmie. This is a "hands-on" workshop. Lunch both days will be potluck. Contact Patti Pitcher at 425-831-5360 or pattipitch@gmail.com. Early registration is $100 until February 14 th, and $120 after the 14 th.
More information about Barbara and the composting class is available at http://soulmedicinejourney.com/Compost%20Workshop.html.
Erick and Wendy Haakenson