Thanks-Giving

Happy Thanksgiving from the Art Farm

 Hello Moon Bears,

Thank You for being the best community of ever! 

Your faith in us, your financial support through subscriptions, your heartfelt feedback have all made for a most blessed year on our little farm. The earth is sleeping right now and spring seems like a long way off. We'll let the land rest and dream for a while. Through the long nights we will remember everything that grew and then fell into the harvest basket this year. 

Hope to see you in in 2015. It looks like we have seven members signed up already for next season. I'll be sending more info out in January regarding the garden, subscription rates, new offerings and visions for our humble CSA. Until then, please know you are appreciated. Thanks.

Here's a poem about our first freeze of the year.

Frozen Thinking

The hard frost finally

falls upon the land,

killing the bugs

that swamped the farm.

It’s a frosty hallelujah,

at a price.

The frog,

the praying mantis,

the spider,

how did they fare?

The frost cracks open

the builders

as well as the destroyers.

Good bug,

bad bug,

who is who?

How do I protect the heart

from frozen thinking and

fearful meanderings?

Suppressing one emotion

suppresses all emotions.

It’s not the heart

in the cold ground

that needs rearranging,

it’s the discerning

sky of the mind.

Blessing to You this Season,
Rick and Heather

(c) Copyright, Words and Image, Rick Sievers, Moon Bear Produce, November 2014

Welcome Autumn Rain: Bonus Delivery for the Moon Bear CSA

 Hello Moon Bears,

Last but not least... a few new arrivals have made it to the garden. I told you I'd share everything we have available. So here it is. 
On your Menu for the last (Bonus) Delivery for 2014 (Full Share)

• Brussel Sprouts still on the stalk (Only 6 right now)
• Personal Cabbage
• Bunching Onions
• Venersborg Garlic
• Carnival, Spaghetti and Hubbard Winter Squash
• The Cutest, Shiniest Eggplant You ever Saw
• A Few Zucchini

We'll also have Stunning Chard and Sweeetening Kale if you want to come up and pick for yourself.
Just call ahead.

Thanks for a great season.
Please Consider Reserving your spot at This Years Price by sending in a $25 deposit.
Also a $20 discount to current members for each paying referral you send me.
 
I loved working in Your garden.
Rick


 

(c) Rick Sievers, Moon Bear Produce, October 2014

Shifting into Rest and Dreams - Week 12 of the Moon Bear CSA

Honey Bee:  

Keeper of the Secrets.  

Forager of the Sweetness.  

Painter of the Sunlight.

Hello Moon Bears,

Our last official delivery week. What a Summer. The garden has given all that she can this year. Soon it'll be time to let the earth rest and breathe without any pressure to produce. I spent some time wandering around the rows. A lot of tilled and covered earth presents a face of relief that the seasons are changing. I'm so grateful for the bounty and unconditional gifts offered in colors so bright and deep.

The bees gather their nectar. The frogs sing their chorus. The snakes bask upon the stony wall. And I write to you with gratitude shift toward going inward, bringing in the harvest and then letting the land sleep for awhile.

On Your Menu This Week for a full share

• Fairy Eggplant (For 4 boxes)
• Mini Purple Bell Peppers
• Gold and Green Zucchini
• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Golden Grape Tomatoes
• Salad Mix
• Detroit and Ruby Beets
• Venersborg Garlic
• Fresh Basil
• Rainbow Carrots
• Armenian and Lemon Cucumbers
• Sweet Corn (For those that did not get it last week)
• Red Onion
• Luscious Seedless Concord Grapes

Members: Be Sure to RSVP for the Annual Moon Bear Fire Circle and Potluck on September 26th from 6ish till 8ish on the Art Farm. It's a fun, informal way to meet your community And see the little farm YOU helped finance this year.

See you in the Garden

Rick

(c) Copyright Rick Sievers, Moon Bear Produce, September 2014

Purplepalooza- Week 11 of the Moon Bear CSA

Seedless Concord Grapes Growing Outside Our Kitchen Window

Hello Moon Bears

New visitors have offered themselves to your CSA box this week. A cornucopia of amazing species.
And a few of your favorites. I'm reminded again and again how generous the Earth is to Her children, how gracious with Her offerings and how little She asks in return. To remind us of nature's wonder, a bear wandered down our road this week, munching on the blackberry vines and leaving a "calling card" at the bottom of our driveway. Even the bear likes purple food...

On Your Menu this Week for a full share:

• Fairy eggplant (Not every box will get them this week. We need more ripening time for the rest next week)
• Purple Hawaiian Bell Peppers
• Salad Mix (Last of the lettuce this season)
• Crimson Chard
• Detroit and Ruby Queen Beets
• Lemon and Armenian Cucumbers
• Sweet Corn (For the 1st five boxes this wk., then for the rest next week)
• Luscious, Luxurious, deLicious Seedless Concord Grapes (Fruit of the gods)
• Chocolate, Red and Grape Cherry Tomatoes.
• Heirloom Slicing Tomatoes
• Baby Turnips
• Trio of Beans
• Fingerling Potatoes

 Thanks for Believing in Local Sustainable Agriculture.

See You in the Garden
Rick

(c) Copyright Rick Sievers, Moon Bear Produce, August 2014

Roots, Shoots and Tubers: Week 10 of the Moon Bear CSA

Pulling Russian Banana Fingerling Potatoes in the Moon Bear Garden

Hello Moon Bears,

Have you ever experienced the miracle of digging potatoes? A little slip of skin and eye buried deep in the dark. Mounded and watered. Purple and pink flowers lovingly tended by bees. Then the stalks die back. A yellowing strand of stalk remains, announcing that a new phase of wonder has begun: The harvest. Digging into the loam is akin to delving beneath one's skin. Finding nodes and arteries and veins. The roots and shoots travel in an amazing pattern. And the earth smells of life ready to breath in the open air.

 Today I'm grateful for potatoes and beets and carrots. The ones that stay hidden throughout the season and then appear as gifts.

On This Weeks Menu for a Full Share:

• Finn Apple, Russian Banana and Rosy Riveter Red Fingerling Potatoes
• Atomic Red and Solar Yellow Carrots
• Venersborg Garlic. This "species" has been growing wild here since we've been here
• Rhubarb Chard
• Spaghetti, Acorn and Delicata  Squash (A random assortment in boxes)
• Detroit Yellow Beets
• Purple Plums
• Lemon and Burpless Green Cucumbers
• Personal Sized Cabbage (Savoy, Red, Green)
• Rainbow Heirloom Tomatoes
• Purple and Golden Tomatillos (Get your salsa recipes ready)
• Kale if I can find any hiding in the cool shadows

Next week we'll have Miniature Purple Bell Peppers, Fairy Eggplant and Seedless Concord Grapes. Lots more tomatoes too.

Thanks.
See You in the Garden
Rick

(c) Copyright, Rick Sievers, Moon Bear Produce, August 2014

The Goodness of a Fresh Tomato - Week 9 of the Moon Bear CSA

The Cosmic Light of Tomatoes

Hello Moon Bears,

Although it may not feel like it, Fall is on the way. How do I know? We are slowly retiring large swaths of garden beds this month and planting them with cover crops. We sow legumes and buckwheat and crimson clover. After these mature we till the cut stalks back into the earth. Besides our own compost, and adding micro-nutrients/minerals, this is how we add fertility and soil structure into our clay.

This week we harvested another record breaking cucumber crop. Sixty pounds from about ten plants. The lemons cukes are the best.

Filling Your Boxes on Thursday Morning

Garden Cat Patrolling the Perimeter

On the Menu this Week for a Full Share:

• Lemon and Armenian Cucumbers
• Rainbow Chard
• Nantes Coreless and Imperator Carrots (Sweet)
• A Surprise Find of Salad Lettuce from the south field
• Plums
• Golden and Detroit
• Russian Fingerling Potatoes (More Next Week)
• Cabbage
• Baby Turnips
• Radishes
• Collete, Golden, Eight Ball and Mystery Zucchini
• Pear-Pearl Drop Tomatoes
• Big Heirloom Tomatoes

Next Week we will have Acorn Squash.
Spaghetti Squash is almost here too.


Thanks for Supporting Local Sustainable Goodness.
We are grateful for you.

Rick

(c) Copyright Rick Sievers, Moon Bear Produce, August 2014

Whatever Comes or Goes is a Blessing - Week 8 of the Moon Bear CSA

Hello Moon Bears,

Summer and the half moon in the balmy ink sky. Such beauty at night out here on the Art Farm. And night is also when the wild creatures arrive. Like deer eating the butter head lettuce, one juicy head at a time. And the baby cottontails being reared somewhere out in South Squash patch. We can't control what is wild. Though fences come in handy.

We offer the seed the the Earth. then we offer our care to the seed and the plant. Whatever comes, comes. Whatever goes, goes. The bounty is big enough.

Sometimes the bounty can even feel too big. If you are at a point in the CSA season where you feel a little overwhelmed with the quantity of vegetables, I encourage you to share the bounty. If you have too much, offer some to friends, co-workers or even the Clark County Food Bank. Summer is a sad season for those without food, or friends. We always offer our bonus crops to the Battle Ground-Clark County Food Bank just off Main Street. Last year we gave 30 bushels. With all the stored sunlight and rain and care invested in the plants we make sure that nothing goes to waste when possible.

Speaking of bounty here's your menu for this week (Full Share):

• Lemon, Armenian and Emerald Burpless Cucumber
• Delicata Winter Squash
• Our Own Venersborg Garlic. A native to this land, since we have lived here.
• Trio of Purple, Green and Golden Beans
• Zucchini. It's the last of these for awhile.
• Salad mix with gourmet blend and mini butter heads.
• Carrots, including the beginning of the sweeter orange varieties.
• Kale. Probably the last till October.
• Scarlet Chard
• Russet Spuds. The freshest you'll ever get.
• Rainbow of Tomatoes. I picked a three pounder today.
• Tomatillos. Thinks Fresh Salsa

We harvested 55 pounds of cucumbers off of 10 plants today. So I include here a wonderful site on cucumber recipes:    Healthy-Cucumber-Recipes-Summer 

Thank you for participating in community in way that honors the Earth and each other. I'm so grateful for you.
Rick

(c) Copyright Text and Photos, Rick Sievers, Moon Bear Produce, August 2014

So Much Bounty. Week 7 of the Moon Bear CSA

Tomatoes Are Here!

Hello Moon Bears,

Your garden is full this week. We're already planting the second round of potatoes for Fall. The tomatoes have finally started to trickle into the harvest bin. Surprise broccoli was hiding out in the south field. And even a little lettuce was growing in the shade. No huge disasters this year either... at least so far. A vine borer has played the trickster with the squash plants, but the fruit all looks good.  And there's cabbage deluxe, without blemish or bug... which is pretty darned amazing in an organic garden.

Here's What's on the Menu for a Full Share this Week:

• Red, Savoy and Personal Sized Cabbage
• Curly Kale for Chips
• Broccoli
• Walla Walla Onions
• Trio of Purple, Wax and Green Beans
• Cosmic Purple and Solar Yellow Carrots
• Baby Carrots for the 1/2 shares
• Golden Zucchini
• Butter and Chef Mix Salad Bag
• Purple and Pontiac Potatoes
• Lemon and Armenian Cucumbers
• Golden and Detroit Beets
• Rhubarb Chard
• Sprigs of Fresh Basil

Check out the photos below from this week on the Art Farm.

See you on Thursday.

Rick

View from the Writing Cabin

Tobacco Plant in Fragrant Bloom

Lemon Cucumbers

After a Long Day

Washin the Potatoes

Creator Sends a Special Delivery of Goodness

The Seed Greenhouse and Meditation Hut

(c) Copyright, Text and Images, Rick Sievers, Moon Bear Produce, 2014

Summer Wonders, Week 6 of the Moon Bear CSA

 Hello Moon Bears,

We're half way through the season this week. And the garden is bursting with lovely vegetables. Take a look at the bounty on this little patch of Earth. What blessings we have to share with you.

On the Menu for a full share this week, a grab bag of goodness:

• Yukon Gold and Red Pontiac Potatoes
• Siberian Kale
• Purple-Wax-Green Bean Trio
• Baseball Butter Lettuce
• Rainbow Deluxe Carrots
• Detroit Red and Yellow Beets
• French and Golden Zucchini
• Fordhook Giant Chard
• Armenian Cucumbers
• Baby Turnips
• Lots of Loving Prayers from Within the Garden

The good news is that tomatoes will be making their grand entry to your boxes next week. We've already been sampling the golden grape tomato. Very sweet. Thank you CSA members! We have 15 families eating from our micro farm.

Check out the pictures below:

Quinoa, Howden Pumpkin, Sweet Corn Buddha, Snapdragons, Washing the potatoes in the ancient stainless sink, plums on the way to ripening and a few friendly chickens watching all the commotion in the garden.

 

As Michael Jackson sings: "Just Beet It..."

Ok, off to weed in the silky summer rain.
See you in Garden,
Rick

(c) Copyright, Images and words, Rick Sievers, Moon Bear Produce, July 2014.

Magical Turnips and a Super Moon, Week 5 of Your CSA

Purple Top Turnip.

Hello Moon Bears,

What a succulent harvest this week on the Art Farm. 

Just look at that turnip. 

Besides the Moon, that root was the most beautiful essence rising out of the clay this week.  
By the way turnips are great mashed with potatoes.

 And beets: gold, white, crimson.

We're also in the midst of expanding our cleaning station for field washing right after harvest. I inherited a 10 foot long  double stainless sink. Thanks mom. So obviously we had to ensconce it within a brand new structure. Just another week long project to wile our time away.

 

 

Heather has also been busy making recipes in the kitchen. 

Roasted Beet Salad with Beet Greens and Feta 

Mmm.

   

Finally carrots have arrived. 

Solar yellow are the first to enter the world. 

Next week we'll have red and purple carrots too.

And here is the picture of The One that watches over y/our garden on these sultry summer nights.
The July Super Moon was incredible, a silent presence gliding through our dreams.

On the Menu This Week for a Full Share:

• Solar Yellow Carrots
• Gold and Crimson Beets
• Sprouting Broccoli
• Rainbow Chard
• Siberian Kale
• Dutch Yellow Onion
• Baby Turnips
• Gold and French Zucchini
• A few Cabbages

See You In the Garden.
Rick and Heather


(c) Rick Sievers, Moon Bear Produce, July 2014