Author: Tristan Klesick

There is so much great citrus available right now! The grapefruit from Texas Reds to Melo Gold to Pomelo’s are crazy good. And the tangerine world is similar with Tangelos, Clementine’s and Blood oranges. Every season is unique and during this season it is Citrus’s time to shine!  

On the farm, John and I are busy finishing up the maintenance and starting seeds. We just seeded thousands of onions to be transplanted in the April/May window and we will be seeding our first round of lettuces (about 2000 plants) this week. We will be seeding and transplanting lettuces every two weeks until June. We grow lots of lettuce, cucumbers, squash, cabbages, kales, beans and tomatoes. All of them will either be direct seeded or transplanted at the appropriate times and “weather windows.”  Weather windows are those opportunities you get to get things done! Sometimes the ground is barely dry enough and other times we have to just mud something in.  

These weather windows tend to be fewer in the spring, requiring us to pivot our work schedules to accommodate some good weather. I remember one year when April was beautiful and it was like I was farming in California 😊. I could not have asked for better weather to start seeds, work the ground and plant crops. Then came May and it rained every day! We were dancing between rain showers trying to get crops in the ground.  

Another year, I had ordered 1200 lettuce transplants to transplant early into our greenhouses. He mistyped the order and 6 weeks later, delivered 12,000! Oh, my word! 12,000 lettuce plants ready to go in the ground in February! My heart skipped more than one beat that week. As it turned out, we had one of those rare Februarys that allowed us to get a seed bed acceptably ready to transplant into. It wasn’t perfect but it was good enough.  And as a side benefit, we had the earliest lettuce we have ever had that year! it also gave my soon to be son in law, an opportunity to help harvest on the farm. He showed up at 5am and pitched in. 6 years later, he is still making my daughter happy (and me, too). 

This time of year is all about maintenance, repairs, farm planning and praying. When it comes to maintenance, I took the opportunity to have knee surgery and “clean” up some cartilage that had been bothering me for a few years. It was one of those decisions you make because it’s better to be proactive and pick a season when the farm and business work would be the least impacted. Happy to report that the second time around for that knee seems to have accomplished the goal!  I’m ready to get farming! 

Another major change this past winter was the decision to “pull” out the orchard. It was a hard decision, but needed to be made for a variety of reasons, and before another season of pruning, thinning, tree maintenance and harvesting got started. I really enjoyed our season of tree fruit farming, but I also really love growing vegetables. The decision was difficult to make, but watching those tress come out, was even harder! This year the orchard spot will be filled with pumpkins and winter squashes. Assuming there will be no restrictions to farm visits, we look forward to inviting the Box of Good community to come out and get pumpkins on the farm this fall! Stay tuned! 

Thank you for supporting small farms and small businesses, 

-Tristan 

Whenever, I say, “It is Kale time” I immediately follow up with “It’s signing time with Alex and Leah”. Fairly random, but when our children were younger, they watched that show a ton and 3 of my daughters can communicate in ASL fairly well. Check them out on YouTube. 😊

We are harvesting our Red Russian Winter Kale this weekend. Winter Kales tend to be smaller and sweeter. Timing is everything when it comes to Kale. We are harvesting a lot of young leaves before the increasing day length sends a signal to the plant to stop making leaves and start making seed! When a plant shifts to seed mode, the name of the product changes from Kale Bunches to Kale Raab, Cabbage Raab, Broccoli Raab, Radish Raab. Essentially, when we bunch Raab’s we are bunching and eating the pre-seed plant portions. However, some farmers will market the Raab with more seed heads attached, my preference is to harvest it earlier in the winter and which makes the ground available for a spring crop sooner. It is all nuanced, but we have a plan and this year it worked out! Enjoy this last years Red Russian Kale in soups, salads or stir fries. 

Free Produce give away:

We still have more Boxes of Good to donate, so don’t be bashful, I want to meet the needs of local families that you know who have a financial hardship. No questions asked, if you want to bless them, we will send an additional box for free.  Here are the details on the 100 free boxes of produce giveaway.

Here is where you come in. Do you know people that could benefit from a delivery of fresh organically grown fruits and vegetables? Have you been wondering how you can help ease their burden and provide some encouragement and hope?  We’d like to partner with you.  If you buy one Box of Good for a friend or family in need, we will match that box and bring them a second box the following week for free. We want to partner directly with the Box of Good community and donate healthy nutritious produce to your friends and family that could use some cheering up! (1 donation per family please)

If you would like to participate, log into your Klesick’s account and “add a new address” to set up a delivery for a family in need and select the Box of Good to send to them. Then email or call the office and let us know the family you are blessing, and we will add another matching delivery for free. You can also call or email the office and our team will help you set it up.

Cheers to a better 2021,

-Tristan

I am so excited about our box of good and the box of good community. It is such a privilege to serve your families. Last week we started hearing from many of you ordering Boxes of Good for families that you personally know and are struggling financially. The stories are touching and the gifts are so generous. Many of you are sending multiple deliveries to those families. I am in awe of your kindness. We still have more Boxes of Good to donate, so don’t be bashful, I want to meet the needs of local families that you know who have a financial hardship. No questions asked, if you want to bless them, we will send an additional box for free. 

Here are the details on the 100 free boxes of produce giveaway

1. Klesick’s will be offering 100 free boxes to families in need this January. 

Here is where you come in. Do you know people that could benefit from a delivery of fresh organically grown fruits and vegetables? Have you been wondering how you can help ease their burden and provide some encouragement and hope?  We’d like to partner with you.  If you buy one Box of Good for a friend or family in need, we will match that box and bring them a second box the following week for free. We want to partner directly with the Box of Good community and donate healthy nutritious produce to your friends and family that could use some cheering up! (1 donation per family please)

If you would like to participate, log into your Klesick’s account and “add a new address” to set up a delivery for a family in need and select the Box of Good to send to them. Then email or call the office and let us know the family you are blessing, and we will add another matching delivery for free. You can also call or email the office and our team will help you set it up.

The second way we are giving away produce is for photographs (read below for the details). 

• Klesick’s is looking for photo of your Box of Good. Please tag us @klesicks or @boxofgood on instagram, FB or email them in, we will give you a $5 credit on your account for 3 photos (one credit per family) that we are tagged in. We will also enter your name for a drawing for one of 3 $50 Klesick credits to be applied to your account. By sending or tagging us in your photographs you are allowing us to use them (potentially) in our advertising and social media campaigns in the future. 

We are looking for 3 types of photos.

• A picture of our delivery van making your delivery.
• A box on your porch.
• A box with ingredients on your counter or just opened.

Both, the 100 Box of Good give away and the Box of Good photo contest will run between 1/1 and 1/31. 

Thank you for your help, your support for the Box of Good really impacts in meaningful ways our local community.       

Cheers to a better 2021,

 -Tristan

Reflecting on the past year as we anticipate a new year is an important rite of passage. There is a special bond between December 31st and January 1st that has cause both evaluation and hope to intersect. And this year especially, as we move past 2020, let’s be filled with hope for a new year, filled with good! 

People are resilient and we can band together to inspire good!  Just this year at Klesick’s, the Box of Good community made an impactful difference in our local community! With your help we delivered almost 2000 boxes of high-quality produce to our local food banks. This is in addition to all the imperfect produce that we sort and send to the food banks each week. Your impact and generosity have made a difference and blessed many!  Even during these difficult times, families have been able to eat nutritious, organic produce, boosting their immune system and overall health!

As we roll over the calendar, I want to do more. Many people that have not been accustomed to job loss and disabling health issues have faced great challenges this past year. They are our friends and family.

Do you know people that could benefit from a delivery of fresh organically grown fruits and vegetables? Have you been wondering how you can help ease their burden and provide some encouragement and hope?  We’d like to partner with you.  If you buy one Box of Good for a friend or family in need, we will match that box and bring them a second box the following week. We will partner directly with our customers and donate to your friends and family up to 100 boxes! (1 donation per family please)

If you would like to participate, log into your Klesick account and “add a new address” to set up a delivery for a family in need and select the Box of Good to send to them. Then email or call the office and let us know the family you are blessing, and we will add another matching delivery for free for them.

You can also call or email the office and our team will help you set it up.

I look forward to partnering with you to meet local hunger needs. 

Talk to you in 2021,

 -Tristan

Important Delivery Day Information. 

With both of the holidays landing on Friday this year we will be making all of the deliveries by Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve over the next two weeks. Look for additional updates on social media and in your inbox. 

Here is what will be happening the next 2 weeks: 

1. Tuesday and Wednesday customers will be getting their deliveries on Monday 12/21 and 12/28. 
2.  Thursday customers will be getting their deliveries on Tuesday 12/22 and 12/29. 
3.  Friday customers will be getting their deliveries on Wednesday 12/23 and 12/30. 
4.  Saturday customers will be getting their deliveries on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

And in the New Year, we’ll be back to the normal schedule. Then some of us will focus on shedding a few holiday pounds before Valentine’s Day is upon us!  Or maybe some of you just know you feel better, eating healthier.  The holiday calendar can be like a yoyo calendar; celebrate, take a break, celebrate, take a break, and unfortunately most of the celebrating foods are not typically the healthiest.  Although, celebrating once in a while is actually not the problem, rather when junk food and overeating become the typical everyday fare, does it become an issue.  And sadly, that is the typical American way!   

We can choose to be proactive with our holiday eating, if nutrition and self-care is important to us!  Try being purposed and calculating with your holiday treats and then fill your meal with healthy, nutritious foods. Making good choices will impact how you feel after the holidays. For us folks north of the half century mark, losing a little weight isn’t as easy as it once was, and planning to not gain weight could be the right strategy. Also, excess sugar and complex carbs are known to impact our immune system negatively, while fruit and vegetables impact it for the good! Choose wisely and you’ll be glad you did! 

One good strategy to win the eating game during the holidays is to plan how much to eat. Some use the one plate method. This works great if you don’t fill the plate with pie!  Try filling your plate with healthy foods and lots of vegetable sides!  Set out veggie platters and fruit for snacks or appetizers!  Fill your belly first with a green or veggie salad!  Oh, and don’t plan to use Grandma’s turkey platter as a plate! You know the one I am talking about; it has a turkey on the bottom, and it doesn’t fit in any cupboards. Using the turkey platter as your plate, defeats the purpose of a one plate helping! 

We love celebrating with food!  Finding ways to enjoy nutritious, healthy foods in ways that satisfy your sweet tooth or hunger cravings is the best way to celebrate and leaves no regrets!  You’ll feel lighter, more energetic, and good about treating your body well, and that too, is something to celebrate!  Let us help you treat yourself and your loved ones this holiday season with Good Food and let’s do this! 

Watch your inbox for delivery information and add-ons for your holiday celebrations. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, 

-Tristan 

Back in what seems like another lifetime, AKA February, the PUD called and asked if they could remove a cottonwood tree that is precariously located next to the road. My response was, “Absolutely.” This tree is mammoth and its branches could be considered trees by most standards. 

The reality is that tree is both a public liability and personal liability. It might be a football field tall and on any given day when it sheds a branch it is audible and dangerous. That age old question, “if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did it make any noise?” The answer is, “Of Course,” but when you do hear that “crack” it can send chills up your spine. And Cottonwoods suck up so much water and are heavy that their branches drop like a rock. 

Our family has a long line of Woodsmen in it and you don’t have to travel very far back to remember stories of “widow makers”.  Having that tree removed is good for the community, good for the powerlines, good for my barn that was built a little too close and good for my mental health.  Sometimes big pruning is healthy and the closer big trees are to where humans interact on a regular basis, it is prudent to manage them.

On the flip side, I am also sensitive to the needs of wildlife and wild spaces. It stems from a deeply held belief that I am a steward of the resources on our farm. If this tree was the only tree, I would have to weigh the benefits more intensely. But this tree is in close proximity to other cottonwoods and our family has planted 100 or more trees on our farm to create even more wild spaces for the critters.

Organic farming is about working with nature to grow healthy food. A healthy ecosystem is important to human life and farms are micro ecosystems. Our farm is a healthy farm because we work with nature and embrace the diversity of plants and critters. 

Yes, we have to have some efficiencies to farm and having trees and places for critters to use adds another layer of management, but trying to limit access and exposure has its own management issues. We have both the privilege and opportunity to grow food and interact with nature, so we do.

The farm is mostly at rest, the farmers not so much, as we are busy planning for the 2021 growing season, and Spring will be sooner than I expect it!

Where does the time go?

Sincerely, 

-Tristan

This morning God’s glory shone bright! The brilliant winter sunrise lit up the sky, while glistening through the frost that settled from the evening before. Given the usual months of gray here in Washington, we should take every moment we can to soak up the sun. Sunlight gives us vitamin D, improves our mood, gives us higher quality sleep, gives us stronger bones, and lowers blood pressure! The sun is so important to our physical and mental well-being! When the sun shines, make the healthy choice to take it in!

It is interesting how many of the benefits of sunshine also come to us in fruits and vegetables. The sun’s benefits are captured in the growing process and released to us when we eat and process them. Fruits and vegetables are packed full of the things our bodies need to fight disease and maintain health.

One of the simplest things we can do for our physical and mental health, besides taking in the sun, is to eat more organic fruit and veggies. There is not a better time to be eating the rainbow than during the NW winter months, and especially with the added stressors of this year. Eating a rainbow of colorful fruits and vegetables every day will help you get the full range of health benefits they have to offer!

Red is a strong color of life which can be symbolic of our heart and arteries. Red fruits and veggies serve as a major source for heart health and can help prevent heart disease. 

Orange as a color represents an abundance of strength and life, and foods with this color can help you feel the same way! Orange fruits and veggies are stock full of vitamin C, another strong antioxidant which boosts the immune system and also protects against cardiovascular disease.

Yellow is another bright color that represents happiness, joy, and health. Yellow fruits and veggies contain carotenoids and bioflavonoids, water-soluble plant pigments that function as antioxidants.

Green represents nature, the environment, and wellness! Green fruits and veggies are packed with fiber and beta-carotene. Green fruits and veggies also contain phytochemicals such as lutein and indoles which help lower your risk of certain cancers, improve eye health, and promote healthy bones.

Blue and purple foods contain, flavonoids, and vitamins D & K. They help promote bone health, can help lower the risk of certain cancers, improve memory, and increase urinary-tract health. 

When you eat a healthy variety of organic fruit and vegetables you not only fill your body with what it needs to stay strong, you feel good about the choices you are making to take care of yourself, improving mental health. So, take in as much sunshine as you can and eat more fruits and vegetables! Doing these two things are two of the easiest ways to serve your whole self: mind, body, and spirit. 

Bringing the sunshine,

Tristan and Joelle

*Consider gifting a Box of Good or one of our beautiful gift baskets, to a friend or loved one. It will nourish their body and brighten their day!  

It just keeps getting increasingly complicated to plan birthdays, weddings, and holiday gatherings. All I know for sure is that COVID is real, it is still rearing its ugly head and we have had to learn to hold onto our plans lightly. 

With Thanksgiving a week away, we are still pivoting at Klesick’s to help our Box of Good community celebrate and have some sense of normalcy during this season. For 23 years we have offered our traditional Holiday Thanksgiving box, a big box of good with all the fixings to feed a small army. And while we are seeing a lot of Holiday box orders, many of you have been asking for smaller portions this year with many of our holiday gatherings being curtailed.  

We have a solution consider ordering “sides” as a good alternative to the Holiday box. You can add-on Brussels Sprouts to potatoes to yams to cranberries to mushrooms or anything else that strikes your fancy.  Adding your favorite sides is a great way to enjoy your Thanksgiving meal. Just log in to your account or contact the office and we will help you order for your meal needs.  

I remember one really busy year with family events, that our family served croissant sandwiches and all the sides for Thanksgiving, still felt like Thanksgiving, even though we didn’t serve turkey as the centerpiece. 

As I write this newsletter, I think that this might be the year of “create and adapt.” With all the moving pieces and challenges we have all had to endure these past 8 months, being creative and adapting has been the more the norm than usual. And for the near future let’s continue to create and adapt and find ways to serve in our communities. 

We have experienced your tangible generosity through your “tips” for our Klesick’s Team and through your continued giving to local food banks. We have delivered over 1500 boxes of good quality produce that you have sponsored. This is in addition to all the number 2 produce that gets sent every week to local food banks. Because of your purchases, many local food banks are handing out nutritious, quality organic produce to our neighbors in need every week of the year, and even more during Thanksgiving. 

If you would like to add a holiday donation box or make a cash donation for this year’s Thanksgiving, call our office, or log in to your account and add it there. We send out tax deductible donation receipts in January, too. 

This connection we have fostered with the food bank community for over 23 years is one of the many reasons we refer to our home delivery service as a “box of good”. 

Check your emails or visit our website to order a food bank box or add on some delicious “sides” for your Thanksgiving meal. 

-Tristan 

This might be the craziest season as food company and a farm. We are gearing up for the Thanksgiving holiday and please pay attention to your inboxes for information with regards to the holiday menus and delivery dates. 

During the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving we will be planning for your orders. For the last 23 years we have been providing a holiday box with all the traditional fixings and at the same time still offering our regular boxes and add-ons. We are here to help you plan and prepare for your Thanksgiving.

The other change is EVERYONE is going to get their deliveries before Thanksgiving, and it is going to be a little nutty as we cram 5 delivery days into 3. And PLANNING makes it all work. Which is why I mentioned checking your inboxes. We are sending out written and email order sheets and the sooner we get them back the smoother the Thanksgiving Holiday will be. 

We also have a Food Bank Holiday box that we deliver to several area food banks the week before Thanksgiving. If you would like to help us feed the less fortunate this holiday season, you can purchase a box or 10 ? and we will make sure the food gets delivered to the local food banks. Thank you in advance for your giving, it truly embodies what a “box of good” means!

Please get your order forms in early by emailing a picture, going online, calling us, returning it with your next delivery.  

Walnuts

Our 2020 walnut crop is drying in the greenhouse. We don’t have commercial dryers, so we use our greenhouses to dry them. This changes the flavor and texture than store bought walnuts. They taste “walnutty”, but have a softer texture to the bite. I did dry some in our home dehydrator. They tasted great, but I guess after 17 years of slow drying in them in our greenhouses, I prefer them that taste. You can check out the Walnut harvest and drying processes on FB or IG.

As a farmer and produce person, nothing is more rewarding than growing, sourcing and delivering nutritious and flavorful food – I love that!

Bon Appetit,

-Tristan

This might be the craziest season as food company and a farm. We are gearing up for the Thanksgiving holiday and please pay attention to your inboxes for information with regards to the holiday menus and delivery dates. 

During the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving we will be planning for your orders. For the last 23 years we have been providing a holiday box with all the traditional fixings and at the same time still offering our regular boxes and add-ons. We are here to help you plan and prepare for your Thanksgiving.

The other change is EVERYONE is going to get their deliveries before Thanksgiving and it is going to be a little nutty as we cram 5 delivery days into 3. And PLANNING makes it all work. Which is why I mentioned checking your inboxes. We are sending out written and email order sheets and the sooner we get them back the smoother the Thanksgiving Holiday will be. 

We also have a Food Bank Holiday box that we deliver to several area food banks the week before Thanksgiving. If you would like to help us feed the less fortunate this holiday season, you can purchase a box or 10 ? and we will make sure the food gets delivered to the local food banks. Thank you in advance for your giving, it truly embodies what a “box of good” means!

On the farm, we are busy reconfiguring our layout to be more efficient and grow more vegetables next year. We, also, just landed our Garlic seed for next year and will be busy getting it planted. We worked up the garlic beds a few weeks ago, but with COVID everything seems to be a little later shipping. But it is here, and the weather is favorable, so we are counting are blessings and being diligent!

We have also managed to sell through all of our winter squash for the season. Next year we will plant a little more and have it available through the Holidays. The same is true for our 2020 garlic, we just didn’t plant enough, and I am a little sad about that. Those are two of my favorite crops. Thankfully, we have deep relationships with other farms and can access their supply. 

We are big roasted veggie fans at our home and serve them 2 or 3 times a week. Last week, I cut up the sweet potatoes, yams, yellow potatoes and a Delicata and Butternut squash. We didn’t season the squash, just halved it, cooked it at 425 cut side down for 45 minutes. It was so good, bursting with flavor. Normally we season our roasted veggies with garlic powder, salt and pepper with some olive oil, but that squash, Oh My Goodness, was heavenly.

As a farmer and produce person, nothing is more rewarding than growing, sourcing and delivering nutritious and flavorful food – I love that!

Bon Appetit,

-Tristan Klesick