Category: Words from Tristan

Posted on by

The Days Are Getting Shorter

This is the season where I just run out of gas, figuratively and sometimes literally. The one thing you never want to run out of is DIESEL. Nope. Never run a tractor out of DIESEL. Gas yes; Diesel no. But sometimes, I personally just run out of gas. I have been at this farming season for 7 months so far and there are a few more to go.

And this farm season has been hard. Wet early and well into June. Then DRY! The weather pattern has stressed some of the crops and blessed others. Great year for cucumbers and tomatoes; lettuces and spinach, marginal at best. Blackberries and raspberries were happy, as were the birds that descended on them like locusts. Farm years like this one require so much mental energy.

Twenty years ago, I made a choice to not farm with chemicals, to focus on soil health, biology and habitat. Which means that I have to work with nature. When the weather is too wet or too dry, the crops can get bug and disease pressures. But, if you are going to choose to not farm with chemicals/poisons, you are going to have “those” years that remind you how fragile the farming and the food system is.

But this is the time of year when local farmers have lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. We will be into peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers till the first frost and soon we will be harvesting our pears and plums. Potatoes and winter squash will be coming after that. And then we will start to put the farm to bed with cover crops of wheat, rye, oats and vetch to protect our soils and feed the biology.

As the days get shorter and Summer marches towards Fall, so does my outside work and I am grateful for that. Yes, life is returning to normal and I can get back on a schedule. Anybody else feel like you can’t wait for school to get out and you can’t wait for it to start? I know as a farmer, summer is just crazy. Your life is ordered around the day length and chores, but when school starts, life takes on a different rhythm.

It is a more peaceful rhythm like the “Resolve” at the end of a great symphony. Still very intricate, but as the seasons change from Spring to Summer to Fall, this farmer senses it is time to begin to hush the horns, percussions and, eventually, the winds and let the farm I partner with rest, rejuvenate and get ready for next season.

 

Tristan

Farmer, Health Advocate

 

Posted on by

Hand in Hand

Being a first-generation family farm has been an amazing journey. For nearly 20 years, Joelle and I have been supplying, growing, and delivering our produce and produce from other farms. As we near Fall and the Fall harvest, I am reminded that what was a little seed a few months ago is ready for harvest now. Time flies by.

For Joelle and I, our farm has transitioned from being the young farming family to being a multigenerational farm family. Time has flown by. With each season there are so many rewards and riches to be had, but some of the most precious are the excitement and wonder of children.

Our youngest, Joanna (7), still excitedly reminds us to look at the sunset every night. She hasn’t quite figured out how to remind us to look at the sunrise, though. ? Sunsets and sunrises are spectacular, but seeing another grandson or granddaughter join the family – that is life changing.

Joelle and I are both parenting and grand parenting. The older children have gotten married and are having children and our little Joanna is now an Auntie 4 times over with one more coming in November.

A few weeks ago, we welcomed Nathan Lee Klesick to the world. I haven’t got him on the tractor yet, but it will happen sooner than I can say scalafragilisticespcalldocius. Because, well, time flies by. And before I know it that little guy will be under foot harvesting strawberries alongside his grandparents, just like his older brothers and cousins, and just like their parents did.

Seeing your third generation is a gift. Having them grow up near the farm, spend time on the farm, and experience the farm, that is priceless. Right now, those little ones are more likely to get a taste of the dirt on our farm, but that taste could very well lead to a future taste for farming.

For me, I am going to work a little slower and take a little more time to get the chores done, because I will have the third generation trying to keep pace with grandpa’s footsteps. To hear “Grandpa, Grandpa” and turn around and see a little one toddling as fast as those little legs can go is all the motivation I need to slow down, bend down, and swoop them up!

Maybe it is just me, but I think that locally grown food tastes better, because a local family on a local farm is growing it and quite possibly, as it is with our farm, another generation of future farmers, too.

 

Teaching another generation to farm,

 

Tristan

Farmer, Health Advocate

Posted on by

Rain – It’s Overrated

Water. Who needs water?

We just passed a record without rain for the Seattle area that has stood since 1951. YES, 1951! My parents were wee lads and lasses back then. I wonder if global warming was the talk of the day. They were probably more concerned with the Russians coming through Canada or maybe it was how North Korea with the help of China and Russia invaded South Korea?

One could conclude that not much has changed since 1951. What are we talking about in today’s local and world events? How dry it is, North Korea, China, and Russia. Hmm, I guess I don’t have to worry about wondering what my grandparents were thinking about in the 50’s anymore. I am reliving it.

 

Oh, and of course the Modern Supermarket got a solid stronghold on the American marketplace. And our cheap food model has been exported all over the world to the detriment of local communities everywhere. What about today? We see a mini renaissance of local food outlets. Victory gardens and eating locally were still widely in use in the 50’s and lots of small farms dotted the landscape. But once again, we see the big getting bigger with Amazon buying Whole Foods and the PCC’s building another new store every year or another local farmer selling out and a larger farmer taking over.

 

But we are not seeing the local farm community keep pace; it is as if the American populace has chosen industrial food all over again, only this time it is even more convenient – you don’t even have to leave your home to get what you want!

 

In 1997, when we started a home delivery company based on a local farm and farm-direct model, quality and convenience was our niche. Back then, we knew that if we were going to make it as first-generation farmers, we needed to serve local families and that’s what we did. We chose to serve one family at a time, to provide the freshest ingredients at competitive prices. We built our farming methods around variety and quality and our business model around customer service.

 

These are the things that Joelle and I wanted for our diet – variety and quality – as well as actually being appreciated for being a customer. We extend these basic tenets to you, our customers, every day, in every interaction, whether it is through email, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, or a phone call or when you get a box of good delivered.

 

The only reason that Klesick Farms is even a farm today is because a local family said we want the freshest, best quality, farm-direct fruits and vegetables. There was no other way for us to be able to farm unless a family like yours said “Yes” to a local farm and our delivery service.

And that is a good thing that I hope never changes, because local food only comes from local farmers and organic food only comes from organic farmers. I have the best of both worlds, I am small family farm serving local families in my community, just like it was in the 50’s.

 

May this never change.

 

Tristan

Farmer, Health Advocate

Posted on by

Garlic and Flowers

Hello August and Hello Fall Soccer! August is that transition month where a lot of us start thinking about back to school, fall sports and last vacations. And I am so glad that the Stanwood/Camano School district is starting after Labor Day. Because, I am going to need every available minute before my school aged crew goes back to school.

Labor is the tightest I have ever seen…but there are crops planted and they will need to be harvested and after all the work it takes to get a crop to harvest, you can be darn sure that I will get it harvested. It might take a harvest moon or two or head lamps, but it will get done! ?

Flowers

Every year, I have this volunteer crop of sunflowers that grow. I let them grow so the birds can eat them, then I mow them and till them in. The next year what the birds didn’t eat starts to reseed. These sunflowers are special because they remind me of our oldest son’s wedding. You see, his future wife had asked for sunflowers for her wedding and I, being a farmer, was more than happy to comply. So, for the last four years, the Klesick family gets to enjoy and reminisce about the wedding on that special day in August.

We also have beautiful red Poppies that have re-seeded themselves from our second son’s wedding 3 years ago. Yep, you guessed it. His future wife had wanted wildflowers! And I, as a farmer, was more than happy to comply. ? This year there is a splash of color intermixed with the potatoes.

Joelle and I have been blessed to see our four oldest children get married. And you know what that means–GRANDCHILDREN! We will be adding two more grandsons, one in August and one in November, bringing the total to 4 grandsons and 1 granddaughter. It is pretty emotional to be walking around the farm with your grandchildren and think that the third generation is on its way.

Garlic

Last week we harvested our Inchelium Garlic. A little later than I would have liked, but, like I shared earlier, we got it done. We don’t spend much time curing our garlic. Curing is the drying process that allows garlic to store longer. I don’t have a lot of extra storing capacity, so I plant less and sell it fresh. You can use your garlic like any other garlic, but use it sooner. Inchelium has beautiful flavor and would be great roasted or minced.

We are also starting our first picking of green beans. We have 3 plantings of green and 2 plantings of purple this year. Garden-fresh beans are the best. Steamed beans and carrots with a little butter. Incredible and so simple!

 

Enjoy!

 

Tristan, Farmer and Health Advocate

Posted on by

Seems Crazy

Rain from October to June and then it just stops; sunny and mid 70’s with a breeze. Beautiful, relaxing weather. Now, all I need is rain. It’s always too much or not enough or not at all. This weather is perfect unless we all want to eat!

Do you know who is eating well? Cedar Waxwings! And we have a bumper crop of fledglings this year. We also have a lot of robins, gold finches, and sparrows. But those Cedar Waxwings make robins a welcome addition to the farm. Ok, maybe that’s a stretch, but by inviting wildlife into our eco space, AKA organic farm, we have encouraged all types of birds to nest, procreate and EAT!

The wildlife, while still wild, is certainly not timid. I was picking blackberries and heard the distinctive call of the waxwing and stopped to see where the bird was “feasting”. Not more than a few feet from me! She hopped up onto the closest berry wire and sat there. If I had a net, I probably could have scooped her up.

So, the waxwing and I had a quiet moment, studying each other, neither of us fearing one another. I think she was saying, “Farmer Tristan, thank you for planting all these lovely blackberries and raspberries.” And, as I was peering back into those little black eyes, I couldn’t help, but notice the lovely shade of BRIGHT RED Raspberry lipstick! Let me tell you, L’Oréal has nothing to compare with the real deal!

One of the problems is that my berries come on well before the wild blackberries. So, every berry eating bird does what birds do. They set up residence near food, water and each other. Also known as Klesick Farms. Since I want to have early berries, I’m just going to have to contend with the berry loving avian population.

Going forward, I will have to net the berry patch to try and limit their access. I would rather put a sign up that says, “bird berries here, help yourselves,” but experience has taught me that only fish go to school.

 

Tristan

 

Posted on by

Wildlife and Farming

Wildlife and Farming

Peter Rabbit and his siblings have taken up residence this year! The rabbits are cute and fun to watch scurry around. And they definitely feel at home! You can practically walk right up to them. The other day I found one sunning itself in the greenhouse under the cucumbers. The nerve!

I haven’t seen too much vegetable damage from the rabbits. But I have been scratching my head lately, wondering why the drip irrigation is leaking in unusual places. I even replaced a section the other day that was all scratched up. Hmmm!

I mentioned this story to John, my #1 farm hand and it was like a light bulb went off above our heads. He just replaced two complete sections of drip tape which was all scratched up! But they weren’t all scratched up, they were chewed up, apparently those lazy critters are helping themselves to a drink every now and then FROM THE DRIP TAPE!

Part of the problem is that our farm dog has gotten along in years and while his desire to chase rabbits still exists, the motivation to chase rabbits has long since left?. Of course, having a good rabbit chasing dog has its advantages (like less rabbits wandering willy-nilly here and there). But, since that option isn’t present, we will have to go to Plan B. I am going to put a plywood rabbit door that us humans can step over or move and then I am going to put a water dish outside the greenhouse.

Obviously, our ” farm ecosystem” is a little out of balance, which is why we have a lot of rabbits. Eventually, the coyote/owl/falcon/hawk/eagle populations will respond to the new increased food/rabbit supply and create balance again. It will take time, which means I will need to manage the operation a little differently and possibly get another rabbit-chasing farm dog. (If you know of any Lab or Chesapeake or German Short Hair puppies or mature dogs available let me know.)

This week’s menu has 13 locally grown fruits and vegetables. It has been a very late start to the local season, but we’re harvesting now! We are even seeing a few tomatoes ripening, both the Early Girls and the Sungold Cherry tomatoes. And we are going to have a bumper crop of cucumbers, green beans and beets. The potatoes have really loved the cool spring and this dry stretch. Of course, everything has really loved this dry stretch of warm weather, even this farmer.

What is fun about market/truck farming is that the landscape is always changing. Every week we are planting something, then we add weeding to the planting, and then eventually you add harvesting to the planting, and weeding–which is where we are right now–and it is busy! Around September planting slows down your focus on harvesting and weeding. In October, you stop weeding altogether and keep harvesting, and then in November you take a long nap and wait till Spring to start the cycle all over again!

But right now, it is local produce time and us local farmers are getting it out of our fields and delivered to your door.

 

Tristan

Farmer, Health Advocate

 

 

Come out to the Farm for a lesson in plein air acrylic painting!

‘Mountain & Field Landscape’ Acrylic on canvas, 11×14 Painting Class with Nancy Hansen.

Come paint in the open air at Klesick Family Farm on July 29!

Date: Saturday, July 29

Time: 6:00-8:00 PM

Location: Klesick Family Farm

Materials: Provided.

Cost: $35

Registration required. Click here or call our office to register today! 360-652-4663

 

Posted on by

Peas and Potatoes

Peas and Potatoes

Few things are as rewarding as a freshly hilled potatoes or white blossoms on Sugar Snap peas. These are sure signs that summer is on its way.

I just finished hilling the potatoes for the first time this season. They are looking green and happy. We hill, or cover, the plants with soil so that it will produce more potatoes. Hilling encourages more potatoes to form and protects them from sunlight. In a good year, we will hill them 3 times. So far it looks like we are on schedule.

And the Sugar Snap Peas are turning it up! The plants are about 5 feet tall and there are a few more feet left in them. It always amazes me that one pea seed can produce so much. You can look for the first splash of juicy Sugar Snap Peas in early to mid July. I had thought we would be picking them by now, but the “Junuary” weather has delayed more than a few crops this year. Thankfully they are just delayed.

Spraying

At Sorticulture, I was talking with a fair-goer about our grass-fed beef. He was fairly knowledgeable and looking for an argument. In the middle of our conversation, he said, “What do you spray on your fields?” He was insinuating that I spray chemicals on my pastures. It is a good question, because so many farmers, local or otherwise sell meat and vegetables using the word “local” or grass fed. And many local farmers will use chemical fertilizers or herbicides in their pastures. Are their vegetables and fruit “local” or the animals “grass fed”? Absolutely. But they are often also locally sprayed or farmed with chemicals.

This person obviously knew that many local farmers use chemicals on their pastures and when he asked me, “What do you spray on your fields?” I said, “Kelp”. End of possible argument. Yes, we spray our fields every 7-10 days with a kelp/fish/soil microbe mix. We use certified organic amendments and ingredients in our fertilizer blends and are inspected annually to verify we are complying with the National Organic Program standards.

From the beginning, on our farm we haven’t used synthetic chemicals. It has been that way for 20 years and I see no reason to change. My children and grandchildren can wander anywhere they want and eat whatever they want any time on our farm. Their health is important to me and so is yours.

4th of July

Just a quick update: I talked with my team and we decided to keep our regular schedule during the week of July 4th. So, no changes to your delivery day or order deadlines. But for our Tuesday customers, expect your deliveries a little earlier, since there should be less Boeing traffic that day. 🙂

 

Tristan

 

Posted on by

Sticktoitiveness

If you are going to be a farmer, you have to have “sticktoitiveness. Yes, that’s a word, and I couldn’t find a better one to describe farmers or at least this farmer. I am going to get a crop off my farm no matter what Nature (the weather, pests, disease) throws at me. I am even going to get a crop off my farm when I have to fill out the umpteenth survey from the US Department of Agriculture, or the mountain of paperwork to keep my farm Certified Organic. Of all the hassle that comes with growing foods without chemicals, Nature is my favorite partner to work with.

Nature is a formidable, constantly mixing things up – daily! This spring has been one for the ages, and it looks like June will be as us farmers call it “Junuary.” Last year was a breeze, this year has been a howler. I have a confession though; every time I planted spinach or beets, it would rain buckets a few days later. The first time it happened, I chocked it up to bad timing. Planting spinach before a deluge on my farm is akin to pouring concrete over the crop. We have a fair amount of clay, and if the sun comes out a few days later I could make bricks!

Bear in mind that spinach seed and vegetable seeds in general are a hardy lot, but they aren’t as hardy as weeds. And yes, a few seeds have managed to find their way to the light of day.

Undeterred, I plowed up more ground and planted again and it rained buckets again. One more time I planted and it rained again. I am not a superstitious person, but after three times of planting spinach and creating “concrete” even I was getting a little wary of planting spinach. Well, last week I was getting ready to plant more spinach, and I looked at the forecast for Thursday and Friday, scratched my chin – deep in thought and at that moment I decided to not plant spinach! So, for the record, that last deluge was not my fault, because I didn’t plant spinach! Although I did seed 4 acres of rye/fescue seed for a new hay field the night before! 🙂

If you are going to be a farmer, you have to have sticktoitiveness. It also helps to be diversified and while the spinach is languishing, the potatoes, onions, sugar snap peas, beans, carrots, lettuce, kohlrabi, blackberries, raspberries, apples, plums, pears, cucumbers, corn, summer and winter squash are coming along.

But everything, including this farmer, and probably you, could use some warmer weather to really get growing.

 

The undeterred farmer,

Tristan

Posted on by

Mettle

This spring has been quite the start to the farming season. Springs like this sure can test your mettle. Thankfully, we have a long growing season in the PNW!

Seriously. I just kept planting, replanting and replanting. I figured that eventually, we would get 4 days of dry weather and one of my spinach seedlings would germinate and not have to rise through a rain compacted layer of newly formed mud.

It all works out though. Because I need to plant more green beans, I will just plant that quarter acre of what was supposed to be spinach to my 3rd planting of green beans. Green beans are a bright spot on the farm. I think every one of those seeds germinated on the first planting. Who would have ever thought that would happen this year??? ME! Every time I plant something, I think it is going to be my best crop ever. ?

The other day, when I was taking my kids to school, we got behind a tractor (it’s Stanwood) and it was going as fast as it could, maybe 10 MPH. One could feel the tension rising as line of cars began to grow–5 cars, 10 cars, 15 cars. I knew that there were going to be some frustrated people. Having been in this situation many times as the tractor driver myself, the tension was palpable to me, especially on a 50 MPH road! At this point, I started talking out loud to myself and my daughters, “Oh the nerve. That tractor is slowing everyone down, going to make us late for school, probably get someone killed trying to pass them on a corner, folks swearing at him and waving with their middle finger and… we would all be a whole lot hungrier if that farmer wasn’t doing their job.” That’s when my daughters looked up from their phones, and I said, “Oh, you were listening to me.” 🙂 We waved at Nathan, the farmer, and continued on our way.

Good Food Farm Tours!

Joelle and I are hosting several events on our farm this summer. This last weekend we kicked off the first of our Summer of Fun Good Food Farm tours, and I’m pretty sure we have the best customers. We visited as we leisurely strolled through our farm talking about farming, biodiversity, and what not. A few folks got to plant spinach and beans. Others sat in a tractor for photo ops. Hope to see you at the next tour! CLICK HERE TO VIEW TOURS. Joelle and I are grateful, and consider it a privilege, to be your farmers and share our farm with you. Eating healthy and being healthy takes a little planning and effort, but so does growing healthy food–the fresher, the better. That’s why we love growing vegetables and fruit – they are the foundation to a healthy, vibrant life.

 

Cheers to your health!

Tristan Klesick, Farmer, Health Advocate

Posted on by

Never Plough More Than You Can Disc in a Day

This is sage advice from a bygone era of time. Yet, like most advice that has stood the test of time, it is timeless. Essentially it means don’t start what you can’t finish. Anybody relate to that???? As a farmer in the Stillaguamish Valley who is blessed with “heavy” (more clay and less sand) soils, you learn a lot about patience. If you happen to be travelling through the valley, you will notice that the farmers are busy as anyone can be. Often, they work around the clock or use two or three tractors at a time in the same field. Of course, most are still using humans to drive the tractors, but many are using GPS systems to steer them. It is only a matter of time before driver-less farming takes hold on the mega operations.

But I digress. You might notice on your trip to the valley that the farmers sure spend a lot of time working the soil before they plant. Soil preparation is pretty foundational to what we do. But, if you were to drive by that same field a few days later, you might take a double take. You might even say, “Didn’t they just work all that soil a few days ago?” And you would be right. Because our soil is so heavy, the farmers in this valley work the top 6 inches and get it ready to plant. Then they plow it over and repeat the process. This gives them about 12 inches of deeply worked soil. Then they plant the potatoes or carrots or cabbage.

The only wrinkle in the operation is the weather. If it rains too much, we get to start all over again. And this year, we have had lots of “practice” working our soils and even replanting a few times. The other reason many farmers use multiple tractors is that if you plow too much ground up and let it sit for a couple days, the clods that are plowed up become as hard as rocks and you will spend a lot more time trying to bust up those clods. So, when a farmer plows a field, most of the time we start discing the soil immediately. Better to do a little well than a lot poorly.

Of course, if you have light (sandy) soil, none of this matters. Instead, you will spend a whole lot of time moving your irrigation. 🙂

Good Food Farm Tours

Our first farm tour is this weekend. Tours start on the hour at 10am and 11am. On this tour, we will be focusing on the orchard (apples, pears, plums) and the berries (raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and kiwi berries). Please register for a tour time here, for planning purposes. Every tour this summer will be different and will reflect the changing seasons. Looking forward to seeing you on the farm!

 

Tristan Klesick, Farmer and Health Advocate