When I was a kid, the strawberry bus would come by every June down to South Everett. The bus would pick up middle schoolers and high schoolers and haul them off to Marysville or Mount Vernon. As the season went on, the same bus would pick up mostly the same the kids and haul them […]
I came across a quote from W. Clement Stone. He is attributed to have said, “Little hinges swing big doors.” Let that sink in for a moment. “Little hinges swing big doors.” What size hinge is necessary to swing the doors in our lives that are blocking progress? One needs the appropriate size hinge, the […]
I’m hoping for more summer, but last week had that Fall feel to it. When I came downstairs, the heater had turned on. I thought to myself: hmm, that is strange. To the thermostat’s credit, it was chilly. Of course, a few cold mornings in early August don’t predict the future, but before we know it, it will be September. And you […]
Commerce has always been the heartbeat of every economy. Let’s face it, if a community has no way, or severely limited ways, to create products or get them to a market, that community is going to be smaller, and possibly not even exist. The idea of local means something different to different people. For some it might mean buying Chinese […]
As a culture, we have anecdotally, though incorrectly, placed farming and technology at opposite ends of the spectrum. Particularly with organic farming, our first visuals stem from old black and white pictures of grandma and grandpa, with one holding a pitchfork, the other, some corn stalks. Or there was the Back-To-The-Land Movement in the 60s […]
This week we are featuring Klesick Farms Inchelium garlic. We have settled into this variety to grow. It is a classic soft-neck garlic as opposed to a hard-neck garlic. The latter produces a seed pod, called a garlic scape, that is edible. Ironically, those seed heads will eventually turn into bulbils, which is essentially a […]
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 themselves in the greenhouse under the cucumbers. The nerve! I haven’t seen too much vegetable damage […]
The Stillaguamish River Valley has been the home of the Klesick Family for 70 years. I haven’t really given it that much thought till the last week on the 4th of July. My grandparents moved to Oso in the early 1950’s, like many folks from that generation, they were WW2 veterans and settled in Puget Sound. And a good many […]
How many servings of fruit and vegetables should we eat? Can we group potatoes and sweet potatoes in the vegetable category? I hope so because this is potato Salad week! Grilling and potato salad are going to be highlights for the 4th, and of course, no end to fireworks, especially for rural folk. We have just added USDA grass-fed […]
Last week we had a good “drink” of water from Heaven and that evening we were treated to an intensely rich pink sunset. This world is a beautiful place if we take the time to be still. There is so much to see all around us, so much intricacy, delicacy, and grace. We are blessed. […]
This is the best tasting crop, and it only lasts for only a few weeks! And we got them earlier than ever to boot! That incredible stretch in March is paying dividends now. For some reason, I remember picking peas on June 11th in 1999 when our farm was located in Machias. That is the earliest we have ever harvested this […]
Soil is critical to human health! Healthy food comes from healthy soils, and a healthy citizenry comes from healthy food. That means the health of our citizens is tied directly back to the health of our soil. And sadly, one doesn’t have to look very far from the farm to see that there is a burgeoning population of […]
This is the hardest time of the year for me as a farmer. We are primarily vegetable farmers but also grow some fruit and hay. Vegetables are incredibly slow growing in the spring, and then all of the sudden – BAM! A little heat and little water with increasing day length equals growth. This time […]
We are getting so close to the local season exploding! The next few months are going to roll in like morning fog, and then heat up like hot summer day. The rain last week has hydrated the crops and added moisture to the fields. The moisture is especially helpful this time of year for 2 […]
When I think about small things, I am thinking about the little decisions that can elevate a conversation to optimism or an argument. Or on the farm, getting ahead of the weather by a day or two can also have lasting impacts on the crops. Last week, we saw temperatures climb from the low 60s […]
When your world revolves around the farming calendar, some memories are forever with you. It was 1994 and I had begun my career in the produce business. That was a long time ago! During these early years, before Joelle and I started Klesick Farms, I worked in specialty produce in Portland Oregon. It was here that I met […]
Inevitably, we end up planting our 1st, 2nd, and possibly 3rd rotation of lettuce transplants all at once. This not a big deal, it just tends to stack up a lot of lettuce at one time. Thankfully, lettuce mostly matures at the same time. “Mostly” being the operative word. All crops have a range of […]
