Wedding season or farm season? It’s BOTH around here! It is a very special week at Klesick’s. Joelle and I are excited to welcome Abigail into our family. We have known her parents and family for years and have had the pleasure of watching Abby grow up before our eyes. She is a beautiful young […]
Thank you for all the kind comments and outpouring of care expressed over the last few weeks. The gift of movement is much more appreciated by this farmer than ever before. Essentially, I can walk pain free, but can’t kneel or climb stairs, and while I am waiting for the MRI results, I have adapted […]
This year we have committed to growing even more food on our farm than we have in the past, which precipitated a need for more help to handle the additional weeding, harvesting, more weeding etc. Like most years, I have a big appetite for planting and while I do plan, the amount of work is […]
Last week we delved into the benefits of farmland and having farmers to work the land. Having local farmland is a national security issue, a national health issue and national environmental issue. Let’s face it, if we do not control our food supply we will be at the mercy of those countries that do. And […]
Every farm at one time was a family farm. But along the way, farming became more business-like and less farm-like. Don’t get me wrong, farming has a bottom line and to stay in business a farm has to make a profit. What changed though? When did our food become so impersonal? It’s just lettuce, or […]
Last week I delved into weeding and our strategies to combat the looming invasion that comes with plowing and planting. This time of year is especially hard on folks with allergies. My fields look like it has snowed! Living near the river also means living near cottonwoods, and this time of year all my freshly […]
I always know that I am planting at the right time of the year because everything else around me is germinating too! And oh boy, it looks like it has been a good year for the other seedlings – AKA Weeds! As an organic farmer, I have a fairly high tolerance for weeds and weed […]
I have never direct seeded Green beans in April before. As a matter of fact, I have never seeded Green Beans at the same time as Sugar Snap Peas either. The weather pattern is shifting and after a few years of extra-wet springs followed by a heat wave, I am starting to have to adapt […]
Spring is filled with so many scents! It’s the beginning a of sensory overload. Last week, I was walking up to the house, deep in thought as a northerly wind was blowing… I had been contemplating the unfortunate timing of having just planted seeds right before the big lightning and thunderstorm, which brought on lots […]
Mom is one of the most powerful words in every language. Everybody has one and half of us get the opportunity to be one. Moms are world shapers, molding the future and working hard to make this world a better place. It isn’t easy to raise children and it is often a misunderstood and daunting […]
Don’t you enjoy fun facts or sayings? “Don’t plow more than you can disc in a day” is akin to “Don’t bite off more than you can chew”. These two sayings are getting at a similar thought but were born out in real world examples. Most of us can relate to having taken on too […]
How am I ever going to lose 10, 20, 30 or more pounds? Losing weight is a fairly simple mathematical equation—calories burned minus calories consumed. Calories are a measure of energy. The more energy you use the more calories you need to fuel your body and conversely, the less energy you use the less fuel […]
“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” John Kennedy “No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind him/her distinct and legitimate reasons for having passed through it.” George Washington Carver “We are going to need […]
This is where I live, this is where I serve, and this is where I have my greatest impact. Have you ever heard “bloom where you are planted”? That makes great sense if you are a dandelion, or a rose, or a maple tree, or, or, or? Of course, the plant world gets it. They […]
Doing nothing couldn’t be farther from the truth. If you are “doing nothing”, that means you are doing something but just consider it not as valuable as doing something. For sure, even when you think you are doing nothing, your mind and body are still doing something. And we can all be thankful for that! […]
I still remember the day that Joelle and I made the bold decision to offer home delivery of farm fresh produce and started delivering to those first 50 customers. In some ways it seems like a lifetime ago and in other ways it seems just like yesterday! And we are always excited to see another […]
Does anyone else have a little extra spring in their step? I know I do. The sunshine draws you outside and the increasing day length, WOW, what a gift that is! Every year many of the PNW folks wander around in a mental fog from November to February – and farmers are no different. It […]
