In its truest sense, a time stamp records when an event happened. I have been thinking about how the Time Stamps of my life have shaped who I am today. There are lots of things that have shaped me, genetics, family dynamics, outside relationships access to opportunities through all of these. And within in all […]

We’ve got you covered. For those of you newer to our service, we plan a box specifically for Thanksgiving called the Holiday box and it is filled with your traditional fixings for all of your side dishes. We aren’t able to provide the turkey though, but everything else is available to make this day a […]

I have been thinking a lot about trees lately, probably because we are in the throes of harvesting walnuts. As near as I can tell our walnut trees were planted sometime after 1914, because I have a photograph from that year and they are not present. I believe they were planted in the late 1940’s and there are quite a few walnut trees of the same […]

“Legend has it that Isaac Newton came up with gravitational theory in 1665, or 1666, after watching an apple fall. He asked why the apple fell straight down, rather than sideways or even upward.” (Excerpted from National Geographic) This time of year, our attention turns to the nutty side of the farm – WALNUT HARVEST! […]

As I finish out another year on this planet, it is a good time to reflect. I have so much to be thankful for and one of them is for the opportunity to serve so many families in NW Washington. My role has changed as I have “matured” and I find myself managing more and […]

We hosted another weekend of pumpkin hunting, and it was great to both meet and reconnect with so many of our customers. We had hundreds of you come by and say, “Hello”! Three families, who made the trek to Stanwood, started buying food from us back when Joelle and I started our family business as the Organic Produce Shoppe inside Manna Mills in 1998. I remembered those smiles, but the names […]

This weather has been amazing. What has not been amazing is the labor market. I knew it was going to be tight, but I never imagined this tight. Back in July John and I had a meeting to discuss our fall planting schedule. July and early August are when we plant another round of cabbages, […]

Feels like Fall is coming early, I am hoping for an Indian Summer. Time will tell. Early last week, I woke up at 3:30am and drifting off to sleep again was eluding me. Thankfully, I rarely wake up 1.5 hours before my usual start to the day, maybe 10 minutes early, but rarely 90 minutes. […]

Those hot August nights came in June and July. If you are a gardener or have flower beds, your plants are a little stressed. And/or you have had a second job watering around the clock. Pay attention to your soil moisture, cooler days do not necessarily lead to no watering, but less watering. Managing soil […]

This is the time of year when the weeds start to win out. Early in the Spring and Summer we have a lot of pent-up energy to get outside and get growing food. We spend hours planning during the fall and eventually that translates to hours of planting and then weeding and then harvesting.  But […]

That brief rain we had last weekend was welcomed. We could use more, but I am still grateful for what we did get.  I have to confess, I had resigned myself to warmer weather and no rain till September, so I haven’t been really paying attention to weather. I was thankful for the cooling trend […]

For those of us who live in NW Washington, we know that the summers can be dry. It is not unusual to have 3 or 4 weeks without rain. In fact, if you mentioned how dry it has been to family and friends in say, Virginia, they would think you are joking. Their belief is […]

We are excited to be able to offer local blueberries from Hazel Blue Acres for the next few weeks. This week they are featured in some of the boxes as well as being sold as add-ons! You can purchase extra blueberries by the clamshell or by the 1/2 flat. Just email us or add them […]

My neighbor has a beautiful lawn. My car isn’t as nice as my coworkers. I wish I had _____________ (fill in the blank). Others may have better health. Why do we compare and what is gained from it? If you allow it to inspire you to greater achievements or cause you to change a poor […]

The last month and half has been a hard season for a dear friend. He started to not feel well in early June, was in and out of the ER, before finally being hospitalized. Ten days later, he was diagnosed with stage 3 Colon Cancer. I remember the call as if it were yesterday, “I have Colon Cancer.” He is in his early 40’s, well before the […]

Weather is one of the safest conversation topics unless you go deeper and then it is more like politics and religion. Whole systems are built around weather and its seasonality. Natural resource industries like farming or ranching or timber can be blessed or hampered by the weather. New industries can be created or shuttered based […]

This past week we introduced a new category of meal kits. We are partnering with Kindred Kitchen to bring ready to make meals to your doorstep. We are starting with 3 and will be adding additional. Currently we are offering a Creamy Pesto Chicken, Sweet and Spicy Salmon with Parmesan Rice, and a Vegetable Rigatoni. Currently we are offering the meal […]