Author: Sam Lucy

The heat is on… again. After a hot spring and a much cooler and moister July than usual, August has finally shed the last (hopefully) of the thunderstorms, heavy rain, and hail and has come off cooking the way we think of August.  Each day this week has reached well into the 90’s and though the swallows have all headed out, a few hummingbirds remain as the last of the fruit and flowers wither.  Birds pay more attention to the length of daylight than most anything else. Molting ducks are now coming out from hiding; just this morning I saw a flock of blue-wing teal “practicing” down on the pond.

Due to the accompanying moisture, the heavy storms never produced any fire. This blessing is not lost on those of us here in Okanogan County where the past couple summers have been devastating to so many.

The grains are behind in curing as well. The heat, I’m almost reluctant to say, is just the ticket to sun-ripen our grains the way nothing else can. This is one of the paramount reasons our climate is favorable for producing high quality, dense grains. Overall our crops look good. Of course some of the heavier crop went down under the wind and heavy rains,  but it will eventually cure out and we’ll be able to collect it given a long enough weather window. One of our fields took some hail as well. We won’t know the extent of loss until harvest. In fact, one really doesn’t know anything until the crop is in! Have we been naughty? Or nice??

We may windrow some of the later fields to aid the harvest. If swathed at the hard-dough stage, grain will finish quickly under sunny western skies. Liken this to plucking tomatoes or peaches just before they are fully ripe, and think how quickly they mature once picked. I’ll make the call to swath or not to swath soon if the blistering weather continues. I’m a little “itchy” letting too much of this good harvesting weather go by! However, as I said at the end of last month’s notes, late August is much more common for harvest to begin than the earlier starts we’ve had the past couple years.

Yields around the State are very strong so far, as well as elsewhere in the Northwest. Tom and Jay, our hard red and white wheat growers, say their crops look to be strong as well. I’m excited for them. I’m excited for all of us! Their crops will be coming in about the same time as ours.

I must admit the spring and early summer months seem a blur of non-stop activity. Despite that, it’s now all up to how the crops cure and what Mother brings for weather, and there really is little one can do except watch and admire these old grains in their final stages. Is it sad? It kind of is as this month brings perhaps the most poignant stage of the cycle. I don’t say this lightly because we finally get to recapture some of our costs! To be sure, it does come as sort of a reward for our intentions. However, I speak of this from my elevated and on-going respect of Nature. She is more beautiful all the time. Just yesterday I stood nearby a slowly turning emmer field, as I’ve done so many seasons now, and still I was stunned by the hues of greenish gold and the easy way it swayed in the breeze and the swishing sound of sheaf against sheaf…

When not waxing nastolgic, we’ve been preparing our winter rye field and making sure the combine is well serviced and behaving properly. Our inventory is getting pretty low so we are able to clean most of our storage out in preparation for this year’s crop. Orders have not let up during these dog-days of summer, and we’ve been hustling to get orders turned around in the usual timely fashion. Sheah has been doing a good job keeping up and toughs out the hot days by keeping on the move!

August’s full moon is upon us. Slow to rise with an almost audible presence in the easy summer sky, the moon kicks off the katydids, crickets and other later summer evening sounds. It does give pause, and in this pause I’m remembering this day a year ago when the Twisp River fire blew up and shot fear into all of us. I’m remembering with honor and sorrow the loss of Richard, Tom and Andrew and the horrific injuries to Daniel and the toll it has taken on their loved ones, and the permanent scar to this community. Their efforts are not forgotten. We salute in your honor. As well, we are forever grateful to so many others who worked bravely and diligently to successfully keep this fire from spreading through the entire valley.

Sending warm thoughts to all of these folks, and to all of you,

Yours, Farmer Sam

Sitting here in the kitchen on a Sunday: Mid-day, mid month, rain falling, a cool breeze thru the screened windows, 65 degrees. This sums up how different this July has been for us here in the Methow; certainly in comparison to the past two years.  There are lightening flashes and thunder;  I’m hoping the moisture out-competes any new fire start-ups.  Hummingbirds, adult and young, joust at the feeder hanging under the eaves and a young doe pauses down by the edge of the creek, perhaps with a fawn nearby?  This is to say, I’m liking July this year and July isn’t always this farmer’s favorite!

Indeed, it has been perfect grain growing weather.  Without a day above 80 so far, yet some sun and wind along with scattered showers, our grains are “grooving.”  Our earlier plantings have hit boot stage and are beginning to pop while our later plantings are reaching flag-leaf.  At both stages we apply an organic foliar feed high in plant-based nitrogen with traces of phosphorus.  This really helps the grain heads fill and finish with the uptake of all the other nutrients in the soil.  It’s been a busy time running around to the different fields: feeding fish and sugars at earlier growth stages, and now putting on the finishing goodies.  We’ve been irrigating in between applications, plus we’ve had sporadic rain showers to help us out.  By the month’s end, most all of our irrigation will go on rest.

The cooler weather keeps the plants from stressing and so this should increase yields as grain heads fill gradually.  We want the intense heat and sharp eastern Washington sun eventually, like right after fill, so that our crops cure and finsih evenly.  August is generally good for this, but who really knows what Mother has planned…?

One thing we have planned at Bluebird is continued business growth, as we’ve had each year so far. One of the challenges we’re facing in this small valley, however, is the lack of suitable farm ground.  For us, suitable farm ground means fairly heavy soils and land that can be easily brought into certified organic production.  We’ve struggled to obtain either in our little mountainous valley.  To be sure, there are a few other large scale growers, but it is all hay, not organic, and none have shown much interest in another market.  The good news is there are a lot of grain producers within two hours of here and we’ve met a few wanting to, or who already have, transitioned some of their soils into certified organic.  A couple of these growers are using some of our stead-fast strategies: Cover cropping, biological fertility, and tender care with an eye toward quality and nutrition.  This year is the first year we’re partnering with two family farms to grow our hard white and hard red spring wheats.  Tom Stahl of Waterville, Washington (roughly 100 miles from us) is growing out hard white while Jay and Chuck Goldmark up on the Okanogan Plateau (about 70 miles from here) are growing out hard red.  Both of their crops are coming along well and I think they are even having fun at it!  We sure look forward to turning their efforts into fresh milled, high quality goods to pass along to you.

Expanding the market for other organic family farmers in our region has been an “outside” goal of Brooke’s and mine since we began Bluebird 12 year ago.  Well, lo and behold!  We’re excited to begin work with experienced producers who have been growing grains for at least 3 generations.  As with everything farming, it takes forethought and planning and so the conversation with Stahl/ Goldmarks has been ongoing for a couple of years or more.  The prospect of long term relationships with both growers and increasing certified organic land in Washington feels good.

By “subbing” out our wheat this year, we’re able to concentrate solely on our ancient grains on the fertile acreage that we manage here in the Methow.  Our Einka farro, Emmer farro, and heirloom rye are going strong.  As mentioned, I hope for a good yield as we work hard to assure the usual high quality.  Meanwhile, we’re getting down to the bin-bottoms right in time for new-crop.  Fear not, we have enough supply to make it through for all you hungry customers!   We may take our rye before the end of the month, but harvest won’t begin in earnest (given the current weather) until well into August. This is about “normal” compared to the past two years when the valley was hot, dry, and on fire and we were combining by the second week of August.

I hope this finds you all enjoying some summer activities, wherever you may be.  We’re grateful to you all, grateful for our health, and always are thinking about the social challenges each of our societies continue to face daily from around the communities in our own country, to all those elsewhere.

Yours, Farmer Sam

The long June light brings the world alive and each morning as I sit and sip on the porch, I try and decide which birds are the noisiest that particular morning because it does vary. One day I’m sure it must be the swallows; the next day house wrens. The quail start early along the creek, but then without question the tanagers can bust in and trump all. There are worse things to decide each day – which birds are the most vocal. To be sure, much of June was cool and sweet and we even had some rain. A welcome reprieve to the heat of April and May.

We finished planting a little later this year, with the last of the einka going in June 10th (just before the rain came that very night). It seemed like a lot of field preparation work this year, but we still did all the planting just in time (from May 24th – June 10th). Now the fun of seeing which crops flourish is upon us. This farmer has been plenty busy with each day bringing new tasks even after all the seed is in.

Following the last of the seeding we mowed off our cover crops and continue to grow them out. We’ll soon be turning them under as the vetch has been flowering now for a week or more. We’ve put our first round of biology onto our grains, which includes a beneficial microbial mixture combined with liquid fish and about 2 pounds of organic sugar to the acre. We will repeat the fish/sugar mixture again about the second week in July. When our earlier crops reach flag-leaf stage (remember from past years the “flag” leaf is the top leaf  that the grain head forms from) we will do a plant-based nitrogen foliar feeding, and then again at “boot” stage – when the grain head begins to hatch from the flag. This all can happen very quickly – possibly less than a week apart depending on the heat.

The heat has returned the last couple days of June, with temperatures soaring over 90 degrees again. This is a likely predecessor of what July will be like. July is all about growing here in the foothills of the North Cascades. We will be quite busy irrigating the crops through boot stage, and then we’ll let them finish out in August. At this point, our crops look healthy. I like the color the early plants are showing, and there really is a difference in the color between our two oldest grains. The emmer grows more slender – lanky, almost blue like our fall rye in color, whereas the einka is much greener, shorter to begin with, and “bushy”. The Einka is so closely related to a wild grass that, as I’ve mentioned before, it puts a lot of its early energy down into its roots. Then, about the second week in July – boom! Up it reaches and in the end will sometimes tower over the emmer at 5 feet tall.

Also in July, we’ll cut our fall rye and we’ll likely use up what inventory we have left from 2015; just in time for August 2016 harvest. Time to service the old Gleaner and other fun things as well.

Orders have remained decent even during the hotter summer months here at the granary.  We thank you all for your continued support of our fresh grains and flours!  I wish I could write more this round, but the fields beckon. I hope this finds you all well, and I hope the long days of July bring good things this year, instead of smoke and fire.

Thinking of cool mountain streams… Yours, Farmer Sam

That fast, another month gone by!  A very busy month for birds; just as busy for farmers. That fast, we’ve sped up 3 weeks and are on par with last spring when we estimated “everything” to be 3 weeks early.  It has been more of a scramble this year because we had – key word being  had – a later start and moister spring. I’m not alone being impressed  how quickly the moisture has disappeared.  Already the Balsam root and Lupine that were full and rich a month ago, are now shriveled and gone-by.

When I saw tanagers on our lawn 2 weeks ago I knew the accelerated spring to be real. I associate this bird with June. We have more tanagers this year than I can ever recall.  Also, there are three kinds of swallows here,  chatty, chatty wrens, flycatchers,  ducklings in the ponds, nesting bluebirds and soon, buntings. What we haven’t had, with the exception of one showery Saturday,  is rain.  Temperatures have remained very mild.  Soil temps have easily reached the mid-50’s which is when grain seems to not only have strong germination,  but likes to take off and grow!  So…

Have we any grain up yet? Not as of this writing.  However, yes, we have sown both some Einka and Emmer. A fast spring does not mean that the farming goes faster. Some of our acreage we majorly over-hauled , and this required a fair bit of extra work before planting. Other fields had areas still too wet to get on until just recently. Right now, we have about  40% of our grain in and are moving ahead with the rest. I’d expect to be able to row our first plantings in a few days now, and hope to have everything planted by the first week in June.

The cover crop vetch that we put in back in mid-April is beginning to fill out and we’ve irrigated it twice. This annual vetch is sometimes slow to start but as it matures, it begins to really put on green-mass. We’ll grow it out to flower stage, late-June, then mow it off at least once, and keep growing it out well into the summer before incorporating back in.

Once our grains are up a few inches on their own, we’ll feed them some liquid fish through our first round of irrigation. Some of the fields we’ll feed a couple times more, others just only once more. Tissue samples and brix readings should be able to tell us what is needed and when.

We like to grow pretty heavy crops and yet the heavier the crop, the more nutrition it needs. As with everything, it is a balance. To be sure, we were happy with last years crops and are hopeful for similar results this year. However, MN can change that at any time! I’m ready to be done with the ground work and look forward to the “Growing” segment of all this.  The cycle is stunningly fast – 60 days from emergence to finish – so there are not a lot of opportunities one likes to miss to help out the grains. The real fun is watching/helping these crops reach their full potential.  Not unlike with children!

We’ve barely had enough slow days in the granary to run seed stock. We’ve had steady orders to fill and this, of course, takes priority.  One of the challenges with our small cleaning line this time of year is processing our customer orders, while seeing to our seed needs at the same time.  As with our finished products, we  clean our seed stock on an as-need basis, too. That said, Brad and Sheah have done a very good job managing both these needs these past few weeks, and soon they will not have to worry about me stopping in and saying oh, BTW, I need 8000 pounds of seed by… yesterday!

War seems to be an age-old behavior of mankind that we, as a race, have a hard time changing. It is complex, arguable whether necessary or not, but always horrible. Far, far too many have died.  In many cases, died to save what we now have as freedom in a form that not everyone has. This, as with every Memorial Day, please take some time to honor those that paid the ultimate sacrifice, here and elsewhere.

We’ve got a couple new bakery customers using our einka which is very exciting for us.  Also, we’re always pleased to service return customers.  Bluebird continues to grow and in next month’s notes, I’ll explain some of the changes that may be coming down the pike.

Until then, enjoy the sweetness of June. Congratulations to all the graduates out there, and be watchful for more kids in the streets as another school year comes to a close…

Yours, Farmer Sam

Greenfix cover crop emerging.

Volunteer Rye from last years planting

WOW… What a difference a month can make!  Just days after putting up the skis in late March prior to “Spring Break” our still chilly early spring disappeared. March went out like a warm, fuzzy lamb indeed. April arrived and no token snow-squalls came through, in fact, we never even experienced a frost until last night! It has been on the porch for morning coffee most all month and the mornings are all about birds. Robins, quail, geese, ducks, grouse, finches, towhees, swallows, hummingbirds and not the least, bluebirds… to mention a few.  Just this spring I discovered that robins will sometimes sing before actual dawn. Though I’ve not yet noticed this to be true, perhaps there is a shortage of worms this year and the early bird just needs to be earlier?

Shoulder season… NOT as ‘they’ say these days. We’ve not had a shoulder season, just a leap right to spring and despite a very healthy, long winter, things are actually about where they were last spring and last spring was 3 weeks earlier than usual. That fast, the aspen were budded, leaved out and full.  All the fruit trees, except apples, have blossomed or gone by and the balsam-root is as full and prolific as any year we can recall.  I told you this spring would be a dandy once it arrived, but had no idea it would be this vibrant, this early!  And so…

Yes, the scramble to field work began second week of the month and has been on-going since. Weeks of 70-80 degree days drove the surface moisture away and by the time we got cultivating, the fields were about perfect. When I say this what I mean is there is moisture not far down, but the soil surface is dry enough so we are not causing any compaction when we run out machinery, yet we bring moisture up when we do so. We’ve already drilled in a solid 50 acres of spring cover crop on fields that needed a break and a season of rotational nourishment. This year we went back to a nitrogen building vetch variety that not only fixes N but also spreads laterally and puts on a lot of green mass to mow and turn under. The bees LOVE the blossoms as well. We were able to sow this cover right on April’s full moon which feels good. We should see it coming up here by May.

We had wash-out issues on a couple of our other fields due to such a high volume of ground moisture this year. Not big areas at all, but some areas of these fields are still wet so it makes planning a little tricky, to avoid “sticky”!  That said, we do need to mold-board plow one of our bigger fields and I think we’ll be able to do that soon. The others will get spring disking then either the field cultivator or chisel plow  before seed bed prep and plant. I’ve taken spring soil tests and soon will be planning our fertility program. We’ve begun selecting seed stock so as to have ready for sowing hopefully around May’s full moon.

My wish list for tools is as full as a month ago. That said, we’ve got a lot of good tools and will rely on the ones we have for at least one more  season. I like the fact that we know we have plenty of supplemental water this year and really, it is early yet. In fact today the good old northwest wind kicked up, temps came down lower than they’d been all month and the clock seemed to get re-set more to the feel of true spring in the Methow! In other words, there is plenty of time.  Yeah…

Our granary has been steady and to be sure, the crew in there seems happy with the product they are delivering to all of you. Our einka flour is really turning heads and we’ve decided to put in an even bigger crop of the einka this year. As well, we’ll be putting in an average amount of emmer. Given the quality of last year’s crop, our seed stock should be very strong this year.

Of course, big MN will have the final say… each spring I’m reminded what an honor it is to try and work with Mother Nature and, more importantly, try and learn from her – mimic her the best I can – while actually farming her soils.  We appease ourselves many ways, in many ways wherein it is convenient to justify what we do.  However, in reality, to paraphrase one of my favorite writers who passed away last month on his 78th birthday:  “Everywhere we go we do harm… ”  What I try and do, most days, is to do less harm.  By doing so, maybe “least harm” turns into “some” good…

Happy Spring, Yours Farmer Sam

Twenty -three years is a short time. Yet, entering my 23rd spring here in the Methow, I can say I’ve never seen as much water as we have here in mid-March. The snow and rain storms have continued on as this very moist cycle in the West reaches its fourth month. This is a true shift from last year causing one to think perhaps this is what a true La Nina year looks like!

To be sure we are mostly grateful with the stage set for major recharge and a delayed fire-season, we hope. As well, we hope for a gradual melt so as to avoid more land-slides that are a reality given the surrounding burn-scar left from two years of  massive fires. Already the pliant soil has absorbed an amazing volume of water, but we’ve a long ways to go as a dense snow-pack remains on the valley floor with an even thicker blanket in the mountains. Alas, signs of spring grow with the gathering daylight. Robins… chatty robins this morning along one of the spring freshets above the granary here. Towhees, along with the usual spring suspects: finches, nuthatches, meadowlarks chipping sparrows and yes, we’ve seen our first bluebirds flitting about. That all recorded, we’re a good month away from any field work.  This spring’s work will be as late as last spring’s was early.  As ponders the bluebird in Frost’s “Two Tramps in Mud Time”: He wouldn’t advise a thing to blossom…”  And so the cycles go, farming here in the shadow of the North Cascades. I’m not too concerned; it would do little good if I was! As the years tick on I’m always amazed and grateful how Mother Nature tends to even things out. At this point we know we’ll have ample moisture. Our next hope is for sun!

A very worth-while trip down to the “Grain Brains” gathering at stunning 150 year old Paicines Ranch, now under the great care of Sallie Calhoun and Matt Christiano, who rescued it 15 years ago from being converted into a golf-course with the customary accouterments. The group of attendees were a mix of farmers, millers and bakers from different pockets around the nation, as well as aspiring young farmers. Greenhorns – a support group for young farmers organized the conference –  after being prompted by Mr. Doug Mosel from the Mendocino Grain Project.  Kasey White of Lonesome Whistle Farms did a swell job organizing shuttles, dining, curriculum etc.  Much discussion focused around several topics including: What exactly defines “local?” How does each capture their best market?  How do we preserve seed stock? How do we aid young farmers?  Subsequently, Doug has spearheaded the “Grain School”  – a collective that will serve as a future reference for young grain farmers.  It seems incredulous to think there is a desperate need for such a group. Despite grains being a huge part of agriculture, at present there is very little schooling available from our Land Grant Universities for those wishing to grow non-industrialized grain i.e. farmer-direct or organic.

100% Einka Bread with sourdough starter by Mike Zakowski

Mike Zakowski owner of The Bejkr in Sonoma California produced – among other loaves – a batch of wonderful einka bread loaves one evening in his tag-behind, wood oven that he carts all over to different events and farmer markets. A very accomplished, well schooled baker, Mike and I had a good time talking grains/breads etc. Also, I had the great pleasure of getting to know Jack and Ann Lazor from Butterworks Farm up at the tip of the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont.  Jack is a real Agrarian Elder who, among other things, wrote a book some time ago “The Organic Grain Farmer” and was the keynote speaker during the second morning. He spoke from the heart and true experience after 40 years of organic dairy and grain farming along the Canadian border. Great stuff; I could relate!

Back at home, the Bluebird staff has been packaging and delivering our fresh-milled products at a steady rate and with the usual eye for detail. Our grains continue to clean and mill well.  We just completed a power-upgrade by installing a variable frequency drive on our main flour mill. Now, once the mill is running to proper speed it uses only the power needed to maintain that speed.  Thanks to our electrician Tim Otonicar, we have plans to upgrade a couple other bigger motors as well, in effort to reduce our power foot-print.

We’ll begin cleaning seed this month for planting season – if and when it should arrive!! I’m reviewing soil tests, adding to my equipment wish list and – albeit mildly – beginning to feel the itch!  I hope this finds all of you enjoying the “shoulder season” and preparing for the glory of spring. It is going to be a dandy here, once spring decides to come for good. Until then.

Yours, Farmer Sam

By Sam Lucy

Enough of a winter here in the Methow that we skipped right over January notes. Surely, everyone noticed? Indeed, we’ve enjoyed (mostly) as long of a wet cycle as I can recall beginning, really, back in late October and running on until now, mid-February. Lovely snow fall has turned to rain, icy roads to mud, and just now some of the southerly rock outcroppings are baring off. Like clockwork, red-wing blackbirds have returned to the nearby seeps as of the 15th and most evenings coyotes sing away as this is “their month.”Owls hoot nightly and likely have taken a few of the quail and Hungarian partridge that we’ve been bolstering with grain scratch winter-long.

As much extra work as the steady storms created for us here at our Rendezvous Road granary, I must say the thought of winter slipping away is disturbing. Sure, freight trucks can once again climb our road and we no longer will be ferrying pallets 2.5 miles down to the Chewuch for shipping.  No more plowing, snow blowing, digging out the granaries and wagon. However, there is a sort of  beautiful isolation that came with the towering snowbanks, not to mention excellent skiing – back-country or trail…  Alas, cold weather will return. And we may get more snow but the corner has been turned and winter soon will be on the losing end.

The best news for all is the extensive moisture. Recall my mention that we received steady, late fall rains prior to snow-fall, and that the ground never froze. This sets the stage for excellent absorption of this solid snow-pack, even if it warms up quickly. Recharge of the soil profile should be quick this spring, and certainly irrigation water in reliable supply. We’re hopeful that the recharge will delay fire-season no matter what the summer weather, and that the State enjoys a reprieve after the past two horrific summers.

Thanks to all of you we have started the new year very busy!  January was a bustle of Bluebird orders through all three of our sales channels. We’ve been into this years crop for a while now and as I’d hoped, the quality has remained consistently high. This may be our most consistent, high-quality crop so far.  It has been a joy to run, and a joy to mill with the sweet aroma of nutritious grains and flours filling the granary. It never hurts to have breakfast pancakes from time to time. Or some of Larkin’s emmer cookies. Or a hearty farro soup, or thick, whole grain breads, or…. Another part of winter I love!

As I watch the nuthatches, finches, and chickadees at the feeder it is the blackbird’s song that reminds me spring is inevitable, and I do have occasional thoughts of the fields – all of which remain under 3 feet of snow. I’m beginning to make a list of the equipment repairs/maintenance as well as figure our spring cropping plans. Before long, we’ll be selecting some of our planting stock.  And reviewing the fall’s soil tests, and…

But first, more skiing! Also, I’ve been invited to the “Grain Convening” at Paicines Ranch outside San Jose, California during the  first week in March.  I look forward to schmoozing with some of the other players in the organic modern and ancient grain movement and meet a couple folks I’ve long admired.

I hope this finds each of you well, and having had a good winter.  I look forward to reporting on the conference as well as the Methow Spring and more good news from our granary.  Until then,

Yours, Farmer Sam

And the lovely November rains soon turned to snow as Thanksgiving neared.  Enough snow to cover the tan grasses and open up the ski trails. Early enough so that I wasn’t too far off my prediction of an “early winter”. December has given us even more precipitation during the first half with a week-long storm cycle that really helped our moisture deficit. Yes, there was rain even here in the Methow but lots of snow also. A solid – and I mean solid- two feet on the flat here at the granary; much more higher up. So far, our snow pack looks to be very healthy. Remember, too, how the ground never froze? Alas, we should have excellent absorption come spring.

For now, however, we take stock in the white hills, today’s blue skies and finches, chickadees, and nuthatches jousting at the feeder as roof eaves drip.  We’ve had fun plowing out around the granaries and today we’re taking advantage of the clear skies and moving a couple loads of grain over to our cleaning line where we were running out! Being a small operation, we do not have enclosed transfer augers from silo to silo and so must rely on clear skies to transfer grain in our grain wagon.

Freight becomes more challenging up here in the winter, too. Our shipping companies are generally very accommodating and it takes efforts on both ends but ultimately, I’m always pleased how we seldom ever fall behind getting orders out the week they are scheduled for. Of course, the great staff here has a  lot to do with this.  What winter causes in extra challenges up here in the foothills, she makes up for in beauty and solitude as the fields rest.

As we get more into this years crop we are seeing the consistency and quality hold up as we’d thought it might. Today moving grain we were testing some of the emmer kernels and they are so dense and colorful.  It is odd to be standing out in the snowy surroundings and get the whiff of summer as we auger around the grain. The grain keeps the dry, harvest smell (dusty too?!) and yet the land is moist and white and wildfires a ways off! Over the years we’ve noticed the direct correlation between how our grains clean and how they mill.  So far this year they are cleaning out nicely and, not surprisingly, making wonderful flours.

It’s all about eating, is it not? This darkest time of year. I love the short days, long nights and robust foods associated with the season. Last evening Brooke made a tasty soup with our split emmer and tomatoes and chicken stock and kale and… ! We do feel blessed with this bounty and only wish we could somehow share the goods with the so very many people in need this time of year when the long nights and cold are not so easy to handle as those of us with fire and shelter.  The animals themselves suffer.  I watched a huge buck flounder through the snow outside our fence late the other night.  Even the strong sometimes will not make spring…

During this giving season I encourage all those of us more fortunate to lend a hand to those who aren’t. Cook a meal for them, shovel a path, or some act of kindness will certainly go a long ways. As peaceful as the scene here at Bluebird is for the moment, we know peace is not the norm in too many places. I have to believe that peace breeds peace because to believe otherwise is too limiting. So…

We send peace! From our farm to your table. From our hearts to yours… Sing out. If Ebenezer can, so might we all!

To a fine, peaceful 2016. Holiday tidings to all.

Your, Farmer Sam

Ahh… If I could start every frosty November morning walking the dogs over this deep, bare, fresh land, complaints of any sort would be hard to come by. And so it was this dandy of a morning, with the peaks winter-white, the bunch grasses autumn tan, the sky almost fake blue cut only by a soaring harrier. The sharpness of the seasons hits home, albeit bittersweet this quiet time of year.  Home indeed we’re lucky to call this place…

I was wrong about an early winter but right about the Royals winning the World Series (I did predict that, didn’t I?). The bird feeder is hung again with care outside the kitchen window and so far chickadees, finches, and chipping sparrows have been frequent there. Finally, with a couple 20 degree nights, we are done picking tomatoes! Perhaps best of all, the end of October and early November brought us rain! Real rain, to the tune of at least a couple inches. This has softened up the ground before freeze up which sets up a better profile come spring. Now spring snow melt will be able to infiltrate our once parched soil here. Truth to tell, the snow pack has begun to build in the North Cascades. Reports of a healthy 2 feet at Washington Pass were confirmed by a group of our daughter’s sledding buddies just yesterday – Veteran’s Day. Speaking of Veteran’s Day, by now, I hope everyone has had a chance to acknowledge at least one veteran that they know.

The rains kept us from getting the plowing done we’d hoped to, but it is a fair trade indeed. To be sure we desperately needed the rain.We could use a couple more inches, too. All our farm equipment is put away for the winter and full focus now turns to the lively granary, filling the bountiful orders and preparing for the holidays.

The emmer we’re running right now may just be the best crop we’ve grown. Our wheat looks very good and our einka is hulling nicely and milling into a light, tasty flour that our daughter Larkin enjoys making cookies out of.  As I’ve mentioned in the past, so many variables play into each crop year it truly is difficult to know which things  pays off. That said, we certainly had the growing temperatures this summer, with perfect curing conditions.  We also applied as much fertility as we ever have.  Maybe this is why the grains are so dense?  I’d like to say yes but it would be untruthful if I said for sure.  For now, we’ll just take it.  And be grateful not only for this, but for the moist air and the only smoke now coming from various wood stoves.

My favorite holiday is coming on the 26th.  I believe we’ll be having our holiday granary tours soon thereafter and look forward to seeing some of you then.  Brooke will fill you in on specific dates. I’m hopeful we can help out with any of your baking and cooking needs, as well as gift baskets  we make with our fresh grains and flours that we ship daily or that you can make arrangements to collect up here at our granary.

It has been another year of loss here in Okanogan county and plenty of loss elsewhere. At the same time, I hope we can all find things to be thankful for and take some time to reflect on these things as well.  Here at Bluebird, of the many things we are thankful for certainly the continued patronage of so many of you makes our short- list.

Thank You, Farmer Sam

This autumn has been lullaby- mellow with endless mild days, coolish nights, even a little bit of rain.  Not the full days of rain we might hope for, but enough to freshen the air and soil.  One could easily forget that we are entering the 4th week of October as I write this and still, we’ve not had a hard frost up here in the Rendezvous.  Truth to tell, we continue to pluck tomatoes from our garden!  Very soon, however, we’ll know if my prediction for an early winter is correct or not?

Southbound geese earlier in the month, as well as sandhill cranes and deer moving out of the snowless mountains could be signs justifying my prediction.  The summer song-birds are gone and now we only hear robins in the morning and a few chickadees.  Many a year we’ve had snow on Halloween.  So…

It has been fine enough weather for our field work and I keep in mind how late it is getting.  We’ve treated our grain stubble with digester and have been following with the heavy field disks to incorporate straw and soil.  Every few years, we actually turn some fields completely over with our moldboard plows and this year we’ll be doing so beginning soon.

We plow for a variety of reasons and I’ve grown to favor fall plowing to spring plowing in most cases.  We plow to kill out certain grasses, alfalafa, or deep rooted weeds.  Some of our leased ground had been fallow for many years and had nice stands of “old growth” quack grass and other weeds.  By first dicing up the ground with a disk, then turning the soil completely over (or under) a foot or more deep in the fall, these plants will die over the winter.  Because we do not use herbicides, plowing is about the only way to “kill”  things organically.  I prefer to call this process  “complete over haul.”

To be sure, we use our plows sparingly.  Although we pride ourselves here at Bluebird for having fairly “clean fields” let’s talk weeds for a bit.

This past summer, we had our first bad outbreak of lambsquarter in one of our fields.  Lambsquarter is an annual that likes fertility, is fast growing and has zillions of little seeds that generally remain green and hold lots of moisture at harvest.  When the grain itself is cured and ready for combining, the lambsquarter can be a month from drying down.  The problem here can be two-fold.  First, the lambsquarter can slow down the combining and makes the grain harder to thresh.  Secondly, because the seed is so moist it can ruin the grain in storage.

There are a couple ways to deal with weedy fields.  Wind rowing grain was common place all over the northern prairie on up into Canada before herbicides came onto the market.  Wind-rowing means the grain plants were cut with a sickle and pulled into a windrow where they were left to dry out.  Wind-rowing was practiced to deal with weeds – in a windrow the weeds dry down and the grain then thresehes much easier.  Also, it was used to expedite harvest.  In northern climates grain can take a long time to cure with autumn coming on and heating units drop.  Grain was thus cut in its hard dough stage to help the curing process or hardening/finishing of the actual kernels.  Grain would lie in-row for maybe a week, then was ready to thresh.  These days in “conventional” farming, a very high percentage of grain is sprayed with a light dose of Roundup at it’s hard dough stage.  This kills the grain plant and, of course, any weeds that might be present plus it eliminates the two-step procedure of swathing, then combining with a pick-up header on a combine.  Nifty…

We don’t believe in chemicals and so I guess you could call us “old school.”  Bringing this back around to plowing, we swathed then combined the grain in this one field.  There was some grain loss in the process but it worked fine other wise.  However, but all the weedseed of course went back onto the field.  We will fall plow this field to bury that seed bank.  In the spring, we’ll only cultivate deep enough to make a seed bed to sow our “good” seed, and not so deep as to bring up the “bad” seed.  This whole outbreak I now believe was caused by us disking too deep this spring when we turned under our winter peas.  In so doing, I think we brought to light weed seed that had been dormant for dozens of years.

Phew… perhaps we should continue these cultivation methods, weed-talk next letter.  For now, I want you to all know that we’ve begun running this years crop and indeed, the quality looks swell.  No, you should not be finding any weeds!  Our cleaning line takes out any remaining weeds before we mill and/or package the grains.

And so please let us know what you think of this years crop?  Please get out and enjoy this bittersweet time of year.  Be careful on Halloween of all the tricksters racing about and next time we’ll revisit my weather predictions.  Also, we’ll know who wins the World Series!

Until then, Yours Farmer Sam

A welcome change of weather has blessed us here in eastern Washington and with this change, most of the nearby fires have either abated or been successfully contained.  Most importantly, there has been no further loss of human life. We are grateful to the hard-working fire crews, and most grateful to Mother Nature.

Although we’ve not received any real precipitation here in the Valley, a few mornings ago Mt. Gardner was gowned in white down to about 6000 feet. Safe to say this was a welcomed sight and I still believe a harbinger of things to come in the next month, as are the gathering robins and meadowlarks and scores of raptors that frequent our September valley. Aspen trees are beginning to fade and a few southbound hummingbirds visit our feeder that we left out this late just for them. Flights of local ducks go over-head at daylight each morning as I sip on the back porch, snug in a wool coat with temps dipping below 40. We’ve eaten the last of the garden corn and continue to pick tomatoes furiously while relishing the swing toward autumn equinox.

We did get one more shot of hot, sunny weather last week giving us perfect weather to essentially finish our harvest! Despite all the dry weather, the fires, the early and late heat, our grains did survive.  Overall yield was down 10-12 percent, but our quality was both very consistent from field to field, and excellent throughout. I’ll say we may have our best quality crop in ten years. For all of this, particularly given the hectic and fast paced growing season, we feel most fortunate. Now we can more comfortably move onto fall tillage and honestly hope for rain with conviction!

Golden Emmer Wheat laying in the windrow.

With the cooling weather orders in the granary have livened back up and Brad is doing a great job seeing that your orders get filled in a timely manner, so as to keep our “fresh” grains and flours coming. We will be into our new crop soon and excited to see the results. As always, we invite and look forward to your feed-back as well.

Brooke and I truly appreciated the stellar turn-out for a sanctifying evening on Bluebird’s 10th anniversary paella bash. Wow! The collective thought I believe was that of peace. Love and loss were easily acknowledged throughout the gathering but so was celebration and a feeling of goodness and proud sense of place. We like to think it was a community gathering that went far deeper than Bluebird.  That said, we were happy to provide an excuse! I was delighted to see many familiar faces and just as delighted to meet new ones. Won’t you join us for another one in ten years…?

I hope you all enjoy the turn of seasons and can ease up with the lengthening, September shadows. Here’s to the good season!

Yours, Farmer Sam

Preparing to offload grain from the combine into the truck.

An old fashion scorcher here in the Methow this summer: Dry, hot weather beginning in early June has run on into the dry month of August leaving little but wildfires and whiskbroom hills in wake.  Before the Twisp River fire broke out and killed three local fire fighters on the afternoon of August 19th, this is how I’d begun the August notes.  Scorcher to be sure.  Now each day we pray for no more.  With the heaviest of hearts we try our best to go about our daily routines of checking updates, securing our homes, helping each other, and holding tight the best we can while firefighters from all over and performing all sorts of duties do their damnest to try and protect us residents.  We praise them daily and pray for them.  We pray for each other.  We try not to get angry for loss.  We try to release our stresses in positive ways.  It doesn’t always work but we remind ourselves there already has been enough negativity to last a lifetime.

After all, most of us were warned to get the hell out within hours of the Wood Canyon blow up.  Most did; some left and came back. It comes down to individual choices and whichever way one goes, they second guess it hourly.  I made sure no Bluebird staff hesitated to get to their homes and loved ones soon as the worst reared up.  Wednesday afternoon I was combining grain 2 air miles from the fire and the granary was running full tilt haven gotten most orders for the week processed.  Two days later I finished the grain on Mocassin lease and yesterday, Saturday, I made local deliveries to most of our local businesses. We embraced each; we wished each other the best.  We realized, truly, what community means. Our love deepened as  skies grew ever smokier.  Amazingly, we’ve been without power only once so far and for less than 24 hours.  We hope tomorrow, Monday, everyone can return to work.  Giving the impression of security builds on itself, yet we try not and be fools.  So… here is what I was going to write…

Early mornings generally are a reprieve but in the last week, hardly a bird song at daylight?  The hummingbirds have left, so have the swallows, wrens and  bluebirds.  Yellow jackets now have taken over the countryside, including any piece of fruit or meat or veggie left unattended.  A hard month to get excited about this year and yet, this is harvest time!  Cruel irony in some ways, but it is excellent harvesting weather.

Due to the early and continued heat, grain crops across the inland west are down considerably.  Here at Bluebird we’re experiencing lower yields in some cases, but excellent quality in our first emmer field and our hard white.  We’ve cut most of our einka so far and it, too, has been compromised by a brief yet serious hail shower.  The heavy precipitation once predicted so far has eluded us, but it doesn’t take much hail to disappoint and we sure are hoping that was the last of it.

To be sure, we’ve been harvesting  a couple weeks ahead of average which isn’t a big surprise given the fact that everything has been running two to three weeks ahead since the early spring.  Now with about two-thirds of the crop in, we’ll learn even more how the bluebird crops look as we roll on and the numbers accumulate.  I look forward to continuing getting the crops in early because my guess is Mother Nature will round things out, as has been her age-old pattern, and we’ll begin to see moisture in September and certainly in October.  I for one don’t want to be wishing the rain would “hold off” when it comes!

Harvest 2015, Photo by Brooke Lucy

With Bluebird’s 10th anniversary here, it actually is our 11th crop year for Bluebird.  I’ve been a certified organic grain grower now for 15 years,  selling raw wholesale grains prior to Bluebird.  It will be our 13th year of growing the wild emmer.  In this time I sure have learned that I have a lot to learn when it comes to growing healthy, nutritious and abundant grain crops!  Each year is different and has its own challenges and yet as the years add up one has hope that knowledge is accumulated and filed away for the “next scenario.”  It is challenging not to have other grain growers nearby and yet I’ve made some great contacts with organic producers elsewhere and treasure the notes we share.  One thing about farmers over the years, they’ve experienced about every scenario possible and in most cases have invented a way to deal with each one.  This is reassuring even during the most frustrating of times. Heck in another 20 years, I may be that farmer I’d wished I’d met back when!

One of the true joys of the past 10 years has been developing and building both personal and business relationships both here in the Methow community and afar.  I’ve said before that we feel blessed to have started Bluebird here in this special (maybe not in August!) community tucked away in the Cascade foothills.  Morally, we’ve had great support here from both neighbors, local businesses, employees and landowners.  When one becomes reliant on so many in so many different facets, it forces one to take a look at themselves and try and grow along with the relationships.  Challenging at times, but often  rewarding.

Ten years ago we had no idea whether or not offering local grains and fresh milled flours would be viable or not? Today, we continue to expand to keep up with market and to employ as many of our neighbors as we can.  To do this we will continue to develop relationships with other growers and at the same time, look to expand our tilled acreage here in the Methow.  As our marketplace expands, we have vowed to continue our great service and deliver top quality products.  Living in this quaility, “top notch” community makes this easier.  We like to think this place and the Bluebird brand are synonymous.  And that you are all part of the compliment.

The next 10?  Oh boy!  We have plans… One of our plans is to get to know more of you and to build a business worth carrying forth for another generation.  Lofty goals?  Looking back, I’m not sure any more unrealistic than our original goals.   We’ll report in another 10!

Near term, our hearts and thoughts go out to all the folks in strife again this year, due to the raging wildfires all over the west.  We think of you daily.  We grieve the loss of life.

For those that can and want to celebrate with us at our Labor Day wing ding, I damn sure hope we have a lot to celebrate besides our 10 years in business.

Peace, Farmer Sam

DC-10 on Twisp River Fire, photo by Tom Forker

Twisp River Fire blowing up, Photo by Tom Forker