Category: Farmer Notes

I simply can not get enough of fall.  This fall’s weather has been as pleasant as any, perhaps even too pleasant.  We did not receive the moisture I’d hoped for in October, though the final couple days promised storms.  Still, it would be hard not to have liked the endless fine, cool nights; the mild, sun-dappled days.  This was true most of last month.  The latter leaving songbirds stuck around, well, pretty late!  Now, the greatest month of all is upon us! Summer birds have left, darkening clouds gather, and badly needed moisture is coming in November –  the month of “worsted gray…”

Autumn in the northern prairie couldn’t have been more classic as I made my way through Montana to the Schmaltz Family Farm in North Dakota.  Then north from there to O’Canada.  I’m not a big fan of driving around much, sometimes even just to town!  However, if locked and loaded for a road trip, yee-haw!  The drive from here to ‘there’ is stunning as one travels  along some of Montana’s fine rivers: The Clark Fork; the Madison; the YELLOWSTONE, and on to the wide open prairie.  Western North America has to be one of the prettiest and most varied places on this Earth. 

As always, my visit with the Schmaltz Family was rewarding on many fronts.  We exchanged deeper conversations about food, farming and places.  I got to see how inventive, hard working and successful they have been with their full-scale regenerative farming practices.  Their success isn’t so surprising – since they’ve been at it a dozen or more years now – but these restorative systems are very impressive.  Their crop yields show for themselves, however, it is the noticeable quality that speaks the loudest.  This quality and consistency come only after a great deal of investment and belief in a system that is constantly improving both soils and the food from these soils.  Schmaltz’s farm is now working for itself in this sense.  Still, the critical decision making and planning is all Kent and Blaine.  This is a very involved process, and one that requires having a variety of scenarios since – like with all farming – things often do not go as “planned”!  Gosh it was fun to see, and I couldn’t be more grateful for our relationship.  Oh, we got some solid pheasant hunting in, too!  Much to Clyde’s delight.

Fall is always a busy season at the Bluebird mill as the eating season kicks into full swing.  October was a bit busier than the past few months, and we anticipate November being busier yet.  Soup, bread, yummy side dishes; ‘ tis the season for firelight and hearty foods as the countryside begins to quiet and soon winter’s blanket will settle in.  Our lean, and sometimes mean (not really!) crew here at the Farm are eager to serve up all the good grains and flours for your cozy kitchens.  Brad Baylie who grows our soft Sonora white wheat in Connell, Washington brought in another solid crop for us this year.  This versatile soft flour works great for pie crusts as well as other goodies.

It is hard not to think about politics this time of year.  For those of us who voted early we are left to fret.  Once again, things I often fret over never even get onto the political platforms: Environment, education, proactive health care.  These issues are all relevant in many ways, and tied closely to the Farm Bill.  Two years has passed since the last Bill expired and there still is no renewal of a new Farm Bill.  Reelection campaigns are apparently far too important for any issues to actually be resolved during this time.  Meanwhile – daily it seems – I learn of more and more (millions) of chickens continuing to be destroyed.  More recently, right here in the good ole’ Northwest.  And at the same time, an even more potent version of Round-Up (Glyphosate) has hit the market.  This proves that not only is animal husbandry in steady decline, but private enterprise is alive and functioning  – for better or worse – throughout the election season. 

In related news, there continues to be growing concern over the use of glyphosate as a desiccant.  This has prompted many cereal grains and pulse buyers to restrict purchases of crops where this pattern of burn-down pre-harvest remains.  Truth to tell, up in Manitoba where I just was, some pea processors no longer will take sprayed down peas, and oat and barley producers have been told not to use the glyphosate for harvest any more as well.   Now this is some good news!

We have so much to thank the Earth for.  I am glad to see small inroads being made as an effort to better care of it, and as people once did not all that long ago.  She is our Mother, after all, and somehow continues to give us great, great bounty.

Soon, winters’ chickadees will return, the owls’ nighttime voices will deepen, and coyotes are already talking about the growing darkness during the new moon.  Next up, November’s full moon known as the Beaver Moon.  And after, my favorite holiday at the close of the month!  Plenty to be grateful for, indeed.  Please gather ‘round, hold tight, and give thanks together for another year’s food from our always giving Mother.

Cheers,

Farmer Sam

In step, October arrived with the first autumn frosts after a final week of September that hosted several 80 degree days.  We are far enough north here in the Methow where seasons can be prolonged, as well as shift overnight.  A couple frosty mornings and that fast, one is grateful for the woodpile, breads, soups, hot cereals and whatever other foods or drinks that might keep you cozy. Oh, do I love it.  Love September – love October all the more.  Those of you long-time readers of my notes know too well, perhaps, my affinity for fall and the colder months in general.  Bring it on!

Yes, I will miss the summer birds, sights and sounds.  I won’t miss the heat so much, or the dryness plus, new birds have already begun to arrive.  The hummingbirds held out until very late last month – in part because it stayed so warm I suspect.  We still have bluebirds that fledged here in our yard.  However, I noticed around 6 o’clock last evening they are now sharing the birdbath with a flush of gathering robins, as well as chipping sparrows and the last of the flycatchers.  I may have heard the last of the nighttime poorwills, yet I still hear a meadowlark.  As the landscape changes in hues of purple, maroon and gold, raptors soar the winds while the Sandhill cranes have already passed through. Soon there will be flocks of geese and with all this, we sure hope for fall moisture… and a lot of it.

Despite the bizarre 2 inch rain storm we received late August, we’ve scarcely had a drop of moisture since.  We wish for nice, sustained fall rains before the ground freezes and/or it snows.  The rewards of a good snowpack are better realized if the ground is soaked first, and softened and pliant so that spring melt can more easily go into the profile and not run off.  October can be good for these rains, particularly as we get into the latter part of the month.  I have faith. Then, of course, comes the mighty month of November – my most favorite of all!

Here at the beginning of October the cool nights and warm afternoons are not lost on me.  Nor lost on our huge cover crop of winter peas that has thrived and grown up through all the left-behind einkorn straw.  I charged up our pivot irrigation for the first time since June, and applied a dose of cold-pressed fish and beneficial microbes to kick-start the decomposition of that straw while energizing the peas.  It seems as if we can see them growing by the day.  And the resident Canada geese sure are enjoying them.  The field gets the benefit of all this recycling and we have fun observing each day.

Fall orders are picking up and our cleaning line, milling and packing lines are seeing a jump in hours.  Good stuff.  This temperate weather is easier on our lean crew, and our processing equipment.  Ambient atmosphere plays a big part in how grains both clean, and how grains mill into whole grain flour.  Although environmental conditions can add to the challenges of custom milling, these are good challenges, and they keep us tuned into our craft.  Bluebird is located in a good, low humidity climate that is ideal for custom milling. Many of you realize this in the consistency and quality of our products.  These autumn days only enhance this process.

Meanwhile, as of October 1st we hit the second year mark of no renewal of the Farm Bill.  This has become yet another partisan issue with so much at stake.  The one side pushes the importance of the Bill on a variety of levels, not the least of which is the SNAP program.  Another side wants to guarantee continued payouts to the wealthiest farms.  Both sides seem to support continued “biofuel” production which largely means ethanol.  There is no heavier resource dependent crop than corn, and here our government supports the use of this heavily subsidized crop as a gas additive that makes our engines less efficient?? Like with so many things, there is a lot left in the middle of the Farm Bill – a bill that is foreign to so many East of the Mississippi who pay the majority of it.  Likely the bill will get another extension.  Each time this happens it not only costs taxpayers more, but kicks the main issue down the road.  Don’t expect anything to change until after November 5th.  Who knows what will happen thereafter?

Speaking of subsidies, I get to head to the northern prairie this month!  To visit our good friends the Schmaltz family on their recently certified regenerative farm where they farm in complete cycle with Nature and accept no subsidies.  I so enjoy visiting their amazing 5000 acre organic farm, which is surrounded by many very large tax-supported farms.  This does not keep me from loving the autumn prairie.  For a few days I’m going further north into Manitoba – a place I’ve never been.  I look forward to this journey through some of the major small grains production areas of North America.  Every time I take a road trip across parts of our vast country, I learn so much and have more appreciation each time for how fortunate we are here in North America.  We have a major luxury of so many natural resources; we just need to work harder to protect them.

With Halloween up-coming, try not to get spooked by the heavy rhetoric that comes on an election year.  Try and keep things in perspective, hard as that may be at times.  Most of us want peace and want everyone to get the chance to thrive in a respectful manner- no matter where they are from.

Cheers to Fall,

Farmer Sam

 

school kids looking at soil health, Bluebird

Sam talks with with the Chelan Middle School agricultural class about soil health during a recent fieldtrip to Bluebird Grain Farms.

 

Most years I find myself sighing in relief when the mellow month of September finally rolls around, bringing with it the cooling nights and shorter days as summer’s growing season winds down.  Indeed, September is the busiest harvest month when one considers the various fruits, grains, and vegetables that are gleaned here under clear, mild eastern Washington skies.  However, aside from the first week or so of August, most of last month felt like September!  Truth to tell, a couple nights were down in the 40’s and a very unusual rain fell that left 2 inches of moisture across the countryside.  Never before had this amount of precipitation been recorded here in the valley not just for the date, but for the entire month of August!

Dawn; I now hear chickadees again, robins, bluebirds, but hummingbirds seem to be staying on longer than years past?  Chickadees generally are a sign of autumn.  Hummingbirds are often gone by September.  June this year was May; July was August; August was September.  What all this means and how  September will shake out, I’ve no idea.  Beautiful…? 

Even though all of our Bluebird crops are harvested, we will still take the clear, hot weather as it will likely be the last for the year.  As I noted in August notes, our harvest right here at Bluebird was earlier than ever as I harvested the einkorn in late July.  The standing straw left behind had the understory of winter peas clinging tight and I’d considered rolling the Gleaner back out, then harvesting them.  However, I would have done so simply to clean up the seed for planting as our fall cover.  Instead, I hooked up the heavy off-set disk and in two passes, knocked all the stalks flat and spread the peas about in the process.  This was the first tillage I’d done to this field since spring of 2023.

By knocking out the peas and turning down the straw, my hope was to have a nice environment for the peas to germinate up through the mulched field.  Better, perhaps, than if I’d tried to direct drill them into the standing straw.  When the bizarre rain came I knew we’d soon know what sort of cover crop we’d have.  Here on the first of this month I’m pleased to report we’ve a wonderful, mulched in crop of winter peas and volunteer einkorn!  To which I will apply a good dose of cold pressed liquid fish fertilizer and composting microbes.  This will speed up the digestion process of the straw.  My goal is to have one big biological, soil feeding combination of available goodies come next spring.  It may be the largest amount of organic matter I’ve ever had to try and convert to soil.  This could be interesting.   Stay tuned. 

Farm partner Brad Bailie in Connell, Washington took off a very nice crop of einkorn last month and as soon as we run the last couple loads of 2023 crop, we will be fresh into 2024 einkorn.  The Schmaltz family just finished emmer harvest  and they have their first Certified Regenified regenerative crop in the bins!  We will be taking that in for hulling and grading at our recently  Certified Regenified Bluebird facility here in Winthrop.  Yes, one more “certification”.  This regenerative certification is one that we feel is now legitimate and we believe in it.  Even the USDA is beginning to put pressure on producers and processors to substantiate their claims on a variety of sales pitches such as “No antibiotics”, “Free Range”, and yes “Rengerative.”  We want you to be confident that we are who we say we are.  A 100% certified organic, and now certified regenerative facility using certified crops.  That’s a lot of certs!

That said, our grain cleaning line was a bit quiet last month.  This can happen in the depths of summer.  Commodity prices themselves have been at a low for the past 10 years, and this can sometimes have an effect even on our small market of specialty grains.  Right now between inflationary costs of operations, a strong US dollar and lower farm gate price-points, those growing under the subsidized system are reminded that Price support and Insurance support is how  they are kept in business some years.  This tax-based funding source is common for most non-organic US farms, however, even these farms remain at risk because here a full year since the last Farm Bill expired.  The expired bill has been on a one year extension which, in turn, is now due to expire.  The House version is still hung up on the House floor.  Good thing for some farms that another support mechanism remains alive and well.  This month the 39th annual Farm Aid concert takes place on the autumn equinox in New York State.  To date, Farm Aid has raised $80 million for family farms in this country.  Go Willie and Company!

Here at Bluebird where we have no price safety net, we’ve kept our prices the same as we try to do no matter how the tides rise and fall around us.  This isn’t always easy, but it seems to be a good way to maintain long-term relationships.  We are fortunate to have such a large repeat customers base.  Thank you.  It was nice to meet some of you at our Labor Day weekend open house.  Brooke and I enjoyed our time with several folks we’d never met before, but that had been buying our products in some cases, for years now! 

Schools are back in session country-wide.  With this comes our local school’s Classroom in Bloom annual party in support and celebration of the amazing garden we have here on school grounds just across the road from Bluebird.  This year marks the 20th anniversary!  CIB helps feed the local students fresh and frozen produce throughout the school year, as they reap the rewards of their very own labor.  CIB is one of the gems of our little valley and I’m proud of all those involved.  I hope to see some of you at the party.

I hope you enjoy the late summer as nights lengthen and deepening shadows flow across the landscape to the easy sound of gathering birds, happy cicadas, and the flutter of just- fading aspen.  September is perhaps the mellowest month of all.  And I love it. 

 

Yours,

Farmer Sam

Following a most pleasant and coolish June this year, July came in and like that and acted a lot more like August.  Mid-month we had 2 weeks of temperatures hovering one side or the other of 100.  The river dropped, the green vanished from the north slopes, and our einkorn totally cured out in those two weeks!  The birds…?

Our resident waxwings hung around the greenery of our backyard, and subtly sung to us even during the heat.  As did the bluebirds, the wrens, the towhees and finches.  However, July is the molting season for many adult birds, particularly the males.  Male birds need to reset their flare and vitality each year, and July is when many species quietly do this.  

One recent morning while taking my early cup on the south porch, I heard a sound I recognized as a familiar water bird but it seemed out of place as we’ve no real nearby water.   For whatever reason, overhead flew a pair of Great Blue Herons?  Both females?  To where I’ve no idea?  Hawks stretch about the morning sky, as they hunt food for their young.  Soon, the young will be hunting on their own.

As the “dog days” of summer settle in for real now in August, most everything is busier in the early morning and evening.  Here at Bluebird, we have adjusted our schedule to the real heat and during the worst of it, fire up our cleaning line and milling line early in the morning.  This not only keeps our grains and flours cooler, but it is far easier on our equipment and equipment operators!  Because we pull ambient air into the processing area when the building side louvers open, whatever the air temperature is outside, it soon becomes the same inside.  In the winter, too!  Our workers are tough.  They labor hard to keep the grains and flours at consistent temperatures, and most of you realize this when you receive them.  High quality is our goal, no matter the weather.

As I hinted earlier, I went ahead and rolled out the old Gleaner harvested our einkorn here at Bluebird a good three weeks ahead of most years.  The inter-seeded peas seemed to give the einkorn a boost, and I was able to cut right over the peas in most cases.  This crop is our original einkorn variety we began growing out 15 years ago, and it revamps our seedstock.     I’ve an awful lot of straw now out there, with dry peas and pea straw left as well.  I will be deciding what to do there, aside from putting down a bunch of liquid fish to kick start some biological activity.  With all the straw,  I will need to manage carefully  making sure I’m giving the soil enough nitrogen and other goodies to turn the straw back into nutritious soil.  This is always a tricky balancing act.  To be sure, this field here will be getting a year off from any sort of grain production, and more cover crops.  South of here, Brad has begun einkorn harvest on his farm, as well as the harvesting of the special and yummie Sonora soft white wheat.  We are beginning to take deliveries of both up here at Bluebird.

In unrelated news; still no new Farm Bill.  This now is almost a year past the last bill’s  expiration.  Partisan politics kill everything, including a new Farm Bill.  It was good to learn that USDA head Tom Vilsack was at the Rodale Institute earlier in July, and was talking about different farming paradigms than what is currently called “conventional.  We know that most current, and too often subsidized practices are not sustainable.  Production of food, as is, has a huge impact on Climate Change.  I’ve read estimates that say food production is responsible for one-quarter of the world’s carbon emissions.  Yikes!  Gotta’ do better, here.

The good news is:  We know how.  The not so good: Big Ag farm subsidies keep this from happening, wherein the average rice farmer receives $292,000 in government subsidies, soybean farmers $54,000 and the overall average of farm subsidies going to the high income bracket is $450,000.  Meanwhile, the Farm Bill has many important and relevant programs that we need to ensure soon such as SNAP – for retirees and disabled citizens.

Next month school will be in full swing most everywhere.  I have been impressed lately how many schools have been putting more emphasis on real nutrition, and less on junk.  I know this is complicated, and it isn’t always the most affordable path up-front, but where better to spend than on good food for our youth?  If we can keep their minds and bodies healthy then we have accomplished a turning point, perhaps, in education.  Please beware as schools open and many more kids will be in and on the roads and streets.

Sally forth here, as we go full on into harvest.  Reap the bounty our Mother somehow continues to provide us, and never once take this for granted.  Carry on, youth.  We need you to make wise decisions, and bring some unity back to this country.  No pressure!

Yours,

Farmer Sam

 

As fine of a month as this past May was, June might have been even lovelier!  June delivered in a number of ways with shots of moisture, sun and some wind scattered throughout the month.  Never did a day reach 90 degrees.  Here in the semi-desert the cooler, mellow weather of “Junuary” came as a real delight.  Even though this mantra is quickly changing as we head into July, some north slopes remain greenish and streams are just now beginning to settle and clear.  Oh, and did the birds ever love June!    

I may have failed to mention the Wood-Pewee before, but these dandy little birds have made themselves well known around our yard this past month.  Although I recognize them by sight, I’d forgotten their voice – a sweet addition to all the other birdsong that flows each morning now.  Another favorite bird voice of mine is the higher pitched, more subtle Cedar Waxwing.  Both are much quieter than our chatty wrens!

One of the windier evenings I watched a pair of recently fledged Waxwings clinging tight to our apricot tree.  With the most determined of looks they hunkered as gusts tossed about a smaller limb they clung to for dear life.  Indeed.  The next moment they appeared scared to let go not knowing, perhaps, where they’d end up?  My guess is every new day comes fraught with fears for them  – for all wildlife actually.  This simply is another reminder of how fragile and resilient Nature is all at once.

True to form, June was a great month for growing.  With the moderate temperatures and full on Solstice daylight, plants seemed to take off big time.  Here at the farm our companion crop of peas and einkorn shot up and grew two feet in about a week.  Not surprisingly the einkorn out grew the peas and now when we look out at the four foot high einkorn dancing in the breeze, no blossoming peas can even be sighted !  They are down there, however, and adding nitrogen to the grain.

I did irrigate some in June, but all our supplemental water is off for the summer as the grain is full and needs to begin the curing process.  We used a total of about five inches of supplemental water, out of our water right that has a designation of 48”.  Under our more Regenerative farm system and growing less water intensive crops, we use about 75% less water than surrounding farms.  This keeps more water here in our basin, and gives more to the fish and otherwise.  More, too I suppose, for other farmers.  But less compaction for our own fields.  As I’ve mentioned before, water is a leading cause of soil compaction world-wide.  Flooding; heavy storms; supplemental irrigation – over watering is at the head of the compaction line.  Too much of a good thing?  Maybe.  Backwards “water-law”  drives this; a topic for another month.

Update on Farm Bill:  No real change as it remains mired in partisan politics.  Remember this is a $1.5 TRILLION spending package we will all be paying for.  One recent version harbors a particularly nefarious rider, as so many bills do.  This one – folded into the horticultural part of the bill approved by the House Agriculture Committee – essentially is a “get out of jail free” card for Bayer Crop Sciences and other chemical companies.  If passed, it grants Bayer legal immunity for all Roundup lawsuits – originally filed against Monsanto before the buy-out.  If passed, those that have filed suits against the chemical giant would now have to do so all over again with little if any chance of finding settlement.  The EPA sticker on the label claims Roundup is “safe.”  Therefore chemical companies would not be held liable for any health issues.  We can only hope clearer minds prevail, and this FB version will not advance.

Not to worry about any of this if you purchase organic, and organic grains from Bluebird in particular!  We’ve been certified organic since the very beginning.  Our farmers, including myself, have all been certified growers for more than 25 years.  And we’ve done so with few, if any, government subsidies.  As “they say” in politics it is a “win-win” for consumers.

July in Eastern Washington is awash in bright light, clear skies, and hot temperatures.  This is the weather that sets the finishing stages for so many different fruits and grains here.  With cereal grains finishing their growth and heading out and pollinating; hot July weather forces plants to reach for the sugars and bring nutrients up to the fruit, be it actual fruit like cherries, apricots, peaches, or grain kernels.  These sugars develop into protein.  These proteins and minerals add up to flavor! 

Our grain is in full pollination.  As I look out the farm office window and watch the tall einkorn sway in the wind like a river, I think of all the thousands of years this wild food has done what it still does today.  We feel most fortunate to work with this grain, and to be able to bring it to fruition by hulling it and screening it into plump kernels, and milling these kernels into aromatic whole grain flour for you.

As we near the 250 year mark of old glory – now just a year or two  away – I feel so indebted to our ancestors and their fight for our independence.  As broken as this country can feel at times, we still have amazing resources, ingenuity, and perseverance.  By and large, we are a food independent nation.  Of our many strengths this, perhaps, is our greatest.  We have enough land to sustain our population indefinitely, if we can just get back to more sustainable and diverse production practices.  Choose good food for the good of your health, and for the good our country!  

Cheers,

Farmer Sam

American Flag at Bluebird Grain Farms

May oh May… a more delightful May than this years’ I can’t imagine.  A few days in the 70’s and  80’s; a few valley rain showers and snow squalls in the mountains; wind and calm, then temps in the 30’s as we leave the month behind.  Quite the variety of weather, alright.  That is what makes Spring here so fun.  Lest I forget the birds!  Chats and buntings; swallows and wrens; orioles and tanagers…  Truth to tell, I could sit all day and watch and listen.

Alas, that would not be of much help to our wonderful crew here at Bluebird Grain Farms.  They’ve been working hard at keeping our systems running smoothly, and shipping out orders nationwide from our little valley.  Our supply of organic grain remains solid as we enter the last quarter before harvest, and we are having a good year entering the final month of the 2024’s front half.  Nothing makes me happier than to hear good things about our grains and flours from a whole host of different customers.  The real kudos go out to all of you who take an interest in food, how it is grown and where it comes from.  Thank you!

All of this year’s crops are planted and growing right along.  The northern prairies have received nice rains, our partners report.  The earlier planted crops here in the Columbia Basin at Brad’s Lenwood Farms are a foot tall now, and cover crops at our own farm are beginning to stretch up toward the gathering daylight.  Wow.  Can we be just 3 weeks from Summer Solstice!  Plants really kick into gear come this time of the year.  Let the sweet, rich juices of June flow.  

Yes, we could use more rain here.  In the past, the month of June often delivered.  The longer we get into the summer months without excessive heat, the longer we can hold off drought if the days are just cooler and cloudier.  Once crops reach a certain growth stage – grain knee high – then the plants themselves harbor moisture and protect the soils.  This is one reason we love the ancient wheats because they grow so tall, and create a shade effect that preserves moisture in their roots.  This function is not dissimilar to trees, albeit on a much smaller scale.  Soil preservation, high organic matter, nutritious food – these are just some of reasons to celebrate the wheats that once were.  

But we’ve brought them back!  We have been touting these qualities for nearly 20 years now and it is exciting to see continued  interest and rising popularity of these time-tested grains.  Their attributes and versatility both agronomically and culinarily continue to engage and teach us as years go by.  I’m guessing this does not change anytime soon.  To quote William Faulkner: “The past is never dead, it’s not even past.”

Our job hasn’t changed either, and that is seeing to it that all of you get these ancient grains freshly delivered on a consistent basis.  This is one way we can improve on our food systems that still remain flawed.  Currently, the FDA and USDA continue to try and sort out the recent Avian Flu mess that is a self-fulfilled prophecy, of sorts, as I mentioned last month.  Feeding our animals the wrong diet – turning herbivores into carnivores – is not sustainable.  Over 4 million laying hens alone have been destroyed and disposed of…  How?  Where?  Will the dairy herds be next?  Yuck.

In related news, remember the Farm Bill?  The last one expired in September of 2023.  I mentioned in last fall’s Notes how we would not see a new bill before the end of the year.  The question is now: Will we see one before the end of this year?  In a lot of ways this delay may be a good thing since it has morphed into a piece of broken and partisen farming legislation.   However, very crucial programs such as SNAP still hang in the balance.  Not so good.

We enjoyed a nice Memorial weekend granary tour here at the Farm.  It is always engaging for Brooke and myself to see new faces, meet new people, have new discussions and teach and learn all at once.  During the whole weekend I kept in mind what the past “holiday” really is about and that is to honor and memorialize those who made the ultimate sacrifice for this great nation of ours.  Yes, it is a great country.  Democracy is far, far from perfect and remains a constant work in progress.  However, I’ll still take it every day.

Here’s to health, decency and peace for the coming summer.

Yours,

Farmer Sam

Well it hasn’t been a very quiet week, or month, here at Bluebird Grain Farms.  We welcome back the wrens, the warblers, bluebirds, finches, ducks, geese while balsamroot and lupine bloom across the foothills.  April’s full “Pink Moon” brought out the coyotes as the voice of spring frogs drifted from nearby vernal pools.  As I jot these notes here at the end of April, heavy clouds hang about the sky and one good downpour has just finished.  We will take another just like it!  April showers…

Both the flour mill and the grain cleaning line have been humming right along as a variety of orders ranging from 1 ton totes down to 1 pound bags leave the granary daily.  This spring bustle has likely been brought on by a series of things as overall grain supplies can become lean with the 2023 harvest well in the past.  Not everyone can plan precisely for annual needs; this goes for both consumers and suppliers alike and Bluebird often sees an uptick of interest in our own supply.  Sometimes we end up servicing new customers due to shortages elsewhere.  Sometimes a few of these customers become long-timers!

Consumer and supplier; concerns over this relationship have only grown as America’s subsidized food system once more appears to be flailing.  Most recently, the Avian Flu outbreak has reared up again and this time is spreading first to dairy cows, then to the milk itself. Now, the meat supply chain is suspect.  Probable cause: Cows (ungulates) being fed chicken byproduct. Carcass scraps are ground and mixed in with various other surplus, cheap feeds (byproduct). Hmmm.

Mentioning cows, the West  faces another season of drought in many regions.  Biggest water users? Cows.  Eighty percent of western water goes to thirsty livestock crops such as alfalfa.  Meanwhile, Bayer Crop Sciences after making a horrible decision to acquire Monsanto just before all the glyphosate (Round Up) lawsuits hit, now wants the government’s and yes, your sympathy?  They are pushing back against 100’s of lawsuits brought on by inadequate warning labels, and users themselves that have fallen ill with cancer.  Glyphosate is one chemical that is used on much of the nation’s croplands.  Although these things may seem distant from Bluebird Grain Farms, in large they drive what we do.

In last month’s notes I mentioned visiting our friends the Schmaltz family on their 5,000 acre organic farm in North Dakota. One might think there isn’t much farming to see in early March on the northern prairie, yet on a healthy farm such as the Schmaltz’s there are all kinds of things to see.  Despite being a snowless and dry winter there – what locals call an open  winter – just before we arrived it snowed 4-5 inches.  Our first morning following an emmer pancake breakfast, we bundled up and left Blaine and Suzie’s cozy farm house for some of their fields.  Along their boundaries  were neighboring operations that the Ag industry calls “conventional farms”.

That fast, we noticed that the adjacent fields, most fall tilled, had already lost the new snow.  (Sometimes it’s windy in North Dakota!)  Next, we noticed the snow had all lodged up in Blaine’s fields full of emmer stalks, sunflower stalks, cornstalks.  Because he has been working for years toward minimal till and full scale Regenerative Agriculture, the Schmaltz’s farm is now working for itself on a variety of levels.  Here, it was working for critical moisture and it really didn’t even have to work!

emmer stalks

Stalks of harvest Emmer wheat are intentionally left in the ground                         to hold critical moisture and collect snow.

By leaving the grain stalks standing tall from his combine’s stipper header, not only was blowing snow sequestered here, but the soil itself was sheltered from the cold and the ground hadn’t frozen as deep.  Microbial activity in the soil was allowed to continue year-round even in this harshest of climates.  Crop residue, and the consequential breakdown thereof builds soil biology.  Biologically active soils promote nutrient cycling and give crops available nutrients.  Nutrient dense crops give us nutrient-dense food.  Moisture sink, carbon sink, biology sink all equal nutrient sink.  Nutrient sink equals taste.  Let us not forget an important reason we like food!

checking soil

What’s more, out on the Schmaltz’s farm this year-round crop recycling mimics natural grasslands, and what the prairie must have been like before it was farmed. Protected soils warm up earlier in the spring than those left tilled.  Spring planting and subsequent growth can thus begin earlier than on the bare soils nearby.  Conversely, in the sticky heat of a hot summer’s day Blaine’s soils are shaded and kept cooler resulting in less evaporation.  All of this plays into the finished crop: It’s health, it’s yields, and ultimately how it stacks up nutritionally.  We are talking about real food grown as close to Nature’s ways as possible.

schmaltz & brooke

Brooke, Blaine, and Suzie in North Dakota

Some long-time customers might have worried when I made the gradual transition away from full crop production in our tiny valley here.  We still farm here to a degree, but this productive and resilient farm system played out on a much vaster scale at the Schmaltz farm is how and where Bluebird emmer is now grown.  We feel fortunate indeed and think it is reason to celebrate.  This is not only a celebration of a healthy farm system and consistent supply of top grade emmer, but of long term and sustainable human relationships as well.  Producer/Processor.  Supplier/Consumer.  All of which is truly a celebration and appreciation of the Earth itself.

So nothing really has changed here at Bluebird.  When you receive your grains from us, you can rest assured we still have health in mind as we have from the very beginning, of both people and the land.

Hello May.  Full on planting season!  With the growing daylight and heating degree days, the growing season begins as the soils soften and the earth comes alive.  Here’s to your health,

Yours,

Farmer Sam

Spring, spring, and more spring!  We knew it was early this year, and all the signs of that reality have been at play these past couple of weeks leading up to April.  Bluebells on the bare hillsides, bluebirds flitting in the sage.  Yellow bells on the hillsides, the yellow throat of the Meadowlark singing that timeless spring song.  Robins gorge after a wonderful late March rain, and new snow is caught up on the mountains as the northwest winds kick down the valley.  Canada-bound geese shift high overhead.  Three days of 70 degrees then nights fell back to the 20’s as snow showers dust the valley floor.  Springtime in the Methow – some say the most glorious of all.

Early fieldwork for any year this spring.  I believe I’ve only farmed here in March one other time in the past 30 years.  This spring I smoothed out last fall’s primary tillage I did on an abandoned neighboring field which I’ve committed to restoring. It felt a little weird to be on the soil before the aspen were budding but the river was on the rise and soil moisture was perfect and when it is time it is time – no matter how early it seems.  This neighbor’s field is just south of Winthrop and one I’d also first farmed, like our field here at Bluebird, soon after I arrived in the Methow 31 years ago!.  It needs a new irrigation system which we are currently developing.  There will not be any supplemental water available this growing season, so I must seed early.  As soon as the soil warms I will sow a rehabilitation crop of hardy triticale and spring pea mix.

The winter peas on the home field are just greening up with the first rain, and most look to have made the winter well.  Most of us, following the lean snowpack, are hoping for a wet spring indeed.

Our grain cleaning line and flour mill have been very steady through the first full quarter of the year here, and this has kept the crew happy.  It is with pleasure that we send out totes and bags of fresh milled flour and grains every day of the week to customers all over as well as right here at home.  Fresh whole grains and flours straight to order – always organic and always top grade – is what keeps Bluebird the gold standard for US-grown ancient whole wheat.  Our customers know this difference and we couldn’t be more grateful to all of you!

Global grain supply can be an interesting subject.  Many of you know that wheat is one of the most commonly grown commodities worldwide.  Since we are a global economy, what happens in one country far away can have a large effect locally.  In this case, I say local to mean the Northwest and to a greater extent our nation.  With recent events in Russia, Ukraine, and Poland, the effect has actually been a downturn in commodity pricing.  This is the first downturn in a while. Combined with an uptick in the cost of production – at least for bigger-scale commercial and generally subsidized farms that rely on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides produced elsewhere – the strain is felt on many farmer’s wallets.  This is where price support, and more importantly tax-subsidized insurance comes into play.  This is what keeps farmers on the fringe, but still growing.  This is a farm system in desperate need of repair.

There is not a shortage of wheat worldwide.  If you aren’t concerned so much about quality or how it is grown, there is enough wheat stored for 2-3 years.  What really hasn’t changed is the fact that only a handful of companies own this supply.  Thus, they set the pricing and so forth, as with most commodities.  What is bothersome is the fact that people are still starving – right in our own country – while this supply in many cases is left untouched.  For the more successful farmers in this game, they sit on the year’s crops and wait for the upturn in prices.  For those that are strapped by debt, they sell at bottom pricing to companies that thrive on low-cost bargains.  This way, they own an even bigger amount of the supply.

In 1979 there was a book written by Washington Post journalist Dan Morgan called The Merchants of Grain.  Fascinating read.  And one that in many cases still pertains to the grain world today.

Alas, breathe deep Bluebird folks… we do not play the pricing game.  We work hard to pay our partners what they deserve, and they work hard to make sure we stay in business.  Relationships are all about relations and this couldn’t have been more demonstrated than when Brooke and I visited our good friends and partners the Schmaltz family last month, on the Northern prairie of North Dakota.  The Schmaltz’s are absolute cornerstones in the Regenerative Farm system.  Their farm largely works for itself now, wherein very little supplemental nutrients are brought in to support their vast crop rotation.  And they love what emmer does for their farm.  I will write more on this in my next notes.  Stay tuned!

Until then, welcome the slow awakening of Spring.  Enjoy the northern lights if you can, and maybe some of the upcoming eclipse.  Both are reasons to celebrate and good reminders of our place in this world.

Yours,

Farmer Sam

peas in the field

The cover crop of winter peas survived the snow.

March…here with all your vagaries of weather. Truth to tell, February seemed like March month-long with robins showing up fast behind the red-winged blackbirds! I can say for certain that I never recall seeing or hearing a robin up here in February. Thank goodness March is here because I’ve seen robins in early March before…and finches and nuthatches and… with delight, we hear the voices of great horned owls, barred owls, and the subtle whistle of the saw-whet owl along the creek bottom both at first light and again at night. All the more prevalent as momentum built toward February’s Full Moon. It’s a hungry world out there come March most every winter. This winter might appear to have been easier than most for a lot of animals and birds however, easy is a relative term as it comes from the human viewpoint.

As robins flit in the fields and pull up the earthworms that love our cover crops, snow squalls hit the mountains. Heavy snow, in fact, has encapsulated the North Cascades as we usher in this mighty and lionish indeed. It is hard not to give up on winter at this point, but the new snow is welcome as the overall snowpack remains behind what we’d like.  his El Nino winter is true to form like no other. Here in the Valley floor even though the snow has been lean winter-long, our soil is well saturated. Of course our traditional spring winds can take a lot of that away but quick!  Ahhh…here I am once more, discussing the safe topic of weather.

At this point it still looks to be an earlier planting season for spring crops. Our winter peas are already in and growing from last fall, but there is another field I may be sowing spring cover peas in as early as April – very soon for this climate.  Both fields will receive another cover crop of buckwheat later in the summer.

Meanwhile our milling and shipping has been lively here at the facility. We jumped the year off to a strong start and as we enter the final month of the first quarter, we remain busy. Our einkorn flour continues as our top flour seller, but the emmer flour is catching up fast!  Between the whole grain emmer pancake mix, and our finely ground emmer flour, volumes are only about 20% behind einkorn flour. Must be the rich, nutty flavor of that wonderful whole grain emmer!  And the fact that Dan mills it fresh to order – a mainstay here at Bluebird Grains since our very beginning.

Brooke and I will be at Chef’s Warehouse for a presentation to start March, then we head to the northern prairies to see dear friends and farm partners the Schmaltz family. We look forward to visiting their large, fully organic/regenerative farm. We missed our fall visit. It has been a lean winter there also, so it may be early planting for them as well.  In the drought winters, or “open winters” –  true regenerative agriculture shines as it preserves moisture and biology in the soils that is easily lost under a more aggressive and chemical based farming trajectory. No surprise; much of the wildlife moves onto their farm where the crop ground goes minimally disturbed, and much of the native habitat is left intact.

Every day it seems, I read more and more about our broken food system. Sad to say, I still read of the illegal use of under-age children being used/abused in some of the meat industry’s – and it is an industry – nastiest jobs. It is disturbing to read of the blanket contamination that herbicides have weighed upon our food systems – most recently chlormequat in small grains that make up a lot of breakfast cereals. With some irony I suppose, just when our government gets pressured to more clearly read the science and deem many herbicides “illegal” as they did this winter with dicamba, they turn around and allow for its use until current supply is gone!  In this country.  And how about “farms” where the crops never see actual soil at all – alive or dead?

As dire as these continued findings remain in this day and age, it is also the reason so many consumers want change, and are leveraging the change to organic, sustainable, non-toxic farm practices with their purse strings. Even the USDA has awakened to the fact that we might have to begin subsidizing better farm practices, albeit on a miniscule level as compared to the subsidizing of Big Ag. I hope I live to see the day this is reversed, and that the farm subsidies (your tax dollars) go more heavily toward soil-building farm practices and healthy food.

Fear not, here at Bluebird Grain Farms we go about our organic business as usual, with respect to our soils, our farms, and our customers every day. This will not change with or without farm subsidies! We are grateful to our partner farms, and we are grateful to all of you. As Spring leans in with the gathering daylight and more heavy storms, think of our giving soils and think of our Mother. It is time to organize seeds to sow!

Here’s to the return of winter, Ha! But we will see you shortly in the Spring.

Yours,

Farmer Sam

I could never have guessed that January would leave us in the same fashion it arrived: Gray, mild, soggy.  This, following our one stretch of sunshine during mid-month when temperatures dropped to 20 below zero!  My goodness, are we in North Dakota all of a sudden?  Or New England? Nope.  Still here in the “Sunny Methow.”  To be taken with a grain or two… our weather leaves little to complain about comparatively, in regards to how it affects the surroundings.  Sure, we’d take a stronger if not prettier snowpack and a lot more sun but we’ve no flooding (yet), no wildfires (yet), and surely no drought (yet!) The roads may be mucky but the ski trails are still good, as is the eating!

Weather is a frequent topic amongst us two-legged folk – often a “safe conversation”.  I wonder if any of the birds or other wildlife ever partake in this sort of chatter?  It seems as though a chickade’s varying song might express a mood, as might a coyote’s yip, or sharp bark or long-drawn howl in the moonlight.  However, since I don’t speak in their tongue I’m left to speculate.  Speculation happens to be a specialty of farmers.  In case you were speculating, this is where I bring my notes back to farming.

Right now, I’m feeling good about our soil’s moisture profile.  Truth to tell, I’m not sure whether or not our winter peas even stopped growing under the snow?  This important cover crop sown early last fall here in the home field, I speculate is simply grooving on this weather.  Come late – April, I’d guess for a thick, lovely crop of lush peas out there as they build back biology and fix available nitrogen.

In my January notes I touched upon the rise of interest in the Regenerative Farming movement.  Regenerative Farming is not new, although some make it sound so.  The term is actually newer than the real practice although the practice itself is becoming continually refined.  One of the long-standing premises of Regen-Ag is the use of continuous cropping and lots of cover legumes.  Although we have a very modern crop cleaning line here in our new granary, once in a while even with all the different screen sizes, air speeds, and pitches of our equipment, fragments of these cover crops make it through to the finished product.  If you happen to notice a broken pea, or a fragment of lentil or even a chipped bean in one of your grain orders – rest assured this is more a shout-out to good farming practices than a result of an inadequate cleaning line.  Cover-cropping and crop rotation for nutrient growth are absolutely real here at Bluebird Grain Farms.  We all embrace this, our crops embrace it and hope all of you will as well.

Yes, our cleaning line has been busy and so has our dang flour mill!  Someone keeps tagging promotions to our website here (Larkin?) and our first month of direct retail has been very busy.  We are grateful, even if it means 3 days of straight milling.  Our miller, Dan, loves consistency.  And his weekly runs of our different flours most of you know are very consistent.  This is one of the reasons our flour performs so well: Consistency, quality, and freshness.  Thanks Dan!

The pancake and baking mixes are quite popular this time of year, also.  As are the hot cereals.  And my favorite dish: Grilled wildfowl served with split emmer or our Potlatch pilaf.  Mmmm… I can not get enough!  This is my idea of comfort food.  Maybe with some lightly sauteed kale and onion, or longer cooked chard as a side.  And a heavy red wine, if so inclined…

I feel that this half-way point of winter here in the more northern latitudes is the defining line between last farm-year, and the one upcoming.  Long enough time has passed and the calendar has turned to a new year and despite cleaning and milling the past year’s crop, one’s mind has already turned to the coming growing season.  Our good friends and partners who are leaders of Regenerative Farming out on the prairie spend a good chunk of their winter in a heated shop working on all kinds of specialized machinery that enable them to farm proficiently in a minimum-till, continuous cropping system.  They have an amazing amount of equipment to maintain, and make sure it is ready to roll when the window opens this spring.  Based on the past year’s sketches, conversations, and jotted-down notes all come out their maintenance and re-fab projects have begun.  In this way, farming indeed goes year-round.  Being a shop monkey isn’t everyone’s gig – myself included – but it sure as heck helps when you want to run a good farm!

Farming is not only labor intensive but often is quite equipment intensive.  This is one of the more challenging parts of farming any sizable amount of acreage.  Most farm implements were invented by farmers, and based on necessity.  As cropping systems change, needs change and thus innovation remains alive and well.  What I love is when you get a brand-new piece of equipment and immediately begin modifying it!  This seems to be more prevalent in the past 20 years or so, as most equipment is now developed by engineers, not farmers.

The use of these large specialized pieces of equipment, one might think results in an excessive amount of resources.  True, the construction of this equipment takes resources, as does the operation.  However, under a Regenerative/Organic farm system, practiced farmers can cut way down on their carbon footprint not just by using less fuel overall, but by sequestering all the carbon in the crops through minimized tillage, and growing their nutritional needs through continuous cropping.  A lot of speculation with this system has come and gone.  These systems are proving to be sustainable and profitable.  Perhaps even more so in this day and age, when it is ever the more important to protect and enhance our soils.

Ode to the clever farmers worldwide.  Ode to our Mother Earth.  She not only feeds us, she keeps our minds speculating!  What more could we ask?

I leave you with my latest speculations: February will be drier here than January.  And Organic Regenerative farming will continue to grow in importance.

Yours,

Farmer Sam

The new year has come in with the same sort of gray mantra as the old went out.  A pall of low clouds, frequent fog, and little snow anchors the countryside.  Some days have seemed more like March than December.  It couldn’t be much more opposite than the new year of last with its deep blue skies, cold nights, and ample powder snow.  What a difference a year can make!  As we slip into 2024, it’s hard to truly know what might lie ahead – weather-wise or otherwise?

One thing that has remained strong is the growing interest in the Bluebird Grain Farms story, and our operations here at the new site.  This was highlighted on the final Saturday of the year with heavy attendance for another of our Open Houses.  We offered two rounds of the operations tour when folks learned about our grains and saw how we brought them first  into storage, cleaned them, then milled or directly packaged them for shipping.  Lots of great folks came from all over – including some from right here in the Methow.  We welcomed one and all and are most grateful for all the interest and questions and being able to celebrate the farming ethics we adhere to, as well as the importance of healthy food.  It seemed to be an engaging and a fun time for all, or so I hope.  It was for me!  We look forward to many more of these sorts of gatherings in 2024.

Meanwhile the winter birds are a little nonplussed by this unseasonal weather.  The chickadees are going through their motions and visiting our feeder but once in a while, I will catch them singing what I’ve always thought to be their “spring” song?  It has been a gentler start to winter  for the quail and other ground-grazers looking for seeds and grasses.  With the small amount of snow covering the ground, scratch marks along the edges of the trees reveal quail and other birds at work.  Deer easily munch bitterbrush and sage while coyotes yip at night, perhaps wishing for easier meals?  Ravens soar, always looking to cash in on an unsuspecting mouse, mole or leftover snack from coyote or cougar.

We closed the processing operations of the granary for the holidays.  We only shipped out retail orders during the week, but we are back to full production as we welcome the new year orders already accumulating on our clipboards.  Our dedicated crew here is rested and will begin the new year of grains for real: Cleaning, milling, bagging and shipping direct.  We are anticipating a very good year in 2024.  Our grain supply is excellent and our processing capacity has substantially increased with our new line.  No matter how busy we get, however, we will never lose sight of our roots and why we began Bluebird 19 years ago: For the love of the land – more than ever – and for the love of good, fresh food.

As orders increase, it will be more of a balancing act on how far ahead we generate finished products.  The main pillar of our reputation is that of fresh whole grains and whole grain flours.  Whether it is our signature ancient wheats –  einkorn and emmer – or our more current varieties of hard and soft white wheat, or the red and rye.  Our goal is to process as much as we can, like we have always done, on a weekly basis.  This is the way we can send fresh grains and flour to all of our customers.  This is how we identify ourselves as a true custom mill.

Working with our stalwart farm partners that dedicate so much work into raising these nutritious grains in an organic/regenerative system, we’ve been able to hit that consistency of quality and nutrition that sets us apart from other operations.  This is what you pay for at Bluebird Grain Farms: Top quality, reliability, and swift customer service.  Our crew here at the Farm is first rate, and we couldn’t do what we do if we didn’t all believe in the same ethics.  We look forward to serving you in a variety of ways in 2024.

As we enter the New Year the buzz around regenerative agricultural practices continues to build.  To be sure, there are different thoughts on what it means to be “Regenerative” but when all is said and done, more sustainable farm practices are becoming commonplace as many of our farm soils are literally “farmed out.”  More commercial corn and soybean growers are turning to biologicals as import fertilizer costs spike.  Many are already seeing positive results and at reduced costs.  Although the benefits of using biologicals isn’t new to many of us, I’m pleased to read more and more about this transition – be it forced or otherwise.  I truly believe most farmers of all types care about the land and want to do the right thing.  All of us are learning by the day, and learning something new.  This is what keeps farming exciting.  This is why we farm.  We have to work together to improve upon the increasingly damaged food system we’ve been under in this country following WWII.  Here’s to that challenge.  Here’s to collaboration!

Yours,

Farmer Sam

“Not yesterday I learned to know

The love of bare November days

Before the coming of the snow…”

And so the final stanza in Robert Frost’s “My November Guest” begins.  A more appropriate beginning, and now ending of November can not be found.  Indeed this November began with “silvery mist and sodden lane” as wonderful days of rain settled into our little valley next to the North Cascades.  Settled in and dislodged many of the brown leaves; softened the summer-bristled bunchgrasses; quieted the entire countryside.  Perfect for the soil before the coming snow indeed.  Perfect as only Nature is.

No valley snow this November, but following the rain the clouds lifted, northern breezes stirred and the nights grew crisp and the days brightened as a very different November saw us through the Thanksgiving holiday.  Now as the full Beaver Moon begins to wane, skies hang heavy once again.  Like the beavers who are said to take to their winter lodges for the winter, we, too, may wish to “hole up” during this sort of weather.  But Lo, not here at Bluebird!

As orders roll into the Farm the liveliness of our processing and packing rooms reminds me more of the chickadees up in our home orchard.  These sing-songy little bundles bring to life the damp trees, and the gray skies,  as do the south-bound geese and the squirrels who remain busy collecting crabapples, wizened elderberries, and fir cones – adding to their winter stash.

The winter field peas loved the late fall rains and are thriving.  As temps now begin to lower,  hopefully we will get a nice blanket of snow before the temps get too cold – 0 or lower.  I do not want to test their hardiness too much.  The geese and a few ducks have been enjoying the leafy greens, as have the deer – both mule deer and whitetail deer.  Wild turkeys, meanwhile, climb all over our hull piles enjoying the feast there while we enjoyed roasted turkey inside by the fire!

Indeed, it is good eating weather!  As one of my Uncle’s more was known to say: “It’s getting awfully hungry out.”  Cold out, eat in; the comfort is palatable.  As fields rest, so must the farmers.  Ha!  Many farmers remain plenty busy even after the crops are all in.  One main reason we began Bluebird and started a processing and milling line together, was to spread the summer crops into year-round income.  We wouldn’t want to get too much rest!  And so during this dark, most austere time of the year, the bustle around the mill adds energy to these otherwise leaden days.

We appreciate all of our customers both long-time customers, and those brand new.  Some of whom I recently met at our November Open House here at the Farm.  It is always rejuvenating to see new faces, and hear new questions.  During our November tour some folks visited from Texas, others from Alaska, and many from right here in the Northwest.

Our next Open House here is Saturday December 9th.  There will be another Open House with granary tour again the final Saturday of the year on the 30th.  I look forward to seeing you there!

Until then, try and enjoy this time of the year.  I am always reminded that when there are 18 hours of daylight in June – 12 hour workdays are easily the norm.  So 8 hour work days in December should be okay, in return!

As the seasons go round and round there are so many things we are thankful for here at Bluebird – mostly our great customers and our loyal employees.  We realize that there are other companies you can get sorts of ancient einkorn and emmer from but we know most of you come to Bluebird because of our highest standards in quality and consistency.  This begins with our experienced, hard working US grower-base, and is finished in our customized processing by a caring staff here at our family farm.

We are aware there are many out there who do not have the good fortune that some of us have.  I encourage us all to reach out not only this time of year, but year-round to lend a helping hand, go the extra step for a neighbor in need, or anyone else that can use some random kindness.  If we are ever to have World Peace, it still needs to begin next door.

Peace.  And good will to all –

Farmer Sam