Category: Farmer Notes

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

The June rains never came here in the Methow and the almost freakish heat of early June returned for the latter part of the month, continuing right into July when it generally really gets hot! Even the morning birds appeared to disappear as nights barely cooled into the 60’s and days remained either side of 100. Occasionally I’d hear a quail prrr down along the creek as I sipped my early cup and the hummingbirds would zip around early but even they seemed a tad sluggish. Chatty wrens, feisty flycatchers, swallows with their young fledglings went quiet, as if they’d already left for the summer? Then, one morning I spotted 5 young bluebirds lined up on the cross-bar to the kids swing.  Glory be!

So, how do the grains fare in the heat? Fortunately, we have water and given water, they grow! We’ve given them fish, we’ve given them an extra boost of sea minerals and we’ve kept on the water so as to minimize early stress. So far, the early planted crops look pretty good. They’re done filling and we’ve stopped watering them. Now, the earlier fields are actually turning color fast. The later planted fields are just now beginning to boot-out and we’ll have to see if the heat took a toll on their development, or not? To be sure, they’ve grown quickly! What concerns us ultimately, however, is the actual head-fill of kernels and, of course, the quality of those kernels, or “grain berries.”

Our spring cover crops are all turned under for a fallow second half of summer and our winter rye is close to harvest. Likely, there will be about a 3 week wait before we’re onto our spring grain harvest which could be a good 2 weeks early this year. That said, just this week we had a change of weather!  Temps  dropped 20 degrees and in certain parts of the valley, sporadic and true rain showers burst! That fast, there seemed a sudden turn toward fall? The birds began singing again, the wasps quieted and the streams seemed to cool down. I caught myself waxing nostalgic about fall the other evening as I watched a change in light fall upon the dry foothills – almost September light. Ha, I won’t be fooled; we’ve plenty of summer to go.

The best part of this summer so far has been the lack of wildfires in the immediate vicinity. Wildfires are burning and have been destructive elsewhere in the state and definitely up north of the border. With the countryside bone-dry, we all are on alert and hoping that everyone takes precaution to the potential danger and volatility of this region. So far, Mother Nature has spared us any violent storms here, and for that we’re grateful and hope weather continues to be mostly quiet.

Granary orders flow in even during the wicked heat.  As tough as working in the heat is, everyone steps up and doesn’t seem to miss a beat. We continue to make some improvements in our milling line, thanks to Brad and Hanz, and ultimately are becoming more and  more efficient. Thanks, guys! Grains are awfully good eating in the summer, too and though I’ve only made my favorite trout rolled and fried in the farro porridge once, I intend to enjoy another round soon. The Labs sure don’t mind the odd fishing excersion, and seem more than willing to lie in the water while I “flick a fly…

In next month’s notes and I’ll hopefully be reporting more earnestly on the up-coming harvest. Meanwhile, we’re still growing out a lot of our crop and look forward to the slightly cooler, stable weather. Ahh, yes, finally I’ve begun to see the deer fawns – seemingly late this year when everything else is early? I’m unclear as to what this means? Also, the blue grouse are hatching out a second clutch. For some reason, their first did not survive well at all and this with a dry, mild spring?  Nature always keeps one guessing.

I hope this finds you all enjoying the summer and long light and you are staying cool!  We will be taking our annual trip back to my homeland – New Hampshire – while the crops cure for harvest. Looking forward to the trip and, of course, the return. Until then,

Yours, Farmer Sam

Methow Hard Red Wheat forming its seed head.

Field of Methow Hard Red Wheat

Last month’s poem “Rain” worked as our first, and last, good rain of the season followed. Looks like I better come up with another rain poem quick as June already rolls on! May did remain mild to complete one of the gentler springs I can recall. It never was hot, but it never got cold either. Truth to tell, it was about right for getting the grains up and going. We finished sowing on either side of June 3rd’s Full Moon and indeed, the grains all showed strong emergence. Every one of our Einka plantings popped in just 6 days. Even with the emmer we anticipate 7 days between sowing and emergence in most cases. And our early May grains are all growing fast!

Sweet June came in on a gentle note and then during the second week here Bang: Hot- that fast! From our mellow 70’s and 80’s to near 100 degrees for three days running. We scrambled from just finishing planting to making sure all our irrigation was laid out and running. Some of our smaller fields remain under hand line irrigation and had been neglected  so it has been full-on irrigation catch-up since. As well, we’ve been applying liquid fish on our earlier crops to give them another balanced hit of sea goodies at mid-growth. I love standing in the fields and breathing in the smell of the ocean. It is a fresh and healthy smell, particularly during these hot, windy days.  I can fairly hear the grains say: Ahhh…

June, sweet, sweet June you will return, right? The month of growth – the cooler, wetter of the summer months, no? A couple days of rain certainly would not break this farmers heart, but still and all the long daylight energizes.  And those first, cooler minutes of daylight are all about birds, as are the evenings.  We’ve swallows, meadowlarks, flycatchers, wrens, goldfinches and yes, bluebird fledglings all within sight of our back porch. Uncompromised delight, I say. It makes those early sips of coffee all the better. In the lower pond here, I’ve seen ducklings of mallard, redhead, and teal – both blue wing and cinnamon teal to go with the green wings.  The blue wing and cinnamon are not near as common around here. Oddly, I’ve yet to spot any new fawns but know they are nearby; well hidden and obedient to Mamma’s wishes.

Orders keep the granary crew awake and happy. We’ve been pleased how last year’s crop has held up and here we are with harvest only 2 months away and we’re now into our final lots of grain from last harvest. Interestingly, our final lot of emmer seems like one of the best! It appears our supply will last and as I say, harvest should begin by the 3rd week in August. But hold on a minute…

There is a lot of growing to be done – most of it in many cases. After all, the growing is the fun part!  It is such an intense, 60 day cycle and with some grains already half way thru, we’ve got to keep tending and tending.  We’ll irrigate as needed and supplement nutrients as tissue tests dictate. Another round of fish will go on some fields, and we likely will add some other goodies at boot-stage: Kelp meal, plant based nitrogen if needed, and our winter peas should give us a good nitrogen hit also. Funny thing, the heavier the crop, the more grain you must support properly to get the high quality we like. At this point, we can do no more except hope that Mother Nature gives our crops the real love. In the end, she always has the most to say. After last summer, we are all a bit edgy here in the Methow.

Meanwhile, school is out for the summer!! Please be careful as there will be a lot more kids biking, walking, playing around day-long.  Full of summer ideas, kids may not always be watching for cars. I hope this finds you all ready for some nice summer activity as we near the years fullest light. Mountains beckon; trout streams, swimming lakes, ball parks and.. work!

Oh, and how about American Pharro winning the Triple Crown!!!

Yours, Farmer Sam

There are few sweeter ways to wake up than to the urgent song of spring birds. This has been the way here in the month of May. What we continue to lack in rain we’ve certainly gained in mild temperatures and birds, birds, birds!  Truth to tell, we’ve already sown half of our grains and one day while planting our einka, there a bluebird indeed landed!  Combined with the early-May full moon, I believe this is why our first seeding has  jumped out of the ground.

To be sure, the soil temperature is warmer than in many springs past. Time will tell if an earlier start will benefit us or not?  Here at mid-month we’re rolling along with hopes of having everything sown by the month’s end. We’ve still got half our pre-plant fertilizer to spread, and next week we’ll turn under our winter peas for some real fertilizers on last years grain fields.  Meanwhile, we’ll start feeding the grains that are already up  by applying liquid fish very soon. Each spring I feel like a beginner, I’m fond to mention. That said, one thing that becomes clearer all the time is that to grow anything of value, one constantly has to be building the soils biology. Biology is what it is all about. This is one reason we’ve shifted toward chicken based pre-plant, followed by the fish and the on-going green manures such as the peas.  Without good biology, it matters not what a grower might “apply” for fertilizer, it will not be recognized nor used by the soil.

The only interruptions with the farming this spring really have been with equipment  This, too, seems to go in cycles. Primarily, our old International 1086 continues to have fits, despite all the TLC we  annually give it.  Basically, we’ve not been able to use it much and this makes us all the more grateful to have gotten our new Kubota last fall.  This has assured we still have two machines to work with, even though we use the John Deere most days up here at the granary. Dead Red?  Red has mostly been dead, but perhaps one more trip to the hospital and Red will be back in time for us to finish planting…?

The granary crew continues to roll as orders continue to flow. Hanz is doing a great job stream-lining some of our through-put in the milling line, and Brad has been learning quickly.  We’re fortunate to have such conscientious talent on board.  Thanks guys!

We finally got a few showers the other afternoon. Although May is likely our busiest month here at Bluebird, it is a month that never ceases to delight. It fairly made me want to write a poem about it!  Then I realized I already had. Here’s one from some years ago when we were experiencing a similar droughty spring.  Hope you enjoy…

Rain

Finally

Not just sprinkles

But a moving chorus

Come down

From shrouded melting peaks

Out from the lifting fog

Across the springtime valley.

Whisper

Cool and easy

Kiss the brittle sage

Make sweet and tangy

These hard dry hills

Come unafraid and curious

Tip-toeing toward the fields.

Spread open and clutch

This anxious eager earth

Harrowed, sown, waiting

Through sunrise and moon-set

For gentle May breezes to rise up

And sing the long spring song.

Listen: Thrushes’ trill

Meadowlarks’ lullaby

A growing pitter- patter

Dancing ‘cross dusty stone

Along tender aspen run

Pelting dusty dirt

Swallowing the land whole.

Yours, Farmer Sam

Now that our first hummingbirds have arrived and our apricot tree has bloomed it is time for real April to settle in here on the Rendezvous: nighttime temps in the 20’s, 20 mph wind, fresh snow in the mountains. Ahhh… I knew spring wouldn’t let us down – the only season colder than winter here! That said, with the lengthening daylight birds, plants, kids and I suppose farmers can’t help themselves.

Each morning I pull away from the fire and brave the back porch for a few sips. I’m always greeted by a chorus: Quail along the creek, grouse hooting on the hillsides, ducks quacking and flying about, geese along the river, robins, larks, bluebirds… and now hummers! The balsam root are almost all in full bloom and the aspen all leafed out. Deer race about the hills and to be sure, our spring -though now slowed down-remains an early one.

The kids have been on their bikes, on the trampoline (what an awesome invention!)and helping with spring chores. The farm crew, off and on, has been in the fields. We’ve plowed some, cultivated some, mechanic-id  some and made some trial runs of our seed. Our winter peas are cranking this year with the moist soil and early spring and ground that never froze too deep this year. They are beginning to bulk out and should give us a real good hit of goodies to turn under in another month, so we can follow with our emmer.

This month we will continue seedbed prep on our earlier fields which means cultivation, spreading amendments, packing and yes, we’ll likely get some grain planted.  To be sure our spring cover crop will go in and over all, we are still a little ahead of many years.  Rain would be nice; it rained at the beginning of the month but April is not known to be particularly wet here.  The prevailing northwest winds can take away the top moisture that fast.  Particularly in combination with freezing nights.

Unlike many other western states, we do have a decent snowpack here in the North Cascades and I may have mentioned last month how good our soil profile is.  All the seasonal ponds up here in the foothills are as full as I’ve ever seen them. Ducks, deer, snipe and butterflies frolic about each one.

Hanz and our new employee Brad Halm have been a good combination in the granary and have continued to streamline operations in there so as to keep up with your orders!  As always, we are grateful to you all.  The issues we had with some of our crop damage seem to have diminished some and we’ve gotten into a little bit better lot of grain lately.  Meaning, we’re capturing more of the whole kernels in proprtion to the splits.  Truth to tell, though, I am partial to the split emmer!  It cooks fast, tastes yummie and ahas all the nutrition of the whole berries.  Because it is split, it won’t hold up for re-use after cooking quite as well, but I love cooking up a cup in some oil and light broth or putting it in soups.  OOps – I crowding in on Brooke’s department!

And so, I better get back out to the awakening fields! I hope this finds all of you awakening to nice spring thoughts and soon,the coldest season will be past. Enjoy the fresh Earth. Enjoy re-birth. And watch for kids on bikes!

Yours, Farmer Sam

Yellow bells, spring beauties, meadowlarks and yes, bluebirds! That fast, an early spring is upon us and the view here at Bluebird is quite different than last month’s as very mild temperatures and lots of sun have chased the snow except for the north slopes and leftover snowbanks. After a wintry beginning to February, it has been all spring since. Bees now are sipping nectar from the budding alder along  our creek. Coyotes yip one minute and a frog croaks the next.

Do I miss winter? Yes. Yet the warm days and green winter rye in our garden and the robin’s song and fresh smells of earth aren’t all bad. Indeed, thoughts turn to working in the soil. At this pace, we may be on some fields by the month’s end. In time, of course, for the obligatory April snow squalls quite likely, and freezing spring wind!  We’ll see.

We continued modifications in the granary over the past month, and have made some further improvements in our small, albeit good, milling line. These changes are intended to enhance our quality standards and do so in a more efficient manner. With anticipated growth again this year, this  will enable us to maintain our good service. As well, we’ve added some efficiency measures in our packaging room, too. This has made Halley very happy! She now has a new bag sealing/dating machine, all on a conveyor belt!!

We’ve  germ tested some of our seeds this month, with good results so far on one lot of the emmer stock , even though it received considerable damage during last summer’s violence. These seeds  test very vibrant so far. Right now, we’re testing our Einka seed. As well, we’ve been sourcing our pre-plant amendments and likely will be applying some early April. This could be a year when we actually get some April sown crops in. It has been a few seasons.

The longer I farm the less I know. Truth to tell, intuition still plays a large part in our farming practices, yet the weather always holds the trump card. During years when it is possible (like maybe this year?)I’ve felt that some early plantings have been worth trying. For the Methow, early is somewhere around the 3rd week in April. On a year like this soil temps. may indeed be warmer than usual and therefore the grain will keep growing once out of the ground. One advantage is the potential for an earlier harvest and, perhaps higher yield if the plants actually keep growing strong once up. The danger is that of the weather turning cold again, like it seems to always do in early May, and the plants sort of get stuck in idle, perhaps allowing other less desirable weeds the chance to come on.

Our heaviest crops have been our June planted crops, actually. However, then we push harvest on the autumn end. And, given the growing turbulence of the later summer weather we’re experiencing here, we’ll probably do both earlier and later plantings. Now as I gaze back outside, I see the rain has turned slightly to snow which makes me think we might not want to get in too much of a rush!

However, there is other prep work to do besides actually cultivation! Equipment maintenance, spring soil testing and, of course, rock picking in the more less-forgiving parts of our fields! This always is a nice way to get back on he land, particularly given the fact I’m from the granite state of New Hampshire where “pastures” were fenced with the stones picked to make the pasture.  Frost’s opening line in “Mending Walls”. Something there is that doesn’t love a wall… I’ve often thought should go more like: Something there is that doesn’t love a pasture! Hmmm…

Here’s a poem I wrote for March called “Spring’s Concerto:”

   The way

   a spring creek leaps

   and rolls and glistens

   in sharp, March sun;

   each bubble

   a gone‑by snowflake;

   each turn

   a great crawling out

   from the white blanket

   and such burrowing in.

   New eyes blink‑

   see grass green

   before them lies

   land ripe

   for slow, baggy clouds

   to spread open‑

   give life within

   innocence sung:

   meadowlarks’ song;

   innocence danced:

   feet skipping along

   to this ancient chime‑

   the only way

   the only true

   measure of time

                                                           Sam Lucy ©1997

Happy Equinox!   Farmer Sam

Snow falls steadily outside; finches, grosbeaks and chickadees joist at the feeder as I tap these keys.  A raven soars above the chicken coop.  Last night a great horned owl hooted outside our bedroom while coyotes yipped at the fat moon from further away.  Winter bears ripened fruit of it’s own and winter’s sleep is the good sleep.

A year ago we received 4 feet of snow up here on the Rendezvous during the first 8 days of the month.  I’m not anticipating such again this year, but the latest little round freshened up the landscape and was a nice change from the day-long fog we had periodically been getting throughout January.   Although we didn’t receive that much additional snow during January, temperatures remained fairly cool and the snow pack is still solid.  At this point things look promising so far as spring moisture and good soil profile goes.  Alas, in 2 more months, we’ll know the true story.

I’m never in a rush for winter to pass.  This year, with additional employees and a lively flow of orders, it does seem that February has come upon us rather fast.  Last month we made some minor improvements to our cleaning line and now we are working on a couple of improvements to the larger flour mill.  Also, we plan to condense the floor footprint for the machines inside the granary.  We’ll also be adding another elevator leg as part of this refinement as we need the extra room to grow again this year!  So far we’ve been able to avoid shutting down altogether while making these improvements and all our employees continue to do a great job filling orders.  Great service will always remain one of the primary goals as we grow!

Despite the falling snow, and thoughts of finally perhaps being able to ski the Butte soon, I’m aware that the next farming season is now closer than the past! There is plenty of planning to do in this regard.  Not the least will be beginning seed selection for our spring sown crops.  Also, I’m looking at a couple improved implements including a new field cultivator and/or a minimum till seed drill.  These expenses have yet to be justified and will take further budgeting but they have been on our radar for a couple years now.  I’ll let you know what we decide.

The nice thing about farming (ha, ha) is that there always is a tool you didn’t know you needed until you saw it!  This is true for whatever type of farming one engages in I suppose.  That said, the basics of how we farm will remain the same in that we will continue to concentrate on soil balance, timing, and wise water use.

After the crop losses we took last season I’m admittedly not quite as jazzed about the up-coming season as I might be with the lengthening days.  However, we will strive to improve our plans and practices knowing that we can not control whatever tantrums MN decides to throw in the end.  We can just continue to trust in her and know that whatever she does, it is necessary and perfect.

At this point, we do not have any additional farm leases secured for the coming farm year but this, too, is something we’re always trying to prove up.  As time goes on, it seems more and more challenging to find relatively “clean” farm land that has not been abused to some extent either with chemicals or neglect.  Yes, even in our little mountain valley here!  It surprises me in some ways, and doesn’t in others.  As a result, we will be looking to begin work with some other producers that can meet, or already meet, the Bluebird standard.  Here again, I will let you know how this evolves.

Meanwhile, looks like I may need to clear out the driveway again before long!  I hear the mill running and know that we’ve got trucks to meet this week.  After having moments that felt like spring some afternoons later in January, early February is reminding us it remains a winter month.

Enjoy.  Yours, Farmer Sam