Category: Farmer Notes

Nothing but clear, blue skies here as July winds down and we welcome August.  This was as nice of a July as any, in my estimation, with long sunlight, temperatures in the 80’s and 90’s, light winds and NO smoke to speak of.  Some birds (quail, robins) are having their second clutches and these are already fledging.  Many young bluebirds, swallows, and wrens are  experienced fliers now, and some have left their nests for good.  One evening earlier in July we sat on our lawn and watched as new swallows tested out their wings and learned to take a few beats before gliding out to test their new world out that fast!  It was pure joy to watch.  I could almost feel their tentative curiosity and their exuberant thrill.

I mentioned July was the month when things really began to grow.  Truth to tell, our einkorn crop  at the home field here went from early 3-leaf stage and only about a foot tall, to an honest 4 feet tall in 3 week’s time.  Now the einkorn tosses, curves and dances in the evening breeze almost snake-like. The slender heads are all filled and lengthened out and just now are beginning to turn color.  The crop acts like it has been this way for months: Tall, proud, flush and strong… when in real time, it all has happened in less than a month.

Now the long summer sun is beginning the hardening and curing of the young kernels.  What this means is that what we call the “milk stage” of the einkorn seeds start to morph into the “soft dough” stage in a couple weeks time.  Then as the sun continues to work each day, that soft dough begins to harden and the kernels take shape.  For harvest, we like the grain cured and dried down to under 12 percent moisture – ideally right around 10 percent. This ensures easier threshing and definitely ensures longer-term storage.  This whole period – from milk stage to fully cured – takes about a month most years.  Which means our harvest for the einkorn up here will likely be at the end of August.  If we end up having real hot temperatures, as we can in August, it may be a little sooner.

South of here, Brad is well into his harvest and has threshed the Sonora soft white wheat, and is now into the hard white and red.  By the time that is finished, he will be harvesting his share of the einkorn.  Some of those grains he planted almost 2 months ahead of ours however, our grains began to really catch up this month and our harvest time will only be about a month different than his.  Nature.  Always amazing.

Out on the prairie, the wild emmer is beginning to cure as well.  That crop looks like excellent quality and will be coming off in about a month like our einkorn.  We all like to guess before harvest what the crops will yield and what their quality will be and how the soils fared and all that sort of thing.  However, until the grain is “in the bins” we really will not know how we did.  I think we will have good to very good crops this year.  I will not know for at least another month.  What we really judge our success on is customer feedback and ideally, customer satisfaction.

As we spend time still processing and milling to order last year’s crops, we are making room for this years’.  It sometimes stops me how fast a year’s cycle can go by.  One minute I think:  Boy, it has been a long time since the last harvest yet another minute I can’t believe we are already getting into harvest again!  “The seasons they go round and round and the painted ponies go up and down” and before long, some birds will have already left for the summer.  And fall field work will be upon us…

Hold on.  Lots of summer left here.  In fact, last I checked another full summer month and then some.   I hope many of you are out and about in the mountains and streams and fields enjoying this time of year.  For the most part, we are.  That said, we remain somewhat heavy-hearted as we lost a couple friends this past month – one older and sadly one far too young.  I would not feel right without mentioning our long time friend John Hayes, and all the fun times we had together over the years and I want to acknowledge all that he did for our Valley here in a variety of ways.  His sometimes wonky work will be realized and enjoyed for generations to come.  As well, we are most sorrowful for the loss of Kierra  Reichert who we had the joy of watching grow up alongside our daughter Mariah and many others.  Over the years, Kierra spent various times  at our home and she will always remain a young, curious, bright light long after her sudden death.  We will look for you in both dawn’s first light and the evening’s last sunlit clouds because we know you are there making it all the more precious.

Hold tight.

Farmer Sam

Ahhh… the long, sweet days of June.  The early light of dawn, the extended soft light of dusk.  Some days even before first light, birds have begun to wake and as dawn strengthens a growing cacophony begins: Catbirds, Chats, Bluebirds, Sparrows, Warblers, Orioles and lest we forget, the ever persistent House Wren! Why I ever leave the morning porch I do not know.  But I seldom go inside, this time of year, until the last and most restless birds of evening have rustled to their roosts, snuggled in and all falls quiet at once.  Later, maybe the sound of a nightjar or poorwill will echo through the dark.

June is the month when things really begin to grow here in the Northern Climes.  This includes grains.  This particularly includes einkorn which I sowed back in mid-May.  As I’ve mentioned before, einkorn comes out of the soil as fast as any grain, but from then until past the Summer Solstice this grain spends most of its energy developing roots, like the wild grasses it is so closely related to.  Then all at once, here at the end of June, it takes on a healthy green color, bristles up and begins to reach for the deep, blue sky until in another month it will stand 40 inches tall and be fully headed.  By August the heads will have filled out and curing will begin.  At least that is how it generally goes up here against the North Cascades.

Our crops further south in the Columbia Basin are two months ahead of crops up here.  The hard wheats and Einkorn there are almost done filling and the month of July will hopefully cure these crops to finish and help dry them for harvest by August.  At this juncture, all the crops look healthy and fairly full.  So… we have the whole summer ahead before we see the final results.

I’m in no rush.  As we often have heard from many, and certainly from those that might be our elders at the time, it truly is about the process.  The entire process.  In this case from sowing the seeds to the plate from which we eat.  Our supply from last year’s harvest has held up well and aside from our soft Sonora wheat, we’ve not run out of anything and are enjoying such yummies as emmer and einkorn in summer salads tossed in with early spinach and such.  These chilled salads are a great complement to perhaps some fresh fish: Salmon, trout, flounder?

At the granary where we clean and mill all these Bluebird grains we still try not to get too far ahead of our order needs even with the grain cleaning.  This way we are able to continue to sell the freshest grains, and certainly flour to customers both large and small.  Our crew is doing a great job prioritizing orders, and filling them on a weekly basis.  All the while, they are keeping a close eye on quality and making sure the standards we’ve long abided by remain unaltered.

Consistency is the key to all our relationships: Producer relationships, employee relationships, customer relations, and relationships with quality food which all lead back to our relationship with the Earth.  Mother Earth, somehow and some way, continues to bestow remarkable bounty for so many, and this can really be sensed here in the month of June.  Not a day goes by that we take this for granted.  Good food is not a right; it is a gift.  Here at Bluebird we are honored to participate in the circle of healthy food and play our role the best we can, no matter how large or small.

What will July bring?  Clear skies and sustained heat?  Thunderstorms and heavy rain or hail which could decimate crops in a flash?  July may bring dreaded wildfires and big winds and smoke, or it might bring all the aforementioned?  Stay tuned.  July often seems can seem a long, long month all of its own.  It certainly is the one month of full-on summer in the North.  I hope July brings fresh air, even if it’s hot.  I hope it brings play time in the water whatever the activity might be.  As well as gardening, hiking, fishing, reading, working… For all, I hope July brings good health, and continues to grow out the wonderful foods that the long, full days of June kicked into gear.

I look forward to July’s review next time.

Yours, Farmer Sam

April, the reverse of November, is a month I love almost as much and for many of the same reasons.  Unlike many, I dig “shoulder seasons”… wherever that term came from?  Separated by half a year, November is the going-to-bed month while April is the waking up.  November often goes from crisp and sharp, to drab then white.  April goes from leftover white, to drab then on into brilliance.  What with spring creeks bulging and hillsides greening and early wildflowers popping up by the day… dare I mention birds?  Bluebirds, flycatchers, warblers just today.  Flickers, meadowlarks and a myriad of sparrows that can only be topped by the arrival of the  mighty hummingbirds.  Glory be, ole’ April, don’t shrug me off quite yet!

This April we even had a few showers – both rain and snow.  The slowly transforming month rolled all the way until these last few days.  Freezing nights prevailed, and days remained mostly in the 40’s, some 50’s and just now 60 and 70!  Later than many years, the aspen trees are now beginning to leaf out here along the creek.  One main benefit to this gradual spring has been the measured absorption of moisture.  As I believe I mentioned in March, most of the snowpack has all sunk into the soils and we’ve had very little run off or evaporation.  This is great in this semi-desert climate.  Now, the main river itself is beginning to swell as mountain snows begin to melt to usher in May.

As for farming; somewhat delayed but worth the wait.  I got on the fields a week ago and with some light harrowing and packing, I’ve been able to preserve that moisture a couple inches deep and where I set our seed.   The “old timers”… meaning some of the first white grain farmers here I presume… used to say: Plant grain when the aspen leaf out.  On the home field along highway 20 here I’m going to be planting our black einkorn seed stock for future production.  We’ve worked hard over the years to clean up this particular stock, and look forward to bringing it back into full production to go along with our lighter einkorn variety.   South of here, all our hard red and white spring wheat is planted and up in rows, as is the Sonora soft white wheat and the lighter einkorn.  It looks like the emmer crop will be seeded toward the end of May this season, due to the late spring.  Truth to tell, my heaviest emmer crop ever wasn’t planted until June!  I’ve said many times, Mother Nature always seems to even things out.

Here at the Bluebird granary we continue to do a lot of fine-tuning to our processing equipment, and though this has been on-going since we moved, I like to think it will soon come to an end.  The whole crew has been working on a bunch of details that – perhaps not anticipated in some cases – are vital to sustained operations in the long term.  When we work on processing and flow, whether for our cleaning line, our flour mill, our filling stations or packing, we learn more and more about the equipment we use.  We also are reminded of why it is so important to offer the fresh, well packed dry goods that we’ve built our reputation on.  Kudos to our great staff!

Whole grains mean whole food which means whole earth.  We might not pack up the biology of the soil in the actual “Creepy Crawlies” and microrize, but we like to pack all the nutrients that these balancers create and put this wholesomeness straight into your food.  As always, we look forward to a whole lotta fun upcoming in this next growing season.

Goodbye winter; sad to see you go.  Hello Spring; happy to have you at the door.  The next two months will be full of life, with new changes coming every day.  Here’s to it, and to your good health.  I hope most of you get a chance to get out and enjoy the rich smells and sounds and tastes of the season.  I hope to see you at our May 13th Open House or at The Methow Conservancy first Tuesday event June 6th.

Cheers, Farmer Sam

As I referenced in last month’s notes, the March calendar would signify the “first day of spring.”  On que, that is when we could really feel the shift for the first time after a sustained and lengthy winter here in the Methow.  Nighttime temperatures still fall well below freezing but we’ve had a fair bit of sun and some daytime temperatures have reached 50 degrees.  The ebb and flow between cold nights and warm days has slowed the spring thaw to a perfect pace for soil absorption.  Our soils here are taking in winter’s bountiful moisture bit by bit and we’ve had little run-off with limited evaporation.  This is the sort of thing that makes a farmer smile!

If that weren’t enough, we’ve spotted the first bluebirds of the spring!  And robins and flycatchers and phoebes and meadowlarks and, and…. Surely there have been spring beauties spotted somewhere in the valley, and when I went for a walk up the butte yesterday, I could see small balsamroot bulbs beginning to awaken.  I love all the seasons here in the Valley but spring in the Methow is simply extra alive and full of wonders.  From now until June there will be new birds, new flowers, new smells, new sights and sounds each and every day.  Wind, too!  Although that hasn’t quite kicked up yet.

What this means is the early outdoor chores have begun.  Steve and Dan have dug out the remaining ice and snow from under our granaries and we’ve begun “cleaning up” the outside work spaces as snowbanks recede.  We’ve gotten in a couple loads of emmer from our partner Blaine and next week we will be bringing up a load of einkorn from Brad.  I can now officially say: we made it through another winter!  We’ve never run out of supply in the past and that includes the first winter here in our new digs.  We continue to refine our new systems, learn from our mistakes, correct most of them and are in great shape to continue to fill orders of all sizes on a custom need basis.

As the snow disappears different farm implements begin to poke through from where they slept the winter alongside our pole barn where more refined equipment is housed: (combine, headers, seed drill and such).  I can now see both of our field discs,  a seedbed maker, a couple plows… Which of course means I’m thinking about field work!  This spring we plan to plant 2 varieties of einkorn, as always spring emmer, and two kinds of hard spring wheat both our  red and white.  In fact, Brad is planting the wheat a bit south of here as I write!

On our home ground, we are a good month off from any planting.  Fields remain under snow, soils cold, damp and not fully alive by any means yet.  Once things dry up and warm up, I will pull soil plugs to test, and I plan to plant back our black einkorn on the home field.  This is the variety of einkorn we first cleaned up and planted our first field of years ago.  During the pandemic, we almost sold out of this variety before we knew how unique it was.  Fortunately, we kept just enough back to start planting it out again last year.  This year I’ll plant enough to give us ample seed stock to enable full production for 2024, with some limited quantities available for processing this fall.  Meanwhile, our lighter  “tan” variety  that we’ve been growing and milling the past couple years is still in ample supply, and we are growing more of this as well.

Last month I went into a fairly lengthy dissertation on different catch phrases and labels for different farming practices and food – some certified, most not.  This brings us to labels and the significance of what we consumers read, what we understand, and what we want.  As with any business, the consumer is always right.  However, as with many things, consumers aren’t always given accurate information.  One term that can be confusing is the term “whole grain.”  The only way we know if we are buying 100% whole grain flour or 100% whole grains – this goes for any grain – is if it is documented as such on the packaging.  This goes for organic and non-organic alike.  Of course, Bluebird has always been and continues to be 100% certified organic and sells only 100% whole grains and whole grain flours.  All the goodies from the field are in your food.  (Well, we may leave the mice and worms out!)

“Pearled”; “semi-pearled”; “enriched” are all terms meaning the finished product is no longer a 100% complete whole grain and therefore can not be milled into a 100% whole grain flour.  As I’ve mentioned before, we take great care in our cleaning line here while sizing, fanning, hulling and certainly grading, to keep your grains completely intact and uncompromised.  This process assures that all the goodies remain in place straight to package, or straight to our flour mill where no extraction takes place.  The nutrients and flavors that are in the whole grains remain in our products all the way to your kitchens.  We are about nutrition and good food.  This means whole and complete foods.  If this were not significant enough, well, March just happens to be “whole grains month!”

As the earth begins to awaken – slowly or not so slowly depending where you live – please take some time to reflect on the significance of winter.  Without the dormancy of winter, our beautiful soils would not get the chance to ever rest.  And just like the human body, without rest and good food, we become compromised and tuckered out.

I hope to see some of you at our May 13th Open House!  I look forward to answering any questions about our operations, and surely will learn a lot from you visitors.

I dedicate this month’s Farmer Notes to our dear friend and neighbor Gary Smith who passed away earlier this month.  I am reminded each morning of Gary as I sip my delicious cup of whole bean Mukilteo Coffee from his and his wife Beth’s wonderful roastery on Whidbey Island that they began long before we started Bluebird.  I would trade every cup from here on just to see his face once again…

Cheers, pal.

Your farmer, Sam

February may be the shortest month by calendar days, yet this year as it draws to a close we are reminded of the long winter here in northern Washington.  True to February form, we did finally get a little more sun this month with a handful of warmer days that highlighted the gathering daylight.  Red-winged blackbirds returned on schedule to the local wetlands between the 16th-18th like every year, but hold tight blackbirds – temperatures are diving once again toward zero.  This late freeze will once again solidify the snow crust that we’ve been able to walk across month – long  As well, it reminds us of how much we love our stove!

Historically February is not a big moisture month here; it remained dry and I don’t believe we plowed snow more than once.  Mountain snowpack was stagnant, or at least didn’t build much for the month, which means what had accumulated earlier in the winter accounts for most of what is in the mountains now.   Although I feel good about the moisture recharge here in the valley since the ground never froze, and we’ve already seen melting snow percolate down, the mountains are falling behind winter averages.  Good news: plenty of winter is left up there!

In the valley it has been a relief not to be shoveling snow every other day, and we’ve been able to eventually clear out some extra areas and gain access to our grain tanks.  We even brought in a truckload of grain this month.  This is something we never were able to do up at our old facility during the winter.  We needed it, too, as orders have started out very strong this year and we want to avoid joining the “supply chain” refrain.  Our crew is cranking away and as we flip the calendar page into March, all aboard will be welcoming some easing of winter work stresses.

One thing we’ve done here at Bluebird to assure uninterrupted grain supply is to begin working with a couple other farms who believe in our brand, and share our values.  These farms work tirelessly to grow highly nutritious food while continuing to improve their soils as we do on our ground.  These farmer to farmer relationships we’ve developed the past few years are inspirational, educational, and remain a comfort to me in many ways.  This was one of our original goals when we began Bluebird – to one day offer a direct and favorable market for other farmers’ who work equally as hard keeping value and nutrition in mind.  Remember last month I mentioned relationships?  Relationships are paramount in everything we do – farming relationships are certainly no exception.   The core value that we share with our partners is how much emphasis we put on our relationship with the land itself.

A recent buzzword these past few years is “Regenerative Agriculture.”  As with a lot of terms, this term can be used in many ways and applied – accurately or not – to many situations.  Some might ask: Is Regenerative Ag and Organic Ag one in the same?  What does “Sustainable Agriculture” mean?  Or what does “Natural” mean?  To date, the only USDA certification is for Organic producers and processors.  Bluebird continues to be 100 % certified as both.  This means we are inspected annually by a qualified certifier that holds us to legal criteria set by the USDA organic program.  Conversely, there are a handful of organizations that offer their own stamp of approval for certain Regenerative Farms who meet their specific standards.  In some instances certain organizations, one of the qualifications is for the farm/processor to also be certified organic.

Phew!  Now that we got through all that, what the hell is Regenerative Agriculture!  What is in a label?  Let’s get to the Regenerative Farm part this round; we’ll get to labels next time.  The main premise of Regenerative Agriculture is to have a closed carbon loop.  In part, this means very little comes into the farm from elsewhere to support the farm’s soil health.  Cornerstone practices incude: Minimal tillage; a variety of crop rotations used to grow soil’s nutrient needs; mob grazing of livestock to recycle nutrients and aerate soils.  The goal: carbon sequestration; nutrient improvement, biological build up, moisture retention.  Any organic operation worth its salt strives for all of these qualities, as does any Regenerative operation.  Both would then be considered actually beyond “sustainable” – as actual soil improvement  is a step beyond sustaining it.  “Natural” is completely objective as far as when that term is used.

Now that I’ve added more confusion I will try and simplify.  Our farm partners are 100% certified organic.  However, even though our biggest partner is one of the leaders in Regenerative Ag innovation and implementation, he’s yet to pay out the extra money for the label.  Truth to tell, having visited this family farm now multiple times I can say if they aren’t practicing Regenerative Ag in all its forms, then no one is.  We are very fortunate to have him helping our nutrient dense emmer supply, and helping us take it to the next level while positively affecting climate change on a much bigger scale than we can here in th Methow Valley.  Meanwhile, what I’ve learned about my own farming practices through observing theirs, is endless.  This may be the biggest bonus of all!

Next time you take a bite of your emmer salad, soup, or hot out-of-the saucepan steeped in broth, nutty, chewy, sacred wild emmer, think of how relationships of care have brought this treat to your plate.  Relationships that were forged by the mutual love of the land and, ultimately, the love of good food!

One day in March the calendar will soon read: First Day of Spring.  Damn straight I’m hopeful – and I trust all of you are, too!

Yours, Farmer Sam

I first met Jolly Miller on New Year’s Eve the winter of ‘96.  That was a bigger winter than the one we’re in now.  We’d had 6 feet of snow; on New Year’s Eve it began to rain.  Brooke and I walked up the then – quiet Rendezvous to neighbor Lee Miller’s for a party.  Jolly was there and he was the life of the party.  Again 3 years later on the eve of the millennium change, Brooke and I made the same walk just after we’d traded wedding vows to our two dogs under a natural arbor, with candles, down along Pete Creek.  When we arrived at Lee’s word quickly spread and Jolly with great enthusiasm said “you did it”!  Then broke out his signature harmonica and played a celebratory tune.  Later at west coast midnight, we touched off some shotgun rounds and other fireworks and so began this century.

Years went by and we’d started Bluebird when I got a call from Jolly.  He said he was moving to the Valley full time after his recent retirement and wondered if I would need farming help?  Indeed I did, and a fruitful and enjoyable friendship ensued.  Aside from being reliable and flexible field help – predominately running his favorite of the tractors “ Big Red,” and then again his truck “Blue” at harvest, Jolly became somewhat of a “Bluebird” poster child.  With his broad, well soiled straw hat, western shirts, big belt and an even wider smile to match, Jolly showed up in many a Bluebird picture over the years including a long running ad we had in High Country News.

Jolly and I enjoyed swapping stories of which he had countless, even more than I!  We also shared the love of literature and we exchanged  many a book and discussed even more.  Right up until our last visit when we discussed the latest I’d given him.  I then told him I’d bring up some of my latest writing to review and he said: “Cool.”  Jolly passed on earlier this month; regrettably I never made it back.  I like to think that when he reflected back on his varied and colorful past, that he thought of his days helping us at Bluebird with fondness.  Jolly certainly added a lot of enjoyment to my days afield, and his love of music he shared with our daughters.  His kindness and loving demeanor will never be lost on the Lucy’s and the rest of the Bluebird crew.  Rest in peace, old friend.

As some of the first sunshine for the month makes the snow sparkle and I watch the finches and chickadees crowd the feeder, I realize time simply can not be stopped.  The beginning of the year we had continued snow and then perhaps the biggest meltdown I can recall.  Even compared to “96”!  After 25 below on the  winter solstice, temps hit the 30’s by mid-January.  It rained several times and things got sort of gloomy.  Alas, more moisture!  Something I try never to regret here in this Valley.  Lots of moisture as this long moisture cycle that began way back in early November has pushed into this third month of winter.  That said, high pressure is coming and with the sun I realize that even January – which can seemingly last forever – is slipping away too fast.

Through all the weather, Bluebird has kept on ticking.  Our crew has been working hard to keep fresh grains and flours milled, bagged and delivered despite the extra work winter always brings.  The new facility is holding up well.  We continue to refine some of our new processes and new improvements continue to surface.  We bagged and shipped our biggest single emmer order to date and did so with relative ease compared to the “olden” days.  Speaking of, I can’t imagine how we would have operated this winter up here on the Rendezvous!  Our relocation came just in time.  This winter would have been a continued nightmare for freight up here.  Now, trucks just swing off the highway, back up to our new freight door, load and go straight back out to the road!  Swell stuff alright.  Ask the freight drivers.

Farming is as much about relationships as anything.  First may be the relationships one builds with the land.  Also, it is relationships with other farmers and people as whole, as referenced in my opening.  And just as with human relationships actions speak louder than words and respect is paramount for sustainability.  The biggest honor for me as a farmer is the relationships I’ve cultivated (ha ha) with the land.  It may be more succinct to say, the relationship the land has allowed me to establish.  This is not a rosy relationship at times by any means.  Truth to tell, it is very one sided in this regard: The land is always right.  No argument.  The land is my teacher and I am the student.  The consequences of goofing off, however, are much heavier in the field than in the classroom.  If one treats the land with utmost integrity then at best, she rewards you with a quality crop.  But she doesn’t have to.  Disrespect the land and she will cost you big time in the end and you may not even see it coming.  Examples of this abuse and following consequences are far too numerous to count.

As I mentioned in my end of the year farmer notes, I wanted to begin 2023 by digging into what I believe to be true sustainable organic and Regenerative agriculture.  This theme will lead us to the relationships that we have established with a couple other farms and farmers.  I will explain how these relationships began and how they’ve come into play here at Bluebird.  Why are they so important to us, and the joy we’ve realized?  More than just a farm profile, I look forward to sharing some concrete examples of farmer innovation, tenacity and ultimately, success.

Until next time I encourage you to think about relationships of all sorts, no matter what course of business you are in or relationships in your daily lives.  What has been our relationship with the earth all these years for instance?

Peaceful New Year to you,

Farmer Sam

‘Tis the season, truth to tell! Thanksgiving has come and gone and this year could have easily passed for a Christmas setting.  Hopefully, most have gotten into better eating shape at this point because now the real test comes: Christmas!

Winter descended on our little Valley November 7th and has been building on that early visit ever since.  Here we are on the Winter Solstice and  we’ve already had 6 weeks of true winter with plenty more on the way.  Over three feet of snow and temperatures seldom into the teens have combined to quiet the countryside.  As with all things Nature, an early winter means there are both winners and losers.

Winter birds seem to gain: Juncos, chickadees, nuthatches, finches and birds of prey.  However, ground dwellers such as quail, sparrows and partridge seem to lose.  The deer definitely lose when a winter like this one begins early.  Cougars and coyotes on the other hand, thrive.  I so admire all these wild creatures with no fire to cozy up to – no apparent shelter to find refuge from the cold and snow.  I constantly try to learn just how Nature has evolved and perfected the true art of survival – an evolution that has worked for so many of her creatures.  That anything makes it through a deep winter as such is a wonder.  To be sure, that survival for some, comes at the cost of others.  So, as the snow banks build and the wood pile dwindles,  I do indeed count my blessings.

One of our biggest blessings is that of good food.  You see, it all comes back to food!  At Bluebird we feel happy about providing nutritious food to so many.  As well, we are happy to eat good food provided by so many others.  You will see in this month’s profile, we have an in-house representative of our goods, and someone who keeps us from going hungry on these cold, winter mornings at work!  Thank you Shariee!!

The holidays always give us an up-tick in orders here at the mill, and this year is no exception.  We are grateful to be receiving, processing and shipping all these nice orders from our new facility. There has been plenty of snow plowing for me to stay out of mischief while I’m reminded of all those years (17!) we operated up in the foothills of the Rendezvous. Crazy!

I think our freight handlers are as delighted as we are to be shipping and receiving on flat terrain, and so close to the main highway.  Also, I suspect our great employees don’t miss the snowy, whiteout drives up the Rendezvous to work some days, either.  If nothing else this year, we’ve improved our work space and work site.  As I’ve mentioned before, this alone is huge for us.  And has consumed all hands on deck during 2022.

That mentioned, we also have been serving up our usual assortment of fresh grains and flours and mixes without a shift in stride.   Again, thanks to our excellent local crew!  While continuing to service current customers,  we recently have picked up a few newer customers of varying sizes.  This is exciting for us, and what we have anticipated.  With our bigger production capacity and built in efficiencies, we look to gain and service a much wider clientele.  We look forward to this opportunity, as it also gives opportunity to further spread the wealth of good grains grown through the most sustainable of practices.  Our Bluebird ethics have remained the same through all these transitions, and now we hope to have a bigger impact on a greater crowd of farmers, consumers and thus, a positive impact on a bigger landscape as well.

Beginning next year, I will be writing about some of these partnerships we’ve been forming.  I will explain what they mean to Bluebird, Bluebird customers and ultimately, what I feel they can do for the planet and future generations.  These are exciting times in Agriculture.  These are exciting times.  As our brand grows so grows our network.  We are very fortunate.

Meanwhile, as the snowpack builds and I look across our fields I think of all the microbial activity going on even now during the “darkest” time of the year, and at 18 below 0.  The ground never froze this year and now with a great blanket of insulation over everything, I know a lot is happening way down under.  Certainly, we will have a great recharge in this Spring’s moisture profile.  As well as a great mountain snowpack which should fill our streams and rivers for the summer.

I love the quiet, dark and deep of this season.  At the same time, I know there are so many in need and how the hardships of the season can weigh on them.  Please keep the less fortunate in mind as we gather round the hearth this merry holiday.  Just the smallest gestures of kindness can go a long way, particularly in today’s often less than friendly world.   We need the spirit of Christmas to ring true now, perhaps, more than ever.  My main Christmas Wish…  Peace on Earth.

Cheers, Farmer Sam

Late summer to early winter that fast. And so the seasons have rolled here in the Methow this year, with little time at all for fall. The later start to summer kept things 3-4 weeks “behind” all the way to November. July was more like June; September more like August; October definitely more like September and than Wham – things jumped to December. Trailing our first and only rain since August; on the first Friday of November temperatures fell, as did snow 2 days later to the tune of 20 inches. More than two weeks have gone by since that hefty storm and the temperature still hasn’t gotten back up to freezing!

Although I’m still saddened by missing November “proper”: Wilting leaves, tilting sun, silvery mist and so forth, I remind myself we’ve certainly had sharp starts to winters’ past beginning in early November. From a moisture concern, I’d loved to have had Mother let go with a lot more rain before the snow. However, not only did the snow come with solid moisture in it, but it fell on unfrozen, softened ground as well. Given the amount of cushioning now, I believe there is enough snow to keep the soils from freezing and thus come spring, all the “white moisture” should percolate into the profile nicely. This all is a long, long way off but as with most farming, one’s hopes for the next season always begin with the last.

So what do the birds think? Ha! Truth to tell, any ground feeding birds likely are not happy with the forest and field floor disappearing literally overnight. The earlier snow and freeze has already waged a toll on not just ground feeding birds, but the deer as well. As for the winter birds – shrikes, owls, chickadees, finches…all have been prevalent and elegant around the homestead here, as well as our new granary. Dan got to see a shrike take a wayward songbird out of mid-air just the other day behind one of the silos, and was quite impressed with its fortitude. Harriers still work the meadows, and eagles congregate along the rivers, awaiting for more spawned out salmon to die. As lovely as the cold, crisp days are, and quiet starry nights at 5 degrees, it is hard not to feel some measure of empathy toward the wild creatures who have no warm soup nor wood stove to cozy up by.

On another note, a cheerier reminder of early snow is that of the holidays! Beginning with my favorite holiday this week – Thanksgiving.  Here at Bluebird we’ve much indeed to be thankful for this year. We have a brand new processing and packaging facility now centrally located directly off of Highway 20. This is a culmination of great work by everyone involved to pull this off in little more than a year’s time. From our general contractor to our millwrights and certainly to our steadfast employees, we have made the transition into this much more efficient space, and gotten it running with no shut-down time at all from old times to new. In celebration of this, we hosted an open house wherein I gave a pair of walk thru tours of the processing area last Saturday. The turn out of folks was incredible and so sanctifying to what Bluebird does, who we are and where we are going. Many of the local bakers baked goods for the occasion, while Brooke cooked up a variety of our grain dishes including our hot farro porridge! Several volunteers, organized by the Methow Conservancy, helped facilitate parking and serving and added to the spirit along with our employees. Brooke and I couldn’t be more grateful for not just the support that turned out for that one, special day, but for all the support we’ve had these past 18 years. We simply could not have kept Bluebird going, much less thriving, without you.

So, thank YOU!

Now the stage is reset to do even more of what we do. Our main goals remain the same:  Provide high quality organically grown grains, fresh flours and blends while taking care of lands the best we can for future generations of both people, and wildlife. The Bluebird brand will continue to grow by its involvement in working and honoring these ethics on a bigger stage altogether. I’m excited.

I’m also excited to gather round with dear ones and eat and eat and eat! I can’t say I will reflect on the Earth and Mother’s bounty with every bite, but our connection to the Earth will never be far from my palate either. I wish you all a peaceful holiday wherever you may gather. And please remember those not as fortunate as many of us. With the coming holiday season, so comes the season of charity: Food drives, clothing drives, neighbors helping neighbors in so many ways.  Please partake.

Peace,

Farmer Sam

September… the mellowest month of the year.  The land itself exhales from a summer of constant work.  That sigh of relief fairly infiltrates the countryside after a season spent growing vast varieties and quantities of both wild and domestic foods.  Calm, warm evenings are followed by cooler, quiet mornings.  Hillside grasses fade to gold like the harvested grain fields, while the trees and bushes begin to turn yellow, red, and crimsons.

Coyotes have filled the past few nights around here.  They’ve been competing for “air time” with a pair of Great horned owls down along the creek, and a couple of long lasting poor wills.  We’ve no fewer than 3 chatty coveys of quail that are visiting the lusher green of our small fruit orchard just beyond the porch.  They begin to stir at dawn and rustle about the adjacent evergreen trees each morning, and are just as restless come evening as they settle back to roost.  A family of mountain bluebirds enjoys the bird bath from time to time.  Bear “sign” can be found around anywhere there is fruit, forage and water.  As seemingly quiet, and relaxing as September appears to me, I guess Nature is never really that quiet.

Oh, I had fun harvesting our winter rye!  Monstrous stuff, this ole’ Treebeard winter rye is.  Had I been a little wiser I may have swathed the stand, first.  Rye that grows 7-8 feet tall with big, droopy heads always seems like it should combine easily.  Not so.  It was plenty ripe, but the strange rains in early August took a toll on it and it was still a bit punky when I first thought I could thresh it.  Even after I began, I could see the straw was tough and there is always so much of it!  Alas, I worked my way through the stand Labor Day weekend.  We had fun, also, hauling it to our granary in our trusty old grain wagon.  Almost too much fun when one of the front tires blew with a full load.  Alas, now it is all safely binned with credit due to Bluebird’s Steve White and valley friend Jerry Laverty who happened to be passing by and stopped to see how he could help.  Neither of these gents had anything better to do on a Friday evening, I’m certain!

We’ve certainly had the drying weather lately.  The nights are shorter and cooler but the days are still full of sharp sun and into the 80’s!  Summer may have officially ended according to the calendar, but not really.  Good weather still for drying anything and perfect for harvest although most all grain harvest around the Northwest is wrapping up.

I turned under our buckwheat stand that I’d grown out after the peas and have decided to go to spring grain in the field right here at Bluebird’s new location.  I will take soil samples and see how well the nutrient levels responded to the cover crops.  I plan to get the seedbed pretty well prepped this fall once we receive some moisture, and in so doing, will be able to sow grain as soon as soil temps warm in the spring.  Here it is barely fall, and I’m already excited about next year’s crops!

We are in 100% operations at our new location with our new processing and packaging lines running full tilt!  Such credit is due to all our staff for how they managed to make the complete move down to the new site, get it up and flowing while never having to shut down operations for one day!  Big compliments to all involved.  This feels so good to us and we hope that the updated equipment and efficiency is easily reflected in our finished goods.

September was a solid month for sales and the uptick as we get into real fall can already be felt.

Our crew is ready!  Alas, real autumn edges nearer.  With that, comes the month I enjoy even more than September – the pumpkin month October; the month of the “Hunters Moon”.  The month of real colors and my guess, our first frost?  These lazy days of September too, shall come to an end.  Bittersweet as that is, without the close to one season, one can never truly appreciate the next.

And the next season involves a lot of preserving, preparing and EATING! Meanwhile, I hope you all make time to stow away some of summers’ bounty, and we hope to see you at our grand opening on November 19th!

Yours, Farmer Sam

August, month of the full Corn Moon; the Ricing Moon; the Harvest Moon – all names from various Native Americans – has come and nearly gone now.  True to form, August is the peak month for harvest of cereal grains around these parts of eastern Washington, as well as elsewhere.  I was reflecting on various harvests both past and future, as I sipped away waiting on the sun the other morning and listening to the subtle song of the cedar waxwings.  And that of the veery, the mountain bluebird and a spotted towhee, all of which have called our place home this summer.  All of whom sounded shy if not weak in their voice?  August heat:  Hot enough to perhaps silence most birds, but ideal for curing grains.

Brad at Lenwood Farms brought in a very nice crop of Einkorn earlier this month, and we’ve just run the first lot of it on our new hulling and cleaning line!  After much testing and adjusting of the system, we ended up finally getting some very fine finished product that is showing excellent test weight and nutrient levels.  Great work, Brad.  Up on the Waterville plateau Tom has a strong crop of winter hard red wheat that he’s about to cut for us and over on the Okanogan Plateau at Double R Ranch, Chuck is getting closer to taking off the hard white he grew out.  Here in the Methow I was about to move into and thresh our winter rye, when back to back storms rolled through leaving from an inch to two inches of rain!  Wow; quite the surprise.

This is how the summer has played out all along, continuing to run off the 3-4 week delay since the beginning.  We are the most grateful for no nearby fires this year, and NO smokey skies at the moment.  Yes, we’ve had the typical later summer heat and things dried out until, well, the storms.  But still little smoke even after a lot of lightning.  Just now, a cold front is blowing through and today temperatures have dropped to the 70’s and low 80’s and the 25mph winds certainly will dry off the crops.  Ever so slight, the turn toward autumn has begun.  This is all fine by me. 

Our biggest accomplishment at Bluebird this summer is having made the transition to our brand new processing and packaging facility along Highway 20!  We have made the move and are now in 100% operation there.   This move has taken mondo effort from our small crew and my hat is off to all involved.  We’ve run every grain through the system and now are confident we will be cranking out just as good, and in most instances even better quality goods than we have been.  With our new line, we will be at much higher capacity and far more efficient.  Good news for all our persistent employees.  They have earned it!  Special thanks to our recent intern Leo Haas who came on board just in time to witness, and help out with, our final start up of the flour mill, and some of the other equipment.  His help and can-do attitude was much appreciated by all.  Hopefully, we didn’t scare him off!

Surrounding the new granary is our 25 acre field where I grew out back-to-back cover crops of early peas and later buckwheat this season. My plan was to follow with winter grains but I may hold off and go back to spring grains instead in 023.  I’ve run through Plan A, B and C and right now sit somewhere in the middle.  Alas, I better decide soon!  Either way, we’ve added back a great boost of available nutrients and so the stage is set come this fall or next spring.

Hard as it seems, school is about to start for K-12, while  many colleges have already begun.  Lots of learning to be done out there and let’s all beware of the increased numbers of kids on the street.  Drivers, slow down – my annual reminder! Students – sit up straight in class you younguns’!  Ha, but  if you can’t sit still, well, studying the changing landscape as the shadows deepen with the tilting daylight and the hills grow quiet isn’t a bad alternative.  There may be plenty to study in the classroom, but there is just as much to study outside.

Observe, eat well and enjoy the fruits from this final of summer months…

Yours, Farmer Sam

That fast, the cool, moist spring and early summer seem to be of the deep past.  True to form, beginning around mid-month July began to kick up the heat.  As I tap these keys the mercury reads an even 100 degrees outside.  The 100’s seem locked in for the remainder of the week and the once green hills are fading by the day.  Still, we are all so grateful here as, so far, we’ve no nearby wildfires, smoke and the real heat just recently has begun.  This is far the opposite from last summer.  

And summer birds… Such a terrific summer, this has been, for birds.  Two clutches of bluebirds have now been raised in one of our bird houses.  Two clutches of house wrens from the south porch and, a newer delight has been a clutch of waxwings that are nestled in one of our smaller apple trees.  They are about to fledge as there’s no room remaining in their now tiny nest.  Hummingbirds zip around as if drunk on summer’s flowery liqueurs.  Evening warblers give way to the nighttime voice of poorwills and the zip of nightjars.  Such the sound for one to finally doze to, as the eventual cool of these summer nights settles across the foothills. 

Contrary to what Janis Joplin gasps, however ( I love her gravelly, bluesy, lazy voice!) in her rendition of “Summertime”… the living ain’t always easy.  Working these dry, hot days isn’t always fun but the intensity of the season is an absolute necessity to growing high quality crops of most any sort be it grapes, fruits or small grains.  In our home field at the new Bluebird Grains facility perched atop the Twisp/Winthrop town lines, the second cover crop of this year – buckwheat – cranks away.   I’ve finally begun irrigation cycles and when I walk out through the lettuce-like, leafy stand of the 3 week old buckwheat, I can fairly hear it grow.  Soon it will fill out and shade the very moisture I’m giving it.  Ultimately,  its thirst will diminish as the leaves shade the soil, and we will ease up on the irrigation.  All of our annuals – legumes and cereals, are far less the water hogs once established, than most all perennial crops.  One of our goals always is to conserve resources – particularly mountain water.

Buckwheat loves the heat, similarly to maize.  I was able to establish the stand without irrigation as I mentioned in June Notes, and now with the heat and supplemental water this crop is doing what it does best: Shade out weeds and make available more potassium in some cases, and ever important  phosphorus in all cases.  Meanwhile, it acts as a great attractant of beneficial insects and pollinators.  When it goes to blossom – which happens to be when I generally take it down – the fields are generally alive with bees.  Sorry, bees.  We will be back.

Sad as it is, I will be taking it down mid-August either with a roller or a mower, then I will sow in our winter rye for next year’s harvest.  This is a big cover crop year for Bluebird as we rest our soils, and I take growing these crops as seriously as any.  Rich cover crops give more available nutrients than most proportioned inputs.  I’m always excited to pull soil plugs and run tests on our soils after intensive cover cropping.  I will be doing this mid August and before sowing our winter grains.

Alas, the big news is our “BIG MOVE” to the new Bluebird along Highway 20.  Phew!  Truth to tell, there have been a lot of moving parts which, most often means, moving targets.  We like moving targets!  

So far we’ve shuffled all of our raw inventory down there, most of our packaging supplies and infrastructure and yes, we’ve tested our new processing line with some success.  As of this writing, we’ve not yet dialed in the cleaning settings for all our grains, but we have cleaned lots of both wheat and rye with much improved efficiency and throughput.  As of this writing, all our freight is now going out of our new digs at 19611 Hwy 20.  That said, we most likely will not be running at 100% capacity there until the next Farmer Notes.  Already, I can tell you it is going to be awesome for all of us in operations, and all of you as customers!  In next month’s notes,  I will give you a run-down of some of our improvements.  Meanwhile, please hang in there during our time of transition.  We may run thin on certain products at times, but so far we do not anticipate any complete shut-down.  That alone we feel proud about.  None of this would be the case without our dedicated, hard working staff who cover one another on a daily basis.  We couldn’t do this without. All of you.  No question.

Please take time to enjoy the fruits of deep summer.  Hopefully you can enjoy some cool waters and yummy fresh fruits, grains and veggies.  Next month – August – will be all about harvest.  So… Stay tuned!

Yours, Farmer Sam

Wow! The cool, moist spring continued on right up to the Summer Solstice. As for this weather, this spring was a very different one than most. One that, by and large we’ve embraced. We are not alone. Although I still need a jacket some days for my morning cup on the south porch, the birds are just loving the lushness of these first summer days.

This morning I observed young bluebirds in one of our boxes, with the mumma changing from just feeding the chicks inside, to trying to coax them into fledging. Hummingbirds were busy at the blossoming yellow roses, and waxwings dip in the bird bath. As well as wrens on the porch, orioles in the elderberry, flycatchers on the fence, swallows swooping before the rain, finch in the apricot, buntings in the apple tree and of the evening how can one not stop and listen to the longing evening song of our good ole American robin atop the aspen. Truth to tell, I could spend the day and night marveling at birds. They are daily reminders of my good fortune to live where I live.

Our cover peas, of course, could not be happier and have reached flower stage and so I am taking them down before their cycle runs too far and they go to the pod and we’ve lost what we’ve gained as far as nutrients. I am working in the peas then directly following with a second cover of buckwheat which we’ll grow out until it flowers in early August when we will take it down and direct seed our winter rye crop for next year’s harvest. I seeded the peas to enhance the available nitrogen in the soils where I had wheat last year. The buckwheat crop predominantly will be for pulling up potassium levels, as well as for warm season weed suppression.

To date, I’ve not used a drop of irrigation water for any of this! This is the latest date yet that I’ve not taken advantage of our supplemental irrigation. Our systems are charged and ready, but with no early spring tillage and direct seeding of the peas, all the winter’s moisture is still in the profile and we’ve been getting rains ever since. We will only be doing one round of tillage while working in the peas and firming a new seed bed this entire season, as we work toward minimal tillage and more continuous cropping from here on. Most of you readers know this is a goal I’ve been working toward for a while now. Fingers crossed. We’re gettin’ there!

Up on the Waterville Plateau south of here our wheat growing partner Tom has been enjoying the wet spring and he has a good looking crop of winter hard red wheat coming along. Down in the Columbia Basin, Brad has a lush, lush crop of einkorn nearing boot stage. Harvest likely will be pushed a couple weeks later this year as most years when the crop is heavy due to lots of moisture, a later harvest is anticipated. Much of this will depend on what July brings for weather, and early August.

The real news:  We have begun our move! Indeed, all of our tanks have been moved from up here down to our Highway 20 site, set in place, and we’ve shuffled most of our remaining inventory down there. As well, we are taking out bucket elevators and other pieces of equipment from here that we plan to use down in our new line and so, after 17 years of operating year around up here in the hills, Bluebird is soon going to be running full tilt, at much higher capacity and more efficiently, down where we will be easy to find! I can’t convey how excited we all are. I can’t convey how we look forward to meeting more of our customers and selling even higher grade goods than we are now. Did I mention we are excited!

By the time you read July’s notes, we will be reporting from the new granary and I’ll be able to give you the low-down on the equipment upgrades and hopefully that it is all running smooth! Amen. Meanwhile – and during this big shuffle – we have planned ahead and have all your favorite grains cleaned up, and will continue to mill fresh flour to order on a weekly basis as always, and as we will continue to do once moved. So… Enjoy the first days of summer here. And let’s keep hoping for daily Peace. Yours, Farmer Sam