Category: Farmer Notes

Most all of the Methow’s spring birds have returned, so far as I know. It isn’t hard to know when the house wrens return! This year they arrived the first of May, and have been the voice I wake to most every morning now. Truth to tell, there are far worse things to wake to than the sound of birds. The myriad of morning bird sounds might just be my favorite aspect of spring. The tanagers are now busy building nest in their favorite elderberry bush below the house. As are the Bullock’s Orioles, also late arrivers. The Lazuli Buntings love playing in the emmer hulls scattered about our garden. Perhaps the most distinct sound of all, however, or one I favor as much as any, is the whipped-up crescendo of the Common Snipe, which I can hear morning and evening from our porch as they “helicopter” into the sky from the wetland down the road that I can’t even see! But I hear them, and have watched them with joy many a time doing their peculiar, determined spring mating dance. The last hold-outs: poorwhills and knight jars will soon be coming.

Spring surely rushed in on us this year. The first of May left the rather reticent and cold beginning of this spring far behind. Since, we’ve had about as nice of a May as I can recall:  Lots of ground water, lots of sun and warmth, a couple rains and really not much wind. Wow, what more to ask? The fine weather has enabled me to go full on with field work and planting.  Despite the later beginning, I’m on track to have all our farro in by the time this goes to press. This will be about as early as I’ve had all our grains sown.

I was able to get one field of farro planted right on the cusp of last month’s full moon. This is a split field – half einkorn farro and half emmer farro. Both grains are in their two-leaf stage, and soon will hit their 3-leaf stage. The other fields are all up except the final planting. In fact, given the good soil moisture and the heat some of the emmer shot out of the ground 5 days after sowing! One simply cannot overestimate the power of a seed.

Our cover crops will go in soon to finish up the spring planting. The chickling vetch I’ll drill first, and then later in June I’ll put in buckwheat. I think I’ve finally dialed in the tine-weeder and I’ve harrowed our early grain plantings with it. Next, I’ll top-dress the young grains with the feather meal/calcium blend and soon follow with our first round of fish and sugar so we get maximum benefit by adding the biology and trace minerals of the cold-pressed fish. Following this, at some point I’ll begin our irrigation. Then, then… the growing season. My favorite part.

Confucius said: ‘the best fertilizer for any soil is the footsteps of the farmer.’ Depends on the farmer I suppose. I try not to do a lot of farming from my truck’s windshield and get out on the fields the best I can. Still, one tends to second guess every move in this farming game. The real measure is what one ends up with as far as quality come harvest, and also what is left in the soil for nutrients – a tricky balance without question.

For instance, the compaction that just one raindrop can cause is fairly amazing. With this in mind I really try and use our supplemental water judiciously. Always, I like to let the young plants fight for themselves. By this I mean it is important for young grains to tiller on their own and stress a little so that their root systems develop and develop to better “mine” for minerals. Of course, the minerals have to be there. This year with plenty of moisture a couple inches down, it is hard to say when I’ll begin irrigation. When the plants hit their 3^rd leaf phase is my best guess, as much to apply the fish as anything.

Whatever we did last year sure worked as far as the quality of our farro. I’m most pleased with how it continues to clean and we certainly have been cleaning a lot! Emmer farro has been a hot item for all, so it appears judging from the orders rolling into the granary. It has been a juggling act, more so than usual, as we not only process and mill various custom orders, but also clean up seed stock for planting. I think we’ll let out a sigh when all the seed is where it safely should be: In Mother’s womb!

The wildflowers were full on but already beginning to fade as the light lengthens and we head toward the summer solstice. That fast, so it seems. The Forest Service is prepping us for summer by making sure we get use to a little smoke as they touch off “controlled burns” in various areas around the valley foothills, and beyond. The substantial snowmelt combined with some pretty warm nights have brought the rivers and streams right up to flooding in many areas. Nature rules; all one needs to do for a reminder is to look at the tributaries of the mighty Columbia these past weeks! How does a single fish survive!?

School will soon be out. The long June light will soon ring true. I hope all who read this find some time to enjoy the new beginnings of the season.

Yours, Farmer Sam

April – ever the month of change. On the coat-tails of the wettest spring in years last year, this April is proving to be even more so. Living in what is still classified as a semi-desert climate, as we are here in the Methow, abundant water is always exciting. This spring is proving to be exciting indeed when the seasonal freshets all run true and little potholes that are often dry brim-over and the wildlife seem to rejoice.

Some might call it a delayed spring – others a late winter. Regardless, the first half of April showed no signs of giving in to spring, instead clinging to winter tooth and claw. There were days of the usual biting wind, most nights stayed in the 20’s, and then a rain/snow storm arrived about the second week that proved almost too miserable to go out in! Alas, as I write, glory be… Three days in a row of 70 degrees, full sun, nary a breeze and my oh my is the countryside flowing green! Just now, the aspen are popping, the bunchgrasses are jumping, bluebells, yellowbells, and spring beauties are suddenly accompanied by the signature balsam root.

Two weeks late is a good estimate on the season, if one could ever call Mother Nature “late.” Later than what we may have been used to. Wherein our first hummingbirds just arrived – (two weeks late!). The swallows showed up today; the migratory bluebirds have moved on and now the nesters have arrived. Grouse pound the hillsides with their swollen chests and necks; geese fly every which away. Fact is, just before the last big storm – or last we’d had – I watched flight after flight of geese heading north on a southerly wind.  Only to turn back around! The next day: Rain and snow. Then a couple days later, the weather cleared and Sandhill cranes could be heard day long and the geese finally got straightened around and most all have gone north.

In the fields, we got going a little earlier than last year, only to be shut down for several days. Alas, with the first sustained high pressure for a long while and the accompanying climbing temps, we are rolling. On some of our heavier cropped fields last year that are going back into grain, we’ve had to lightly disk  to break up the surface and “ wake up” the dormant leftover straw that we’d applied digester to last fall. We follow the disking with a culti-packer, which both grooms then firms back up the seedbed. As well, the culti-packer spreads around the straw so the fields truly do look “mulched.” There is plenty of subsurface moisture so we’ll easily be able to sow seed right into the germination zone. 10 days ago the soil temperature was 43 degrees FH, today, it is up to 57 and plenty warm for grain to germinate.

The combination of mulching and the lighter use of our tine-weeder, plus a good start for earlier seeding is this year’s strategy for weed suppression and a healthy crop-stand. I’ll let you know how it worked in September! On our fields coming out of seasonal cover-crop last year, instead of disking we run the field cultivator since there isn’t the straw residue to manage. We are doing this as some earlier; deeper rooted weeds had begun before we could safely get on the fields without causing compaction.

The rock picking is always good in the wind and wet ground! Finally, we’ve gained on most fields in this regard. Some fields where we’d been picking 6-8 tractor bucket loads, this year we were down to only 3! Still others have some stubborn spots left, but we wouldn’t want to get too out of practice so this is okay.

The ground that was in later cover crop last year will be our first to plant. Fact is, I’m hoping to have some acreage of both einkorn and emmer in before the months end. Anything before May, I consider a fairly early seeding up here in the wilderness. Plus, I believe we have a full moon right about now – always a great time to sow. From there, we’ll keep rolling with our emmer. Also, we’ll be putting about a third of our acreage into spring seeded cover crop, as we do most every year. .

Our winter wheat experiment seems to have been relatively successful so far. We put in an older variety of both hard red winter wheat, and a hard white winter wheat on our Alkire fields – about 22 acres total.  Lo – it survived! This is good testing ground as Mazama holds snow as long as anywhere here, and often we hear about “snow-mold” issues in conventional Ag. This doesn’t seem to be have been the case with our wheat. Then again, we do not use Anhydrous Ammonia for fertilizer… a whole other topic.

Our fertility is always something we’re working on, particularly in the higher magnesium soils. Again, we will be putting soluble potash and calcium rock blend in-row with the grain. This year after the grain is about 2 leaf stage, we are going to try something new by “top dressing” the crop – going over the crop with a spreader wagon and flinging feather meal which is fairly high in Nitrogen. Next, we’ll feed a couple rounds of good old fish through our pivots for biology and trace minerals, and next… hopefully step back and admire!

Last year’s grain continues to amaze me with its quality and clean out. And so, we hope for something similar this year. As you will read in Announcements, we’ve had a little turn-over in staffing here during our busiest time of year yet we’ve managed to keep up in the granary and its swift pace. This time of year gets complicated because Bluebird is both a processor AND a producer. The juggling act can get even more interesting as tractors become tied up and less available up at the granary where they live all winter. We can use all 3 tractors in the fields this time of year, yet always need one here to process orders, load freight etc. We’ll get it done, not to worry!

Meanwhile, enjoy these last cooler nights (I’ve built a fire in the stove every morning this month). And ease into the warmer days and gathering light of this season of rebirth!

Yours, Farmer Sam

Writing this on the first “official” morning of Spring 2018. The thermometer reads 26 FH on the back porch at dawn and already I hear restless geese down along the river as the night-time owls grow quiet. A week ago we had a solid rain during the dark hours and the very next day as the weather cleared, a pair of Bluebirds appeared by one of their houses along the fence! That fast, I heard a distant meadowlark and not long after, a robin. Since, it has been a steady flood of new bird song as finches join the winter-time juncos and chickadees at the feeder, towhees flit about the aspen and despite the still wintry look about the foothills, Mother knows spring is here!

To be sure, we ended up with a very good winter insofar as moisture. March began with perhaps our biggest snowstorm of the year. Here in the foothills of the North Cascades, we are in excellent shape moisture-wise heading into spring. It has been a slow unwinding of winter which has allowed most of the melt to go straight into the soil profile, with plenty more snow to go. Last spring was our latest start in the fields to date and I’m guessing this year will be similar. A late start means good moisture so that is always worth the patience.

Our granary has been a-buzz winter-long with a variety of orders both big and small. Our grains continue to clean very nicely and mill up fine. There have been the usual seasonal challenges with working in the weather and shipping out but suddenly as the roads dry and snow recedes we are reminded how logistics here will even out. I had to plow out two of our storage tanks so that we could access more grain and already those areas are bare. Better news: Our supply has held strong!

I’m reticent to let go of winter more so each year. Yet, one can not help but feel the excitement of Spring with the lengthening days and opening of the land. We are beginning to formalize our planting plans, mostly set in motion with last fall’s field work. As well, we have our seed-supply to draw from and during any spare time in the granary, we will be cleaning up our seed selection so we can sow when the time comes.

When will that time come? There’s one that is hard to predict. Will it be based on intellect or intuition? Are intellect and intuition one and the same? One thing that remains true; I feel like a beginner each Spring and this alone can be exciting.

We will continue to do our best to safe-guard our crops from any contamination, which is more easily done up here in the mountains than elsewhere. We’ve been certified organic since the get-go and have only grown and processed organic grains here at Bluebird ever since. Organic, however, doesn’t always mean nutritious, though it certainly should. That is why we test our grains from time to time for nutrient content, and all the time by tasting them! What we feed our family we are happy to feed yours.

One more family member down this winter – at least I hope it’s the last. This one is dedicated to our old girl Teal, who was part of Bluebird from the beginning. Teal came into our lives lost and then unclaimed. Thanks to my mother-in-law Sis, she wound up spending many an hour trailing in the fields, happily digging up gophers and mouse after mouse.  She was always good at finding yummy morsels to test – only after properly aged. Strong headed at times to a fault, she became one of the best hunting dogs I’ve had to date. If ever there was a dog that loved the water, Teal was that dog. Now she’s resting near that never-ending stream…

Here’s to new beginnings…

Yours, Farmer Sam

Mother Nature has surprised us once again, switching gears just when she looked to be leaning toward an earlier spring. During the first week of this month a true Chinook wind blew through our valley for most of a full week, the snow sunk as temperatures soared and it sure seemed winter had lost its bite. Not so! Here toward latter February we’re experiencing the coldest temps of the year! Along with more fluffy snow. This brings more strain to the work here at our granary, but feels better and more right I suppose, in the sense it might be good for the land.

As well, it has redeemed this farmer with the fact that with spring indeed a ways off; we don’t actually need to begin digging out equipment for maintenance just yet. Heck, there may even be more good powder skiing left!

I’m a bit concerned for the wildlife as there was an early push of birds near the first of the month. Blackbirds showed up a week early down at the ponds, chickadees were into full spring song and I’d heard of robin sightings in the lower valley. Now, it looks like mid – December outside! My worry likely goes unwarranted, as I know Nature generally can take care of herself just fine but I suppose my concern for the wildlife is simply part of my nature.

Nature is, and always has been, at the root of what we do here at Bluebird. The love of nature is why we began Bluebird in the first place. There are plenty of reasons to believe that the earth never should have “been farmed” and I understand this. At the same time, agriculture is/has been part of society for so long and continues to be the way in which we feed one another. With that said, it is ever more important to not only hold the earth in the highest of regard, but to treat the earth with that regard. During the course of a farming season, we set forth with the greatest of intent to do the “least harm.” And yet, I always get to second guess myself after every action.

My love of the land and the love of place comes to me through seven generations of New Hampshire farmers on the same homestead in the White Mountains where I was born, raised and allowed to “run free”… after all the chores were done of course. There always were plenty of chores and various hand tools and pieces of equipment to not break and to learn how to operate properly, and plenty of Uncles peering on. There, too, were plenty of woods to explore, streams to fish, birds to flush and mountains to play on. I learned from a creed that was both cursed and blessed by the simple satisfaction of “doing a day’s work.” More importantly, doing a day’s work and still having time to help others. And so, even if I don’t do well, I at least know the difference!

There are various efforts put forth to produce the Bluebird products that many of you have grown to enjoy. I can stand behind every one, but I cannot pretend to do it all myself.  First, we have to have all of you supporters, and then we have to have our crew that gets this idea of hard work and doing just what needs doing. I am so happy we have that crew and more importantly, I’m proud of the way they take pride.

Winter is not only hard on wildlife; it is hard on humans too. The fact that even “my creed” one day succumbs to the vagaries of hard work, ethics, and yes – grace – makes me no less the proud. And so when my 91 year old father passed away at the end of last month – he being the next to last of all my great elders left – a dear cousin of mine remarked: “I feel completely unmoored.” Yes, I thought, but at the same time, because of my Dad– whose accomplishments are too numerous to mention here – because of my wonderful Aunts and Uncles, and my dear ole’ Mum, I feel more grounded than ever. And more assured of the path. We hope that some of this path continues to find its way into Bluebird for a long, long time to come. There certainly are many different parts that make the whole, no? Here’s to the part my father played.

Cheers, Farmer Sam

We begin a New Year here at Bluebird with new snow, some rain, a big thaw, freeze, new snow…just like January! Juncos and chickadees are thick at the feeder and just yesterday the waxwings returned to our elderberry bush. We’ve a pair of bald eagles hanging around; various owls and I watched with admiration as a squirrel ran across the newly formed crust of snow, scooted up the apple tree, grabbed a shriveled apple, tumbled, then regained composure and raced off.

The post-holiday pace at our mill has been steady. It means everything to any small business to have good sales flow each week so we are grateful for the consistent orders, but also grateful for a natural “even pace” as winter thickens. Our freight drivers continue to do a fine job getting up here to the granary – or close – and so far, we’ve not had to delay any orders this year. I’ve been asked more than once “why did we build our facility up here in the foothills?” Simple answer: our home here was the only land we owned at the time. That said, we purchased some new agricultural property this past fall for both farming and for processing expansion in a more central location along Hwy 20. Of course, I’ll keep you posted on this prospective project as time continues on!

We continue to capture a high percentage of finished grain from our less-than average crop. Now that we’ve been running this year’s since September, we more clearly see some positive patterns with our clean out. Hopefully this will continue when we get into the harvest from a different field, here in a month or so.

At the time of this writing, snowpack is slightly above average around here and we’re in a 3 day storm cycle upcoming. We are happy for this as January is traditionally one of the bigger moisture months for our area. Drier cycles actually can begin Feb/March. Of course, Mother will decide all in the end no matter how much we may or may not fret.

The sanctity of winter is never lost on this farmer, nor the suddenly growing daylight! More daylight at the days’ end triggers the new year like little else. And although I love the skiing and the sharp winter stars when the skies finally lift and the colder, fresh air, I also know how hard this time is on wildlife. We’ve seen fewer deer this winter around our place, and no cougar sign yet, but birds seem always abundant.  As I came down our driveway the other afternoon, 10 Hungarian partridge skittered along before flushing out over the new snow.  Likely, they were pecking for gravel. I threw some grain splits out for them at dusk, hoping it would help them “get by”. Then thought, hmmm, this might concentrate them and risk them becoming a meal.

Yes, we’ve been enjoying many a fine meal our spoiled old selves here. I really enjoy the split grains, pilaf or bulgur style this time of year. They go well with grilled wildfowl, or in

hearty soups, or with dried fruit and yogurt for breakfast. I hope you all are enjoying them as well.

This one is dedicated to dear Uncle King who passed away at 94 this month. WW II vet, golfer, tennis player, mountain climber, skier, fisherman and all around incredible human being. He once told me, as we were climbing in Argentina long, long ago, that one of the things the army taught him was:  When given food, eat; when given sleep, sleep. I’d say it served him well – almost as well as he served all of us. Rest easy, ole’ pal…

Yours, Farmer Sam

Writing this morning on the first full day of winter and doing so with joy. On queue, we received a bit more snow here in the Methow and the temperature has dropped. A wafer-thin moon hung to the south as the stars sharpened in the cold, quiet sky above our neighbor’s solstice spiral where we all took turns walking and wishing by candlelight. The resting months for the earth are sanctified by the winter solstice.

At this time of relative peace, I am also aware that winter is a hard time not just for many of the wild animals, but for those fellow beings less fortunate than some of us. We try and keep in mind the importance of sharing goodwill, as there never can be too much.

And, we keep the bird feeder full! For the chickadees and finches and nuthatches also seem to rejoice this time of year. Ahh, these feathered winter champions! Yesterday I heard, and then noticed a big bald eagle perched in an aspen along the lower pasture. He/She sat there and spoke out on and off throughout the morning while we worked – saying what I’ve no idea. But when I let the Labs out to have a wander down along the creek, they became quite interested in something there. Though I didn’t have time to explore just then, I suspect something had recently been turned into a meal.

We enjoyed the great turn out for our annual Open House up here at the granary earlier this month. Really fun to see so many new faces! And hear about how enthusiastic folks are about our grain products. This was very restorative for this farmer indeed; during the day-to-day the reasoning for doing what we do is sometimes too easily lost. So, thank you all for coming! And as always, thanks to those many of you who support us year-round.

Customer orders were brisk indeed as they tend to be moving toward the holidays. Lots of our wholesale customers are beefing up for the season, and many of you are ordering our gift boxes. The crew here continues doing its usual great job sorting through all the different special orders while also keeping up with our distributors. What’s more, so far we’ve been able to move freight in and out of the Rendezvous without incident. Phew!

The nice rains we received in November really set the stage for next spring’s moisture profile. And the ground never froze very deep before we got some snow. Still, we don’t have a lot of snow coverage and certainly hope for plenty more. That said, we’ve got a start and there is a solid snowpack in the high country, and so we remain optimistic for next year’s water.

Overall, it was another year of gradual growth for Bluebird and we will be busy planning strategies for 2018 up-coming. There are various directions we may take. However, to be sure, one thing we will continue to do is deliver fresh milled, Washington grown organic grains and flours to all who want.

A big thank you to our crew here. A big thank you to all of you. Please enjoy this special time and reach out to others. Here’s to a peaceful and healthy 2018.

Cheers, Farmer Sam

“She’s glad her simple worsted gray – Is silver now with clinging mist”… And so we usher in my favorite month of the year with a line from Robert Frost’s perfect “My November Guest.” This is the month for poetry. This the month for the soil to rest and replenish, for the skies to darken and purge, for the stoves to be stoked and stirred, for the wildfowl to head south and the chickadee, the finch, the nuthatch to return with the coming snow. And a visiting flock of cedar waxwings descended on our elderberry bush just this Thanksgiving morning to enjoy their own feast.

For a month many take to be bleary and bland, I rejoice! It helps that some of my favorite people were born in November including my Mother, her sister Mary, our daughter Larkin, and my brother Nat. Brooke and I first met 21 years ago this November, on this very country road we’ve lived on ever since.

With several rounds of moisture, some white, some not, this November has not disappointed. Thus far, milder temperatures have kept the soils thawed and allowed for the intermittent storms to sink deep into the earth’s womb. This soaking is much needed after our hot, dry summer. We are on track for excellent recharge both down in the valley floor, and higher up in the mountains where several feet of snow have already fallen. As I’ve often said, Mother seems to always have a way of evening herself out.

We were able to complete the field work we’d hoped to finish during the lovely October weather of last month. So the fields are cozy and tucked in for the winter. Now our efforts are spent primarily on the granary here, cleaning our grains, milling our flours weekly and making sure everyone is supplied for the heavy cooking season up-coming. It has been fun to see the different products that fit a season. We’ve been in business long enough now to track some of the more popular “holiday supplies.” One of my seasonal favorites is the sage biscuit mix; yummy with soups or stews or even savory with just soft butter.

The winter challenges with freight have begun, as our granary up here in the foothills isn’t the most accessible beginning about now. We all work together and are very fortunate to have more reliable “rural” freight carriers these days in Fastway and UPS. Our UPS drivers up here are terrific. As most of you also know, a lot of our smaller orders go USPS, which means at times we get to drive an entire car-load of USPS boxes down to the post office 5 miles away. Of the many thanks I give this Thanksgiving, I thank our Bluebird staff for doing such a great job in seeing to timely delivery. Also, to you customers who are so loyal.

Other Thanks that come to mind are to our veterans. My daughter Mariah and I enjoyed the Veterans Day ceremony at the Mazama Store this year and thought not only of the Vets present there, but Vets around the country – the world – who have served to uphold the democracy we enjoy in this Country. One Vet we lost this past fall, and who we celebrated this week was Bob Parlette – Brooke’s father. Known to our children as Grampa Bob, he served in the Air Force during Vietnam. We miss you Grampa… and thank you for all that you did in your life that enriched many lives in the Wenatchee Valley, as well as the Methow and beyond.

Our society is not without flaw as we all know. And this past year has been trying in a variety of ways as most every year is. I can only hope that we can take this time to gather round and count our blessings, and that we can reach out to help those who may not be as fortunate as some of us. We were welcomed to this country by the Native Americans and later waged genocide on them. I hope that this is common enough knowledge to us all so we do not repeat this sort of behavior. This country never was a “single possessive” country. And it surely will fail if it ever becomes one. It takes all kinds.

Cheers, Farmer Sam

With the gold and crimson hues filling the foothills; with the lengthening shadows, gathering raptors and southbound geese; with the hold-out robins foraging new worms from the suddenly wet soil from first-snow… comes my favorite of season.  Ahh, at long last the blessed fall.  There may be too many reasons to list why I so love fall, but of them a slowing down time and time for reflection has to be near the top of that list.

Another farming season is behind us. It will take some reflection indeed to sort through all we learned from this year, and more time to sort through what remains a mystery.  As I mentioned in the past letter, this year’s crop was not our best.  Smoke, heat, drought… who knows?  The mass of possible factors for success, or lack of, is too large to know what exactly makes a good crop or not.

That said our hulled grains are cleaning out better than ever. And so we are capturing a very good percentage of our grains and we’ve been selling a lot!  Many of you are already enjoying this year’s emmer crop, and all our grains are getting high marks of quality which is the most important to us.

October remained mild and dry right up to the 3^rd week. We were able to get most of our fall work done, including applying straw digesters, and giving the fields a once or twice over with our disks.  As well, we took fall soil samples and we are having them analyzed for next spring’s planting.  Taking a day to pull soil samples is always time well spent. We have our irrigation water analyzed also, so that we know the true conductivity realized once the water goes into/through the soil.  This is important to get a feeling for the complete growth picture. If some of our deficit in this year’s crop is due to low mineral levels, or other points of deficient fertility, soil and water properties give us a better platform to work from.

Knowing our grains the way we do here at Bluebird gives us advantages over some bigger plants/mills in that we are sure of the sources of our raw grains. Therefore, we can pin-point more easily where adjustments may need to be made since we know where the grains come from!  Often, the exact field they come from and the history of those fields. Work, yeah plenty of work, but understanding the whole picture is the idea.

The more I know the less I know – to quote an over-used but frightfully accurate phrase. This certainly pertains to my farming experience. Likely, I’m not alone here. This adds both excitement and stress to this peculiar yet basic occupation. Although the farming fraternity may have diminished over the years, I’m guessing the mysteries and lessons and work have remained much the same.

Seeing the fields “put to bed” for winter brings a certain satisfaction to be sure, whether it is a sign of “rest”, completion, hope… not sure? Being a processor as well as producer, we don’t necessarily get the winter off by any means. We go from two businesses to one is all, but this does seem somewhat of a break. That said the baking season is heating up!

Good thing our 50 + year old mill is running along nicely. Good thing Kevin likes to run it so!  One more good thing: you all love the fresh flour! All these good things complete the circle here at Bluebird. These sorts of goodies are sometimes hard to put value to. One cannot measure appreciation, interest, or loyalty in pounds and bushels or any other calculator of yield. In this, we feel very fortunate.

So… I’m hoping everyone can reflect some and go into the holiday season counting their good fortune.  There has been far too much tragedy just since I last wrote: Puerto Rico; Florida; Las Vegas; California…. Awful scenarios one and all. Our thoughts go out to these communities. This gives even more reason to sit with those you love, and break bread.

Yours, Farmer Sam

Swallows have gathered and gone, as have the bluebirds, hummers and meadowlarks while the sun lowers and days shorten with the autumn equinox already past. Although there may be a certain melancholy to the fading of summer, some of us are glad the smoke has finally cleared and the temps. have moderated and, truth to tell, this final week of September could not have been more mellow and lovely with clear, sunny days in the 70’s and star filled, quiet nights – some with lively northern lights bouncing across the heavens. Ahh… a relief and sanctity to a summers end indeed.

It couldn’t be better harvesting weather for us to gather the last of this year’s crop. For whatever reason, our latest planted field and last to come in, ended up being our best. Unfortunately, this likely will not compensate for the well-below yields of the fields combined. We are getting good results when we de-hull the ancient grains from this year’s crop. This means that during the de-hulling process our loss-rate of whole grain is lower than average. There often is quite a fluctuation between different lots and what we actually end up with as #1 grain varies based upon the idiosyncrasies. That said our raw volumes were down some thirty percent.

As the years go on, I’m more amazed each season that we ever pull off a crop. Tinkering with Mother Nature is precarious business to be sure and as we’ve been reminded lately, she can throw some awful tantrums whenever she sees fit. What we lacked in production this year, we were blessed with excellent weather for harvesting. Not one of our fields took any weather during the ripening stage. The quality of this season’s crop by and large is attributed to this.

As my favorite season descends on our little mountain valley here, so grows my appreciation for the end of another crop cycle. Our winter rye is drilled and up. As well, I’ve put in a couple trials of 2 different winter wheats: One hard red that I got from WSCIA in Pullman, and one variety of hard white that I received from Steve Jones over at the WSU research station at the Port of Skagit. Both of these grains are up and green and it will be interesting to see how they winter in our “wintry” climate.

Other fall work includes applying our microbial digesters to better break down all our grain straw. After watering this in we’ll allow it to sit a couple weeks, then likely hit the fields with the heavy off-set disk.

The granary has been busy with fall orders as the heavier cooking season cranks up. Here’s hoping that many of you get out to enjoy the changing colors and to see the migrations of birds that surely will be on the move. Right now, the last of the cicada and katydids form the perfect chorus to this mellowing of seasons. I can think of no better song but theirs to fall asleep by…

Yours, Farmer Sam

August: Dust, heat, smoke and a full eclipse. Swallows gather; bluebird families frolic in the birdbath. Hummingbirds take their last nourishment from our flowers and feeder before heading out, while the yellow jackets thicken. As wet as the spring was, summer has been ever the drier.

Not uncharacteristically, August has been a struggle to work in. Prime harvesting weather but for reasons unknown to this farmer, not prime yields on our earlier grain that had looked strong for so long. One never knows the crop until they drop the combine header and begin to reap. And weep…? Not that bad, yet. And hopefully the later plantings, soon to ripen, will strengthen our overall numbers.

A look at our first runs of grain so far makes me think we’ve hit good quality once again. We ran the first of new-crop emmer yesterday and got good results on clean-out. Also, we ran some of our rye a week or so ago and it tests really well in the flour mill.

Overall word is the Northwest has survived the heat and mild drought better than many inland states. Major drought hit parts of Montana, the Dakotas and other grain states. And once again several large wildfires are burning throughout the West. Then there is Texas! Our hearts go out to all those suffering there, including the animals. An awful, awful situation. Throw in the eclipse, and as stagnant as the dog-days of summer can sometimes be, lots of “stuff” went on this August.

Through this all, the granary has been quite busy! We’ve been running a myriad of orders and even in the heat Bluebird grains and flours are being consumed all over judging from the steady flow of finished product. I’d say we’ve had our busiest summer season to date, and as we lean toward fall, orders generally increase thanks to all you devoted fans!

I’ve been changing irrigation the past few mornings where we’ve mowed off our buckwheat cover crop and are prepping for fall grain and I’ve had to wear gloves it’s so cool. Then by noon it’s in the 90’s! Wild climate this is. But daylight is shortening and the cool nights are growing slowly longer. With that surely comes a sense of relief, but a mild sense of urgency also knowing how quick Mother can change. We’ll stay busy prepping and planting our fall/winter grains beginning with our rye next week. Any fall cover crops will also go in and we’ll be working in the grain stubble as we finish harvest.

I love fall as I’ve mentioned 1000 times. I hope we get a chance to do more fall work than we have the past couple falls when we were shut down early due to moisture. That said, if it begins raining after the last of the grain is in, let it rain!

Another year of school with lots of little ones on the roads, sidewalks and elsewhere. Please be extra careful as some of these children are not that big! And enjoy the last month of summer – upcoming.

Cheers, Farmer Sam

Glory be… we’re having an ole’ fashioned summer here in the Methow. Which means nothing but high pressure: Days in the 80’s and 90’s, zero precipitation, on and off wind, very “stable weather.” This is not something we take for granted. Although working day after day in the intense sun and afternoon heat is trying, it is nice not to be looking over one’s shoulder and bracing for the next violent storm, wildfire, and various other shades of uncertainty.

Well, some fires have actually been a factor and just recently we had a bad scare in the middle valley. Thanks to great fire suppression efforts, this nearby outbreak was put to rest very quickly. It served as a sober reminder, however, to all of us who get jumpy as the hillsides dry out and summer winds sometimes rave.

The young birds of all shapes and sizes are out and about – some second clutches. Mornings and evenings really are what mid-summer is about and I so enjoy watching the young hummingbirds, flycatchers, and bluebirds get their wings and try out being birds! To be sure, a family of young blue grouse has enjoyed the moister climes of our lawn and garden, as have a nice covey of Hungarian partridge. And the house wrens seem to keep the chatter going when all others are quiet.

The wild emmer moves river-like in the summer winds. That fast, the early fields have reached their peak growth and already are beginning to set seed and cure. After a cold, wet spring when I wasn’t sure it wise to get some crop planted first thing, these are the fields that seem to be heavy in the heat. I shut off the water on the early plantings entering the second week of the month, and the crops here really look strong. The later planted fields got hit with July’s heat a little harder, but with the supplemental water and nutrients still seem to be grooving. By the month’s end, all irrigation will be off and the rest is “wait and see.”

Here at the granary there has been a steady buzz. All of our customers seem to want to eat our grains and flours even when it’s 90 out! We’ve had strong sales and the crew in processing and packaging have been doing a swell job keeping up. I feel very fortunate to have such great help. Busy indeed this time of year running two businesses, instead of just one which we get to do beginning about November.

After our initial fertility that we drilled in with the seed, all we’ve put on the crops is sugar and liquid, cold pressed fish. Timing is everything, but these applications seemed to have been well received. We use them as a foliar in that we let this combo sit on the plant for a day or two, before turning the water back on. Anything that is left, goes right into the root zone.

I had a fun time re-connecting with an old acquaintance Dr. Steve Jones over at the Bread Lab at the Port of Skagit last week. We didn’t have near enough time to discuss all we wanted but he’s always done great work with wheat breeding and I’ve supported his efforts since he spoke out against GMO wheat 20 years ago. I hope to do more work with Steve in the future. And keep him from forgetting completely about us eastern Washington guys!

The old N-6 Gleaner fired right up after I did a basic, annual service on her.  This week I’ll roll her out, give her a good dusting off and probably go harvest our killer winter rye as a warm up to real harvest which likely will begin mid to later August.  Until then, stay cool and enjoy the richness of deep summer.

Yours, Farmer Sam

That fast it seems a couple months have passed since I last wrote Farmer Notes. By golly, it is true! I last wrote in late April when we were just getting rolling on the fields and here we are in the last week of June. Ahh, sweet, sweet June. Seldom a month that disappoints!

What began as a cool and mostly wet spring held true right thru the early part of this month. I believe we had a frost or two early this month, and certainly some frost in May. Alas, June has not been the wetter of the spring months, although it remained cool. Now that summer is “officially” here, temperatures are on the rise. Truth to tell, we had our first day of 90 degrees just yesterday. Even though we’ve seldom had more than a couple days in a row of clear sunshine, over all it’s been a good spring for grain.

We began planting our first fields the last couple days in April and finished our last grain field June 6th. We’re just now watering the later planted crops and on our early fields we’ve already applied organic fish fertilizer twice and are into deeper watering cycles. I’m always impressed how fast the grain grows once it kicks into gear around 4 leaf stage. Our first field of emmer is actually reaching boot stage and will be full on boot by the beginning of July. This is an important time to apply more nutrients and give water before the emmer gets too towering to water any longer.

Meanwhile, the last of our spring planting is almost finished as I’ve only a few acres left of buckwheat to drill. We’re putting buckwheat on fields that we hope to seed our winter grains in. Buckwheat loves heat and water, grows very fast and puts out a bunch of green manure in just a few weeks. Also, it is a great soil cleanser. Our hope is to use the moisture from growing out the buckwheat to seed our winter rye, and possibly some winter wheat late August.

Our Austrian winter peas planted last September loved the cooler, moister spring. We mowed them off a week or so after flower and hope to grow them out a bit longer before turning them under and fallowing that acreage the rest of the season.

The long light of June gives amazing energy. As well, it kicks off my favorite month of the summer wherein I can concentrate primarily on just growing… As I mentioned, it is all about managing moisture right now, and giving the crops supplemental biology and food as they grow. Hard to believe it will be all over in another month – the growing cycle of the spring grains that is, but no matter the weather, it is basically a 60 day cycle from beginning to finish.

The activity up here at the mill has been very steady! Sometimes we begin to see a lull as things heat up but orders have kept on a comin’ and Kevin has been plenty occupied cleaning and milling as well as the rest of the granary crew here. I’m looking forward to spending a day or two in the mill myself this week after I wrap up planting. Spending a day or two filling orders always reacquaints me with some of our great customers.

The bird-watching has been fabulous every day. Fledgling bluebirds and tanagers and flycatchers can often be seen dousing themselves in the birdbath just off our sipping porch.  So interesting how they invigorate themselves. Little strikes me as more fascinating than birds. We’ve got a Kingbird that loves to make a racket down by the creek each morning, and of course the meadowlarks and robins and wrens and humming birds. One Sunday we hiked up the Butte and delighted in watching a flock of black swifts work the bugs – hopefully mosquitoes- in the upper drafts. Such elegant and agile birds with a name that speaks volumes about this bird. I’ve seen the earlier hatched ducklings now 2/3 the size of Mumma! And a few young grouse and at least one clutch of partridge.

These are the growing days: For birds, for grains, for Mother Earth. With some trepidation, I look to July. July, we know, can be a great growing month; it also can be a month of violent weather in the form of thunderstorms, heavy showers, wildfire and the H word…. We certainly hope we have a “nice” July. That said, I can’t begin to understand the things Nature does and why she does them but just have to believe it needs to be the way it needs to be.

Here’s hoping you all enjoy some swimming, boating, hiking, EATING and whatever summer fun suits you best. Until next month, when I can give you a better summary of our Bluebird crops, Cheers….

Farmer Sam