Wow, there’s a lot happening on the farm.  I didn’t look too closely in the big greenhouse for a couple days and suddenly there are lush rows of lettuce mix, spinach, arugula and kale.  We are beginning to stock the refigerator in the sales shed with bags of lettuce mix, spinach and arugula and bunches of Red Russian kale along with plenty of eggs.  If you want to make sure we have a particular item in the frig when you come, drop us an email or leave a message on the phone, 541-382-8059, with what you would like.
We’re starting to harvest small bags this week.  For more information look on our website and click on the FarmtoWork tab on the menu bar.  The CSA starts this week also.  We have two shares available if you want vegetables and lots of them.
Our friend and master beekeeper, Sue Schwan is starting to carry beekeeping supplies.  You can find her at the Indoor Swap Meet Thursday through Saturday, at Wilson and Hwy 97.
This has been field trip week.  Kids from Lava Ridge and High lakes elementary have made seed balls, worked with tools, tasted greens and enter the life of a chicken.  They are a great bunch of kids and a good time was had by all.  You’ll also see a new large green house going up to house our tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.  Stop by anytime.

A big Thank You for all you potato planters!  Once again a stunning amount of potatoes were planted in an hour and we had a great time visiting with all of you over our first spring greens of the year.  We have an awesome community.  For the next two weeks on Mondays and Fridays little guys will be here discovering worms, making seed balls, tasting greens and pretending they are chickens.  Should be entertaining.  With this week of warm weather lettuce mix and arugula should be available at the farm stand soon.  We’ll let you know.  

Our seed potatoes have arrived and it’s time for the annual potato planting party!  We’ll be ready to plant this Saturday May 12th.  We’ll start at 10:30 and should be done planting by noon when we will have the ceremonial cutting of the first greens.  It’s about time, I haven’t had a decent salad in months!  We’ll provide the greens, salad dressing and good bread from Baked.  Bring one item  to share of whatever you like to top your salad and we’ll have a delicous lunch.  At 1:00 Gwen will be doing a volunteer training for those who are helping with the school field trips which are starting next week.  All field trip volunteers are welcome to come to lunch also.  Hope to see you on Saturday. 

FARM KIDS NEEDS YOU! This spring, Fields Farm and Juniper Jungle Farm will be hosting 10 school field trips for kindergarten through third grade students.  Farm Kids Field Trips include five hands-on learning stations where the students will get their hands dirty and learn about farming in Central Oregon. In order to make this program a success, we need lots volunteers to lead these fun and educational learning stations . Volunteer training will be held at Juniper Jungle Farm on Thursday, May 10 from 5:30-7:30pm (with dinner to follow) and at Fields Farm on Saturday, May 12 from 1:00-3:00pm. Please contact Gwen at gwen.lafond@gmail.com if you are interested in helping out with these field trips and to RSVP for a volunteer training. Thanks!

Looks like spring is here at least for a week or so.  That gives us time to get as many transplants out into the ground as we possibly can.  The irrigation water has arrived and with our late spring snows, it looks like we’ll have plenty of water for the season.  Lettuce mix, arugula, kale and mizuna are already in the ground, spinach,kohlrabis, broccoli and swiss chard go out tomorrow.  The first seedings of carrots and beets have also been done.  We have two new Indian Runner ducks, the peeper sisters, who are endlessly entertaining.
We’d like to welcome the ODS employees who will be participating in the Farm to Work program.  Eggs, Wild Rice, Walnuts and Garlic are available at the farmstand.  CSA shares are available.

Wow last weekend 15 Locavor volunteers did some amazing projects at Fields Farm.  Get this, in one day these volunteers  – put up the racking and 34 solar panels for electricity production
                     – buried chicken wire at the base of the chicken pen to fortify the fence against predators
                     – plastered two walls of the vegetable storage shed
                     – cleaned all the cold frames and greenhouse tunnels
                     – put plastic on a tunnel 

We had a delicious lunch and gab time coordinated by Parker and Penny.   Thank you to Ashley for leading the crew.    We are deeply grateful for the selfless willingness of these volunteers to help us keep this farm producing food.

With the garlic popping up and the sunspace filling with starts it’s time to plan for the CSA.  A CSA share will cost $630.00 for a weekly bag of veggies from the 3rd or 4th week in May through the last week in October.  And a bag of storage vegetables at the end of the season.  Let us know if you’re interested in a share.

Yes the first seeds of the season have been planted!  We also popped a few more shallots and garlic in, as we are root people at heart.   Every February we spend two days at Brietenbush for the NW Farmer to Farmer Exchange, always a wonderful time for us to be with our farmer friends.   We brought home some fresh walnuts from our friend, Nick at Torland Orchards.  These are organiclly grown walnuts in the shell.  They are available in 1 lb bags at the stand for $4.50.  We are down to our last few weeks of onions and shallots.  Smaller heads of garlic are plentiful.  Eggs are generally available though we have a day now and then when we are out.  As the day length increases eggs will be more plentiful also.

Well we missed our week of winter while in Santa Cruz visiting my nephew and his wonderful family.  Our new weather station nicely recorded all the details for us, some big winds and 2.7 inches of precipitation.  We also received an offer of organically grown walnuts.  Our friend, Nick Andrews(our first organic certifier through Oregon Tilth many years ago)  bought himself a farm a couple of years ago and now has his first crop of walnuts.
The walnuts are available for 4.50/lb in the shell.  If you would like to order some let me know within a week.  We will be picking them up on Feb. 15th
Eggs, onions, shallots and garlic continue to be available at the farm.

My brother Mark, who grows the delicious wild rice we sell was featured in an article in the Oregonian. Here’s a link to that article;   http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/index.ssf/2012/01/willamette_valley_clay_soil_is.html