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Phil & Noelle

Well Into September

Updated: Nov 16, 2021

Here at the farm we are celebrating a new addition: the outhouse!



Inside is a self-contained composting toilet. No more scurrying the two blocks back to farm HQ in the middle of a task! It’s for real a huge addition and raises our quality of farm life and comfort here immensely. It's also the first structure we have constructed on the farm, which feels like settling in in a different way than say, hanging a tire swing or bringing a few chairs under the shade tree.


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Harvest List: Spaghetti squash Lettuce mix Radishes Shallots Mustard greens Tomatillos Shallots Carrots Habanero and anaheim peppers Tomatoes Please note this list is dependent on weather and crop conditions, not guaranteed or comprehensive.


Our upcoming kimchi workshop (register here!) and its delightful coincidence with Chuseok, the Korean harvest festival, has us thinking about feasts and celebrations past and present. As the hectic long days of summer start to shorten we find ourselves slowing down a bit, looking back at what we’ve accomplished, having a bit more space for contemplation. It’s still dark at 6 so why not take a few more minutes in bed before getting to the day’s harvest. Ever since humans first figured out how to domesticate plants and animals and start farming them, the concept of the harvest festival has existed. Wherever agriculture debuted throughout prehistory and history, there is early evidence in the archaeological record of communities gathering en masse, feasting together on the bounty of the harvest, merrymaking, sharing gratitude and prayer, and typically giving/sacrificing a portion of the harvest back to the Earth (or gods/goddesses) as an offering, in hopes of favorable farming conditions in the next season. If it happened across six continents more or less independently from each other, there must be some element of “look what we grew, y’all! Let’s all eat it and get drunk and cut a rug!” that is ingrained in our nature as humans. It can be hard to grow and raise food. There’s no shortage of challenges. It takes physical strength, emotional stamina, creativity and wit ... every day and every season. In any case, it is certainly worth gathering to celebrate bringing in enough food from the fields that we can survive another year. Fall harvest and the collective effort to empty the fields of vulnerable crops before frost or pests damage them too badly was in mind as we recently welcomed our first school field trip group to the farm. For a moment it was intimidating to see a few dozen yelling, squealing children running all about, but it quickly felt right, and was a refreshing change of pace. Their many hands made extremely light work of several beds worth of produce and seed harvest. About 150 pounds of potatoes were harvested in less than thirty minutes with that crew, and they worked with curiosity, enthusiasm and laughter, even on one of the hottest days of the year. In a moving three-part round, their voices graced the farm with a song of humility and grace to bless the freshly harvested melon snack that we shared.


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Recipe: Carrot orange ginger soup Ingredients: 3 tablespoons butter (or whatever cooking oil you prefer) 6 to 7 large carrots, peeled and sliced 2 cups chopped onion (or shallot!) Salt 1 teaspoon minced ginger 4 cups stock (or water, this soup is very refreshing and doesn't need a ton of richness) 3 large strips of zest and juice from 1 orange Directions: Melt the butter in a soup pot over medium heat and cook the onions and carrots, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add stock or water, ginger, and strips of orange zest. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until the carrots soften, about 20 minutes. Remove the strips of zest and blend well.

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