Of Wind and Beans and Beauty

The Open Gate Farm

Camano Island, WA

October 29, 2009

Of Wind and Beans and Beauty and Learning at The Open Gate Farm

Dear Friends of the Farm:

The report from the Hoop House is that it still is waiting for a good windstorm. This last one we thought was a dandy. Wind speeds of 38 MPH seemed pretty good. Went out in the morning to see what the wind had done and found a grape still on the vine but with no skin. You would have thought that a wind strong enough to blow the skin off a grape would have gotten the Hoop House’s attention. Naw…it’s still there in all its Conestoga wagon glory, waiting for a real blast.

Well, the best thing to do with a mistake is to admit it, ask for forgiveness, and press on. For several years we have raised a bean and thought it to be a “Cranberry Bean”. Our son got the seeds from Seed Savers Exchange and gave us a handful. After visiting the Seed Savers Exchange web site and chatting with them on the telephone, we’ve determined we made a mistake. They are not Cranberry Beans. They are "Lina Sisco's Egg Beans". These beans were brought to Missouri by covered wagon in the 1880s by Lina Sisco’s grandmother. Lina was one of the six original members of Seed Savers Exchange, which was founded in 1975. The only difference (which I am in discussions with SSE about) is that mine are a pole variety and theirs are a bush variety. So please forgive us and let us press on toward the bright and beany future together.

Tall or short…at the end of the day we are going to package these prolific babies up and sell the seeds for your planting pleasure next Spring! This may be the launch product of The Open Gate Farm Seed Company! Stay tuned for as the winter wears on and plans get plotted and dreams get designed, there may be more of this sort of thing. We just need to get the right name on the envelope for these maroon, white and tan beans first.

Have you been able to slow down lately and see the beauty around us? The sky, the sun, the moon and stars, the little flowers whose bright colors attract the bees? It is incredible! What a gift we have been given to see so much and to learn. If you come by the stand, take a long look at the grapes and see how the dusty “bloom” on the fruit is thinner where the fruit attaches to the stem and how the deep colors come through there.

Or grab an apple from the basket and look at the pattern of reds and greens and yellows and shades and blendings. Why is one apple red and another green? What is the purpose of all those little spots on an apple anyhow? And the McIntosh on my desk from our tree has a lovely layer of pure yellow behind the red skin. And then there is that other one whose inside is whiter than a Hollywood actress’ teeth but has lovely threads of red running symmetrically from stem to flower end.

In these hard times for our country, when we sense powerful forces of good and evil struggling in a battle in which the common man is the casualty, it may be helpful to slow down and look. Look at the red apple in your hand, at a yellow leaf on the ground, at the deep brown earth which gives us life. Pause in the pain and look at the life and maybe, just maybe, you’ll be a better person for it. And the gratitude and wonder you launch may last you a long time and carry you more easily over these waves of discontent and disorder we all are facing.

There are many ways to respond to these trying times. Eating locally is one, for it helps to tie us into a community in new and stronger ways which can anchor us when doubts want to run us on the reef of despair. Another is to learn something new. It is odd that when we learn more about anything, we gain resiliency to handle the ups and downs of life.

It is in this spirit that recently 4 families who home school their children have asked us to teach them how to farm. Remember, gardening is for your pleasure, farming is so we can feed others and make a living doing so. Others have told me they have friends who would love to do so as well as soon as we announce a class.

Overwhelmed? Naw, not us chipmunks! We’re startled someone thinks we know anything, but hey, we’ll give this a go too! We’re breaking it into bite sized chunks of fun. Three groups…smaller people (aka “primary”), larger people (aka “secondary”), then adults. But if a whole family wants to do this together and will ante up the bucks, we’ll certainly consider that as well.

One afternoon a month for 6 months. The curriculum is rapidly falling into place and will cover everything from soils to marketing, from finances to finding a good place to farm. At the end of the class, the attendees will have gotten a good overview of the reality and the reasons to become a farmer. They will have learned it is not always easy but it is always interesting if approached with open eyes and a mind of inquiry. They will have considered what might be done to feed the nation in a post carbon world…you know, the one without petroleum which some think is not far over the horizon.

And bonus points to anyone who actually raises something and sells it! That is the other side of the bonus you get when you come to a stand such as ours. They will have put their hands in the soil and found peace and place. Their customers will have found better food at a great price and supported the local economy. Everyone will be the richer for it.

While the pricing for the classes is not finished, it is for the grapes and apples and pie pumpkins and cornstalks and lettuce and squash and arugula and more which will be on the stand this Saturday. Come by!

Come by and don’t hesitate to tell us what you think we should teach about farming. What would you like to see in a class? For after all, we are persuaded by personal experience that a couple of middle aged chipmunks can have a great life on 2 acres on a little island in the big Puget Sound. Maybe you will be too!

Besides, if you do come by, we will all learn something.

Happy Hoeing,

Jon and Elaine the ever wondering farmers, Snickers the digging dog, Mystery the hearth ornament cat, Jerry and Harley and their girls who chase grapes when they can, Parson Dudley Brown, DD, Quackers, Cheese, and Margaret, the rain dancing ducks, all of whom live at…

The Open Gate Farm

269 Russell Road,

Camano Island, WA 98282

360-387-4449

Email: tsgjon@aol.com

Blog: www.theopengatefarm.blogspot.com/

Website: http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M19128

Open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to dusk until September 19 or so. Or by appointment if you call 360-387-4449 first.

We have pie pumpkins. About 20 or so of them! They will be on the stand this weekend again, but in the interest of sustainability and education and permaculture, here is a link to a great web site with a recipe for making a real pie from them... http://www.pickyourown.org/pumpkinpie.php

God and Manure

God and manure have a lot in common. Some folks want nothing to do with it...yuck! Others will use it judiciuously, picking and choosing when and where and how to apply it to produce the results they want. And then some of us embrace it heartily, can't live without it and spread it around all over the place trusting it will be useful where ever it lands.

Well, we have gotten the big box down in back filled to the top and covered. That manure will sit until February or March when we'll spread it in the parts of the garden where we'll be growing all the produce which might touch it...beets, lettuce, etc. The taller crops can have fresher stuff without the risk of contamination. Then we will refill the bin for another application later in the year to recharge the soil after a couple cycles of plants have enjoyed it.

The principle is, of course, that you have to put in if you are going to take out. Just like relationships!

And here is a picture of our source of all manure! The pile is about 20 feet high with the extractor on top. We go as often as we can and they give us all we want free! Our 450 friends there who produce 50# / day each are still chugging along and making us all the happier for it!

Hoop House Happiness

Technical difficulties on loading the pictures onto my laptop. Stay tuned! And believe!

The hoop house has withstood 20 mile per hour winds with only one end on. Got the other built and on this evening, so now we are ready for the storms of winter...well...except for hail, I suppose.

How It Happens at The Open Gate Farm

And here is the latest newsletter that just went out today!


The Open Gate Farm
Camano Island, WA
August 24, 2009
How it Happens at The Open Gate Farm!

Dear Friends of the Farm:

Looked out the kitchen window this morning and there it was. Just past the raspberries looms a huge structure. White pipes bent in an arc and covered in thick plastic, our new hoop house is almost done. And we could not have done it alone.

Saturday about 40 folks we’ve known over the years…friends from the early 1980’s when we arrived in Kirkland who now live across the island in Madrona…friends from about all the churches we’ve attended in the last 25 years…friends from up the road and from down nearby lanes…friends from the produce stand…all showed up and helped us celebrate our coming of age by building a house for our plants and our future. It was very cool and a tip of the hat and a big hug of thanks to each of them. And the food they brought was pretty good too!

If you are curious, go visit our blog and there will be pictures galore from that sunny Saturday on the Island where laughter ruled and doubts were dispelled. And then when you come to visit the stand in the weeks remaining of the season, wander on down and see what it is all about. In a nutshell, we now have a 10’ x 20’ greenhouse, 9 feet tall (for growing tall plants) which will both extend the growing season for produce planted in the ground as well as provide benches and so forth for starting seedlings in the Spring.

Another dream come true at The Open Gate Farm. But you know, the real dream of Saturday was not the hoop house. It was the people. We could not have built that house alone, and that underlines that life cannot be lived alone. We must live in community to live completely. We must weave ourselves out of our isolation into the fabric of live with others, for together we can become far more than ever we could in solitude.

One person who has woven themselves into all our lives this summer has been our intern, Kathryn Norris. She arrived in May, eager and ready for learning and doing and living a great farmer’s life. She has done all that and more. She has rototilled and hoed and planted and transplanted and weeded by hand on her hands and knees and hustled up to the produce stand to meet and greet and answer questions and so also woven herself into the lives of you, our customers and friends.

You have eaten her breads, you have fed her “Snickers Snacks” to your dogs, you have teased her and laughed with her and you have accepted her. And that is what we are all about here at The Open Gate Farm. We are about encountering life and embracing it. We are about making memories for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren. We are about caring for each other, for our ducks and chickens, our cat and dog. And we are about accepting each other as the unique person God made us to be and we all are the richer for doing so. We are the richer for setting aside any differences and celebrating the things we hold in common.

And we hold in common the good things of this earth, of this land, of these small fields. We hold in common the appreciation for healthy foods and happy homes, for all that contributes to keeping us whole. Whether it is Kathryn’s Molassas Oatmeal bread or the tender lettuces or the beautiful beans, it is in that finding of wholeness that we find our true selves.

When you live on the land, you learn though that there are seasons. There are seasons to the year and to life. And the season of the summer with Kathryn is coming to a close. She is heading on to AFLBS, the Free Lutheran Bible School back in Minneapolis for the winter and this will be her last weekend with us.

We will miss her, and you will too. We all will miss her big smile and her dancing eyes, but most of all, her very large and loving heart. But just as we can look out and see the hoop house that love of friends built, so also we can look within and see the happiness that knowing Kathryn has built in our hearts and that we can carry through the winter ahead.

So when you come by for your last loaf of her lovely breads this weekend, do let her know how much you appreciate all she has done. And while your contrary farmer will try to have some breads in the weeks ahead, we all know they won’t be the same. His gnarly old hands won’t fold the dough and his glaring eyes won’t watch it rise and his tired nose won’t smell the doneness the same as Kathryn has this summer. It will be bread, but it won’t be Kathryn’s.

We’ll have that sweet Italianescher oak leaf lettuce out there alongside those huge Chiogga beets this weekend. We’ll have a few tomatoes that are just coming ripe now hanging out with those tastey Muncher cucumbers. But we’ll all be wistful and wishing it were June again and the summer was ahead of us.

And we’ll all be wondering how we will make it through the Harvest Jubilee on September 19th without our good friend. Oh, we’ll get by, but it would be more fun with her big smile to greet you! But the seasons are changing and life is moving forward and we will too.

Happy Hoeing,

Jon and Elaine the busy farmers, Snickers the snack happy dog, Mystery the lap cat, Jerry and Harley and their girls who are hiding eggs in the bushes, and of course, the ministry team of Parson Dudley Brown, DD, Quackers, Cheese, and Margaret the studious ducks who all live at

The Open Gate Farm
269 Russell Road,
Camano Island, WA 98282
360-387-4449
Email: tsgjon@aol.com
Blog: www.theopengatefarm.blogspot.com/
Website: http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M19128
Open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to dusk until September 19 or so. Or by appointment if you call 360-387-4449 first.

©2009 Internet Millennium Copywriter applies. May be reproduced without further permission if source is acknowledged.

More than fun!

Well, the hoop house is almost finished, thanks to 46 friends who showed up Saturday. We had the site graded (with our old 1951 tractor and box blade), covered with fresh cow manure, and then rototilled a couple three times.

Pictures are on their way...and will be posted soon!

If there is a better way to celebrate turning 60 than creating community and memories with a barn raising, we don't know what it would be!

But now we need to sit down and decide what will go into it. Visions of tall plants dance through our heads along with dreams of a dry place to pot plants for sale at the stand this winter. Hmmm.

Dog Days of Summer

The heat of July has faded into the lazy days of August here at The Open Gate Farm. We have gone from sheltering the lettuce from Summer's inferno to transplanting new baby lettuce plants as fast as we can.

The Harvest Jubilee is coming! September 19th, it will feature about 20 local farms. We are on the tour, of course, and have to make certain we will have something to sell on that crazy day. Our lettuce takes about 60 days to get full size, so these may be a bit small. But given enough warm days and lots of water, there is hope we have not missed the cycle.

Read about starting seeds in worm castings. Aha! We have a green plastic circular compost bin out back where for the last 9 years we have put most all our household wet garbage. Full of red worms, this is full of their castings too! I dug out a couple shovels full and spread it on top of one of the seed beds in the master garden. Absolutely amazing. Normally it takes from 6 to 10 days for lettuce to germinate and show their first baby leaves. I just checked and this latest set in the worm castings did it in 4 days flat.

Now to see if this cuts the time to maturity in half...or just gives them a head start. Stay tuned!

And just to make the day complete, here is a picture of Elaine enjoying quality time in the garden this afternoon.