Snickers on a cooler day...

85 and climbing at The Open Gate Farm

Dear Friends of the Farm:

It’s hot. It’s really hot. The hens have gone on vacation they told us. We see them hanging out around the duck’s swimming pool hoping for swimming lessons but the ducks are hogging the water and won’t come out. It’s hot.

It’s really hot in the kitchen. It’s hot there because our intern, Kathryn, has decided to re-ignite the bread business. She’s gone through the bread books and selected some winning recipes. It must be good because the first person who stopped bought a loaf of the Sweet Land Oatmeal Molasses. And some Fougasse just came out of the oven. Torn apart and dipped in olive oil…excuse me while I got get some more!

Heat can lead to stress and we don’t like stress around here so yesterday morning, as the temperature streaked to the upper reaches, we hustled up some arches and covers for the lettuce. Now when you come up the hill on Russell Road, you can see all the rows of happy lettuce, parked in their white roofed carports. Those covers lowered the temperature of the soil a good 15 degrees. That has allowed us to put just a head of each variety on the stand (count them…7 different ones!) or we can go to the garden and pick you a fresh one that does not need to go in a wilted lettuce salad.

On a sadder note, we must pass along that our dearly beloved male Indian Runner duck, Chai, is no longer with us. We think it was a wandering raccoon around sunset who did him in. From the huge cloud of feathers, he put up a pretty good tussle, allowing the girls to get away to safety in the chicken house. We miss him a lot. He was a real gentleman and kindness was his middle name. If you know of anyone with a spare male Indian Runner Duck who has impeccable manners, please let us know.

And we have, thanks to the suggestion of a customer, put a table up at the stand for you to set your selections on. Now you don’t have to set your bags on the ground as you continue your selecting of the finest produce we’ve ever raised! Keep those ideas for improvements coming! We can’t think of them all ourselves!

Spinach is now on the stand. Green leaves of health. Just stand there and look at them and you’ll feel the iron and minerals flowing into your body and giving color and tone to your skin that you’ve not seen since high school. O.K. You do have to eat it first. But it’s really tastey raw in a salad or steamed with a hint of vinegar over it. Just like with the beet greens! Lots of them are ready now too. Some even have the baby beets hanging on still so there you get a bonus!

Did you know that chard is a beet without a bottom? A couple years of breeding to get the stalks and leaves like they are, but by golly it’s full of health and strength for you too!

And for the young at heart…we have some Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies out. We substituted a few things so these taste really healthy too. Virtue and sin in the same bite. It can’t get better than this! At 50 cents each or 3 for a buck, you’ll be seen as virtuous by your family if you show up with a handful for dessert tonight!

Well, time to go find some shade and wait out this heat wave. If you can come over, we’d love to see you. If not, save your pennies until you can so you’ll be able to fill your tables with outstanding organic, certified naturally grown produce, and fresh home made bread that will leave your neighbors impressed, your in-laws jealous, and your family satisfied.

Happy Hoeing,

Jon and Elaine and Mr. Snickers, Mystery the quiet cat, Jerry and Harley and the girls from the egg department, and of course, DD, Quackers, and Cheese the sad but water loving ducks

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.

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