In This Edition

Fall Farro Salad with Beets, Beet Greens, and Feta Recipe

News: Finished the Harvest!

Notes from a Farmer

Hello all, Harvest is in and the first cleaning runs have shown excellent quality in our grains –the emmer in particular. Here’s a poem I wrote for my New Hampshire mentor 10 years ago for his 80th birthday. He passed away just after his 90th earlier this month. I’m off to be at his service, and take my daughter Larkin to the biggest Ag Fair in the Northeast: Maine’s Fryeburg Fair! Cheers, Farmer Sam

UNCLE FRED’S BIRTHDAY

There’s a man here today I’ve come to see
A truer Yank there may never be
Sterling eyes cast in leathery skin
White hair and beard a’ runnin’ thin
Of eighty years in these New Hampshire hills
Spring through autumn and winter chills
Logging sugaring bucking bales
Still his body never fails
Fingers thick like bark of an oak
When he grabbed you fast—it weren’t no joke
Clamp down on your shoulders squeeze you tight
Kiss you hard then finish with a bite
Leaving that smell of tobacco and barn
To bring to school straight from the Farm
Where after chores I hated to go
‘Cause that classroom day went wicked slow
Till the bell rang and back I sped
To spend the afternoon with Uncle Fred
Chopping corn or gathering sap
Riding the Farmall in his lap
Telling fish stories or learning a new word
Like—“come over here you little turd!”

Ahh… those were the days and so they be
Some of the fondest yet that I can see
And some lessons I still carry today
Like how to cuss and how to stack hay
And some I didn’t thoroughly understand
Till I found myself working the land
Harvesting off then putting some back
So as the soil itself would never lack.

Hardly a day on the tractor passes
That I don’t hear his voice above the masses
‘Cause you want to talk ‘bout having a constitution?
This man here is an institution!
For that very reason
I’ve always listened
And with his observations been justly christened
So mostly I’ve come home—come all this way
To hear on this special day
Just exactly what Uncle Fred would say?

Our Best- Brooke and Sam

Recipe of the Month

With the fall farro crop newly filling our silos and plump red beets pushing up through the soil in your garden, the Fall Farro Salad is a tasty way to celebrate the arrival of fall and the bounty of the harvest. Serve as a side dish with a hearty squash soup or with a crusty French bread as a stand-alone lunch.

Bluebird News:

We finished the harvest! After celebrating with a family hike to Copper Glance Lake, we headed to the Okanogan County Fair. We had high hopes of finding a French Lop bunny to bring home but sadly they were all sold out. We quickly diverted our sorrows to corn dogs and a ride on the Ferris wheel. Thankfully that corn dog stayed in. As we departed we marveled at the antique display of tractors and reflected on how times have changed!

We have a granary tour coming up October 10th from 10-12. Please RSVP if you can make it. You can view and print a map to our farm on our web site.

Our Seattle farmers market season is now wrapped up for the season, a BIG thank you to our Market Manager Hannah Viano and to all of the farmers market shoppers for your steadfast support. Your purchases have been critical to the success of our farm.

If you find yourself hankering for our products this winter, our monthly grain CSA is a nice option for access to our products. We have some changes to our CSA program that you may find attractive: you can now swap any of our pre-packaged items out for any other item regardless of price. For example, if you are having a family brunch and need lots of pancake mix, you can select all Emmer Pancake mixes for your box. Please remember that shipping is included in the price. If you are local to our immediate area we have CSA drops; shipping will not be included in your CSA. Other places to find our products this winter in the Seattle area:


• Eat Local - Queen Anne / Burien
• Sunset Hill Green Market
• Full Circle Farm CSA
• Madison Market (bulk only)
• PCC Natural Markets ( bulk farro only)
• Whole Foods Markets:- Roosevelt, Bellevue, Redmond, Westlake
• Town and Country Market – Bainbridge

Customer Profile: Dover Point Gourmet

Customer Peter Whit of Dover Point Gourmet and his wife Judy stopped in for a visit. Chef Peter Whit is a classically trained chef, specializing in traditional French Provencal food preparation. After 25 years of corporate consulting he decided to make his passion his profession.
Peter became fascinated with cooking when the Food Network took off. He speaks fondly of Mario Batali and Keegan Gerhard, saying that after watching them he really began cooking in earnest.
Peter discovered Bluebird Grain Farms last February, after hosting the Good Food Festival in Olympia. After seeing the film Good Food, Peter followed up with all of the farmers featured in the film, which led him to Bluebird. Peter loves the emmer flour, which he uses in his many whole wheat muffins and breads, as well as the whole emmer/farro. He recently made a farro risotto, which he says has been a big hit with clients.
Peter grew passionate about using fresh, organic products a few years ago, when he started working to preserve local farmlands. "The flavors just pop off the plate," he says. "A chef is always looking for distinctive tastes and the freshest, most natural ingredients give dishes their signature flavors."
Peter and Judy live in the Olympia area. For more information about Peter’s services click here.