Bluebird Grain Farms - November 2008

A note from the Farmer 
After our latest spring on the fields here in the Methow, followed by our coolest summer in 15 years that included two hail storms, we were blessed with as nice of an autumn as we could ask for.  To be sure, we needed it!  Our grains were very late to ripen and we didn't finish harvest until the second week in October.  The best news is that when all was said and done, we ended up with average to slightly above average yields on most all the crop coupled with good quality.  We put in our biggest emmer crop to date, as well as our largest hard red wheat crop.  In fact, our storage capacity is within a couple hundred bushels of being completely maxed.
 
A harvester on a mazama fieldNow, as daylight wanes and sharpens and these lazy Indian Summer days of late -October mellow from gold to brown and geese can be heard over-head almost daily, my favorite season for field work is well upon us as we tuck our fields in for a long-winters' nap.  Although fall field work is less pressurized than in the spring, snow can come any day now and the work is just as important to complete the growing season cycle.  We are busy laying down our composter microbes and incorporating all our grain stubble in hopes that under winter's blanket all of the earth's wage less workers will turn the heavy straw back into soil.  Within a week or two, we hope to put all field machinery to rest and there isn't a better month to reflect on our good fortune in another bountiful - albeit bizarre- growing season here at Bluebird.  As always, we are very grateful for your support and hope this finds you all healthy and ready to enjoy a yummy Thanksgiving!   
Very best to you,   Farmer Sam

an image of one of our CSA packagesCSA’s are rolling
Bluebird Community Supported Agriculture program continues to grow.  Bluebird Grain Farms offers a 4 or 6 month subscription to a monthly delivery of grains, cracked cereals, dry product blends and fresh milled flour.  Customers find this a great way to incorporate our whole grains as a staple in their diet.  The benefits of a Bluebird CSA are not just about health, they are economical ( save up to 12-15 % on products and shipping) and you can control what you get each month by swapping items of equal or less value.  For more information visit the Bluebird CSA page.

Farmers Market Season Ends
October 25th was our last day at the U-District Market in Seattle.  Acacia Larsen , Seattle resident and licensed nutritionist, did a fabulous job running our U-District market booth and representing our farm.  Acacia prepared sweet & savory recipes to sample while running the booth!  Many of these recipes can be viewed on our website.  This was our first full summer season maintaining a weekly booth.  We are grateful for the steadfast support that Seattle folk give to local farms like ours.  It would be very difficult for us to connect with folks in the city without organizations like the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance.   Thank you NFMA!  We look forward to being back in April for another full season!  Visit the TNFMA website.


Bluebird Elves Preparing for the Holiday Season
It is almost time to begin thinking of stocking stuffers and ditty cakes.   Last December our packaging room was spinning, not realizing that our 1.3 lb Emmer Farro made fabulous stocking stuffers for local foodies.   This year we know that Fresh Milled Flour and Organic Whole Grains make a perfect, unconventional gift.   We have added two new baskets.  Our new  Baker's Basket includes four types of Bluebird's fresh milled flour  plus two varieties  of cracked grains and a  local honey bear to sweeten the loaf! Also new is  a Breakfast Basket, a simple gift of our breakfast cracked cereals and Emmer Pancake  & Waffle Mix.  We have updated our Bountiful Gift Basket to include all of Bluebird’s best sellers. We also offer an Emmer Pancake and Heirloom Fruit Syrup Box and  Sage Biscuit and Local Honey box.   Remember, you can always gift a CSA to someone- this is a gift that keeps giving months after Christmas!  On another holiday note, we are opening our granary & packaging room from 9am-12pm for the first three Saturdays in December for tours, gift buying, and chating with owners & farmers Brooke and Sam Lucy.  We may even have our own ditty cakes to share.  Please see our website for more details. 

The Lucy Family on the filedA note from Brooke
As I start my day and step out the door to work, often with a child in tow, I take my twenty steps to the granary and look around.   I see towering wooden granaries, plows & discs, yellow auger, a grain pup ( Sam’s personal favorite),  bucket elevators,  piles of chaff  for the chicken farmer; a ventilation system that Dr. Seuss would no–doubt be impressed by.  Mule deer pop their heads around totes of grain as if to say “I’m not eating anything”, while the dove gleans from seed, then ripples away, wings whistling, not to return until evening.  Employees are driving in for a days work; I am stunned by what we have created in three years and the support we have received from all walks of life!  As we move into our fourth it is my hope that we can give more attention to Bluebird Farm relationships and less to “building infrastructure”.  I hope to be in better communication with you by providing monthly e-news, yes- the last one was in February!  The good news is, I am already working on December.

Thank you for your continued support- we certainly hope to continue farming for you while keeping you in the loop about what is growing in our bountiful soil here in the Methow Valley. 

In good health- Brooke Lucy

p.s. Need a stuffing recipe for Thanksgiving?  Check out our Emmer Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing Recipe!