Diggin’ Roots Farm

One of our favorite local publications, Edible Portland, invited us to be on t.v. with them this morning. We are going to be in their summer issue and were invited to speak to ‘the plight of the beginning farmer’. It kinda turned into more of a gardening segment but it was fun none the less. Check it out by clicking here!

Still have a good supply of starts over at Naomi’s. We’ve almost completely sold out of tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers but have plenty of lettuces, greens, herbs, & more. Never could have guessed at the volume of sales and incredible support Naomi’s would be getting. Very exciting!

I couldn’t help it. I had to leave the house to go outdoors and turn a bed. This year it seems like it is taking quite a bit longer for our soil to dry out. I wonder whether its:

a. We aren’t in a rush because we aren’t doing the regular CSA

b. It’s wetter

c. We’ve been gone so much we missed the dry windows?

I am pretty sure it’s a combination of all a-c but I am getting so antsy to plant! We’ve gotten a little done but the major planting hasn’t happened yet. I am hoping for Conner’s bday on Monday we can plant together! I am sure he’d love to spend a few hours on the tiller to celebrate ; )

Aside from a greenhouse full of baby plants and a movable chicken coop full of baby chickens- things here are going slow and steady. No luck finding land yet but please spread the word to all your rural friends! I thought financing was going to be the hardest part but I am starting to rethink that….There is a serious shortage of land out there that has water rights. When all we want to do is grow food and we can’t find land to do it I get pretty upset seeing acres and acres dedicated to nursery production and grass seed. Luckily I feel pretty strongly that the place will find us. There’s a connection out there just waiting to be made.

Meanwhile, we are appreciating where we are (the dry weather helps) and hoping to get some plants growing!

I hate to keep posting action items up here but this is even more important than supporting beginning farmers. I don’t know how we’ll afford to farm as it is but if the new federal food safety law (S. 510) passes next week, it is going to get a lot harder! The way it is proposed is strictly one-size-fits-all and leaves no flexibility for small scale farmers (also not the ones causing massive food safety issues). Senator John Tester (D-MT), a certified organic farmer himself, is proposing an amendment to S. 510 that would exempt small-scale farmers and food processors from the most burdensome regulations. Please call your senators and encourage them to support Senator Tester’s amendment. This is VERY important and will largely effect the local farming community and your ability to source direct-from-the-farm food!

Thanks for your help!

Wow….It’s hard to come out of a dormant season and imagine that the weather is ever going to be nice enough to grow starts and veggies. Today is amazing though! I was over at Naomi’s and the starts were selling like crazy. I remember when I started those seeds under lights and it was freezing out. Things certainly are changing around here. I prepped the first bed yesterday (quickly remembered what it feels like to work), Conner’s going to break out the mower this weekend, and I am thinking our clothes might dry outside! Peas are planted, potatoes coming soon, and it looks like were going to do a batch of broilers. I am shocked at how much interest we’ve gotten about chickens. It’s hopeful to know that this market isn’t saturated and at some point, when we finally buy a farm, there will still be people out there who want GOOD food.

Thanks for buying our baby plants. Please let us know if questions arise as they grow. We’d be happy to help out. We highly recommend following the planting dates laid out in the Maritime Northwest Garden Guide (available at Naomi’s, co-ops, etc).

Happy spring ; )

I wanted to share a link to the blog entry that I wrote about my experience in DC. Also I wanted to encourage everyone who’s reading this to call their senator and help push beginning farmer programing. More information on this can be found on the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s website. Please share your thoughts. If I learned anything in DC, it’s that there are real human beings there fighting an uphill battle and they need support!

I am in DC right now after having finished a morning of meetings with folks from the USDA and FSA offices. The hope is to share our challenges and experiences in order to contribute to improved access to capitol and funding to get more of us on the land! Tomorrow I am attended a conference tomorrow focused on beginning farmer policy/land access/issues. It has been an interesting experience but so far I am still feeling hopeful.

As far as pictures go, a professional photographer friend came out last summer and I wanted to share the link to her fantastic photos!

Lastly, I wanted to encourage everyone to check out our new enterprise- vegetable starts! There is a tab above and they can be purchased from Naomi’s Organic Farm Supply in Sellwood. We also offer a discount for wholesale-direct orders.

Thanks for reading!

At February’s InFARMation (and Beer!), guests will be Lynn Youngbar from the Oregon Board of Agriculture, Representative Brian Clem, and Steve Cohen, Manager of Food Policy & Programs for the City of Portland. This moderated panel will talk to us about how policy is made in our state and what their experiences have been working within their respective policy-making body.

http://www.friendsoffamilyfarmers.org/?page_id=601

Come support farmland and hear what they have to say!

We divided and conquered last night. Conner went to a very important hearing on preserving the rural reserves surrounding the Portland Metro area and I attended a meeting for the Oregon Agriculture Reclamation Act.  It is truly amazing to see so many people working to give family farms a place at the table. Ironic, isn’t it?! It was empowering to hear that there really are a lot of people out there who want to reclaim agriculture, make it sustainable, and make sure the voices of our farmers are heard. Please check out the links and show your support!

Speaking of farming, we’re really looking to claim some land! This afternoon we are meeting with a lender… Hopefully the last and most helpful of many.  Sounds like she has some great ag. lending experience. Yesterday I also spoke with Equity Trust, n organization helping farmers acquire land and build their businesses, and they were incredibly helpful. Things finally feel like they are rolling in the direction of a purchase. Couldn’t be more excited and terrified!

What a combo! Right before Thanksgiving we stumbled upon an Allis G tractor for sale. It happened to be a pretty good price and locally available so we jumped on it. It feels crazy buying a tractor before we even own land to really put it to use on but we have faith…It is a 1949 cultivating tractor. Basically the whole purpose is weeding, which happens to be a lot of the work you do on an organic farm. In the long run this new edition to the farmscape should pay for itself again and again and again.

We’ve also been doing everything we can think of to find ground to grow on this next season. I drove around Clackamas County for the better part of a day posting Farm Land Wanted signs in food/farm stores. It was a fun way to get to know the county but not so fruitful in offers. This past week we’ve been lucky enough to visit 3 potential sites and one of them is relatively close and has water. For the time being we are going to see how things pan out with the land we are on (buying/leasing/renting) and if we don’t know by the the end of the year we’ll probably move forward with something else. Cross your fingers for us!

This temperature has been strange and beautiful. We somehow managed to talk ourselves into going on a hike up Dog Mountain Monday and were greatly rewarded. It has been a while since we’d walked on snow and the clear sky allowed views of all the close mountains, the Columbia, and more… Pretty phenomenal but not so much for the veggies still outside. We’ll see how the thaw goes.