An update about The Collective:

Some of you may not be aware, but Bubba and I have always rented the land where we farm. This was an intentional choice: at our ages of 29 and 30, we didn’t want to put all our eggs in one basket, so to speak, before testing our business model and building a customer base. Not to mention, it’s just darn hard to buy farm property these days without winning the lottery or inheriting land.

For the past several years we have been fortunate enough to find local property owners willing to lease land to us in exchange for certain mutual benefits. For instance, we’ve traded vegetables from the garden as well as an animal (usually a pig) in exchange for a year’s use of the land. This year has been no exception—until recently. It became clear that the relationship with our current landlords had become untenable. As a result, Bubba and I had to make the very hard decision to move our farming operations elsewhere as soon as possible.

This is not an ideal situation, having just planted lettuce, beets, peas, and onions. The first crops are just weeks away from harvest, our pig just had five babies, and we have over two hundred meat chickens foraging on pasture. Additionally we were excited to be partnering with Linfield College’s Office of Sustainability to provide three students with internships this summer. Despite all of this, Bubba and I simply had no other choice.

 So, the hard part: The Collective has been forced to forfeit its current operation. We have had to abandon our crops and will not be able to produce a CSA for our members this year. We are doing everything we can to relocate and set up operations once again, but at this late date we cannot fulfill our obligations of a 20-week CSA season. We are fortunate that a number of our CSA shareholders will still receive their 20-week CSA boxes through a farm in Sheridan who has agreed to serve our customers. The remaining CSA shares will be refunded their deposit money and directed toward other farms in the area with spaces still available in their CSA programs.

Know that this situation is devastating to us, and to our business. Having already invested shareholder money into the ground (quite literally), we need to liquidate our business in order repay our shareholder deposits.

 As The Collective rebuilds and reorganizes at a new location, we hope that you will continue to follow us. This year we plan to continue offering products such as pork shares (next shares available at the end of May), fresh pasture-raised chickens (fresh and frozen whole chickens available May 28th), eggs, classes on food preservation, and more.

The silver lining: Despite this terribly unfortunate situation we still have a great Summer season ahead. Bubba and Ulysses look forward to assisting the Sheridan farm who is graciously taking many of our CSA members. We will spend time regrouping and looking for new opportunities for next season and will still enjoy participating in the farming community.

Thank you for prayers and thoughts as we quickly transition to rebuild our farm and continue to source fresh and local food in our community. To our fellow farming friends: we cannot thank you enough for all of the support and grace you provide to us daily, during this time. The transitional space, words of encouragement, and the offers of help make this storm possible to weather. To our family and friends: your listening ears, meals provided, and the offers to provide care for Ulysses while we work quickly to transition are invaluable. We are speechless and humbled to have such a family members and friends so close.

What’s the point?

Both sets of my grandparents have asked our friends and family members the same question.

“What exactly are Sarah and Bubba doing? Or rather, what it is that they are trying to do?”

They (like many) don’t know or understand the letter combination, CSA. They don’t understand why we are toiling away, making just enough money to pay for this “hobby” of ours, as they call it. For goodness sake, you can just go to the store and buy all that stuff that you’re trying to grow and it would cost you a lot less money. You wouldn’t have to spend your days getting up early to go feed the animals (even on Sundays) and all of your spare time in the summer peering into a canning pot and listening for the ting, ting, ting of the jars that seal successfully. And what do you mean you don’t buy tomatoes? How can you have a salad in the middle of winter without tomato sliced on it? Wait. You mean, you don’t eat salad during the winter?

My grandparents, whom I admire and respect greatly don’t understand why we choose to do these things, that was they way it used  to be done. Fred Meyer and Amazon.com didn’t exist. They spent year, after year doing all of the things above because if you didn’t, you didn’t eat. And then things changed. The world got bigger (or is it smaller?) and pretty soon they didn’t have to work so hard to eat and sustain themselves and their families. Soon, they discovered that they could get rid of the dairy cow because it was cheaper to go to the store and buy milk. And that instead of working on the farm all day, they could work in an industry that actually paid them in money, rather than in blisters and sunburns and food. They got things like paid time off- and retirement. So why after all of their hard work to get off of the farm would we want to undo everything and go back to it? Don’t we understand that it’s hard work, and long hours, and you can’t take days off, or call in sick? And you certainly won’t get rich from it, you likely won’t even make enough to ever retire.

Our simple answer is this: we don’t want to get rich, we want to live richly and a fully. And we do.

When we started “farming” it was really that we just decided that we wanted to learn more about the food that we were putting on our plates. When Bubba and I first got married I shopped en masse. I loaded up on canned goods at the bulk grocery- bought cases of soda at Costco and stocked a pantry with enough prepared foods to survive an apocalyptic snow storm. I thought that’s what I was supposed to do.

But then, something changed. Bubba and I noticed that the food we were eating wasn’t making us feel very nourished, and we certainly weren’t enjoying it, or the process of making it. And we were starting to hear about this trend of people raising their own meat or growing veggies in raised beds outside of their kitchen. So we thought we’d give it a try. I mean, how hard could it be? Put some pigs on the pasture- watch them grow and then fill your freezer. It had to be less money than we were spending on pork from Costco.

So we did it. And we made mistakes. And the pigs got out and made a mess of the pastures we put them in. And I didn’t like how much mud they created during the rainy season. But when we finally did the deed- and the first pork chop graced our lips, there was no turning back.

When we launched the CSA last year and so many of our community members asked us to help them eat like we do- we cried in humbleness. We were being asked to help nourish the bodies of the families around us. We were being trusted to make sure that kids went to school with real carrot sticks in their lunch boxes and that the tomatoes we gorged ourselves on during the summer weren’t picked by slaves in Florida. The apples we provided came from a gentleman named Ralph who meticulously trims his gorgeous 75 year old apple trees, but doesn’t eat to many because he has diabetes- though he is sure tickled that the kids like them so much. I filled myself last year with berries that my husband picked and ate eggs from our chickens by the dozen, growing a baby boy in my belly that is now eating his own ration of eggs and applesauce and squash that I picked and preserved for him during the harvest last year. We get up early to feed the animals and crouch over rows in the garden because we feel better. And the food that we produce tastes better and we take great satisfaction in preparing it because we had to work for it. We get to share all of this with our friends and community; growing, nourishing and sustaining one another, living richly and in fullness.

That’s the point. And our purpose.

Under today’s commercial farming standards I would never take a baby on a farm, hell I don’t even want to go to one. But, on our little homestead away from home, I have Ulysses with me every day- and it has been interesting. I live and die on his schedule, and some days he creates a whole new schedule that can be quite unpredictable, as many of you know.

If Mother Nature is in our favor for the morning, I try to leave when he gets ready for his first nap so he falls asleep in the car. When we get to the farm, I leave the car running and I can usually get most of the animals fed. If he wakes up, I can leave him in his bucket (car seat) and put him in E-Z Go (the golf cart that has a utility bed) and we troll around the farm from the pigs, to the hens, to the meat chickens, and on to the chicks, stopping all along the way to pick up each animals’ food.

If its raining we call this good for the day on the farm and will typically end up at Chapters, our favorite coffee shop, and try to get some work, fueled by coffee and wifi. Ulysses usually flirts with baristas and college chicks, and gets passed around to friends and community members who happen to stop by. He’s also been known to couch surf.

Now that the weather is getting nicer, and naps are getting shorter, we try to head to the greenhouse and start planting seeds. Needless to say the ergo carrier is becoming more and more handy around the farm and greenhouse.
I still thank God every day that Sarah works in town and gets to come home for lunch to feed the little guy. Let me tell you, when he is ready for lunch, I’m ready for a break.

After lunch we will typically stay home and play for a bit. But again, as the sun shows its self more and more we are going to have to make a second trip to the farm to tend to the produce part of the farm. I’m still not sure what this looks like, but so far Ulysses loves to be outside so this should work to my advantage. This summer its likely the pack-n-play will be set up under the apple tree where he can take his afternoon nap.

All this being said, I am not doing this on my own. Sarah’s mom normally has Fridays off and loves to take him for the day. And starting soon my sister will start coming to watch him one or two days a week in exchange for a CSA box. Without this help I’m not sure how much actual farming I would be able to get done. When Sarah gets home at night she gets to take over so I can clean up after the day of dirt, poop and spit up (none of that necessarily from Ulysses). We usually entertain Ulysses and finish up dinner and then Sarah reads him a story and its off to bed for him, with Sarah and I not to far behind.

We’ve finally gotten the routine down just as Spring arrives, and Ulysses is going to be mobile very soon (scooting and crawling before we know it) so that will make for even more chaotic fun.

Your stay at farm dad
Bubba

Here in Willamette Valley today we’re experiencing blue skies. The bright orb in the sky is providing some much needed light therapy for those of us who get the winter dole drums and that includes the farm animals. On days like today you will find the pigs out basking, bellies up in the sunshine and warming their thick skin to the bones. The chickens will be out pecking away at the worm holes in the ground and then spreading their feathers away from their wings and napping in the sunshine. Its good for their egg production and we’re starting to notice an uptick in the number of eggs that come out of the coop each day now that the day light hours are increasing.

I always get antsy during days like this. I want to go out and plant something! I want to turn over the soil and see what’s been going on under for the past few months and give it a good piece of my mind about what I want it to do over the next several.

But its to early. If I jump the gun, I’m just going to waste seed that will drown rather than germinate. The soil is still to cold and rather than doing good by turning it over, I’ll just be opening up the protected soil that’s been building over the winter under compost and cover crop, exposing it to the rain and cold days we are still going to have for the next month or two (or three or four) likely causing more harm than good. If you’re like us and have access to a greenhouse and cold frame, you may be starting your earliest seeds in hopes of getting a jump start on the season.

So instead now is a great time to do some brush clearing on nice days, in this case taking down some trees in the yard to expose the lawn to more light this year and help the flower beds that will be planted to get better sun exposure. Now is a great time to also organize your seed packets and order any remaining seeds as well lay out your plans for planting throughout the season.

Also, if your like me- you have glass jars stacking up and taking up space on your counters in ones and twos, or every time you reach for a water glass your hand grasps a quart jar and most of your coffee mugs are pint jars. I start to crate and stack the empty jars into storage for the up coming canning season- setting aside the chipped or cracked rimmed ones for the recycle.

And of course winter is a great time to practice and hone your skills in the kitchen. Portland Meat Collective has a great class list offering, but sign up soon since classes have a tendency to fill up quickly. Additionally I’ll be taking some classes from Champoeg Creamery this spring, my goal is to get a wheel of Parmesan aging so its ready by fall.

Your household farmer
Bubba

So when Bubba and I finally butchered a pig for our own freezer the other week I carefully trimmed one coppa for curing and the other for cooking. My friend Camas recommends cooking the coppa in milk and spices, then reserving the braising liquid for a delicate sauce that I love to pour over noodles and slurp up loudly. Camas has introduced me to many, many new adventures in preparing our favorite animal- the pig, but this truly one of my favorite ways to cook coppa, the group of 5 muscles when cut crossways resembles a star shape. It comes from the neck of the animal, tying together the head just behind the ear to the top of the shoulder blade. Pigs use this muscle group to root, turning and lifting their head which makes it fork tender even when uncooked.

Milk Braised Coppa and Pappardelle

1 whole coppa, 4-5lbs, trimmed of excess back fat and skin

2 cups whole milk, appox.

1/2 cup white wine

2 bay leaves

3 sage leaves

2 sprigs thyme

5 juniper berries

1/2 tsp of whole black peppercorns

Salt and pepper

Pappardelle noodles (or whatever wide, flat noodle you have available)

The short instructions for those of you who cook by hand- Sear coppa, throw other stuff in pot and place in oven until done then blend juices for sauce.

The longer version for those who like to follow step-by-step instructions:

In a dutch oven (or heavy pot) large enough to hold the coppa and liquid with a heavy lid, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium- high heat, until it glistens in the pan, but is not smoking. Sprinkle the coppa generously on all sides with salt and pepper (I always use fresh cracked pepper with a larger grind) and then sear on all sides until browned, probably 7 minutes total. Once seared lower the heat and pour in the milk, wine, and spices and then bring to a simmer (liquid should come up 1 inch on side of coppa). Once at a simmer, place in a 375 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes- or until the internal temperature of the coppa reaches 135. Once to temperature, remove from the oven but leave covered sitting on the stove for another 10 minutes to rest and finishing bringing the temperature to 145 degrees. Promptly remove from dutch oven and allow to rest on a platter or carving board. While the roast is setting, skim out the juniper berries, sprigs of thyme and bay leaves (feel free to remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs and put back int the pot). Then with an immersion blender blend the juices and braising liquid into a thin, smooth sauce, adjusting salt and pepper to taste or adding more white wine for acid. Serve by slicing the roast and placing on top of the pappardelle then ladle on sauce. Pairs beautifully with pinot noir or whatever remains of that bottle you opened at the start of this process.

Note* – if you have the time and where withal to make your own noodles, do it. The fresh pasta soaks up the sauce beautifully and allows for that loud slurping I mentioned.

We’re doing it again!

Thanks to our community we had a very successful first year with our produce CSA. For those of you not familiar with the CSA model, the shareholders invest early in the season and then reap the risks and rewards of the harvest during the year.

In the 2012 season we offered 20 shares out to the community which filled almost overnight. We knew that this first year was going to be tough, so while we were rewarded with loads of tomatoes, plums, apples and lettuce throughout the year not everything came up or produced as we hoped. We worked with local farms to share and trade during the weeks, helping each other offer products that each other wasn’t able to produce. It was a great season of sharing and learning.

We are pleased in 2013 to offer our community more CSA shares and new products:

First- in 2013 we are teaming up with Rolland and Julie Kerr of Kerr Ranch to cultivate a mature and well established garden site of over an acre. The soil quality on this site is exceptional and provides an ideal medium for growing quality produce and a variety of items.

Second- because of the size and maturity of the Kerr’s farm we are excited to offer 40 full shares in 2013. The 2013 CSA share cost is $500 for the 20-week season. Not able to use a full share? Sign up for a half share and pick-up every other week for 10 weeks at $300 for the season. *Why is a half share more than half the cost? For logistical reasons in harvesting and packing as well as coordinating a split box we opted to change our half share structure in 2013. Last year our half members often times received more than a half shares worth; whole jars of pickles instead of half, a full share’s worth of honey, a full pint of berries versus half. The little extra bump in cost helps us comfortably do that and keep our production costs in check.

Third- we will continue to offer eggs each week to our customers al la carte. Additionally in 2013 meat chickens will also be available each week al la carte, fresh or frozen. We raise these birds on pasture at the farm site, handling them ourselves to ensure quality. Birds are processed weekly at a local USDA facility and come packaged beautifully for you to take home. They don’t come fresher than this!

Three great reasons to sign up and submit your deposit for next year’s season! How do you sign up? Follow the link below to complete the application. Space is available first come, first serve.

2013 Season CSA Application

Last year I provided a few ideas for stocking stuffers and under the tree surprises for your farmer, butcher, or chef.

This year, the list gets a twist because not only are these items you may want to open BEFORE Christmas since according to the Mayans, it may not happen at all this year, but these are items you might find quite useful in case the Fiscal Cliff happens, the dollar goes to pot and the zombies come streaming out of Wall Street.

So! Without further adieu…

Dexter Cleaver- Not only will this work horse of a cleaver make butchering the animals you will raise for sustenance a breeze; it will do a number on a zombie too.

The River Cottage Meat Book- If you can find the vintage edition, give yourself a hipster bonus point. This book has all kinds of amazing recipes and bits of knowledge on the basics of cooking.

Duluth Trading Company Fire Hose Work Pants- I bought a pair of these pants earlier this year for Bubba and now we’ve put them on the Christmas list. One for myself, one for him. They are like a broken-in pair of Carharts with a guarantee. Bubba got his first pair, wore them one day and successfully ripped them on hog paneling. I sent them back and we had a fresh pair, no questions asked, a few days later. We’ve been converted.

Wool socks- its wet and soggy in the northwest between the months of November and May. If we didn’t have socks to keep our feet warm and a the fancy coat listed below- we would look a little grey and green and zombie like. We love Smartwool socks because they don’t blow out in the big toe and are nice and toasty when we’re out slogging through the muck.

Filson is the premium brand for outdoor gear and costs a small fortune, but if you invest in just a few key pieces, you won’t be sorry. This Tin Jacket wears like armor and the pants (with suspenders of course) are a life saver when working out in the wet and mud.

I’m still holding out for that copper pot that I mentioned last year. This will be the post-apocalyptic equivalent of diamonds. Not only will I be able to use the heck out of it for my homesteading needs, it will also come in quite hand for the moonshine production. As one of the famous shiners says “A barrel of shine will trade when a bushel of taters won’t!”

Also don’t forget to put a gift certificate for the Portland Meat Collective in your loved one’s stocking this year! Camas will make sure and give you the low down on  skills for surviving the bacon shortage or tackling the wild boars that will soon roam the land.

And stock up on soaps, crocks, jars, grain mills and much more from our friends Doug and Kristie and Portland Homesteader Supply. If they don’t have something for your hipster homesteader then no one does.

With all that, Friday doesn’t seem so scary now does it!? And who is worried about the Fiscal Cliff when you’ll be able to trade your wears like a trapper? Just make sure and have your family and friends set with a plan like our friend Beth does and we’ll all have a Merry post-Mayan calendar Christmas together.

Warning: this story doesn’t have a happy ending.

I really should let Bubba write this post since he and Oprah really had the best connection and he in the end, had to make the call on this situation.

I’m just not sure he really wants to talk about it.

See- Oprah was our first breeding sow. And she’s been with us for over a year now, farrowing her first litter this June- providing us with 9 healthy babies that were oh-so-cute. She’d become a pet, as often happens when an animal sticks around long enough, follows you around the farm, grunts at you in greeting and flops on her side so you will scratch her stomach. Her favorite foods were donuts, Pearl bakery brioche, and apples.

So what happened? An unfortunate misstep and some wet weather. We had heavy rains overnight one evening and in the pasture space where Oprah was roaming was a stand of trees. The best we can figure is that she slipped and fell, breaking her back leg and was unable to get up. She tried to drag herself with no success and was clearly in significant pain.

The crux of this story is that Oprah was also pregnant, due to deliver her second litter of piglets for us in January- a much anticipated litter as it would be the hogs to offer for sale this next year, providing not only food for our community tables but business for the farm.

Lets add to this story the complexity of Bubba learning about Oprah’s accident while we were traveling to see family in California. We now had a big problem we couldn’t see for ourselves, or handle from afar.

In the end we had to make the tough, and devastating decision. And it was awful. Not only did we have to put down our sow, pet and business partner, we had to put down a mom and her babies. 12 of them.

Bubba isn’t sure what part he is most upset about really. The fact that he had to put down his favorite pig and a litter of babies, or that he wasn’t the one to do it. Even if we got on a plane that afternoon and flew home from our trip, he still would have left her laying in the field suffering for another day. Neither one of us could stand the thought of it and our friends were willing to do the hard thing for us and put her down in a dignified fashion, ending her suffering quickly.

So I imagine that some people would be really mad at us for putting her down while pregnant with babies. And that’s fair. We did decide however that it was not fair to keep Oprah in pain and suffering, move her into a farrowing crate where she would be forced to lay on her side until January and then deliver her piglets, nurse them and wean them all with a broken and painful leg. That would be cruel. It would also be likely that if we kept her alive, she would be in so much pain that her body may not handle the pregnancy and she would lose her babies before birth. We don’t have a firm answer on this but we weren’t interested in her becoming an experiment just so that we could try and do some business next year.

The long and the short is really this: we had to do our least favorite thing- kill an animal (in this case, multiple by default). But we couldn’t knowingly allow the animal to suffer so that we might be able to gain from the situation. That wouldn’t be the right thing to do.

Our friend Camas recently spoke on This American Life about animal sacrifice, killing animals for meat or keeping them for pets. We would encourage you to listen to her story to understand another perspective about raising animals for meat and the complications that can come with it, both in the field and in the heart.

It seems like I was just writing these words yesterday.

So what’s been happening around the house and the farm the last several weeks?

Lots actually. People told us we were crazy for thinking we were going to get things done while we have a newborn in our midst but after a few days of taking it easy and trying to get some sleep here and there, Ulysses has adjusted to a life of morning feed rounds (for himself and the animals) and busy days.

Since he’s been born we have:

- Completed the last week of our CSA pick up for the year. We couldn’t have ended the season with better timing as the rains set in the week after our last pick up, signaling the end of the garden for the fall.

- The garden site has been shut down. Trellising was taken out, the garden was turned over and we now wait for spring to start again.

- The animals have been moved to their winter homes. Ginger and Ruff are enjoying a nice stretch of brushing pasture that needs clearing over the winter, the pigs are spoiled with some lovely pasture and a cold frame to snuggle up in to stay dry and warm and the chickens are tucked into a luxurious hen house.

- We traveled to California to visit family and friends, introducing Ulysses to his great grandparents, great aunts, cousins and much more.

- We had to put Oprah down. Not a highlight of the last few weeks and something that we will talk about in a separate post.

- The last of the pigs are going to slaughter for the year. We are processing 5 pigs in the next two weeks, so yesterday Ulysses got his first butchering lesson from us.

- I return to my day job in a week and half. Someone has to pay the bills around here during the winter so I’m headed back to the office and Bubba will be taking over Ulysses during the day. Bubba and I have been talking about him being a full time dad/farmer for a long time now and its something we are thrilled and terrified to do. We are thrilled to have one of us be “at home” with Ulysses, and trust me, Bubba is the best of the two of us to take this job but we also know this comes with a lot of sacrifices on time and funds. We are blessed to have an amazing support system to make this happen, that includes both our family members but many friends and community members that model this system and we are grateful for their wisdom and example.

So all that to say that this forum has been pretty quiet for a few weeks now but we’ve been quite active as a new family. We will be putting up information in the next week or so about next year’s CSA offerings as well as some more pictures of the little boy that’s made his way into our lives very recently.