I don't get to the farm much at all these days - I am dealing with some health issues and need to be at home resting most of the time - but it was a lot of fun to make berry syrup last week!  This is the 4th year of making our own berry syrups - we use our berries that were frozen durring the summer.  We used a local commercial kitchen and set in for  a day of de-thawing, heating, straining, straining through cheesecloth, adding sugar and lemon juice and then boiling and bottling!  LOTS of stiring.  After a busy day we were hapy to see that we had made more than ever in one day - 118 bottles!  Our syrups are $7.50 in our farm shop.  Stopm by today and pick up yours!

alicia

Farmers Josh and Alicia were married on the 4th of July at our family farm.  The day was beautiful and full of family, friends, flowers, food and fireworks!!!  If you would like to rent the farm for your wedding or special event call us at 360-321-2523 - we also rent out a huge white party tent that seats 200!

Every January and February we begin seeding crops in our greenhouse for the new year.  Ths year we have maxed out our greenhouse and are building a second one!  We have aproximately 7,000 tiny plants growing in our first greenhouse and hope that our second greenhouse will hold even more!  Some of the reasons we use a greenhouse for starting seeds is that it gives the plants a head start over the weeds - when we plant directly into the fields sometimes the weeds take over before the veggies grow big enough to protect themselves.  Also, starting in the greenhouse enables us to get a jump start on the season and extend it by several months!  Every month counts in our short climate here! 

Remember that you can purchase many of your veggie starts from the farm - especially things like tomatoes and peppers which are very hard to grow from seed.  Stop by our shop soon for variety lists.  If you want to try your hand at starting seeds for your own garden stop by the shop and purchase "High Mowing Organic Seed" packs!  We have great varieties that grow well in our climate.  Growing your own vegetables is a very important way to help save money!

Happy Valentine's Day! 

It feels like the New Year just begun and already it is a month out from Valentine's Day!  We want to encourage you to make someone's day special this year by giving them flowers.  Some of my favorite gifts have been simple bouquets especialy when I didn't think I would be getting anything.  Valentine's Day can be very lonely for some people - so try and think of someone who may be lonely on this day and give them a bouquet!  We will have LOTS of beautiful flowers in our shop or you can call to special order.  February is a tight month for farmers so we count on Valentine's Day to help us purchase seeds etc. for the coming growing season.  Please help us out by stoppng by on Valentine's Day!  You can get roses or just a country mix, tulips, daisies, lilies.  If you want to order larger bouquets please do call soon to order so we know how many flowers to pick up. 

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Alicia

Dear Friends,                                                                                      December 2008

Looks like a white Christmas for the Farm this year – so beautiful!  We wanted to take some time to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful and happy New Year, as well as look back on the past year and thank you for your involvement in our Farm!

As we look at back at the last 12 months, it is very clear to us that God has had His hand on our Farm and also that we wouldn’t be able to do this without the loving support of our community!  Here are some highlights of the blessings of 2008:

1. Tulip crop – it was worse than ever this year with flooding and loss of bulbs, BUT the tulips we had, sold very well, and we were amazed to have any with the damage we sustained.  Each flower than bloomed was a miracle to us.  We saw this story over and over this year as it was a chilly year that slowed everything down.  What we did harvest we were very thankful for!

1. Land – in July we were informed that the bottom 2.5 acres that we had been leasing was going to be sold.  The owner wanted us to be able to farm on it, but we could not afford it purchase it.  A very generous couple who are friends of the farm worked with the owner to purchase the land for us to be able to continue farming on it!  The way this worked out so smoothly was amazing to watch and we are so very thankful for your generosity and many of you who stepped up to offer help.

1. Home School Work for Credit – this year we enjoyed having kids enrolled in our home school work for credit program – they learned about farming and helped with a lot of planting and caring for crops on the Farm.  We have been especially blessed by a few who have continued to be part of what we are doing on that Farm.  We love to see another generation of young farmers!  And we have been so blessed by all of you – whatever age - who have volunteered your time to help on the Farm.

1. Sugar’s Leg – Our farm dog Sugar had cancer in her leg, we didn’t have the money to treat it but some of you stepped forward and paid to get her excellent care from Dr. Robin at SWAC.  Sugar is so happy now, and cancer-free.  She is getting along just fine as a three-legged dog.

1. Provision - This year has been a lesson in trusting God to provide for our needs over and over again, and we have seen him step in and give us what we have needed countless times.  Thank you for being part of His plan to provide by purchasing prepay credit and gift certificates, telling your friends about us, and stopping by the farm even in these colder months.

We believe that this New Year 2009 will bring more blessings and more valuable lessons on the Farm.  We are so grateful for you and your involvement and loving support of what we are doing here, and we really would not be here if it weren’t for you!   May your Christmas be warm and cozy, and the New Year bring much joy to you and your family. 

From our Farm,

We are surrounded by news of economic struggles - bring your canned goods to the shop and drop them in our gift box to be given to needy families in the community through the Good Cheer Food Bank!  We want to always be aware of needs around us and help where we can.  If we all do a little it will help many this Christmas season.

Another way you can help out is by giving a gift of a Farm prepay certificate!  This is a way of giving that supports local agriculture (helps us with purchasing seeds in January!), gives healthy food, is not wasteful or commercial in nature, and helps with something people need to purchase: FOOD!  Simply email or call us to set up a prepay certificate and we will make a personalized one up and get it to you to be presented (or we can even mail the certificate).  These are good for 1 year and good on all items purchased in the shop!  Call us 360-321-2523  You can also purchase prepay credit for yourself - and pick up produce throughout the year!

Happy Thanksgiving!  We love Thanksgiving on the Farm  - it's a great reminder to thank God for His goodness to us year-round!  This year we have something to be extra thankful for.  We have been given the gift of continued use of the bottom 2.5 acres (which we had been leasing and then it went up for sale).  A wonderful couple has graciously purchased this land in order to allow us to continue doing what we love in this community.  We are so overwhelmed with gratitude, and so very happy that we can continue farming into the future!  There is so much bad news on the TV lately, and we just need to remember that God is taking care of us and that this Farm ultimatly belongs to Him - we know He will continue to provide and take good care of everything we place in His hands.

We wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving remembering all the simple blessings in your life.

-Alicia

We are busy planting tulips!  This year we have about 15,000 tulips to plant for a glorious display next spring!  Every year we dig up our bulbs, sort them, and replant them along with more bulbs we purchase.  This is a huge job - but so rewarding when they bloom in the spring.  You can purchase lots of beautiful and unique tulip bulbs at the shop.  Tulips are best planted after the soil is 60 degrees or less and planted 6 inches down.  Some organic fertilizer is great or you can even mulch with manure in the spring when they begin to come up.  Many people ask why we move our tulips each year and there are many reasons: most crops are best when rotated to prevent disease, and enable the soil to change in nutrient needs (planting covercrop helps with this).  Rotating also weeds out tulip bulbs that are too little to produce a flower, and keep the weeds down as well.  As I said it's a big job and this is probably our last HUGE tulip year, but tulips are a very fun flower to watch grow in your home garden as well as visiting farms with tulips.  Plan on coming out to see ours next April!

October 4 and 5 was the third annual Whidbey Island Farm Tour.  We have enjoyed being part of this fun event every year, and this year was the best yet!

The weather was sunny and although a little windy, it was a perfectly beautiful fall day on Whidbey.  Families came out to walk around the Farm, say "hi" to our chickens and sheep, play with our farm dogs Sugar and Brandy, pick out pumpkins, and just enjoy the beauty of God's creation.   We are always excited when we hear of people growing things, and many of the families we met have great plans for starting a home garden or even small farm.  We are offering garden on-site consultations this fall, and were happy to offer that service in hopes of encouraging more people to grow and eat local, naturally grown food for the good health of our community. 

Every year one of the most popular areas is our Kid's Activities.  This year we had fun adding a pumpkin totum pole to our "How Tall This Fall" sign - it was a lot of fun watching little ones measure to see how much they grew from last year, and take pictures surrounded by pumpkins of all shapes, sizes and colors!  We also had some great girls from the community who volunteered to paint faces with fun farm pictures - this was again a big hit with the little crowd and allowed the parents some time to pick out the perfect ear of corn, fresh bouquet or even late season strawberries at our farm shop.  When the kids were done with face painting we sent them off with parents to our corn maze and farm scavenger hunt which allowed the parents to walk the entire farm while keeping the kids interested in what they were seeing.  Back at the shop everyone could grab a slice of homemade breads or cookies and hot coffee and enjoy the day while asking questions about the Farm before heading off to the next farm.

All in all, it was a very fun weekend and wonderful community event.  We appreciate so much the support of our community as we strive to provide quality natural food and flowers with that home-style service.  We love what we do and enjoy having visitors all year!  Stop by our website www.forgetmenotfarms.org for more information about our farm and especially our fall and winter events and products!

Alicia Hagen