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Preparations for Your Holiday Meal

Every year at this time we offer an additional special Holiday Box ($35) full of traditional organic Thanksgiving meal items for your celebration. Not only can you schedule a Holiday Box to be delivered the week of Thanksgiving, but also the week before and the week after (available Nov. 12-Nov. 30). You can have this box delivered along with your regular order or in place of your regular order (when you place your order please specify). The box menu is as follows (*denotes local):

 

 

Holiday Box Menu

Granny Smith Apples, 2 lbs.*
Cranberries, 8 oz.*
Satsumas, 2 lbs.
Garnet Yams, 2 lbs.
Green Beans, 1 lb.
Carrots, 2 lbs
Yellow Potatoes, 3 lbs.*

 

Celery, 1 bunch
Yellow Onions, 1 lb.*
Acorn Squash, 1 ea.*
Breadcubes for Stuffing, 1 lb.*
 

**Please note:  Coffee and bread orders for the week of Thanksgiving need to be received by noon on Thursday, November 15. Coffee and bread orders received after this time will be scheduled for your following delivery.

 

 
Remembering Neighbors in Need
If your celebration includes helping the less fortunate who live in our community, we would like to partner with you by giving you the opportunity to purchase a discounted Holiday Donation Box for only $25, to be given to local food banks the week of Thanksgiving. Last year 168 Holiday Boxes were donated and this year we’d love to have a greater impact. The volunteers at the food banks have expressed again and again how wonderful and satisfying it is to be able to supply people with fresh produce. Please call or e-mail us to set up this donation.
 
Holiday Delivery Schedule
Our office will be closed Thursday and Friday the week of the Thanksgiving holiday, so that week we will have an adjusted delivery schedule. After reviewing the general delivery schedule below, if you are still uncertain as to your delivery day the week of Thanksgiving please give us a call.
 
For delivery
Monday, 11/19
Tuesday customers
Anacortes & Oak Harbor customers For delivery
 
Tuesday, 11/20
Wednesday customers, except those in Anacortes & Oak Harbor
Thursday customers, except those in Marysville south of 88th St NE For delivery
 
Wednesday, 11/21
Friday customers
Marysville customers south of 88th St NE
 
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Wisdom

I remember when I was newly married (before farming was even a thought in our minds), Joelle and I were visiting her grandfather Henry at his house on the banks of the Snohomish River. Henry was a sawyer by trade and a man full of wisdom. From the vantage point of his home, he could see all of the farmland between Silver Firs and Snohomish, an area known as marshland, and for the most part had lived all his life in that area. 

 
He had told stories about shipping eggs to NYC by rail during the Great Depression. One time he was recounting a story about how his sisters would help wash the eggs. They used a dry brush system, much like a golf ball washer that one would find on any course around here. Grandpa Henry was industrious, always a tinkerer, so I am sure he designed that washer. As Grandpa would tell the story, he would be outside fixing this and that, when all of the sudden there would be this clamoring from the “egg processing area.” Then a wry smile and twinkle in his eyes would appear as he paused and said, “She broke another egg.” While funny to him and us, when that egg washer came across a soft shelled egg, it would send the contents everywhere. I never found out if he improved on the design or his sisters went on strike. Sadly, his generation is now passing quickly and soon we will have to have those rich history lessons only from history books.
 
Another time we were visiting, he showed us the tractor he had made, designed for mowing hillsides and, by adding a counter- balanced buzz saw, for cutting rounds. It definitely was not OSHA approved, but back then people took personal responsibility for their actions—sadly, there were accidents, but also great discoveries.
 
But the most profound things that Grandpa Henry ever said to me had to do with the seasons. Although I can’t remember the exact context of our conversation, we were talking about the change in weather and how winter was coming. I do remember that it was around this time of year, maybe early November, and it was getting cold. I commented, “Looks like winter is coming early.” He thought about my comment and said, “The coldest months are January and February.” I knew he was talking to me, but you could tell that he was fondly remembering another era. Those moments are priceless when you get to step back in time and relive them with someone.
 
Our conversation wasn’t small talk, I was actually trying to garner some wisdom and Grandpa was teaching me some important things about life. He and his family were impacted by the seasons—spring, summer and fall were for the winter. And when it came to something as simple as a comment on winter, he made sure he and I got it right. 
 
As a farmer now, some twenty years later, I am much more attuned to the seasons, even to the salmon berries and the walnut blossoms. I will never forget that spring, summer and fall are for the winter. Winter is its own gift, when the land rests and so does the farmer.
 
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Squash Fest at Klesick Family Farm

When:
October 12th and 13th (this Friday and Saturday)
 
Time:  
1:00 p.m. -5:00 p.m. (both days)
 
Where:  
Klesick Family Farm
24101 Miller Rd., Stanwood
 
What to bring:
Boots or good walking shoes (remember this is a farm and the terrain is uneven)
Cash or check, all the squash will be $0.75 per pound (we can charge your purchases to your account)
 
What not to bring:
The flu (our family doesn’t want to get the flu)
Pets (our dogs think they own the place ☺)
 
All silliness aside, Squash Fest is a harvest opportunity and another chance to come and hang out on the Klesick Family Farm and get your hands dirty in a non-pesticide/herbicide/any kind of “cide” environment. This is a simple, low-key opportunity to harvest some squash, not a farm festival like our August event. We will have Cinderella and Sugar Pie Pumpkins, and Acorn, Carnival, Delicata and Kabocha Squashes.
 
Being a farm that doesn’t use synthetic chemicals is important to us. Our kids live here and play here, and Joelle and I don’t want to have to worry about when chemicals were applied or residuals left on a crop. The only thing my kiddos need to learn about living on a farm is that tractors need to be respected and so does the hot wire. With the tractors we pay attention to where the children are, but they usually figure out which wires are “hot” on their own ☺. 
 
With that said, Joelle and I are eager to host you and your family and others from the community for a simple harvest event. Good clean fun and good clean food. Now that is a recipe for health!
I hope to see you Friday and Saturday!