Mettle

This spring has been quite the start to the farming season. Springs like this sure can test your mettle. Thankfully, we have a long growing season in the PNW!

Seriously. I just kept planting, replanting and replanting. I figured that eventually, we would get 4 days of dry weather and one of my spinach seedlings would germinate and not have to rise through a rain compacted layer of newly formed mud.

It all works out though. Because I need to plant more green beans, I will just plant that quarter acre of what was supposed to be spinach to my 3rd planting of green beans. Green beans are a bright spot on the farm. I think every one of those seeds germinated on the first planting. Who would have ever thought that would happen this year??? ME! Every time I plant something, I think it is going to be my best crop ever. ?

The other day, when I was taking my kids to school, we got behind a tractor (it’s Stanwood) and it was going as fast as it could, maybe 10 MPH. One could feel the tension rising as line of cars began to grow–5 cars, 10 cars, 15 cars. I knew that there were going to be some frustrated people. Having been in this situation many times as the tractor driver myself, the tension was palpable to me, especially on a 50 MPH road! At this point, I started talking out loud to myself and my daughters, “Oh the nerve. That tractor is slowing everyone down, going to make us late for school, probably get someone killed trying to pass them on a corner, folks swearing at him and waving with their middle finger and… we would all be a whole lot hungrier if that farmer wasn’t doing their job.” That’s when my daughters looked up from their phones, and I said, “Oh, you were listening to me.” 🙂 We waved at Nathan, the farmer, and continued on our way.

Good Food Farm Tours!

Joelle and I are hosting several events on our farm this summer. This last weekend we kicked off the first of our Summer of Fun Good Food Farm tours, and I’m pretty sure we have the best customers. We visited as we leisurely strolled through our farm talking about farming, biodiversity, and what not. A few folks got to plant spinach and beans. Others sat in a tractor for photo ops. Hope to see you at the next tour! CLICK HERE TO VIEW TOURS. Joelle and I are grateful, and consider it a privilege, to be your farmers and share our farm with you. Eating healthy and being healthy takes a little planning and effort, but so does growing healthy food–the fresher, the better. That’s why we love growing vegetables and fruit – they are the foundation to a healthy, vibrant life.

 

Cheers to your health!

Tristan Klesick, Farmer, Health Advocate