Eloise and I had a good time setting up the vegetable stand outside our garden today.  We do this every Saturday morning during harvest season, and we hope to keep going through the fall.

We set up the farmstand to help us meet our neighbors.  When the tent is out, and there are colorful vegetables there, you all stop by, and we get to say hello.  We love this.

But we’re always happy to pick vegetables or reserve eggs for you on other days — just call (503.245.1507) or email.  Our Fresh Now page lists what we have available right now.

Fall is coming, and I have some big garden work to do in the next couple of weeks after Eloise starts school.  We’ve been so busy that I haven’t planted fall crops yet (ack!  I know…).   This has been such a weird year weather-wise.  After getting going so late, the squash went bonkers and is now winding down.  I’ll be clearing those areas and the bush beans to make room for fall greens.

We may have a nice round of pickling cucumbers and hot peppers coming on soon.  The beans will keep going strong for awhile.  A new crop in a different area of the garden has just begun to produce more pole beans.    Today we had the last of Grandma Smith’s amazing carrots to sell, and she’s coming over tomorrow to plant a round for late fall.  She has a magic touch.  They grow big and strong and stay sweet.

Big News!

We worked really hard this year to turn our big garden into a tiny, urban farm.  We’re proud of all we’ve accomplished.

However, behind the scenes, we also were working to certify our home kitchen so that we can produce and sell preserves — the sweet kind (jams) and the salty, crunchy kind (real, old-fashioned brined pickles).

Yesterday we were able to get the kitchen certified so fabulous pickles will be available soon.  The cucumber vines in back groaned in relief when the inspector signed the official paperwork.  (I’ve held back on picking them this week in order to make sure that my finished pickles will be legal.)

Here, in fact, is a legal pickle:

I’ve been trying to get our pickles to market for almost two years so yesterday’s certification is an important milestone.  It means that I can sell Curious Farm pickles directly to our customers here, via a stand at a local farmer’s market, and also at local grocery and specialty stores if their buyers agree to make our pickles available to their customers.

We have big hopes, but we’ll start small on this venture, and we hope to hear your feedback on the pickles and other preserves so that we can make them even more delcious.

As always, thank you for your bright smiles, support and interest.  We’re very grateful to you.