Local:

Dog Island: shiitake mushrooms

 
Federico Farm: micro-greens

 
Horse Drawn: kale, chard, amarosa & french fingerling potatoes, cabbage, cilantro, blue ballet, kabocha squash, broccoli shoots, aji cristal peppers, savoy & red cabbages

Lost Valley Farm: garlic

 
Maple Rock: beets
 

Nootka Rose: carrots, chard, cilantro, lettuce mix, spinach, arugula

 
Sweet Earth: hubba hubba, delicata, red kuri winter squashes, winter luxury pumpkin (great pie pumpkin!), Concord pears, jerusalem artichokes

Caruso Farm, Snohomish: turnips

Crow's Farm, Bow: watermelon radishes, radicchio

 

Hedlin Farms, LaConner: brussels sprouts, celery, green beans, white cauliflower

 

Ralph's Greenhouse, Mt. Vernon: carrots, parsnips, leeks, fennel

 

Top Hat, Salem & Scio, OR:  shiitake mushrooms

Avocado
Bananas
Grapes
Grapefruit
Oranges
Lemons
Limes
Satsumas
Mango  
Asian Pear
Belgian Endive
Eggplant

 

Back

 

Ladysmith Baby fresh cheeses are back, oh happy day!  These come from Samish Bay Cheese in Bow.

 

New

Arborio rice from Lundberg in 1 lb. bags 

 

 

 

There are varying degrees of order and neatness in gardens, mine is on the lower scale.  There are things I've gotten done for winter (a few) and things I haven't (mostly.) 

So take a look and you will either smile to yourself and say, "Well I've done a lot better than that" or smile to yourself and say "Thank goodness someone else is a slacker in the clean-up department."

First off, let me say that Teddy gets stuff done, so that the water is all turned off and protected and he's been a huge help in getting done what I have accomplished so far. 

 

Done: 8 beds covered with black plastic to keep down the weeds; I've got biochar and alpaca poop spread out in there too.

	Done:  Garlic planted; not mulched but it hasn't sprouted yet.

Done:  Water tanks waiting for rain.

	Not done: Hoop house. At least I can work on that in the rain.

	Not done:  Deck pots; 'nuf said.

Done:  Garden section in the tractor shed; the squashes will move to the house soon.  It looks better in the photo than in real life.

It hasn't frozen yet this year, which is a blessing in that I haven't lost any plants, and a curse in that I haven't finished my winterizing yet.  The two flower beds that I perpetually plan on clearing out each fall are yet again sitting there full of weeds. I meant to take a photo of them, but you've seen enough of my waste and ruin already.

-- Alice Deane

December arrives Saturday, the last month of our year-long Disaster Preparedness. A long-time co-op member has been working on her food storage, both for pantry items and long-term storage, and asks this question:

"I know you do a lot of canning and disaster preparedness. What do you use for shelf restraints to keep your glass jars from shifting off in a big quake?"

-- Stephanie

Hi Stephanie,

Funny you should ask!  I do only a little canning these days, but there are prepared sauces and condiments that come in jars and other items that are best kept in jars. Here's what I did when I worried about that:

I don't have any cupboards on the walls above the kitchen counters so my food is all stored in the pantry. I prefer glass for food storage and my pantry used to be filled with jars of dry beans, rice, dried fruits, and cereals, as well as jarred sauces and condiments. I was pleased when my granddaughter's friend peered into the pantry and, expecting packages of snacks and cans of commercially prepared foods, he exclaimed, "There's nothing but jars in there!"

Then one day, when I began wondering about earthquakes, I looked at all those jars and imagined the horror of everything shifting to the floor. I saw myself having to clean up a mountain of beans, popcorn, rice, nuts, raisins, flour, honey, jam, tomato sauce, canned fruit, powdered cocoa, vinegar, oil, and whatnot, liberally impregnated with shards of glass. Worse, all the food would be a total loss.

Railings on upper shelves area best, but it would be hard to install railings on my pantry shelves, and a lip on the front edge would only protect in the event of a modest shaking, so I moved the empty glass jars from the top shelf to a box on the floor under the bottom shelf and transferred all the dry goods from their jars into empty coffee bags and cotton bags I sewed up for the purpose. Luckily I don't have mice!  I use a few plastic yogurt cartons for gooey things.

A few remaining jars are on the lowest shelf. Honeys and jams are back against the wall on a section of wire shelving with the lip turned upward. Oils, vinegars, tamari, and such are in a tray with a 2-inch lip. A big quake would hurl all of it off the shelf though, so I put a thick braided rug on the floor of the pantry to cushion the crashing.

If there is no pantry, supplies for current use are safer in lower kitchen cupboards and drawers instead of upper cupboards. Install child-proof latches on upper and lower cupboards to keep things from falling out.

Home canned and dried foods in jars for storage are safe in the cases with cardboard separators the glassware comes in from the store; keep them on the floor of a closet or barn or garage.

If there is no barn or garage or storage closet, keep foods for long-term storage in a sideboard or under a bench.

Boat are outfitted with ingenious storage suitable for shifting on the sea:  low storage under benches and bunks, sturdy bolts or latches for stowage higher up, with items for immediate use secured on shelves with rails and sockets for bottles. Earthquake-proof kitchen storage for the home is an industry open for invention.

A friend shrugged and said, "But the big ones only come every 600 years." I say "Better safe than sorry."

     - Eleanor