Thanks to Melissa, Ben and Aimee for being the first three shareholders for 2010!
Ben and Aimee actually bought shares for their Mothers as the coolest and most thoughtful birthday presents EVER.
What a wonderful gift.
We still have spots remaining and are gearing up for the farmers market season as well. You can find us at the Saturday market at the Grainery District beginning April 3rd. Come check out all of the groovy vendors that schlep their wares every week, rain or shine. I wish that I could be there every Saturday, all year long as well. Maybe next year.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Dickey Farms West 2010 CSA
We are back at it and accepting new shareholders for the 2010 CSA season!
Shares are available as
* Full season full share - $400, 20-26 weeks
* Full season half share - $250, 20-26 weeks
* Spring season full share - $225, 10 weeks (May through early July)
* Summer season full share - $225, 10 weeks (July through early Sept.)
Check us out at http://dickeyfarmswest.com/ or see our listing at localharvest.org.
We are excited to provide some goodies for our friends at Thistle, located in downtown McMinnville and are looking into offering produce at The Market-Saturdays in the Grainery District.
Shares are available as
* Full season full share - $400, 20-26 weeks
* Full season half share - $250, 20-26 weeks
* Spring season full share - $225, 10 weeks (May through early July)
* Summer season full share - $225, 10 weeks (July through early Sept.)
Check us out at http://dickeyfarmswest.com/ or see our listing at localharvest.org.
We are excited to provide some goodies for our friends at Thistle, located in downtown McMinnville and are looking into offering produce at The Market-Saturdays in the Grainery District.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Back to the blog
From the looks of this page, I have either given up on the dream or have dropped out of society. Neither is quite true.
I have certainly neglected to keep on top of the content here but will try to catch up with five months of news and thoughts yet unwritten.
The DFW (Dickey Farms West) shares filled much quicker than expected and all is well with the 2009 season for the farm. We took on five customers to start this enterprise and I think that was a good number to get our feet wet and see if we could make it work. The cloud of fear grows darker every Tuesday and Wednesday as doubts begin to creep in. Will we have a harvest worthy of our shareholders expectations this week? Have I made good choices in regards to what to plant, when to plant, how to grow, where to grow. I'm certainly happy to report that although there have been some leaner weeks, everything has just worked out fine.
We've learned a lot about the basics of growing food and have made some mistakes for sure. I quickly realized that we don't have enough ground to see through the vision for DFW. This is especially true when trying to put in Fall/Winter crop while summer crops are in full force. I do feel good about the practices we use but have a long way to go until I trust the timing.
It didn't take long to blow through most of the money paid for shares. With seed, compost, fencing, fuel, tools, irrigation set-up, more seed, more compost and more fuel taking the lions share. Some of these infrastructure costs are good for many years. With good seed banking practices and good soil management we should get a lot of miles out of dollars spent in the first few years. Fencing is a long lasting, durable good. Right now, the job of the farm is to pay for itself but let's be honest, this is a full-time job and I still need to work at my full-time job to make a go of it.
We picked up one more half share late in the season because I did have some "extra" food that seemed like it should be going to another shareholder. Having started with no capitol, just little bits out of the household budget and the infusion of cash paid by shareholders, we have done pretty well. No money to show but a great first half of the season and high hopes for next year.
We welcomed our third child to the tribe in July and saw no real impact to the farm schedule during those first few weeks. Irrigation was a little inconsistent and some crops were a little delayed in being pulled but nothing major. At least not as I can tell, these little variations are a long time in manifesting.
My focus as of right now is to better grow food using a four-seasons approach. I'll include more on that in the future.
I have certainly neglected to keep on top of the content here but will try to catch up with five months of news and thoughts yet unwritten.
The DFW (Dickey Farms West) shares filled much quicker than expected and all is well with the 2009 season for the farm. We took on five customers to start this enterprise and I think that was a good number to get our feet wet and see if we could make it work. The cloud of fear grows darker every Tuesday and Wednesday as doubts begin to creep in. Will we have a harvest worthy of our shareholders expectations this week? Have I made good choices in regards to what to plant, when to plant, how to grow, where to grow. I'm certainly happy to report that although there have been some leaner weeks, everything has just worked out fine.
We've learned a lot about the basics of growing food and have made some mistakes for sure. I quickly realized that we don't have enough ground to see through the vision for DFW. This is especially true when trying to put in Fall/Winter crop while summer crops are in full force. I do feel good about the practices we use but have a long way to go until I trust the timing.
It didn't take long to blow through most of the money paid for shares. With seed, compost, fencing, fuel, tools, irrigation set-up, more seed, more compost and more fuel taking the lions share. Some of these infrastructure costs are good for many years. With good seed banking practices and good soil management we should get a lot of miles out of dollars spent in the first few years. Fencing is a long lasting, durable good. Right now, the job of the farm is to pay for itself but let's be honest, this is a full-time job and I still need to work at my full-time job to make a go of it.
We picked up one more half share late in the season because I did have some "extra" food that seemed like it should be going to another shareholder. Having started with no capitol, just little bits out of the household budget and the infusion of cash paid by shareholders, we have done pretty well. No money to show but a great first half of the season and high hopes for next year.
We welcomed our third child to the tribe in July and saw no real impact to the farm schedule during those first few weeks. Irrigation was a little inconsistent and some crops were a little delayed in being pulled but nothing major. At least not as I can tell, these little variations are a long time in manifesting.
My focus as of right now is to better grow food using a four-seasons approach. I'll include more on that in the future.
Monday, March 23, 2009
2009 CSA subscriptions available for Yamhill County
Dickey Farms West has a handful of CSA spots open for the 2009 season. $350 for full share, $200 for half share. Aprox. $20 worth of local, sustainably grown, seasonal produce delivered to your door weekly. A few surprises in store throughout the season for full share subscribers! I'd love to be your farmer. Email dickeyfarmswest@gmail.com for more details.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Ready and waiting
All of my current growing space is now ready to go. Every practical space at the house and the new large patch at Dickey Farms West aka The Gahr Reserve (Photos to follow). First of all, many thanks to the Gahr family for the use of their land. In total I'm currently working a little over 4,200 square feet of soil. Sound like a lot? It's not. There are 43,560 sq.ft. in an acre. I'm in charge of less than 10% of what could even be considered a small farm. Perfect. A great start for sure.
I hauled in a unit (7.5 cubic yards) of compost over the past few days. Five yards out to the "farm" and two and a half here at home. Nothing else to do this week out in the gardens but wait for temps to rise and days to lengthen. Time to focus on the greenhouse and the growing chicks. I have converted the old chicken tractor into transitional housing for the little girls. A bit of the great outdoors for them to get used to before they meet the big birds. Also building a screening table for cleaning and sorting leafy greens later. I saw this used on another blog dedicated to small farming where they do a lot of sales at farmers markets. I got really inspired from this simple, effective tool and immediately decided to build one.
Still lots of work to do before planting but amazingly still energized and eager. Next project seems minor but is actually very vital. What to grow and where to plant it. Don't get me wrong, it's not like this is an afterthought. It really just affords me the time to be thoughtful and patient in this part of my planning.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Looking for land
Even as plants fail, seeds go to waste and spring drags its feet- I am looking to do more. I have secured the use of a large garden patch out of town in exchange for veggies. Pretty good deal if I can get anything to grow!! But I really need your help.
I'm looking for 1-5 acres to rent or lease so I can grow seasonal rowcrops and get some real farming experience. I'd like to talk to folks who are receptive to this idea. Anyone doing farmers markets, CSA's and the like...please contact me. Right now I think that it's all about scale. I want to increase what I'm already doing. There is a lot of passion and energy inside of me. What I'm short on is experience.
I'm looking for 1-5 acres to rent or lease so I can grow seasonal rowcrops and get some real farming experience. I'd like to talk to folks who are receptive to this idea. Anyone doing farmers markets, CSA's and the like...please contact me. Right now I think that it's all about scale. I want to increase what I'm already doing. There is a lot of passion and energy inside of me. What I'm short on is experience.
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