the farm stand reopens TUESDAY!!

That's right people! get ready! 

This Tuesday, May 7,  4-7 pm the farm stand at blue house greenhouse farm will be open!

You have to come, you won't be sorry. What will we have available, you ask? What won't we have available is a better question. Okay, actually there's a lot that won't be available because even if it feels like summer, it's still only spring and our farm is little so we are limited on what we can grow...

ANYWAY what we will have is a whole lot of deliciousness!

bright lights swiss chard, lacinato kale, various head lettuce, pink beauty radishes, hakurei turnips, olympia spinach, spicy mustard braising mix, cilantro, parsley, arugula, and our signature salad greens! and that's just the vegetables... 

Kusuma Rao, baker and chef extraordinaire (ruchikala.com), will join us with delicious loaves of bread the likes of which you have never tasted! You definitely want to be at the farm stand for that. 

AND we'll have incredible farm fresh eggs! Not from our farm but Lazy Parrot Farm, located outside Wilsonville, run by Alix Danielsen. (lazyparrotcsa.wordpress.com) where they can have more than three chickens.



What else will we have at the farm stand? We'll have music and free stickers (thanks to the wonderful Dwight at peace supplies- you are the best)! You definitely want to get one for yourself.

Come to the farm stand and tell your friends!

hold on tight, spring is blowing by!

Does it ever seem that all of a sudden, life just speeds up? It never ceases to surprise me, each spring that after months of imperceptible growth the plants grow inches in days. Okay, maybe not that fast... but fast nonetheless. Life in general seems to do the same! So here we are trying to hold on as the year moves forward. We have a lot going on at Blue House Greenhouse Farm, as you can imagine. First of all, you can begin preparing yourselves for the reopening of the farm stand which will happen Tuesday, May 7 as always from 4 till 7 pm. Mark your calendars and get your shopping bags ready!

What else? I (Amanda) will be offering a class through Grow Portland, a local non-profit whose mission is to "empower our community to grow healthy food,"  entitled Vegetable Gardening Basics Workshop! It will be held right on the farm! It's a workshop for the super beginner. Never grown a vegetable before in your life? No problem! We'll discuss site selection, NW soil basics, how to plant seeds and transplants, and so much more. If you want more information or would like to sign up click here.

I also wanted to share pictures from yet another super fun and super productive work party! You really don't want to miss out next time!

Mollie and Russ, a vision in purple, sifting compost

Hava and Devin, happily constructing a picnic table

Bobby, Jeff and Wynne, leveling out a new area of the farm

Lunch! Laura (right) made chili!

work happening on so many levels
(notice Brandon at the fence weeding)!

Amanda at the finished picnic table

a cart and starts and so much more!

First of all, I know... it's been a while! Not writing is a sign that a lot has been happening-so that is good. Let's get to the important information:

We have VEGETABLE STARTS for SALE! 
$3.00/6-pack 

-lacinato, rainbow lacinato, and red russian kale
-flash collards
-all star lettuce mix
-flat leaf italian parsley

contact me if you are interested in getting some for your garden!

We have a beautiful new addition to our farm. It doesn't have a name yet, but it should. 

Behold, our cart. 

It was built by one of our incredible subscribers, Clay Dennis, in trade for vegetables! Lucky us. It's a wonder. We can carry all sorts of weight and it's the correct width and height to fit over our rows. A huge thanks to Clay- I'm not sure how we lived without it!

What else? Another work party? why,YES! 

This Sunday, April 7 9am-4pm (you can come for whatever part of that works for you, but if you could let us know when you are planning on coming then we can plan accordingly)!

We are working on expanding the farm! With your help, we will take out grass to create a whole new growing area. We will also be building a picnic table, spreading wood chips, and so much more. 

Bring water, gloves, clothes you don't mind getting dirty, and a shovel if you have one.

Lunch will be provided (something delicious), so... are you coming?

the most productive work day yet

the trusty crew: Bobby, Jeff, Laura, Brian,
Kim, Amanda, Wynne, Mollie, and Devin
photo  credit: Kurt Armstrong

On Groundhog's Day, a gorgeous sunny day, blue house greenhouse farm underwent some serious changes. Great changes, done by some really great people! Thank you to those great people- Jeff, Brian, Laura, Mollie, Kim, Wynne, Jennie, David, Nathan, Bobby, Carrie, and Abby-thank you, thank you, thank you! We did so much!! We made potting soil and started seeds in the greenhouse-a variety of lettuce, kale, chard, collards, and onions. We built washing and packing tables for harvested vegetables and a shelter for those tables (previously we had a pop-up tent and crappy folding tables). And we spread mulch, cleared blackberries, and enjoyed the day! We want to give a super special thanks to Laura and Brian who brought a delicious lunch-homemade chili and cornbread-for everyone! What a day, we couldn't have asked for a better one. Look below for photos and come by sometime and check out the changes!

Laura, filling trays with potting soil

Brian, multi-tasking: building the shelter
and cutting back blackberry with a machete

Devin and Wynne, staining a table

Finished table! With the drawer shelf out

....and with the drawer shelf in

Finished washing table! with folding shelf out

Jeff demonstrating the closing of the shelf

Devin and Amanda with the finished tables under the finished shelter!

I wish I could show you the before picture, it was a sea of blackberry.

Laura, heating up our lunch. yum!

frosty

 We aren't spending too much time at the farm these days. It's the time of year where we stay inside, make big plans, look at seed catalogs, and stay warm. Good thing, too-it's so cold out there! Portland and much of the Willamette Valley is experiencing and inversion; when cold air is trapped below warmer air. You can read more here. These are photos from yesterday morning--frosty!

We also wanted to let you know that some of our big plans could involve you!

Saturday, Feb 2,

 Blue House Greenhouse Farm is having a Grand Volunteer Day! 9am-4pm. 

We will be building washing tables and and a lean-to for our harvesting set up. We will also be doing some blackberry clearing for those of you who need to get out some aggression. There will be planting, weeding, and so much more! Let me know if you'd like to join us.

Happy New Year!

2012 was quite a good year-full of delicious harvests, incredible volunteers, wonderful subscribers and customers, farm stands, transplanted bees, blisters, water woes and water found, local construction, striped roman tomatoes (my new favorite), pickles, shared recipes, weeds, slugs, planting and
replanting, and on and on.

And now 2013! The biggest news so far is that my friend, Devin, will be my farm business partner! In case some of you are concerned, Jeff is still my partner in life (thank goodness), but has always been busy with his own work and now school! I've decided to ask Devin to join me with Blue House Greenhouse Farm because one of the countless things I've learned in the past couple years with this farm is that I enjoy working with other people! I do get to work with really great volunteers, but for the day to day decision making it's been pretty much on my own. I appreciate the mutual support and accountability that comes with a partnership. I am excited about what we can create together and learn from each other. Let me introduce you to Devin here, but I hope to be able to introduce him to you soon in person!


Hellos to all the Blue House Greenhouse friends and customers,

Amanda has asked me to join the team this year on the farm, so it's time once again for a quick bio about the farmio. (Not sure if farmio is a real word, but i imagine it could mean a person who is a farming enthusiast, and who perhaps wears tennis shoes in the fields.)
My name is Devin Dinihanian. I've been working on farms of various natures for about 4 and a half years. I first became active in the agricultural world while working with at-risk youth in downtown Portland, where I facilitated a farm to shelter partnership between a local farm and our day drop-in program. We would bring in veggies each week and use them in cooking workshops that would then feed the hungry participants. It was a great program and instilled in me the desire to learn more about farming as a tool to build community, so I started working and apprenticing with CSA's, educational farms, small scale urban farm projects and permaculture organizations that worked with sustenance farmers in rural communities. I spent a few years working on farms and health ngo's in New York, Vermont, Oaxaca state in Mexico and finally back in Portland. After working with a farm on Skyline Ridge and with my good friend Danny who farms up in Ridgefield, Washington (so many ridges around here, right?) I started working with low income families as a member of Growing Gardens, a rad organization who you should check out if you aren't already familiar. We help folks around the Portland-Gresham area to build and tend to their own backyard and school gardens. Its a great feeling to help people learn to grow their own food. Such a great feeling that I was very excited when Amanda asked me to work with her at the farm this year. I look forward to getting back into the soil and growing food for all of the loyal customers Amanda has told me all about, (you all sound so nice).

Thanks for all the support you've already given to the blue house greenhouse, and I look forward to meeting you all sometime this year.

it's fall!

 It's fall.. and beginning to feel like winter. It's all happening so fast! While it seems that the farming season is coming to a close and rest is on its way, there is quite the flurry of activity happening at Blue House Greenhouse Farm to get ready.

We had our last farm stand of the year this past Tuesday which concluded a great season! I'm super thankful to the great volunteers that help with the harvest: cutting, picking, washing, scrubbing, bunching, bagging, listening to NPR, and wondering if we'll get it all done in time. There is absolutely no way I could get it done without them! I am also thankful to all of you who come to the farm stand- I've really enjoyed getting to know the folks that live and work nearby! It's funny to think back to the start of the farm stand. It began almost as an afterthought: I had more vegetables than I could sell to restaurants so why not try to sell just off the farm? It's grown quite a bit in two years, in fact we sell more through the farm stand than to restaurants! And it's definitely one of my favorite things about the farm! 

In other news, last weekend Blue House Greenhouse Farm participated in its very first bit of catering. A huge thank you to Quinn for helping with the cooking! We harvested, prepared, and served lunch to participants of a the "Joy of Mindful Eating" workshop put on by Caverly Morgan of One House of Peace. I was also able to participate in the all day workshop which was very informative as a person who spends the majority of her day thinking about food! What did we make, you might ask? A roasted tomato and cilantro soup, zucchini corn bread muffins, a chard-onion- lemon squash fritatta, a raw kale salad, a farro-tepary bean-parsley salad, and for dessert- a flourless chocolate cake. We were pretty proud of the outcome! Stay tuned for other catering opportunities that come up for Blue House Greenhouse Farm.

On the farm we are getting the farm ready for winter. Last Thursday Adam, the star volunteer of the farm, and I hand dug five 2.5ft x 70ft beds. It was amazing. I don't think I've ever been so sore. On Friday Jeff and I chopped in amendments and planted a fava bean cover crop. We continue the bed prep this week to plant a crimson clover cover crop and GARLIC! It's always an exciting time.  Check back soon for more updates on the farm, maybe I'll even write more often!