Weekly Update - July 23, 2011

Harvest has started on our family farm.

We are picking strawberries and raspberries every 2-3 days.  Jacob insisted on being in every photo.  He loves having his picture taken!

Yesterday we harvested the first head of cabbage.  Sugar snap peas are ready and waiting for a stir-fry tonight.  Jacob is in front of our sugar snap peas climbing up a trellis.
The boys eat carrots straight from the garden "bunny-rabbit-style".  We recently took some freshly dug carrots to a friend's pool party.  Who would have thought that preschool kids would love carrots so much!  Carrots are one of the crops that I am going to experiment with overwintering in low hoops.

We are also entering some vegetables in the Spokane Interstate Fair.  One of the contests is for the largest turnip.  We are hoping to win 1st place with this mammoth!

Lastly, greenhouse construction continues.  Jayme is working on the roof.  We are using many recycled materials in the construction.  The cement block was previously used.  Some of the timber is recycled from an old deck.  All the windows going into the walls are recycled from houses getting a new set of windows.  The roof will be a plastic greenhouse film, coated with uv protectors and an anti-drip material.  It will let in 85% of the sunlight and will help in warming the greenhouse this winter.

The plan for this greenhouse is to be a "cold greenhouse" - unheated except by the sun.  We are hoping to raise a variety of winter vegetables - primarily baby leaf lettuce and greens.  Maybe we'll even sell some.  It promises to be an adventure!

Ross Family Farms - 2011 Vegetables and More

Ross Family Farms - 2011 Vegetables and More

Basil - Italian type Genovese 80 days, annual
Broccoli - Blue Wind 49 days, hybrid (F1)
Broccoli - Green Sprouting 55 days
Cabbage - cone shaped Caraflex 68 days, hybrid (F1)
Cabbage - round Copenhagen Market 69 days
Cantaloupe - Hale's Best 85 days
Cauliflower - white Early Snowball 60 days
Cauliflower - White Snow Crown 50 days hybrid (F1)
Celery - Conquistador 80 days
Celery Root - Brilliant 100 days
Cucumber pickling - Boston Pickling 55 days
Cucumber - slicing Genuine 48 days, hybrid (F1)
Cucumber - slicing Straight Eight 60 days
Eggplant - purple & white Fairy Tale 63 days
Eggplant - purple Mangan 60 days, hybrid (F1)
Leek - King Richard 75 days
Melon - Sun Jewel 68 days, hybrid (F1)
Melon - white flesh Tigger 80 days
Pepper - Hot Jalapeño Chile El Jefe 90 days, hybrid (F1)
Pepper - Hot Serrano Chile Serrano del Sol 75 days, hybrid (F1)
Pumpkin - carving Jack O Lantern days, 110
Pumpkin = carving Magic Lantern 95 days, hybrid (F1)
Squash - Winter Kabocha Orange Sunshine 95 days, hybrid (F1)
Squash = Winter - Acorn Mesa Queen 70 days, hybrid (F1)
Tomatillo - (ground cherry) Mexican Strain 65 days, organic
Tomato - Indeterminate Ace 55,  80 days
Tomato - Indeterminate Cherokee Purple 72 days
Tomato - Determinate Polbig 60 days, hybrid (F1)
Tomato - Determinate Siletz
Turnip - purple top, white globe 55 days
Watermelon - small Sugar Baby 75 days
Watermelon - small Little Baby Flower 70 days,  hybrid (F1)

NOTES: The notation "hybrid" means that the plant is a product of cross-breeding varieties.
You will not be able to save the seeds and grow the same plant next year. For tomatoes,
indeterminate varieties need to be staked, determinate varieties do not need to be staked. I will
provide growing information and be available to answer questions.
All seeds are started in a mixture of peat, pearlite, and slow release fertilizer. Seeds are not
started organically as I use a slow release fertilizer. My seeds are also not organic seeds unless
noted. We are not an organic farm.
All plants will be "hardened off" in a cold frame before release to you. This means they will be
acclimated to the local outdoor weather and ready to be planted in the ground.

ORDERS: Each plant in a 3-4 inch plastic container is $1.25. Pre-orders and deposit need to be
received by April 15th for delivery or pick up around May 15th - 25th, depending on weather.
50% deposit due upon ordering. Balance due at delivery/pickup. Please note that seed
germination is subject to many conditions. If for some reason there is a crop failure and we are
unable to grow the specific plants requested, you can choose a substitute plant from stock on hand
or be refunded your deposit. If you decide to not take possession of your plants (decide you don't
want them, buy them somewhere else, etc) you will forfeit your deposit.

TO PLACE ORDERS:
By email: April Ross at rossfamily98 "at" gmail "dot" com

I will send an order confirmation within 2 business days. If you don't receive an order confirmation,
please contact me to make sure your order was received.

Thank you for your business!

Jayme and April Ross

Springtime! Garden time!

It is time to start thinking about that garden.  Such fun!  What to plant?  How to rotate the location of the plants from last year to reduce disease?  What soil amendment is needed?

I usually draw out my garden on a piece of blank paper and start drawing squares to represent the different types of plants - and where they will go.  I intentionally move plant location from year to year.  Except, of course, those plants that don't move - like raspberry and blueberry bushes and the strawberry patch.

I began starting my own seeds for the plants in my garden years ago.  I just couldn't find tomato plants locally that would give me enough tomatoes for lots of salsa before our first frost - sometimes in September!  Then, since I began growing tomatoes from seed, it was easy to just start adding on other veggies.

This year I will be starting many different veggies from seed.  For the first time, I'm taking pre-orders for garden plants.  You can choose from the seeds that I have.  Then in mid May - I'll have a plant for you in a 3-4 inch pot ready to go into your garden!  Need an order form or more information, just let me know.

Naturally Raised Livestock Explanation

We market our livestock as naturally raised, without use of hormones and antibiotics. What does that really mean? How is organic different? Those are great questions and are quite confusing even when you are the one growing the livestock. According the the Washington State Dept of Agriculture, livestock products can only be labeled as organic if you comply completely with all of the organic requirements.

Organic certification means that an independent, third party has verified that the requirements of organic production and handling have been met. Under the National Organic Program (NOP), all products sold as organic in the United States must be certified by an NOP accredited certification agency. Source: WSDA Organic Food Program

So, there is a lot involved in obtaining organic certification. Below are some, but not all of the organic certification requirements:

Animals must be fed 100% organic feed from the last third of gestation until the day of slaughter. Right now, we feed local grass and alfalfa hay and a local grain mix of grain products. Neither are certified organic feeds.

Animals must not be given antibiotics. We don't use antibiotics on our animals. Organic guidelines also state that you can not withhold needed antibiotics from an animal to preserve the "organic status". You must give the antibiotics if needed for the health of the animal and then market it as non-organic. In four years, we have given one animal antibiotics months in advance of slaughter and we disclosed this to the buyer.

Animals must not be given hormones. We don't use hormones on any of our livestock ever.

May use approved vaccines and biologics as needed. We do vaccinate our cattle for common diseases. This would not change under organic certification.

Animals must have access to the outdoors. Organic pasture is required for ruminant livestock. Our livestock does have access to the outdoors. We do not currently have organic pasture for our cattle. Although they have a large outdoor area, the are not on pasture. We have a small amount of pasture (about 3 acres total), but not enough to maintain even one animal all summer long. This would be the toughest for us to comply with to change to organic certification. There just isn't more pasture land available to us.

There are other requirements for organic certification including detailed record keeping requirements. At some point we may be able to transition to an organic operation, but right now we only partially comply with the organic requirements.

We hope you find this explanation of use and please ask if you have any questions! We look forward to updating on the process of moving toward our long term goal of organic certification.