Whistling Train Farm

It’s very nearly March. The days are getting longer, and The Quickening is upon us. I remember when I was pregnant with Della and I felt that first flutter of a tiny being in my belly… it was magical, that first comprehension that there was a new life becoming. I learned later that this is called “The Quickening”, that first sense of new life. My farmer friend and mentor, Michaele, refers to the beginning of natural spring as The Quickening, and it completely makes sense to me. Every year I notice it, and maybe you do, too; the angle of light shifts and the sun rises earlier and sets later. The birds sing louder and sweeter, frogs start to call, and there’s a green tinge at the end of branches as the new buds start to swell. Welcome to The Quickening of Spring!

These are also the signals to get ready to start planting, so I’ve been getting the prop-house tidied up. New planting trays have arrived, I’m getting supplies in order, making changes to equipment inventory, and refining the planting schedule again, as I do every year. Now that the big freeze has passed, I’ll be getting the first seeds planted on heat mats, and by the end of March, I’ll be planting crops in hoophouses for May harvest.

I don’t really like to talk about politics, but this new administration has made it impossible not to, because there will be implications that reach us all, if they haven’t already. Changes to how agriculture is researched, funded, and marketed, how farm labor is made available (or not), and how food is grown and distributed nationally and globally… The pandemic made clear that these kinds of changes will trickle down to each of us at some level. I am not fear-mongering, but I believe that these cuts and new priorities will likely bring changes to local food security for all of us.

Like most people I know and interact with daily, as we watch friends be cut from their jobs and program lifelines, I have been searching for what I can do to help. I want to do something meaningful. I believe that what we really need now is more community: there is strength in numbers. We need each other to support and be supported by. CSA is entirely about Community, as well as food. Even though my farm and CSA isn’t going to be able to feed the masses, it can bring together a group of people who value both food and togetherness, as well as clean air and water, and birdwatching, and getting outside, and connecting their kids to the source of their food.

I have decided to increase Whistling Train Farm’s CSA capacity, so that I can welcome more families into this fold of inclusivity. I have always welcomed all to the farm, and to the farmily, so to speak. (Not my term, but it’s warm and welcoming, I think.) I’m opening up 50 more CSA shares. I will likely be working the farm full-time this growing season, and we will have regular farm gatherings for anyone who can make it. My hope is that we will find strength and solidarity, and gather to support each other.

I hope that you will be joining us for a delicious and beautiful 2025 farm season. Link to purchase 2025 CSA share. 

I wish health and wellness for you and your family in the coming year. And I hope to see you soon.

Shelley

Even though on the calendar it marks the end of fall and beginning of winter, the winter solstice is always the beginning of a new year to me. Plants and animals recognize it… the beginning of lengthening days. More sunlight means more energy to harness for growth, even if our coldest weather typically happens in January and February. 

But it means our days can’t get any shorter, and it’s time to start planting soon. In the woods, the hazelnut and alder catkins are hanging from branches like ornaments, waiting for that signal to pop open. Amphibians will be making their way to pools and streams soon to lay their eggs. AND, it’s time to start planting vegetables in the greenhouse. 

Indeed, in the coming weeks, I will be ordering the seeds of plants that will feed us for all of 2025. I’ll also be planting seedlings on heated tables. After all, the first crops are only a couple months away… broccoli, beets, zucchini, lettuce, and peas that will be planted under cover in the big greenhouses for the first weeks of CSA. But to have them ready to eat in May, they need to be started in February. 

Even though it’s cold and wet outside, it won’t be that way forever. Before we know it, the cutflower garden will be blooming, and our bellies will be full of the freshest, most local produce possible. 

There are just 17 spaces remaining in 2025 CSA, and I hope that you will be joining us for a delicious and beautiful season. I’ve included the link to the online store here. Your payment now will help me order seeds, as well as pay the mortgage and utilities through the winter. 

I wish only the best for you and your family in the coming year, whichever days you celebrate.

And now, about the Winter Solstice:

The New Year is upon us at last. I’m not talking about January 1, the modern new year. I mean the original new year—the new year of ancient times and farmers. The Winter Solstice. This day of the solar year with the longest night, and the shortest daylength has historically been very significant with all cultures in the northern hemisphere, especially farming cultures. All living things (aside from modern man with artificial light) base their life processes on the amount of natural light in each given day. For example: Chickens have a 21-hour egg-laying cycle. They create a new egg every 21 hours, and as long as the egg is completed during daylight hours, the hen will expel the egg. If the egg is formed in hours of darkness, she keeps it safe inside her until daylight returns. (During the summer when our days are about 19 hours long, a hen will lay an egg nearly every day, but in the winter when our days are only 8 hours long, that same hen will lay an egg only every three or four days. Commercial hens are kept with lights on 24 hours a day, to maximize production. Daylength also triggers the heat cycles of mammals, especially grazers like goats & cows. Their biological clocks time things just right, so that babies are born when mom’s food is abundant.

As far as plants are concerned, temperature is less of an issue than daylength. Plants are only able to perform photosynthesis with light. Since photosynthesis is what gives plants energy for growth, most plants stop growing when the daylength gets down to about 10 or so hours. Active plant growth doesn’t start up again until thelengthening days of spring arrive. Then, the plants wake from their winter dormancy and sprout new leaves to soak up all that sunlight and the chickens start pumping out eggs like crazy. In farming terms, the solstice is a much more meaningful day than January 1, Julius Caesar’s new year. But he wasn’t a farmer, he was a politician. The day after the solstice, we can look forward to more eggs, more greens, and it means that soon we won’t have to do our chores in the dark. It’s time to order seeds for next year, and in a few weeks it will be time to start transplants. Spring is just around the corner! If you haven’t seen them yet, be sure and drive by the Carpinito fields on West Valley Highway. There are Trumpeter Swans. Quite a few big, white goose-looking birds and a few greyish juveniles. There have also been some in his field at 277th St. and Central Ave. It pains me to think of all the chemicals they’re ingesting when they clean up the old corn and pumpkin patches, but hopefully it’s not doing them too much harm as they won’t be here very long before they move on.

The day after the solstice, we can look forward to more eggs, more greens, and it means that soon we won’t have to do our chores in the dark. It’s time to order seeds for next year, and in a few weeks it will be time to start transplants.

Spring is just around the corner!

There was a time, about twenty years ago, when the first hard frost would arrive in early September and kill a lot of plants; the kind we like to eat, in particular. Gone would be the squashes, peppers, and lettuce. Roots and greens season started early then, and we didn’t dream of extending CSA season into November or December. 

But to date this year, we have had only one light frost. Early in October. Only the basil was killed. I have a monstrous crop of broccoli just about ready. The peppers and tomatoes are giving up mostly due to lack of light, which is the real end to vegetable growing season in the PNW. It’s not the temperature. 

Last week, we got next year’s garlic planted and all the potatoes harvested and stored away. This weekend I’ll finish pulling all the squashes out of the field. And there are just a few weeks to go until Thanksgiving. This year’s CSA will end the week of November 16th-19th. So many people are away the week of Thanksgiving, I decided to end it early and give myself some breathing space before the winter holidays begin. There is always some produce left at the end, though, so if any CSA members want a thanksgiving box of odds and ends, just let me know and I’ll make you a box. 

As this season winds down and I prepare to pack away all the challenges of the summer, I’m also planning for next year. I’m hoping to get all the seed ordered in December, and pick up the year’s fertilizer in January. Machinery is being repaired already. 

A couple weeks ago, we plowed under what was supposed to be the pumpkin patch… I could tell in September that they were never going to be ready in time. But the up-side is that it’s now ready to start a big u-pick cutflower garden… super early, which is usually a challenge in spring. I may even sow some early blooms this fall, like Larkspur, Poppies, and Bachelor Buttons. I already have a blank canvas, and that is exciting. I’m hoping to give u-pick flowers a solid boost for a little side income towards the mortgage.

I have so much gratitude for all of this year’s CSA families. You were with me through a cold, wet spring and a slow start to the season. You propped me up through one of the toughest summers of my existence, and I’m giving you as much as I can in return.

I’m so grateful for those 40 of you who have paid for 2025 already: you have paid the farm mortgage and for thousands of dollars in engine repairs to the farm van. And now it’s time for property taxes, seeds, fertilizer, and always the mortgage.

There are 30 shares left for the 2025 CSA season. If you’d like to eat and bloom with us next year, the link is below. I will do everything in my power to make it a great season.

Whistling Train FarmStore Click this link to purchase 2025 CSA Shares. Pick up at the farm on Tuesdays or Saturdays, or in Skyway or Columbia City on Sundays.

Contact for North Seattle/Greenwood CSA SharePool: Jonathan Betz-Zall at jbetzzall@yahoo.com

Contact for West Seattle CSA SharePool: Rose Ragan at rose.ragan@protonmail.com

If you would like the contact for the Burien SharePool, please email me.

With much gratitude,

Shelley

Firstly, 2024 CSA is starting next weekend, March 23-26. Saturday-Tuesday. If you are signed up, you will get an email soon, so check your inboxes and if you don’t see anything from me by Tuesday night, let me know.

There are 3 spaces left, so if spring snuck up on you and you forgot to sign up, the link is down below. ⬇️ (There are still Pantry Builder subscriptions and garden start kits available for preorder too!)

After last week’s frosty/briefly snowy spell, the weather has been truly gorgeous. Plant growth is exploding as fast as the increasing day length.

I truly can’t wait for the cut flower garden to start blooming (perennials will be flowering in May) and for the first sugarsnaps and juicy salad turnips and that gorgeous purple sprouting broccoli. And fresh herbs and lettuces! What are you most excited to eat?

Here we go! It’s going to be a great season!

Here is the link to the new online farm store, where you can register for 2024 CSA, the 8-installment Pantry Builder subscription, and last chance to order plant starts/garden kits.

And the contacts for the share-pools are below.

Whistling Train FarmStore Click this link to purchase 2024 CSA Shares and/or Pantry Builder Subscriptions

Contact for North Seattle/Greenwood CSA SharePool: Jonathan Betz-Zall at jbetzzall@yahoo.com

Contact for West Seattle CSA SharePool: Rose Ragan at rose.ragan@protonmail.com

If you would like the contact for the Burien SharePool, please email me.

With much gratitude,

Shelley

The 2023 farming season is winding down, the skies are getting darker and the days are getting colder. It’s a relief to be entering the season of rest. It is the time of roots and greens, and the cold makes them taste even better, even if it makes them more difficult to harvest. It’s my favorite time to eat vegetables, honestly. Not only are flavors more concentrated and the greens sweeter and less bitter, but I actually have the time to make FOOD, instead of the grazing days of summer.

It’s been a frosty, frozen week, and while the greens that can tolerate it are still alive and well, they can’t be harvested while frozen. You see, there is a constant ebb and flow of water and sap throughout the tissues of plants. When it is warm, sap and water flow upwards from the roots to the leaves, and when the air starts to freeze, the plants do their best to push much of that water down to the roots where it can’t cause as much damage. When the air freezes, the water inside cells turns into tiny icicles which can puncture the cell membranes, causing cell death. That’s why non-hardy plants look black and wilted, as if they are cooked (looking at you, Dahlias). But the more durable plants turn some of their starches into sugar that acts as antifreeze, so the cells don’t get punctured as easily by ice. However, if they are harvested while all their water is in the roots, they won’t recover and perk up, so it’s best to wait until the air temperature warms, and the plants are circulating liquids again.

That’s why, when we have a freezing stretch, there aren’t as many greens in the CSA harvest. More roots and storage crops make their way into boxes. But we’re warming up a bit in the next week, so greens will return. At least for the next few weeks; the final week of the CSA season is just before Christmas. And then I’ll begin strategizing for 2024.

On another note, the Trumpeter Swans have returned from the Arctic summer! We don’t get many in this valley, but it’s reassuring to have them back. I hear them tooting overhead while picking greens, their long, white bodies glide through the silvery fog, and all is well. At one time, prior to the invasion of agriculture and development, the Green/Duwamish River Valley was a major stop on the Pacific Flyway, one of the north-south bird migration corridors. A wildlife biologist who birds here somewhat regularly told me that this entire valley used to be a complex of braided streams and wetlands, and that huge flocks of ducks, geese, cranes, and swans, as well as songbirds passed through. Imagine the sounds! So when the clumps of swans and geese fly over, that’s what I try to imagine. Tens of thousands of birds in a raucous flock, gathering, circling, landing, talking, and eating.

I’m excited about the small and simple CSA of 2024. A smaller growing space will be much easier to manage, and hopefully I’ll be able to keep on top of the weeds in the cut flower garden. A more intimate CSA project awaits, and I am here for it. With fewer families to serve, I can plan for more u-pick opportunities for those who want that. Also, several people have asked about the Pantry-Builder Subscription, and I am considering offering it again in 2024. It’s not a lot more care or harvest time to plant more pickling cucumbers, green beans, and sauce tomatoes. And I’m already planning how I’ll reinforce the Sugarsnap Pea greenhouse to battle the bunnies.

While I was picking kale and baby boy choi on this beautiful, sunny morning, I looked out into the field, filled with singing sparrows. Next year, most of the fields will be cover-cropped with species loved and needed by pollinators. I’m excited to see what changes come to my property if I don’t work it so hard. It’s already an Audubon birding hotspot… maybe even more species will visit. I’m looking forward to doing more in-depth surveys of insects here, expanding on what I’ve done in the last two years. Last year alone, I logged 156 species of moths. And my pollinator survey was haphazard, but will be more focused in 2024. Insect diversity is the key to a healthy ecosystem. If I can create a rich, diverse habitat on my 15 acres, how might that change, and possibly inspire, managers of other farms and open spaces.

This is my vision for 2024. 15 acres of healthy, healing ecosystem surrounding 1-2 acres of vegetables production. Let’s see what happens!

My 2024 Little CSA is filling up, but there are still a few spots available. Share pickup is on-farm only, but two Seattle groups have organized a “share-pool”, where members take turns picking up for everyone at a drop-site. Right now, these share-pools are happening in Greenwood/North Seattle and West Seattle, in addition to our long-time Burien share-pool. Pickup is still at the farm, Saturdays and Tuesdays, and everyone is welcome to cut flowers while in season and visit the pumpkin patch and sunflower field.

It’s been an interesting farm season, but it’s finishing up strong. I’d love to have you join me in 2024.

Here is the link to the new online farm store, where you can register for 2024 CSA. And the contacts for the share-pools are below.

Whistling Train FarmStore Click this link to purchase 2024 CSA Shares and/or Pantry Builder Subscriptions

Contact for North Seattle/Greenwood CSA SharePool: Jonathan Betz-Zall at jbetzzall@yahoo.com

Contact for West Seattle CSA SharePool: Rose Ragan at rose.ragan@protonmail.com

If you would like the contact for the Burien SharePool, please email me.

With much gratitude,

Shelley

It’s been an interesting summer, hasn’t it? We entered the season with record low soil moisture. That’s not something reported in mainstream weather reports, but it’s one of the most important considerations in agriculture. Irrigation is only successful if roots have access to the water being laid-down, and roots will only grow if the soil is wet where they are headed. That means that the soil below the roots must be moist enough to encourage active root growth. This summer, we started in May with active soil moisture down several feet. That means that several feet of irrigation have to happen before roots will penetrate to any meaningful depth. And that has been incredibly difficult this year.

Even though the air temperature has been cooler than in the last few years (haven’t hit 100° yet, knock on wood and fingers crossed!) but we also had much less precipitation in the winter. So, yay, no flooding, but boo, no residual soil moisture. Now, in August, we are finally starting to reach that soil moisture equilibrium in some parts of the farm, which is great for all the fall and winter planting happening in the next two weeks. But it also means that my July water bill is $2,000, something I don’t generally expect until September. So that was a shock, and my bank account is nearly empty. (Some farmers have mentioned water surcharges to help cover that unexpected expense…)

These concepts are important to understand, because that lack of root growth is why we haven’t had many greens, but the cucumbers and squash and (finally) the potatoes are happy. Leafy greens and herbs need a lot of water. But the beans are coming on, and I’ve managed to nurse along a late crop of sugarsnaps (to make up for the destruction by evil bunnies in the spring). Peppers and tomatoes are loaded with fruits and ripening. And hopefully the next big patch of lettuce and spinach will do better.

All of this wouldn’t be possible without a large underground plumbing project we installed in June to deliver more water to the fields (you may remember the trenches and backhoe). We might not have had anything to harvest if not for that $5,000 investment.

The fall and winter Brassicas are growing strong, lots of Broccoli and Cauliflower coming starting in October. Fall greens and roots are getting seeded today, as well as winter greenhouse greens. The days are getting shorter (thankfully!) which means the clock is ticking: we have just 2-3 weeks to get all of the seeding done for the rest of the year. Due to shorter days, plants don’t make significant growth after the end of September/early October, so we need to get everything as large as possible by that time.

August burnout is upon us, but we just have to push through and hope the new crew stick around to the end of it! The rest and calm of winter is coming.

And a heads-up: Della has been living here, doing an internship for summer, but is moving to Southern California to be with her new husband in early September. I’ll be going with her in my van, so will be away September 7-13. I don’t have anyone to do deliveries for me, so I need to figure out how we’ll handle that. I will likely split the missed week between the week before and after, but we’ll see how things look at the end of August. Just make a note that there will likely be no delivery/pick up that week.

And one more thing: I am not renewing my contract with Barn2Door, so you will be getting one last notification from them about that this week. I have all of your contact information saved , so in the future you’ll just get notifications from me directly. No more confusing crossed emails.

Cutflowers

The U-Pick Cutflower Garden is open to everyone on Tuesdays 2-7 and Saturdays all day. If you need to visit on another day, please let me know. Those are the CSA pickup days, and I’m already expecting lots of people wandering about. I need the other days for growing and working. There are pitchers and snips for you to use in the CSA shed. Just return them when you’re done!

With much gratitude,

Shelley

As we head into a week of hot weather, I find myself wondering if there is a “normal” spring anymore. 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago, there was usually a predictable pattern. Freezing and sunny February, followed by wet and cool March, occasional frosty nights, and that magical break in April when we could hustle some seed into the ground. Then we could count on gently warming up into summer. But in the last five years, spring has been the absence of any pattern. Either it stops raining mid-April and we dry up, or it doesn’t stop raining until mid-June and we can’t get anything planted, or there is a week in late March when we have to pull tricks to keep the transplants from freezing when temps drop into the teens.

It looks like we may have one of those sudden summers, as the daytime temps climb into the 80’s this weekend, after an abnormally dry winter (according to my soil explorations). The ground is going to dry up quick, and then it will be irrigation season already.

But, we’re going to do our best, as always, to roll with the punches. After some tractor futzing, we’re ready to get the potatoes planted this weekend. And a spot is ready for seeding greens and herbs. And setting out the early zucchini transplants. The sugarsnaps in the greenhouse are blooming, and the spring greens are doing well inside, but it may get just too hot in there. We may have another spring gap if everything bolts early, since until last week it was too wet to plant outside. Hopefully not!

So it goes. This is why I keep the Spring CSA small, because it is the most fickle of all seasons. But the good news is that it’s much easier to ride the wave of Summer, and there is plenty of room in the Summer CSA, and the Flower Bouquet and Pantry-Builder add-on subscriptions. And the truth is, we are in need of more subscribers to cover payroll for the next several weeks.

I could use your help! If you have friends or neighbors who might enjoy being a part of our farm community, please invite them to enroll! All the links are below!

Cutflowers: U-Pick and Pre-made Bouquets

The U-Pick Cutflower Garden is planted with the earliest varieties, and we’ll be putting more plants in this week. It’s looking like CSA members will have access to the garden the week after Della’s wedding, so I’ll open it up on the Summer Solstice… pretty perfect, I think! The Bouquet Subscriptions will start that week as well, since I want to make sure we have enough flowers for the wedding. Flower Bouquet Subscriptions: 16 bountiful, seasonal bouquets. Here’s the Flower Bouquet link

Bulk Pantry-Builder Boxes

Pantry-Builder will start with a hefty allotment of plump Sugarsnap Peas, then provide produce and herbs for making Pickles, Pesto, and Tomato Sauce for winter, and help you to stash a supply of Garlic, Onions, and Squashes for the dark months. These are available as a subscription now (at a discount), but I also hope to offer them individually during their seasonal windows. Pantry-Builder subscription: Bulk boxes of Sugarsnap Peas, Basil, Pickling Cucumbers, Garlic Braids, and more. Here’s the Pantry Builder link

A Reminder about Farm Finances…

The nature of the CSA model is that I depend on CSA enrollments in order to purchase farm supplies in the winter, as well as to pay the farm mortgage and utilities, and to buy groceries. If you haven’t yet enrolled for 2023, and are able to, please don’t wait. Please share widely, it will take 200 CSA families to cover myself, expenses, and two staff. (That’s about 40 more families than last year.) Thank you so much!

Summer CSA will start June 17… that’s just 5 weeks away!

2023 CSA Enrollment is open to everyone, and there are plenty of Summer and Winter Shares available. Here’s the store link

2023 is going to be a great season!

With much gratitude,

Shelley