We offer a wide variety of organically grown vegetable and culinary herb starts for your garden. We choose varieties that are proven to do well here in our region, even in marginal growing seasons. Our starts are available early April though June. We welcome suggestions for new varieties to offer.

Where To Buy our Organic Vegetable and Herb Starts:

-The Olympia Farmers Market: We will be there by mid April. Our stall is in the SE wing of the market near the demonstration garden, and along the road.
-The Olympia Food Co-ops: We will be providing them with many more starts this year. They include: mustard greens, collards, mizuna, arugula, boc choy, tat soi,  broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, chard, tomato, eggplant, pepper, and basil.
-The Farm: We don’t have “official hours” at this time, but are usually here. Please call ahead to be sure someone will be here to help you. Get directions.

These are just some of the things we grow. We add new varieties all the time.

ARTICHOKE: 2” pots
Imperial star

BROCCOLI: 4-packs
Belstar

BRUSSELS SPROUTS: 4-packs
Nautic

CAULIFLOWER: 4-packs
Goodman

CABBAGE: 4-packs
Red cabbage: Red Express
Green cabbage: Farrao
Kraut: Late Flat Dutch

CHARD: 6-packs
Red: Rhubarb
Rainbow: Bright Lights

CUCUMBERS: 2″ pot
Yellow: Lemon
Slicer: Marketmore 76
Pickling: Calypso
Beit Alpha: Green Finger (delicate, thin skinned, non bitter)

EGGPLANT: 4″ pots
Nadia (Italian bell shaped)
Traviata (Italian bell shaped)
Orient express (long Japanese type)

HERBS:
Basil: Sweet (4-packs)
Basil: Thai (4-packs)
Cilantro (4-packs)
Dill (4-packs)
Italian Parsley (2” pot)
Mint (4 inch pot)
Rosemary (4 inch pot)
Oregano (4 inch pot)
Sage (4 inch pot)
Thyme (4 inch pot)

KALE: 4-packs
Red Russian
Winterbor
Lacinato

LEEKS:
Tadorna

LETTUCE: 4-packs
Red leaf: New Red Fire
Green leaf: Two star
Romaine: Green forest
Green Butterhead:
Red Butterhead:
Red Oakleaf:

MUSTARD GREEN MIX: 4-packs

ONIONS: 2” pots
Yellow storage: Copra and Pontiac
Red: Red Emperor
Sweet: Walla Walla and Candy
Yellow Cipollini: Borettana
Red Cipollini: Piatta di Bergamo

PEPPERS: 4″ pots
SWEET-
Green bell: King of the North
Small red bell (pimento) Round of Hungary

HOT-
Early Jalapeno
Red Rocket (red cayenne)
Ring of Fire (red cayenne)

SHALLOT: 2” pot

SUMMER SQUASH: 2″ pot
Green Zucchini: Dunja
Italian zucchini: Costata Romanesco
Yellow crookneck: Gentry
Yellow Scallopini

TOMATOES: 4″ pots
CHERRIES-
Sungold (orange)
Sweetie (red)
Sweet Million (red)
Black Cherry (black)
Yellow Pear (yellow)
Red Pear (red)

SAUCE:
San Marzano
Amish Paste
Grandma Mary’s

SLICERS- Ind=Indeterminate, Det=Determinate
Early Girl (red slicer, Ind.)
Stupice (heirloom, red slicer, Ind.)
Moskvich (red slicer, Ind.)
Oregon Spring (red slicer, Det.)
Siletz (heirloom, red slicer, Det.)
Black Prince (heirloom, purple black slicer, Ind.)
Green Zebra (heirloom, green stripes, slicer, Ind.)
Brandywine (heirloom, reddish pink, slicer, Ind.)
Prudens Purple (heirloom, pink slicer, Ind.)
Glacier (early, small, red, slicer, Det.)

TOMATILLO: 4″pots

WINTER SQUASH: 2″ pot
Delicata
Spaghetti
Butternut
Buttercup
Acorn
Pie Pumpkin

WATERMELON: 2″ pot
Yellow Doll (small, yellow fleshed)
Moon and Stars (heirloom, medium sized, red flesh)

Dear friends of Rising River Farm,

Happy New Year! We hope the end of 2012 was full of happy times and revelry for you all. After nearly 3 weeks of holiday activities and our kids out of school, Jim and I are itching to plan for the upcoming season. I can’t believe it is already time to order seeds! I spent a little time in the greenhouse on Wednesday seeding some experimental salad greens and herbs for the household. It was sunny and 80 degrees in there and I found myself getting really excited to start planting and growing food again. Seed catalogs keep showing up in the mail box and I always have to do a quick perusal before I add them to the stack. I get so hungry and wistful looking at the glossy photos of tomatoes, corn, and luscious greens. Mmmmm….

Jim and I will sit down over the next few days and go over our notes about the previous season and brainstorm about how to make the coming season even better. Along with ordering seeds and greenhouse supplies, we’ll be fine-tuning our field fertility, strategizing ways to encourage beneficial insects and discourage pests, exploring summer cover cropping, creating field maps and a crop rotation plan, and talking about ways to become even more organized and efficient. There is a lot involved in growing food. It is a huge, complex, and dynamic puzzle. We have been farming for a long time to be sure, but there is always more to learn, more to try, more ways to improve. You can’t accuse us of complacency!

As always, we welcome your feedback. Rather than send out a formal survey this year I will instead invite you to give whatever feedback you feel moved to give; suggestions, critiques, niggling questions, whatever. You can call, email, send flowers (kidding) or a note by mail. We look forward to hearing from you!

2013 SHARE SIZES AND PRICES:

 
Full Season (18 weeks; late June-October)
regular: $522
small: $396

Height of the Season (8 weeks; early August-September)
regular: $304
small: $224

Fall Share (4 weeks; late October-late November)
Regular: $110

*Note that we did raise the price a smidge. It comes to about $2/week. Not much, but necessary. We hope you understand. We are willing to tailor payment plans to best fit your budget if need be.

Please go to our website www.risingriverfarm.com for more information about our shares, sign up online, or download a paper registration form. Or give us a call or email.

May we ask a favor? We’d be ever so grateful if you helped us in our effort to get new CSA members. Your positive experience is the best advertizing there is. Please forward this newsletter and/or a link to our website to anyone you think might be interested. If you would like a stack of brochures for your place of business, we can send them to you. Thank you in advance.

Lacey Pick-up Site:
We are on the hunt for a pick-up site in the Lacey area. If you wish to host a site or know someone who does, get in touch with us. The site must be close to I-5, easy to get to, and accessible to our 14 ft. box truck. We need at least 15 members to commit to using the site to make it worth it.

Be sure to check our website and Facebook regularly throughout the winter. I’ll be adding recipes to the website and FB is a great place to see photos of the farm and crew.

We hope to hear from you soon!

Your Farmers,
Jen & Jim

This week is the last week of the Fall CSA. We hope you have enjoyed it, especially the abundance of monster cauliflower! It has been encouraging how much food we are still able to grow this time of year. And with the aid of the giant greenhouse we are almost done putting up, we hope to have some more tender fare for next year’s fall share like lettuces, spinach, and herbs. I can’t say it enough how lucky we are to live in such a mild climate that allows us to grow food nearly year-round. And let us all say a little thank you to our fellow mud-sloggers Isaac, Lauren, and Jonathon who have been troopers out in the fields helping us harvest and prep the farm for the off-season these past few weeks. Jim and I appreciate their help and company, esp. on the less pleasant weather days.

Remember, the Olympia Farmers Market is still open on Saturdays and Sundays from 10-3 through the weekend of December 16th. Please continue to support your local farmers, food producers, and artisans by making the market the first stop on your weekly shopping trips. They have heating stations down there so you won’t freeze. Come see us!

What’s in the Box:
Carrots-red and orange
Parsnips
Leeks
Curly kale
Shallots
Yellow onions
Red onion
Red cippolini onion
2 types garlic
Yellow finn potatoes
Delicata squash
Pie pumpkin
Rutabaga
Celeriac
Red cabbage
Kohlrabi
Dry bean mix

The 100 Mile Holiday Meal Challenge: At this point many of you are in the middle of planning and shopping for the big Thanksgiving meal. You may have heard of the 100 mile Thanksgiving Challenge. It is an idea that was proposed many years ago and seems to gain steam each year. It is a call to try to source the bulk of your Thanksgiving meal from local growers. In this region of the country you can get almost everything from just the surrounding counties: turkey, ham, lamb, potatoes, squash, Brussels sprouts, celery (or celeriac), carrots, beets, dinner rolls and breads, stuffing mixes, desserts, cider, wine, fruits, flower arrangements, etc . The Olympia Farmers Market is a good first stop (open Saturday and Sunday from 10-3). The Olympia Food Co-op and Olympia Local Foods are a good second stop. THEN you can hit your local grocery store for the other odds and ends. You may consider modifying your “traditional” holiday menu to reflect what is actually available around here. Sure sweet potatoes are good, but so are turnips, rutabagas, and winter squash. Make it your new tradition. If you have already done your shopping, consider the challenge for your other winter holiday gatherings.

Recipes to try for your Thanksgiving meal:
Pumpkin Pie
Sesame Kale & Cabbage Salad
Holiday Kale Salad
Honey Balsamic Beet Salad
Tamari Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Roasted Kabocha Squash and Creminis with Fresh Herbs
Red Cabbage with Cranberries
Pumpkin Cheesecake

Sign up for the 2013 CSA
I am in the process of setting up the sign-up wizard for the 2013 season. I’ll send an email when that is ready.

We hope you have a restful winter full of good food, good friends, and time with family.

Your Farmers, Jennifer and Jim

This week’s weather reminds me a little of spring in that it can’t seem to make up its mind. Monday was sunny and gorgeous, Tuesday was monsoon-like, and the rest of the week was a little of both on and off throughout the day. I am glad it has been warm overall, though. I am not looking forward to numb harvest fingers. Although really, any weather is better than what has been going on back east with hurricane Sandy. I will gladly accept our rain showers without complaint. Nature is humbling, that is for sure.

What’s In the Box:
pie pumpkin
carnival squash
carrots-orange and red
potatoes-red chieftain
yellow onions
red onions
shallots
garlic-music and California late
rutabaga
kohlrabi
cauliflower
parsnips
beets-either cylindrical or round red
celeriac
curly kale
leeks

Today’s box has a few unusual items. First we have celeriac, AKA celery root. It is the round, rough, whitish root-ball that smells like celery. Much like chard and beets are related (one being bred for big roots and the other for big leaves), that is how it goes with celery and celeriac. Celeriac is mild in flavor and is a nice addition to soups, gratins, and even mashed potatoes.
Next we have rutabaga. It looks a lot like a turnip; purple shoulders, white body, though a little rougher looking. The flavor is similar to a turnip, but is a little crisper, sweeter, and more refreshing. My neighbor, who grew up in Iceland, told me that her mother would give her and her brother sliced up raw rutabaga as an after school snack if they complained about being hungry. (Tell that to your kids when they whine for cookies and junk after school!) You can cook rutabaga as well as enjoy it raw, after school or otherwise. Add it to soups, gratins, root roasts, pot roasts, and the like.
Cauliflower, though not unusual in and of itself, is unusual for us because we have not had good luck growing it over the past few years. Bugs love it, the sun damages it, and it in the ground a long time, taking up valuable real estate. I have been threatening to to quit growing it, but I always put a little in each year. I just love it so much I can’t help myself. I think we need to just grow it in the fall. My favorite thing to do with it is to make a creamy cauliflower potato soup.
Carnival squash tastes a lot like delicata. This is the first year we grew this type. I like it quite a bit. The skin is not quite a thin and tender as delicata, but the flesh is sweet, creamy, and dense. The seeds are good for roasting as well. I have been roasting all the squash seeds actually whenever I cook one for dinner. Just free the seeds from the pulp, give a quick rinse, put in a baking dish or pie pan, mix with a few generous splashes of tamari, and cook in the oven at anywhere from 350-400 degrees, stirring periodically until tamari has evaporated and the seeds are dry and crunchy.

Recipes: I spent a good chunk of last Saturday adding fall recipes to the website. I went through several magazines and cookbooks and found all sorts of recipes for winter squash, potatoes, leeks, and kale. See the “Recent Recipes” section at the bottom of the page or search by ingredient with the tag cloud.

I hope you all enjoy this next week and stay cozy warm with soups and oven-baked yumminess. (I know I will be.)
Oh, and for all you Facebook types, I just posted some new farm pictures on the Rising River Farm page.
Jen

2 small or 1 large kabocha squash (you could use buttercup or red kuri as well)
2 leeks, sliced lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch strips
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1 pound cremini mushrooms, wiped clean
1 Tbsp minced fresh rosemary
1 Tbsp minced fresh sage

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Wash squash well, cut in half and remove seeds. Chop into bite sized pieces (leaving skin on) and toss in a large bowl with leeks. Add vinegar, oil and salt.
3. Spread onto cookie sheet and roast 10 minutes. Remove from oven, add mushrooms and continue roasting another 10 minutes.
4. Sprinkle with rosemary and sage and roast a final 10 minutes (a total of 30 minutes). Remove from oven and serve.

From Clean Food by Terry Walters

1 rutabaga, peeled
4 carrots
4 parsnips, peeled
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
cayenne pepper

1. Set oven to broil.
2. Cut vegetables into sticks and steam 3-4 minutes or until just tender. Remove from heat and place in large bowl. Coat with oil and toss with cornmeal, salt, nutmeg and cayenne.
3. Lightly oil cookie sheet and spread fries in single layer. Broil 3 minutes, remove from oven, flip fries and broil another 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve hot.

From Clean Food by Terry Walters

4-5 large rutabagas
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
sea salt

1. Peel and chop rutabagas. Place in large pot with ginger, orange juice and water.
cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until soft throughout, adding water a little at a time as needed to prevent burning.
2. When soft, remove from heat and pour remaining liquid into separate bowl.
3. Puree rutabagas with handheld blender, adding cooking liquid if needed to achieve desired texture. Season to taste with salt and serve.

From Clean Food by Terry Walters

1/3 cup currants
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, diced
2 large bunches kale, chopped
4 dashes plum vinegar
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

1. Plump currants by placing in small pot with 1/4 inch water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. In a large pan over medium heat, saute garlic and onion in oil until soft (about 3 minutes). Add kale and saute until tender (about 4-6 minutes). Add 1-2 Tbsp water as needed to prevent sticking. Drain currants and add to kale. Toss with vinegar, top with toasted pine nuts ans serve.

From Clean Food by Terry Walters

2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
4 cups chopped carrots
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup orange juice
water or vegetable stock
3 Tbsp mellow white miso
chopped fresh parsley for garnish

1. In a large pot over medium heat, saute onion an ginger in oil for about 3 minutes.
2. Add carrots, oats, orange juice and enough water or stock to just cover carrots. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and let simmer until carrots are soft (about 20 minutes).
3. Turn off heat and puree with handheld blender.
4. In small bowl, dissolve miso in 1/2 cup room-temperature water and stir into soup.
5. Garnish with parsley.

From Clean Food by Terry Walters

1 large butternut squash
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
4 large apples, peeled, cored and quartered
4 cups vegetable stock
1 cup rice milk
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
sea salt

1. Peel squash, cut in half and remove seeds. Cut into 2-inch pieces.

2. In a large pot over medium heat, saute onion in oil until soft (about 5 minutes). Add squash, apples, stock, rice milk, coconut mil and nutmeg. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until squash is soft. Puree with a handheld blender and remove from heat to cool slightly. Season to taste with salt and serve.

From Clean Food by Terry Walters