Cascadian Farm Organic Goodness

Now that fall is here and winter is closing in, it’s easy to assume that it’s time to put your gardening tools into hibernation and forget about your garden until next spring. But, in actuality fall is an essential time to prepare your garden so that you can ensure a successful growing season next spring. Jim is busy planting cover crops to prepare for winter (more on that next week), but here are a few tips you can use in your own garden.

Depending on where you live, it may or may not be this cold yet, but when night time temperature drops to less than forty-five degrees Fahrenheit for more than four days in a row it’s time to start taking precautions to get your garden ready for winter. Here are some tips to help you do just that.

1. Evaluate Your Garden- Take a look at which crops you planted this season and evaluate if they worked well for you or not. Think about which ones should stay and which ones should go.

2. Clean and Clear- It’s important that you weed your garden and remove any diseased leaves that may be lying around. Weeds and rotten leaves have a tendency to carry insects and diseases that may be harmful to your garden.

3. Mulch is a Must- Putting mulch or a cover crop over your garden is essential to protecting your plants from extreme temperatures and heavy snow. To make mulch you can use a number of materials including grass clippings, bark or pine needles.

4. Clean Your Tools- Take the time to clean and sharpen your tool so that they don’t rust and they’ll be all set to go for the spring!

Do you have any gardening tips that you’d like to share? We love to hear them. Leave them in the comments box below or on our Facebook page.

While we hate to see the summer go, one of our favorite parts about fall is when families come visit the farm to pick pumpkins and tour the farm on a hayride. This is a part of the Skagit Valley's Festival of Family Farms, and we're thrilled to be participating again this year at our home farm.

This is the same farm that was started by Gene Kahn thirty-eight years ago. Gene, an idealistic 24-year-old grad-school dropout, wanted to make a difference, so he set out to farm organically on a little stretch of land next to the Skagit River in the Cascade Mountains of Washington. Today Cascadian Farm is recognized as a pioneer in converting conventional farms to organic.

On Saturday & Sunday, Oct 2nd-3rd Cascadian Farm will be participating in the 12th annual Festival of Family Farms, and Farmer Jim will be giving farm tours via hayride both days. If you're in the area, you won't want to miss this chance to learn about organic farming, and how we use the natural ecosystems of the Cascade forests around our farm to feed healthy soil, and grow healthy crops. You can also grab your Halloween pumpkins from our pumpkin patch!

If you're in the area, we hope you'll stop by our farm, as well as some of our neighbors' farms here in the Skagit Valley. But no matter where you live, we hope you'll get out to a local farm this fall with your family. Check out the fall colors surrounding your local pumpkin patch, or apple orchard.

If you have ideas for family fun during the fall, please share them in the comments below, or on our Facebook wall!

On Friday August 20th, a group of Cascadian Farm employees, and their friends and families enjoyed a beautiful Skagit Valley day, and took part in a longstanding tradition: we hiked up to the top of Sauk Mountain for a mile-high picnic, and then came back down to the farm to pick a basket of our mouth-watering organic blueberries. This has been an annual event for Cascadian Farm and Small Planet Foods employees for the last 7 years!

Check out the Flickr set for this event!

Last week we snapped a few photos of the Blueberry Picker and showed them to you on Facebook. Here is a video of it being assembled. Farmer Jim is pretty excited to show it off. Enjoy!

Have you had a chance to pick fresh organic blueberries this year? In Washington state, we're at the tale end of our picking season. So if you haven't yet...you should soon!

Hello Friends! We’ve been extremely busy on the farm lately as we’re in the middle of our blueberry harvest. It’s an exciting time for us because we get to see all of our hard work pay off with plump, juicy berries ready to be picked.

With all the excitement surrounding the blueberry harvest, we figured it would be a great time to do a “Best of Blueberries” post, highlighting some of the blueberry posts that we have done over the last year. So here it is, the best of. Enjoy!

Farmer Jim's Organic Advice- Farmer Jim let's you in on his secret to growing such delicious organic blueberries.

Behind The Crop: The Blueberry- Take a look at all the great health benefits of blueberries and why they are referred to as a "super food". You’ll also find some amazing blueberry recipes.

Vanilla Blueberry Almond Bread- Kari Burks shares a wonderful recipe inspired by her favorite, Vanilla Blueberry Almond Pancakes. Thanks Kari!

I recently had the opportunity to take a trip out to the Cascadian Farm Home Farm in Concrete, Washington. I was traveling for work, and the stars aligned that made it possible for me to get there, and I am so glad I did.

Prior to going, all I'd been told about the home farm was that it was magical, and since my arrival to the Cascades was in the middle of the night, I had no idea what I was walking into the next morning.

It was cold and foggy that morning, but that didn't stop us from heading out to the farm early. We poked around, watching the water in the river and the fog lifting over the rows of blueberries. Not even the roadside stand was open yet.

But the pests and critters were out, making their way across the path, and I may have stepped on a few before I realized they were covering the road. I would later learn from Farmer Jim that one way of dealing with slugs is running them over or cutting them in half.

Our official tour started in the barn and quickly moved over to the strawberry fields that were being picked for sale at the stand and that would later end up in my strawberry coffee cake.

Farmer Jim was a fantastic host, explaining his method of crop rotation, detailing how he cares for each plant that's growing and pest control. I learned several practices I want to put in place for my own backyard garden about my small strawberry patch, the new raspberries I planted and the tomatoes that I struggle to keep under control. The home farm grows tomatoes and peppers in the greenhouse to sell at the roadside stand in later months.

And as strawberry season was soon going to come to a close, he gave us the official tour of the new raspberry plants that were just starting to ripen. This was the first full season since planting this variety, and Farmer Jim was excited about the earlier harvest they would yield.

We spent quite a bit of time in the blueberry field, and I got an in-person speech from Farmer Jim on how to grow blueberries organically. I've been dreaming of trying my hand at blueberries, and now I know how to compost and cover my blueberries with sawdust to create the appropriate conditions for them to flourish in.

As my tour and stay at the farm came to close, I instantly called my husband to ask him if we could move there, and then, more seriously, I told him Farmer Jim should be the voice for organic farming across the U.S. I was absolutely smitten as he broke down the hows and whys of organic farming, and it made me think back to my childhood when those methods were still covered in school.

What will my children learn about food production? Will they be told we create seeds in a lab so they can tolerate being sprayed with as many chemicals as we can throw at them? I know that I'm glad I have Cascadian Farm and other organic brands fighting to bring back traditional methods of growing crops and farming for a sustainable future for my children.

If you're ever in the Seattle area, do take the time to make a visit up to the farm. The North Cascades Highway is a great drive, and the farm is well worth the journey up there. Plus, who doesn't want homemade ice cream at the roadside stand? If you happen to be there in the fall, I'm told the pumpkin patch and sunflowers are quite the photo opp.

Photos by Shaina Olmanson

For the last 37 years, we’ve been proud to deliver quality food that’s certified organic and guaranteed delicious. We started out with a little farm in the Skagit Valley of Washington, selling our berries and jams at the Pike Place Market in Seattle. Since then, we’ve expanded quite a bit and now sell our fruits, vegetables, cereals, bars, and other products in co-ops and grocery stores across the country. Over the years, our commitment to producing and sourcing delicious organic ingredients, grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides, has never wavered.

One resource that has been essential to Cascadian Farm and our farming partners is the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF). OFRF’s mission is to “foster the improvement and widespread adoption of organic farming systems.” They do this by sponsoring organic research projects funded through their grant- making program. They also distribute the findings of these projects to organic farmers and conventional growers who are interested in converting their farms to organic. Ultimately, OFRF strives to convert more farm land into organic acres through the education of farmers, the public, and government agencies.

Cascadian Farm has supported OFRF since its inception in 1990. Working together, we’ve seen thousands of acres of land converted from conventional farms to organic farm systems — saving literally tons of chemicals from ending up in our rivers, lakes, and ecosystems. In addition, OFRF provides resources and information to help farmers achieve higher yields, lower pest and disease levels, and run profitable organic farms.

“Personally, I have worked with Gene Kahn, Cascadian Farm’s founder, and his team for decades. More recently, we have worked together on policy-related issues, shared research-related results, and supported the free exchange of ideas among the men and women of the organic farming industry. Cascadian Farm has supported OFRF since the day it was founded.”

-Bob Scowcroft, Executive Director, OFRF

We’re proud to support OFRF, and we hope you’ll join us. Learn more at: www.ofrf.org.Proud to Support: The Organic Farming Research Foundation

Hi Friends! This week, Farmer Jim gives his expertise on how to grow some amazing blueberries. Typically blueberry plants last about 25 years, but Jim has developed a system in which he expects his plants to last 75-100 years. His secret? It’s all about making the blueberries feel at home! Take a look.

Hello friends! We hope you had a great Fourth of July weekend! We wanted to share some exciting news we found out last week. We knew our granola bars were good, but the best? Well, we are excited to announce that Cascadian Farm Fruit and Nut Granola Bars were voted Best Granola Bar by SELF magazine in their 2010 Healthy Food Awards. If you haven’t tried one yet, you’re in for a treat. Click here to find out what store in your area carries them. A big thanks to SELF magazine for the support.

This week Jim sheds some light on why it’s important to rotate your crops each season. If you have any other questions, leave them in the comment box below. Thanks and enjoy!