December on the farm

The end of 2020 has been a flurry of crop planning. The farmers have spent the last month going over everything we planted and grew in 2020 and have made our crop plan for how we are going to plant and raise all the vegetables needed for 2021! It has been quite the process to witness. They spent evenings reviewing all of our 2020 harvest numbers, the timing of all our starts, transplants, and harvests, what varieties we grew and what was successful, and how many seeds of what we saved. Needless to say, we have never felt more prepared for the start of a growing season. We are all in for 2021 and can’t wait to start planting!

As we reviewed 2020 to make our plans for 2021, we were filled with an overwhelming gratitude. Thank you all for supporting our farm when and where you did. You shopped at our Farmers Market stand. You came and bought groceries at the Farm Store. You were new and returning members of our CSAs. You had lunch on the deck with your friends. You treated yourself to Sunday Brunches and Friday Farm to Table Dinners. Through this crazy year you, our Rainshadow Community, never stopped supporting us. Part of being a farmer is cultivating relationships so that everyone can partake in the bounty of Rainshadow Organics. We are truly grateful for our relationship with each of you!

While conceptualizing the 2021 growing season in December, we have also continued to tidy up the farm in order to have it ready to rock and roll in the spring. The farmers have focused on cleaning up our 2 acre garden. This includes pulling old crops out, reforming beds, and adding nutrients to the soil setting it up for its long winters nap. In April, the 2-acre will get its first crops planted.

Our hoops continue to provide greens for our monthly Winter CSA, weekly Full Diet CSA, and restaurant. Under the beds all our worm friends are continue to do their jobs: breaking up plant debris, aerating the soil, and storing moisture.

December found us settling our cows into their winter quarters. We have separated the bulls and introduced them to our dairy cows. Amiga is already pregnant and we have high hopes for Miss Ginny Weasley. With the onset of the cold winter weather, all our cows have transitioned to a diet of hay. We never feed our beef anything but grass! As the winter progresses into spring, we use their manure and the hay they leave on the ground as the foundation of our compost keeping all our crops happy and healthy.

This month we served our last Sunday Brunch and Friday Farm to Table Dinner of 2020. It has been an adventure this year. We appreciate each of you that came and shared the deck with us! In December, Chef Travis Taylor worked magic with what our farm is producing right now showcasing organic, sweet, nutrient dense root vegetables and winter greens. Chef went all out for the Winter Solstice dinner making a salad illustrating the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter that occurred this solstice!

February Event

Valentine’s Day is coming and we have the perfect way to celebrate! We are offering 2 Valentine’s Dinners, Friday, February 12 and Saturday, February 13. Celebrate the special day with that special someone or the someones you love the most!

Do you want to know about all of Rainshadow Organics’ events, dinners, etc.? Sign up HERE to receive information on all of our upcoming brunches and dinners. This will be a separate email from the monthly Rainshadow Organics email you already receive and will be the only way to learn about everything we do in the restaurant.

Summer CSA sign ups are coming up!

We are excited to announce that our Summer CSA sign ups are almost here! On February 1, we will be opening up our 2021 Summer CSA to the public. We have sold out of our summer CSA shares each of the past 2 years, and we are not increasing our CSA numbers for 2021. We encourage you to act early.

Are you a current Winter or 2020 Summer CSA member? Not to worry, you get to sign up starting on January 1. You have exclusive access to our CSA sign ups until 1/15 and we have sent you a specific email invite. We highly recommend you sign up early so you don’t miss this opportunity!

Are you on a waitlist for any of our CSA’s? You will get to sign up starting on January 15 and have until 2/1 before we open the CSA to the public.

This year we are offering an early sign up bonus: buy a large meat & veggie share by National CSA day, February 26, and receive 2 free brunch tickets!

Farm Store
Our Farm Store is open every Friday & Saturday, 11-3, through April! Come and check out our farm fresh, organic, and nutrient dense vegetables and pastured meats as well as a curated collection of local artisans’ crafts.

Questions or Comments?
Send us an EMAIL if you have any questions or comments about the newsletter. We will answer as best we can. Chances are someone else has that question too and we might address it in a future newsletter for everyone to learn from!