Is it September already?

Fall is arriving in fits and starts here. We have begun to harvest the late summer crops like beets, carrots, corn, and winter squash. Our interns are 4 months into their 6 month internship and doing their animal rounds independently and running our weekly harvests. Things are feeling sorted out which means the weather will change at any moment. We have already had to turn the irrigation on in the early morning to protect our field crops from frost, but we are enjoying the surplus and bounty while the late summer heat lasts.

Below are some photos of the farm from the last few months.

Farming is all about Growth and Change

Katie, Christine, Alison, and Nat finishing up the day on the back of the flatbed.And Rainshadow is no different. Early this season we had some turnover here. Pearce and Eleanor have left Rainshadow Organics to find and start their own farm. We wish them all the best and truly appreciate the changes they brought to Rainshadow and their hard work and passion. They will be missed and they left big shoes to fill.
You have probably noticed a new signature to the emails you have received or started to recognize a new smiling face in the Farm Store. I would like to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Alison Holland and I am the new Farm Liaison, aka CSA organizer, Farm Store & Restaurant Manager, email answerer, and hopefully super helpful human to you and your needs. I am so excited to meet you all as you come through to pick-up your CSA, shop the farm stand, dine with us at our Farm to Table dinners or brunches, join us for lunch on the deck, or volunteer for harvest day.

I moved here in early May from Flagstaff, Arizona where I was the Logistics Coordinator and Operations Director for Grand Canyon Youth, a non-profit that takes youth on educational and experiential river trips in the southwest. For the last almost 20 years, I have worked within the outdoor recreation industry with rivers being the unifying theme. While working at Rainshadow will be a departure from this past career path, it is also similar: seasonality within the job, lots of details to organize, and great conversations to have with incredible people.

I am so grateful to be a part of the Rainshadow community. It is truly a passionate and welcoming one.

In June we emailed to tell you that we had just been ravaged by a huge hailstorm. After the storm quite a few of you came out to help us replant and crawl along on your hands and knees scraping baby vegetables out of the dirt. Locovore’s Woolf pack, Seed to Table, Organic Red Neck, and Mahonia Gardens sent people, and plant starts. Chris Lawrence drove across the state picking up other farmers’ donated starts. You all spent a day with us resurrecting our market crops and, if you have dined at the restaurant recently, picked up a CSA, or purchased veggies from the farm stand, you have been partaking of those salvaged crops.

We lost about 20% of our crops during this storm which effected how many veggies you received in your early CSA shares as well as our market stand surplus. Losing that surplus was a hit to our Bend Farmers Market stand and our Farm Store. We are so grateful for the help of the High Desert Food and Farm Alliance which secured a grant for us to cover a small portion of our loss. Without the sweat labor and the grant from HDFFA, we would not have had the late summer bounty we are enjoying. It goes back to community. Thank you for being a great one.

The picture above is the section of the field that you all helped us replant.

With August comes an explosion in productivity and the photo below is what is looks like now.

Customer Appreciation Day – October 24

Check your calendars and set aside October 24. You will want to be at Rainshadow Organics celebrating Customer Appreciation Day. On Saturday, October 24, we celebrate you, our community! We will have small plates of farm sourced dishes for sale, the farm stand will be open for shopping, and we open up the 25-acres for gleaning. Whatever is left in the field — potatoes, winter squash, onions, carrots — is open for you to find and take home. This is a great opportunity to get you and your kids in the dirt and remembering or learning where your food comes from!

You all mean the world to us and we couldn’t survive without you! Upcoming Events Events Calendar. We have update our events calendar through February. Join us for a Sunday Brunch or a Farm to Table Dinner. The ingredients reflect the season and the meals are always fresh and delicious reflecting Chef Travis Taylor’s imagination and creativity in the kitchen.

If you have a brunch coupon code from us, now is the time to book your brunch. Those codes expire at the end of the year and that isn’t that far away. We have all the brunches up in our Events Calendar from now through February. Your coupon code will expire with the December 20 brunch.

It might not feel like it right now, but summer is coming to an end. We continue serving brunches and dinners on the deck when the weather begins to cool down. To keep it warm, we wall in the deck for warmth and turn on the propane heaters. We will maintain our social distanced seating and keep the air flowing.

Thanksgiving Turkeys for Sale

Rainshadow Organics raised, Heritage breed turkeys are for sale. We have a limited amount and they are going fast. All organic, free-range and pastured. Pick up at the Farm Store or in Bend on Tuesday, 11/24. $50 deposit and $8/lb after that. Click on the button below for more information and to purchase. Thanksgiving TurkeyFall HoursStarting October 1 we are transitioning to Fall hours. Our Farm Store will be open Thursday-Saturday, 11-3 and restaurant will serve lunch Thursday-Saturday, noon-2. On Thursday and Friday we will be serving our Farm House menu and Saturday is pizza day featuring our wood fired pizzas.Â