Nuts About Berries

I feel silly!

2011-12-07T19:20:00.001-08:00

I had a laugh when I fed the chickens and checked on the sheep today; one of the lambs investigated the chicken feed bucket a bit too closely. That is the way with animals, there is always something either going awry or a source of amusement.

A few weeks ago our son was taking a bath and he heard footsteps on the stairs. Knowing that the rest of the family was at the Sunday market, he was a little alarmed, but it was ok, he peeked around the corner to see both goats climbing the stairs to check out what he was doing! The goats are quite intelligent and had quickly learned that the front door latch is just a lever that you push down to open the door.

That reminds me of another episode with the sheep. In the summer I had the rams and a wether in a separate paddock from the ewes. One day the the gate separating the rams and ewes was wide open! I coaxed them back into their separate paddocks but pondered how the gate had mysteriously opened, since it was not a gate we typically use. This gate has a latch that opens by pulling a pin upwards while pulling the gate towards you - not an easy feat. Well, a week or so later it happened again only this time we witnessed the wether stand on his hind legs and with his mouth pull the pin upwards to open the gate! His name from then on was 'Gate Opener'. According to our son, after todays escapade this lambs new name is 'Bucket Head'.

Lamb, Fresh Thanksgiving Turkeys, Pumpkins and Squash

2011-11-06T08:10:00.000-08:00

We butchered several batches of lambs this year. The first batch in May sold out quickly at the farmers market. We have a variety of cuts available from the fall batch and will also soon have lamb Italian sausage meat (not in links) that we are eager to try. We are also raising turkeys again this year with a planned butcher day of the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and free delivery of your fresh turkey. This year we are raising a heritage breed (Bronze) and still have a couple available.

Lamb loin, rib and sirloin chops (4 / pack) - $12 / #
Lamb Leg roast (boneless) - $7.40 / #
Lamb Leg roast (bone in) - $6.60 / #
Lamb Shoulder roast (boneless) - $7.40 / #
Lamb Shanks - $6 / #
Lamb Bones (soup/stock) - $2.75 / #
Bronze Heritage Turkey - $4.65 / #
Whole Chicken - $3.95 / #

We also have several varieties of winter squash at 65c / # and pie pumpkins 55c / # for sale.

Squash: Acorn, Buttercup, Butternut, Red Kuri Hubbard, Green Kabocha and Spaghetti.
Pumpkins: New England Pie, Baby Pam and Rouge Vif D'Etampes.

Our onions were a big hit this year at the market. While we have sold out of the mini and red onions, we do still have Sweet Onions for sale at $1 / #.

And lastly we do have a limited quantity of greens; Winter Red Kale, Parsley and Sorrel at $1.50 / bag. I have more greens (kale, bok choi, arugula and mustard) started in a low tunnel but with the low light intensity at this time of year it will be a while before they are ready.

Please email (nutsaboutberriesfarm@gmail.com) if you like to visit the farm to make a purchase or even just for a tour.

Market Stall

2011-08-24T07:38:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since my last post - just so much to do. We nearly doubled the area cultivated for vegetables and with the wet spring the weed pressure was intense. This season I purchased a wheel hoe which really helped weeding the beans, melons, squash and corn which are planted on a wide spacing. However the early spring plantings were a bit too close together for the wheel hoe so those weeds had to be hand pulled, very time consuming, consequently it was a struggle to keep the weeds in check.

Debra took this photo last Sunday at the farmers market (Orenco Station). Up front we have six different varieties of bush beans - yellow fillet, purple, green (2 types), yellow wax and Italian flat pod. We also have a pole bean growing up the corn and scarlet runner beans that we haven't picked yet. On the left the orange Sungold cherry tomatoes are a big hit - such intense flavor. We planted seven varieties of basil in our moveable greenhouse, two sweet Italian and five flavored varieties.

I've already started planting fall crops, lettuce and chinese cabbage under shade cloth and several rows of beets, kohlrabi and spinach.

Lambing and shearing

2011-04-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

The lambing season was a challenging one this year. Out of twelve lambs we lost six! Butterball lost one of her lambs, but that seems to be a mothering issue, she had twins again this year but was only interested in the first one. This happened last year too but last year we got to the second lamb quick enough to force the ewe to bond with the lamb but it wasn't to be this year. Two single lambs were born during the bitterly cold spell late in February. The newbie ewes, Stripes and Athena, chose to lamb in the field rather than in the relative shelter of the sheep barn. No matter what we were unable to revive them. Another newbie ewe, Hestia, gave birth in the barn, however the lamb was still born possibly with a broken neck. All of the newbie ewes did their best to clean off the lambs and were very upset when we had to bury the lambs. Next came Marina's twins, they seemed to do well for a week but then became bloated. We removed the lambs from the ewe to intensive care (our family room) and treated for scours. We also had the vet do a stool sample which didn't show up anything. Their appetite was very good but they seemed to be unable to absorb any nutrients from the ewe or from two different brands of milk replacer and succumbed after 1-2 weeks.
For us the end of lambing means the beginning of shearing. This year we've decided to shear all of the lambs ourselves including the meat lambs. We are very slow using scissors, but doing it ourselves is allowing us to better gauge the characteristics of the fleeces and the temperament of the sheep. We will use these factors in deciding which ewes to keep and which ones to cull from our flock. Using our electric shears with colored sheep causes too many nicks to the sheep and second cuts on the fleece. The skin of the colored sheep is dark along with the fleece and so it is very difficult to differentiate between the two.

This year we will be looking for a new ram to broaden the genetics of the flock and increase the quality of the fleeces. We have found that Mel, our CVM Ram has too much crimp when mated with the colored ewes which makes fiber processing especially difficult on a drum carder. We are extremely pleased with Paris' line, Hestia, Zeus (Ram) and this years twins. Paris is a Romeldale with long lustrous locks. Butterball and Colossus are white Romneys with regular length fine locks.

One more lamb

2011-02-21T17:59:00.000-08:00

Butterball (Romney) gave birth to twins this morning, both were female however only one made it. The second was fully formed and was either still born or died soon after, Butterball had made no attempt to clean off the goup from birthing. We think that Zeus, Paris' male lamb from 2010 is the father. Butterball, the ewe, only seems to bond with the first lamb. Last year she had twins and bonded with the female and then rejected the male even pushing him away when he tried to feed. We helped him along by supplementing with a bottle and eventually she accepted him. We had thought that Butterball was mentally challenged, but we now think that Butterball may be blind, although she copes remarkably well if she is.

Black Lambs

2011-02-18T08:03:00.000-08:00


Mini (Romeldale) gave birth to a black lamb on Wednesday afternoon in the walnut orchard, the father is Mel (CVM). Mini is quite a nervous ewe and took a lot of coaxing to get lamb and ewe in the barn. They both are very content now warm and safe in the barn stall.

The following day, Ruby (Romeldale) gave birth to twins, the father is Mel (CVM). This is the third year that she has produced twins, Mini and Morris were her first. She is also quite nervous but a very good mother.

They grow up fast though, Paris' twins after a week are very lively, constantly investigating and curious. Even trying some of mom's food.

Magazine photo shoot

2011-02-12T20:43:00.000-08:00

A Flair For Fiber
Debra's fiber appeared in the Hobby Farm Home magazine article - A Flair For Fiber (March 2011 issue). The article by Cherie Langlois profiles three fiber artists from across the US. The lead photo is a close up of one of Debra's shawls and custom blended ball of fleece. Photographer, Rhoda Peacher, visited our stall at Orenco Station farmers market in October to capture the wonderful images of Debra's yarn and felted fish. Later on, Rhoda visited the farm, camera in hand, and our sheep always oblige to have their photo taken when offered some grain (we call it their candy).
Place mouse over small photos to see expanded image.
Photos used with kind permission of Rhoda Peacher.

Place mouse over small photos to see expanded image.
Photos used with kind permission of Rhoda Peacher.

Paris has twins

2011-02-12T07:52:00.001-08:00

Paris gave birth to twins on Thursday (2/10/2011), a white male (sitting down) and a gray female . Paris is a Romeldale with excellent fleece and the twins were sired by Mel who is a gray CVM with a very tight fleece.

Paris and the twins are in the old sheep barn that was built in 1951/1952. Carolyn and I built some temporary 10x10 pens out of old barn doors and old 2x4s (everything is old here!)

Holiday Market

2010-12-03T14:33:00.000-08:00

On Saturday December 4th, from 2 pm until 7, Hillsboro Farmers Markets is holding a Holiday Market on Main St. between 1st and 2nd. There will be a parade with carolers and Santa starting at 2 pm and don't miss the tree lighting at 5.45pm.

Be sure to visit the Nuts About Berries stall and check out the new knitted hats and felted fish. Now is the time to stock up on fleece and yarn for those winter knitting and felting projects. And of course we will have freshly cracked walnuts as well as winter squash.

Fresh Thanksgiving Turkeys

2010-11-19T07:55:00.000-08:00

Customer feedback: "That was the best turkey we have ever had! It was ready in 3.5 hours - fast for such a large bird! Please let us know if you are going to do another batch of turkeys next year." - Sarah

We are selling pasture raised fresh turkeys for Thanksgiving. The turkeys are the white broad breasted turkeys raised in a mobile pen that we move twice a day to fresh grass, they eat a diet of premium poultry feed, supplemented with the salad bar, a brassica forage crop that I grew and our walnuts. Absolutely no medication was given to the turkeys even when they were hatchlings.

The turkeys will be processed 2 days before Thanksgiving by a home school family in Willamina (Mineral Springs Poultry) that we have been using for about 6 years now. We will deliver the turkeys fresh to your door or a convenient pick up point on Tuesday afternoon (23rd November). Pricing is $4.25 per pound plus a deposit of $6 which is the processing fee. We expect sizes will vary from 15# for the small females to 30# for the biggest tom. Quantities are very limited so if you are interested please email us at jonpearc@gmail.com

We have several mobile pens (also called chicken tractors), presently we are using one for layer chickens and one for meat chickens during the summer, currently housing the turkeys. The pens are a great way to provide access to outdoors, bugs and salad bar. They also eliminate cleaning the chicken coop (no ones favorite job) and reduces predation. The pen structure is built from recycled 2x6 ripped in half and screwed together (nails will pull out). The roof material is recycled metal roofing from a pole barn that I deconstructed (after a 3' snow storm brought it down).

Sherwood Saturday Market

2010-10-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

After the season finished at Sherwood Saturday Market, we have fielded a number of comments and questions about the market from customers. A typical comment is that the customers appreciate going to market on Saturday and wished it went on for longer and was it possible to extend the market season through October and perhaps even adding a holiday market. Also there is impression that the market is run by the city of Sherwood, however this is not the case. The market is run by a non-profit company called "Sherwood Saturday Market" (Tonie of Tollen Farms is the president).

You may contact the market directly through email: sherwoodmarket@frontier.com. Jim, the market manager may be reached at 971-238-1178. For further information goto visit the market's blog at sherwoodmarket.blogspot.com

Vegetables

2010-09-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

End of summer vegetables:

Beans - Green, Purple and Yellow Wax
Beets - Chiogga, Golden and Red
Broccoli - heads and sprouting
Corn - soon (est. 9/18)
Cucumber - Lemon
Cucumber - Armenian (actually this is a variety of melon).
Eggplant - Japanese and regular types
Lettuce - Bibb, Buttercrunch, Rouge D'Hiver, Simpson and Prizehead (est. 9/11-9/18)
Marrow - English variety of squash that is baked.
Summer squash - Scalloped (patty pan), green and golden, Yellow straight neck and crookneck, Magda
Onions - cooking: Cippolini, Red Marble, Red Zepplin, Copra.
Peppers - Biscayne, Gypsy
Tomatillos
Tomatoes - Cherry (Orange, Yellow), Grape (Red) and slicing
Zucchini - Green and stripped (Cocozelle)

With fall fast approaching it is time to plant fall cover crops and veggies. I've already started scallions, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, beets in soil blocks; Brussels sprouts, chard, kale is in the ground and I will be planting carrots and spinach this week.

Fennel

2010-07-22T20:14:00.001-07:00

Take a look at the size of the fennel that Carolyn grew, didn't she do well! Did you know that the fennel root tastes similar to parsnip.

For lunch we made a soup of leftovers: real chicken broth, snow peas that we shelled, fennel root, spring onions, noodles (from the store!) and topped with spicy globe basil.

After Market

2010-07-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

After the Market on Saturday we came home and unloaded the vegetables that didn't sell at the market which we then use as a basis for meals during the week. For example for Saturday lunch I made a salad using half a bag of mixed cut lettuce (6 varieties), half a bunch of spring onions (4), and a kohlrabi (peeled and shredded). I added some local cheddar cheese although usually I sprinkle crumbled Feta cheese on top. Total cost $2.75, excluding the cheese, for a family of four!

Saturday dinner consisted of more vegetables: beet greens, 1 red and 1 green onion plus the tops, 2 Chinese kale (broccoli) and a pound of snow peas along with a can of locally caught tuna that we processed last summer in the pressure canner. Total cost for vegetables $5.25; not including the beet since that will be used in another meal.

Vegetables

2010-07-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

This week we will have the following vegetables at the Sherwood Saturday Market (9 am - 1 pm):

Basil - Spicy Globe, Sweet Italian and Thai
Broccoli

Green Garlic
Green Onions
Lettuce - Bibb, Buttercrunch, Simpson, Speckles and Rouge D'Hiver
Kohlrabi
Peas - English, Sugar Snap and Snow

Swiss Chard

All grown without chemical sprays or petrochemical fertilizers.

Mini has her first lamb

2010-05-15T05:30:00.000-07:00

We hadn't expected this but Mini gave birth to her first lamb on 5/13, a nice surprise for my return from the UK. Both ewe and lamb are doing great, here he is resting in the apple orchard while Mini enjoys the lush spring growth in the enjoining pasture. Mini is the daughter of Ruby (CVM) and Mel (also CVM). CVM sheep are considered a rare breed with a great fleece for spinning.

We have rovings, batts and yarn from our CVM and Romney sheep available for sale at the Sherwood Saturday Market. Also check out our hand felted soaps, spinning kits and wonderful hats and gloves.

Colossus has twins

2010-03-16T08:20:00.000-07:00

Colossus, a rather large Romney, finally has twins. Both are male, all of our other twins have been male/female, so this is a little unusual for us, both are doing fine though and have bonded well with the ewe.

Last year Colossus, also had twins, a male came first, however the female got stuck and the ewe wouldn't let me help until it was too late.

Butterball has twins

2010-02-22T08:26:00.001-08:00

Butterball (Romney) had twins

last week, the male is white and the female variegated gray with a black tail and zipper along its back. The male lamb came out quite small and is being somewhat rejected by the ewe, in fact Butterball is not particularly good at lambing.

Last year she gave birth to twins in the middle of a horrendous storm in the middle of the night and ended up with her legs pointing up hill and wasn't able to get up to tend to her lambs. She doesn't seem to have the patience that Ruby and Paris have to let the lambs feed. We are supplementing the male with a bottle to help him gain some weight.

Here is a photo of the the female lamb quite content.

Two more lambs

2010-01-25T12:53:00.001-08:00

First time mom, Paris gave birth this morning to twins, one mixed gray (girl) and one white (boy).

Paris has the highest quality fleece so Debra is super excited.

2/22/10 Update. Paris has turned out to be a super mother (Ruby is too). Ewes and lambs are on the pasture now and are thriving.

First lambs of the season

2010-01-25T08:10:00.000-08:00

Ruby gave birth to two delightful lambs Saturday morning, she knew exactly what to do - no help required birthing the lambs standing up right next to the lambing shed. I wish they were all so easy.

If they follow last years schedule the next one should be Butterball in 2-3 weeks followed by Big Mama and Colossus

786 lbs of Produce Donated

2009-10-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

This year we participated in the Plant A Row for the Hungry program dropping off extra produce on Sundays at the Farmington Gardens PAR collection center for Sunshine Pantry. Farmington Gardens invited PAR participants to a Harvest Celebration last Sunday to meet Sharon Straus, founder of Sunshine Pantry and to hear about Sunshine Pantry helping over 900 families each month. The Farmington Gardens PAR program donated over 6000 lbs of produce to Sunshine Pantry and we were astounded to hear that Nuts About Berries was the biggest donor with over 786 lbs donated!

Fabulous hat

2009-10-08T20:24:00.000-07:00

Molly saw our SodaSpin spinning kits at the Sherwood market and decided she wanted one. She saved up her money over the summer vacation and purchased one. Then not only did she learn to spin but she also learned to knit and made this fabulous hat. We were thrilled when she showed it to us at the end of the market. What a great learning experience! Great job Molly.

Hand Felted Soaps - great for the shower

2009-09-10T13:02:00.000-07:00

Our hand felted soaps are crafted from sheep wool from our own flock that has been hand carded, dyed and felted around french milled bars of soap.

Some of the natural dyes used include: Oregon Grape, Queen Annes lace, walnut husks, onion skins, mushrooms, dock leaf and root. The black, grey and white colours are not dyed, but are the natural colors of our sheep.

The felted wool around the soap retains the soap lather after use ready for the next time, eliminating the mess and significantly extending the life of each bar of soap. Our felted soaps have lasted up to 7 months of use.

The felted soaps are available in a range of colours and scents. A unique and inexpensive gift, priced at $8 each.

Hillsboro Market

2009-08-29T09:28:00.001-07:00

Nuts About Berries will be at the Orenco Station Hillsboro Market this Sunday (8/30) from 10 am until 2 pm. We will have fresh plums and pears, a wide variety of vegetables, freshly cracked walnuts and farm fresh free range eggs. Also check out our wool products, from the raw fleece to finished hats, felted fish and soaps. Hope to see you there!

Quetsch Plums

2009-08-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

We've started picking our Quetsch Plums and will be bringing them to the Sherwood Saturday market, tomorrow 9 am until 1 pm (8/22). They are a small plum, oblong in shape with a purplish black skin, inside they have a sweet somewhat crunchy yellow flesh. There are grown particularly in Alsace France.

This week we will have delightfully sweet sun gold and grape tomatoes and also we will again have baby carrots along with beans, beets, broccoli, chard, cucumber (lemon and Armenian), kohlrabi, welsh (bunching) onions and of course squash (Patty Pan, Crookneck and Straight neck).

Last week we donated 402 lbs of zucchini and squash to the Plant a Row for the hungry program - they were somewhat overwhelmed.

New drop spindles

2009-08-12T21:16:00.000-07:00

We now have Turkish drop spindles handcrafted on site by Jon at Nuts About Berries, currently available in North American cherry hardwood. The Turkish spindle is an interesting design whereby the spindle is used to lock together two interlocking cross pieces. As fiber is spun into yarn, it is wound on the cross pieces, over one, under two, forming a center pull ball. When spinning is complete the spindle is removed unlocking the cross pieces which are then slid out of the ball leaving the ball of yarn with two ends. These two ends can then be spun into a balanced two ply yarn. Weight of the drop spindle is approximately 1.4 oz.

Come and try out these drop spindles at the Tuality Farmers Market, Thursday 13th August 3-6:30 pm or Hillsboro Farmers Market, 15th August 8 am-1:30 pm.

Figs are ready!

2009-08-07T13:48:00.001-07:00

The first of our figs are ready! We will be at the Sherwood Saturday market tomorrow (8/7/09) from 9 am until 1 pm. Come early they go fast!

This week we will also have blackberries along with a variety of great tasting vegetables.

Sunshine Pantry

2009-08-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

Today, Nuts About Berries donated 259 lbs of surplus produce to the Sunshine Pantry in Beaverton.

19# Armenian Cucumber

16# Royal Burgundy and Cherokee Wax Beans

28# Patty Pan Squash

195# Cocozelle Zucchini

1# Swiss Chard

The pantry was thrilled, with the economic downturn they are feeding 40 families a day.

Plant a row for the hungry

2009-07-26T13:53:00.000-07:00

The Oregon Food Bank, has a "Plant a row for the hungry" program as a way for those with extra produce to help the hungry with fresh food. Today we donated extra Zucchini and Patty Pan squash to the program, 71.5# in total at Farmington Gardens drop off site from where it is delivered to Sunshine Pantry in Beaverton.

Cocozelle

2009-07-23T12:55:00.000-07:00

We are now picking Cocozelle, an Italian striped zucchini, along with straight neck and crook neck squash and a personal favorite, Pattypan squash - great for stir frys.

This week, we'll be at the Tuality Thursday Farmers Market in Hillsboro (Baseline and 8th) and Sherwood Saturday Market (next to the library).

Bush Beans

2009-07-15T17:53:00.001-07:00

We have tender young bush beans ready for picking to order. We have colorful Royal Burgundy and Cherokee Wax varieties as well as Blue Lake type beans.

Sherwood Farmers market

2009-07-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

Nuts About Berries will be at the Sherwood Farmers Market, Saturday July 11th from 9 am until 1 pm.

On the produce side, we will have Nantes carrots, beets, lettuce (Salad Bowl and Rouge d'Hiver), bright lights chard, Walla walla onions, spring onions, garlic, Kohlrabi, english peas (in the pod), broccoli, Cocozelle squash (Italian zucchini) and the best free range eggs (come early - they sell out quickly). Also we have fresh cracked walnuts.

And of course we will have our wool products from our Romney and CVM sheep. Check out the iPod touch/iPhone covers, the Soda spin drop spindle spinning kits, felted soaps, knitted hats and lots more.