786 lbs of Produce Donated

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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.