smokin'

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Brian spent all day yesterday smokin' pig - he smoked two hams and an entire belly!! Big Thanks go out to Picnic she was a lovely pig and VERY tasty! fresh smoked bacon as an appetizer hard to go wrong... - there was a great group of friends who enjoyed the fruits at the end of the evening... good times



the ham with the last bits of one of our first prosciuttos and eggs lots of eggs areound here!!

remembering

my sister just sent me these photos she took at our wedding... I'd never seen them and they brought back such sweet memories I had to share : ) not farmy but lovely -

Mr. Pinot

there's a guy called the 'Prince of Pinot!' and he's super nice guy and has made finding and reviewing pinots his passion... he's got a very well read pinot web site and a biweekly pinot newsletter called the 'pinotfile' -- he came and found us at the pinot days event down in Santa Monica and wrote this SUPER nice review of our wines and took this cute photo (love the fire hose sign above my head ha!) !! Thanks Rusty for the great review of our wines!! cheers!

http://www.princeofpinot.com/article/850/

todays painting

we're still enjoying the '09 summer bounty from our Farm so I thought I'd celebrate that ...

This really matters!

I spent my day yesterday in Corvallis with a group of 60 farmers from all over the state of Oregon coming together with a common voice to advocate for our selves on major and critical issues with the guidance of Friends of Family Farmers. It was a thrilling day and totally inspiring that we can and will change agriculture. I was left knowing small farms matter and can make our voice heard with the help of this act! Read more at the FofFF web site and watch this video!

We 60 farmers volunteered our time and passion after coming to one of many local small community meetings that Fof FF organized all over the state to start to get their arms around the issues and roadblock we are facing. The 'delegate' farmers represent tiny producers like me to family owned and operated 'Organic Valley' dairy - IT was a huge cross section of produce and livestock small and medium farms old and young veteran and freshman... very powerful!!

a statement from the Fof FF web site they said it better than I did : ) -

On February 28th, was the Farmer Delegation in Corvallis, where a cross-section of family farmers will come together to establish a statewide platform for food and family farming. Through this process, the Agricultural Reclamation Act for Oregon will be written. Our combined strength, represented through this document, will put family farms first, and ensure that public officials hear and understand the needs of farmers who are practicing a type of agriculture that respects the land, sustains rural communities and contributes to the state’s economy.

Thank you Friends of Family Farmers for you hard work passion and job done so well!!

Snap shots from this week...

spring is early this year! - I love this view it's just up the road from me...


Brian planted favas and peas in our garden!


don't worry this is not my wrist - this art belongs to Garrett of Park Kitchen!
you can see why I had to take a picture! : )




the first one this year!!


my boys last week after plowing enjoying the sunshine...


my freshly used plow : )

pigs

I'd like to say a thank you to Picnic and Pancake - they where wonderful pigs and there last day on the farm was Thursday! - they are missed and I'm grateful to them for there contributions to all of our lives. The last day went perfectly another good clean end in pasture with no stress. That part always makes it a whole lot easier for everybody me included.

The day that went by in about 5 minutes

I traveled to Washington with Duane, Sara, and six horses, three plows, harness, hay, tools and wine in this big rig of Friday! - now that's a good packing job~


The VanDyke Rig - pretty darn nice!

I'm am humbled and grateful once again to be part of this amazing group of horseman and women... it was the weekend of the plowing competition and everything was pretty mind blowing - the weather was perfect 60 degrees and brilliantly sunny and my boys were at there VERY best!! we plowed our entire plot and Laura who's been coming out to help got to plow too! There is so much to tell I don't even know where to start and fear I would bore you all to the end of the earth - I will say it's was pretty mind blowing to have my boys out in front of the plow and having it go so well I shed a few tears of happiness early on - for those of you who know me this has been a project I started dreaming and scheming about when we first decided to buy land to farm - and here 4 years later and a few bumps along the way we have come to this!!!

This would not have been possible with out Duane and Sara Van Dyke! Thank you both for your mentorship, friendship, time and love - I love you both! and here's to many more years of horses, plowing and a 'splash' together!






Heading out with Sara to start our plot! Thanks Sara for helping me get going on the right hoof!!


Laura and Huston


a little drive when we first arrived Friday evening - it was blissful!


Dream come true



Sara and her beautiful team!


Duane's Team with the bay horse being a rescue that I thought would never even be able to be handled let alone be able to ever do this kind of work!! amazing


Laura with the boys - she did great esp being her first time on the plow!!



Post plow chatting

my beautiful good boys!


and this three up of Belgians and there teamstress to my right!


Jerry a great horseman with his beautiful pulling horses plowed to my left!


a little fun trying to fit in with most of the teamsters most of whom sport handlebars! : )



just the beginning ...

very nice review!

Thanks to Katherine Cole for the very nice review - from her recent bind tasting ... get your 'cow' now it's going fast!

2008 Big Table Farm Resonance Vineyard Yamhill-Carlton District Pinot Noir ($45): Sur lie aging and a careful combination of new and used oak make this splurge wine a delight for the senses, with a silky texture and lightly spiced baked fruit flavors. Josephine the cow, a resident of Big Table Farm, gets a star turn on the keepsake-worthy label. Find it at Cork a Bottle Shop Alberta and Lovejoy, and Storyteller Wine Co.

Below from today's work in the studio this one is called 'limoncello' - it's official I will be having a show in Carlton in April! : ) more on that soon!!

thank you Katherine Cole!

very exciting stuff (if you're a wine geek that is)... Katherine Cole writes wine columns for the FOODday section of The Oregonian newspaper and MIX magazine. - she did a blind tasting of abotu 18 wines if I counted right and pulled out a few that 'stood out' ours was among them... nice!! check out the video if want to really geek out !!

click here for the video