The Magic Skagit

It's been a busy week at Finney Farm!  Following are some photos of projects I've been working on.

Setting up twine suspension in the greenhouse.  

I tied twine around the base of each tomato plant, loosely wrapped it around the main stalk, and tightly secured it to the top rope.  This stands the tomato upright and encourages vertical growth more so than traditional tomato cages, which simply provide side support for plants.  Jennie compared the technique like this - crutches will give a person some upright support, while being hung by ropes on your wrists from a ceiling will really stretch you out.  

Twine-wrapped stalk

Last week I also made soil blocks for plant starts.

 Final product

First I had to mix potting soil.  It's a top-secret Finney Farm recipe which calls for dirt, sand, Perlite, coco fiber, and bat guano. 

 High nitrogen content!

Once that's done I wet the mixture, pack it into a soil block maker, push down on the handle and get four perfectly-shaped soil blocks! 

Super high-tech tool

For some reason I really enjoyed making soil blocks, as monotonous as it seems.  It was quiet and quick and I found it meditative.  It reminded me a lot of making mud pies as a kid

I spent the rest of the week weeding, transplanting, fertilizing, watering, and helping level ground for a new small greenhouse.

Weeding the blueberry orchard.  Far from ripe.

135 squash starts planted in squash mounds

 Hand-painted shed organization signs

 Harshly-worded road signs

Skagit County sprays pesticide on weeds along South Skagit Highway, where Finney Farm is located.  Being an organic farm, Finney Farm isn't interested in chemicals being sprayed on the property.  Hopefully my signs will be visible through the pesticide haze and sprayers will skip over Finney.

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Yesterday it was gloriously sunny again and almost seventy degrees out.  I took a break mid-afternoon between preparing beds and transplanting lettuce to head down to Finney Creek, the namesake of the farm.  In the sun the snow-melt creek's temperature was tolerable for longer than thirty seconds and I sat in the ankle-deep water until I felt sun drunk.

Washington Sunshine

Everyone keeps cracking the "Washington Sunshine" joke to me ("Washington Sunshine" = rain).  For some reason, I laugh every time.  As of now I like the rain up here -- even if they get more in one day than San Diego can get in an entire season.

The other day I took a walk in the woods with Bella, a farm dog, in the pouring rain.  The forests here are so ridiculously thick.  I feel like if I were to step off the trail more than two feet (or loose Bella) I would be totally lost.  Trees are so densely packed that it's hard to get any sense of direction in the woods near Finney Farm.

Cloudy skies soon turned into a monsoon

 "Lung Wart", a local, edible lichen.  What a sick description for lichen.  Totally the name of my new band.

In person, the texture fits the name perfectly

Yesterday we had some real Washington sunshine.  It was glorious.  I didn't realize how much I missed blue sky.

It exists!

Red Dog Wrap Up

Following are some photos from my last weekend in the beautiful northeast corner of the Olympic Peninsula.

First, notes on Port Townsend, a small, eclectic artist's town on Puget Sound.  The town is funky and earthy - a bit like a mix of Hillcrest and Ocean Beach.  There are organic restaurants, funky vintage clothing and record stores, and tons of coffee shops in town.  

A PT bumper sticker notes the sarcastic nature of residents

Postcards by local artists at the PT farmer's market

Scarves done using a felting technique by another local craft-maker at the farmer's market

On Sunday I went to Marrowstone Island where a part-time worker at Red Dog is house sitting.  She hosted a croquet and potluck party!

Gorgeous guest house on the property built by Jim, the owner

A fierce game ensued

 Some got competitive when given the chance to knock other players' croquet balls away

 After the game, Janet, a neighbor, led us through the woods down to the shore or Marrowstone Island

We found a geocache box in the roots of a driftwood tree.  Inside we found a log book, shells, and a pair of turtle socks!

 A view of the Sound from the top of the cliff on our way back

 Meadow atop the cliffs

 In the meadow - a group of old, weather-beaten houses with moss-covered rooftops

On the way back to Red Dog from Marrowstone I stopped on Indian Island to walk along the shore.

Back at Red Dog I took a few final photos of the farm.

 An attempt to take a photo with Woofins, the barn cat.  He drools and brought rats into the bathroom to present to me sometimes.

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I left Red Dog farm Monday morning, as scheduled.  I had a fantastic time on my first WWOOF farm.  I learned a ton about basic harvest, transplant, and tool techniques.  The people I met and worked with through Red Dog were welcoming, adventurous, and exceptionally understanding about my lack of farm knowledge! 

 Miss you already, Red Dog Farm crew!  Keep on rockin'.

Weekend in Chimacum

After arriving on Friday and working for a few hours in the afternoon I had Saturday and Sunday off to explore the local area.  On Saturday I explored the local OlyCap thrift store and drove into Port Townsend for the last day of the 75th annual Rhododendron Festival.  That evening I cooked some balsamic chard and lentils and listened to a local zydeco group with other people who work on the farm at Underground Cafe - literally underneath the streets of Port Townsend. 


This morning I went with another WWOOFer to the Olympic National Forest and hiked Mount Zion.  

 The hike was just under 4 miles out and back, but was fairly steep going up.  The views from the top were incredible - Puget Sound and the islands were right below us and Mt. Rainier was visible off in the distance.  

View from 4,262 feet

  

 Back to work tomorrow!  Rain in the forecast for early next week.  Hopefully my rain fly holds up!