Thank you so much for your support this season. We have experienced some incredible abundance here on the farm and we are so happy to share it with you. This time of year is particularly full of life as we harvest our hefty late-summer crops like potatoes, winter squash, carrots, garlic, and more. At the same time, we are nurturing our little starts for winter. Greenhouses are being turned over, eggplants, zucchinis, basil, and others are headed to the pigs as new compost goes in. In the next couple weeks we’ll be transplanting over 3,000 kale, spinach, chard, arugula, mache, collards, lettuce, etc… These will be our winter greens.
Now is the time to sign up for our winter CSA. This includes ten pounds of mixed pork, beef, and chicken, as well as fresh ground flour, dried herbs, stored crops, and winter greens. It is delivered once a month to Sisters, Redmond, and Bend from November through May. This is your ticket to local eating all year round from Central Oregon, and a miraculous experience it is. The cost is $700 for seven months. I am flexible with payments, so contact me if you are interested!
As we wind down our summer CSA season we’d like to thank you all again for your help in eating the abundance. And for being brave and creative with all kinds of vegetables. We would like to extend a 10% discount to anyone who signs up for next summer’s CSA before the last market on October 8th. You can print the membership form and either mail it in or bring it to the market. This will be our deepest discount with many thanks for making a continued commitment to the farm. Payment in full is not required. If you’d like to make a deposit with the commitment, we can work on a payment plan over the winter.
We also have one more Longtable Dinner this Fall. We’ll be hosting another 100% Rainshadow meal in our barn on Monday October 6th at 5pm. It is $55/person and BYOB. If you haven’t been, it is a real treat and as Farm to Table as it gets. This is a special evening with wonderful people, incredible food, service, and ambiance. We’ll tour the farm, enjoy live music during this harvest feast. Best to sign up at the farmers market, but you can also mail in a check to reserve your spot.
Final orders of business…
Provide fresh food to the food bank!! Rainshadow has started a fund to give food to NeighborImpact. For every dollar you send to Rainshadow, we will give a pound of food. This food gets distributed to food banks, soup kitchens, and families in need throughout Central Oregon. We have already donated 1,000 pounds of greens and 2,000 pounds of potatoes. We have even more food here slated for delivery every Wednesday. In truth, the food will go no matter what, but it took a lot of time, energy, and money to plant, weed, irrigate, and harvest this food and we would appreciate it so much for the community to help offset these costs. This is a wonderful opportunity to help get some real, organic food to the people who need it.
TURKEYS!! We’ve been nurturing our very special heritage turkeys since April. We have them on 2 acres of green pasture, trees, and a cozy house for nights. They’ve been eating a mix of locally produced grains, but no corn or soy and absolutely no GMO. To get on the list you pay a $50 turkey deposit and let us know what kind you’d like and roughly what size. They are $7/pound and run between 10-20 pounds. We have Narraganset, Bourbon Red, Spanish Black, and Holland White. We will harvest in November and deliver frozen about a week before Thanksgiving. They are brined for 24 hours for extra juiciness!
Lastly, we did indeed grow an incredible amount of potatoes again!! Please consider getting another 50 pounds for winter. We’ll be harvesting through October and bringing them to town. Let me know if you would like to get on the potato list. We are also trying to sell them to local grocery stores. Whole Foods is carrying them so you can try them out there. You can also ask the produce manager wherever you shop to contact Rainshadow about carrying local, organic potatoes. I’ve attached some testimonials about our very special Viking Purple Potato, so please spread the word!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING A PART OF OUR FARM!!
—
sarahlee and ashanti
You’ll find so much information on our website: www.rainshadoworganics.com
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VIKING PURPLE POTATOES
> This is a real potato-lovers potato. The stunningly beautiful purple potato has flecks of pink in the skin and pure white flesh. Moist and firm, Purple Viking has a divine flavor and adapts to all cooking methods. Of those who try it, most will fall in love with the taste no matter what kind of dish it is prepared for. Purple Viking excels as mashed potatoes, giving them a unique fluffy texture and smooth, buttery taste that pleases with every bite. This variety is a great way to bring unexpected colors to your potato dishes.
> “Not only is the Purple Viking potato totally gorgeous (bright purple on the outside with pure white flesh on the inside), but they are adaptable to multiple cooking methods – they boil well for potato salad, they roast well for oven-roasted potato wedges, and they make incredibly fluffy mashed potatoes. The end result is a creamy, sweet, buttery flavor that makes this potato one of my all-time favorites to work with.” Lindsay Duffy, Chef, Jackson’s Corner
> “Our taste testers preferred them over Yukon!” Gurney’s Seed
> “Purple Viking is my all-time favorite potato, edging out fingerlings because of their versatility. It is a white-fleshed potato that has a purple skin with pink splashes, as pretty as it sounds. The flesh is sweet and meaty, perfect for fall and winter cooking in its ability to be baked, mashed, roasted and used in soups and stews. And yes, we make French friesevery November on my youngest daughter’s birthday. The potatoes are large, heavy yielding, store easily until late spring.” Mark Bittman, NY Times
Longtable at Rainshadow is like eating in space.
Viking Purple Potatoes in all their psychedelic Easter egg beauty
Harvesting Potatoes
The Longtable that my darling husband built and has become our anchor. Please join us!
