Rainshadow Organics believes deeply in education: educating you, our CSA members, about how and why we raise our animals and vegetables, and educating future farmers.

To further the education of our future farmers, we are members of the Rogue Farm Corp and host RFC interns and apprentice each year. Our interns and apprentice are our farm labor force. They help us do it all: seed, plant, and harvest; irrigate, weed, and start future crops; feed animals, process chickens, and harvest eggs; slice, dice, and brine vegetables turning them into pickles; do dishes, cook in the restaurant, and pack the meat CSAs every other Wednesday. We could not be Rainshadow Organics without our hard working, learning farmers. 

Every moment at Rainshadow is a learning moment. When interns first arrive, they spend their first month in an intensive curriculum. Sarahlee introduces them to all the parts of Rainshadow Organics. After this month, interns have an understanding of how to build beds, plant seeds, transplant starts into the ground; harvest, wash, and pack for the CSA; feed and care for animals; and work in our commercial kitchen. But this is only the beginning. What is planted, grown, and harvested in May isn’t necessarily what we are seeing on the farm in August. As a result, each harvest day is an opportunity to learn how to harvest a new vegetable. Each time we seed a new succession of vegetables for next month’s CSA boxes, interns gain a new nuance to add to their bag of tricks. Every time a chicken escapes or the pigs get a little bigger, an intern’s education gets broader and deeper. 

This continued learning and teaching is fulfilling on an all-encompassing level. However, this does mean that sometimes your lettuce head looks different from one week to the next, the size of the beans might vary from week to week, or the squash is gritty when it comes home because an intern was learning the proper way to wash squash. Each moment can be a learning moment, and each time we provide our CSA to you, our interns get another opportunity to learn efficiency, improve their quality standards, and are reminded why growing vegetables is so important to the fabric of our community. 

Thank you for your patience as we all continue to learn and improve. Most importantly, thank you for supporting our learning farm. Without you we would not have this opportunity to teach and mentor all the young farmers we do.

Dinner & Brunch Availability in September!

We have 4 spot left at our September 11 Farm-to-Table dinner and many openings left at our Brunches. If you have been thinking about coming and joining us for a meal on the deck, September is a great opportunity. Click the button below, check out our availability, and secure your spot

(We serve brunches and dinners outdoors on the farm store deck. All groups are seated 6′ from others and meals are plated and served by masked servers. Brunches are $29; Farm to Table dinners are $75)

Thanksgiving Turkeys are Available!

We are now selling our Thanksgiving turkeys. Only 65 available. Click the button below and select the “2020 Fresh, Organic Turkey Deposit” button and secure your turkey today. Organic, heritage breed, free-range, well loved, and delicious.

$50 deposit and you pay the rest when you pick the bird up, $8/lb. Closer to November we will reach out to ask what size of turkey you prefer. 

Turkey’s will be available for pick-up at the Farm Store or from us in Bend on Tuesday, 11/24.

Baked Eggplant Sticks
Serves 4

1. Preheat oven to 450F. Oil baking pan. 
2. Slice eggplant into strips, place strips in bowl and season with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
3. Combine breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese in one bowl. Put egg into another bowl and beat until combined and slightly frothy.
4. Dip strips of eggplant one at a time into egg, then cover in breadcrumbs. Using a fork, remove eggplant from crumbs and place onto baking sheets.
5. Bake for 10 minutes on the center rack, turn over and bake an additional 5 minutes or until golden. 
6. Serve while hot, dipping into warmed marinara sauce

Thanks to those of you who have been sharing your culinary creations on Facebook. We would love to hear from more of you. Checkout our Facebook group to help inspire all our other CSA members and to gain some inspiration yourself!

Have a great Tuesday afternoon! Don’t forget your mask tomorrow, they are required both at the Bend Farmers Market and in our Farm Store.

-Rainshadow Organics Crew