November has passed in a blur. The rain and snow arrived just as we delivered our first Winter CSA. How timely. It is a good reminder that Rainshadow Organics is driven by the sun, water, and length of day. Without these seasonal changes tomatoes wouldn’t be as good in August and beets wouldn’t be as good right now.

In November we harvested the the rest of our winter storage crops: daikon radish, potatoes, beets, carrots, winter squash, etc. We put some serious time into getting the farm ready for the deep winter cold by blowing out irrigation lines and winterizing our animal pens. We cleared and disced the 25-acre and planted our winter wheat, cover crops, and garlic. We harvested 75 turkeys and delivered them for people’s Thanksgiving dinners. We also got all our winter successions planted in the hoops. From here on out, what our restaurant serves, the CSAs eat, and what you can buy at the farm store will all be coming from our storage crops and the hoops. And we did all of that while settling in to our winter farming hours. Now it is dark at 4:30 providing a nice respite from the long summer hours we work.

We also welcomed a new resident to our zone. This Great Horned Owl has been a consistent visitor to the pig pasture and shelter. We love it when wild animals feel comfortable enough on the farm to set up residence. Breezy the cat might be the only thing disappointed. She now will have some competition.

November has also brought with it a resurgence in COVID-19 cases and a Freeze in the state of Oregon. This means that our Restaurant is closed and the Farm to Table Friday Dinners and Sunday Brunches are cancelled until the Freeze is lifted, hopefully this week on Thursday, 12/3.

Regardless of the Freeze, our Farm Store will remain open Thursday-Saturday, 11-3 until Christmas. Starting December 24 and going at least until February 3, we will only be open on Saturdays for you to come in and pick up vegetables, meats, and other Farm Store goodies.

Customer Appreciation Day

While Customer Appreciation Day was back in October, we would be remiss to not share with you how much fun we had! Thank you all for coming out and spending the first truly cold and wet day of winter with us! We had so much fun helping you glean from the field and sharing in your discoveries, taking you on tours and sharing the inner workings of Rainshadow Organics with you, feeding your from our restaurant, and generally watching everyone visit and enjoy themselves! We are already looking forward to this day next year!

Gift at the Farm Store

If you are looking for a gift for that special someone, consider a stop at theRainshadow Organics Farm Store!

We have a curated selection of  hand crafted goods made by Central Oregon craftspeople and artisans to peruse and we can work with you to create a gift basket of Rainshadow Organics goodies for that special friend.

If you are unsure what to buy that special someone, how about an eGift card? This certificate can be used at the Farm Store & Restaurant, farmers markets and crafts fairs where we are set up, and to buy tickets to brunch or dinners through our events website. Click the button below to purchase a gift certificate!