Dolan Creek Farm

We're finally experiencing a mild spring. Near the end of February we had the first batch of peas, carrots, spinach, bok choy and lettuce in the ground. If temperatures stay above 40 degrees we won't have to replant them. We'll wait and see what happens.

Big news around here is that the Knifong family have come to rent the log house and help around the farm. Every morning the older girls are in the barn doing chores with farmer Chris and the little kids have been pulling old bean vines and tomato cages. Lots of hands to help weed and pick! The Wellings finally have permanent house sitters so they can get away once and awhile for some needed R&R.

The CSA is just about full. Some past customers have decided to try their hand at gardening, much to Farmer Chris' delight! She loves to pass on her gardening knowledge and see people experience the joys of gardening for themselves.

If the weather is nice you will find her out sitting on an upside down bucket hand digging weeds because the ground is too wet to till. Every seed has been hand planted and weeded with loving care.

Spring is off to a slow start again but that’s not slowing things down at Dolan Creek. There’s a lot to do to prepare for a great season. Already she’s planted carrots, radishes, onions, spinach and peas. With the addition of a large green house, Chris can start more heat-loving plants early and grow them on to maturity in the ground. While tending this peaceful plot, Chris is more and more disturbed by the farming practices that are becoming widely accepted around the world. She recently read in Capital Press how genetically modified crops, which can be sprayed with weed-killing herbicides and still grow, have increased to cover 395 million acres worldwide! Each year more countries are succumbing to the siren call of biotech farming, which alters God’s perfect seeds into a man-made nightmare. The biotech industry exists because of greed, not for health, or better environmental practices. Genetically Modified crops (GMO) can be grown with less labor because they can spray Roundup and other nasty chemicals on your food and can legally get away with it. More reason to buy from a farmer you can trust and pay a bit more to ensure your food is grown the way God intended: the slow way. Chris is very concerned that the precious seeds that carry the perfect genetic information will be lost through cross pollination with GMO seeds. Mega corporations like Monsanto would love nothing else than for their GMO seed to become the only seeds available. There’s a big battle going on and it’s over your food! Our country’s health is deteriorating as our food supply becomes poison-proof and contains less life-giving nutrients. This is a frustrating situation, but once again, you the consumer can vote with your dollars to support organic, non-GMO food, especially from local farms like Dolan Creek.

It's November 1st and we're pretty much done for the year. Starting to pull up the end of the gardens and get them ready for the winter. This has been one of the most challenging years in regards to weather for growing vegetables. I'm always up to a good challenge.

I've really enjoyed meeting new families this year.  Thanks for supporting your local farmer. Growing food the way God intended it and sharing that harvest is something I feel passionate about and love sharing it with all the families here at Dolan creek farm. We hope everyone has safe winter and we'll post more in the spring when we start getting ready for the 2011 growing season.

Just got back from picking wild blackberries down by the creek on the 90+ degree day. So sweet and delicious. First batch in the freezer, and looking forward to more. Love blackberry pie in the winter. The garden is also in full swing, so many vegetables: green beans, zuccini, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, kale, swiss chard, etc.  Really looking forward to the corn. Tassles are starting to show, so hopefully it wont be long.

It's also "turkey time". Have started putting the turkeys in the freezer in anticipation for thanksgiving. They really are one of my favorite things to raise. Just fun to watch. However, they can't all be pets so it's that time of year again. So far we have five in the freezer and will start adding to that number soon. This first batch were anywhere between 16- 19 lbs. each. They are free range in the grass area during the day, and only given organic feed. We going to sell them for $4/ lb. so please give us a call if interested as my freezers can only hold so many birds.  We also have lots of beef available and another cow going into the freezer soon.

Meet "Tom-Tom" the proud father of our turkeys.

A new batch of turkeys! We're getting the kinks worked out of incubating them ourselves.

Our turkey home: in the orchard with lots of grass.

This has been one of the most "interesting" growing seasons farmer Chris has ever encountered. All the rain in June had her replanting most everything multiple times. She does love a good gardening challenge.  Persistence and some sunshine has paid off and the garden is producing. Had a lovely year for raspberries and starting to get some boysenberries. Now starting to get the beginnings of tomato season. Yum.

Have also had to start thinking about beef. Getting ready to put 2 steers in the freezer, so plenty of beef available for anyone interested. These cows have been enjoying a lovely couple of years on nice green grass with lots of leg room for roaming. They are not given grain, antibiotics, or hormones. The pastures are pesticide free. In addition to beef we have turkeys that we will start getting ready to butcher too. The bourbon reds are especially "free range" as they fly the coup everyday. Because of this they've really learned to enjoy raspberries.

One of my favorite things is to walk in the evening down to the pastures to check on the cows. There is usually and evening glow and it's so quiet. Even startled a coyote that lives along the creek. when snapping some recent photos. Another summer afternoon while looking out over the pond, saw a bald eagle circling in the sky and landed in one of the taller trees along the creek.

Here are some beautiful photos of springtime at Dolan Creek. Everything is green and promising. The cool weather crops are well established and Chris is starting to transplant her tomatoes and peppers into the field from her greenhouse and cold frame. Once again, it's a cold spring, but hopefully the weather will warm up the ground soon!

Who could resist buying eggs at Dolan Creek? No wonder customers fight over their incredible fresh eggs. (Chicken house and chickens grazing in the background.)

Hello, this is Kristi Knifong, a long-time friend of the Wellings. I have spent half my life visiting this beautiful farm. Some of my favorite memories have taken place at this homestead from a by-gone time. It is my hope to inspire others through this blog not only to visit Dolan Creek, but to give the old fashioned ways a try...you just might fall in love with them! I'm referring to chopping your own firewood, canning your own food, making jam, collecting your own eggs and hanging your laundry out to dry. There is something very fulfilling in slowing down, simplifying and working hard hand in hand with the Creator. We have our own little farm, but we always love to visit the Wellings because they are the best of mentors. If we have a chicken crisis, a question about pressure canning or which seeds to save, Chris is the woman to ask. I have the delightful job of keeping you up to date on the goings on around Dolan Creek! Stay tuned to this blog for my trips (with my 5 children in tow) to see what's new.

Yesterday we came over so I could take some pictures of the garden at the end of the summer. We marveled at the 16 foot tall "Bloody Butcher" corn and the gigantic Pineapple tomatoes. The tomatoes are still going strong as well as the corn. It's almost time to harvest the squashes and pumpkins. The canning has been going on non-stop and the pantry shelves are filling quickly! So beautiful to behold!

22 Bourbon Red turkeys (a Heritage breed) are fattening up for Thanksgiving and 2 steers were butchered last week. Raising turkeys has turned out to be a daunting task but they've managed to keep them alive and healthy.

Kirk is finishing up adding a loafing shed to the back of the barn to keep it dry and safe from errosion. The cows will love it this winter.

In the beginning of September the Wellings celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary with a garden party on the back lawn. The staff from their favorite restaurant, The Rendezvous Grill (in Welches), created an amazing menu with fresh produce all from the Welling's garden. It was a dream come true and a very memorable evening for all.

Kirk & Chris with their 2 daughters and 4 grandchildren.

It sounds like the CSA customers have been very happy with the bounty they've received each week, sometimes too heavy to carry! It has been a very good experience for Chris and she sounds enthusiastic about doing the CSA again next year. (YEAH!)

Hope you've enjoyed the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.
Until next time!  ~Kristi

The peas are starting to come up. The onions, garlic and leaks are in the ground. Lots of little plants are coming up in the green house and cold frame. The Bourbon Red turkeys are starting to lay eggs and the Tom turkey is starting to expermenting with his new manhood.

We have 25 new broilers in the brooder and 25 more coming in a few weeks.

We can't wait for the weather to warm up a little more so that the ground can warm up and dry out enough to work and plant. It allways a very busy time of the year but lots of fun to see what comes up.

  As anyone living in the Northwest knows, this has been a long and hard winter. For the farm it meant a lot of extra work and getting snowed in over Christmas. We ended up having about two feet of snow. It was so cold that we had to move ALL the animals into the barn and work hard keeping everyone fed, water flowing and keeping the pipes from freezing. It was also the first time in the forty years we've been farming here that we've had to get up on the barn roofs and shovel off the snow for fear of them collapsing. As things did start to melt we had a few fences collapse under falling snow. Needless to say it's been a very busy winter.

In early January we had a suprise new addition to our farm. A friend called saying he had a rescue momma goat with her week old kid. Of course we welcomed them with open arms and a warm stall. The momma goat (Sunshine) is slowly putting on weight and gaining some shine to her coat. The kid (Snowflake) is adorable and bouncy. Sometimes I think the name Rocket would be more fitting. She loves it when the sun shines and she can run all over outside. On these colder, wet days she just wants to stay in the barn and climb all over her Mom. Such a cute personality and loves to be scratched.

It's exciting to be (hopefully) on the other side of things this Valentine's Day. I say that hesitantly as we had snow falling earlier today but it seems to be all done. The last couple of days have been busy moving the chickens out of the turkey portion of the barn and into there new home. The movable coop has had some upgrades made to the laying boxes. Also made some improvements to how we feed the chickens and reinforced the wheels to make rolling the pin around easier when we rotate pasture sites. The chickens have also just started producing there first little eggs. Has been a very exciting time for the visiting grandkids.

It is hard to believe, while working in the falling snow, I have started seed in the cold frame: peppers, celery and eggplants. I sure hope spring is right around the corner.