Slowly Slowly Scaling Back (We’re not retiring, but we can see it from here…)

Want monthly updates? Sign up for my monthly newsletter here. This blog is now mostly for deep dives into homestead related subjects when I have the time to write them. Most content is now directed to my Cooking the Harvest YouTube Channel (see below).

Precipitated by changes in market requirements due to Covid-19 in 2020, I stopped doing farmers markets in 2020. This had been my plan all along. After participating in multiple markets from early May to the end of October (26 weeks, including EVERY Saturday) since 2011, we were pretty burnt out on Farmers Markets. The Covid crisis just moved the timeline up a year.

Thankfully, local customers can order from me direct for on-farm no contact pickup here. For an additional fee, I’m also happy to deliver locally. And of course, I still ship nationwide. (NOTE: If you’re local, choose DELIVERY (or pickup). If you aren’t local, choose SHIPPING. If you choose delivery and you are not local, the order will not go through.

You can also order a good portion of my offering, including produce, through the Walla Walla Food Hub online market (ALL local and regional IN SEASON products), and pick up your Food Hub box on Tuesdays or Fridays at designated drop locations (or by delivery for a fee). This is an incredible a-la-cart market with products from well over 50 local and regional farms!

Some of my soaps can also be found at the Frog Hollow Farm store. I’m no longer making jams as of April 2024. The economy of scale (making 18 jars at a time) just never penciled out enough to make this HUGE labor of love pay for itself. And as of April 2024, a part time commercial kitchen with a steam kettle is not available in our area.

Since May 2022, I’ve been making YouTube content on my Cooking The Harvest channel. It’s a “What To Do With What You Grow” approach, with lots of cooking and gardening videos. I try to post two videos a week. This combines my love of cooking, farming and education. Check it out!

While I miss my customers from farmers markets, I’m finding that after doing markets for 9 years, I’m REALLY enjoying having Saturdays free during the summer as my husband and I strive to travel more in our small Scamp trailer.

On The Farm

We welcome farm visits – with an appointment. Transparency and education are cornerstones in all that I do. I’m always happy to meet with you here on the farm and show you around and talk about what we raise and how we raise it, or to sell you my products directly. But please respect that we are super busy as well, making product for retail and wholesale accounts, tending to the plants and animals that live here, making YouTube videos and taking care of the basic necessities of running a small business (and a home).

While I am often here, we keep the driveway gate closed in order to keep the dogs from going on walk-about in the neighborhood. While not religious, Sunday is our defacto one day off a week, and we often don’t check our phone or email frequently on this day. If you’d like to visit, please call first. 509 – nine five four – 1732. Ideally, give us a few days notice. Thanks!

What’s For Sale

Produce: I specialize in delicious heirloom tomatoes, a diverse array of sweet and hot peppers, and a variety of garlic and onions (NOT Walla Walla Sweet Onions). Some other summer produce in smaller volumes (squash, cucumbers etc.). I focus primarily on heirloom varieties, and do not knowingly purchase any GMO seeds. Crops will be scaled back in 2024 to focus on other products. Check out the Walla Walla Food Hub to see what’s available seasonally.

I also sell plant starts – especially hard to find heirloom tomatoes – for your own garden in the spring. When available (generally late April to end of May), they can be found here.

Dried herb/Spice mixes, each containing at least one element grown here on the farm. Up to 29 blends on offer depending on supplies and time of year.

Toiletries, including bar soap, beard oil, lip balm, solid lotion bars, and hand salve.  New soap scents quarterly.

Jam
In August 2015, I became officially licensed by the state of Washington to make and sell jam! This jam is made in small batches from local fruit at its peak, contains more fruit than sugar by weight (about 1/3 less sugar than traditional jams), has fantastic flavor, and contains no high fructose corn syrup. Availability will vary somewhat by season. In April 2024, I ceased production of jams. What I have left is available through the Food Hub and on my website. I may make a few specialty batches off and on, but normal production has ended.

Toiletries, Jams and Spice Mixes can all be ordered online HERE.

Sheep and Rabbits. One of my most popular blog posts is on our flock of American Black Belly sheep. After much consideration, we decided to sell the last of our herd in August 2022 so we could focus more on travel. You can still learn about the breed by clicking the link above. We sold the last of our meat rabbits in April 2022. While we loved the manure and meat, managing them through hot summers just got to be too much. You can still learn about my approach to raising rabbits here.

Thanks for being a part of our Journey all of these years (this blog was started in 2010!)

Gather friends and feed them, laugh in the face of calamity, and
cut out all the things—people, jobs, body parts—
that no longer serve you. – Nora Ephron

 Miles Away Farm Blog © 2024

Save

Save