Summer 2020 is a summer we'll likely never forget.
While so many things feel different, much continues as usual here on the farm...
Chicken, coming right up!
We will have our pasture-raised all-natural broiler chickens available at the end of August. If you would like to reserve a broiler (or a few) for yourself, please let us know by emailing lumfarmorders@gmail.com. We will contact you in a couple weeks to confirm quantities and pickup times.
We need to talk about EGGS.
It's clear that in these Pandemic times, the Great Island Shortage everyone will remember will not be toilet paper.... it will be farm eggs! Despite our hard-working chickens doing their best, we are not able to meet the demand. Luckily, we have a number of pullets who will be laying in October... but presently, we apologize to all of you who are wanting eggs and not getting them. We are maintaining a "waiting for eggs" list, and cycling through it when we have extras to sell. In Spring of 2021 we hope to expand our egg subscription program - but until then, we will do our best with the numbers we have!
Pork, Lamb, Goat and Beef
It's a moving target, but we do try to keep our inventory list up-to-date. While we are low on pork and beef, we are rich in goat and lamb right now! Pre-order online and in 24 hours (excepting Sundays) we will have your order ready and waiting in our Pickup Freezer at the farm stand.
Our Farm Stand - new faces and a few changes
Singing goat milker extraordinaire Mandy Troxel has signed on to manage our farm stand and online ordering. She's been making a few changes to help streamline the ordering process. The one you should especially take note of is the farm stand-specific email: lumfarmorders@gmail.com. This is your go-to for all farm-stand questions, pre-ordering, egg subscription and broiler sales information. Mandy (and her stalwart shop dog Toby) look forward to seeing you.
The farm stand continues to be open on Friday and Saturday, 3pm-6pm. We have hand sanitizer set out for you, and ask that everyone wears a mask. Produce in our self-serve fridge is pre-bagged so you can grab and go with minimal contact. If you order online, we will email you an invoice via Square, which can also be paid online.
The farm stand currently has self service produce (new potatoes, onions, cucumbers, zucchini, basil, garlic, beets, .... you never know what you'll find!). We've just about reached the end of our Brownfield Orchards (Chelan, WA) shipment of apricots and cherries, but peaches are coming! And don't forget, we've got chevre and Feta cheese! This past weekend we tried a recipe from the New York Times using our own feta, garlic scapes, onions, cauliflower, zucchini, tomatoes and some chorizo sausage for good measure. Mandy especially loved the way the recipe called to "nestle the feta" into the vegetables. It just sounded lovely... and tasted amazing too!
Farm Family News
We're in the midst of a number of transitions here in our immediate farm family. In just a couple weeks, we send our eldest daughter Martha off to WSU in Pullman. The school year will begin online, but the campus is open for a limited number of students to live in the dorms. What a crazy time to graduate from high school and head out! We are immensely proud of her, grateful for her help on the farm (especially this Spring) and send all our love along with her to WSU.
We also send lots of love and well-wishes along with Margot Van Gelder, who has helped out on the farm for the past few summers (not to mention grown up in our circle). We look forward to hearing about her excitement (culture shock?) as she trades electro-net and goat milking for acting and singing at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts.
And to close out this newsletter, we'd like to pay tribute to Lincoln Fenn, who passed away this week. Lincoln was Amy's dad, known and beloved by the many Orcas Islanders who got to know him during his frequent trips to Orcas with Amy's mom, Sara. From Amy: "During his visits to Orcas, we spent many hours foraging for blackberries and other fruits and cooking with whatever wonderful meats he could find in our freezers. He taught me how to plant and grow some amazing leeks and garlic, peas and beans. I remember being a very small girl and helping him in the vegetable garden, a place of wonderment and delicious treats. He will be sorely missed, but he lives on in each of us. To celebrate his life, we will be eating blackberry pies this month and loving our family near and far even more than we already do. We'll also donate to our local food bank so that our neighbors won't go hungry. He would encourage you to do the same."
Thanks to all of you who make this island special, and as always, you have our deepest gratitude in allowing us to help feed your families.
Happy Summer! Eric, Amy, Martha and Rachel Lum, and all the Critters
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