The Open Gate Farm On Camano Island, Washington

Dear Friends of the Farm:

Response to the web site www.theopengatefarm.com has been wonderful!  Thank you all for observations and encouragement.  Did you notice the Photo Album page?  At last you can see these characters who live on this piece of paradise tucked along the shore of the Salish Sea.  And pretty soon you will be able to order cinnamon rolls and beets and seeds and such too!  And soon, these newsletters will be coming from our new email… jon@theopengatefarm.com.

It was a quiet week at the farm.  We ran away for 6 days to our old stomping grounds, Sacramento, California.  Drove down in one day and had so much fun it took two days to get home with a trunk full of oranges and tangerines and pistachios and almonds and cuttings and seeds.  But getting ready to go was a real rush.

Packing is not hard.  Toss a couple changes of socks and fresh shirts in along with a tie for church on Sunday, remember your toothbrush and boom!  You’re ready for the road. (more…)

Dear Friends of the Farm:

Response to the web site www.theopengatefarm.com has been wonderful!  Thank you all for observations and encouragement.  Did you notice the Photo Album page?  At last you can see these characters who live on this piece of paradise tucked along the shore of the Salish Sea.  And pretty soon you will be able to order cinnamon rolls and beets and seeds and such too!  And soon, these newsletters will be coming from our new email… jon@theopengatefarm.com.

It was a quiet week at the farm.  We ran away for 6 days to our old stomping grounds, Sacramento, California.  Drove down in one day and had so much fun it took two days to get home with a trunk full of oranges and tangerines and pistachios and almonds and cuttings and seeds.  But getting ready to go was a real rush.

Packing is not hard.  Toss a couple changes of socks and fresh shirts in along with a tie for church on Sunday, remember your toothbrush and boom!  You’re ready for the road. (more…)

Dear Friends of the Farm:

There are as many theories as to why a hen cackles after laying an egg as there are farmers.  She’s calling the others to admire her work of art.  She’s telling the rooster he’s cute.  She’s distracting varmints from her nest.  She’s looking for the rest of the flock.  But we go with the idea that she’s proud and wants the world to know.  It took a lot of work and patience and dealing with things she does not and never will understand and it may not be perfect, but by golly it’s hers.  And it’s gorgeous.  Or it could be all of the above.

Just like putting together our web site, it is all of the above.  We had no idea what this meant, but with the assurances of others who have done it, we sat down and thought and puzzled and dealt with many things we still do not understand and sat some more and behold, out popped a web site for the farm.  You can see the latest version at www.theopengatefarm.com and if you accidentally call it a .org don’t worry, you will find yourself looking at our .com site. We own both locations. (more…)

Dear Friends of the Farm:

More than once folks stopping by the stand in the summer have said something like “Where do you get the material for your newsletters?” and we shrug and mumble something like “well, it just sort of shows up.”  This is one of those weeks.

It began a couple weeks back when we noticed Harley, our elegant Brahma rooster, galloping.  Not often you see a chicken gallop, but by golly he looked like he was fresh from the Kentucky Derby.  Feathers flying in the wind, you could almost see the little jockey on his back encouraging him to chase those girls.  Then the other day we realized his gallop had deteriorated into a limp.  He needed a cane but the store had none in his size. (more…)