• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Persephone Farm

Sustainably Grown Vegetables & Flowers – Indianola, Washington

  • Home
  • Our CSA
    • Join our CSA Online
  • Wedding Flowers
    • Bridal Bouquets
    • Bridesmaid Bouquets
    • Boutonnieres & Corsages
    • Centerpieces
    • Floral Decor & Edible Flowers
    • DIY Flower Buckets
  • News
    • CSA
    • Flowers
    • Farming Info
  • Fun On The Farm
    • Instagram
  • Partnerships
  • Contact Us

Playing the Game of Farming

September 24, 2020 By Persephone

Farming is inherently a gamble, Rebecca explained to us over our morning salad harvest. You ultimately have to play the hand you are dealt, and what a dealer we’ve had in 2020! Even if you play your cards right, sometimes the game just won’t work out. At least the weather has been favorable.

Persephone Farm, Indianola, WA, Dahlia, flowers

This is not a scary newsletter, if that’s what you’re thinking, but it is a glimpse into the reality of farming in all this chaos. From the beginning of the season, we recognized that certain parts of this style of farming were at risk due to Covid. In March, our fields were brimming with early spring produce and we had a greenhouse full of plant starts we’d carefully potted up to sell at the Bainbridge Island Farmer’s Market. And then, no market. And then still no market. And by the time a safe plan for re-opening was formulated, the season of selling all those little seedlings had nearly passed.

One after another, the wedding flower orders we had booked were cancelled or postponed. We wondered, is this the year to just till in the flower crops and focus on growing only food? Or will this be the year people need to brighten their homes and hearts with flowers more than ever?

We also rely on restaurants to buy our veggies, and our fresh sheet (which is a list of all of our offerings) has still been sent out to local chefs every week.

Everyone is concerned about viability for themselves and for their favorite places. We’ve seen beloved restaurants close, or struggle to stay open at partial capacity with Covid. Just when we learned the rules for how to work this modified restaurant system, then came the fires. Wildfires continue to keep people in their homes, staying safe from the smoke and away from the farmers market.

It seems that 2020 has dealt our local food system an exceptionally unpredictable hand. We’ve been growing and picking beautiful veggies – we’ve had some legendary harvests – note the copious cauliflower recently (check out the photo below!) and yet there’s always a chance that it won’t work out. As farmers, we recognize that we are tied up in a vulnerable system, one that could change at any moment. We have to follow the ebbs and flows of the world in motion and make it work. This year, Mother Nature’s ups and downs have been the easy part!

WHOA! This cauliflower weighed a whopping NINE POUNDS!

Mostly, we are so grateful to have a CSA full of wonderful folks, and that we can bring this food to you all. Without it, this food would have no home. But even with the largest CSA we’ve ever had, we’re still trying very hard to make sure that we don’t let food go to waste. With fewer restaurant orders due to Covid and wildfires and with smoky markets keeping folks home, we’re still uncertain about meeting our financial goals off of the care and time we spend weeding, harvesting, and washing our crops.

We’ve donate produce to Sharenet and Helpline House and participated in the Farm to Food Bank program, but farming on a small scale, it’s not in our budget to be able to give much food away and still remain profitable. In the upcoming season, our CSA subscribers will be able to donate to our local food banks through us. That money will be translated directly into produce that goes to these valuable organizations, and ensures that we are able to continue doing what we are doing.

With all of these gambling metaphors, I’ve just been listening to The Gambler by Kenny Rogers, and enjoying the fact that the sun decided to peek back through the smoke and fog today.

Until next time,

  • Caitlin
    (she/her)
The dahlia field
Persephone Farm, Indianola, WA, Beans, Vegetables
Doc, the dog, helping with the bean harvest
Persephone Farm, Indianola, WA, Flowers, Zinnias
Buckets of Zinnias

Filed Under: CSA, Flowers, News

Primary Sidebar

CSA Subscription

Sign Up Online

Persephone Farm Logo

Farmers Market

Visit us at the Bainbridge Island Farmers Market
Saturdays, April – Nov, 9am–1pm

In Memory

Instagram

Doin’ repairs! A little bit of crew leader appre Doin’ repairs! A little bit of crew leader appreciation - Jeremy has been doing a lot of rad repairs around the farm, including bird-proofing our greenhouse, building a new swarm box in hopes of catching a swarm of bees, and replacing the tines on our @bcs_america tiller! We’ll keep you all updated on our swarm adventure... we’re had some unsuccessful attempts last year, but have our fingers crossed for this season! 🐝🐝
We’re still harvesting and lovin’ on our PSB 💜 last week, we sent some of it to @hitchcockrestaurantgroup @pizzeriabruciato, who no doubt have been creating something extraordinary with it. Purple-sprouting broccoli has a relatively short season - it is sweet and tender throughout, a great addition up any dish! If you’re not able to try PSB creations on the island, swipe to see a Persephone recipe we like to share with folks.

Psst... we have it at the @bifarmersmarket and on @kitsapfresh today!
We had a great time at the first @bifarmersmarket We had a great time at the first @bifarmersmarket of the year! We love to remind folks that if you’re a CSA member and you visit our booth, you get 10% off!

If you’re looking to get your own garden started for the summer, come chat with us about our starts! We’re bringing more and more varieties each week. All of them are hardened off and won’t mind the cold that often lingers in April - we do this so you could get them right in the ground. 

See you there!
Follow on Instagram

@persephonefarmer

Footer

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
© 2021 Persephone Farm, LLC - Indianola WA | Site by LND