HomeSpun Magazine ~ 2018 Spring Issue

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HOME 2018 Spring

pun Magazine

WAKE UP CENTRAL OREGON

• We love knowing our farmers and makers.

• We appreciate the process of seed to fork.

• Working with farmers and other local businesses tastes better.

• We are going on 10 years of working with Rainshadow Organics and Agricultural Connections.

• We buy whole cows from Imperial Stock Ranch.

Just a couple of examples of how we do our best to

Westside

#BeADoer

845 NW Delaware Ave, Bend, OR 97703 541 647-2198, jacksonscornerbend@gmail.com

Eastside

1500 NE Cushing Dr, Bend, OR 97701 541 382-1751, jacksonscornereast@gmail.com

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February - April 2018

CONTENTS Spring

HOME

6

3 Editorial

by Ryan Moeggenberg HomeSpun Magazine

4 Organic?

Kathi Miller Fresh Start Farms

Recipes 8

Local Brussel Sprouts with Bacon Sherry Cream

by Rockin’ Dave of Rockin’ Dave’s Bistro & Backstage Lounge

12 Beef Pho

by Bethlyn Rider of Bethlyn’s Global Fusion

22 Savory & Sweet

Roasted Belgian Apple-Sausage

by Robin Snyder of Tumalo Garden Market

24 Jamaican Grilled

Sweet Potatoes

by the MoeGang Household

26 Carrot Cake Jam

by Justin Kohler

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2018

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6 Wake Up Central Oregon Gardeners!

Robin Snyder Tumalo Garden Market

10 #BeADoer

by Barbara Phillips Tomato Success

14 Saving Honeybees, One New Beekeeper at a Time!

Artwork by Tom Miller

Stephen Harris Tumalo Bee Academy

23 Fresh Start Farms

16 Are You Supporting Local?

Elizabeth Weigand Agricultural Connections

27 Battling Colds with a Common Ditch Weed

18 7 Step Guide To Buying A 1/4 Beef

by Ryan Moeggenberg HomeSpun Magazine

Jessica Oddo, Mt. Shasta Wild LLC

by Ryan Moeggenberg HomeSpun Magazine

28 HomeSpun Happenings

21 What Do YOU Have to Trade?

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Community Calendar Magazine.com

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Discover Global Fusion by one of the most experimental chefs in town.

1075 NW Newport Ave., Bend 541.617.0513 • www.bethlynsglobalfusion.com

SEND US YOUR PHOTOS! Growing? Harvesting? Building?

Being a DOER?!

ter • 12 Carpen garden.

Emmstaing spinach from th7 e Harve

Send us your photo and a short 50 words or less explination of your #BeADoer moment and you may see it in one of the upcoming HomeSpun Magazine issues!

• 201 Summer

Marcee@HomeSpunMagazine.com

Mason Moe Helping ggenberg clean th •7 e coop.

Summer • 2017

HomeSpun Magazine is a Bend, Oregon-based magazine, family owned and operated by Ryan Moeggenberg and Marcee Hillman.

Published Quarterly: November, February, May, August.

HomeSpun Magazine is a division of MoeGang Productions | PO Box 1874, Bend, OR 97709 www.HomeSpunMagazine.com | www.Facebook.com/HomespunMagazine Ryan@HomeSpunMagazine.com | Marcee@HomeSpunMagazine.com Send your advertising inquiries, press releases and photos to Ryan@HomeSpunMagazine.com

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Spring 2018

EDITORIAL

The

RYAN MOEGGENBERG

Perfect Garden

2018

is here! The anticipation of spring flowers is on people’s minds and gardening season is beginning. Thoughts of seeds and soil, buds on trees and flowers emerging around our properties.

Veteran gardeners are implementing systems that they know work. They know what soil amendments they prefer and when to add them. They have tried varieties of seeds and know what works best. They know where to plant certain plants to take advantage of microclimates on their property that stay warmer or cooler. They know where the sun tracks across their gardens to plan for sun or shade loving varieties. Since they have been gardening for years, veteran gardeners make it look easy. It can be intimidating for a beginner.

One of my new favorite quotes is “Don’t let perfect get in the way of good enough.” There are many wise people through the ages that have had similar sayings:

You will never have a garden if you don’t start somewhere. Lower the bar. Start simple. Try some kitchen herbs that you would like to try cooking with around the front steps or in a few small pots on the back deck. Did you know that if you were buying herbs from the grocery store it would be one of the most expensive things you could buy per pound and makes the biggest flavor difference in your meals? Perennials like rhubarb or horseradish are beautiful, easy to grow, the deer don’t like them and take little maintenance.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and your garden won’t ever be perfect. There is only one way to become a veteran gardener that makes it look easy and that is to take action and attempt something. Learn from failures and from teachers. Every year tackle one new major garden project. Journal your successes and failures. The perfect garden is the one that improves each year.

#BeADoer

Voltaire~

“The best is the enemy of the good.”

Confucius~

“Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.”

Shakespeare~

“Striving to better, oft we mar what’s well.”

I have talked to some people that would say they want to have their garden be perfect, with their own organic compost made from their own table scraps, have to have a certain cedar wood for their raised beds and a fence tall enough to keep the deer out, etc. And therefore, since they do not have all of this infrastructure the way they want it before they plant their first seed, they do nothing at all!

YOU DON’T HAVE A DEER PROBLEM IF YOU DON’T HAVE A GARDEN!

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by KATHI MILLER, Fresh Start Farms he shorter the distance between where your food was grown and you, the better for your health and the health of the planet.

The fewer people involved in getting your food from field to your mouth, the healthier for all concerned in that effort.

In 2000, or there about, the great green organic seal arrived on our food. We started to have trust in a green sticker — the corporate, conventional food machine.

There were 65 ingredients allowed in organic-labeled food that were not natural-based because there was no natural/organic ingredient to serve the needed purpose.

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Spring 2018

?

When that deal was made, work began to find natural replacements for the 65. Last time I checked we now have over 300 non-organic ingredients allowed in our food — food that is allowed to carry the green organic sticker.

Corporate, conventional food manufacturers blew off the organic movement in the beginning as an impossible threat to their enormous, quantity over quality, money-making industry. Then, as small farmer organic began to gain steam, the big boys gathered their lawyers and lobbyists and began competing with the health movement.

What the big guys didn’t understand was they couldn’t become small farmers who have the ability to develop a one-on-one trusting relationship with their consumer. Corporate responsibility is not quality but quantity, and happy stockholders.

It’s hard to know what country owns the company that produces the food we eat. The interesting manifestation is that in the past decade allergies in the adult population have increased 300 percent.

That has a definite impact on big pharma profit.

sense of security with a green sticker.

Another observation is that stickers signifying certification and inspection do not prevent recalls.

Farmers pay $400 to $2,000 to be certified, yet many of the recalls have those stickers on their product.

Since I don’t control the water or wind that flow and blow over the surrounding land, our farm doesn’t want to participate and give consumers a false

On the other end of the field the food produced on a farm has the integrity of the farmer growing it.

A sticker, no matter the color, does not, nor cannot affect that integrity. Getting to know your farmer and their farm is knowledge that does more for your health than reading labels and looking at stickers.

Make time to keep your family healthy.

An entrepreneur in California went to all the effort to create and certify organic manure fertilizer as organic. Then he went on to sell conventional fertilizer. He made a fortune for the next seven years until he got busted. Then there are some restaurants who advertise that they serve locally sourced farm food. They buy micro-greens for their tasty salad and then “local” changes over to Sysco at that point.

Turning the world green... one lawn at a time.

CENTRAL OREGON

LAWN CENTER Spring is on its way!

Be sure to stop by to take advantage of our lawn care equipment rentals to keep your yard in tip top shape.

541.241.7715 • 315 SE 3rd St., Bend, OR 97702 www.

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W A K

Central Oregon

by ROBIN SNYDER Tumalo Garden Market

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kay, its February in Central Oregon. The weather is changing. We may have warm enough days to work the soil, but the nights are still freezing. It is time to be thinking about prepping your soil and planting. Here are the important things to consider.

Start from the Ground Up — Test Your Soil Everyone needs fuel. Plants as well as humans. Plants need an adequate level of nutrients in soil to thrive.

Because plants use up the nutrients in the soil as they grow, you will need to replenish the nutrients to “feed your plants.” Knowing what is needed for optimum performance saves you money and increases growing success. The way to find out what your plants need

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Spring 2018

is through soil tests that will give you: pH (alkaline or acidic) which helps plants access nutrients; and soil conductivity (total dissolved solids or electrical conductivity) which tells you the amount of nutrients already in the soil. Soil Testing is a cost-effective way to add the proper amount and type of nutrients to your garden. A high-quality tester will tell you the specific qualities of the soil, so you can pick the best fertilizer and know what plants will grow best in your soil. A tester will allow you to avoid over fertilization. Too much fertilizer and plants grow too fast leaving them open to diseases, and can also burn plant roots and leaves.

Testing for pH will help you balance the soil acidity to allow for plants to access nutrients. Purchasing a soil tester that has both pH and soil conductivity is the best way to start. There may be more going on in your soil.

Heavy equipment during property construction can compact the soil. There may be construction debris and wastes. You may need to improve the structure of the soil to allow for drainage or moisture holding capacity, and increase organic material and compost as well as fertilize to give nutrition for cultivated plants.

Fertilizing Now that you tested your soil and know what nutrients you need, understanding fertilizer is next. You will see three or four numbers on fertilizer and compost bags.

They stand for the ratios of Nitrogen (N), Potassium (P) and Phosphorous (K) and sometimes Sulfur(S). Nitrogen is important for healthy plant growth; Potassium is essential

E

Gardeners! for vigorous seedling growth; and Phosphorous for disease resistance and starch formation for strong stems. Both chemical and organic fertilizers come in pre-packaged mixes with pre-mixed ratios for different uses (growing, flowering, etc.). Plants can access chemical fertilizers as soon as applied. Organic fertilizers take longer for plants to access because the nutrients break down first. You must decide which type of fertilizer you want to use. Consistent fertilization, figured out by soil testing, can help you realize spectacular results in your garden.

Why Do Some Plants Get Damaged By Frost?

All plants have climatic adaptations for survival.

Certain plants can survive sub-freezing temperatures by adjusting sucrose, proteins and fatty acids in cells “like antifreeze” to withstand winter desiccation and avoid ice crystal formation. Some desert native plants flower early during the wetter spring months and then go dormant during the dry heat of the summer. Annuals and tender plants adapt by growing fast and reproduce with abundant seeds but, they don’t have cold tolerance.

However, most of our garden plants can withstand some colder temps if the leaves are protected by some sort of frost barrier during our summer months. Paying attention to night temperature lows and investing in frost cloth, may just save the day.

Know Your ‘Zone’ Growing plants here in Central Oregon can be challenging. Choosing the right plants for our climate is a first guiding step to success. Most perennial plants (plants that overwinter and grow back from the original plant year after year) have an identifying ‘Hardiness Zone’ number on their tags based on the minimum average temperatures for our area. Central Oregon ranges from Hardiness Zone 3-5 and figuring out which zone your garden/yard best fits is important to success. Keeping to plants within your identified zone or lower will help your perennials, trees and shrubs survive. Annuals (plants that live one season and reproduce through seed each year)

P

and most vegetables are temperate climate plants and only survive in our summers. In general, most directions say “plant after danger of frost” for seeds or young plants.

Hard to accomplish in Central Oregon when we can have a frost all summer long. Seeds need warm soil temperatures for germination and top growth of young plants can be damaged by frost. Even woody trees and shrubs and hardy perennials grown in warmer conditions have tender new growth that does not have cold tolerance yet. Our adjustment is extra protection for plants.

So, before planting any annual, perennial, tree or shrub, follow these rules to help new plants adjust: Week 1) Put plants outside only during the warmer continued on page 9 [

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Local Brussel Sprouts with Bacon Sherry Cream

by Rockin’ Dave of Rockin’ Dave’s Bistro & Backstage Lounge 661 NE Greenwood Ave. in Bend • 541-318-8177

Ingredients: 1/2 Cup Onion (Med Diced) 1/4 Cup Garlic (Sliced) 3 Pieces Bacon Small Pinch Red Chile Flakes (Optional) 1 tsp Kosher Salt 1/4 Cup Cooking Sherry Wine (Con Marsala Substitute) 1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream Dash Tabasco (Optional) 2 Cups Brussel Sprouts 2 Cups Butternut Squash (Large Diced)

Optional Garnish Parmesan Shaved Chopped Parsley Slivered Almonds, Hazelnuts, Cashews

Directions

In a 12”-14” sauté pan cook the bacon, remove from pan, chop and set aside. Add onions and garlic to remaining bacon fat, sauté 2 minutes, add red Chile flakes and sherry, cook 2 minutes. Add 2/3 bacon and heavy whipping cream, salt, Tabasco and simmer 8-10 minutes until it thickens.

Meanwhile, boil 1 gallon water in medium sauce pan, add butternut squash, cook 2 minutes, then add Brussel sprouts, cook 4 minutes. Strain and add to sherry cream, toss well and put in serving bowl. Top with remaining bacon, parmesan, parsley and nuts.

Enjoy!

Spring 2018

continued from page 7

day and in a protected area like your garage/greenhouse at night; Week 2) Check the ten-day weather forecast and time your planting with warmer nights; Week 3) Be sure to cover plants each night and as long as hard frost potential is present; Week 4 and beyond) After the plant goes through a summer, then winter dormancy here (if a perennial), it will be hardened-off and adjusted to our area/seasons.

Starting Your Orchard and Berry Patch If you have determined your Hardiness Zone and local microclimates, tested and amended your soil, then making wise plant material purchases is your next order of business. There is nothing more rewarding than walking out on your own land and picking food from your orchard, berry patch and garden.

Building an orchard is about having a vision and being aware of siting as well as soils, nutrition, wind, sunlight and watering needs. Planting with good spacing to accommodate the ultimate spread of the branches and roots at maturity is key. Insuring that the plants are at the right depth, with good soil and watered long and deep to encourage strong root growth is important and that means watering through the winter on days warm enough to allow water to drain into the root system.

Be aware of wind patterns and wind breaks in your location choice so the trees are not damaged by the harsh winter winds. Some varieties of trees are either self-pollinating or need cross-pollination for fruiting success. Be aware you might need multiple trees. Having a strong compliment of beneficial pollinators will also help in fruit production, so consider becoming a beekeeper on your own land.

Watch for rodent pests at the root zone. These little guys can do great damage underground before you are aware.

Protect the bark and the root zone up the trunk and down into the soil. Deer can be especially brutal on fruit saplings both in browsing the leaves and branches and scraping the trunks as they rub their antlers. Get protective fencing up around your orchard (or individual trees) before you are doing damage control after the fact and lose your trees.

Learn how to prune. One of the final keys to fruiting success with most fruit trees, shrubs and canes is attentive yearly pruning. Its not hard to learn and getting those water-shoots pruned back will give you bushels of happiness during harvest time. Invest in your garden, orchard and your own education and training.

Keys to success: • Understanding your hardiness zone and microclimates; • Picking the right plants and putting them in

the right place; • Germinating seeds early so we can use all of the short outside growing season; • Be patient and attentive. Cover plants at night, use a greenhouse, cold frame or cloche to extend your vegetable growing season and protect your plants. It pays off; • Pruning increases fruiting success; • Pay attention to predators and pests before they strike; • Consistent fertilization, figured out by soil testing, can help you realize spectacular results in your garden.

Tumalo Garden Market specializes in hardy fruit trees and berries, and organic veggie starts. Our most successful perennial plant materials are zones 3-5.

Gardening is fun, rewarding and easy to learn. Here at Tumalo Garden Market, we want you to succeed. Our professional and experienced staff is ready to provide you advice and support in reaching your garden dreams. Join us at one of our upcoming workshops through our Practical Gardening School to gain more confidence and success. We are looking forward to seeing you “In Your Garden.”

If you are interested in more detailed information, you might take a look at Tumalo Garden Market’s Practical Gardening School workshops (www.tumalogardenmarket. com/events) which will be held throughout the year starting in February. www.TumaloGardenMarket.com Photos courtesy of Tumalo Garden Market

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#BeADoer

Doer [Doo-er] noun ~ A person who acts rather than merely talking or thinking.

You can #BeADoer too! Join our HomeSpun Magazine Facebook Group and post your accomplishments using the hashtag #BeADoer. One person will be selected to tell us about their accomplishments and be published in Homespun Magazine! www.facebook.com/groups/HomeSpunMagazine

Spring 2018 #BeADoer ~ Tomato Success

I

by BARBARA PHILLIPS

had heard that growing tomatoes in my Central Oregon garden was going to be “challenging” or even “not worth it.” But after eleven years of fairly successful tomato harvests, this year (2017) was by far the best! I do not have a greenhouse, but even with minimal investments of time and resources, the tomatoes in my small 100 square foot garden space happily produced a crop that exceeded my expectations. Let me share with you some of the strategies I’ve learned over the years and also what I did during the 2017 growing season that made a huge difference!

1. Sun & Heat Plan your garden location with tomatoes specifically in mind. Southern side of the house with no large trees or shrubs shading the area works well because it gets the most sun.

2. Red Consider using the color red to provide a warmer micro-climate for your tomatoes. My house is barn red and my garden is planted along the entire south side (32 feet). You can also use red mulch on the ground where your tomatoes will be planted.

3. Concrete & Rocks My husband built a paver patio and courtyard with a four foot wall along the house right next to my garden area. It helps absorb and retain heat for my garden space.

4. Compost Compost is my friend! Coffee grounds, banana peels, whatever I have I “spot compost” in my garden area during the fall and winter. By spring planting it usually has turned into rich soil for my tomato plants.

5. Protect Plant a couple of weeks earlier than the typical recommended time (I started planting tomatoes on May 10th), but protect the little plants with something like walls-of-water or other insulating material for the entire plant. Frost kills every part of the tomato plant it reaches and even the non-frost nights will have an effect of the plants getting established and thriving. I left the walls of water around the base of the tomato plants during the entire growing season this year. Maybe that was protective (even though we didn’t have a late frost at our house in 2017) but it also added heat to the soil and roots when the sun was beating down in the middle of the summer.

6. Plant Deep Tomatoes need a strong root system for getting established and standing strong in windy Central

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Spring 2018

Oregon. You can plant tomatoes deep with the soil up to the base of the first side stems. Root will form from those stems all along the part that is underground.

7. Water Tomato plants do not like overhead watering. It works ok some years, but my tomatoes did best this year when for the first time I used a drip irrigation system. Not very expensive. Took a little time and thought with probably a lot of mistakes. But my tomato plants thanked me with lots of yummy fruit, more than I have ever harvested from my little Central Oregon garden!

Lastly, I just couldn’t leave the little tomatoes, green as they were, to die or get thrown away when the growing season was over. So before the first frost, my plants found a warm shelter hanging in my garage, roots still attached to some. There they didn’t grow any larger, but slowly ripened to a bright red color with almost the same sweet garden flavor. Useful for making salsa and roasting and freezing for the winter!

So take heart! An abundance of delicious Central Oregon tomatoes can be grown in your garden with a little planning!

Photos courtesy of Barbara Phillips

New Pickup Location Starting February 7

1841 NE 3rd St., Bend, OR 97701 541-633-7388 Pickup Time: 12-6pm Wednesday Order by 10am Mondays: www.agriculturalconnections.com

NE 3RD ST

HWY 97

The Ag Connections pickup will be located in the Event Room in the rear of the building. Locavore staff and AC helper Laurie will be there to assist you with your order! Please bring your own re-usable Rigoberto’s bags to pack your order Wagner NE SEWARD AVE Mall and feel free to browse Locavore’s store for any Carl’s Jr. other local goodies on NE REVERE AVE Bank of the Cascades your way through!

BEND’S ONLY FROM “SCRATCH” BISTRO & LOUNGE! Know Where Your Food Comes From • Eggs - Great American Egg, Powell Butte, OR • Local Veggies - Ag Connections, Bend, OR • Micro Greens - Tender Greens, Bend, OR • Gluten Free Rolls- Good Karma Bakery, Bend, OR

Rockin’ Dave Thanks You For Supporting Local We make practically everything! Salad dressings, BBQ sauce, soups, corned beef, pastrami, bagels, breads, pickles, bagel chips & even our own soda!

Serving Breakfast & Lunch ALL DAY at the Bistro!

Backstage Lounge Opens at 4pm Tues-Sat!

RockinDaves.com 541-318-8177

661 NE Greenwood Ave in Bend www.

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Beef Pho

by Bethlyn Rider of Bethlyn’s Global Fusion 1075 NW Newport Ave. in Bend • 541-617-0513 Ingredients To Serve • 2 large onions, split in half • 1 pack (14oz) Cooked rice noodles, thin cut • 1 large hand of ginger (about 6 inches long), • 1 pound beef flank steak, split in half lengthwise sliced thinly against the grain • 3 pounds beef shin, with meat attached • 1/3 cup sesame oil • 2 pounds oxtail, • 2 each Portobello mushrooms/sliced with cut into 1/2 to 1-inch thick slices caps/sautéed in sesame oil before service • 1 pound boneless beef chuck • 1 bunch kale/ deveined and chopped/ • 1 pound beef brisket sauté with sesame oil before service • 3 whole star anise pods • 2 to 3 cups mixed herbs • 1 cinnamon stick (cilantro, basil and mint) • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds • 2 to 3 cups trimmed bean sprouts • 4 cloves • 1/2 cup sliced scallions • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds • Thinly sliced Thai chilis • 1/4 cup fish sauce, plus more to taste • 2 limes, each cut into 4 wedges • 2 tablespoons sugar • Hoisin sauce and Sriracha (preferably yellow rock sugar) • Kosher salt Directions Place a wire cooling rack or grill grate directly over the flame of a gas burner set on high. Place onions and ginger on top and cook, turning occasionally, until deeply blackened on all sides, about 10 minutes total. Alternatively, adjust rack to 3 to 4 inches from broiler element and preheat broiler to high. Place onions and ginger on a foil-lined broiler tray. Broil, turning occasionally, until charred on all surfaces, about 25 minutes total. Set aside.

Meanwhile, combine beef shins, oxtail, chuck and brisket in a large stockpot. Cover with cool water.

Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 15 minutes, then dump water and meat into sink. When cool enough to handle, rinse parts under cool running tap water, carefully scrubbing debris from off of any bones and out of cracks in the meat, then return them to the pot. Cover with cool water.

Add charred onions, ginger, anise, cinnamon, fennel, cloves, coriander, fish sauce, sugar and 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a bare simmer and cook, skimming occasionally, until brisket and chuck are tender but not falling apart, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer brisket and chuck to a small bowl and cover with cold water. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Continue simmering broth for a further 4 hours, topping up with water as necessary. Strain broth through a fine mesh strainer. If desired, pick meat and connective tissue from oxtails and beef shins.

Discard bones and aromatics. You should end up with about 4 quarts broth. Dilute with water or reduce as necessary to reach 4 quarts. Keep hot.

Carefully skim fat off of surface of broth and discard. Season broth to taste with additional fish sauce, salt, and/or sugar. It should be highly seasoned. Slice cooked beef into thin slices or rough chunks.

Prepare pho noodles according to package directions. To serve, place re-hydrated noodles in individual noodle bowls. Pour hot broth over noodles. Serve immediately, allowing guests to top with cooked meat and slices of raw flank steak, mushrooms, kale, herbs, aromatics, lime and sauce as they wish.

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Spring 2018

Spring 2018

Come

Taste

the Difference!

You can grow your produce without having to weed or water for less than the cost of buying at the store with flavor and nutrient density that is unrivaled! Come taste the difference!

We want to share how we have been able to grow indoors and outdoors all year long for fresh and delicious veggies and even some fruits!

Growing your own organic produce in a selfcontained vertical growing system is the ultimate in “Knowing Where Your Food Comes From!�

Tuesday, February 20 | 6-8pm Saturday, March 18 | 3-5pm Saturday, April 14 | 3-5pm RSVP and get directions on the HomeSpun Magazine Facebook Events page www.facebook.com/pg/HomespunMagazine/events

6 SW Bond St. in the Box Factory 450 Powerhouse, Ste. 400 in the Old Mill District www.

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SAVING HONEYBEES

One New Beekeeper at a Time!

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hrough raising plants and landscaping, Mike Ludeman of Tumalo Garden Market realized the importance of honeybees for pollinating the plants he was marketing, planting and growing. He connected with local beekeeper, Stephen Harris, who has kept and raised bees in Central Oregon since 1968. Michael got the beekeeping bug and with help from Stephen, started three hives in Tumalo at the nursery.

Meanwhile, Stephen was holding classes and mentoring students, as a Master Beekeeper for the OSU Master Beekeeper Program in Central Oregon. Stephen felt there was a need to create more local opportunities and increase education for local beekeeping. In 2012, Michael and Stephen joined forces to create the Tumalo Bee Academy to further honeybee education in Central Oregon. The mission of the Tumalo Bee Academy is to promote comprehensive local beekeeping through education and increase local honeybee populations in Central Oregon year round. Tumalo Garden Market offers a great setting for the Tumalo Bee Academy with its beautiful gardens and beehives for pollination, so handson work can be done on site as well as at the apiary.

Why Keep Bees?

Tumalo Bee Academy is an all inclusive educational opportunity to learn the proper way to care about bees year-round. Instructor Stephen Harris has been raising bees in Central Oregon for 50 years. You will learn about

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Spring 2018

by STEPHEN HARRIS, Tumalo Bee Academy bees in general and all the ins and outs of beekeeping.

The class meets monthly, every second Tuesday, and provides you with a book (Natural Bee Keeping), full colony of locally raised bees with a locally raised queen, 12-monthly classroom sessions and at least 20 outdoor field sessions. “Locally raised� is very important for our climate. Tumalo Bee Academy is a year-round school that will help you understand and manage a colony of honeybees of your own, in your own back yard.

The monthly classroom sessions (January to November) are structured to give students a full understanding of the inner workings of the honeybee colony.

Tumalo Bee Academy takes you through the basic anatomy of honeybees, the workings of the interior of your colony, raising honeybees in your own back yard and grafting queens or other methods of producing more colonies from your first one. This includes honeybee identification (queen, drone and worker), comb understanding, pollen, honey and beebread, eggs, larva and capped brood.

The outdoor classes are hands-on and held when weather permits. These classes may also be spontaneous when a swarm happens. You will learn the differences between a healthy colony versus one that may have issues, such as diseases or an overpopulation of Varroa

mites. Beekeepers can deal with many problems when they understand the colony situation. These outdoor classes help the beginner and advanced beekeeper to become more comfortable and confident working inside the honeybee colony. Stephen’s 50-years of experience guides you through colony inspections. Learning beekeeping is not only educational but, an experience that can only come from being “inside” the honey bee colony. Students are encouraged to attend all outdoor classes and honeybee colony extractions.

Students can sign up for the year-long class or dropin for classes (for an added fee) that cover the “hands on” aspect of working with honeybees in a variety of situations include colony inspections. Students will have the opportunity to see and practice all aspects of bee keeping “in the field.” There are sessions on hive diseases, drumming hives, swarms and moving hives. Students build their own hives from kits to better understand the structures they will be colonizing with bees.

Tumalo Bee Academy teaches honeybee education and is helping to save bees — one Beekeeper at a time! That’s YOU!!

Stephen Harris is a resident of Central Oregon since 1954. He is a member of the Central Oregon Bee Keeping Association and the OSU Master Bee Keepers Program.

He has raised and kept bees in Central Oregon since 1968. Stephen started the Tumalo Bee Academy as the

lead instructor in 2012. Stephen maintains a large apiary in Central Oregon where he raises local queens and colonies for Central Oregon Bee Keepers. He volunteers for many honeybee related projects throughout the region. Stephen saves honey bees form certain death by carefully removing them form structures such as houses and apartment walls, as honeybees like to swarm into any area that is suitable for living quarters.

Tumalo Bee Academy tumalogardenmarket@gmail.com 19879 8th Street, Tumalo, Oregon 97703, 541-728-0088 Stephen Harris, 541-410-2067 Photos courtesy of Tumalo Garden Market

ELK RIDGE CHIROPRACTIC & WELLNESS CENTER NOT EVERY CHIROPRACTOR IS THE SAME, LET US SHOW YOU WHY!

At Elk Ridge, we offer so much more than just an adjustment!

We provide services unique to our clinic, that you won’t find at any other chiropractic clinic or spa in Central Oregon.

• • • • • •

Auto Accidents—Injury Care Electrical Stimulation Machines New Cold Laser Light Technology Graston Scar Removal Therapy Dynamic Cupping Gentle Activator Adjustments

Advanced TMJ Pain Relief Advanced Physical Therapy (with online videos showing step-bystep instructions) • Deep Tissue Massage Therapy (at unbeatable prices) • •

424 NE Franklin Avenue, Bend, Oregon 97701

(541) 388-3588

elkridgechiropractic@gmail.com | thebendchiropractor.com

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A

re You Supporting Local?

What Everybody Ought To Know About Supporting Local Farms

by ELIZABETH WEIGAND Owner, Agricultural Connections e are in an era of abundant information with options and choices at our fingertips. Nearly everything, including how we shop for food, gives us reign of choice. With so much choice, what is the tipping point that leads to final decisions: convenience, price, selection, aesthetics, relationship, size, health, shelf life, familiarity, or flavor?

There is a motive driving our purchasing decisions, and with every dollar we spend, we are voting.

I want my votes to support my neighbors. And, my farmers are my neighbors. I believe that sinking roots into our local soil requires conscious decision making with every meal we eat. If we truly care about “localizing” our economy, then we must directly invest into this economy. This is our opportunity to engage in local capitalism – to build a robust local economy, keep the farmers in business, and support our immediate region.

Let’s explore options for how to get food into your

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Spring 2018

home and discuss which of these directly supports the local food and farm economy.

How do you typically get food to your home? Do you...

Purchase fresh goods from a Farmers Market?

Sign up for a seasonal CSA? Have a garden in the summer and preserve for winter storage?

Buy chicken and beef from a neighbor and store your proteins in a second freezer in your garage?

Have a community garden plot?

Shop at a local farmers co-op?

According to the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), 83 percent of shoppers would answer “no” to the above questions and typically purchase food from traditional grocery stores. This shocking statistic contradicts the direction most shoppers are wanting to go: fresh, organic, and healthy. A whopping 18 percent of consumers say they are purchasing more fresh, perishable food this year compared to the previous. And the organic sector “is the fastest growing sector of the food industry.” These facts indicate that food from local farms should be the most sought after; local food is inherently fresher, more nutrient dense, preservative-free, and typically grown with organic practices. So what does that mean for a business like mine?

Agricultural Connections (Ag Connect) brings sustainable food to kitchens of all sizes. We have two online stores: one for households that features yearround produce boxes and one for commercial clients, mainly chefs and small groceries.

Central Oregon Locavore (Locavore) is open six days a week and is a year-round

Food comes to you every week from: Rainshadow Organics, Fields Farm, Casad Family Farms, Boundless Farmstead, Windflower Farm, Volcano Veggies, Tender Greens, Tumalo Fish & Vegetable Farm, Mahonia Gardens, Seed to Table, Home Farm Foods, DD Ranch, Golden Eagle Organics and more local farms.

‘farmers market’ selling locally-grown and locally-processed foods. As organic and locally-based shopping grows, these shopping trends would suggest that businesses like Ag Connect, Locavore and local vegetable farms would be booming. While Ag Connects’ sales have certainly grown in our business to business division, our orders to households have dropped off. Ag Connections and Locavore compete with bigger stores like Market of Choice, Natural Grocers and Whole Foods — businesses that offer high quality, fresh and shelf-stable foods. These businesses are not working directly with nearly as many local farmers as Ag Connect and Locavore. Instead, they offer the traditional grocery shopper a convenient way to maintain their familiar shopping behaviors.

Shopping in a new way requires a behavior change. A behavior change requires placing value on the outcome of that change so that the added complexity in a busy life is justified. In other words, you have to care about supporting your neighbor-your farmer- in order to justify complicating your life by shopping in a new way. You can go all in: purchase a CSA, buy on-the-hoof, and start to garden. Or you can start by asking questions. Visit your local grocer and ask, “What is your definition of local?”, “From where do you purchase products?” and “Why don’t you purchase from Central Oregon farms?” Ag Connect is asking these questions and working with some local grocers to introduce more local food and farms.

Ag Connect has been making it convenient for our community to get fresh, local food for eight years now! It’s ultra fresh, harvested within 24-48 hours of getting to your kitchen! We sell to approximately 50 families a week, year-round and our new pickup is at Central Oregon Locavore every Wednesday from 12-6pm. We also offer home delivery so you can get fresh, local organic groceries delivered to your door, weekly, year-round! And if you want to dine out and know you’re supporting those same local farm heroes, check out any of our many awesome commercial clients: Jackson’s Corner, 123 Ramen, Sunny Yoga Kitchen, Boone Dog Pizza, We’re the Wurst, Plantd, Bad Wolf Bakery & Bistro, Broken Top Bottle Shop, Rockin’ Dave’s, Local Slice, 900 Wall, Deschutes Brewery, DumpCity Dumplings, Lone Pine Coffee, Primal Cuts or Metolius Tea. What would it take to feed you and your family the most nutritious food? How can you become a community member who supports your local economy? Go to the places that are “giving back” to the farmers and the to the local land in which we live.

Go to the places that are offering authentically local options. Get a CSA, go to Locavore, and visit www.

AgriculturalConnections.com. If you really want to support the local food network, choosing not to support big agriculture and big business might be your next step. It’s about supporting the people who work the land in the area we call home. It’s about investing in home and Oregon is home — Central Oregon is home.

Photos by Josselyn Peterson & courtesy of Agricultural Connection

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7 Step Guide To Buying A 1/4 Beef

by JESSICA ODDO, Mt. Shasta Wild LLC Wild Foraged Beef at the Base of Mt. Shasta

S

o you’re ready to eat healthy, do it affordably and have new cooking inspirations but are intimidated by the thought of how to go about buying a quarter beef. If every reference or website you read adds to the confusion then follow the simple steps below.

1. Freezer Space “How much freezer space do I need?” is a common question. A standard kitchen freezer in a fridge/freezer combo is around 7 cubic feet. If it were totally empty, then you could fit 100lbs of beef in it (a typical size of a quarter beef).

cuts from the front quarter and back quarter.

3. Weight Hanging vs Actual Meat in Your Freezer You will hear about 3 weights: Live Weight (on the hoof) Hanging Weight Packaged Weight (yield) Live Weight (on the hoof) — Whole live beef typically after 24 hour fast.

Investing in a deep freeze is the way to go. A 7 cubic foot freezer is inexpensive and provides years of savings through bulk purchasing. If you wanted to store more than your beef, then look at a bigger freezer. The deep freeze pays for itself on the first purchase. For a whole beef, about 400lbs, I would recommend getting the 15 cubic foot model. A half beef typically fits well in an 11 cubic foot freezer.

2. Types of Meat Cuts; 1/2 of 1/2 1/2 of 1/2 or split half: When you purchase a quarter of beef, we divide it into “a half of a half” because the cuts of meat from the front half differ dramatically from the back half (or front quarter from the back quarter). So you will get equal amounts of This is what is in a typical quarter Mt. Shasta Wild Foraged Beef (each quarter varies just a bit): • Chuck Roast Boneless • Chuck Eye Steak Boneless • Chuck Top Blade Steak (flat Iron) or • Chuck Mock Tender Roast • Chuck Shoulder Roast (Crossrib) • Ribeye Steak Boneless • Flank Steak or Skirt Steak • Loin Top Loin Steak (New York) Boneless • Tenderloin Steak Boneless

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• T-Bone • Porterhouse • Top Sirloin • Tri Tip Roast or Ball Tip Roast • Top Round Steak Boneless • Sirloin Tip • Round Eye Roast • Bottom Round Roast • Brisket Boneless • Shank • Short Ribs • Ground Beef 35-40lbs Spring 2018

•

•

•

•

100% Natural Uncured Beef Hotdogs. (6 Wilddogs per package and about 5 packages per quarter.)

Heart (small sample when available, more available on request when order placed) Liver (small sample when available, more available on request when order placed) Kidney (if requested when available)

•

•

• •

•

•

Knuckle Bones (when available) Marrow Bones (when available) Mixed Bones Oxtail (1 per beef 1st request/buyer has dibs) Beef Cheeks (1 per beef 1st requests/ buyer has dibs) Tongue (1 per beef 1st request/buyer has dibs)

Hanging Weight — Also known as dressed weight or carcass weight — what you get when you remove the parts that are inedible like the hide, feet, head, some of the bones and most of the innards. The dressing percentage for most beef cattle is about 53% of the animal’s live weight for a grass fed animal. A 1,000lb animal would “dress out” at about 500lbs.

Package Weight (yield) —Your actual take-home finished cuts or “yield.” The percentage of the hanging weight that remains after cut and wrap is called the “yield” and is generally 75% of hanging weight.

A whole beef with a hanging weight of 500 lbs. will yield about 400 lbs. of take-home meat.

Hanging weight is the weight used for most beef bulk meat buying plans when they need you to buy beef on the hoof to avoid USDA inspection. Legally this is a grey area and requires you to deal with the butcher and pick your meat up at the processor.

Pricing off from hanging weight is confusing and can be misleading because it doesn’t reflect the pounds of meat put into your freezer and often does not include the price of cut and wrap, which can be another $0.65 to $0.90/lb. It is hard to estimate what your expense will be and how much meat you will end up with.

If you see an offer for $3-$5.75 per pound bulk beef, the first question you want to ask is, “Is that live weight, hanging weight or packaged weight?” If you decide to buy based on hanging weight you want to ask about their average yields and get recommendations on the processor. A lot of waste can happen at the processor if they do not have attention to detail.

4. USDA Inspection vs Custom Processor USDA facilities have trained meat inspectors on site.

The Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) is required by law to provide inspection for all federally-regulated processing facilities.

Without the inspector present, the establishment cannot process cattle, hogs or poultry.

The Federal Meat Inspection Act requires USDA inspectors to provide inspection of all live animals before they enter the facility. The inspector evaluates the animals to ensure they are healthy and fit to enter the food system. If animals are sick or have an injury, the USDA inspector will deem the animal as not fit for human consumption, and the animal will not enter the food supply.

The USDA inspector will again inspect the carcass of the animal to ensure the safety of the beef. Once approved, the carcass is stamped with a nontoxic ink stamp to show that the animal has passed the

USDA inspections. If a carcass does not pass the USDA inspections it is condemned, stamped as such and does not enter the food supply.

All meat products are inspected by USDA inspectors before they leave the federally-regulated establishment.1 Custom Exempt Facilities Custom-exempt facilities differ significantly from USDA facilities. The custom facilities are not inspected on a daily basis, nor are the animals and meat products handled there. The buildings and equipment are inspected for proper sanitation and maintenance per state requirements. Because the animals and meat processed are not inspected, the products may not be sold (donated or given away) to anyone other than the owner of the animal. Each animal presented for slaughter must be processed, packaged and returned to its owner for consumption within the owner’s own home to his/her family and non-paying guests.

Products are labeled “not for sale.”2 5. Cost and Amount of Beef/Pounds per Week We set our prices based on packaged weights/yield.

Again, most farms use hanging weights to price bulk beef. This is something you want to clarify and if it is hanging weight, does it include the price of cut and wrap or is that additional? $6.75lb pre-order takes home USDA inspected meat all cut and wrapped from Mt. Shasta Wild. Average quarter weighs 100lbs = $675 a quarter. This equates to about 2lbs of Beef a week for a year at the cost of $13 a week. continued on page 20 [

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6. Cooking The supermarket would have you believe that some cuts are better than others; not true. Some cuts are easier to prepare — a tenderloin is virtually a no-fail cut. But beef heart or a rump roast can be amazing as well! It takes an understanding of how to prepare various cuts, willingness to try something new and an appreciation that each cut will have its own unique texture and flavor.

A flank steak will never cut like a tenderloin, but many agree it has deeper, richer flavor. The internet is a great resource for techniques and recipes that will work well with each cut. Customize your own beef cookbook on Pinterest for free.

Buying a quarter beef gives you a sampling of the whole animal experience and is helpful at getting you out of the food rut we find ourselves in now and then.

It helps change eating habits because you learn to cook cuts that are hard to find in the store or are often unavailable. Where before you might have just eaten steaks or ground, now you avail yourself to endless opportunities and develop an appreciation for the less glamorous cuts. The internet and Pinterest has made it easier to attempt something new.

Do a little research in cooking grass fed meats. Because of its lower fat content, it does cook a little differently.

My tips are whenever possible let the meat come to room temperature and try not to cook over medium.

Remember, well done is typically over done for grass finished meats, and also remember it will continue to cook for a while after removing it from heat.

For the perfect finish, I pull it off when it looks slightly underdone for my taste and cover it with foil while I complete the rest of dinner. The time also allows for the contraction that happens to meat when it cooks to relax for a more tender dining experience.

7. Inspiration Steaks: Top Sirloin Steak, Filet Mignon, T-Bone, Rib Eye, Porterhouse. These premium steaks are perfect for that special night. Grilling it is the way to go.

Roasts: Tri Tip, Brisket, Top Round and beyond, slow roasted all day in the crockpot means dinner can be ready when you get home. Eat as a traditional roast or shred it for tacos or BBQ sandwich.

Ground Beef: Easily the most versatile product. Grill it, loaf it, sauce it, casserole it, fry it up with some fresh veggies for an easy Whole30 meal.

Bones: Have a decadent appetizer with roasted marrow bones or make your own bone broth. Sip on mugs of steaming, gut-healing bone broth.

Hotdogs: 100% Natural Uncured Beef Hotdogs. Great for snacks, for kids or meals in minutes. I like mine with sauerkraut, and with eggs in the morning. My husband likes to slice his in half lengthwise and have on a hard crusted bread. Easy to pack for a hardy snack or meal-onthe-go for kids.

Batch Cooking on Sunday will set you up for the busy week ahead: Crockpot a roast and shred it for BBQ Beef sandwiches, salads or tacos. Cook several roasts and freeze it for meals in minutes on those hectic nights.

Put on a good audio book and make up a big batch of meatballs and/or Bolognese to freeze for quick easy meals with little clean up. There are lots of good casseroles out there that are freezer friendly. I double a batch, eat one and freeze one.

Now that you know the process and terminology you can talk intelligently to ranchers and CSAs. I hope this guide helps you save money while enjoying the best beef you can buy.

Jessica Oddo, Mt. Shasta Wild Foraged Beef www.mtshastawild.com, jessica@mtshastawild.com 541-420-2177 1 Source: http://factsaboutbeef.com/2014/03/14/ usda-food-safety-inspectorsare-required-at-all-federallyinspected-beef-processing-plants/ 2 Source: www.in.gov/boah/2504.htm Photos by Jessica Oddo

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What Do

H

YOU Have to Trade?

omeSpun Magazine is working to bring in experts to teach you how to grow your own food and cook it. I find that when people grow their own food they often have more than they can use, that they either give away or it goes to waste. What if there was a way to bring gardeners together, or producers of any sort, to trade their surplus with? This might allow one family to specialize in a type of product and yet end up with more variety than they can produce.

For example, our family has our own flock of laying hens. We have enough excess to sell in order to pay for our feed so that our eggs are free. It wouldn’t be difficult to add another six laying hens and have eggs to barter with for something else we need. If you have ever had a few prolific zucchini plants you probably had plenty for your family and supplied your neighbors zucchini as well. Once they were tired of eating your zucchini, having a way to trade them for my chicken eggs would be beneficial to us both. I would even trade my eggs for bars of homemade soap, dried herbs, jars of home canned goods or even professional services.

Store it Cold was an advertiser for the winter issue of HomeSpun Magazine and they gave us a CoolBot to use as a demonstration model. As nice as it would be to have a

walk-in cooler at the house, we do not have the need for it.

I am willing to use it to set up a walk-in cooler to be used as a type of cold storage trading post. Our community could work together to build an insulated shed and install a window air conditioner to make it work. There would need to be a centrally located place to put it as well. Maybe we could set up some sort of donation system to cover power costs, which a representative with CoolBot told me would be an expected $20-$30 per month. [

[ [ [ [ [

Has anyone seen anything like this before and if so, how did it work?

Are there legal issues that need to be addressed?

Who would manage the shed and the inventory?

Does it need to be managed?

What would you barter if you could?

Would it be able to be available all of the time, for an hour a day, just weekends?

Come to our facebook group www.facebook.com/ groups/HomeSpunMagazine/ if you have answers to any of these questions, share your ideas or show your support. If no one shows up with ideas, or even to say that they would like to use something like this, maybe I will eventually end up with a walk-in cooler at home.

Photo courtesy of Store it Cold

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Savory & Sweet Roasted Belgian Apple-Sausage

by Robin Snyder of Tumalo Garden Market 19879 8th St. in Tumalo • 541-728-0088 Ingredients: 3 packages of high quality Gluten Free Chicken Apple Sausages.

(At least 2 sausages per person or game sausage of choice.

Don’t use Italian seasoned sausage, breakfast seasoned is better) 4-6 apples, sliced and de-seed, skins on or off as preferred.

(Hard pie apples like Macintosh, Granny Smith, Gala, depending on size) 1 large sweet onion, quartered and chunked.

(Can use sliced leeks instead) Optional Small baby potatoes, fresh fingerlings of any type sliced or quartered.

Directions Cut sausage up into bite sized pieces, slice apples and onions and quarter potatoes or slice if included.

Place in single layer on cookie sheet with sides or shallow roasting pan. Sprinkle with olive oil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until sausage browns and apples and potatoes and onions tender. Serve at once.

Condiments: Gourmet Mustards.

Gluten Free/ Egg Free (Serves 6) Preparation 15 Minutes Cooking Time 45 Min @ 350°

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Spring 2018

Fresh Start Farms O

by RYAN MOEGGENBERG

n a late December morning Marcee and I went out to Alfalfa to meet Kathi and Tom Miller of Fresh Start Farms. As we pulled in the driveway we were greeted by the very friendly farm dog Charlie and Tom walking from the barn. I had been in contact with Kathi through brief text messages as she lost her speech due to ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). She had heard of my high energy personality and commented that she was past that and focused now on efficiency. Through our conversation around the kitchen table with Kathi, Tom and their grandson TJ, she may not have spoken much, but she said a lot. By the end of the conversation I barely needed her to write on her whiteboard to get her points across or her opinions known.

mailbox including the view down Johnson Ranch Road toward Powell Butte. Elephants, Zebras and stunning landscapes that he has sold for thousands of dollars.

They say they do things on the farm the right way meaning the hard way and it is working for them. It does have its limitations. For example, the pastures could potentially have twice the grass if they chose to fertilize conventionally. Instead, the herd of cows are fed in different areas therefore concentrating manure in that area. Once the feeding area is ‘manured’ sufficiently, a good harrowing breaks up the manure to naturally fertilize. This is part of the efficiency that

continued on page 25[

While munching on homemade peanut brittle they told us stories of the hundreds of foster kids that have lived with them over the years.

The farm was a good place for teens to learn responsibility, to be loved and be treated with respect. Tom and Kathi used to own an art gallery on the coast. Kathi was adamant to have Tom show us some of his pieces of art. He has painted scenes of the Cascade Mountains viewed from their farm, the Fresh Start Farms www.

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Jamaican Grilled Sweet Potatoes by the MoeGang Household Ingredients 2 large sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds) 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar 3 tablespoons melted butter, divided 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro 2 teaspoons dark rum Directions 1. Pierce sweet potatoes in several places with fork; place on paper towel in microwave. Microwave on HIGH 5 to 6 minutes or until crisp-tender, rotating one-fourth turn halfway through cooking time.

Let stand 10 minutes. Cut sweet potatoes diagonally into 3/4 inch slices.

2. Preheat grill for direct cooking. Combine brown sugar, 1 tablespoon butter and ginger in small bowl; mix well. Stir in cilantro and rum; set aside.

3. Lightly brush one side of each sweet potato slice with half of remaining melted butter.

4. Grill sweet potato slices, butter side down, on covered grill over medium heat 4 to 6 minutes or until grillmarked. Brush tops with remaining melted butter; turn and grill 3 to 5 minutes or until grillmarked. Transfer to bowl; toss with rum mixture.

Makes 6 servings.

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Kathi had mentioned in our text messages. When I was little, we fed our herd in one area near the barn because it was convenient but in the spring we spent days hauling manure out to the fields to fertilize before working it into the ground. Weed management is handled the right way also. Hand pulling as they pop up on their 40 acres so they aren’t relying on potentially harmful sprays.

In order to safeguard their animals they are strict on bio-protection. If the vet has to make a farm call they change their boots and clothes before coming onto the property so as not to carry any disease or illness from anywhere else they may have visited. This is also the reason they do not do farm tours. Another assurance is that they have a ‘closed herd’. Meaning that they do not purchase animals and bring them onto the farm. They have their bulls and boars to do the servicing rather than artificial insemination. This means that their cows and sows come into heat naturally rather than using hormones.

After our conversation around the table, Tom and TJ took us on a tour of the farm. It’s too bad they don’t do regular farm tours because this part was a real treat. The greeting by Charlie the farm dog is typical of a good dog but what came next was not typical of farm animals. If you have ever heard Tim McGraw’s song Down on the Farm you might know the line ‘Don’t mess with the bull, he can get real mean...’? Well that doesn’t apply to Fresh Start Farm. We walked right up to their bull in the pasture and he didn’t mind at all. The three 800 lb pigs were even more intimidating but they walked right to us begging to be patted and scratched.

Kathi said we should pass on the words “EAT BACON”!

They’re going to have a lot of pork this spring, just in time for BBQ season, but plan ahead. Ranching/farming doesn’t allow for instant gratification, just planning and effort. Fresh Start Farms offers memberships for $50 a year. Beef and pork will be sold in quarter, halves and wholes only. Poultry and eggs are available exclusively to members. The membership allows you to purchase poultry and eggs and unplanned harvests. Call and leave a message at 541-317-5925 for information.

Photos by Marcee Hillman

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Carrot Cake Jam

by Justin Kohler Ingredients 1 20 oz can unsweetened crushed pineapple, drained 1-1/2 cups shredded carrots 1-1/2 cups chopped peeled ripe pears 3 tablespoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon cloves 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1 pkg powdered fruit pectin 6-1/2 cups sugar

In large saucepan, combine first seven ingredients. Bring to boil.

Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 mins or until pears are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in pectin.

Bring to full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar; return to full rolling boil. Boil for 1 min, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat; skim off foam.

Ladle hot mixture into hot, sterilized half-pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles; wipe rims and adjust lids. Process in boiling-water canner for 5 minutes.

Yields: 8 half-pints

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Spring 2018

with a

Common Ditch Weed

M

by RYAN MOEGGENBERG ullein is a common Central Oregon weed that many people do not know as a valuable pharmaceutical replacement.

It has large, velvety leaves, small yellow flowers at the top and can reach up to six feet in height.

The velvety leaves earned it its nickname ‘cowboy toilet paper.’ Historically, it was known as the candle wick plant because, when dried, it burns easily so it was dipped in wax and used as the candle wick.

As a medicinal herb it is used as an expectorant. This means that it helps the body remove excess mucus helping it to treat bronchitis, coughs, colds, flu and asthma. The medicinal properties of mullein can be extracted in a tea, through infusion, in a syrup or a tincture. The flowers can also be made into an extract that is effective at easing ear pain using drops in the ear canal.

Harvesting the leaves of your mullein plant should be done prior to flowering in the early morning before they are baked by the sun. I grab the upper leaves as they tend to be less dirty and don’t require much washing. Poke a needle and string through the leaves and hang them until they are dry. Then crush them and place them in a mason jar to be used when cold and flu season invades your household.

Make mullein tea by steeping one to two teaspoons dried leaves per cup of boiling water for five to ten minutes. Drink every few hours as needed. A word of caution, mullein is not the tastiest tea. I made some for my teenage daughter once and forgot to add mint for flavor. I was upset that she did not drink very much as I knew it would make her feel better. Until her mother tasted it and scolded me for trying to poison our daughter! Fresh leaves can also be boiled, enabling you to inhale the steam relieving coughs and congestion.

Always consult your doctor before using medicinal herbs as they could react with medicines, affect pregnancies or nursing babies.

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S

HOME

pun

FEBRUARY 3 10-11:30am Tumalo Bee Academy Introduction at Tumalo Garden Market, Bend.

Free, registration at tumalogardenmarket.com/event.

FEBRUARY 6 10am Synergy Health & Wellness NOURISH 360 Grocery Store Exploration at Market of Choice, Bend.

For more information, email Nutrition@synergyhealthbend. com, call 541-323-3488, or go to www.synergyhealthbend.com.

FEBRUARY 6 6-9pm Chef’s Dinner at 5 Fusion Restaurant, Bend. $100/seat, $800/table - table of 8, tickets at www.5fusion. com/events FEBRUARY 7 10-11:30am Tumalo Garden Market Event, Not Tonight Deer — Understanding Deer Resistant Gardening, at Tumalo Garden Market, Bend. $20, tickets at tumalogardenmarket.com/event.

FEBRUARY 10 8:30am-4pm Central Oregon Beekeeping Association Beginner’s Bee School at COCC. $35 for non-members and $15 for current COBKA members (non-member registration includes one year of COBKA membership). Tickets at https://cobeekeeping.wildapricot.org/ event-2735573. www.cobeekeeping.org.

FEBRUARY 10 10am-12pm Tumalo Garden Market Event, Greenhouse Propagation 101 at Tumalo Garden Market, Bend. $40, tickets at tumalogardenmarket.com/event.

FEBRUARY 20 6-8pm Aeroponic Gardening Presentation.

Free, snack and beverages provided. Information, registration and directions at www.facebook.com/pg/ HomeSpunMagazine/Events.

FEBRUARY 24 10-11:30am Tumalo Bee Academy Introduction at Tumalo Garden Market, Bend.

Free, registration at tumalogardenmarket.com/events.

For details on these events and a full listing of additional happenings, subscribe to our calendar at HomeSpunMagazine.com/Calendar

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Spring 2018

HAPPENINGS MARCH 3 10-11:30am Tumalo Garden Market Event, Growing Tropical Plants in Your Home, at Tumalo Garden Market, Bend. $48, tickets at tumalogardenmarket.com/events.

MARCH 10 8am-5pm OSU Extension Services Living on a Few Acres Conference at Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center, Middle and South Sister Buildings, Redmond.

Early registration deadline March 2, $50 per person, $60 after deadline, information and registration at https://extension. oregonstate.edu/Deschutes/LOAFA or 541-548-6088.

MARCH 13 11am-12:30pm Tumalo Bee Academy Classroom March Session at Tumalo Garden Market, Bend. $30, tickets at tumalogardenmarket.com/event.

MARCH 17 10am-1:30pm 3rd Annual Free Seed Exchange at Redmond Oregon Library, Redmond.

Seed starting class will follow. Information at www.facebook. com/groups/feedthesoil.

MARCH 18 3-5pm Aeroponic Gardening Presentation.

Free, snack and beverages provided. Information, registration and directions at www.facebook.com/pg/ HomeSpunMagazine/Events.

APRIL 14 3-5pm Aeroponic Gardening Presentation.

Free, snack and beverages provided. Information, registration and directions at www.facebook.com/pg/ HomeSpunMagazine/Events.

APRIL 21-22 11am-2:30pm 2nd Annual Spring Plant Exchange at Sam Johnson Park, Redmond.

Information at www.facebook.com/groups/feedthesoil.

APRIL 29 Central Oregon Goat Associations (COGA) Goat Education Day at Bluestone Natural Farms, Powell Butte.

CROP schedule at BluestoneNaturalFarms.com and Facebook/BluestoneNaturalFarms.

SEND US YOUR EVENTS! Ryan@HomeSpunMagazine.com Marcee@HomeSpunMagazine.com

• Grass Fed, Grass Finished Beef • Pork • Closed Herd

• $50 Membership

541-317-5925

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FREE Introduction to Bees SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24th, Noon - 2pm Learn how you can be part of this planet saving endeavor.

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