Skeeter Creek — a vast wonderland for a small boy to explore.
I have written at length in these newsletters about what it means to know this place where we have the pleasure to live and farm. As I have said before, the process has been slower (and more satisfying) than I imagined when contemplating the future from my early 20s. Time and continual presence are both necessary to build familiarity, memories, understanding.
To that end, it was with great pleasure and excitement that we explored a totally new-to-us part of the farm this weekend (in between winterizing chores at the house). As background knowledge, our farm spans 100+ acres over four parcels of land (two owned by us, two rented). All the parcels are adjacent to each other, but a seasonal creek runs between two parcels on one side and two parcels on the other, forcing us to travel extra distance along a county road with a bridge to access the majority of our land. Since this land on the other side of the creek is newer to us (acquired in 2011), we often still call all of that land “the new land,” but more often these days we call it “Next Door.”
The farm crew often travels the road to Next Door several times a day. The kids and I make the trip at least once per week, but it feels like quite a trek to load up the stroller and baby carrier and diaper bag and make the long walk around to Next Door. It is an Outing.
For three years now we have dreamed of a crossing over the creek. It is painful to be on one side and know that Next Door is just across those trees but be unable to get there without making that long trek around the creek and over the bridge.
But a crossing is complicated. This “creek” is actually a seasonal waterway. It only actually runs with water when the Willamette River is high enough to enter the island, and then it flows as long as the river is high. If the river gets even higher, the water expands even beyond the creek itself, into our fields on either side. This is common and happens for a period of time most winters. If the river goes even higher, then we have a flood on our hands, as happened two winters ago — then, even that little bridge is cut off and we can’t access Next Door at all for a period of time!
Anyhow, the expanding nature of the “creek” makes any kind of crossing structure fairly complicated. We’ve pondered all sorts of possibilities and been daunted by the mechanics of it — certainly rigging up anything that could handle a vehicle is well out of the bounds of our finances (and probably requires some complicated permitting, I imagine!). But even simple foot access has seemed challenging.
But the story doesn’t end there. This creek of ours is not really a creek. When the river goes back down at some point in the winter or spring, it stops running and becomes what I call a “creek-shaped pond.” The stagnant water in the summer is what gives the creek its local name, “Skeeter Creek,” and boy is it appropriate (unfortunately). But then, at some point in the summer, the water is gone — evaporated and/or drained away (which was very upsetting when we used this source of water for irrigating in our first two years!). Skeeter Creek stays dry until the first high water of the winter — which can happen early in the fall or late in winter, depending on the season.
Right now the creek is dry. We know this from looking down as we cross that little bridge on the county road, but the creek banks are so thick with trees and brush that we have rarely been able to access the creek from our land itself except in two spots where we put in our irrigation pump long ago.
This weekend, Casey and the kids went exploring one of these spots. Pushing through the thick undergrowth, they managed to get to the creek bottom itself, which right now is a wet expanse of most clearly earth. There are some logs and branches in the way, but no shrubs grow at the base. They managed to walk quite a distance in the creek bed in the morning, and then we all went back after Dottie’s nap with loppers in hand to finally, after three years of dreaming, clear a path to Next Door.
It took about an hour of work, and we intentionally made the path jog back and forth so that we wouldn’t disrupt the important erosion-prevention role of the brush. The resulting trail is still pretty rough — there are many logs and branches to crawl over or under — but it is passable. It will never serve as anything more than an adventurous way for our family to get Next Door, and it will always be seasonal, but we are ridiculously excited about it. We can now get to Next Door in about five minutes of fun walking/climbing.
Plus, we have “discovered” a whole new world to explore — right here on our farm! Suddenly we have a (seasonally) hidden forest in which to stage so many games and stories. I have a recurring dream about finding whole hidden spaces inside houses I know well. In my dream, I will find a door in the back of a closet that I’d never seen before and walk through to find rooms that I had no idea about. Exploring Skeeter Creek feels similar, except it is real. How cool!
So, here we are, seven years after buying this first bit of land, and we are still getting to know it. Between the continued amazing Autumn weather and this bit of high adventure, our farm family is feeling extremely blessed.
Wishing you your own Autumn adventures while the dry weather lasts. Enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla
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Pumpkin Patch CSA Open House this weekend!
Sunday, October 27, 1 – 3 pm
Looks like weather should be lovely for our annual Pumpkin Patch CSA Open House on Sunday! Come on out to Next Door for some music, an apple tasting, farm tours, and pumpkins!
Here are directions: Take HWY-18 to the Dayton exit. Drive south through Dayton and stay on Wallace Rd / HWY-221 for about seven miles. You’ll see signs for Heiser’s Pumpkin Patch, which is also on Grand Island. Turn LEFT onto Grand Island Rd. After the bridge onto the island, drive straight through the first 4-way intersection. Soon you’ll cross a much smaller bridge (the one I mentioned in this week’s newsletter essay!). Almost immediately after the small bridge, turn RIGHT onto a gravel road (you’ll see our old orange combine parked in the field). Follow the gravel road to where it ends on our land, and join us for our gathering!
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Meet this week’s vegetables:
- Arugula — This week’s share is full of wonderful new fall flavors, beginning with arugula — one of the best salad greens and only sweet and tender when grown in the colder seasons. Perfect for a salad or putting on a sandwich!
- Cut lettuce — The more classic salad green, of course. Salad lovers may enjoy combining the two greens for a great big salad!
- Chard
- Kale
- Chives
- Broccoli — Many years ago, we were introduced to the best way to cook broccoli ever — roasting it! We chop it into large bite-sized pieces, lightly toss it in olive oil, and put it in a single layer on a pan to roast at 425° until it is cooked through and starting to crisp up.
- Brussels sprouts — We also love to roast Brussels sprouts. I clean and quarter them first. Brussels sprouts are one of those vegetables that notoriously attracts insects. I usually clean them well by trimming off the butt and then cutting smaller if I want for cooking and then soaking in water and rinsing before cooking.
- Carrots
- Beets — While we’re talking about roasting, why not roast your beets this week? This is our favorite way to eat them (we roast a lot, can you tell?). I chop them into small even sized pieces, toss with oil, and put in a single layer on a pan and roast at 425° until the edges are starting to caramelize. This takes quite a while — longer than carrots for sure. If I am going to roast the two together, I will often make the carrot pieces slightly larger for even cooking across the pan.
- Delicata winter squash — Perhaps the queen of all winter squash! Or the princess! I don’t know, but it is delightful and amazingly easy to cook. Can you guess how we cook it? ROAST IT, of course! I wash the squash and then cut it in half lengthwise (I find this easier to do if I cut off the stem end first). Scrape out the seeds and pulp with a spoon and then put the squash on a pan, cut side down. Liberally brush olive oil over the skin and sprinkle with salt and roast at 425° until the squash is soft (I check it by poking it with a paring knife). The cut edge will caramelize too. We love to eat “delicata boats,” which is where we take a roasted half of squash and serve something else yummy over the top. The sweet squash go especially well with slightly salt/spicy flavors — even things like curried vegetables!
