Happy 2018!

A farming blank slate on the New Year: a freshly worked greenhouse awaiting winter greens (which have been sown into flats).

We are coming up toward the end of our “winter break” as a farm — the CSA begins again on Thursday, January 18. We are looking forward to seeing everyone again then, and in the meantime we have a few reminders and updates from life out here on the farm:

First CSA payment due … Thank you to the folks who have already mailed us their first CSA payments. If you haven’t yet, you can mail it to us at: Oakhill Organics, P.O. Box 1698, McMinnville, OR 97128. Or, you can bring it to the first pick-up.

2018 plans in the works … We hope to have more information soon regarding the rest of the CSA season (after the initial 20 week season everyone has signed up for so far). Hopefully more concrete details will be in one of the first newsletters of the season!

Lots of December fun … our family has been enjoying our break, which has of course included some farm work (inevitable!). But mostly, our family has been enjoying loads of together time, with each other and with our extended community of friends and family. We celebrated Rusty’s 8th birthday early in the month, with a full-on kid party (his first!) with cake and presents and lots of noisy play.

We also took a somewhat spontaneous trip up to Orcas Island, to visit my aunt and uncle and some friends from McMinnville who recently moved up there. I visited the island a ton growing up, and it was really fun to share so much of that experience with the kids for the first time: the Puget Sound, the big ferries, the misty weather, the beaches strewn with shells and rocks, the short winter days at 48° north … !

The kids’ first ride on a Washington State ferry!

Crescent Beach at Eastsound on Orcas Island …

We also enjoyed one last cup of coffee and cinnamon rolls at my family’s bakery, Teezers, which ended its 30-year run on December 29. Eating treats at Teezers is one of my sweetest (literally!) childhood memories, and I wanted to make sure the children got to experience it too. It was clear as we sat there and visited with my aunt and uncle that they had nurtured a community gathering space in their little storefront, a place that had big significance for Orcas and would be missed. The local community was coming in at record numbers to also share in the final days of Teezers and to say thank you and good bye for so many cups of coffee and cookies over those three decades …

We enjoyed one last brevé and one last (messy!) cinnamon roll at Teezers in Eastsound!

We returned ready to jump into the peak of the holiday celebrations: decorating our tree, caroling, meals with family, wrapping final gifts! And, we hosted our Holiday Harvest too — thanks to everyone who placed an order for yummy winter food!

And, on the solstice, Dottie lost her first tooth! That was an exciting milestone to celebrate on the shortest day of the year.

Our humble little tree, decorated with lots of love and lots of special ornaments from all the wonderful people in our life.

We hope that you had a delightful December and are beginning 2018 feeling nourished by the twinkly lights, extra prayers, good food, and love of the holidays. Let us know if you have any questions about the CSA season before the first pick up!

Happy New Year to all!

Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla