New tomato named after HJF

Last month, accomplished plant breeder Tom Wagner came out to visit the farm, chat with people and check out the Helsing Junction Sleepover. Part of the proceeds from the Food Tent at the HJ Sleepover were given to Tom to help support his efforts to create new potato and tomato varieties, especially those intended for cultivation in the maritime Northwest.

From Tom Wagner of Tater Mater Seeds:

“I just got back from the Helsing Junction Farm. I was there for only four hours but had a chance to show some of the blue cherry tomatoes. The clone I had with me was #31. I grew it just 13.5 miles as the crow flies from them. I am naming it Helsing Junction Blue in honor of the day. Some of the folks who stopped by to visit with me were Tim, Greg, Chris, Jake, and a few others I can’t remember. The event was a sleep over weekend with lots of live bands. Lots of young people and I felt out of place. However, the CSA was honoring folks who promote local varieties”.

Tater Mater site: http://tatermaterseeds.com/

Some of Tom’s varieties:

We’re looking forward to trying the new Helsing Junction Blue cherry tomato in the future. Good work Tom!

Open House: Sunday, September 12th. 1-4pm

Please join us for our annual field day. The open house will be held on Sunday rain or shine. The extended forecast is for clouds and 60 degree weather which is just perfect for a stroll around the field. Bring a picnic lunch and some water if you so desire. We are going to mark out a few crops that people can pick to their hearts content like basil and green beans, and then everybody can take 1 extra thing such as a pint of tomatoes or a few ears of corn (if it ever decides to ripen!). We don’t have as much excess as in years past, so we sadly have to limit how much people can take this year. As many of you who garden or who have worked on farms know, harvesting vegetables is almost addictive. The excitement you get from peering under the canopy of leaves and finding a plump orange pumpkin, or a handful of warm beans is amazing. Kids especially seem to enjoy it and it is great fun to seem them get excited over vegetables. We will have Lupe’s amazing farm tamales available for sale; they will be $2.00 each, hopefully we will have enough for people to take home and throw in the freezer! We will also have farm tee shirts and honey for sale as well.
Please come!

Directions to Helsing Junction Farm:
It takes about ½ hour to reach the farm from Olympia, 1½ hours from Seattle or Portland.
Please note; our mailing address is different than the farm’s actual address. See address below.
-From Olympia and Seattle, take I-5 south to exit 88. Turn right at the end of the exit ramp.
-From Portland take I-5 north to exit 88B.
-You’ll be heading west on Highway 12.
-Take Highway 12 for 5 miles into Rochester, and then turn left at the stoplight on Albany Street.
-Go 2 blocks and turn right onto 185th Street, which instantly becomes Marble Street and bears to the left.
-About a half mile later at a Y in the road the road becomes Independence Rd (stay to the right at the Y).
-Take Independence Rd. 2.5 miles, to 12231 Independence Road / Rochester WA / 98579
-Make a left into the 2nddriveway and follow signs for parking.

View Directions to Independence Rd SW in a larger map

Farmigo Article up on Civil Eats

Here’s a link to an article about Farmigo (the new internet-based csa software we’re using this year) by our friend Naomi Starkman. It features some quotes by us about using this new system.

http://civileats.com/2010/09/01/farmigo-a-farmers-hi-tech-friend/

Helsing Junction Sleepover 2010 Family Photo

Helsing Junction Sleepover 2010

K Records, Helsing Junction Farm, and Lasercave are up to their old shenanigans once again: The Helsing Junction Sleepover. Its another perfect weekend of diverse and unique music, amazing food, amazing people, swimming, camping, and the best possible festival setting: a huge beautiful organic farm in rural Washington. You can see Helsing Junction Farm in the acclaimed Lasercave documentary Growing Awareness, now go on the ride! Delicious organic food will be available for sale at the Food Tent, all proceeds go to support the event and local non-profits. Come prepared to drink locally roasted gourmet coffees served by Olympia Coffee Roasting Co.

We encourage you to bring your own plate/bowl and utensils to minimize waste!

The price is $35 at the door for the whole weekend, including camping. Or you can go to K Records’ web store to buy your tickets ahead of time at a discount!

Visit http://www.lasercave.biz/sleepover/ or http://www.krecs.com/helsing/ for the schedule and other important information.

Capitol Land Trust to hold Tenth Annual Summer Gala at Helsing Junction Farm:

Saturday August 14, 2010 from 4 to 8pm.
Keynote Speaker is Dr. John Marzluff

This years event features the incredible culinary creations of Xinh Dwelley of Xinhs Clam and Oyster House. Xinhs dinner will be featuring locally harvested shellfish from Taylor Shellfish Farms and fresh picked vegetables from Helsing Junction.

Fish Brewing Company will be on hand to pour their famous line of organic beers and Washington State wines from McCrea, Scatter Creek, Walter Dacon and others will be featured prominently. Before dinner, you will be treated to a fabulous selection of breads from Blue Heron and San Francisco Street Bakeries, gourmet local cheeses from Black Sheep Creamery, Estrella Family Creamery and Steamboat Island Goat, along with dips and fresh, organic crudite from Helsing Junction.

Dessert will be courtesy of Olympic Mountain Ice Cream and Spooner Farms.

Ocho Pies will be there throughout the evening, entertaining folks with their unique blend of both the dance and folkloric music of the Caribbean, North and South America, Africa and even a wee bit of Ireland thrown in for good measure.

Helsing Junction will be giving special Farm Tours and there will be a silent auction.
Please join us!

We are Number 1!?!

Our CSA has been ranked the number one CSA in Seattle according to the Seattle Weekly Blog Veg-Tastic Seattles Top Five CSAs by Zibby Wilder
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/voracious/2010/05/top_five_csas.php#more