2015 February

Mangalitsa on the Range 2015

Here are the eight Mangalitsa that we kept from the last litters, almost 5 months old at this point, enjoying another very sunny mild day at Stonebridge.  These guys are super hardy and have no problem with cold and wet, something they have not had to contend with much this year. 

Another ridge of high pressure has parked over the Northwest, leaving us dry, sunny and quite mild.  Great for getting things planted, but could spell trouble if we get some cold temps, rain and fruit flowers.

Chard

Swiss Chard, this big and nice looking this early, is almost unheard of.  We have been taking advantage of the weather and planting lots of greens, kale, mustards, mizuna, endive, spinach, favas, snap peas and radishes.  Even Raven's over winter sweet onions look great.  Tomatoes get started on March 3 rd, Town meeting day, old school timing that has worked well for us.

We look to reopen the restaurant by mid March, barring more delays with our on going refrigeration projects.

Shiro Plum Buds about to bloom

The first 30 or so tomato plants are in the greenhouse.  It has warmed up a bit, finally getting day time temperatures into the 60's.  It may be too late for some of the fruit trees to be pollinated, but the bees are now officially flying.

Here is a shot of our newly planted garden outside of the kitchen.  Now that the area is fenced in, we are deer proof, everything is starting to take off, we have a mix of perennials and lots of culinary herbs, like various basils, thyme, sage, rosemary, lavender, chives, Bay, Artichoke, Nasturtiums, parsley, etc...

One of our spring favorite combinations, Local Morels and Ramps, served today with Troll Caught King Salmon from Ucluelet, British Columbia, not far at all from Orcas Island.

Tomorrow our little female Mangalitsa, Link, goes to Lopez Island for some piggy love.   She will be bred with Angus, a rather good looking young Berkshire boar.  So with any luck we will have some half Bershire - half Mangalitsa piglets.  Most likely we will only raise three of them here at the Inn.

Early Garden

Sorry no pictures,  but we planted a lot of seed this week, way earlier than normal, it is still January for Pete's sake.  The top is back on the greenhouse now.  All the greens will be fine, but sugar snap peas and favas are a bit iffy this time of year, they either thrive or succumb to rot.  We will keep you posted.  We also planted Neal's famous turnips, which produced great little baby greens and have survived form last fall.  Much pruning to do and opening in 2 WEEKS!

Thank  you John for the extra seed.