EverGreen Farm

Names

Since I know you are all dieing to know what we ended up naming all our baby critters this year.

Please allow me to introduce you.

Here are our two new kittens.  They are doing very well and I've got the perfect place to house them (inside a chicken tractor, don't laugh, it's the perfect kitten condo) until they grow up a little and learn this farm is their home.

Left:  Jacob (darker fur than his brother, with a faux mohock stripe on his head)

Right:  Edward (lighter fur with brilliant blue eyes)

Yep.  My teenage, obsessed with "Twilight", daughter named them.

Shain and Eli refuse to call them by these names.  So they will also be know as Ed (or Eddie) and Jake.

The goat kids are also doing very well.  They have grown nice and big from drinking milk from both their mother and my second doe (which was not necessarily my plan).  They are now in the process of being weened. 

 

Left, red collar, female:  Pearl

She will stay here on the farm and eventually be our third milking doe.

Right, black collar, male:  David

He has been castrated (we don't need another buck around here) and will be a companion wether for our breeding buck.

Since I let Megan name the kittens, Eli gets to name the boy goat; and he keeps changing his name.  But for now I guess he's David.

So everyone who needs a name around here now has a name. 

Some animals don't get names because there are too many of them (chickens), can't tell them apart anyways (ducks), or are destined for the freezer (pigs and meat chickens).

EverGreen Farm is featured in Fine Gardening Magazine

Last summer we were contacted by Fine Gardening Magazine.  They asked if Shain would be interested in writing an article recommending a few "Best Edibles" that grow well in our area.  Of course!  (He is an English teacher after all.)  Fast forward a few months and here we are in the Feb. 2010 issue.  In the article Shain gives advice to grow some of our most successful crops:  Scarlett Nantes Carrots, Yukon Gold Potatoes, Early Wonder Tall Top Beets, and German Extra Hardy Garlic.  If you are an EverGreen Farm Customer, you know how great these veggies taste!  They are certainly some of my favorites.  Shain did a great job on the article and he does an incredible job growing vegetables in this challenging climate.

Thanks to Fine Gardening Magazine for this opportunity.  It's so great seeing the results in print!  We love it.

EverGreen Farm gets featured in Zone 4 Magazine publications

Dare I say it?  We are "famous"! 

This past summer I was contacted by two magazines wanting to feature EverGreen Farm in their publication.  It was rather exciting.  We answered their questions, put together the requested information and photos, sent them off, and got back to farming.

A few months later it was a very nice surprise to get a package in the mail from Zone 4 Magazine with a little note that said "check out pages 2, 10, and 75."  Here we are in the Winter 2009 edition.

From their website (zone4magazine.com):  "Zone 4 is a quarterly magazine devoted to gardening, landscaping, local foods, and outdoor living in the Rocky Mountain states of Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, northern Idaho and northeastern Utah. The editorial focus is on expert growing advice, colorful photography, and news around the region featuring local foods and sustainable growing practices."

Page 2 is the Contents page which features a photograph I've posted on this blog of our chicken tractor.  Page 75 is a map of the region pinpointing all the farms and businesses featured in this particular edition.

Page 10 is the article written about our farm and a picture of Shain and Eli I took a few years ago (Eli looks so young).  It's a very nice article. 

Since then we have had repeated calls and comments from friends and acquaintances saying "Hey, I saw you in a magazine!"  "That is so cool!"  I know.  I know!

Just before Christmas I received another unexpected package from Zone 4.

I AM MISS JULY!  

It was a very nice surprise to look through this 2010 Zone 4 Calendar to find 2 feature photographs from EverGreen Farm.  Again, both are pictures I've posted on this website.  I love it!  

July is a picture of me walking through our garlic field.  It really is one of my favorites.  November is me with a group of workshares working out in the muddy fields.  You can't hardly tell who we are because we are such a mess.

So for Christmas, many of my family members received Zone 4 calendars.  If they like it or not.  Because "Hey, we are famous!"

It Runs in the Family

This is a picture looking in through the store front window to my Great-Grandfather's store.

 
My Great-Grandfather John H. Tillotson (my mother's grandfather) owned and operated a mom & pop store in Ogden, UT back during the Depression.  This picture has peaked my curiosity and I want to lean more about his endeavor.  I do remember hearing how generous and kind he and my great-grandmother were.  They frequently gave food to those who could not afford to buy it. 

I feel a connection.

I am told my great-grandfather would spend hours arranging the food in his front window.  He wanted it to look perfect.  Gee, must run in the family.  Shain and I also spend a good amount of time (sometimes too much time) making sure the food we sell looks great.  We are very particular and want to only give the best looking produce to our customers.  I've also been known to spend a good amount of effort, time and consideration when setting up our produce stand at the farmers market.  I want it to look perfect.  And I'm told it looks pretty good.  A lot. 

This picture makes me smile.  Notice the Tillotson's name on the window.  Notice the artistically placed produce.  Notice the sign "Where Every-thing's Good To Eat".  Notice the small little "s" added at the end of "Every-thing" as though it was an after thought.  As my mother says "He was so cute!"

Enjoy.

Tara