High Dry Farm, Sultan, Washington….Certified Organic
This year I will be selling hops for the first time. Over the next several weeks I will be supplying green hops to the Snotown Brewery. Pictured is the Kent Golding variety, usually the first hop flower to mature. Technically, the Golding variety can be called “Kent Golding” if it is grown in Kent, but hey, Kent, Washington is just 40 miles a way. Fun fact, Kent, Washington was so-named because it was a major hop-growing area from 1870-1891.
The hoophouse is now producing prodigious amounts of tomatoes and cucumbers, much appreciated by our customers at the Snohomish Farmer’s Market.
My neighbor cut hay on our biggest field, I raked it, and the neighbor bailed. This yielded 365 bales. I took 105 bales, and the neighbor took the rest. 
Our high tunnel is now fully planted with tomatoes, cucumbers and melons and plants are already sporting tiny fruit.
Our first day selling at the Snohomish Farmer’s Market was a big success. What were the odds for a cloudless day in early May?
3″ of heavy wet snow is not helping our early crops, but most are protected by high tunnels, low tunnels or greenhouse.
My goal is to produce 1000 plants – ten each of one hundred varieties.
This fall we have worked to improve a section of a horse pasture. It was originally part of a raspberry farm, so it has hills and valleys spaced at 4′ intervals reflecting where the rows of fruit used to be. I rototilled about an acre, and removed 500 lbs of rocks. Then I spread a ton of manure and a quarter ton of lime. After this photo was taken, I rototilled once more, smoothed the surface with our pasture groomer, and spread 5 lbs of orchard grass seed.
When my pea crops stopped producing, I allowed those pods that had become to mature to dry on the vine. When shelled, this yielded 3 lbs of snow pea seeds and 2 lbs of shelling pea seeds. I will use these to produce microgreen pea shoots over the winter. This amount of seeds purchased commercially would cost $80-$100 including shipping.
