This is an open letter to the La Grande city council and city manager who suspended the farmers market’s permit to use Max Square, a city park, due to concerns about COVID.

If you’re concerned about the market and want to see it back in Max Square, please email your comments to rstrope@cityoflagrande.org by 5pm Monday, June 29th with the subject line “Public Comments for July 1st City Council Meeting.” You can also reach the city councilors directly:

To the La Grande City Manager and City Councilors,

First, thank you for your public service during this difficult time. I know you are facing the same personal challenges that the COVID outbreak has brought as well as leadership challenges. You are working to make decisions that balance concerns about the recent outbreak with the impacts restrictions place on local people and businesses.

As a small business owner and farmer, I too am working to balance the need to protect my employees’ health and paychecks with the need to keep my business viable. I raise produce in Cove and sell it to local restaurants, retail establishments, and directly to my customers at our on-farm farmstand in Cove and at the La Grande Farmers Market in Max Square.

The early shut down of restaurants highly impacted my revenue, but I was able to make some adjustments and find sales outlets in new places. However, when the city suspended the farmers market’s permit to use Max Square last week, I had to start cutting employee hours. The farmers market makes up 60 percent of my sales income.

I am baffled by the city’s decision for three reasons:

1. We know that outdoor shopping is the safest way to get groceries,
2. The farmers market followed all the mask, distancing, and hand washing requirements laid out in May by the city without complaint, and
3. Neither the city nor the mayor have provided evidence, reasoning, or timeline for the permit suspension or ability to discuss returning to Max Square.

There are many reasons that the farmers market permit should be reinstated by the city council at the July 1st meeting.

The market follows precautions–better than grocery stores

Our market manager worked with city employees to adopt strict mask and distancing rules, which are enforced at the market.

• All vendors wear masks and we provide masks to any customer who doesn’t bring one.
• We provide a mobile hand washing station for vendors and customers.
• Vendors provide hand sanitizer for customer to use.
• We mark six foot spacing in front of booths to help folks line up at a distance.
• We space vendor booths 10 feet apart (when in Max Square and on 4th street.)
• Vendors do not allow customers access to the produce or goods to avoid touching and handling.
• The market is outside where spread of COVID is unlikely if folks are wearing masks and distancing.

There are many more guidelines and rules we are following which can be found on the homepage of the farmers market website: www.lagrandefarmersmarket.org. In my experience shopping at other grocery stores around La Grande, most of these precautions are not being made.

The city’s suspension makes the market less safe

Due to the dedication of market employees and board and the generosity of EONI, we were able to hold the farmers market in the EONI  parking lot last week. This space is very crowed and does not allow us to have 10 feet of distance between market stands. It also leaves less room for customers to socially distance.

Current space constraints will permanently hurt the market

The market will be permanently damaged by a prolonged exclusion from Max Square.

First, the market manager told me yesterday she doesn’t have enough room at the EONI parking lot to accommodate all the produce vendors. One vendor who has been coming to the farmers market for the entire 40 years it has been around doesn’t have a spot for Saturday.

Second, while the move around the corner to the EONI parking lot seems small, it is certain customers will not find the market. In my experience working with the Baker City Farmers Market, a two block venue change took years for customers to return at previous levels. My experience talking to other members of the Oregon Farmers Market Association confirms that market venue changes have lasting, deep affects on sales and the customer base.

Produce is on now–it won’t wait and people need it.

The produce is ready now. If vendors cannot get a space at the market or don’t come because the venue change has decreased customer traffic, the produce will go to waste. This impacts the viability of small farms and small businesses like me who are already struggling due to the loss of other sales outlets.

People need this produce now. The farmers market is an essential business that feeds people of all incomes across our community. The market has a robust SNAP program and dedicated customers. We also provide a SNAP match of $10 per customer per visit, which means low-income customers are able to make their SNAP dollars go further. This is particularly important as more people are utilizing SNAP and unemployment continues to rise.

Vendors & community members rely on the market economically

Due to the rippling impacts on our other sales outlets, the farmers market has become even more essential to farmers. People are staying at home, cooking more, and buying more produce. The market could buoy our struggling small farm businesses–unless the customers can’t find the market or vendors can’t attend the market due to space restrictions.

Furthermore, many of the vendors who attend the farmers market are already on the edge financially. For decades the market has provided a place and a customer base for community members to make extra money selling produce, baked goods, art, woodworking and more. Right now, the market is only allowing food vendors to attend in our restricted space, which means folks who could really use the extra market cash now are shut out.

I urge the city manager and city council to work with the farmers market to reinstate our permit and allow us back at Max Square. We are willing to following any rules that will keep our customers, vendors and the community safe. We want to feed people and keep our businesses afloat and keep the market open. 2020 is the La Grande Farmers Market’s 40th anniversary, and it is more essential than ever to keep it open.

Sincerely,

Nella Mae Parks, Nella Mae’s Farm, Cove

Former La Grande Farmers Market board president

If you’ve been thinking about starting a Corona Victory Garden, I am writing to say, it isn’t too late in the season! No matter where you live or your climate, you can always plant seeds and enjoy the freshest produce you’ve ever tasted. No matter how much experience or space you have, you can grow a garden and your farmer is here to help you get started.

I started gardening like an adult with three roommates in 2011. Our landlord allowed us to garden in the front and back. Our motto was “food, not lawns!” The neighbors had mixed feelings until they started finding bags of produce on their porches.

The garden we grew (below) is, well, not the tidiest. You can do better than we did in that department. Or you can go wild with the rain barrels and the corn patch and sunflowers.

I want to help you garden

A big part of what I want to do at the farm in 2020 is host gardening workshops and classes. I finally have enough experience to share with you all! I hosted a terrific class in early this year (before Coronavirus made it dangerous to do so) with 25 people in attendance, even on a snowy, cold day. I wish I could be hosting more classes right now during the peak of our camas bloom, but alas. Instead, I am hosting regular Zoom meetings, called “Garden Hour with Nella Mae,” where I answer your garden questions. Check out my calendar or Facebook page for the next Garden Hour as well as on-farm classes once it is safe to host them again. I am also trying to get your questions answered with this blog. Please let me know what topics you’d like to see.

Choosing Your Seeds

Check out my earlier blog post about reading a seed catalog. Even if you’re buying seeds off the rack at the hardware store, this will help you understand a lot of vocabulary.

Also, check out my resources page for handouts I’ve made for early/beginning gardening, irrigation, and more.

Prepping your soil

I have had great luck turning over sod at rental houses (with permission mostly) and getting a productive garden in year one. There is a lot to say about prepping your soil, but the most important thing is to add organic matter (dry, fluffy compost) each season and to avoid compacting your soil by tilling or walking on it when it is wet.

My next blog post will be about prepping and amending garden soil, but for now, check out this article in Mother Earth News for some tips.

Tips for starting your garden

1. Start with the “tried & trues.”

If you’re new to gardening, don’t start with asparagus or blueberries. Start with the “tried & true” crops that are easy to grow and you can eat this season. (Asparagus and blueberries take a few years to produce a crop and have finicky soil requirements.) I suggest starting with these crops.

• Roots- Radishes & beets
• Greens- Spinach, lettuce & kale
• Herbs- Cilantro & basil
• Fruits- Tomatoes & cucumbers

I suggest buying tomato and basil plants to transplant into your garden because they are susceptible to frost. I suggest waiting until after June 15th in northeast Oregon to plant out these plants due to frost. Everything else you can “direct seed” into your soil now. You can also direct seed basil seed in June for continuous harvest.

Carrots can be tricky. They need careful monitoring and watering during germination. if you are careful with

2. It ain’t gotta be fancy!

Don’t think you need to buy expensive boxes or expensive seed or expensive tools. Start small with what you have and make improvements and changes year by year. Grab that old dresser marked “free” on the sidewalk and use the drawers to make planter boxes. Use the hoses and sprinklers you’ve got and add to your irrigation system as you go. It is better to see how things work first and buy things to match your needs.

At our rental house there was a broken hot tub when we moved in. We didn’t have a truck to haul it away, so we filled it with soil, made a glass lid and gardened in it when it was snowy. You might have a higher sense of decorum than I did in my early 20’s, but the point is, use what you have!

3. Grow what you actually eat.

There is something about the possibility that seeds embody that makes us loose our heads. Universally, we buy too much seed. We buy things we don’t actually eat because they are intriguing.  Just stick to five or 10 crops you actual eat on a weekly basis. This will also mean you actually save money on food.

4. Plant in succession

Beginning gardeners don’t realize that planting is an ongoing activity, not a one time thing. At the farm we plant on Wednesdays all season long. We plant greens every other week ensure a continuous supply and replant crops that we pulled out or that were not vigorous. The same week we pull broccoli, we’re putting new broccoli starts right back in. In planning your succession, choose varieties that are “early,” “main season,” “heat tolerant,” and “overwintering” to take you through the whole season and into next spring.

5. Weeding

Weeding never ends, but it is also seasonal. You will have more weeds in the early spring, so focus more weeding time then. Devout an hour or two a week, but if things get away from you, it is ok. You can recover.

My weeding philosophy is this: there will always be weeds; there will always be new species of weeds; take it one day at a time; enjoy the meditative process; get the roots; keep them from going to flower or seed; there is an ebb and flow to weeds–it isn’t static.

6. Watering

Different plants need different amounts of water. As a general rule, deep rooted plants like tomatoes and peppers need water less often for longer. Shallow rooted plants need water more often for less time. It is best to water in the morning or at night rather than the heat of the day. The hotter it is, the more water needed. Seeds need constant moist soil to get started.

7. Make your experiments small.

It is fun to try strange or new plants. Do it! Enjoy your experiments but focus on your main eating crops. Our rule on the farm is we only allow 10 percent of time and space to be spent on experiments. This year’s experiments include a row of fava beans, a row of bulbing fennel, a row of cress, and some new varieties of herbs including saltwort, cumin and leaf celery.

Best of luck!

Your grateful farmer,

Nella Mae

“The best thing we can do with food is to eat and enjoy it–not waste it.”

This is the message Tristram Stuart delivers in his TED Talk about food waste. His presentation and the fact that more people are at home cooking during the COVID outbreak put me to thinking a lot more about food waste lately. I want to share some stories and encourage everyone to appreciate food more by wasting less.

Lessons on Food Waste

Growing up on a farm, we wasted very little food. We had pigs, chickens, and compost to feed our waste. As a child, I slopped the animals. I watched my dad delight at the steam coming off the compost pile in the winter. Over the years through the people I’ve met and the places I’ve been, I’ve learned a lot more about how to enjoy and fully use food.

1. Ecuador: I remember watching my host mother, Margarita, crack and egg and wipe the whites out of the shell with her finger to get every last bit. I remember thinking how much sense that made–it shows respect for the value of the food and it is cleaner than dragging strings of egg white across your counter. But I wondered: why have I never seen someone do this before?

2. Other kitchens: After every meal preparation, my friend Rossi would gather up all the naked rosemary stalks, celery tops, potato peelings, bones, shrimp peelings and other things I would put in the compost or trash. He would zip it all into a bag and pop it in the freezer. During the weekend he would use these scraps to make stock. Only after squeezing every last nutrient and flavor molecule out of the scraps would he compost them. Again, I thought, why have I never seen this before?

3. Foods we look down on: When you travel outside your country, you see that in many places other folks eat with less waste. People in the US often look down on the food culture of other people, but as omnivores, our extreme squeamishness about some foods seems silly. In travel I’ve seen whole fish served with the head on–people eat the eyeball and cheek meat first because they are the most tender. Margarita cooked dishes with every kind of organ meat–tongue, pancreas, liver, heart–to show me I had prissy food assumptions. I have learned I like broiled beef tongue and pancreas stew. I learned from rancher friends Andrea and Tony Malmberg that “the heart is just another muscle” and barbecued it is amazing. (Unfortunately, I haven’t come to love liver yet, but I always save the beef livers from our beeves and find people who love liver. It is a real treat for them.)

4. Ashley’s Roadside Oranges: Last week local artist Ashley Barnes drove upon a pile of oranges that had fallen off a truck. Ashley is quite a cook and baker, so she collected them and took them home. Although they were past their prime, she peeled them, dried them and made orange powder for baking and cooking with. Where others saw trash, she saw an opportunity. I’m with Ashley. I am known to dodge traffic on Cabbage Hill for roadside potatoes and onions.

Finding oranges

Collecting oranges

Drying oranges

Orange powder!

Why Food Waste Matters

Carbon emissions: When food goes into the garbage instead of nourishing you, animals, worms or compost, it “rots” anaerobically in the landfill. This means your wasted food produces methane gas which is among the worst of greenhouse gases–worse than CO2.

Land & Wildlife: When we reject imperfect food or waste it instead of eating it, more food has to be grown to feed us. We are deforesting the Amazon to grow soy and sugar cane. We are turning wild places into agricultural land and displacing plants and animals. This is not hyperbole–you can draw a line from food waste to food production–it is called supply and demand.

Wasted Effort: Our prim expectations for perfect looking food or our lack of imagination when it comes to using produce that is old or wilted is a problem. Think about the water, seed, effort, and time that made your food. Think about the farm workers bent over for long days picking your food. Think about animals who became our food. We can honor effort and life of our food by eating it and enjoying it rather than wasting it.

Tips to eat and enjoy more of your food

1. Embrace the imperfect foods

As a farmer bent over all day growing fresh, nutritious food I have a hard time with the expectation that it also look absolutely perfect. That’s not how plants grow! They don’t all ripen at the same size or shape. They sometimes look a little weird. My mom says, “use soft eyes” to appreciate and eat the uglier of the food. It is also better to assess food with your eyes than your hands–your handling creates damage that leads to more food waste at the market and grocery store.

2. Properly store your food

The fridge is dry and vegetables are alive! If they are a stock (celery) or have a way of taking up water (heads of lettuce, herbs), try storing them in a glass of water on the counter rather than in the fridge. Try mesh bags for things that usually get slimy. Otherwise, use your crisper–it is more humid and dryness is death to veggies.

3. Rescue sad veggies

If something goes limp, just cut off the root end and stick it in a glass of cool water to revive. For roots, fill a Tupperware with cool water and submerge. Stick it back in the fridge and they will perk up.

If they don’t refresh, well, that’s what stir fry is for.

4. Plan your meals

This is the best way to avoid needless trips to the store and food waste.

5. Triage your food before you start dinner

Maybe you’re planning on spaghetti, but before you start boiling water, triage your fridge. If you see broccoli going south, again, that’s what stir fry is for.

6. Use your scraps

Like Rossi, let’s save our scraps and make stock. Save your veg scraps, bones, and even shrimp peelings to make stocks and broths. Everything you cook is better cooked with stock. Here are some recipes for shrimp stock, beef stock, and vegetable stock. These are starting points so don’t buy anything. Use what you have.

7. Freeze ahead & after

Double your recipe and freeze quick meals. Are you tired of eating lentils? Freeze them and use later rather than overdosing on left overs. Most things freeze! Milk, rice, cheese, butter, whole bananas, soup, etc. Just leave head room for freezing expansion.

8. Preserve your food

Most food will preserve by pickling, canning, freezing or drying. Google it!

9. Make new products

My mom suggests searching for recipes for using avocado and peach skins for face masks and other skin products. (I’ll never forget the first time I saw a hippie in Eugene eat an avocado, flip the skin inside out, and rub his skin with it!)

10. Get chickens or worms

Most of our kitchen and farm food waste goes to making eggs. It is a magical thing. Worms are a good alternative if you can’t have hens. Order worms online or find the Red Wiggler Worm Ranch in Union to get started with a  worm bin.

11. Compost

Not everyone can have chickens, plus they don’t eat citrus, avocado or onion peels. Try composting. Listen to this great podcast about how to get started in composting.

For more ideas on how to decrease your own food waste, here’s another enjoyable podcast.

Here’s to eating and enjoying our food more!

Your grateful farmer,

Nella Mae

As I write this, disruptions from COVID-19 are rippling through all aspects of our lives. It is surreal, strange, and scary. I sat down to write to you to tell you a few things. I want to buoy you if you’re feeling scared or need help, and spur you on to help others. I care about you. We are here for you. We need you.

I am your farmer/neighbor/friend, and I care about you.

If you need help, if you need someone to talk to but you’re not sure who, please call or email me. I will figure out how to help. We’re all in this together, and I really care about you. nellamaesfarm@gmail.com, 541-910-4098.

You are needed right now.

There are folks have lost jobs and wages; who can’t leave their houses to get what they need. I challenge everyone to adopt one neighbor or friend and integrate them into your thinking as you cope with this situation.

Who do you know without family near by? Who do you know with underlying health or mobility issues? Who do you know who works at a restaurant or other closed business?

Find out what this person may need, and keep checking in. Things are changing and it is hard to ask for help.

If we all adopt someone into our lives right now, we will build community resiliency for whatever is to come.  Building more connections now can help you and your neighbors in the future with problems big and small. And when the danger has passed, you will be more integrated and connected in your community. Think of all the potlucks, holiday cookies, and stories you’ll reap by sowing neighborliness now.

What we’re doing in Cove

On Friday a group of volunteers sent out a letter to everyone in our Cove zip code. The letter states support for our neighbors and offers a list of resources. Folks can sign up for help or to volunteer online, by phone, or by mailing the letter back to us at the farm. Volunteers will adopt neighbors who need support, and keep track of them as we ride this whole thing out.

Cove School District is offering free breakfast and lunch to anyone in Cove Monday through Friday starting March 30th. Meals are available for pick-up and home delivery.

Cove Ascension School took everything out of their pantry and kitchen and made a food pantry on the front porch of their office. It is open to everyone. The Cove Methodist Church is still running the food pantry on Tuesdays and the 4th Saturday of the month.

We opened Nella Mae’s Farmstand on March 27th (very early this year) to provide easier access to food. We have limited supplies of greens, but we also have plenty of eggs, bread, baked goods, coffee, tea and a box for people to share free supplies and food.

Let’s make this easier on each other.

In my last blog post, I gave many suggestions on how we can make things easier on each other. Check it out here.

I wanted to add one more suggestion:

Let’s make this easier on each other by practicing resiliency in our thoughts, deeds, and words. It may be easy to feel trapped in your home, barraged by bad news, thinking your neighbors don’t care about you. But mostly, your neighbors do care about you, regardless of your politics or your past rows. Your farmer cares about you too.

Instead of acting out a bleak Hollywood apocalypse movie, let’s take advantage of this forced slow down to make things better.

• Let us mend some fences and build some bridges;
• Let us reroute catastrophic thinking and start taking days one at a time;
• Let us be impeccable in our on and off line language to perpetuate compassion and cooperation rather than fear and mistrust.
• Let us keep our cool. We cannot all flip our lids at the same time–we have to take turns. (I might claim Tuesdays if you don’t mind. 🙂

We’re in this together.

My best to all of you.

Your farmer,

Nella Mae

Here at Nella Mae’s Farm, we offer grass-fed beef in the fall. Spring is the time to put down a deposit on your beef for fall.

How it works: Customers purchase by the quarter, half or whole animal.  That means you get all the cuts from that quarter animal (steaks, burger, roast, soup bones, dog bones, and some organ meat if you want.) We arrange the on-farm slaughter and meat processing. After two weeks, we’ll let you know when your beef is ready to pick up in mid to late October.

Customers pay by the carcass weight. The finished product weight is 55-65 percent of the carcass weight. Customers also pay a slaughter fee and for the cut and wrap of the meat.

What you get: Actual quantities vary based on the size of the individual animal and cuts you request. Every butcher varies somewhat based on their style and processing facilities. You will make cut choices based on options provided by the local butcher. By rough example only, each quarter receives (on average):

• Steaks cuts: 1-2 pkgs each New York, petite sirloin, rib steaks, flank steaks, eye of round, tri-tip, filet mignon, prime rib, chuck
• Steak cuts: 2-3 pkg each T-Bone, top sirloin
• Roast cuts: 1 pkg each tri-tip, sirloin tip, London broil
• Pot roasts (arm, chuck, shoulder): 3-4
• Rump roast: 1 pkg
• Brisket: 1 pkg
• Stew meat: 3-4 pkgs
• Kabob meat: 3-4 pkgs
• Short ribs: 2-4 pkgs
• Ground beef: 20-25 lbs
• Soup bones: 2-3 pkgs
• Heart, liver, oxtail, tongue & dog bones upon request

A Quarter Beef ranges from 100-200 lbs hanging (carcass) weight, $5.00/lb, or about $475-$950 for the quarter. Slaughter fee is included, but you pay but you pay the per lb cut and wrap fee. You get 65-120 lbs of meat for your freezer.

A Half Beef ranges from 200-350 lbs hanging (carcass) weight, $4.90/lb, or $940-$1,650 for the half. Slaughter fee is included, but you pay the per lb cut and wrap fee. You get 130-230 lbs of meat for your freezer.

Butcher Shop: We use Hines Meat Co in La Grande as our butcher. Customers pay the cut & wrap fee which is currently $0.70/lb. You have a choice of vacuum packed or wrapped in brown paper, which is what I recommend.

How much freezer space do I need? A quarter beef requires approximately 3.5 cubic feet of freezer space or the majority of the space in the freezer of a standard kitchen refrigerator/freezer. A half will require a small chest freezer and should easily fit in a 7 cubic foot model.

 Deposit: A $100 non-refundable deposit is due for all first time customers.

Contact Nella Mae for questions or to sign up. 541-910-4098 or nellamaesfarm@gmail.com