This week farmers want to invite you to a party! You\'re invited to the South Sound Community Farmland Trust\'s Annual meeting, potluck, and country dance, 6 PM Friday, January 30th at the South Bay Grange Hall, 3918 Sleater Kinney Rd. NE. Please join us for a full evening of fun to support your local land trust. There will be a raffle, presentations, and a kid\'s area. Because your support is critical for saving south sound farms, contributions will be gladly recieved.
Please come on Friday and find out more about why the land trust\'s work is so important to Kirsop Farm.

This week farmer Genine completed round one of seed purchase decision making. Farmer Colin was very helpful when invited to be, and otherwise was very productive in cleaning up some big messes like cleaning up the re-may row cover at site two that the deer made lace out of with their nasty little hooves. Normally we get a few years use out of a sheet of row cover, but not this year. Next week might be the week when we begin to research our options for building some kind of fence to keep the deer out of fields two and three. We know the kind of fence we\'d like to put up, very sturdy, but we\'re pretty sure we can\'t afford the materials for that sort, so the task gets to be creative problem solving, what else could we do that would cost less and be pretty effective. At this point, just slowing them down a bit would be satisfying.
In round one of seed purchase decision making, we pick which kinds of seeds we want and how much of them. In round two, we revise based on what is sold out or unavailable for some reason, and we remember to add some items that we somehow forgot in round one. Buying seeds is always a time of mixed feelings, excitement and hope for the coming season plus anxiety over prices and new variety choices. Mostly we choose more of the same good varieties that we grew in the past, but we also like to try new things and goodness knows the seed catalogs are set up to make us want to try every new thing. I could go on forever talking about what it\'s like to order seeds for the farm, but for now I\'ll try to cut it short and end with a list of my favorite seed catalogs that you may want to look at. Fedco is my favorite catalog to read for the humor, information, and artful commentary. Baker Creek Heirloom has the most gorgeous full color glossy photos, that\'s my favorite eye candy catalog. And Johnny\'s is the one I go to for straight up information on crops for market gardens, small farms like mine. Territorial was the one we started it all with, because they feature varieties proven to do well in this climate, the murky Northwest. Then, when I\'ve made some decisions about what I want, I\'ll check to see if Osborne Seed Company has any of my needs because they are my most local company, shipping from Mount Vernon, WA.

Here\'s hoping to see you all at the dance hall on Friday!