They Sleep in the Orchard

Monthly chores with Dad

All the sounds of coyotes lately make me so glad we have livestock guardian dogs.

The $5 Tractor Ride That Changed Lives

Our first u-pick family, 2019.

In 2019 we put a folding table on the corner of the orchard and hoped someone would show up. Then I gave a trailer full of people their money back.

I Didn’t Grow Up on a Farm

2003. Dr. Joe Yenish, my major professor, and Jack. The bird hunting that wrecked my grades in 1997 is the same bird hunting I did with the man who ran my graduate program.

A, B, C, D, F. My worst semester at WSU, the letter that followed it, and the man who told me I wasn’t worth an internship because I didn’t grow up on a farm.

Goodbye to the 12-14 Hour Day…

Carston, in the orchard with the hand lines — the same irrigation pipes I dreamed about owning as a kid.

It’s 8pm in the pumpkin rows and I tell Carston summer break was built for farm kids. He’s got a counter-argument — and his mom takes his side. I suddenly realize I’ve been outvoted.

We’re Over the Hump | First Raspberries on the Farm

Owen and Jeana with the first ripe raspberries of the year.

The frantic part of the season is finally behind us — and the first ripe raspberry reminded me exactly what we work so hard for.

Caught in the Act: Tillage and Soil Health on Our Farm.

Chad and Carston Steiner with shovels in the freshly tilled pumpkin patch at Chelan Valley Farms, plastic mulch rows and the hills above Lake Chelan behind them

Chad and Carston Steiner with shovels in the freshly tilled pumpkin patch at Chelan Valley Farms, plastic mulch rows and the hills above Lake Chelan behind them.