What the hail!

Ouch! That hail storm really worked us over. I'm sure things will start to perk back up in a day or two, but everything is in shambles, so pickin's may be kinda slim at the market for the next couple weeks. The good thing is that my seeder should be here on Tuesday and chicks should be here before the end of the week. That way I can get a ton more stuff planted in the next two weeks, and also have eggs before too long. Okay, the eggs will be at least 6 months, but it's just the beginning.

Big Time!

So, this has been an exciting couple of weeks at Bogle Family Farms. Thank you to both tour groups we had come through. Hope you enjoyed it. Check back with us in the spring as new crops come into season. Also, we have to send a big Thank You to Diane Webb and the rest of the Downtown Coalition. If you have not been out to the revamped Chandler Farmers Market, it is definitely worth it. My understanding is that after we stopped going in the summer, some people from the city wanted to start charging Jeff Scott for selling his produce at A.J. Chandler Park. Well, the Downtown Group got wind of it and did something about it. Now the market is bustling with activity with 3 produce stands, gourmet breads and cheeses, tamales, salsa, hummus, gourmet olive oils from around the world, plus an assortment of crafts and jewelry. In fact, the Chandler Market was recently featured in a Chandler Republic newspaper article, and brief mention was made of Bogle Family Farms and the produce we sell. Response was so good that I was about 75% sold out before I even had my tables all the way set up. I was trying to find a link to the article, but no luck, so I'll scan it and throw it up here in the next couple of days. Anyway, demand is going up, so it is time to get serious and get all my planting done. I ordered a new seeder so that I can go a little quicker and have the quantities that the market demands. Chandler actually picked up so much that I no longer have enough for two markets each week, so Florence is going to be put on hiatus until after Christmas.
Another awesome thing that happened is that we were "discovered" by a really cool restaurant. It is called D-Vine Bistro ( http://www.dvinebistro.com/ ). Two weeks ago Chef Ramon came out and picked up a few small samples from us. This past Thursday he and Chef Carlos came early and cleaned us out pretty well (another reason to increase production). Anyway, Natalie and I recently visited the restaurant and there we were mentioned on the menu of the nightly specials (I'll throw that up too when I get a chance). Let me tell you, D-Vine is a great restaurant! Excellent food with a nice atmosphere. Check out their website and then go eat there. Support the businesses that suport local farmers.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. We are most of the way through our first client's raised garden bed. Sorry Gavin & Emily, I could install Monday if you guys weren't in CA. This one was a little bit of research for us, so they got a great deal. If anyone else is interested in having us come build, install and plant a reaised bed garden in your yard, please let us know. You can email me at thomaspbogle@gmail.com for the time being. Just as a reference piont, they did a 4' x 12' x 30" bed with a fully prepared soil and a simple irrigation system and that would run about $450. That may be a lot of money, especially right now, but being able to grow and eat healthy, organic food in your own yard is priceless. Remember, that is just an example, smaller would cost less, but we also can show you different styles and woods that add durability, but would cost more.
So, that is what is going on around here right now. I will try to figure out a way to post what we currently have available, so keep checking back!

Ark of Taste

So, if you have never heard of Slow Food USA, I encourage you to look into it. One of their programs is the Ark of Taste. They find foods that have a distinctive flavor of some cultural significance that was lost or near lost and support growers and producers of those food products. During the summer, we grew the Moon & Stars variety of watermelon, which is one of the Ark fruits. We had several customers inform us that although they weren't extremely sweet, they were very good down to the rind. I have to agree. even when eaten prematurely, they were very tasty. This fall/winter/spring we will be growing three new Ark of Taste crops: Speckled Lettuce, Amish Deer Tongue Lettuce and Inchelium Red Garlic. Personally, I've never tried any of these, so it will be a new experience for me. I can't vouch for the flavor yet, but we're doing everything we can to get our soil prepared to grow the best tasting and most nutritious food that we can. Hope you enjoy!

p.s. - It's not too late for special request produce!!!

Gettin' ready...

So, yeah, we did just kind of disappear off the face of the planet for a while. We had a little problem with our water supply and pretty much just let everything dry up, including our pumpkin patch ='( Anyway, we are getting ready to start planting again and have taken many requests for specific items. If you have a specific request, please let us know on here ASAP. The good thing about the cooler months is that with a lot of items, it doesn't matter if you plant in September or January, but still let us know so we can get a long growing season for you. Also, if you are interested, we have started doing garden installations for people. Pretty much, we bring the farmers market to your back yard. You tell us what you would like to grow and we make it happen. We will do the hard work (soil prep, fertilizing, installing raised beds and drip lines, etc.) and all you need to do is keep the weeds out and harvest. We will do it 100% organic if you would like, just know that is a little more expensive. Our goal is to show people that they really can grow a lot of their own produce, and even though it isn't good for my long term business, hopefully they will be able to do it all on their own after only a couple of seasons. There are no "standard packages" because everyone's location is different and everyone has a different budget. If you want something cheap, but effective, we can do that. If you want something that dramatically increases the resale value of your home, we can do that too. This is 100% custom. Also, there is no crappy "consultation fee" for us to come out and see what you need. We'll get together and give you all the options, find out what you need, then give you an estimate a couple days later. If you're interested, let me know. Ah, it feels good to be back!

Pirate corn!

So, here is just a quick update of what is going on out here at the farm. We currently have tomatoes turning red every day. If you like fresh tomatoes, come on down to the farmers market, Thursdays at AJ Chandler Park from 3 - 6 PM. We have a few different varieties, so you'd better try a couple of each. Also, squash is bigtime right now. A couple different types of zucchini (gold, grey, eight ball, etc.) so take a few. Now we also have canteloupe and watermelon. Our watermelon is an heirloom variety called moon and stars. It is recognized by Slow Food USA as part of their Ark of Taste collection of endangered flavors. Even when not ripe, it still tastes awesome. We have more jalapenos than you can shake a stick at, and a few bell peppers are coming back, but with this heat they may not last too long. We also have lots and lots of CNG (see last post) sweet pirate corn. Why is it pirate corn, you say? Well, that because it's a buck-an-ear! Sorry, I guess that's not worth laughing at, but with the huge demand for ethanol and all of the flooding in the midwest, corn is at a premium right now. On the bright side, we are just about the only CNG or USDA Organic corn you can buy locally. Lots of corn out here, not much of it grown using organic principles. Well, ours is, and it is delicious. Boil it, steam it, grill it or eat it raw: however you like your corn, this stuff is awesome.

Now, getting ready for fall (farmers always have to think at least 4 - 6 months ahead), we are planting our squash and pumpkins for our heirloom pumpkin patch that will be open to the public. We have 17 different varieties of pumpkin-type squash, from your standard orange to white, blue, green, stripey, bumpy, warty, thick skinned for cooking, hulless seeds for eating... you will have to just come out and see it. I can't predict the future, but my guess is that we will have a wider variety than you can find anywhere else in the valley. If you have a special request for something you'd like to see in the fall, please let us know within the next couple of weeks. Like I said before, farmers have got to think 4 - 6 months in advance, so the earlier you tell us, the better we can plan.

See you at the market!

Certified Naturally Grown

So, we have had many inquiries as to whether or not we are an organic farm. The answer is yes, but we are not USDA certified organic, so we cannot claim to be organic. However, we are Certified Naturally Grown. Is there a difference? Yes, and I encourage you as a consumer to find out what it is. You can click on the link to read about the CNG program. Thanks for supporting your local, natural farmers.
Naturally Grown

Blasted blossom end rot!

So, I guess this goes to show that we are still learning every step along the way of this adventure we call farming. Just about every pepper we have has a nice little spot on the bottom. some are sunscald, but most are blossom end rot. I'll let you do the research on that one so you can see why we're retarded. The peppers are still edible, but not the kind of thing you take to market. So, no peppers at market tomorrow. Sorry. There will be plenty of cucumbers and more blackberries, which were a hit last week. We will have some sweet corn and our first watermelon ready to go as well. So, come on out and enjoy!

BFF at the CFM

Look for us this Thursday at the Chandler Farmers Market. It is held in the pavilion at Dr. A.J. Chandler park downtown on Thursdays from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. We will have a pretty small sampling of what we will have in the coming weeks, but come check it out anyway. We will also have some fresh AZ BLACKBERRIES picked fresh that morning! If we don't have what you are looking for, chances are Jeff Scott will have it. He is the only other farmer at the market for now, but he's been there every week for more than 13 years and has an impressive array of fruits and vegetables. I also hear rumor that he will have AZ peaches starting this week or next. And you didn't even know that Chandler had a farmers market! Either way, check it out. If you don't like what you see, we are always open to suggestions. If you don't know where downtown Chandler is, I threw in a map. Enter the park off of San Marcos Pl and it is right there.


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Growing, Growing!

The farm is starting to really sprout! We can't wait until everything is ready to bring to the public. These are a few pictures of the veggies we are growing. This is a purple bell pepper!Here is a green pepper. It still amazes me how a small plant can hold up such a big pepper.
We also have jalapenos and cucumbers that are sprouting up.

This is a picture of a watermelon plant. This plant has grown over a foot since I have taken this picture (about a week)! There are lots of flowers on it but no watermelon yet. Soon they will come.
Our corn is getting really tall. Some of it is even taller than Brecken.

We also have lots of squash, zucchini, okra, tomatoes, and cantaloupe planted. They are also growing. We are hoping we will be ready to sell at the end of May, beginning of June. It is so fun and exciting to see how a plant can grow from seed to veggie with just water and sun!

Welcome to BFFs!

Welcome to the official blogsite of Bogle Family Farms, and for now the unofficial website. We'll put up info on what we are doing around the farm, pictures, currently available produce and any other random stuff we are involved in. We just attended our first farmers market (as vendors, that is) and had a good time. Thanks to our primary competition for our biggest sale. In fact, thanks to the Scott family as a whole. Both Jim and Jeff have been helpful from the get-go.

So, a little about us. We are the Bogle and Craghead families. This is not just Tom and Reuben. We have had a lot of help from all family members. We farm the land where we grew up. We have watched it change for better and for worse. We believe there is so much potential in the land just waiting to be released. We are not farmers, but our fathers were as their fathers were before them. We just believe that people can do so much more for themselves than they think. We believe in the soil and the seed and the miracle that occurs when the two come together. So, regularly we get together and put a bunch of seeds in the ground, in patterns, usually lines. We put a lot of care into each one and they reward us for our efforts. We provide for them throughout their lives, and they return the favor. Honest to goodness food. Seed, soil, sun, water, work and work. Yes, that is a lot of work. But it is for a good reason. We want to give you access to real food. So, here it is. Real food, locally grown by real people who you can really shake hands with.