ON THE FARM

And just like that, it’s planting time again! We start with slow growing seeds like onions and celery, and perennials that like a cooling period. We’re also pulling out seeds that want to be started “as soon as the ground can be worked.”
This year we’re offering seeds in our shop, too–varieties that have consistently done well in our climate. First up are leeks, hulless black barley (pictured above) and a special short season watermelon called Cream of Saskatchewan, introduced to us by Farmer Wren.

Jamruary Continues–All Jams Just $5

Mulberry Jam & Pie Cherry Jam are featured in our shop this week.
Check out the many other options and stock up while they’re on sale.

Mulberry Jam Recipe

Mulberries have vitamins C, E and K1, iron, potassium, rutin, myricetin, anthocyanins and chlorogenic acid.

In 2025 we got our first harvest of mulberries… and painstakingly picked them one by one. Now we know to just put out a sheet and let them fall like normal people. ;)
We did get enough for a big batch of jam though.
I treated them like not very juicy blackberries. Here’s the recipe I used:

4 cups mulberries
3 cups sugar
1/4 cup lime juice & 1/4 cup water
1 box of Sure Jell low sugar pectin

Combine in a big pot on the stove. Smash the fruit to break it up some. Bring to a hard boil and keep it there for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Ladle into sterile jars and hot process for 15 mins to seal.

Rod’s House

This week we took a chicken and pasta dish with Nona’s garlic bread and cowboy cookies. I used the Moosewood Restaurant recipe, adding cinnamon and dried Rainiers from the farm.
Our neighbors just donated a big spiral cut ham and my brother brought four gallons of blackberries over the holidays, so that’s what I’ll be fixin’ up for next Tuesday. If you want to participate in the coming weeks, you can sign up to make dessert for 18. Just shoot me an email and tell me which Tuesday.

LOCAL

Whistle Kit Packing Party
Help YIRN assemble whistle kits for distribution to community organizations.
Sunday, January 11th at 11:00-1:00
Yakima Maker Space
16 S 1st St
Yakima, WA 98901
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Love supporting local independent bookstores?
Bookshop.org is an online ordering alternative that lets you to buy online while supporting local shops. Encore Books & Inklings are both listed as affiliated businesses.
Here’s a list of Yakima related titles to get you started.
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Yakima Neighborhood Health Services earns national certification
“Yakima Neighborhood Health Services has received national certification for medical respite care from the National Institute for Medical Respite Care. This achievement makes it one of the first organizations in Washington to earn this designation.
The program supports individuals without a home who are too sick to remain on the streets but not sick enough to require hospitalization. The goal is to prepare these individuals for life after they leave care.”
(Source: NBC Right Now, Jan 5)
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Wapato’s Native language and education programs recognized at national level
“I’m fortunate to have elders that had the patience to teach me. And I’m doing my part, and now I’m passing it on.” –Roger Jacob
(Source, Yakima Herald Republic, Jan 2)

WA STATE

Microschools and innovative K-12 programs are catching on in WA
“Many microschools in other states (and potentially in Washington) operate under homeschool laws or as private schools. A 2025 report from the National Microschooling Center estimates that between 750,000 and 2.1 million students attend microschools in the U.S. They are in every state as well as Washington, D.C., and nearly half were founded by parents.“
(Source: Seattle’s Child, Jan 5)

NATIONAL & BEYOND

Where the Shore Once Was: Legal Identity, Cultural Memory, and Self-Determination in a Climate-Changed World
“Territory may drown, but their people do not have to disappear with it. The real challenge is whether international law will adapt quickly enough to recognize nations beyond borders or whether it will let them vanish from its maps. Hope still lies in treating self-determination not as a relic of territory, but as the enduring right of communities to exist, to remember, and to decide their own futures in a climate-changed world.“
(Source: Human Rights Research Center, Jan 6)
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LISTEN: A Human Rights-Based Approach to Mental Health
“Co-host Maggie Gates is joined by Bevin Croft and Ebony Flint from the Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) for a conversation about the intersections of mental health and human rights in the wake of new guidance on mental health issued in October 2023 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR). Together, they discuss the guidance and the Human Services Research Institute, a rights-based approach to the mental health system, peer-to-peer support, the importance of centering those with lived experience, and person-centered care.”
(Source: Harvard Kennedy School’s Justice Matters Podcast, April 2024)
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LISTEN: Why We Need Positive, Practical Permaculture
“Many of us are carrying a quiet weight. We see what’s happening in the world and wonder what difference we can make. This episode is a gentle, hopeful invitation to come back to what’s real – place, people, food, community, meaning – and to rediscover the power of small, practical acts of care.” —Morag Gamble
(Source: Sense Making In a Changing World Podcast, Jan 7)
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LISTEN: Ready, Set, Onions – Tips and Tricks Growing Great Onions
(Source, Growers Daily Podcast, Jan 1)
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I’m looking forward to seeing Robert Reich and The Last Class on Saturday at 4th Street.
Hope to see ya there!

Maria