Catching Up: Flying Bear Farm Flowers does Carrie and Geoff's Wedding!

 This post is a long time coming!! Flying Bear Farm and our lil' family was so busy this fall that the blog went unloved for far too long...So to make up for the absence, I offer you luscious, vibrant photos!! These were taken of the most recent wedding flowers and decor we did for our great friends Geoff and Carrie back in mid-October.  Carrie's favorite colors are yellow and red, and Geoff's is orange, so of course my inspiration became FIRE (which is also very fitting for the couple ;) ). Hot red roses, deep orange marigolds, ombre mango callas and fire-cracker hued chili peppers were some of the really fun materials I got to use...what an awesome job to have.  Many thanks goes to Urban Light Studios for these gorgeous photographs and for being an incredible venue full of seriously delightful staff...you guys ROCK!

 I was inspired to create an ombre bouquet for Carrie!  Sleek and unique...

 Yes, I also happened to be a bridesmaid! Such an honor, and what a gorgeous, fun and supportive wedding party we made!!

 I also put together the decor, including mini pumpkins, Glassy Babies, glittering table numbers (handmade by me!) and paper lanterns (thank you Ben and everyone for helping to put it all together!!).

Such a beautiful and meaningful wedding...I feel really blessed to have been a part of it! If you or a friend would love to have magical, whimsical, wild, gorgeous flowers at your wedding or event, get in contact with me!! I'm booking for next year (August is almost full!!)...Check out http://www.flyingbearfarm.com/floral for contact information and more photos!
Lots of love to you all...
Melissa AKA The Flying Bear

Late Summer Food Joy

You can not get better than this...Black Cherry, Sungold, Green Grape and Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella in good olive oil (a beautiful green color), white balsamic vinegar, sea salt, black pepper and sweet basil leaves on top...THIS is my late summer happiness, people!

I served this to my family for "happy hour" out on our back porch. So much golden sunlight, peach- and salmon-colored clouds above us, shorts and hoodies on, lots of delicious beer and cider and a good white wine...so wonderful.  The other food goodies I brought out were oven-fried pickles (recipe here), crackers with goat cheese and roasted cherry tomatoes, and chocolate-covered ginger.

What are YOU eating these lusty, late summer days!? Come visit my Nourishing Inspiration board on Pinterest and get ideas for your next backyard happy hour or harvest party :)

Lots of yummy love,
The Flying Bear

The Homespun Farm Stand

 Probably the thing that has taught me the most, has had the greatest learning curve and most challenging lessons this summer so far, has been the farm stand.  Having a neighborhood farm stand was part of my business model from the beginning, but there was definitely a day in the late spring when I decided, Hell, I can totally, actually, have a farm stand this weekend! I felt like I had finally gotten enough food growing in the two farm plots that I could share it with my neighbors, and, just maybe, get paid for it (!). This is what makes being a gardener and foodie into being a farmer.  So Exciting!

My excitement translated into a really gorgeous, colorful, soulful display of chard, kale, flowers...all kinds of fine produce ready to grace the tables of my community.  I was so sure that I would sell out that first day!! And though I totally did sell produce and actually made a little fist-full of cash, I also totally didn't sell out. Thankfully, the veggies I harvested for the farm stand were easily distributed to my family and friends, and to my own fridge. 

Here's the thing...our little farm stand is so much more than just a commodity market for perishables.  The best part of the stand is being there in my community, talking to people about food or just the state of the world, sharing tastes of things that people haven't tried before, enticing them to try growing a lemon cucumber plant in their own backyard next year.  So, though the farm stand isn't making me tons of dough, it IS helping to create a shift in consciousness towards good food and growing things...and growing community.  And that's the whole point of Flying Bear Farm! So, in my book, the farm stand is a success!

But seriously people, come buy some unique, delicious veggies!!  They're good for you, and for your community!!  ;)

Love,
The Flying Bear

The Summer Buzz

Geez, it's August already...sure feels like I just planted those squash and tomatoes, and now they're HUGE!  And this makes me realize: so much has happened in the last month and we haven't told you guys! So here's a quick and dirty update via pictures and a recipe that I found...Also, I promise to be a better blogger ;) Pinky-swear...

Our first FARM STAND! On 78th and Greenwood outside of Makeda Coffee...and so much fun to slang veggies and flowers to the neighbors!

Morning at the beach house, a work/play trip including landscaping for the new bulk head (salt and drought tolerant natives!)

Lunch...harvested by me :)

Filling flower orders

Possible new farm truck at the Greenwood Car Show!? I wish ;)

Kelly of Botanique joined me for some farm stand action!

Did you know I offer one-on-one mentoring!? I would love to grow with you!

Awesome tractor at the Carnation 4th of July parade

Prettiest girls in the parade!

Enjoying Tolt River

I lived down the road a piece from this spot on the river last summer...such a lovely valley and great farming community!

Ben's super power: rock skipping

Sunset at Golden Gardens

A fantastic and magical wedding of two lovely friends

The 46th St. farm is growing like crazy! These tomatoes, two weeks after this picture was taken, are now chest high and full of green fruit!

Finally feeling full :)

Hungarian Hot Wax peppers in the greenhouse

A glorious arrangement for a dinner party

Table arrangements for that lovely dinner party...doesn't it make you want to have a lovely dinner party!?

So how about you serve this at your fancy, magical backyard dinner party? And invite me (I'll do the flowers)!
 



Grilled Kale Salad with Ricotta and Plums


 Lots of summer luvin' to you all!
-The Flying Bears

G-House

The door and stained glass. It says "pantry"

Finished (mostly) and functional (totally). This update is brought to you with interest paid in full with pretty pictures. May was a busy month, and it is 10 days into June. What?! Yeah, time is flying.  Both Melissa and I had birthdays, and I'm not telling you which of us is older.

We had an adventure on the OP near Lake Ozette that involved Melissa's first backpacking experience.  Way to go Melissa!  Of course I have also been at Makeda Coffee at 78th and Greenwood a lot, and we've been putting compost and plants in the ground like mad.  Next up is building our farm stand...yeah, another building project.

So warm, we have peppers!

Inside. Nice and warm

Now for the pictures.  Many of you, I am sure, are very interested in what the greenhouse in its (nearly) finished form looks like.  These pictures even feature plants.  Actual, green growy thingies that we started from seed.  NEAT-O!

We made the floor with used bricks to add some extra style and warmth. Look close, there is corn in those egg cartons. You all missed the tomatoes, all of which went into the ground the other day.  Check out the fancy table, Melissa made it all by herself!

Babies!! So awesome, they need a big, giant picture!

Mandala Breakfast

I was feeling the need to be really intentional about my food, and add a TON of love and nourishment to my day...So a mandala breakfast was in order!! I did a little creative cutting to bring the heart out of that radish (which is from my back porch, incredible!).  This beautiful breakfast took me about 10 minutes longer to create than normal breakfast, and it infused my whole day with love and powerful motivation...super worth it! My ingredients included farm eggs, radish, chard, kale raab, lime mint, basil, thyme, garlic chives, chive blossoms and lox.  Oh my god, that mint really made it! Ok, now it's your turn! Make beauty with your food!
~ Flying Bear

The new pioneers?

Pontaubert Burgundy - birthplace of one of my ancestors.

My family roots in North America go back a long way. All but my Cherokee ancestors came from Europe between the late 1690 and the 1850s. They were pioneers, risking everything to start a new life in a strange land. Some even did so more than once, like my Bavarian ancestor and his brother. They moved first to Evansville, Indiana before going again to the very edge of their United States, then in Western Kansas (Fort Scott, when it was mostly just the fort). Others were in Quebec, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, and Dakota...all when they were still territorial possessions. Back then it was possible to pull up roots, start a new life and own a homestead.

There is nowhere to go anymore. Of course North America was inhabited before Europeans migrated there, but it was arguably much less crowded back then. The modern definition of property, with its plots and tracts, was brand new. The federal government was giving land away left and right, making it the perfect incentive for young families with little to lose. The so called 'American Dream' began this way, with the promise of the freedom to build a life without having to have money. The policy had some dubious intentions (like stealing land from tribes, Mexico, etc...) and yet for hundreds of thousands of young people from all over, the incentive was not racism but the promise of a homestead away from the urban slums of the immigrant ports of entry. It was a tough life, and for many it ended tragically (many of us remember the old Oregon Trail floppy disc game..."Your Oxen Have Drowned During the River Crossing"), but for my ancestors it was a mostly happy transition to the present.

What now? I sit here in Seattle where the old advice of "Go west young man!" rings rather hollow. Follow that advice any more and you end up speaking Mandarin, teaching English to Koreans, or experiencing Tokyo Bill Murray style. The universe for my generation has been placed on it's head. One has to accumulate debt, especially student debt, to earn enough of a living to just get by. Little things...normal things are extremely expensive, and for some reason we need more of those things these days than ever before (cell phone, internet access). Let us not even bring up raising a child. The monetary threshold for being apart of today's society is too high, and far to stressful, while wages and job opportunities fail to keep up. It makes me ask difficult questions: What is it all for, exactly? Is it for the sake of progress? Progress for whom? What do we mean by progress?

It's enough to make someone want to do what my ancestors did. Oh yeah...we're stuck. Perhaps one does not have to leave home to be a true pioneer. Can we do it right here in our own backyard? Maybe it is time that we homestead in our own communities, and build the world that we would like to see. I think that I am not the first person to think this, because I see this happening in many places. When faced with no exit, we cannot escape from our reality, but we can change it.

Possibly, just maybe, we can choose not to play The Game and make up our own. There is precedence for this...each generation remade the world in their own way. We'll just borrow the good stuff from the past and apply it to a future, right where we are, that works for our bodies, hearts, souls and planet.

 - Ben

Oh Radish!

I pulled out my very first radish yesterday!! Miraculous, I know...This feat was accomplished by starting radishes in a deep pot in early February.  Look at that glorious tap root!  And that perfect cherry rose color and egg shape! I'm in LOVE...makes it hard to pull them all out and eat them.  Actually, no, not hard at all.  I'm getting crusty french baguette and cultured butter this afternoon...YUM!

Kisses,
The Bear