Confessions of a Grateful Farmer

August 28, 2015 Katrina McAlexander

1. I absolutely adore this time of year. The air is crisp and smells of ripening pears and apples on the farm. Harvest time truly is a gift and I am lucky to be a farmer.

2. My lil farm addition is completed and is truly all that I could of hoped for and dreamed of. Its seriously so well crafted and designed. Grateful to feel at HOME.

3. We are working on our hard cider again today here on the farm and hope to have our hard cider to share with you all within a month or so. Cheers! (We have sweet cider as well-see pic above!)

4. We sold more peaches to breweries, eateries, friends of our farm, our CSA and fruit stands than we ever have so far! Thanks for helping us break our peach record, friends!

5. We had our first wedding on the farm last weekend and it was a great success(also a learning experience). We have permission to have 30 weddings next year at Mt. View Orchards and are so thankful for all of our neighbors support to help our farm be more financially sustainable.

6. Our CSA members are the best and I am so very grateful that we have weekly supporters of our farm.

7. I confess I am too tired with everything going on to have a house warming party but there have been a few amazing friends who have stopped by cards and little sweet house plants that have totally made my day. I feel so darn loved!

8. I am grateful for all the friends and family who show up for me in practical ways to help me with the busiest time of the year on the farm.

9. I love to take pictures and high light the fruit and blossoms of my farm and one of my pictures made it to the big time and is on the cover of a romance novel. nbd nbd

10. Honeycrisp apples are in season and we have the for sale at our farm stand. (Hip Hip Hooray!)

11. We have such a great farming community in Parkdale, Oregon and I really enjoyed getting to know my farming community better.

12. I am so thankful we have made it through peach harvest and that we are moving towards our last harvest on our farm(apples and winters pears.) Harvest time is so thrilling but is also quite exhausting and I am feeling a little worn out.

13. I am a hopeful woman and I believe all those who HOPE in the Lord, will never be put to shame.(Rom 10:11)

14. I am grateful for our sunflowers, dahlias, barnyard animals(see new Carlos t-shirts/hats above), for our sweet dog lil lady, for my amazing parents, for our awesome and loyal workers, for my helpful brothers and friends who are all rooting for me to save my families farm. xoxox your grateful farmer, Trina

I grow Parkdale Pears!

August 21, 2015 Katrina McAlexander

Soft and sweet, pears are a treat in themselves. Once called the “gift of the gods” by Homer, author of the Odyessy, pears are packed with nutrients, fiber and antioxidants, making them a delicious but healthful snacking choice. Check out these five health benefits of pears for more good reasons to indulge in this sweet fruit.

Fight Free Radicals

Pears are naturally high in vitamins C and K, as well as nutrients such as copper—all of which act as antioxidants to protect our cells from damage from free radicals. One pear contains up to 11 percent of our daily recommended intake of vitamin C and 9.5 percent of our daily recommended intake of copper. Pears are also said to have more nutrients per calorie than calorie per nutrient..

Protect Our Hearts

Pears are an excellent source of dietary fiber, and fiber is good for the heart.. Studies have shown that fiber can lower levels of bad cholesterol by binding to bile salts—which are made from cholesterol—and carrying them out of the body. Eating pears can also reduce risk of stroke by up to 50 percent.

Cancer Prevention

Pears can also protect us from varying types of cancer. In addition to binding to cholesterol, the fiber in pears can also bind to and help remove cancer-causing chemicals in the colon, thus reducing risk of colon cancer. Studies have also shown that eating fiber-rich fruits such as pears can reduce risk of break cancer by 34 percent in post-menopausal women.

Hypoallergenic Fruit

Although few studies have been done on the subject, doctors generally consider pears to be a hypoallergenic fruit because they are less likely than other fruits to produce an allergic response when eaten. For this reason, pears are generally considered “safe” and are often one of the first fruits given to infants.

Control Diabetes

Because they are high in fiber and have a low glycemic index, pears make a smart snack for those with diabetes. The bloodstream slowly absorbs a pear’s carbs (just about 26 grams per pear), preventing a spike in blood sugar and helping to control blood glucose levels.. Lightly sweet, pears can also satisfy the sweet tooth in a healthier way than other sweets.

I love to eat a pear daily for a snack, throw them onto salads, make pear butter, poach then in red wine or make a pear pie. I love being a pear farmer in Parkdale, Oregon and I need more people to eat Parkdale Pears! Cheers to your health, xoxo Trina(your grateful farmer)

NPR Interview

August 14, 2015 Katrina McAlexander

At SOLERA brewery each weekend they are serving our fruit in Mimosas! Cheers!

This morning I am full of much excitement because a lovely gentleman named Jason Albert, came by the our farm to get my perspective on farming in the Hood River Valley as a young female farmer for National Public Radio(pinch me now!). Being on NPR is a total dream come true and I couldn't be more honored to be the voice of farming in our area. We spent most the morning together walking around the farm and talking about being a new farmer, farming, growing quality fruit, friends of our farm, building a loyal costumer base, our amazing CSA, sustainability, pest management, finances, wind tourism, agri-tourism, The Hood River County Fruit Loop, making hard cider, the future wedding venue that re going to happen on our farm 2016, farm to table dinners in the orchard, u-picking peaches and collaborating with many hyper-local eateries and breweries.

He loved my voice and my fresh farming perspective and encouraged me to start doing more speaking engagements, radio and video blogging(Vlogging) because he believes that I have a unique vantage point in farming as a 3rd generation farmer in the Hood River Valley and a stunning radio voice. So stay tuned....

I cannot believe we are in the middle of August already. This week we started our Bartlett pear Harvest and I am happy to share that this is our last day! We pick those pears fast and furious and try to get all 600+ bins(900lbs) of Bartlett pears picked and in the barn in 5 days. We made it! It is a high stress week and I am so very thankful and proud of all the loyal families who work here on my farm who help us year and year pick so many pears in 5 days. Deep sigh of relief....

Gravenstein apples are in their prime and we have many friends of our farm coming down and buying large quantities for apple sauce, pie filling and for making pies. There is a lovely unique aspect of a Gravenstein that gives it amazing richness of flavor. It is somehow both tart and sweet and the complexities are mind blowing. We have them at our farm stand each day from 9-5pm until we sell out. (We also have gravie pie on the weekends!!!!!)

Good News, we now are FULLY approved and licensed to start pressing sweet cider again at Mt. View Orchards. Man, was that an arduous process and required a lot of steadfast perseverance and grit but it looks like we made it! I am hopeful to have fresh pressed cider as soon as our labels arrive to sell to all our Cider lovers out there. it was very expensive to get our cidery up to par so please consider coming and getting a gallon directly from our farm today to keep up going strong and in the cider business! We are also going to start fermenting cider this weekend as well. Hard Cider lovers our Cider will be available some time this Fall!! Cheers!

We still have plenty of u-picking peaches on the farm and I invite you all to come visit our orchard in the next few weeks and pick our peaches. We have so many this year and they are looking for good homes. We love all ages and coming and picking fruit on a small family farm is really fantastic. We have them to sell for $1 a pound and its a lovely time to come up and pick our peaches. I am so grateful that we just sold 800lbs to Double Mountain again this year and if you haven't gone down and tried our peach collaboration beer called Peche Mode, get down there stat! Its so very lovely and easy to drink!

My dear friend and favorite pie making Allison is making Gravenstein Slab pie each weekend and we have them for sale at the farm stand until they sell out. They are so delicious and tasty and go fast so if you get here early on a Saturday you will be in luck and I invite you to try our Gravenstein Slab Pie soon!

I am so grateful for another successful Bartlett pear harvest, for our new Cider license, for future hard cider, for future weddings, apple pie, sweet loyal families that come pick our peaches, local eateries and breweries who care about local, sustainable farms, good health, abundant harvests and National Public Radio caring about young female farmers like me. My heart is FULL!

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Grateful

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