Winter Newsletter 2024

Hildaberry Permaculture Farm & Nursery Winter Newsletter 2024

As we peer out over the snowy landscape, it is hard to believe that we will start planting our first seeds of the year this coming week. Our onion crop is always the first to be seeded out, as they take a long time to grow and develop before we plant them in the ground in April. Even earlier than the onions, our garlic, was planted in late October and the green tops of this years garlic plants are peeking through the snow and ice. It is amazing how tough these plants are as they endure the first major winter storm of the year (hopefully the last too).  We are looking forward to a new season. We hope to build stronger networks and customer relationships, have a more abundant variety of starts, and provide a larger plant inventory than ever before.

Garlic tops growing up through the snow and ice

Nursery News 

Annual Mother's Day Weekend Plant Event!

Following our tradition, we will be having our annual plant event at the Real Deahl Gift Store on Mother's Day Weekend. The date of this years event will be May 11th. We will be on site for a good part of the day to answer questions and help you pick out the right plants for your home and garden. 

When: Saturday May 11th, time TBD

Where: The Real Deahl Gift Store and Garden Center, 254 N. Columbia River Hwy, St. Helens

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Vegetable Start Variety List for 2024

Below is the tentative list of vegetable varieties we will have available this spring at The Real Deahl. The list is subject to slight changes, but you can definitely start planning on which varieties you would like to grow this year.  Click on the variety photos for more specific information about each one.

Tomatoes (available mid-May through June depending on the weather and demand)

Amish Paste

Black Cherry

Blondkopfchen

Carbon

Cipolla's Pride

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Justyna

Mrs. Maxwell's Big Italian

Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye

Rosabec

Sun Gold

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Peppers (available mid-May through June depending on weather and demand)

Baron Poblano

Bottle Rocket Thai Cayenne

Capperino Hot Cherry

Chimayo Chile

Cornito Arancia Sweet Italian

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Cornito Rossa Sweet Italian

Cozumel Caribe

Highlander Anaheim

Hungarian Hot Wax

Jalafuego Jalapeno

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Mellow Star Shishito

Lemon Spice Jalapeno

Leutschauer Paprika

Orange Spice Jalapeno

Round of Hungary Pimento

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Cucumbers (available mid-May through June depending on weather and demand)

Dragon's Egg

Green 18

Lemon

Mexican Sour Gherkin

Regal

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Lettuce (available mid-April through June depending on weather and demand)

Coastal Star Romaine

Dark Red Lollo Rossa

Magenta Summer Crisp

Red Sails

Skyphos Red Butterhead

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**We will also have more vegetable starts including summer squash, peas, kale, etc.  Check our nursery page in the coming months for additional variety availability.

In addition to vegetable starts we will be selling our annual flowers, perennials, and herbs at the Real Deahl as well. We will list some of our annual varieties on our nursery page in the coming months, so keep an eye out for that. 

Vegetable Production News

In lieu of a traditional CSA program, we have decided to market our produce and value added products in a more direct manner this year. This change in farm operations is going to allow us to focus on growing the crops that we enjoy growing and that grow really well in our soil.

The crops we plan to focus on are as follows:

Beans, Cucumbers, Garlic, Lettuce, Onions, Peas, Peppers, Potatoes, Squash and Tomatoes.

We will not be limited to these crops, but these will be our staples moving forward.

Without a CSA program you will have more opportunity to access our produce through the following avenues:

Clastskanie Food Hub

The Clatskanie Food Hub is a wonderful market located in Clatskanie, Oregon. The hub is a non-profit operation featuring producer goods within a 100 mile radius of Clatskanie. It is the perfect place to support your local producers by purchasing some of the freshest and highest quality products available in the area. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable.  Stop by if you are in the area, you'll absolutely love it!

Clatskanie Food Hub Information

Hours of operation: 
Thursday 2pm-6pm
Friday 2pm-6pm
Saturday 10am-3pm
Sunday 2pm-6pm

Location: 
80 NE Art Steel Street, Clatskanie, Oregon

Visit the Clatskanie Food Hub website for more information!

Clatskanie Farmers' Market Festivals

We always have a blast at the Clatskanie Farmers' Market festivals!  We plan to attend most, if not all, of the festival dates this year in Cope's Park in Clatskanie, Oregon.  This includes the Garlic Festival, which has been growing in attendance and popularity each year. All festival dates will be announced in February on their website and we will post on Instagram and Facebook leading up to each event we plan to attend.  If you haven't made it up to Clatskanie to experience one of their Farmer's Markets or Festivals, we highly recommend doing so.

The fabulous Clatskanie Farmers Market community

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Scappoose Farmers' Market

That's right, we plan to make several appearances at the market where we started it all - the Scappoose Farmers' Market! We can't wait to make a return to this market to offer our vegetables, plants, and value added products to our hometown market.  We do not have a schedule in place yet, but we will announce when we will be in attendance at the market on our social media, so stay tuned.

Scappoose Farmers' Market on Saturdays from May to September

We can't wait to see all of your smiling faces again in 2024! It is a privilege and honor to offer quality, fresh, nutritious, and interesting products to our community. It's not always the easiest of occupations, but we love to provide healthy food, to enrich your lives and bring joy to your tables.  

-Corey and Susie