This Saturday, November 22nd, all profits from the farm stand will be donated to the Mammoth Community Foundation Fire Relief Fund.

I’m excited to share some big news from our little corner of the Eastern Sierra: Blue Heron Farm has been accepted into the 2026 FARMpreneurs Strategic Sprint.

FARMpreneurs is a week-long, off-the-farm executive education program designed specifically for community-based farmers who are on the threshold of growth. Over the course of the Sprint, farmers develop a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) and build a concrete, multi-year strategy to actually make it happen.

This past week, I had the honor of presenting at the first annual LEAF Conference — a gathering designed to bring together leaders in land, energy, agriculture, and forestry to strengthen the Sierra region’s natural economy. From producers and processors to educators and policymakers, participants spent two days exploring innovation, workforce growth, and sustainable resource management across the region.

There are so many small, simple ways to help the folks who grow your food — and every one of them ripples out farther than you might think.

Fall is garlic planting time. While most of the garden is slowing down, garlic gets tucked in for the winter so it can be one of the first crops ready next summer.

I like to think about our soil as a kind of bank account. All summer long we’ve been making withdrawals—pulling nutrients out to grow fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Now that fall and winter are coming, it’s time to make deposits back in.

If apples are the bold ones in the orchard, pears are steady and slow.

Every fall, apple trees across the world tell the same story: a rush of abundance that ripens all at once. For as long as people have tended orchards, the challenge has been the same—how to stretch that harvest beyond a few short weeks.

Next time you’re deciding where to spend your food dollars, remember that your choice is powerful. It shapes the kind of food system we’re going to hand to the next generation. And from where I’m standing, knee-deep in the orchard rows, I can tell you this: every local purchase makes a difference.

If you want crisp fall roots on your plate in October and November, now is the time to start planting—yes, even while it’s pushing 97°F.

If you want healthy soil and strong crops, crop rotation is a very important technique. Whether you’re working with a big farm or a small garden, rotating crops is a simple way to keep your land productive minimizing soil depletion.

But ever wonder what it really takes to get that CSA box into your hands? It’s an 8-day full-on dance—and here’s how it all comes together.

Peach season has officially arrived, and I can tell because everything I own is sticky. My arms, my overalls, the steering wheel of the truck, even my phone — if it’s in my orbit this time of year, it’s wearing peach juice.

If you’ve been growing tomatoes for a while, you know this dance. If you’re new to it — welcome to the chaos. Here are a few mid-season reminders from someone who’s currently in the trenches.

You don’t realize how much you rely on onions until you’re out of them. Around here, they’re the start of just about every meal—quietly anchoring soups, sauces, and sautés without making a fuss. And funny enough, that’s pretty much how they behave in the field too: steady, humble, and hard-working from start to finish.

Farmer confession: I haven’t even had a tomato-based meal yet—and I’m already starting seeds for winter.

I wish I were kidding, but this is what it means to farm in the high desert. The season up here doesn’t roll along at a leisurely pace. It sprints. You’re barely recovering from spring planting when summer slaps you in the face, and before you know it, you’re back in the seed trays, talking yourself into planting kale while it’s still hot enough to fry an egg on your wheelbarrow.

Out here, most things take time — trees grow slowly, soil builds year by year, and there’s no shortcut to good tomatoes. But every once in a while, a crop comes along that reminds us that not everything in farming has to be a long haul. Enter: microgreens.

Let’s pull back the curtain on one of the hardest-working crops at Blue Heron Farm: arugula. It’s fast, it’s spicy, and it’s got a mind of its own. While it may just look like a humble bag of greens in your CSA box, behind the scenes, it runs on a tightly scheduled weekly cycle.

Not the accidental ones that pop up in the compost pile. Not just the sunflowers your kiddo insisted on planting. I’m talking about the intentional, built-into-the-plan flowers. The ones planted not just because they’re pretty (though they are), but because they play a vital role in the health of your whole garden system.

Think of soil like a roommate. One who does all the cooking, cleans up after your plants, handles water distribution, and manages the household nutrient budget — silently. Until, of course, they don’t.