March Newsletter
March is here, but typical Palouse weather it’ll probably be winter for another month. Or it could be spring tomorrow, who knows. If you didn’t catch the February newsletter go check that out first!
Whirlwind of Weather on the Farm
As of right now the farm is hard at work prepping and planning for spring work. During February we had some very cold weeks even down in the negative teens. This caused the ground to freeze. Then right at the end of February it warmed up into the 50’s with heavy rain. Between the snow melt, and rain, the ground couldn’t absorb all that moisture. The Palouse area flooded pretty severely and caused a lot of erosion in fields. Because of these circumstances, we will not be able to plant until late march or early spring.
Aside from that farmers are anxious to get equipment in the fields to plant spring crops. Might be an old wives tale Kevin Mader said “It’s a late Easter, which usually means a late spring” Stay tuned for April, more action to come. This time of year is a whirlwind of weather. Does anybody else live in a place like that? Let us know in the comments!
Product feature: Pacific Northwest Grown Lentils
We love our lentils! Our lentils are grown in the heart of the Pacific Northwest, ensuring premium quality in every variety. Whether you're using them in soups, salads, or as sprouts, these lentils deliver exceptional flavor and texture. Our brown lentils are grown in Palouse, Washington, while our other varieties are sourced from the fertile lands of Montana and Idaho. Packed with plant-based protein, these lentils are a nutritious addition to any meal. Perfect for cooking, sprouting, or enjoying as-is, they’re as versatile as they are healthy. If you are new lentils this is truly an easy and fun way to get more plant-based protein in your diet and there are so many fun recipes with lentils! We love red lentil fritters, red lentil pita bread, black lentil bolognese... some might say lentils are the new chickpea :)
Deb Adair on
I agree with Christen! I also use a large amount of French du Puy Lentils and love them. We smoke a ton of items here in Montana in our collection of smokers and will smoke a pot roast and cut it up for stew meat and toss that in the cast iron with carrots and onions and small red potatoes and a handful or two of the French du Puy lentils. I would like to think that I have every color lentil under the sun in my pantry but one cannot beat yellow lentils for a split pea and ham soup along with yellow split peas added. We live here in Montana and we are on spring number #3 right now and may eventually get to summer and planting here in the Flathead. We had 60 degree temperatures for a few days last week and then we just had 3" of snow and frost. I do recommend you and your products to all friends and family always. Keep up the good work and we do appreciate all you do farming for all of us! Farmers are what keeps the world going!
Christen Peters on
I love lentils of all kinds. The only thing missing from the lineup is a green more in the vein of the French du Puy lentils. The lentilles du Puy hold their shape like a beluga but have that peppery earthiness that is inherent to the green lentils. In the past two weeks, I’ve done a green lentil and mushroom cottage pie, yellow lentil ‘hummus’, red lentil ‘hummus’ and a curried red lentil stew. I’m looking forward to giving the red lentil flatbread a go this weekend. As to the weather, I live in Indiana. We frequently have 4-season days during late winter/early spring. Last week we hit a high of 78. Wednesday night this week was thunderstorms, shear winds in the 60-90 mph range and tornadoes. Next week, we’re expecting lows in the mid-20s :)
Jane on
Yes, we have crazy weather this month in southwest Missouri. Just when I think spring is here, the forecast calls for snow this weekend. 😭
A big thank you to our farmers for your work and for providing us great food! I especially love Palouse chickpeas and the hard red winter wheat and recommend you to my friends.
Sonja Goldinak on
Thank you friend r the newsletter.
I’m enjoying your products and especially the wheat grains that I use in my sourdough baking.
Sonja
Dr. Molly Welsh on
Good to see that we’re all in this unusual time together. Good luck & look foreward to my lentils !
Sarah on
So enjoy the monthly newsletters, thank you for sharing your farm experience with some of us who dream of being able to farm. So appreciated the years of growing up in farm country however, and learned an appreciation for fresh grown farm produce and orchard fruits. They taste so much better than anything bought in a store it isn’t funny. I don’t currently live in a harsh climate area. The worst weather we get where I am are hurricane force winds from time to time, and some pretty impressive hail, but very rarely do we get snow. That doesn’t mean I haven’t lived in areas where it has gotten to at least -50°F in the winter. The thermometers only went to -50°F and the mercury was all down in the bulb, so we really don’t know how cold it actually was. Normal winters typically had temps from the -teens to -35°F for short periods however, but twice we wintered through about three weeks of a minimum -50°F temps. One place was when I was growing up in Washington state, in the eastern foothills of the Cascade Mountains and the other place was when I lived and worked in Wyoming. I’ve so appreciated the brown lentils I’ve gotten from you. Also purchased smaller amounts of the red, green, yellow and black lentils. Have to say while the red, green and yellow are all good, I still have a greater fondness for the brown lentils. Have yet to try the beluga lentils, so I can’t give any personal opinion about them yet.
Please keep up the great work farming, and oh, thank you, too, for the hard red winter wheat too. I’ve enjoyed so many good breakfasts of cooked hard red winter wheat. It tastes so rich and with a little milk/cream or a bit of maple sugar sprinkled on, they are a super treat. So, please keep on farming!!!
Sonja Goldinak on
Thank you so much for the news letter.
I’m loving your wheat grains and other foods!