How A Cashew Grows

The fruit (nut)

The nut is attached to the lower portion of the cashew apple which is conically shaped. The cashew nut (seed) hangs at the bottom of the apple, and is c-shaped.

The cashew seed has within the outside shell the edible kernel or nut. In its raw form the cashew kernel is soft, white and meaty. When roasted it changes color and taste. Salted, it appeals to the palate as the most delicious nut.

Cashew apples and cashew nuts are excellent sources of nutrition. The cashew apple contains five times more vitamin C than an orange and contains more calcium, iron and vitamin B1 than other fruit such as citrus, avocados and bananas.

Cashew shell oil extracted from the shells is caustic and causes burns on the skin. The mucous membranes of the mouth and throat are severely affected when it comes into contact with shell oil or the irritating fumes emitted during roasting. The oily shell liquid has many uses.

I have always wondered how these nuts grew...I hope you enjoy this information.

Mean While Back @ The Farm

Welcome Back!

Hello

If any of you have come out near the farm you will know we have a wonderful winery down the road just a half of mile.
That is David Hill Winery. They make some really awesome wine. Every year for Christmas they bring up a bottle or two of wine for us to enjoy. I must say they have a beautiful view from on top of the road just a bit past there front gates. They have this beautiful old house that sits in the heart of the land and you can see the rows and rows of grapes.
They have tasting for you to enjoy. They also have many wedding there,we can always hear the music from the farm from the reception.

Wow you can sure tell fall is here. I don't know if you have had the chance to get outside or go for a drive...but the leaves have turned a most beautiful color of yellow and orange. They almost looked like they were light up by the sun. It was totally amazing!

Mean While Back @ The Farm

Sunday Morning

Top of the morning to you all

We have some great tips about having a fresh wreath and I wanted to pass these along to you.
Of course the first and most important is to get the freshest wreath you can get.
Next a cooler location will keep your wreath fresher longer.
The next tip is to not place your wreath on your front door if you have a storm door on it.
This acts as a green house and will dry your wreath out before the season is done.
I haven't tried this tip yet...but they say if you spray your wreath with aerosol hair spray before hanging it up will keep the moisture in....I will have to test that one myself and see if it really works. I spoke with someone who tried this and said it will burn the needles...so just enjoy the fresh wreath as long a you can leaving it natural.
Well it Sunday here at the farm and we are getting ready to head outside...Its looks like rain but we need to get some things done so we will grab our coats and head out.
Today we are going to cut some bough material and get it set up to take picture because this year we are adding this to our line up of things we are offering. We will offer 10lb box of this material shipped right to your door. I know a lot of people enjoy making there own Christmas decorations with fresh material such as nuts and pine cones. This is always a nice touch to anyone's home.

Mean While Back @ The Farm

Holiday Season is coming quickly

Hello all and welcome back its always nice to see an old friend.
We are just a couple of weeks away from Halloween. You go to any store and they have all kinds of decoration's and costumes for sale and they have brought out a few of the Christmas items to get people buying ahead of time. I don't know about you but I'm not really into the spirit of celebrating Halloween. I guess we never had a lot of money growing up and we didn't have party's. My mom always made our costumes so we never had anything fancy. (I remember going out with nothing more fancy then a pillow case for a candy bag and we went to as many house as we could...and parents didn't have to go with us....wow how times have changes )I know some people just find it the greatest time to have a party. I guess it gives them a chance to dress up in something wild and crazy and every one thinks it a blast. Not that I don't enjoy a great party like everyone else...
Thanksgiving is just around the corner. One year our turkey was deep fat fried...I dear say...my older daughter said it look like it flew to close to the sun!! We all had a good laugh on that one.
When I was growing up...We always had one of those fake trees..My mom would pull it out of a box and try to fit the right branches into the pole to create a tree...Man that was always a terrible time in house...it took so long and mom's mood grew very tense.
but once it got up...it was wonderful. One of the things mom always did...and I really don't know why I think it had something to do with my Grandfather...She put a bowl of nuts and tangerines under the tree....it was always appreciated more after the Christmas present were gone and the tree is still up.....I would sit under the tree and crack the nuts and watch the lights...
I didn't go out to cut my first tree down until I was 18 years old...it was so wonderful the adventure and feeling of the soft tree while you decorated it. The smell of a fresh tree is something you just can't get out of a fake tree. My grandmother would always have a little table top fake tree....She didn't have a lot of money so she would always give all her 6 grand kids a tooth brush and bar of Ivory soap..and since she crochet she would make us slippers and vest...and in her later years...some wonderful afghans...I have two of her's still being used today.
As odd as it sounds...it was the only time I got a new tooth brush was at Christmas.

Mean while back @ the farm

Ready-Set-Go

Hello all and welcome back.
If this is your first visit with us...come on in and pull up a chair.
The farm is really taking shape. We have had the time to get a lot of the extra project done this year. I've got the yard ready for the winter season except for trimming the roses...I want to wait until they have finished giving us beautiful blooms.
I think the Christmas Tree's look the best I have ever seen them. Nicely trimmed and a beautiful green color...Oh not to say they don't always look good...but there is something about them when they have been lightly shaped that gives them a wonderful look.
I sure hope we don't have the snow like we did last year...that really put a halt to the season.
I almost didn't get to see my daughter for Christmas... but we made it and it mean't so much to me to share that time with her..I do know a lot of people lost the chance to get together with family because of the snow.
So we look to the heavens above and ask for a good year.
We have been selling a lot of day lilies this fall..Its nice to see people are finding us and ordering.
They say Day lilies are one of the best selling flower. Happy returns is the one most people would recognize for it is the one a lot of commercial landscapers use. So if you go to the store or mall and look around at the flowers.....You will most likely see a day lily. They are so hardy....and put out such a beautiful bloom with a nice green foliage to fill the yards empty spaces.
The view here at the farm is spectacular. I love getting my coffee and going to the embankment and look over the tree's and the surrounding farms and hill side.
If you do come to the farm...you will see the same veiw.....and its FREE..Wink<-

Mean While Back @ The Farm

Making Time!

Hello all and welcome back.

Its a beautiful day outside but I wanted to try and write more often.
We are trying to look at the farm in a new light.
We are trying to make gift idea's out of the wood we have in the trees.
This is a new idea to us. We have always just sold the tree's as Christmas tree's.
This year we are opening up the fields to people that would like to buy bough material and other green material they might want for wreath's or floral arrangements.
We are also open to letting Non-profit groups come up and get tree's for their fundraiser
@ $12.00 a tree with free baling.

Since we make our own wreaths and have the machine, I was toying with the idea of bring into the picture making wreath markers for head stones. What do you think??
You do see a lot of people decorating headstone at Christmas time for there loved ones who will not be forgotten. I even saw a head stone with the metal vast used to hold flowers someone had placed a Christmas tree in it and decorated it.

Something we ran across in researching something was the Yule log.. Yule means no work as long has the special log burns.
It is a long Christmas tradution to get a Yule log and burn it on Christmas or New Years and it will bring you good luck...they even take it to the next step of good luck so you take the ashes and bury them near a crop you want to trives and this will give you a good harvest.
I found this very intresting so this year for the Christmas tree season here you will have the chance to buy one..We all could use a little good luck don't ya think?

Mean while back @ the farm

First Day of Fall

Hello and welcome back!
Wow...We have been soooooo busy here at the farm.
Where do I start?
Well today is the first day of fall and we are going to tie for the hottiest day in record here in Oregon. That gives us all a quiet moment to get caught on the things we sweep under the rug until we have time,and since its very hot out side and we are keeping cool inside.
Well the lilies have been keeping us very busy planting and trimming and of course selling.
We had this wonderful couple stop by the farm passing thru since they came from Seattle.
Its always a pleasure to meet the customers in person and share their love of lilies with us.
They loved our lilies and many choice going home with one of our beautiful day lilies.
Our garden of corn was well enjoyed here. We just love the golden sweet yellow corn.
We also put in some potatoes...Let me tell you a little trick about when we went to put our garden in..and could not find any potato starts left any where(we got a late start on the garden)...and we wanted fresh potates..
So here is the secret to this work around....go to the store and buy organic potatoes...cut them into cubes and coat them with rooting compound or lime...but lime is the best...We ended up having some great Yukon gold and red potatoes...and will be eating on them for another couple of months.
Our roses are still coming on strong...its wonderful to get some color in yard at this time of the year. The day lilies are still blooming...but they are on the end of there cycle.

Reba the Yellow lab who also lives here is very busy watching for digger squirrels...
She can get one cornered..and the squirrel will start squawking and making a lot of noise.
I was talking to my daughter and said ...Yes we have digger squirrels. they dig tunnels in the ground instead of living in the tree's. Man they can be a real pain....I had one get into the house...and boy was that a wild ride trying to get it out...with the help 2 people a broom and two oven mit's we got the little one out...They look just about like a regular squirrel you would find in the city...but they have claws.
We were on our way back from a trip to California to see the new #3 grand daughter...was a great trip...I got a chance to see a bald eagle...oh I so wished I would have had my digital camera ready...It was a photo op I would have treasured. I do love my wild life pictures..and flower of course.
So..I have another tip for you. If you purchase your bulbs now..it could be any bulb(tulips,crocus,lilies,)...You can keep them in the refrigerator veggie bin for at least 6-8 weeks. This works the best if you have an extra one in the garage...I personal would not put flower bulbs in with my fruits and veggies.
I'm working at getting the yard ready for winter...trimming the spent flowers and getting things set for the fall and winter months ahead.
We are getting ready for the Christmas tree season...This is more work then people realize...it is a year round job...of course the month of October-December are the busiest.
We have to get the wreath made..make sure we have every ready for the sell shed...
and of course our crew...We don't have a crew year round...its more of mama papa kettle type of business until Thanksgiving and we bring in the big guns to help out.
Its great joy to see our regular customers return with there children and see them grow each year.


Mean while back @ the farm