Archive for the 'Miscellany' Category

Handing off the broadfork! New ownership on the farm

Published on January 26, 2026 in Miscellany. 0 Comments

We are pleased to announce that starting January 1, 2026, Olivia Mancl will transition into owner of Plum Forest Farm LLC. Olivia has been working with us many years and has already been managing much of the farm work. She will now be in charge of all aspects of running the business. The farm is in her capable hands with our whole-hearted support.

Joanne and Rob and family will continue to own and live on the land as they have since 1999. 

Olivia is committed to the highest standards of caring for the life in and above the soil and also to producing the best food, which you will still find in the farmstand. If you have farmstandcredit you can continue using it just as you are used to. She is bringing her own creativity to her role and we are excited to see the ways she will make the farm even better. 

Thank you for the trust you have given us over the past 26 years. Farming on this land in this community has been a labor of love for us. We are grateful that we have had the opportunity to raise our family here while building this farm. We are grateful how this land keeps providing us all with high quality food! It has been a fun and meaningful journey for us to farm here and we will continue to be part of the farm in many ways, including for Rob as a part time seasonal employee. Warmly, Joanne Jewell and Rob Peterson 

We asked our daughter Rose to interview Olivia to tell you a bit more about her. Read on! 

I, Rose (Rob and Joanne’s kid), recently got the chance to grab a coffee with our dear Olivia Mancl, who is taking over the management and business of Plum Forest Farm. I had the privilege of being born on this farm, and of watching it through all the phases, variations and shifts within our “farm family”. This includes the last five years of Olivia being here. She started as an intern, became an employee, then a co-manager, and is now taking this next big step. Some of you have probably met Olivia, or seen her in the farmstand, or hanging around the Vashon community, maybe with her lively one year old daughter, August. If you have met her you are aware of her inviting, capable and kind presence. If you have not met Olivia, I will try my best to tell you a little about her here, since we don’t ALL get to take her to coffee, sadly.

Olivia is a Willamette University graduate, and has been farming since she was 18, starting during her time at college and continuously since then. She has seen many different types of farms, worked for farmer’s markets, spent time on urban and rural farms, and lucky for all of us, found herself at Plum Forest. Most of her experience was at larger farms and she was interested in Vashon Island and in farming at a scale where you never do the same task continuously for hours.

As you shoppers or friends know, my parents have put a lot of thought and energy into nurturing this farm and feeding Vashon’s community for the last 26 years, while maintaining strong principles around quality and health in both the produce and the soil it comes from. The farm is USDA Certified Organic, prioritizing environmentally regenerative processes (REAL Organic) as well as creating an evolving project full of opportunities for learning and growing (literally). Olivia aligns with these principles. As we’ve all seen though, some of us first hand, Plum Forest Farm is so much more than the food grown—it is the family and friends made, it is the working and living together, and it is the lifestyle that has been and will continue to be at the heart of it. Olivia has found home on this island, and we are so grateful she is taking this jump forward with us. She plans to keep the farm thriving, continuing to pursue the ideals my mom and dad strive for, yet bringing her own experience and excitement into this new chapter.

As I said earlier, I have lived through countless variations of this farm. I can confidently say that the last 5 years of having Liv here have been some of the most connected this farm family has ever felt. This transition, the shifting of business and management of Plum Forest Farm, is a huge undertaking and we are completely confident in Liv’s ability to continue producing great food for you while stewarding this land. She is such an important part of this land and family, and we are honored to hand off the farm, and watch her make it her own. Thank you for coffee Liv, and thank you for allowing my parents to take this next step toward retirement. I never thought I’d see the day!! Rose Jewell Peterson

Elsie Peterson’s pie crust

Published on October 27, 2013 in Miscellany and Recipes. 0 Comments

The same pastry blender and rolling pin I've had since age 18

When I left home for college at age 18, my mom made sure I first knew how to make a good pie crust.  She sent me off with a pie pan, rolling pin, bowls, measuring devices and a pastry blender.  She has always been know for making great pies.  Here is her pie crust, which is as much about the process as the ingredients.

Ingredients

For each crust (an open topped pumpkin pie has one crust.  A closed topped apple pie has two.)

1 cup unbleached white flour

1/3 cup butter

1 t salt

approximately 2 T to 1/4 cup cold water.

The process:

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl.  Measure the butter but only add half or a bit more than half of it.  Cut half the butter into the flour using a pastry blender, until it is very thoroughly mixed in.  Now add the second half of the butter and mix it in with the pastry blender a little less thoroughly.  The resulting mixture of flour and butter might have little chunks the size of a split pea.

When the mixture has reached the consistency described above add the water.  You want to stir/knead/mix as little as possible.  So quickly mix, with your hand, the water with the flower/butter mixture.  The right amount of water results in a dough that holds together and is not sticky, or is just a tiny bit sticky.  As soon as it holds together stop mixing and roll it out and put it in the pie pan.

Fava Bean recipe

Published on July 12, 2011 in Miscellany and Recipes. 0 Comments

How We Eat Fava Beans at Plum Forest Farm
To eat fava beans remove the beans from the large outer pod. In the early weeks we generally eat the whole remaining bean including the slip of skin outside the inner bean. (Does this sound complicated? You’ll see once you open them up.) We cook the podded beans in olive oil and garlic in a cast iron pan until tender, which may be about 5 minutes. Later in the season we may remove the secondary pod as well (after cooking) if it is tough. Then salt and eat!

    Fava Beans with Olive Oil and Parmesan

– Serves 2 as a little snack
From www.restaurantwidow.com/2007/05/fava_beans_a_si.html.

1 pound fava bean pods, favas removed from pods (further description of husking follows; removing them from the pods should be self-explanatory)
Really good extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt (I like Maldon)
Freshly cracked black pepper
Good Parmesan

Place the favas in boiling water and blanch for 2 minutes. Rinse in cold water and begin the second shelling. Of course, as with all tedious things, there’s an easy way: (for a right-handed person) take the fava bean in your left hand, between thumb and forefinger, “belly” (hollow, scooped out side) up, with the sprout end (sometimes has a black striped) towards your right hand. With your right hand, hold a small pairing knife perpendicular to the bean, cut horizontally across the sprout end, making a tiny slit. Squeeze the bean out of the husk; it should pop right out. Repeat, ad nauseum, remembering the whole time how delicious favas are and how much you are going to enjoy them.

Bring another pot of water to a boil and salt liberally. Add the husked beans and boil for another 2 minutes. Rinse the beans lightly in cold water and drain well. Place on plates and drizzle with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper, and add just a few tiny grates of Parmesan.

Eat, savoring bean by bean, enjoying the fruits of your labor.