Farm to Table

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By cleaning up the garden and hauling away debris this autumn you’ll create more time during spring for planting. So, grab a warm afternoon to remove spent vegetables and amend the soil, and you’ll end up with a great garden next year. Put away the hardscape While it’s akin to unpacking after a great trip, now is the time to put away the trellises and all the garden gear so you keep it preserved for another season. Empty the Wall-O-Waters—the water-filled plastic teepees that protect heat-loving plants—and hang them upside down. This allows them to drain completely before storing. If there is a significant amount of dirt or mildew in the tubes, use a two-inch brush and gently scrub each compartment, followed by a quick rinse before inverting it on a five gallon bucket to dry. Stack and store tomato cages, tossing any that are... Read more

No Dirt, No Problem Straw bale Gardening I have a love-hate relationship with Pinterest when it comes to gardening. Copious pages of pictures with all sorts of beautiful gardens, creative landscapes, perfect rows of veggies guarded by Gnomes and the most amazing flowers that would make Martha Stewart jealous. This is the part I love. The inspiration. The part I hate? Probably the same part you hate, unobtainability. Unobtainable, until I stumbled across the concept of gardening almost any veggie with the use of little to no dirt. Light bulb flickers on- Admittedly, I've almost always had dirt (science teachers everywhere are cringing at the word dirt, so I'm sticking with it) to garden in. But the few years I haven't, I've successfully killed plants in pots. Straw bale Garden Epiphany Straw bales, not to be confused with hay bales, are ... Read more

The Best Buttermilk Pancakes Obviously, I am always writing about food. So what's it take? What's it take to make the best coffee and the best buttermilk pancakes in the Northwestern US and plate it all rustic? It takes a little local knowledge and some great food products we stock at your local 40 namely, Wheat Montana Buttermilk Pancake mix, butter pecan syrup and one of our locally roasted coffees. The local knowledge is how to plate it all rustic. The clay jars you see pictured here are all made in Hinsdale, Montana at Klind Pottery. What makes these the best pancakes and coffee in the Northwest? Let us, ladies and gentleman, begin first with the mixture de pancake. Watch this video provided by Wheat Montana which will explain what sets this buttermilk mix ahead of your general pancake mixes.  You will see that this wheat is grown... Read more

By Sharah Yaddaw, and Danielle Downey, and Thomas Hopkins Keeping honey bees goes back over 9,000 years, and since then our ability to feed modern civilizations has been cultivated with honey bees pollinating our food as they gather theirs. These unsung heroes work tirelessly gathering honey to survive winter, and crop pollination is the vital amenity we receive from their toil. Pollination in the US is valued at about $20 billion per year. This includes many nuts, fruits, berries, vegetables, and animal feeds- like alfalfa- which are required for meat and dairy production. Bees themselves- queens, packages and colonies for sale- are a valuable product only available with good beekeeping. Just as we rely on bees to pollinate our food, most honey bees rely on beekeepers. As we feed more people with larger farms, the need for pollination ... Read more

It’s that time of the year—our North 40 stores are about to fill with a little extra noise and bustle, and you’re sure to hear a chirp or two when wandering the aisles. That’s because—you guessed it—the chicks are coming to North 40 Outfitters, beginning at our Spokane, Washington location in mid-February. Chose your local North 40 location from the list below for arrival dates Chickens in Idaho February 16th: Coeur d'Alene, Idaho February 21st: Lewiston, Idaho February 21st: Ponderay, Idaho Chickens in Washington February 14th: Spokane, Washington February 28th: Mead, Washington February 20th: Colville, Washington March 7th: Omak, Washington March 1st: Moses Lake, Washington Chickens in Montana March 1st: Havre, Montana March 6th: Great Falls, Montana Each North 40 store will offer a variety of popular chicke... Read more

  In 1910, my great-uncle patented the Hinman Potato Planter, a device pulled behind a horse that supposedly made planting potatoes easier and faster. I never saw it in action, but I firmly believe the love of potatoes, and other root vegetables, has a genetic component for me, which is why they are a favorite of mine to grow. Even though they tend to be less expensive than some of the showier vegetables in the grocery store, you can’t beat the flavor, or the amazing varieties, of homegrown potatoes, carrots, onions, and beets. As the season wanes, it’s time to bring in this underground harvest to enjoy throughout the cooler months. The good news is most root vegetables are excellent candidates for long-term storage as long as they are cured and kept properly.   When to Dig Potatoes Potatoes are one of those lovely vegetab... Read more

As someone with a Hungarian background, garlic is part of the Holy Trinity (garlic, onions, and paprika) of cooking. We use it in dishes from breakfast to supper, along with eating it for its immune boosting qualities. Whether it’s the pungent hardnecked varieties or its versatile softneck sibling, garlic is one of those must-have ingredients in the kitchen. The good news is garlic is easy to grow pretty much anywhere in the country, and it’s one of those crops were putting a little time in the fall reaps the benefit next summer, making it one of those enjoyable autumn tasks. Plant Softneck Garlic to Last the Winter From mild to a hot there is a multitude of garlic varieties between the main subspecies with hardneck and softneck garlics being the most popular. The type you choose depends partly on your climate, as well as your taste ... Read more

Raising Cornish Cross in Chicken Tractors Read more

Spinach and early greens are a sure sign of spring, but finally harvesting fresh asparagus makes my heart happy. Asparagus produces its bountiful stalks once the soil reaches 50 degrees Fahrenheit. This continues until hot weather causes the plant to produce beautiful fern-like foliage. My asparagus patch is now in its third year and I am looking forward to serving it several times a week as soon as the weather warms. Perennial event A native of Europe and Asia, settlers brought asparagus to North America in the 1700s and planted it in their early gardens. These early gardeners typically planted crowns, but asparagus does reseed and, subsequently, naturalized in areas throughout the country. A wild patch of asparagus is a treasured—and guarded—secret for the finder. Fortunately, it’s equally easy to raise your own asparagus at home... Read more

So... you grow (or are thinking about growing) cucumbers in your garden this year... well, congratulations, you just struck internet gold. This is the world's best spicy pickle recipe for water bath canning cucumbers that has ever been created by man (okay, this was voted on by one content creator who is wildly biased towards the recipe... considering he made it up--but that's beside the point)! "What's water bath canning," you innocently ask... read this complete guide to water bath canning I respond (knowing you will spend hours reading it). One of the joys of taking all the time to learn to grow, and successfully growing, your own food is actually eating the produce you produce. One thing you'll realize when you're growing food is the AMOUNT of food your garden actually produces... it's a LOT. For instance, take the garden cucumb... Read more

The King Kutter Flex Hitch Rotary Kutter demonstrates the latest in rotary cutter innovation with a Cat. 1 quick hitchable, flex hitch design. The unique hitch allows it to roll 15 degrees up or down, on the right or left side of the machine. This feature allows the Flex Hitch Rotary Kutter to follow the contours of your field like no Rotary Kutter before. The domed deck design sheds water and debris to prevent material from collecting on the deck, virtually preventing the deck from rusting. Check out the video below or review product specs and buy this cutter here.   Hi, Mark Gardner with King Kutter. We're here at the 2017 Fall Midstate's Show working with North 40 Outfitters here. We've got one of our five foot rotary cutters sitting here. What all makes our rotary cutter unique? Well, on this particular unit, it runs a dome de... Read more