Phoenix Farm

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Kitsap Agricultural Advisory Council

Last Thursday I attended the first meeting of the newly appointed Kitsap Agricultural Advisory Council. Most of this meeting was mostly boring administrative work however the Council members voted for their priorities for the plan of work for 2026.

Some of you may not know, but last fall, the Kitsap County Commissioners were considering expanded rules on EQUINE Facilities, Farm Stands and other Agriculture land use rules. There was a huge outcry and an few people organized a protest at the following Commissioners meeting. The result of that protest caused the Commissioners to pause these efforts and form this advisory Council to advise them on future rule making proposals to the Commissioners. These are the Council members for Kitsap:

Angela Cordiano

1 - North Kitsap

Agriculture Specialist

Karissa Holcombe

1 - North Kitsap

Farmer - Livestock

Mira Rosenkotz

1 - North Kitsap

Farmer - Producer

Scott Hall

2 - South Kitsap

Agriculture Specialist

Dawn Oien- Chairman

2 - South Kitsap

Farmer - Livestock

Gary Winn- Vice Chair

2 - South Kitsap

Farmer - Producer

Mickey Centeno

3 - Central Kitsap

Farmer - Livestock

Tonya Hirtzel

3 - Central Kitsap

Agriculture Specialist

Christina Mayfield

3 - Central Kitsap

Farmer - Producer

So, now is the time to voice you concerns/ suggestions to the Council members

You may contact them at this general e-mail address. In the subject line put the person's name to whom you are trying to contact.

HCleavland@kitsap.gov

Here is a link to their website:

https://www.kitsap.gov/dcd/Pages/Ag-Advisory-Council.aspx

Michael Bean

Green Bean Acres is the place to be,

Farm Livin is the Life for me,

Land Spreadin far and Wide .....

Goodbye city life

Green Bean Acres we are there !

Beanstock Enterprises

Friday, February 13, 2026

Honey 2026

Yes, we still have honey. $ 18.00 for a 1lb jar, $ 2.00 deposit for jar. you get a $ 2.00 credit on your next purchase when you return the empty jar.

The Hobby Farm VS a Real Farm

If you ask any farmer or homesteader is you place a for profit farm or just a hobby farm your answer will probably be as varied as the people you ask.

The IRS has one definition. Your accountant will have another some people readily admit that they are just hobby farmers some are hoping to be profitable and be a REAL farm.

Like myself, right now if being honest with myself, I probably am just a hobby farmer, but that is not the intent and hopefully we will turn a profit. Right now, our expenses far outweigh the income so the difference comes out of my paycheck from my day job.

And it not for the lack of trying. If you look back in the history of this blog, you see that I grew up on a ranch in mid-western, Central Oregon, just at the southern tip of the Willamette Valley. We generally had 50 head of Registered Polled Herford Cattle and 30 head of Registered Romney Sheep.

Me, Showing My Steer 1978

In 2016. We tried raising pigs with the hopes of selling free-range port locally but that flopped, no one, well almost no one wanted to pay $ 500.00 for a 350 lb. pig.

Our, honey sales have done a bit better, than but still not as well as I hoped. But I digress

Was our Farm Profitable back then? Well, to be honest, I do not know I know for my parents it was more of a lifestyle than dollars and cents. We always had fresh Dairy Products, Milk, cream and sometimes butter.

We always had fresh beef and chicken and occasionally Pork and Rabbit.

We always had fresh vegetables in the summer and fall. My mother worked countless hours tending the garden and in the fall canning and preserving every extra ounce of vegetables from that garden.

We also had fruit trees, Apples, pears, plumbs, and Peach, but in our area, the peaches struggled to thrive but we always managed to get a few.

My mother canned all those fruits except the plumbs; my father took those to a local dryer house and traded their services for a few pounds of plumbs.

My father built a cider press around 1975 and we had either fresh or frozen cider year round.

Also, In the mid 70's my father got several hives of honey Bees and did beekeeping right up to the end of 2011 when he passed.

We never took our farm products to a farmer's Market, Hell, in those day there wasn’t even farmers market to take it too.

The Point is, sometimes, just having a steady stream of fresh food that you know how it was raised is more important than making a profit.

My Father worked as a Sheet Metal Mechanic for most of his adult life. Fortunately, he was able to retire when he was 55. Even after that he stayed busy but that is another so=tory for another post.

A ariel view of our homestead in Oregon current,

A closer look.

Thursday, February 12, 2026

New Babies on the Farm !

We've got new babies on the farm, Betty was first, had a single lamb, next was Thelma. She had twins. all 3 are doing great. all three are boys. Louise is still very pregant

as of this writing and hopfully will have a girl or two.

Saturday, September 6, 2025

Abbey"s new Puppies

On Aug 30th abbey had her second litter, an oopsie pregegancy. she had 9 puppies. 5 Females, 4 males they are all Black and White like their dad, Keko They'll be ready to go to new farms on November 1st.