CSA

Earth Day and Double Duty Composting

Today, on Earth Day 2019, I’m thinking back to the roundtable discussion I was honored to lead at the MOSES Organic Conference. It was on marketing and it overflowed with interesting conversation. Today though, two particular points come to mind: composting and responsibility.

As we discussed innovative ideas to promote our farms, a woman whose name I missed (someone help me, please, I’d love to contact her) mentioned the composting campaign they’re doing for their CSA farm. They give buckets to their members and encourage them to bring food scrap compost to the farm each week where it will help to create fertile ground for next years’ crops. And I, whose marketing brain spins 24/7, suggested she be sure to put her farm name and website on the buckets.

Seriously though, isn’t a composting campaign a great idea in so many ways?

Full Circle of Sustainability

This year’s Earth Day theme is Protect Our Species and from bees to trees, good soil is vital for sustaining all of God’s creation. Composting is a small way to make a big impact on the enrichment of our soil. When we return scraps of food to the very soil from which it was taken, we complete a full circle of sustainability.

How cool is that for CSA members to participate in this full circle!

Responsibility + Ownership = Good Marketing

Marketing gurus tell us that allowing customers a sense of “ownership” is proven for building customer loyalty. We discussed this in our roundtable and how responsibility enables that sense of ownership.

The CSA farm’s composting campaign allows members to share in the responsibility of improving its soil for more nutrient-based produce. The result? These members become proud owners of the vegetables they helped to grow and they talk about them with their friends. Word of mouth marketing at its best!

What About You?

I’ve been composting for years and, gee, it’s such an easy way to put food waste to good use. Now, after touring the facilities of my newest customer, The Farmory, I’m inspired even further—maybe composting with worms?

What about you? Are you a business looking to heat up your environmental stewardship? Or a gardener wanting healthier soil? Earth Day is a great time to start composting—actually Earth Day celebrations last all week so you have time to find yourself a bucket.

So let’s get going and may the joyous rotting begin!

Want to learn more?
Soil health is a big conversation these days. Two recent and interesting articles are Compost, like the Earth Depends On It, from the Willy Street Co-op Reader and the Dirt Issue (Spring 2019) of Yes!

Love My Market, Love My Farmers!

It’s National Farmers Market Week and I couldn’t appreciate it more, having just attended a workshop on Raleigh’s Hillside Farm. Oh, my goodness, the arduous, hand labor that goes into producing high-quality, organic vegetables. Let’s take a moment right now and send out a #lovemymarket and #lovemyfarmers!

The turnout was big for the In Her Boots workshop

The Raleigh’s Hillside Farm event was one in a series of In Her Boots Workshops put on by the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) and was held in conjunction with the inspirational Soil Sisters weekend (all clients for whom I’m honored to design).

The focus was on hopeful and beginning farmers, and as you can see by the long line of cars, the interest was huge!

Lauren Rudersdorf, Raleigh's Hillside Farm
Raleigh’s Hillside Farm, Brodhead, WI, provides high-quality, organic food to CSAs, area restaurants and schools.

Lauren Rudersdorf is half the husband-wife team of Raleigh’s Hillside Farm and an enthusiastic Soil Sister (she’s the group’s millennial social media whiz). She presented us with a wonderfully authentic day in the life of an organic vegetable farmer and covered the nitty gritty of starting from scratch.

Lauren and her husband, Kyle, began their farm in 2013 on leased family land. She readily admitted they had little experience and even less money. Listening to her now, she’s a wealth of information on farming practices, soil management, produce handling, finances, growth projections and marketing. On top of that, she’s a barefoot bundle of positive energy, which shows in her social media and blog The Leek and The Carrot.

Lauren Rudersdorf, Raleigh's Hillside Farm
With a goal of not going into debt their first five years, the Rudersdorfs kept their investments to a minimum. Here Lauren explains their walk-behind wheel hoe and cultivators.

But, hey, farm life is more than romantic Instagram imagery. There are fields to cultivate, weeds to conquer, produce to harvest, wash and chill, and consumers to acquire and deliver to. Lauren and Kyle now run four acres and as I overlooked those beautiful rows my heart palpated thinking of the day in, day out physicality of such a business.

Even a farm tour didn’t deter Kyle from a day in the field.

Now into their sixth season, Lauren and Kyle have begun investing in their farm. They purchased a Kubota tractor and built a pack shed for washing and storing produce. They also added to their hoop house, which they use for starting seedlings in the spring and extending their growing season.

Display of vegetables from Raleigh's Hillside Farm, Brodhead, WI

Becoming Educated and Taking Action

Most people, myself included, don’t realize how much goes work into that gorgeous display of produce at a farmers market. How naive we are. So on this National Farmers Market Week—and every other week for that matter—what can we do to keep these farming super heroes in business?

Unless you live under a culinary rock, we all know the physical and psychological benefits of eating quality, organic, local food. So let’s support those who produce it!

We know the conventional food-to-store system is broken. Farmers markets are an alternative and more sustainable way to put food on our tables. So let’s shop there. Here’s a directory of markets near you!

We know food brings people together. The same can be said for farmers markets; they bring value to the community and unite its people. So get to know your farmers! Talk with them and learn how they produce their food. Share recipes. Farmers markets are so fun!

Happy Farmers Market Week! Get out there and love your farmers!

Transitioning from Summer to Autumn

Eat Local Month and Fermentation FestIt’s two weeks into September and my mind is finally beginning to let go of summer. It’s been a slow transition but as autumn reveals its golden glories I can’t help getting excited. And here are two happenings that make autumn great!

September is Eat Local Month

Harvests everywhere are at their peak and whether you glean from gardens, food co-ops, farmers markets or CSAs, the abundance of local food is a celebration in itself. These days, while elbow-deep in canning tomatoes, I’ve been listing to podcasts of Deep Roots Radio, with host Sylvia Burgos Toftness. Sylvia makes a great point when she says “every single food dollar we spend either protects or degrades the environment, produces foods with high nutrition or empty calories, and either helps pay a fair wage or keeps farm workers among the working poor.”

So yes, this September eat local. Hey, eat local all year long!

Fermentation Fest is in October

On that note, if you’re interested in learning to preserve this local food, plan ahead for next month’s Fermentation Fest. The Fermentation Fest team and I recently put out a beautiful event guide and you can now find it in Madison and Milwaukee area coffee shops and food co-ops. It details more than 60 classes and the great food and art events happening in Reedsburg.

Happy autumn everyone!

National Ag Day 2017

National Ag Day 2017

It’s National Ag Week and my thanks to the men and women who provide our food and clothing. Being from the Midwest, it used to be when I thought of farmers, Holstein cows naturally came to mind. Or million-dollar implements on acreage as vast as the eye could see. While I certainly appreciate these entities, I now realize there is so much more to American agriculture—CSAs, market farmers, even little ol’ gardeners like me. I appreciate so much those who boldly take a stand for organic, ethical and sustainable agriculture. You have my love and admiration!

Here are some things I’ve been following this week:

  1. Without immigrants, the snowball of repercussions is great. Is this what we really want?
  2. Women Who Farm: “Through saving seed, harvesting rainwater, and care taking the animals, these women are true heroes.”
  3. I loved Mas Masumoto’s keynote presentation at last month’s MOSES Conference.
  4. Also Liz Carlisle’s. Her book Lentil Underground is on my must-read list.
  5. Gather with women farmers, learn valuable farm and gardening tips, and sample locally-made products at this Soil Sisters event, April 6, in Middleton. See you there!
  6. Yes, immigrants do feed America. Award-winning Modern Farmer did this excellent piece: The High Cost of Cheap Labor. Worth reading for a better understanding of how food gets to your table.

Wednesday Webs: Things Keeping My Interest This Summer

Bees on their brood frame in Wisconsin

So this has been my summer of beekeeping. Since I know absolutely nada of these honeys, I’m learning things as I go. For example, I now know the cone shape in the center above is a queen cell and since I already have one queen, another could be problematic. I should get rid of this cell. Or not. The challenging aspect of Beekeeping 101 is that the old salts are notorious for their variety of preferential practices (kind of like our world of marketing, yes?). In any event, so far I’ve managed to not kill my bees, nor have they left me for a better keeper.

Besides beekeeping (and my usual gardening and raising baby chicks), here are other agricultural interests that have me humming this summer:

  • Speaking of bees, here’s an interview on what we can do to improve their future, by an unconventional Madison entrepreneur
  • Similarly, the Chicago Honey Co-op works to produce honey and promote the good work of bees
  • You’ve heard of CSAs. How about CSFs, (as in Alaskan fish)? Grassroots, out-of-the-box entrepreneurism at its best!
  • We Live On the Internet. We Die Alone. Are we living our lives online instead of living it for real? This isn’t a farming story, but its poignant intensity shows a season of life that applies to us all. This summer spend time digging in the dirt. Grow food and share it with people. Spend real time with real people!

Soil Sisters ad by Adunate Word & Design

  • I’m once again proud to be working with Soil Sisters, a fun-filled, culinary and ag event. Here’s the ad Adunate did for them, which appeared in the summer issue of Edible Madison magazine. Going to be in Wisconsin this summer? Come to Soil Sisters, Aug. 5-7.

Sponsor Sampler, by Adunate Word & Design

  • Later, in fall, Fermentation Fest will once again host its convergence of food, agriculture and art. Here’s a piece Adunate did as a sponsor sampler. Interested in sponsoring Fermentation Fest? Contact the Fermentation Fest team right away because they’re putting things together as we speak!

That’s all for now, folks. Hope you’re having a blessed summer!

 

Celebrating Possibilities on National Ag Day

In celebration of National Ag Day , I bought my first bee hives

Today is National Ag Day and we celebrate our abundance of food, thanks to American agriculture. Think about it, where else can we enjoy such epicureous quantity, quality and diversity?

I was recently discussing my design project for this autumn’s Fermentation Fest, a convergence of agriculture, art and fermented foods. October seems so far away but as event co-founder Donna Neuwirth shared new ideas, I was inspired with anticipation. As Donna said, oh, the possibilities.

Oh, the possibilities

Such a simple phrase, yet so fitting for National Ag Day. This year’s theme is “Agriculture: Stewards of a Healthy Planet,” and the possibilities ahead are bountiful. Farmers are increasingly listening to consumer demands and striving to produce their products in healthier, more earth-sustainable ways. CSAs, farmers markets and farm-to-table organizations have become a societal commonplace, meaning our access to local food is so much greater. And the ever-growing specialty food market offers us cleaner ingredients and values we care about.

Speaking of specialty foods; several weeks ago I took a beekeeping class from Mad Urban Bees. This bee farmer, as owner Nathan Clarke describes himself, keeps an office in the vintage-li-cool Madison Enterprise Center. He describes the neighborhood as burgeoning with specialty food businesses. How cool is that?

So yes, today, in celebration of National Ag Day, I bought my first bee hive. It’s my effort, small as it is, to produce better food and be a healthy steward of the planet God has entrusted to us. I’ll certainly not make it to the eminence of farmers, but I’ll be a good writer and designer for them. Oh, the possibilities!

Give me a buzz :-)

National Ag Day 2016 banner

Wednesday Webs: Ag Day 2015

Ewe with baby lamb

I used to raise Corriedale sheep and at this time of year I really get to missing them. I miss being a farmer, albeit a pretend one, and I miss the nurturing coo a mama ewe gurgles over her new lamb.

Now, ten years into self-employment, let’s say I’m a farmer of a different kind—one of design and words. For farmers. This is fun too. Especially because I come across so many interesting people and places.

Here on the web:

Happy Ag Day! Thanks to our farmers!

 

Appreciating Artisanal Foods

basket of organic strawberries

While relishing the 10-year cheddar he received as a Father’s Day gift, my husband commented that he can only remember eating processed cheese as a kid.

Are you kidding? Ye, who has lived in America’s Dairyland all of thy days?

Truth is, back when we were growing up in the 1960-70s, food selections were much different than they are now. In some ways they were better. High fructose sugar and super-gluten weren’t major ingredients. Nor were the fruits and vegetables genetically modified and void of flavor.

On the other hand, nowadays some of our foods are actually better. As the dairy and strawberry days of June come to an end (wow, so fast!), I can’t help appreciating the culinary artisans we have now that we didn’t back then. Cheesemakers, like Chris Roelli of Shullsburg, WI, have moved beyond mass-production boredom and back to the traditional handcrafting of age-ripend cheese. Farmer’s markets and CSA farms, like Hillsong Ridge Farm, of Springfield, WI, get us out of the over-processed grocery stores and into cooking with locally grown fruits and vegetables. All in all, both food consumers and producers are much more sustenance savvy.

But consider this:

Creating quality food takes time and effort. The mouthwatering strawberries in that basket? Fresh-picked today and completely organic? Just saying—a lot of back-bending, manual labor went into producing them. They’re so worth it, but I can’t imagine doing this at a scale larger than I do for my family. Knowing this, I wonder about the work that goes into running a CSA. Or an organic bakery. Or pasture-raised pork. These food artisans certainly aren’t doing it for the money—after all, we all know Americans don’t want to pay much for their food.

Will the day come when these hardworking foodies simply get tired? Will they someday decide they need to make a more lucrative living? Is this just a passing culinary moment in time?

I sure hope not. What communication can we do to make sure this doesn’t happen?