Category: Farmers (Page 2 of 3)

Meet your local farmers. Get a peek into farms and the farmers who love them all through the Twin Cities metro area! This is where the seeds hit the dirt.

It’s All Good: Organics

May 3, 2018 / / 3 Comments

There’s something comforting about meeting people who are doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing. It’s even better when they’ve taken over the family farm; better for the land, the crops, the animals- and better for us lucky people who get to eat the food they raise.

Butch and Kris Cardinal of All Good Organics have worked hard to find their groove and they’ve really hit their stride after figuring out their unique niches.

The farm on April 20th, 2018 – thank goodness we’re all melted now!

Butch is a 5th generation farmer – OF THE SAME LAND. His family has been farming their slice of heaven at 6657 Centerville Road in Hugo since 1866. The way they have farmed has swung the pendulum over their 152 years of land stewardship. “Everything was organic back when my dad was born- but then, by the 40’s chemical fertilizers and pesticides showed up. And these guys were of the mind that if a little is good, more is better. When my dad came home from WW2 it was all about the chemicals; they meant less weeding,” but it took over 50 years for most farmers to figure out that the chemicals had some major downsides.

Pulling produce from the greenhouse all winter long!

Butch knew what we could grow as a conventional grower with the pesticides and herbicides, but he’s worked with them and didn’t want them around-. “I mean, just read the labels and directions on some of them, if I need to put on full suits and respirators to apply, I don’t want that stuff sticking around in my soil or my food.”

So when his dad asked him to help with some pumpkins years ago, he countered with wanting to grow organic vegetables too. They’d been growing conventional hay for years prior.

So, Butch brought the farm back to organic practices, and they’ve been certified since 2010. By USDA NOP (National Organic Program) the transition period is three years. Now they plant 25 acres of vegetables, many started in the 1,800 square foot greenhouse. Like most organic farms, they’ve got a ‘full circle’ approach, using each resource in many ways, and always keeping their eyes open for opportunities.

Butch and Kris in front of their Farm Store

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Bountiful CSA Box. Photo Credit: Big River Farms

CSA’s So Many Ways

March 8, 2018 / / 3 Comments

I’m already a pretty big fan of supporting your local farmer, and YOU all are my wonderful community- so “Community Supported Agriculture” is an obvious sweet spot.

**Updated 2/21/2023 with current links**

Turnip Rock Farm’s very own Farmer Josh

CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture) have been around for in some form or another since the mid 1980’s- which first struck me as a much shorter history than I’d imagined. But, then I realized that the CSA idea came about jointly from both Farmers and consumers looking for new ways to grow good food- and eat good food.

This was one way to make a concrete change in how those consumers ate, and who grew their food. The basic idea of a CSA is that farmers get the purchase price up front to help cover costs of the upcoming farming season. With farmers knowing that they have that money, they are able to move forward with confidence, and maybe without a bank breathing down their necks…

Half Share from 2017, Photo Credit: Big River Farms

The rewards for a member of a CSA are manyfold; fresh in-season produce boxed up and ready to go weekly at a pick up location of your choice, often with a newsletter or recipe ideas included. As I see it, the biggest reward is building a relationship with a farmer.

My husband and I purchased our first CSA back about nine years ago to get fresh, locally grown produce while I was still working full time. It is kind of funny that I can’t remember the name of the farm, but I do remember I picked up my weekly boxes from one of the quaint little shops (The Nest) in downtown White Bear Lake. I never met the farmer, and there was never an invite from the farmer to do so.

CSAs give you a few of everything each week, instead of everything all at once! Photo Credit, Costa Farm

Things have changed, on both the farmer and the consumer sides. Farmers are being more proactive in forging relationships, and consumers are looking for more than good food grown cheap- more and more, the people buying CSAs are doing it for a chance to connect to a farm, a farmer, a piece of land…and to benefit from the GOOD food these farmers provide.

Now that the CSA idea has had time to take root- it has also branched out in a few different directions. For this article, I’ve chosen a few local farms that represent the wide variety of options available to those of us lucky enough to live around the Twin Cities. Each of the following farms has a unique twist to them, showing again there’s so many ways to grow good food!

I would absolutely recommend any of the farms covered- but I’d also urge you to do your own research too, there are more and more (yay!) CSAs popping up every year. Currently, according the powerful MNGrown CSA search engine there are 86 CSAs in Minnesota. Use these ‘case studies’ as a launch pad to get yourself thinking what you want out of a CSA… Continue reading

Summer at The Good Acre Photo Credit: TGA

The Good Acre: Full Circle Food Hub

January 26, 2018 / / 1 Comment

The Good Acre (TGA) provides Full Circle Local Food System Support. From soil to your table, TGA is there implementing the organization’s mission:

“We connect and strengthen farmers, food makers, and communities through good food.”

This is the place you can learn how to make kimchi, pick up a farm share with locally made add-ons, attend a beginning farmers conference, volunteer in a hoop house or find your child’s school lunch staff kicking up their culinary skills. Full circle!

There is also a contagious positivity running through those artfully slanted walls that makes it all gel.

I stumbled upon this powerhouse operation online while looking up local CSA’s. Turns out Community Supported Agriculture is the perfect term for part of what happens here, but The Good Acre goes way beyond the traditional CSA.

What is a Food Hub Anyway?

Farm Share Packing Day

A food hub, as defined by the USDA, is “a centrally located facility with a business management structure facilitating the aggregation, storage, processing, distribution, and/or marketing of locally/regionally produced food products.”

The thing that the USDA missed in its definition is the community that takes root around an initiative like this. There are farmers who would not be making it if it weren’t for TGA. In 2016 around 65,000 pounds of food moved through the facility. That’s 65,000 pounds of food that traveled significantly less than the average 1,500 miles. Hello lowered carbon footprint.

Food Hubs like TGA aren’t prolific, and that may be in part because for now, they rarely turn a profit. They are often funded in part by donations, grants and in the case of TGA- significant support from the Pohlad Family Foundation. Continue reading

New Year, New Growth

January 1, 2018 / / 3 Comments

Happy New Year to you all!

Thanks for being a part of the inaugural year of Forks in the Dirt!
I hope you had as much fun as I did!

Writing from the frozen tundra of Minnesota this first morning of 2018 (a brisk -13° F) I know the temperature means no gardening for even the toughest Midwest gals; for example our chickens have also decided to stay inside today. And yet, I appreciate the way our extreme seasons keep me tethered to the cycles of our planet. My love for this earth grows deeper every year I grow food with its help.

The best way for me to use these frozen months is to dream big for the coming year. Being able to cozy up with seed catalogs, look back through garden pictures from the previous summer, think about what we ate and what we wanted to eat more of… Having time to regroup for the upcoming season is a gift; I remind myself as I look longingly at the snow drifted garden beds.

The best way to get my imagination rolling have always been books, and now and online research too.

There is an overwhelming amount of information out there. I’ve gotten lost for hours ending up on the farthest ‘out there’ branches of my original quest… ( succession planting, rotational gardening, clean food recipes, etc) but those times have let me weed out the useless sites and pick the ripest, juiciest sites truly worth our time.

Here are a few of my favorite Links:

Savvy Gardening: regular contributor Niki Jabbour is queen of season extension and one of my gardening heroes. Real Info for real gardeners

100 Days of Real Food: This was where I first went for recipe inspiration using real, clean food- and still refer to it often.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle:  One of the first books I read about growing more of your own food and the impact eating  local can make. Now a website with info and recipes. Plus, Barbara Kingsolver is a favorite author of mine 🙂

Civil Eats: So much information about food systems and environment, all broken down in bite size pieces. If you’re ready to dig deeper they recently listed their favorite food and farming books of 2017 .

I’ll stop there, but if there’s a foodie, farmer or gardening topic you’re curious about, I probably have a link for that. I do have more info links on my Do Good Page.

My personal goals for 2018 include:
*Planning for and planting our doubled vegetable garden space,
*Preserving more of my own food (dehydrating, freezing, fermenting and canning),
*Finding a local sustainable source for organic oats and chicken meat,
*Becoming a better Chicken + Kid Mom
*Finding more of that elusive “Balance”

My 2018 goals for Forks in the Dirt include:
*Meeting and writing about more local farmers,
*Inspiring awareness in the food choices we make,
*Expanding the White Bear Lake Winter Farmers Market.

What are your gardening and food goals for 2018??
Let me know and we can work on them together!

Wishing you many chances to dig in and grow in new ways in 2018.

Cheers!

Michelle

Winter Farmers Market Tomorrow!

December 8, 2017 / / 0 Comments

I wouldn’t want you to miss out on all the food!

The first White Bear Lake Winter Farmers market is tomorrow, Saturday December 9th from 10am-2pm, at Tamarack Nature Center. Link to map and directions HERE.

This is a one day only event and a great way to fill your holiday tables and check off gifts with sustainable items from your neighbors.

HERE is a previous post all about the market, from vendors and community tables to the donated apple cider.

The Facebook Page, HERE will continue to have updates, like this  basket of goodies I’ll be raffling off at the market!

Thanks for following along on this journey to find good, simple, local food- I truly appreciate it.

Can’t wait to Dig Into the food this Saturday!

**Looking forward to sharing recipes made with all the local food I bring home from this market!**

Michelle

 

A Winter Farmers Market is Coming to Town!

November 29, 2017 / / 0 Comments

White Bear Lake’s first time Winter Farmers Market has turned into something bigger and better than I could have imagined- all because so many people came together and energized this event. White Bear Lake was ready  for this farmers market, and I feel darn lucky I get to help make it happen!

The WBL Winter Farmers Market:  December 9  
10am – 2pm at Tamarack Nature Center

 

So many local people and groups have made this event a success even before the first shopper sips hot cider or scores a squash… Continue reading

Micro Greens + Macro Dreams

November 17, 2017 / / 0 Comments

I found a farm, with a ‘little’ twist…

Meet Kayla and Eric  Elefson, the young farming couple behind Turtle Hare Farm’s tasty micro green mixes, tomatoes, salad greens and coming next summer- gourmet garlic!

As most really good stories go, they came to farming in a round-about, unintended way. Both take to the stage regularly. Kayla is a dancer with ‘Eclectic Edge Ensemble’, and a choreographer (White Bear Lake High School is performing her steps in their “Footloose” musical as I’m writing this post.) Eric is an actor working with Mad Munchkin Productions and the Math and Science Academy.

After a mild injury Kayla had to step away from the strenuous dance routines, and took a farming class on a whim. Both Kayla and Eric grew up on hobby farms, so it wasn’t a huge stretch. But after some soul searching and learning about “Holistic Management” they came upon micro green farming as a way to jump into farming right away- without jumping deep into debt.

Now, there’s no reason to go back. They love supplying people with organically grown, locally delivered, super fresh produce year round.

With two years under their belts they’ve already fine-tuning and weeding out some of their original practices. Switching their field of tomatoes to garlic will require many less summer hours of labor but give close to the same profit. Their outdoor garden space is only 1,400 square feet and yet it is adequate to supply the markets they serve. Working out of their home in Lakeland Township gives them the best of both worlds.

What’s the BIG deal with micro greens?

Micro greens are plants in between the stages of sprouts and baby greens- and are said to be the ‘sweet spot’ where taste meets nutrition.

Studies have shown that micro greens are loaded with nutrients, such vitamins, C, E, and K, lutein, and beta-carotene. Up to 40 fold compared to the mature leaves of the same plants! This is another well rounded article from Web MD.

Micro Greens contain up to 40 X the nutrients of their full grown plants!

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Forks’ Weekend Spread – Harvest Time!

October 10, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Nothing says Autumn in Minnesota like Colorful trees, pumpkins, apples and fresh air!

Harvest Festivals can be the culmination of a good growing season- or a feel like a bland mix of pumpkin spice and everything nice. Lucky for us, our vibrant local food scene is bursting with phenomenal farms of all flavors. They each celebrate their love of local food and drink in unique ways. Family friendly and full of fall fun, find the hip harvest party of your dreams below…

 

Urban Roots 20th Anniversary Party

20 years of awesomesauce. Urban Roots is one of those groups that’s just got it going on. Through their Market Garden Program they work with inner city youth interns that purchase, grow, maintain, harvest and sell- sometimes even  serve- the produce they raise on their urban farm plot. Cook St Paul is one of the local restaurants that carry their produce. The Chef + Owner of that fine establishment, Eddie Wu, is the emcee for the night’s festivities. *See Cook St. Paul’s listing below too* Live auction items for foodies and farmers alike to drool over. Featuring BANG Brewing and Chowgirls Killer Catering. If you want to have fun and support changing our food systems at the same time, this is your ticket. Those tickets are available Through Wednesday (that’s tomorrow!!) evening.  Get ‘em while they’re hot!

Thursday, Oct 12, 6pm- 9pm
Tickets $75 and up Available through Wed
Harriet Island Pavilion, 200 Doctor Justus Ohage Boulevard Saint Paul, MN 55107

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Hive Mind.ed

August 30, 2017 / / 7 Comments

The passions that bind this blog together: gardening, cooking, local farmers and food shelves all rely on one thing to exist:

Pollinators!

We need those busy bees, butterflies, wasps, ants, moths etc..

Now they need us.

**GIVEAWAY**
…has ended, thanks for all who participated 🙂

WIN 4 Passes to the Polli*Nation Festival Sept 10
Live Music* Food Trucks* Craft Beers*Bee Science*Art
 Contest Ends Tuesday Sept 5 at 7pm
Like us on Facebook to enter: www.facebook.com/forksinthedirt/

Unless you’ve been hiding under a garden paver, you know that bees are in trouble. Honeybees in particular have received lots of coverage in the news- topics like Colony Collapse Disorder, Varroa Mites destroying hives, and pesticide kills after a windy day. Honey Bees get most of the news coverage because they are the easiest of the pollinators to observe, being raised in a controlled area rather than being so spread out like the other wild and native pollinators. But there are signs that ALL the pollinators are in trouble. Continue reading

Bountiful August CSA Box from Steady Hand Farm, Hosting "Up Close with Pollinators" Event this weekend. Photo Credit: Steady Hand Farm

Forks’ Weekend Spread: August

August 16, 2017 / / 1 Comment

Oh August, I’m in awe…

This summer is growing by fast. Even with Fall right around the corner, if you’re like our family we plan on squeezing every last drop of summer out of the rest of this Summer. And this weekend is ripe with opportunity to do just that, by exploring local farms, flavors and vineyards and learning more about our pollinators. Let’s jump right in, the sun is set to shine just in time for these weekend farm and foodie events!

Friday August 18th

Great Table Dinner at the Dancing Dragonfly Winery

Enjoy the vineyard like never before with a unique and memorable al fresco dining experience, while mingling with fellow wine lovers at our large, family-style table. A 3-course dinner, featuring locally sourced foods from the St. Croix Valley region. The menu includes: Wilted Spinach Salad with Bacon, Top Sirloin with Garlic Crusted Portobello Mushrooms, Champagne Chicken Breast, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Vegetables, and dessert. The website also mentioned dressing in layers, which was the first time I got legitimately excited for Fall. You can also add on wine pairings (a glass chosen for each of the three courses) for $20. Our regular lineup of wine also available. Simply put this sounds like heaven.

Details: Friday, 6pm-8pm. $55 in advance Registration Link.
Dancing Dragonfly Winery 2013 120th Avenue, Saint Croix Falls, WI 54024 Continue reading

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