October Fifteenth Restoration A farmer needs a winter. Needs one like a day needs a night, like a bird needs a nest, like a plant needs rain or a seed needs soil. A farmer needs a rest, a period of time-if even just a short period where she can go inward and downward and deep […]
October Eighth Adam Comes Home It’s every back-to-the-landers dream to be able to someday live and work on their land and earn their living from their land. After 8 years of dreaming of this idea, wondering if the farm could support our family, wondering if we had what it took to earn our living off […]
October First Gone Solar! For me, the farm began as a romantic, back-to-the-land dream. It began as a vision in my head where we would work for ourselves, we would work outside in the fresh air with only the open sky over our heads. I dreamt of raising children on a farm where they could […]
September Twenty-Fourth The journey of eating from a CSA box for one complete season is truly an experience to be had. Not only from a CSA box, but within the seasons while honoring our regional offerings. I find the experience to be emotional and spiritual and ethical. I’ve become a hopeless locavore, devoutly loyal to […]
September Seventeenth Fall has unofficially arrived. In the second half of last week we were amazed with cooler temperatures in the morning. For the first time this season the workers showed up with wool hats and sweaters and all kinds of protective clothing. We were c-c-c-cold out there from spending the summer in our sandals […]
September Tenth All of this food, all of this Midwestern bounty, all of this richness! It’s hard to believe that with so much abundance that it could ever end. It’s hard to imagine an earth so generous and outpouring and substantial, that it could just one day stop giving. Now buried in Tomatoes, what will […]
September Third It has been quite the summer for vegetable growing in the Midwest. With the later Spring that we had this year we were a little behind getting started this Spring. It didn’t take long for the vegetables to catch up though with so many optimal growing degree days of less than 86 degrees […]
August Twenty-Seventh You know when you get talking with a friend about an old song, an old TV show or an old car you once had? I had one of those moments in the field the other day where I sort of felt like I was getting older. I know you’re probably rolling your eyes […]
August Twentieth Do you ever open up your CSA box and wonder why some of the vegetables inside don’t look quite like what you’re used to seeing at the grocery store? Do you look at your peppers or your tomatoes and wonder why they’re shaped so funny or look so much different than what you’re […]
August Thirteenth Our farm has a unique way of getting the work done. We have Adam and I, two Full-time employees, and a team of over 30 worker-shares who work a 3 and a half hour shifts each week in exchange for their CSA box. It’s an impressive assembly of community members who work in […]
August Sixth What a pleasant summer it has been. I did hear the cicadas crying out a few times, but I’m pretty sure they’re just testing out their capabilities. Cicadas only really love to do their spirited song on the hottest hours of a summer day. I can’t say that I really miss the Cicada […]
July Thirtieth I feel like I owe a tribute to my husband. I write all of these newsletters and I answer most of the e-mails and I’m the person you’ll get to work with if you come to the farm any day out of the week. I’m the face and the personality of the farm, […]
July Twenty Third The intensity of the summer has a way of stripping us of our layers. We enter the season in the spring well rested, with our homes and lives organized, and our thoughts even somewhat still, structured, prepared and grounded. The season begins with days slowly lengthening. We’re eased with near trickery into […]
July Sixteenth When I was a young farm hand on a small farm here in the Driftless area, I worked on a farm one summer that raised eggs and Winter Squash for Organic Valley. The farm family I was working for wasn’t a religious family, but their values and principles were clear. Everyone in the […]
July Nineth There is farming. And there is farming with children. Two very different life experiences. As everyone knows, life with children in general is a whole new ball game. Adam and I were fortunate enough to have a few years together building our farm’s foundation, building the business and spreading the good word about […]
July Second You know us farmers. We love to complain. We always have something to gripe about like how it’s too wet or too dry or too hot or too cold for the crops to grow. The buy price is too high, the sell price is too low. There needs to be just enough of […]
June Twenty-Fourth Greens! Greens are the healthiest food for you! If there was any part of you was slightly interested in developing new healthy habits by signing up for your CSA share this summer, this is your *green opportunity. Greens this summer are not only bountiful, but they are crunchier, more tender and more succulent than […]
June Seventeenth The behind the scenes of the farm would be fun for you to see. I sometimes wish we could get each of you to put on your old dirty work jeans, find an open day in your schedule and get down on the farm with us. We have a blast out here! We […]
June Eleventh An absolutely gorgeous week on the farm! Spring is Springing everywhere, the days are getting longer still and the Peonys, irises and roses are in blossom all around our home. The vegetables look lush and young and filled with potential. This Spring has been like one from a dream. We started out cool […]
June Fourth Welcome to the beginning of the 9th CSA growing season on the Small Family Farm. We’re honored to have you as a part of the growing season and to have your support, trust and faith as we gamble through yet another season as farmers, against the dealer of all dealers, the sky.Our four little […]