Food Culture

It doesn’t matter where in the world you’re from, you have to eat. Conceivably it is the most significant commonality that humanity shares. Whatever shape, form, or flavor food may take around the world, people eat. More than that, across the world people, enjoy eating. From paupers to presidents, we all break the proverbial bread in times of joy or times of grieving, on occasions both large or small, we bond and celebrate through food.

All across the country there are festivals celebrating very specific types of foods. Yuma Lettuce Days, Atkins Picklefest, Kansas City Spinach Festival, Pittston Tomato Festival, New Orleans Po-Boy Festival to name a few. We were recently invited to Grill Fest at the Medford City Park to sample and rate the foods in the friendly competition. The festival attendees also got to take part in the food sampling. The cuisine range from typical American grill fair of burgers and pork loin, to Mexican and Italian. Once again, food is a gathering point, a common ground, a celebration for our culture.

Reflecting our diverse ancestry, people of northern Wisconsin have thrown together a melting pot of food cultures. A small church might be serving Polish pierogies just down the road from a Thai food truck. The county fair will host a Greek gyro vendor next to Wisconsin’s famous deep-fried cheese curds. It is this wide range of food cultures that makes eating interesting. We continually seek and share new recipes that break the boredom in the kitchen. Trying new ingredients is the challenge we meet.

This week, some of you are getting something you’ve never eaten before, tomatillos. As bold foodies, you might feel compelled to expand your cooking repertoire and rouse your palate. With latin roots, it is easy to make something flavor-filled and worth sharing.

We have said it before, but it bears repeating: There is no more intimate decision than the food you choose to eat day in and day out. Nourishment is the basis of our very existence. We thank you for allowing We Grow to be part of your food culture.

Growing for you,

Week Twelve Newsletter

Working on Ethics

Did you happen to be in Rib Lake last Sunday for the Ice Age Days parade? Did you notice a bright red 1951 Farmall Super C driving by when suddenly a youngster handed you a cucumber? That was We Grow and the families that have been working on our farm this season. Altogether with our two part-time employees, we have 7 kids under the age of thirteen. And there have been many occasions when all of us are together on the farm. Oftentimes, the kids’ curiosity gets the best of them and they end up working with us. Olivia and Roxy have weighed out portions, Porter and Emma have planted winter squash seeds and Waylon has found countless cucumbers and tomatoes.

Gus and Dene, our two boys are required to work, but we give them a modest wage which they must cash in and use if they want something beyond their basic needs. Over the course of this summer, both boys have earned enough to each purchase a chromebook laptop. It has been an interesting experience watching one son keep his pockets tight and save for later while the other is a loose-pocket spender, constantly trying to bum a buck then pay you back after pay day.

In our Alaska years, midwesterners were known far and wide for their hardworking work ethic. Employers looking for hardworking laborers would put their money on a young Wisconsinite no questions asked! Much to our chagrin, we see this work ethic lacking in the next generation of the work force.

How do we change this? Where do we find young people who are willing to get dirty, break a sweat and feel the wear of a hard day’s work on their muscles? How do we teach youth to understand the satisfaction of hard work? Ironically, neither of us were raised on a farm, but from a young age we were both employed on a farm. We learned how to use a shovel and get covered in stink at a young age. But we loved it because we were working hard with others who made it fun. And we made a little money. The work the kids do on the farm isn’t always fun or exciting, but it is much more than a job.

Growing for you,

Week Eleven Newsletter

The Halfway Mark

Welcome to the halfway point of the CSA season! The weather is starting to feel fall-like with some cool nights. Cool season crops are being planted as time allows. Two weeks ago it was brassicas and radishes, this week it was boc choy and lettuce. We still need to plant arugula, mustard, salad turnips, and spinach. There is still a lot of time left to fill your weekly shares. We need to keep planting to keep up with the wonderful variety we are getting into this month. Growth starts to slow as we approach September.

This week we harvested all of the remaining garlic and it is the nicest garlic year yet in regards to bulb size and quality despite being two weeks later than usual. This is being attributed to increased soil fertility. Oftentimes we get too busy this time of year and put off the garlic harvest too long. When this happens the bulb wrappers decay in the soil and we can’t sell it. This is not the case this season thanks to the amazing help we’ve been getting and also employing our boys to do their part on the farm. The very best garlic will be saved for planting next year’s crop and the rest will be shared with you in the coming weeks and sold at market. At this point, your garlic can be dried and stored for the winter in a cool, not cold place. It can also be separated into cloves and planted in October for harvest next summer.

The broiler chickens are no longer following us around the farm. They were slaughtered and processed for our customers this week and the final product looks and tastes fantastic. We are excited to share these birds with our customers. Having them gone will lessen the daily workload and stress. While free-range chicken is healthier than the alternative, chickens seem to have a death wish and raising them can be unnerving. It can be difficult to keep them out of trouble and even then, the list of predators that go bump in the night is rather frightening. Large numbers can disappear with no warning signs. Fortunately, nearly all of our birds made it to the end without incident.

There was an incident however when we were hauling the birds to the processing facility. Our new farm kitten, Rodger hitched a ride under the truck and ended up in Dorchester. He was scared but survived the ordeal!

Growing for you,

Week Ten Newsletter

Breaking The Rules

With our farm kids reaching middle school age, we have come to the realization that we need to get away from the farm for some “adventuring” no matter how long our to-do list. We seek to experience more of what northern Wisconsin has to offer and keep our sanity. So this week, after Tuesday farmers markets we took off and headed north. We dined at a farm-to-table restaurant, swam in a great lake, rock hunted and napped on the beach, visited bookstores and cooked over the campfire. It was relaxing family time at its finest.

One of the books we picked up on our adventure is titled “Food Rules, An Eaters Manual” by Michael Pollan. It is not Pollan’s first book on the matter of eating but it the condensed version of all of his suggestions, which is great, because we don’t have much time for reading these days. Faced with a hammock and an evening far away from the farm, the book was read from cover to cover and conversations about our eating habits ensued. This book is like an advertisement for being in a CSA program! #16: Buy your snacks at the farmer’s market. #22: Eat mostly plants, especially leaves. #25: Eat your colors. #30: Eat well-grown food from healthy soil. #44: Pay more, eat less. Seek quality over quantity. While we feel pretty good about our comprehension of the “rules,” our conclusion is that we know how to eat right, but perhaps break a few too many of these rules. Even vegetable farmers who have basically unlimited access to the ideal diet, could be eating better. Sigh.

With this knowledge in hand, and one more ice cream stand on the drive home, we set our goals a little higher from here forward. The bounty from the field is nearing its greatest variety. We actually had to choose what not to put in the shares this week! It’s time to buckle down and max out our veggie consumption. Eat carrots, beans and cukes for lunch or snacks. Spend some time in the kitchen and savor the flavors. #51: Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it. But also, don’t stress about enjoying the times when we break the rules. Afterall, #60: There is nothing wrong with special occasion foods, as long as every day is not a special occasion.

Growing for you,

Week Nine Newsletter

Mid-Season Stride

As we start to hit the mid-season stride, it feels like a good time to let you know what’s going on around here. We are sending a farm email every Friday. It is not the same as this newsletter and it often includes links to some recipe ideas as well as lots of info about other things that are happening both at the farmers market and at the farm. Make sure you are receiving this email.

There has been a lot going on besides the typically weeding, planting and harvesting. This week we hosted a red hat group and it was such a pleasure to show off our growing spaces, community involvement and share some of our harvest with them. They made it all the way around the farm and joined us for a simple farm lunch with produce picked on the spot that morning. What a treat! That same afternoon, we baled some of the hay that was cut on Monday. With enough in the barn for our small herd to make it through an extended winter, we aren’t feeling as much pressure to prioritize that task. With this weather, it has been difficult to say the least.

Eric attended his first farmers market in the city of Phillips. We are hoping to expand our offerings in the area and meet more people to our north where there aren’t many vegetable operations or CSA farms. The market-goers were excited to see the fresh produce and pastured pork. We have high hopes for what will come and plan to attend this market through the rest of the season. If you know anyone in Phillips, please help us spread the word. We Grow will be there every Tuesday from 2:30 to 5:30.

Our Medford markets were not as calm and rosy. Saturday we had to leave early because of a storm. We stayed until a huge lightning strike that caused a fire just down the street. Time to leave! Then Tuesday everything was sunny until a nasty little storm moved in too quickly for us to take down our setup. With two tents to hold on to, Rebecca and volunteer Tonia used everything they had to keep things on the ground. It was scary! Other vendors didn’t fare so well. There were seven destroyed canopies when the clouds parted. Thankfully no one was injured, but it has been two rough Medford markets.

Growing for you,

Week Eight Newsletter

Beasts of Burden

Calves, pigs and chickens, oh my! Everywhere you turn there are animals around here. None in large quantities, but enough to do their job on our farm. Livestock can play an integral role on small farms and the underlying health effects of animal interaction shouldn’t be overlooked.

Here at We Grow, pigs are pastured in areas that we need the vegetation knocked down and turned over. Their rooting behavior is a result of their search for insects, roots, seeds, minerals and even small mammals. In their path, they leave fertile manure behind which is the fastest way to convert plant matter into soil. The role the calves play is very similar. They convert forage into muscle and manure. Both are extremely valuable products. But did you know that simply having animals and/or being exposed to their germs can make you a healthier person?
Scientists have long speculated that the “dirtier” the environment we grow up in, with a wide array of germs from different people and animals, the better our immune system and physical health ultimately will be. Recent studies are suggesting that a “dirty world” might be better for our mental health, too.

The hygiene hypothesis, as it’s called, says that our immune system needs to spar with relatively harmless germs and foreign substances in its earliest years so it can calibrate itself. Without this training, it can become too sensitive and overreact to things it shouldn’t, like house dust and pollen, leading to allergies and asthma. Plenty of research has shown that growing up in a rural environment, or with pets, is associated with lower rates of autoimmune disorders, while rates of allergies and autoimmune disorders have steadily climbed in urban areas.

Rest assured that in your weekly share, you not only get fresh from the field vegetables. You get microbes from our farm. Tiny organisms that remind the immune system how to respond. And an actual visit to our farm is even better for you. Pet the rabbits, rub a cat and give the labrador some love. Germs or not, the adventure is sure to be good for your mental state.

Growing for you,

Week Seven Newsletter

Farm Economy

As we are about to host a summer potluck for our local chapter of the Wisconsin Farmer’s Union, our thoughts can’t help but dive into the struggling economic situation Wisconsin farmers are presently facing. WFU supports legislative action and farmer cooperation to navigate this difficult situation.

Wisconsin lost nearly 700 dairy farms last year, almost two a day, in a downturn now headed into its fifth year. Family farms are at the mercy of trade wars, economies of scale and a complex pricing system. In April of 2019, as farmers were forced with making the decision to hold on another year or not, we lost a record 90 more dairy farms in Wisconsin. The current economy isn’t much better for commodity crop farmers as the relations between US and our leading ag export nations continue to fray.

There is an even bigger problem brewing as a result of losing farms. Our small town economies are centered around these farms. Mechanics, hardware and lumber stores, implement dealers, grain mills, seed dealers, agronomists, veterinarians and the list goes on. Every where you look, the economic support system for the farming industry is present and when the farms shutdown, so do many other businesses.

None of us like to see our rural life slipping away, so the big question hangs out there. What can the average consumer do? That’s easy, seek local dairy products. Buying as directly as possible helps them capture as much of the food dollar as possible. It’s worth it when you consider the big picture. Ask your grocery store or restaurant owner where their dairy products are coming from. Simply starting the conversation makes them consider their role in the crisis as well. Their actions will also affect their customer base in the long term as well. Write to your representatives and tell them how important farming is to our rural economy. Congress could make important changes to foster a fair marketplace for farmers and fix the broken milk pricing system. Even just stopping by for a visit with positive thoughts, neighborly conversation and a distraction from the situation will help.

Growing for you,

Week Six Newsletter

Seasonal Supply

The zucchini mothership has landed. If you have ever grown a summer squash plant, you will understand the trials of this prolific fruit. One plant will deliver one fruit every 24 to 48 hours for the duration of the summer. They grow extraordinarily fast. One day they are the size of your thumb and the next day they are as big as a banana. If you don’t catch them at the banana stage, they quickly grow into a ten pound beast. You can still use the zucchini no matter what size, but for different purposes. The largest are often shredded for baking while the smallest are sliced up for frying. The point is, when you get into summer squash season you have to get creative (or share them with your neighbors) are you might become overwhelmed.

The good news is that the season for summer squash is short. We are usually harvesting it early July through early Sept. Those two months is just enough time for us to eat ourselves sick of it and be satisfied enough to not need to see another zucchini until next year.

Eating seasonally is a huge part of being in a farm share program. While we do our best to get you more variety than a typical northern Wisconsin garden, we are still limited to those typical “days to maturity” we find on seed packages. Eating a large amount of one vegetable for a short period of time is good for our health. We get a flush of nutrients that we may not have had in some time. It saturates us in nutrition and gives our bodies a chance to replenish and renew specific organs that have specific needs. Summer and winter squash are loaded with fiber to help cleanse your colon, broccoli will help detoxify the liver and potentially prevent cancer, the high water content in napa cabbage is highly absorbable and helps flush and detoxify naturally.

Eating the same few vegetables every day for the entire year isn’t going to have the same effect as eating an excess of specific vegetables for short periods of time and changing the varieties seasonally. So while we overwhelm you with zucchini and all the summer squash relatives keep in mind it won’t last long. But it is good for our health to take it in with the bounty of the season.

Growing for you,

Week Five Newsletter

The Community in CSA

Our farm business model is commonly referred to as a CSA which stands for community supported agriculture. In its simplest form, a CSA is simply a farm that sells or trades its products to those who live within the same community. This concept is not new. It is how generations used to farm and make a living. In the 1980’s, the idea of buying a “share” of produce with a pre-season commitment was referred to as a CSA, hence the correlation in the farm share program. We like to take the modern community supported farm one step further and think of the term in reverse. While we are entirely dependent on our community of customers, we also want to support our community and be known for being fully integrated in agriculture education, local food culture and local economics.

The past few weeks, we have been immersed in our community by hosting groups on our farm and through volunteerism. Our farm conducted a fundraiser over the winter for Huey’s Hideaway Children’s Museum in Medford. This week, we carried out our pledge to provide the seeds and transplants and plant the museum’s new growing space. We were able to donate $150 to the museum to put towards the infrastructure thanks to many generous contributions. There is now an excellent garden started where kids can learn about how food is grown and be inspired to grow their own food too.

On Friday, a group of young women entering freshman year of high school came to our farm for the afternoon. The program they were enrolled in is called Girls Empowerment Camp. Following a week full of self-esteem and relationship building, along with cooking and fitness lessons, they came to the farm to learn about growing food. Together, we harvested and prepped a farm meal for over 50 people. We all ate at a long table together and enjoyed the summer solstice. All the while, the young women are learning how to form new relationships, take part in community, and gain self confidence and independence. Days like these are part of what we do, on your behalf, to be an integral part of this community. Thank you for supporting us and allowing We Grow to be so much more than a food farm.

Growing for you,

Week Four Newsletter

A Morning on the Farm

This week a group of kids from Medford’s summer school program visited our farm. The kids hopped out of the vehicle excited to be outside and were immediately thwarted with a cold breeze. Very quickly their moods lightened as the cute kitty made her grand entrance, rubbing everyone’s ankles. We began our introductions and walkabout through the various growing structures. They noted each temperature change and guessed at all the various vegetables we quizzed them on. We came to kohlrabi and everyone had a sample. The four rows of tunnel broccoli had some kids questioning everything they knew about how broccoli is grown. It isn’t the first time someone said, “I never knew that is what broccoli plants looks like!” The green garlic tops were equally surprising to some. If you’ve only ever seen a dry garlic bulb or a jar of minced garlic it might come as a shock to see the rows and rows of green tops reaching for the sun. Planted in October no less!

As we rounded the chickens on pasture and talked about meat birds versus laying hens, we were thrilled to hear how many kids have family members raising their own birds. This year’s group also refrained from the usual sad sounds when we pointed out the feeder hogs ready for slaughter. The young beef stock was next, but not looking nearly as cute as last year’s jersey steer they also didn’t get much sympathy for their place in the food chain.

Finally, into the vegetable field. Each crop was pointed out and growing techniques briefly explained as questions arose. Then came farm work. We slotted the last hour for planting a bed of paste tomatoes and flowers. The groups split and went to work. They made such quick work of the 200’ bed, we had to move them into the onion patch where they whipped through weeding a huge section. It was great to get so much done in such a short time. This was, of course, not without those few complaining about the back-breaking, knee-taxing, buggy work. We just smiled and went about working hoping each of them would come to appreciate the source of food a bit more following their morning on the farm.

Growing for you,

Week Three Newsletter

To Be Organic

For the past five years, we have been growing and selling organic vegetables. But we have to cautious in how we tell you that our produce is organic. There are regulations surrounding the word “organic” that could land us in serious trouble for printing it on a label for goods produced on our farm. It is the only word among them that has this sort of consequences for use. We could call our food all-natural, sustainable, biodynamic, regenerative, or just about anything else and no one can question it, but “organic” has National Organic Program (NOP) regulations detailing our growing techniques.

When we decided to farm commercially in 2014, we knew it would be organically. After reading thru the NOP guidelines, we realized we already were following the rules. Mostly. There would be a few things we would need to change. We started buying only organic seeds and organic seed starting soil. We started taking diligent field records and upgraded to certified organic cover crops seeds. Our fields had to be free of chemicals and farmed organically for three years and then these areas can be certified without any questions, only good records were required. At that point, we were on track to become officially certified organic by the spring of 2016.

Of course, everything organic calls for more money than the conventional way but in the end, it is worth it to have our health and our customer base. There are some rules that make being organic more difficult than not. For example, most field lime is already organic as it is a natural mined substance. Same with gypsum, boron, etc. However, when it passes through the bagging system at a non-certified mill, it is no longer considered organic because of residuals in their system. So we bring special inputs from long distances.

The certifying agency we have been working with is called MOSA. They have been very good at answering our questions to help us be legally organic even though we have yet to bite the price tag and make it official. We’ve come to learn, people just want to know how their food is grown, organic label or not. Eventually we would like to display that green and white USDA organic logo, but until then we will just keep explaining how we grow instead.

Growing for you,

Week Two Newsletter

Welcome to the Farm

It’s finally here! Your first farm share. We are definitely off to a slow start as far as what we have growing so far. With any luck, the field will dry out, the soil temp will come up and everything will be on track very soon. As a member, you will discover our every day on the farm revolves around the weather. The next few days look perfect for planting some warm weather things and bringing life to those crops we already have in the ground.
Returning members, expect a few new things season. For the first time in years we have a nice stand of melons planted. We are growing four different kinds, so with any luck we’ll have enough for you to try every flavor. We are also doing several UW Madison Seed to Kitchen trials which will mean some interesting types of potatoes and winter squash coming your way throughout the season. Your feedback on these items will be appreciated as these are being trialed for flavor. There are a few other projects taking shape at We Grow this year, including moving to a whole new field and new fertility strategies. Please consider making a trip out to our property to see how your food is being grown and what we have going on!

Our new greenhouse was completed in April and it has opened the door to possibilities! In the past, we had room for about 50 trays of transplants. What didn’t fit had to be shuttled back and forth from the garage to the high tunnel every day for light or heat. Now we have room for almost 250! We have more than tripled the number of plants we have been putting in the ground and have the space to try new things. We are already on our fourth succession planting of lettuce. When you consider that we are planting over 800 heads at a time, it is a huge accomplishment. No one should run out of lettuce for at least two months!

Our new field has a bit more space. In the photo above is our onion beds. With some amazing help, we have planted 9 of 10 beds for a total of 14,760 onions so far. And more carrots! We heard our membership wants more carrots, so we have enough planted for everyone. Just keep on bringing us warm weather and occasional rain and everything will go as planned.

Feeling grateful to be growing for you,

Week One Newsletter