A Growing Passion

Hello, We Growians! Intern Racheal Here!

As I am packing up my bags and getting ready to make the lengthy haul to the UW-River Falls campus for the school year, I am becoming a bit sappy knowing my days at We Grow are soon coming to an end. When Rebecca and Eric approached me in January about a potential internship on their CSA farm, I never could have imagined that leaving this farm, come August, would be so hard!

Rebecca and Eric told me that they wanted me to learn as much as I possibly could while I was on their farm. Well, they definitely held up their end of our bargain. I can now impress members with memorization of the MANY varieties of kale and heirloom tomatoes, capture a swarm of honey bees, and grow my own vegetables in my own garden.

However, these are not the only things that I was taught this summer. I was also taught the importance of taking pride in a job well done, how to endow my passion for agriculture unto others, and how to value a homegrown meal. From planting my very first seeds, in the end of May, to harvesting my first heads of cauliflower this week, I’ve really come to take pride in completing a job from start to finish. It is very refreshing to look down rows upon rows of fresh transplants, knowing that I will help fill shares for an upcoming week. As I continue to personally meet more and more members, I learn that you too, have a pride in the work that we do on the farm. Having this sense of pride is important as it fuels our passion. I’ve also experienced the passion that the Zuleger’s have, it’s contagious to say the least. It’s the kind of passion that sends you home, building up a raised bed garden with a future harvest in mind. I know that their passion has spread to me as I too have put in a garden to make my first homegrown meals with produce that I grew.

Thank you for your support and for the unforgettable summer.

Racheal Krug, 2017 Intern

Week Thirteen Newsletter

Working Energy

In discussing employees with our fellow CSA farmers this week, we realized that we an amazing crew at We Grow. Growing food for people is not a glorious job. Farming is often romanticized by media, but when it gets right down to it, we are mucking through the dirt and busting our rears for several months straight. This work can wear a person out physically and mentally unless they can keep a positive attitude.

Positive attitudes and energy at a workplace can make even the worst jobs fun. Both our employees and volunteers have been a huge source of positive energy for us to gain our motivation even when something isn’t going our way or we experience a failure. When asked what motivates our volunteers to be here, you might expect the response to be “for the vegetables” or “to get exercise and fresh air,” but the response was “because we want you to succeed.” Our volunteers and workers believe in what we are doing. What a humbling concept!

Both of our employees are bright young women who did not have gardens of their own when they started at We Grow. With a little encouragement, both have installed raised beds and are raising their own crops to feed their families. Last week, Racheal brought her beans in to show us how proud she is of growing such a bountiful crop. It brought joy to our hearts to see her success. Susan has winter squash leaping out of her beds and taking over her yard. We love it! You can’t eat that grass this winter, let ‘em grow. They both alert us to each “first-harvest” in their gardens.

All of our workers take pride in successful crops on our farm. This is exactly what it takes to keep doing what we do. Working alongside someone who appreciates each beautiful bright pink potato or perfectly round radish is a mental diversion from physical labor. Stopping to taste test the first red fruits and think of creative names for trial varieties makes each day in the field a new experience. The enthusiasm and positive energy is contagious. Please keep it coming!

Week Twelve Newsletter

Keeping Time

How different would life be without clocks and the keeping of accurate time? We watched a public television program about the origins of the clock and it turns out that people had no reason to keep track of what time it was until maps of the seas began being used for navigation. Before the industrial revolution, most people worked with the rhythm of the sunrise and sunset and did more work on sunny summer days than in the winter. This was also a time when a majority of people were farmers. When nearly every family had a large garden for growing their own food and at least a few animals for milk, butchering or to sell and earn income for materials goods.

Oftentimes, we hear of people seeking a simpler way of life in which they give up the watches and clocks in their life. This seems nearly impossible with today’s technology, but just imagine relying on life’s natural rhythms. One would think this would lead to a healthier way of living, one that could provide relief from my temple-throbbing, blood-pressure-ratcheting, compulsive need to monitor every minute of every unfolding day. Unfortunately most of us would be late for work, but for a farm there is some flexibility.

We’ve acquired more livestock over the past few months than we’ve ever had at We Grow. Our mornings start with chores, feeding and watering all the livestock. Then we all converge for breakfast. The complexity of breakfast is based on whether our work crew is showing up at 8:00 or 9:00 or at all, then we get started harvesting or doing field work until our stomachs tell us it is time for lunch. We get a nice break and then head back out until the evening sun is starting to let up and the sweat is no longer beading on our brows. We usually pick out veggies to go with supper, make this meal as a family and then go out and do evening chores as a team. While we probably can’t give up the clock, we do live a bit more by the natural rhythms of the farm. Don’t worry, the animals let us know when we are behind schedule and with east facing windows, there is no sleeping in.

Enjoying every moment,

Week Eleven Newsletter

There is hope for a good bean crop yet! Better late than never. In years past, we’ve loathed bean picking season. As we were out in the field this spring planting 1,000 row feet more than we’ve ever planted, our workers were joking about calling in sick on bean picking days for it is a laborious, back-breaking task. When the cold wet spring forced replanting, we knew the beans would be behind. Then the deer started jumping the fence and browsing at will we started to really wonder if we would have any at all. Now other farms have had beans for a couple weeks and we feel the pressure to put such a seemingly simple to grow item on your plates. Tiny beans are starting to appear among the pink and white blossoms. So if nothing else goes awry, we will see bean season finally begin in week eleven.

Despite being in our third season growing produce, we struggle to get large enough quantities to meet customer demand. Every year we grow more and every year we have more people want more. Growing organically places high demands on the soil. To properly prepare, we should rotate cover crops with specific goals in mind for each crop for at least three seasons before planting a single vegetable. The soil should be in peak condition with high levels of organic matter, good drainage and maximum nutrients for optimal plant health. Unfortunately, we don’t always get the cart in front of the horse as demand coerces expansion.

As we expand, we continue to chunk off sections of formerly worn out hay land and this in itself creates problems. This season we moved into a new three-acre area following only one season of winter rye. It isn’t optimal, but we understand what needs to be done to make it better and feel we are on the right path to grow more simply by improving conditions for next season. We are talking about this now, because this month is the last opportunity to plant a cover crop and get idle spaces ready for next season. The investments we make now will be paid back, but planning so far in advance is an intricate task.

Excited to be half way,

Week Ten Newsletter

Overfed But Starving

A quote by Daniel Vitalis came up that read “our people are overfed, but they are also starving to death.” It fits we into our topic of nutrition in relation to agriculture this week.

It’s hard to imagine, but we went well over a week without any precipitation here at We Grow and found ourselves watering in the field. Watering is one of the few opportunities we have to add more nutrients to our soil and plants mid-season. Oftentimes we are looking at a blend of organic fertilizer with the big three, nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium and some have added magnesium, calcium, sulfur and boron micronutrients to really give plants a boost. But what about the remaining nutrients? Why don’t we talk about all the other elements of the periodic table? Because we don’t yet know their function within the plant, nor do we fully understand the importance of these trace minerals in the human body.

People are growing increasingly concerned about wearing out our agricultural land and depleting the nutrients. The science is contradictory on this subject, but we see an overwhelming amount of research showing that growing with the most biologically balanced soil – or making sure all the major and micro nutrients are present – results in optimal growth. The good news for our customers is that the side effect of biological based production (growing organically) is nutrient dense vegetables and protein (livestock fed with organic feed). Tissue samples show that you get more nutrition, flavinoids and in each bite. Thanks to Tom T., we have started utilizing Sea Crop with 90 different trace minerals to boost soil and plant health in 2017.

And at a time when most Americans don’t eat the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables, perhaps the most important step is to simply add them to your diet. But there are potential health benefits as well, at least when it comes to maximizing the nutrients you get from foods.

Week Nine Newsletter

For Love of Tomatoes

A new season started this week at We Grow, tomato season. We will pick these delicious, versatile fruits every three days, now through first frost. Some days we will harvest upwards of one thousand pounds. It seems like a lot, but imagine everything we can make with tomatoes besides simply eating them fresh – pasta sauce, soup, ketchup, enchilada/taco sauce, juice, steak sauce, salsa, and the list goes on! If you find yourself with an over abundance of tomatoes, just toss them in the freezer whole and raw. When you get them back out, run them under warm water to remove the peeling if your recipe requires such and you are ready to cook with them. No more blanching! This technique has been invaluable to us as we freeze a small amount each week and then process them when the days get cooler.

We are growing 37 different varieties of heirloom and open pollinated tomatoes in 2017. Plus, we have ten varieties in the UW Madison Seed to Kitchen trials and five in the Organic Seed Alliance trials. Heirlooms come in many colors from pink and red to yellow or even indigo. Rather than rely on color to determine ripeness, simply squeeze the tomato for firmness. When they start to soften, they are at maximum flavor.

Our flavorful blend of heirloom tomatoes makes amazing recipes and are available to members first, so please let us know how many pounds you would like, what you need them for (juice or sauce), and when you would like them. We can deliver with your share or at market, or you can get them on the farm any day of the week. Make your requests now so you get on our picking calendar. We do not offer tomatoes by the bushel as we have found this is very inconsistent amounts. Bushels of tomatoes all weigh different amounts based on their variety, the size of the tomato, and who is packing the box. We simply offer them by the pound. For recipes, figure a bushel is about 50 lbs. Farm members pay $1.00 per lb when you take $25 lb minimum. All non-members must have 50 lb minimum for this rate.

Rolling into some new crops,

Week Eight Newsletter

The Face of Your Food

As we get ready to harvest for week seven, we are also busy making preparations for our first dinner that is actually on our farm. Cleaning up things that haven’t been touched in years to try and make this place look presentable. Everyone should have a gathering at least once a year to get things into shape. Wow are things getting done! We met with our chef earlier in the week and chose the items for the menu right from our fields. The Idaho Pasture hogs are butchered and curing in preparation for a slow two-day smoking process. Desserts have been sampled, a few times. The pack shed is even getting sinks and counter tops installed at the last minute in an effort to set up a makeshift kitchen for this event. We are planning on making the farm dinner an annual event, so it will only get easier after we get this first one under our belt.

There has been a obvious decline in the local farmers market the last two weeks. We lost two vendors from the Medford markets in large part for lack of produce. Some vendors buy much of their produce at the weekly auction in Withee and resell at the farmers market. With the poor spring, auction prices are high and vendors are not able to resell as they have in the past. Those of us remaining at market are offering less than normal and customers are getting discouraged.
Produce resale has been a point of conflict in years past at the Medford Farmers Market. Most consumers are completely unaware if their items are coming from a different region, lack freshness and contain unwanted inputs. In our experience, consumers shopping at a farmers market make the general assumption that those farmers grew the food they are selling.

This is a form of deceit, particularly if products go unlabeled as such. Our best advice is to talk with the farmer and ask them straight out if they grew what you are buying. Most aren’t afraid to tell you where it is from. Obvious things like melons or sweet corn in mid-July are cause for question. Others aren’t so obvious. Just ask when in doubt. Or better yet, join them for dinner and visit your food in their fields.

Excited to share our farm,

Week Seven Newsletter

CSA Participants

Our appreciation goes out to all members who adjusted their schedules so we could skip coming into Medford on the Fourth of July. We thought things would be hectic picking everyone’s produce in half the time, but we ended up having so many volunteers that everything was ready in record time. We were done so fast that everyone headed into the high tunnel to start to clear the way for the farm dinner. Where carrots and scallions once grew, we will soon be enjoying a meal with friends.

The We Grow family did enjoy the holiday to the full extent. We did morning chores, rotated chickens, raked hay, and tucked a wagon load of hay bales away for the winter. Then we headed to Perkinstown to volunteer at the annual celebration and enjoy lunch and the parade. Back home to bale the last 160 bales of hay and water animals and then on to Jump River for a cookout with friends and dutch oven baking by the camp fire. And of course a late night of spectacular fireworks. Every place we stopped, we found CSA members, We Grow customers and volunteers. The network continues to grow.

When each of you signed up for our farm share program, you became part of the community supported agriculture (CSA) movement. A change in the way that we think about food. We meet with you face-to-face and learn about one another. Research shows that consumers who get their food from a farmers market have ten times more conversation than those who shop at a supermarket. You are no longer considered a consumer in the CSA system, you are considered a participant.

As we develop these relationships with our members, we learn more about the skills and goods our neighbors offer. We have made connections with photographers, contractors, artists, store owners and more. Being in a CSA is about consciously making an effort to create a better way of life with a sense of contribution to the lives of those around us. As CSA farmers, we are not striving to reach international markets or seeking to dominate the food system. We simply want to give you better food, food with a connection to the place it is grown and a better community to live in.

Making connections,

Week Six Newsletter

Sweet Priorities

While we’d love to dwell on the overwhelming amount of precipitation we’ve been hammered with this month and the oddly cold weather we’ve been experiencing, we are focusing on the positive. That said, you should be made aware that there are some crops that are not exactly growing as well as normal and we are feeling a bit pinched as we roll into week five. Thank you for bearing with us as we stumble through some of the strangest weather we’ve ever had to deal with as farmers. Keep your expectations in check when it comes to heat-loving crops like sweet corn and watermelons. They probably aren’t going to come to fruition in 2017 at We Grow with this cool June.

Most of you know that we keep bees at our farm and this week we experienced our first swarm of the season. While it was a pretty standard swarm that was identified, captured and transported without incident, the fact that our intern Racheal got to assist on the capture made it quite exciting. Giving someone a tour of a beehive humbly reminds us of the complex biology of honeybees and how fortunate we are to have them helping us pollinate our crops. Especially with summer squash and cucumbers in blossom right now.

Every week, we open the hives and look over every frame to check for the various stages of larvae or new queen cells. We also monitor for problems like mites or foul brood. We decide if the bees need more space and we add colony boxes or super boxes depending on what the bees are doing inside. Each year, our overwintering success improves. This spring we came thru with a little better than half of our hives surviving, which is an improvement but it could be better. Just maybe, the changes on our farm are helping.

Planting the seed of information about the struggle for today’s pollinators is important and significant. It isn’t just the non-native honeybee that is having a hard time surviving in modern times. Aside from the obvious lawn and garden chemicals, crop monocultures and mites, pollinators are struggling with reduced gene pools and climate inconsistency. Mason bees, bumble bees, hover flies and many more count on us humans to make bee-friendly decisions. Education is key. Learn more at xerces.org.

Learning every day,

Week Five Newsletter

The Growing Gap

“To eat well is to eat in a world where everyone is able to eat well.” A line penned by our farming friend, Tony Schultz several years ago in response to “What does it mean to eat well?” Since starting We Grow, we often contemplate how we eat as a society and what influences us to eat this way. We look at other family’s grocery orders and sometimes question what nutrition these people are even surviving on?

The elephant in the room is the amount of sugar the kids are given at everything they do outside our home. They are rewarded with sugar at school for their achievements, fed candy at church for a snack, have it thrown at them in disturbing amounts at every parade, and bring it home from each of their friends for every holiday. Beating sugar feels like a losing battle.

While we tend to focus on the sugar overload, especially compared to just a generation ago, we lose site of what they aren’t eating. The lack of fresh vegetables and fruits in schools and senior sites is discouraging. Especially when specific vegetables are available locally in season! It is not in the budget to eat well, so we all lose two-fold. Our farmers don’t profit from the direct-to-consumer income and people don’t eat as well as they should.

Food inequality goes well beyond institutions. Take a look at the price of real food in the grocery store. Processed, pre-packaged meals loaded with unpronounceable ingredients and preservatives cost far less than the raw products if you were to actually cook the meal. Microwaves dinners were on sale 10 for $10 last month! Take it a step further and consider eating entirely organic. The price of organic groceries is nearly double conventional and financially out-of-reach for many.

Our broken food system is a small part of things going awry on a national level. Supporting local producers is a small step toward changing people’s interpretation of what it means to eat well. Consider the value you place on every person’s right to eat well, not just those who can afford it and how to get people to demand better food, for all.
Feeling contemplative,

Week Four Newsletter

Finding Balance

When you own a farm, the work never ends. There is always something to do. An eighty hour work week is an easy feat because we live at our job. We can work for an hour before breakfast and two after supper and get a few more hours in after the boys go to bed. As long as there is light to work by, the only thing stopping a farmer is his or her own will. That voice in your head that tells you it is time to rest. And when you’re behind, that voice tells you to keep going. But too much work can break a person down and wreak havoc on your health and family life.

Our boys, Gus and Dene are nine and seven years old and home from school for the summer. They have household duties much like we did as children. At times we ask them to work with us on the farm so that we can spend time together, but it can be stressful if they don’t do a good job or want to quit. As parents, we struggle with wanting the boys to learn the value of hard work through active participation in the family farm versus having pieces of a “normal” off-farm childhood. But today’s normal childhood includes parents constantly running for their kids.

So into our lives steps baseball. “We can try it – sure. Let’s just see how it goes.” Well, now we have committed four nights a week to the sport. Surprisingly, it has been a good change. Other than speeding up meal time, we are forced to drop farm work and leave. At times only one parent, but nonetheless, we have to sit down, rest in the evening sun, and watch the boys play ball. They have our full attention as we practice catch over lunch break or toss a few pitches in hopes to improve their batting skills. Neither of us is any good at baseball nor are we qualified to teach it, so the boys aren’t exactly destined for the majors. But for now, they learn that we can stop working to find a balance with family. And we continue to entrust grandparents to play a huge role in making sure there are camping trips, swimming and visits to the zoo to keep things “normal.”

We just hope that one day they understand the dynamics of having a farm and livestock and the limitations it brings. Those Sunday afternoon fishing trips are at the cost of an unweeded patch of potatoes or an unpicked bed of cukes. Time away comes at a real price, but at the same time is priceless.

Until next time,

Week Three Newsletter

Careful What You Wish

What a great first week meeting our new members and catching up with the rest of you! As requested, the weather made a 180-degree turn. Now things should grow. As long as the little plants get consistent moisture. The peppers are in their beds and soaking it up. Corn is in the ground. Beans will be replanted as they are coming up sparse. Lots of beets are popping up in rows. Potatoes are coming along nicely too. Carrots, kohlrabi and broccoli from the tunnel should be ready over the next two weeks for your shares. We can’t wait for those carrots! Matter of fact, Dene samples them every day to make sure they are doing good.

This week we moved the young chickens outside and took away their heat. They are adjusting well. Some weren’t sure what to do in the green grass at first, but they learn quickly to chase insects and scratch in the dirt. Realizing our farm emails sent over the winter are often spammed, if anyone else is interested in purchasing processed meat birds please talk to us.

We are doing two batches of 100 birds this summer and they will be available for purchase in late July and early October.
This week, we started attending three markets per week and this consumes a huge amount of time. We had planned all winter on heading to our friends at Pine Grove Pastures to help them get their crops in with our water wheel planter, but the rain kept it from happening in a timely fashion. So finally late last week, Eric and Racheal went there one long day to help them get caught up on planting. Hopefully they will be back on track.

Those of you attending Saturday market in Medford might notice that we have been selling some produce from Red Door Family Farm in Athens. They are very good friends of ours and we help each other in any way possible. They had some produce ready ahead of their schedule and we are excited to offer it to our customers. One thing we noticed about the organic farmers we know is that they are relieved to hang out with people who have the same crazy lives as them and always show up to help you out when it is needed most.

Until next time,

Week Two Newsletter

Cool, Wet Start

Here we go! This is your first We Grow share for the 2017 growing season. The shares are definitely lacking on several things we had planned, but we still have veggies coming in albeit largely from the tunnels. So in true CSA fashion, we are going to share with you everything we have at this time and work our tails off to make up for the lack during over the course of the season. Our best estimate is that we are about three weeks behind last season. This is in part due to wet weather, but more importantly the cold. The cold temps have been keeping things we have planted from growing. The photo above is of Mrs. Farmer and Dene at the Medford Market in late May. Fur hat and all! Alas, we still have lots of time to get more seed in the ground and replant those things that did not germinate as scheduled.

Those of you returning know that this is the time of year when we jump start our digestive tracts into healthy eating with lots of greens. We ask that you embrace greens season and make yourself a salad every chance you get. Think beyond lettuce. Add things you’ve never added before: fresh fruits, nuts, grilled meats, or cheeses and try out a new dressing or make your own from scratch with one of our recipes.

Enthusiasm on the farm is at an all time high with lots of great help and so much positive energy. The volunteers have been returning all spring with a great onion mob kick-off event in May. Our intern Racheal has been busy getting her hands dirty and wholeheartedly dives into every task we assign to her. She especially seems to enjoy the tropical temps in the tomato tunnel through all the cold, rainy spring weather. We are excited to be teaching her many of the important jobs on the farm. Plan to see her at some of the farmers markets for us this summer. Susan has also returned and is bringing a season’s worth of experience with her. As we grow, we find these amazing volunteers and employees make all this hard work a bit easier. And that is going to give us some much needed free time with two boys excited to be taking part in baseball this summer.

Eager to serve you the fruits of our labor,

Week One Newsletter