The weather has taken a turn for the cold and I am not so inclined to spend my day outside. But from my window I can see our four goat kids grazing with the elder goats in the field for the first time. We keep them penned up for the first few weeks, but today they decided they'd had enough, and I surmised that if they were adept enough to jump the five foot fence holding them in, they would do fine outdoors.

Last week we had a WWOOFer (which stands for willing workers on organic farms or worldwide opportunities on organic farms depending whom you talk to) here from France. Rosaline arrived ready to work and we spent a week fencing in chickens, fencing out deer, building pea fence, planting potatoes, transplanting brassicas, beets and swiss chard and seeding several rows of carrots.

We painted bee boxes and on Saturday, I drove an hour to Stillwater to pick up my first honeybees. A worker carefully placed two small crates containing two pounds of bees and queen each into my trunk. They asked if I would prefer them in the car with me or in the trunk, but noticing the few bees on the outside of the cage, I thought the trunk would be a better option. At home, we took sugar syrup and pollen patties up the hill with the bees to their new homes, sprayed them with sugar syrup, set the queen aside and dumped the bees with several thwacks into their boxes--not quite as easy as I was made to believe, because several angry bees came charging toward my face (I was not wearing a bee suit at the time). I released the queens, closed the boxes and left in a hurry.

Last night under a deluge of rain, the farm turned green. Asparagus shoots are up, and rhubarb has emerged. In just a few weeks, the garden will be in.

The last month has flown by in a whir of whipping a greenhouse together, tapping maple trees, collecting the sap and boiling it down, bottle feeding baby goats and watching winter turn to spring. On a late afternoon, not more than a few weeks ago, we took a walk to the creek in early evening. The red-winged blackbirds had arrived and the stale winter air took on a new, yet familiar sound of male red-wings telling the world that he would be the best mate this year...

The syrup season felt just right this year...started slow--first too warm, then too cold, and then all the sap rushed out in a matter of days, hundreds of gallons for us. We scrambled to find containers for storing it all. Our evaporator could only boil so fast. For two weeks, the weather was just right: freezing at night, warm during the day, and an occasional snow to cool things off again in time for the next big run. I spent ten days straight sitting by the evaporator, stoking the fire, checking the hydrometer, watching the levels so nothing burned, trying desperately to get through all that sap and make it into something sweet: the perfect condiment.

Our CSA shares are full for this season. I am planting madly in the greenhouse, watching the onions grow in height and width. The peppers and eggplants have been transplanted, the tomatoes are emerging. For now, all those little seedlings fit in one tiny space, but soon they will take up an entire field.

This is a glorious time of year...each day there is something new to see and the sun shines brighter and warmer and longer. Having time to notice all these changes--that is the challenge.

Matt and I have just returned from the MOSES Organic Conference in La Crosse, WI. Though we spent much of our time at the conference volunteering at the copy machine and running errands, we also had time to take in workshops and speakers... Participating in this event with so many other organic, sustainable farmers felt like a validation of why it is that we farm organically and why we farm at all for that matter. Dr. Greene gave a presentation about "Why Farmers are my Heroes" that really pointed to the health effects of our widespread pesticide use in this country. It is a common myth that organic food is for the wealthy because it is so expensive, but Dr. Greene reminded me to think of the many costs associated with conventional food that we don't often account for. Childhood diabetes has increased five-fold in the last few decades...(much of this increase is linked to childhood obesity and diets that lack in adequate nutrition). The average child diagnosed with diabetes will pay three million in healthcare costs in their lifetime (which is now reduced by one to two decades from their life expectancy). That starts to make conventional food pretty expensive. Organic food has been proven to be more nutritionally rich. Shouldn't it be worth more? And as I heard one farmer say recently, if we subsidized organic farmers on the level that we subsidize large-scale crop/commodity farmers, maybe we could bring the price down to a level that everyone can afford. After we heard Dr. Greene tell the story about his wife's struggle with breast cancer that is almost certainly a result of her childhood growing up next to a grape farm where they sprayed pesticides right next to her bedroom window, and he brought up the point that many people say organic food is too expensive...I heard the woman behind me mutter "try cancer."

Beyond the affirmations, we came away with new ideas for creating our own compost, year-round greenhouse production, cover-cropping know-how, another Cobra hand-hoe, some organic fish fertilizer, and many more connections to the farming community. It is sunny and 10 degrees today, but I am positively squirming in my overalls to get outside and plant.

About the Farm

This year we will offer 50 shares (weekly or bi-weekly). Beginning in mid-June, you pick up your share at a pre-arranged drop point. We have drop-sites in St. Paul near Hamline, Northeast Minneapolis (off of Stinson), Uptown (28th and Lyndale), Shoreview, South Minneapolis (near Xerxes and 50th), and Edina (off of Tracy Ave). We also have sites in Glenwood City and Baldwin, Wisconsin.
Weekly shares begin with salad greens, radishes, green onions and early root vegetables and max-out in late summer with the heavy additions of potatoes, melons and sweet corn. We deliver in grocery-sized reusable bags with an eye towards nice presentation. Some weeks there are cut flowers and other extras. There will be a planting day in early June and a harvest and cider pressing party in mid-September.
We believe in organic farming practices and use no chemical pesticides, fertilizers or herbicides…because vegetables are supposed to be good for you! Available as a separate add-on to your share is our maple syrup. Meat shares are offered to members on occasion and a one-time storage share may be offered near Thanksgiving… we will announce this mid-summer.
A 2008 member commented, “Best money I’ve ever spent!”
Our full share (18 weeks of vegetables) will be $500 this year. A bi-weekly share (9 weeks) will be $270. To sign-up please email Erin at altem002(at)umn.edu