Fiber CSA

So i'm taking a quick mental break from documenting... yes, I'm pretty busy this time of year... and I discovered something I just had to write a new blog post about.

Half of the time I blog as a way to store information for myself. I use my blog for recipes, links, and as a general reminder about things I've read or heard about. This is one of those posts, but hopefully it will be of interest to others as well.

I was reading a magazine and it had an article about starting your own fiber CSA. For those who don't know, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Most of the time, you purchase a share in a CSA in return for a monthly box of seasonal produce. CSAs have expanded to include meat, cheese, dairy, flowers, herbs, fruits, honey... But a fiber share? What a dream for any knitter! Now of course I am not literally interested on purchasing a herd of sheep and starting one myself, but it did inspire me to google "Minnesota fiber share"... and I found one here on localharvest.org. I gave the contact person a call. They are a small operation but are expanding. She refered me to their website kindredspiritfarm.com and said I should also send her an email and she will let me know when she has updated prices and availablility for new members. There is also a general local harvest page for the farm Here.

Over the phone she gave me some estimates. They offer two basic types of shares, one for completed yarn and the other for raw or washed fibers and roving (for spinners). She stated that a 1/2 share of yarm would be about 6 oz of yarn every other month and that a spinning/fiber share would be about 1 lbs of fiber every other month.

So I'm very excited about this, especially since I tentatively have been OKed to purchase a spinning wheel by Equah if I can find one that is economical (under 200 bucks, these things aren't cheap!). I will have to compare prices as it is much easier to find local roving than local yarn. Also, these have rabit, goat, and sheep fibers so it would be a good way to learn to spin different fibers.

Here's to new adventures.

Ferndale Market

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One of my favorite little grocery stores, even though they are way up in Cannon Falls. The shop is located on a turkey farm and it's primary focus is on local food and local products. It's a bit different than what co-ops carry because local goods take spotlight here.

This picture was take last week when I ran though, I bought a face scrub made of wheat and turmeric and a lip gloss.

For more information:
http://ferndalemarketonline.com/

Beginning Garden Planning

It's been a very busy week and other than a short trip to Ferndale Market yesterday I haven't done much but work and take a short trip to the gym. In the name of blogging more, this is more of a think piece.

I really want a garden, I have for a while. I'm still not sure if this is feasible for next summer. First, I am renting a house right now, so I'm limited to off the ground raised beds or pots/hanging bags. There is a method that has become popular as of late called square foot gardening that I think would be ideal for me, or anyone wanted a garden on a more manageable scale. Read about it here.

Below is a photo of a simple layout that may work nicely. I don't want to be overwhelmed the first year. My only concerns are that I do want to include some root crops and that would mean the bed would need to be quite deep. I would also re-emphasize that the bed is not simply raised, but needs to actually be off the ground. That's a lot of dirt and a lot of weight to have up in the air. We will see. The photo below is a 4x6 bed that I really like. They have an ingenious idea for adding depth for plants that need when others don't. I really like the trellis in the back for climbing beans.


I also found instructions to building a 4x4 bed similar to the one above here. A nice addition is that they included directions for raising the whole thing off the ground. The idea is that the bed is made in foot by foot grid, the length can be as long as you want, but depth is only 4 feet so you can always reach the center plants from outside of the bed. Seeds are then spaced by recommended width and depth to avoid wasted space between rows.

I am most interested in heirloom plants. Heirloom gardens are becoming more and more popular due a a mix of nostalgia, seed right advocacy, and concerns for loss of biodiversity in the food supply. All are legitimate reasons to want to grow heirlooms and I may even include some think pieces in the future on these topics. Really, for me, I think it is about nastalgia. Many heirlooms have an old world wabisabi that you just don't see anymore. They are like a growing antique store and can be very charming.

Still, you can't just walk into Walmart (God forbid) and pick up a pack of any heirloom you want. Sure, a few popular types have made it on to the mass market, but doesn't selling one more type of tomato in bulk quantities defeat a lot of the reasons for growing heirlooms in the first place? Part of the fun of heirlooms is trying the rare, the weird, the forgotten. I picked up a copy of a magazine called Heirloom Gardener which listed several heirloom seed companies. The list is a bit overwhelming, some companies offering a few varieties, some offering thousands of different seeds. At first I purused the list trying to determine the "best" company with the greatest selection, but in the end I reminded myself the philosophy that began this blog: sometimes simpler is better. So I narrowed it down to the closest company listed in Iowa: Seed Savers Exchange.

Seed Savers Exchange is a non-profit founded in 1975 organized by members. One neat thing is they produce an annual yearbook of their members in which members will offer seeds they have saved themselves to other members. They don't have the staggering variety of some companies, but they are more likely to carry seeds better fitted to the northern climate and they won't have to travel quite so far to get to me.
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Farmers Market December 17

I was looking back through my blog and realized I had stopped short on one the original focuses of my blog.... To post all the local niceties Minnesota snd the surrounding region has to offer. I miss writing about my day at the farmers market... Plus writing helps to keep track of who I bought from, who I would go back to, as well as give me ideas of farms or stands to visit.

Also, I would like to blog more often, so that the blog is more of a diary than a collection of reviews and "How Tos." I plan on still including those, but the truth is, if you want to be more self sufficient and a concious consumer, you give up a lot of the convenience of just running out and buying something you need when you need it. So, there is a rhythm to things. I think writing in more of a diary formate may convey that rhythm a bit better.

But I digress...

I have to say, I haven't been to a Rochester farmers market in a while 1) because I assumed wrongly there would be much there 2) because it isn't every weekend and I was falling victim to poor planning and 3) I didn't know where it was.

I'm glad I went, the picture above shows a small fraction of the vendors. I used the token exchange system for my card because I forgot cash. I definitely wasn't prepared. I didn't go in with a list and honestly the fridge was pretty much stocked up. This is never a good idea at a farmers market. You end up circling the place about 12 times (though it's way more fun that wandering around the grocery store) and always end up getting fun, but not practical things. And that's just what happened to me today, but I couldn't be more pleased :). Life doesn't always have to be organized to yield desired results.

Early on I saw one stand that sells milk (including chocolate) and they had eggnog today. While I'm not the biggest fan, this stuff was way way better than the grocery store stuff. But it was spendy, $6 a gallon and with a $3 bottle return fee (you get this back when you return the bottle). So I passed at first. I went back later and they were out. You snooze you lose at the farmers market! But the lady did direct me to their small on-farm store, and so I may try sneak out there for a bottle today. Bonus: it is cheaper on the farm. And anyway, I would like to do more "farm trips," they are fun, and they help you learn more about producers and keep the products they make more salient in your mind.


So there is the haul I ended up with. And I forgot eggs... Eggs of all things! Oh well. Above you see a bag of honey crisp apples (yay!!!!), carrots (really really good... If grocery food tasted like this we'd all eat our veggies), 1 lbs whole wheat flour, canned tomatoes in an awesome square jar, a bag of popcorn, and a handmade soap. I will make another post about the soap soon.

I went in wanting the apples and carrots. The popcorn and flour were more impulse buys, but are significant because I am trying to expand the scope of what I buy locally. I think I may try making some bread with the flour, even if that requires adding non-local flour to it to meet recipe requirements. The popcorn should be a healthy snack and I found a way to pop it in a brown paper bag on Pinterest. I bought the soap, because obviously I love handmade soaps and it's fun to see what other people are doing, this one is made with goats milk the woman milks herself, nice!

The pop corn came in red or white bags. Apparently the white corns have less shell when you pop them, but I had to go for a mixed bag ... Too pretty to pass up. It fit perfectly in the mason jar below.


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Location:5th St NE,Rochester,United States

Local Lunch

Thanks to Minnesota.






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Saturday October 15, Rochester Farmer's Market haul.

Peppers are destined for ham soup and stuffed peppers. These carrots are absolutely awesome. The mozzarella... Not so much. Sorry to say, but it tasted like sour glue, not even edible. Also some eggs, ground beef, and some canned tomatoes.


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Farmer's market Sept 24

The chicken is from Vreeman Farms, around $11. Not sure why, but I have a hard time finding larger local chickens. I'm not expecting the 13 lb monsters we used to grow, but 9-10 lbs would be nice. Many I buy no longer come with gizzards either (...am I the only one who noticed this?) which is somewhat annoying.

Cheese from Prairie Hollow Farms: a mild cheddar from grass fed cattle. It nice, not amazing. I may try some of their other varieties next time. This one had an almost apple-like, sweet flavor.

Bread: whole wheat from Six Arrows farms. This was excellent. It said whole wheat, but Im not sure I trust that, but at least it isn't packed with corn syrup.

The concord grapes and lemon grass are for Equah for the most part. She loves lemon grass tea and the grapes are a favorite of ours.

I really wish I had asked what type of carrots these were. I have my suspicions they are a particular variety of heirloom, but I don't know enough to confirm that. They are sugar sweet and wonderful.

Do I need to explain turnips and potatoes? Favorites of my for potpie :)


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