Hello, members and friends of the farm! As the summer solstice greets us, let us take a moment to be thankful for the life-giving rain that arrived at the farm over the weekend. The timely showers have nourished our crops, temporarily quenching their thirst and providing Janaki with a much deserved break from irrigating.

We are coming off a particularly laborious & hot week on the farm. Complete with lots of carrot weeding and mulching. Fun tasks to complete in the building humidity of approaching rains 🙂

The straw mulch you see in the photos above is harvested from our winter rye cover crop. We grow this cereal grain for its ability to suppress weeds, build soil fertility, and prevent soil erosion. This particular planting was seeded last fall and remained dormant under snow cover before resuming growth this spring. When it reached about three feet tall, it is fibrous enough to chop for use as mulch.

The inclusion of straw mulch offers valuable benefits such as eliminating tillage, enhancing moisture retention, soil drainage and aeration. As it naturally breaks down, straw also acts as a nutrient source, providing food for the plants.

---

In your share this week:

Broccoli – Green Onions – Lettuce – Pac Choi – Radishes – Turnips

---

I remember some point in the depths of winter, when my diet consisted of primarily root vegetables and meat, I wanted so badly to refresh my palate with the crisp and vibrant allure of freshly harvested lettuce. That memory feels somewhat recent to me, but oh, how the turns have tabled… The long awaited reintroduction of salads into my diet has quickly shifted to leafy overwhelm. But when life gives us lettuce, we make vinaigrette!

Most Basic Vinaigrette:

• 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp red wine or cider vinegar
• 1/2 Cup olive oil or salad oil
• salt & pepper, to taste

1. Combine dijon mustard with vinegar.
2. Slowly whisk in olive oil, salad oil, or a mixture of both
3. Season with salt and pepper
4. (1 Tbsp of mayo can also be added for creaminess)

Citrus Tahini Dressing:

This recipe is great on greens, but I also think it would be wonderful on roasted broccoli, too.

• 1/3 Cup tahini
• 1/4 Cup fresh squeezed orange juice
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 Teaspoon salt
• 1-2 Tbsp maple syrup, optional, for sweetening
• 1-2 Tbsp water, optional, for thinning

1. Whisk all ingredients, except for water, in a small bowl or jar.
2. Introduce water until desired consistency is reached
3. Drizzle on your favorite veggies or salad

---

Wishing you all a splendid summer solstice filled with growth, gratitude, and the joy of being connected to the land.

For the farm crew,

Charlie

Dave, who has been farming with the Fisher-Merritt family for over 30 years now, is much too humble to name his own farming superpower. At first, I was thinking his vast farming knowledge and experience was his superpower, but he made me laugh so much while I was coaxing this information out of him, that I realized that his true superpower is his sense of humor.

How did you make your way to farming in general, and to Food Farm specifically?

John Fisher-Merritt and I had become friends through the Co-op when it was up on 7^th and 8^th Street in Duluth, and I would sometimes go out to their place in Holyoke and keep an eye on Janaki and Ben when they were kids. Growing up, I always wanted farming to be some part of my life. My grandpa was a farmer, and we’d drive around the countryside, and he’d talk about farms and places and people. In the town I grew up in in southern Minnesota, all my friends were farm kids, and I would go to their places, and for summer vacation I’d go to visit my cousins, who lived on a farm. When I was 15 years old, I started working for a farmer.

John and [his wife] Jane worked together, but at one point, Jane was in a bad car accident, so I started helping John. And this was in the 80’s, so whenever there would be meetings of farmers in the area about what was going on with farming and talk about generating more farming, trying to make a living, and repopulating the countryside, I would go to those meetings and meet people. I also was influenced by Wendell Berry’s writing, of course. 

The reason I was sort of interested and willing to follow John was because of his forward thinking and innovative approach to everything, and Janaki is the next generation; always very forward thinking, innovative, and a bit obsessed, in a good way.

At some point the Fisher-Merritts moved from Holyoke to Wrenshall; I remember sneaking on to this property with John when they were considering buying it and taking some soil samples.

What is your current role at the farm?

I jokingly call myself “Miscellaneous Man.” The greenhouses tend to be my area of focus. We have around 17,500 square feet of greenhouse space right now. I’m starting plants from seed and keeping successions of crops going in the greenhouses. We grow tomatoes and cucumbers in there of course, but the reason we can send people the greens mix, lettuce, and sometimes spinach that are clean and ahead of what the season up here will allow, is because we’ve got greenhouse space that we can use for that. It’s kind of just cycling through; the greenhouses get pretty intensive use during the season, so I’m just rotating the crops around. Keeping them tended, watered, and fed is my main focus. 

What would you say is your farming superpower? 

I keep showing up.

What is it about this type of farming that keeps you going?

I do really believe in what we’re doing in relation to feeding the surrounding community. When people express their enthusiasm for that, that’s a pretty great feeling. When we were first going down to Osceola and meeting with farmers there and learning about CSA, that was a big deal. I know there were growers up here before the Food Farm, but there was a time when I remember thinking, “Maybe sometime in the future there can be five vegetable farms like this….” [And now there are many more CSA farms in the area.] That’s a part of it. Feeding that community, seeing that the Food Farm is an example of how our food system could look different. Being part of kind of puzzling that out. 

Also, having people on the farm–whether they’re volunteers or paid people–who take ownership or take pride in either certain tasks or work on the farm, makes it feel like you’re part of a working team, and that feels good. Farming can be so isolating in general, so having the CSA also helps in that you have some communication with customers.

What do you like to do when you’re not at the farm?

I like biking around Duluth and wandering around Duluth in general. And relaxing at home.

How are you preparing vegetables these days?

I do like cooking and do quite a bit of cooking at home. Some people can make nice light salads and so forth, but most everything I make seems to end up, no matter what my plan, being kind of goulash-y at the end. I like to slowly build flavor as I go; I just keep adding things and intensifying the flavor. All my food is pretty serious food.

What else do you want people to know about this type of farming?

I do really want to thank all the people who are CSA members–those who’ve been members from the get-go and those who are new. Their willingness to try something different and willingness to be a part of what we’re doing kind of makes it all possible. There have been a lot of people who have really helped this farm over the years, whether they drove the delivery vans or came to the farm to help, or offered their places for drop-off sites, or been part of the core croup; all those people have been really critical to making this work. 

Teri has been quietly making a big difference at Food Farm for more than 20 years now. She’s our very own Superwoman who makes all our deliveries and helps grow the veggies, too. Plus, she’s in charge of vegetable maintenance – yes, you read that right: vegetable maintenance!

How did you make your way to the Food Farm?

I was working at Whole Foods Co-op, at the old location which is now Burrito Union, and I worked with John [Fisher-Merritt]. I was a front-end clerk, and I was going to UMD; it was my senior year, so I was asking around about different experiences for internships. I heard that John had had interns, so I asked him about it. I thought it would be a really fun experience, which seems pretty naïve of me looking back! I ended up working seven days a week as an intern, and I still worked at the Co-op on weekends. It was fun, but a lot of hard work, and I just fell in love with it. I became an employee the next year and have been for 20 years. I took some time off when my kids were really young, but I came back full time in 2016. Over the years, the work has expanded, so now I work almost year-round; throughout the winter I’m organizing winter deliveries and working with a winter crew. 

What are some of your early memories of working at Food Farm?

I remember the first CSA harvest days in 2002, which at the time were much smaller; we had less people. It was a little more chaotic. We didn’t have the system that we’ve developed over time. We’d have all the CSA boxes lined up on tables and would have to remember if we put the right amount of vegetables in each box. It’s more of an assembly line now.

My first year, it was really hot and dry, and we had army worms and the associated bugs, which is not a fond memory, but it’s a memory that stuck with me! I honestly thought every season would be like that first one, but I still came back, and it turned out that was the only time we had army worms. There were flies that somehow came along with the worms, and the flies would just cover us because they were attracted to the electrolytes in our sweat.

I also remember that John was such a great teacher; he would talk to me constantly throughout the season. Janaki and Ben [Fisher-Merritt] did work with me, too, but John and Dave really took me under their wings and were my teachers throughout that first season. They had the patience to teach me, because I didn’t know anything.

Speaking of Ben, you two had a bit of a farm romance, correct?

Yes, Ben and I started dating while I was an intern. I was living on the farm in an old camper, which actually was quite nice. Our official first date was probably at the Anchor Bar. We used to go on Wednesday nights as a crew, but then Ben and I went by ourselves as a date. We got engaged the next year, in 2003, and married in 2004, and I hired a catering service that used the Food Farm vegetables and Food Farm chickens for our wedding meal.

And your children are involved at the farm as well?

Yes; Brennan is 16, turning 17 soon; he’ll be a senior this year, and has helped on the farm for a few seasons now, mostly during CSA harvest days. He’s helped with harvesting and then helped me with the delivery. Mina is 12 and has also helped during CSA days. This past year she invited a friend to come over and help as well, so that’s been fun. Mina’s favorite thing is to do the chicken hugging, which happens in the spring and the fall. We just recently moved the chickens from their winter home to their summer home. We wait until it’s dark and they’re very calm; you can just pick them up off their roost and they stay calm. You can take more than one at a time, so you basically have to hug them to transport them to their final destination.

We live right across the road from the Food Farm now – we built our house in 2019-2020, so right during the beginning and the most intense part of the pandemic. It’s really nice to have such a short commute to work.

What is your current role at the farm?

A large part of my role is as the delivery person; I’ve been doing that since 2016, and it’s become a bigger role because we’ve expanded with both CSA members and with our retail partners. Janaki’s low-key talking about getting a bigger van because we may need it soon! During a busy season, the deliveries are about 60 percent of what I do. I deliver vegetables four days a week in the summer and two days a week in winter. I think it’s fun, because my job offers variety. When I’m on my delivery route, I get to talk to the people at the stores and restaurants, and sometimes I see our CSA members when I’m dropping off at our CSA sites. It’s fun to hear how much people love our vegetables and our farm.

The rest of the time I’m out in the field, or in the greenhouses, working along with the rest of the crew. I’m everywhere!

Do you have a favorite farm task or activity?

I have a lot of favorites, but at the beginning of the planting season, in March and April, I love going into the greenhouse and helping seed onions or Brassicas. It’s great after a long winter of vegetable maintenance and winter deliveries, to finally be out in the greenhouse where it’s warm and humid, and to be planting stuff again.

What is vegetable maintenance?

It’s looking after the vegetables in storage in the root cellar. This year we had to wash carrots multiple times throughout the winter; some that hadn’t been washed immediately after harvest in the fall, and later on we washed carrots that had started to sprout, to knock the sprouts off. I’m constantly looking at and going through the vegetables in storage to make sure conditions are right for storage and that they’re staying fresh.

What would you say is your farming superpower?

Most people would probably say I’m good at constantly lifting heavy things; I deliver our wholesale vegetables in 50-pound boxes. I do run into other delivery people on my routes, and they’re mostly guys, and a lot of them wear back braces; it’s physically hard work. It takes 3-4 hours to do a summer CSA delivery. I appreciated some time off to rest and recover this spring [after the root cellar was emptied].

Are there any aspects of farm work that you think would be surprising for our customers to learn? 

There’s a lot of record keeping, and it’s necessary so you know from one season to the next what’s been happening. We grow such a variety of veggies, and we need to know what was planted where and where we can plant in the future. For example, we need to leave some distance between where the Brassicas were last year and this year’s Brassica crops, because of disease and pests and crop rotation. It seems like such a miracle when stuff grows, but there’s so much planning and knowledge that goes into it, to make sure that things happen reliably.

What do you like to do when you’re not at the farm?

I just got an inflatable paddle board and I’m excited to try that out. I’ve done stand-up paddling before, but not with an inflatable one.

I also like to take our dog, Patsy, for walks; I like knitting; and I like gardening. People might ask, “Why would you want to garden when you work on a farm?” but I just like planting stuff, and I try different varieties in our garden. I always try to have a pollinator section, and a bed of garlic, because we love garlic, and in the third garden bed, we do miscellaneous stuff.  

What’s your current favorite vegetable? How do you like to cook/eat it?

Around this time of year, I love salad greens, and spinach is another seasonal favorite. I can’t wait to eat green stuff in general. I pretty much like everything. Before I started working at the farm, I didn’t have such an expansive palate, so working at the farm has really made me appreciate fresh vegetables much more. I used to hate green beans, and I hated parsnips, but now I love them. To see them growing and be able to harvest them, really gives you a love and appreciation for what you’re eating.