Lifestyle Choices

One of the newest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) ventures in the Twin Cities is the result of a partnership between values and lifestyle choices. Andrea Richardson and Nikki Nau met two years ago through mutual friends. The two women immediately began discussing their interest in sustainable vegetable farming and soon their ideas had wings.

Community Supported Agriculture is a cooperative relationship between consumers and farmers, without wholesalers and stores in the middle. Rough estimates put the number of CSA’s in the Twin Cities around 25, feeding more than 2,000 households. Consumers buy shares in a farm’s harvest and receive weekly boxes of homegrown organic produce delivered to an urban drop-off site. Both farmers and consumers share the risk of poor weather, pests, and other natural disasters.

Nikki and Andrea love the work they do on the farm. The two women are currently farming at TendHer Fields Farm in Osceola, Wisconsin, but plan to buy their own land soon. Andrea said of farming, “Oh, I love it. I love the work. It’s great to feel like I’m really doing concrete work. It’s challenging. I’ve really learned a lot about pests and weeds, and I have more sympathy for conventional farmers than I used to….There are more difficulties than I expected.” There are also great rewards, says Nikki. “It’s kind of empowering for me as a woman. It’s a very hard job. It’s very physically challenging. It makes me feel good that I’m doing it…Knowing that this is a bigger challenge and I’m actually accomplishing it right now.”

Member’s Delight

The hard work and labor that Andrea and Nicki put into their fields pays off, as each week the members are filled with giddiness and delight, which is apparent at the drop-off site. “They can do no wrong,” one member said. “Each week they arrive with boxes bursting with some of the best stuff I have ever tasted.” On the particular week in mid-July the member spoke about, Andrea and Nikki delivered heaping quantities of:

• 10 inch green beans
• swiss chard
• celery
• bunching onions
• baby turnips
• beets
• summer squash
• cabbage
• a dozen ears of corn

Nikki and Andrea are eager to unpack the boxes and explain what everything is and what it can be used for. In a weekly newsletter that accompanies each delivery, recipes can be found as well as suggested uses for the vegetables and updates about the farm.

Farming the Organic Way

As farmers on TendHer Fields Farm, Andrea and Nikki take pride in producing the highest quality vegetables that they can grow. They use only non-genetically engineered or hybrid seeds, and then employ only organic practices to improve the crops’ growing conditions. As a community supported farm, TendHer Fields Farm encourages members to participate in the process from the onset. Members are invited to the farm, to work for a day, or just visit, and this is an important piece in connecting people with the food they eat

Andrea and Nikki thoroughly enjoy the work they do on TendHer Fields Farm, but they acknowledge that they are simply stewards of the land. They feel privileged to tend the fields and recognize that the forces of nature are the true determing factor. High expectations at the beginning of the season are sometimes changed by the reality of weather, pests, and diseases and losses are shared by Andrea and Nikki, and the members of the CSA, together.

Good Friendships and Great Produce

Members of TendHer Fields Farm CSA and Andrea and Nikki realize that there is nothing like the taste of seasonal and fresh vegetables that are harvested the day you eat them. It is truly rewarding to know that the food you eat is local and grown without the use of pesticides and herbicides. The partnership between Andrea and Nikki, and between the members of the CSA and the two farmers, has a yielded great bounty of friendships as well as excellent produce. “There is a reason to change how food is grown and this is a really good way to do it,” Nau said. Nikki’s words ring true and TendHer Fields Farm is a testament to the benefits for people and the land of ventures such as this.