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This is just a sampling of produce that has graced the tables of members of Harmony Valley Farm’s community supported agriculture (CSA) program this spring.
Richard DeWilde, who started farming in Minnesota in 1973, moved to his farm on Wire Hollow Road west of Viroqua in 1985. He became involved in CSA in 1993 and the farm is certified organic.
Harmony Valley Farm, home to 100 acres of vegetables, has 1,600 families who are members. Members receive weekly boxes of produce, May through January. There are 30 boxes in a season.
“Some of them share boxes,” DeWilde said in an interview on Wednesday, June 13. “We had 900 boxes last week and this week 830. It changes from week to week.”
The boxes contain whatever produce is in season that week.
“The boxes include what’s available — one of everything,” he said. “We try to have onion with every box. We overwinter onions. We also harvest ramps (wild leeks) from the woods.”
Each box of produce includes a newsletter with recipes using that week’s produce.
“This week there are recipes for Napa cabbage,” DeWilde said. “There is a recipe for Napa cabbage with peanut sauce.
“Chef Andrea (Yoder) cooks lunch for the crew,” he continued. “She tests out recipes on us. It’s part of the CSA experience.”
Members have several options with the CSA program. In addition to the weekly produce share of 30 boxes, there is an every-other-week produce share of 17 boxes, an extended season of two extra boxes, a peak season share of 20 boxes, a flex plan and a fruit program, an every-other-week box of certified organic fruit from the fruit growing regions of North America.
Members also have an option to order Angus beef four times a year.
A new option is an every-other-week share of certified organic, fair trade Kickapoo Coffee.
The shares are delivered to central locations for pickup. Members can pick up their produce in Viroqua, La Crosse, Onalaska or at the farm. There are also pickup sites in the Twin Cities and Madison.
CROPP’s success a driving economic force
by Angela Cina
Vernon County, which boasts more than 100 certified organic farmers, is home to Organic Valley Family of Farms, also known as CROPP (Coulee Region Organic Produce Pool), the largest organic farmer-owned cooperative in North America.
The co-op started out small in 1988.
According to the Organic Valley website, “CROPP began with just seven farmers who shared a love of the land and a belief that a new, sustainable approach to agriculture was needed if family farms and rural communities were to survive. With more and more family farms threatened with extinction, these farmers set out to create a solution.”
The co-op began with vegetables, but soon expanded into organic dairy products because their “...customers were concerned with food quality and environmental issues and wanted to purchase more natural, nutritious food grown without pesticides, herbicides, or artificial fertilizers...” The cooperative developed the Organic Valley™ label and expanded its product line.
The cooperative currently has 1,000 farmer-owners in 29 states, including Wisconsin, and one Canadian province, Ontario. One hundred-forty Vernon County farmers are in the cooperative.
Gross sales are projected to be $440 million this year. In 2006, the gross sales were $334 million.
According the CROPP’s 2006 annual report, Organic Valley is the number one brand in the natural food market and the cooperative represents more than 10 percent of all certified organic operations in the United States.
A new headquarter building in La Farge, with the address of One Organic Way, was completed in 2004.
Construction on a new distribution facility near Cashton began in 2006. Thirty-five employees moved into the office space a few weeks ago and now crews are finalizing construction in other areas of the warehouse. Construc-tion is expected to be complete by Friday, July 27, which is when the building will be open to the public for the first time during a grand opening celebration.
George L. Siemon, one of the original seven farmers, is the cooperative’s chief executive officer.
“Last year the CSA was delivered mostly to Madison, La Crosse, Onalaska and Viroqua,” DeWilde said. “This is our second year for the Twin Cities.
“It’s super convenient,” he continued. “People consider it a service. It saves shopping time. Other than shopping at a farmers market, there’s no other fresher way to get the food.”
DeWilde said he established a farm in Vernon County because of the “good silt loam bottomland and water for irrigation. I liked the pretty area and the good people.
“The small farm is conducive to vegetable production with small fields,” he continued.
During the busy season, 30 employees help harvest and pack produce. Fifteen people work year-round.
“It’s (CSA) is a transition from not just getting vegetables from the store and you make that choice,” DeWilde said. “It’s a transition (because) you eat what’s in season, not what looks good (at the store). The season makes our choice. You open the box and that choice is made. (You say,) ‘What am I going to do with this...’.”
He said members, some of whom have been with Harmony Valley Farm’s CSA program since 1993, have deemed this “eating out of the box.”
“Every box is a surprise,” he said. “‘It’s just like Christmas.’ I’ve heard that more than once.”
In addition to the CSA program, Harmony Valley Farm sells produce wholesale and has a stand at the Madison Farmer’s Market on the Square.
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