Entries from July 2008
Heidi, an intern with Prairie Coteau Farm and Dakota Rural Action, has alerted me to Prairie Coteau’s new blog, which you can find here! I’ve been hearing about P.C. Farm for awhile but didn’t see much online about them, so I’m glad to see their new blog up and running, complete with photos of their beautiful 40 acres near Astoria, SD, and an updated listing of their current available vegetables.
Photo courtesy of http://prairiecoteaufarm.wordpress.com/
A bit about the farm from their website:
Our farm is 40 acres of rolling prairie, trees, fields and wetlands where wildlife abounds, located on the Buffalo Ridge in northeastern South Dakota. We grow a wide range of vegetables, melons and herbs for the local farmer’s market. Heirloom varieties are a focus, as are specific crops such as melons and gourmet garlic. About 50 laying hens freely roam our pastures, and we sell their eggs through a small co-op. We’re committed to sustainable, organic growing methods that preserve the ecological health of our farm as we strive to be good stewards of the land.
Farmers Market stand photo courtesy http://prairiecoteaufarm.wordpress.com/
I’m also immensely pleased to learn that Heidi is a South Dakota native who describes herself as returning to her “rural South Dakota roots. I’ve seized the opportunity to return to my home state and become involved in the good work of sustainable farming.”
Heidi, glad to have you back in South Dakota, and I hope you’ll be sticking around for a long while. And for all those who don’t know about Prairie Coteau Farm yet, below is their contact information from DRA’s “South Dakota Local Foods Directory.” Be sure to stop by P.C. Farm’s stand at the next Brookings farmers market!
Prairie Coteau Farm
Kristianna Gehant and Nick Siddens
19079 487th Ave
Astoria, SD 57213
Deuel County
605.832.2062
vegfarm@itctel.com
Categories: Green Praxis
Tagged: eastern South Dakota, farmers market, organic farm
Speaking of the organic Johnson Farm, it will play host this Tuesday for the Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Society Summer Symposium. The symposium and farm tour runs from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on July 22 a few miles outside of Madison, SD.
So, for anyone in the eastern South Dakota area who’s interested in some serious discussion of and practical advice for starting or staying with sustainable ag, this Tuesday will provide you with a great opportunity. Check out a flyer here (PDF): ss08flyer
And take a look at the NPSAS info here.
Categories: Green Praxis
Tagged: Add new tag, sustainable agriculture
(photo courtesy Sam Hurst, Gourmet.com)
My husband scooped me on this one, but I’m going to post here, too. Local longtime organic farmer (and our neighbor down the road) Charlie Johnson and his brother Allan are the subjects of a new story on Gourmet.com. The article details their 2,400-acre organic grain operation which has been going strong since their dad switched to organic back in 1976. We happen to get our yearly supply of straw bales (used to provide some extra insulation around our basement walls in the winter and garden mulch in the summer) from Charlie and just started getting farm-fresh eggs from his wife Bette. We’re happy to see the Johnson farm get nationwide exposure and are glad to see them succeed not only at family farming, which is increasingly difficult anymore, but at an entirely organic operation.
Read the entire article here.
Categories: Green Praxis
Tagged: organic farming
Laura Wight, one of the movers and shakers behind the possible new food co-op in Brookings, recently answered some questions for me:
In a nutshell, what is a food co-op? In a nutshell, a food co-op is a cooperatively owned grocery store, predominantly carrying natural foods. A group of people pool their resources to acquire the store they would not have the buying power to acquire otherwise. The co-op then works for the benefit of all its member-owners.
How does a co-op contribute to a more sustainable future? Our food co-op would contribute to a sustainable future by supplying as many products as possible that are locally or regionally produced, thus reducing greenhouse gases and fuel costs. The co-op would also be contributing to sustainability by supporting sustainable farming practices, and keeping profits within the local economy.
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Categories: Green Praxis
Tagged: Brookings, food co-op, local food
