A long time ago Michael's brother contacted us on facebook...and was like..."Three Sisters...we are Three Brothers, and our mission statements are so similar." So we were having a farmer potluck and we invited him out. He was the first person to show up and we were like "really there are more people coming...we promise." That was the first we heard about Three Brothers. Over the years we have gone to concerts at their beautiful farm and Michael ended up marrying our good friend Courtney. So it is a small world after all. We are super thankful that they supply eggs for you and incredibly thankful for the work they do. I think very few people realize how much strength it takes to steward farm animals well and also have it be economically viable. Please be sure to thank them and their chickens.Alissa Tell us a bit about your farm… Michael Three Brothers Farm is Michael and Courntey Gutschenritter. We raise 1800 laying hens a year, and depending on the year, several thousand roasting chickens. We have about 30 sheep and a garden of flowers for weddings. And some pigs. And all the animals are pasture raised so right now every animal moves every single day onto fresh pasture. That is what we’re proud of. Farmland has been in your family for a long time, correct? My grandpa bought the farmland in 1954 with borrowed money from his best friend. Grandpa was never a true farmer - did some hobby stuff, made hay, had a couple dairy cows for family, some chickens for eggs. He did sharecropping with our neighbor so the neighbor was renting the land and for the most part it was either in corn, soy, wheat rotation, or it was in CRP when CRP was thriving. You grew up next door, correct? Yes. Now Courtney, Ylva and I are living in the house Grandpa lived in. I grew up in the original farmhouse that my grandfather bought. In 2007 when my grandpa died the land went into a trust, and later my dad bought out his siblings. And after four years of farming the land, Courntey and I are now buying the land from my parents. How did you get into farming? I was living as a ski bum in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and the land was in the trust at that point and all my aunts and uncles wanted to sell, so they put it on the market. They were three days away from closing on the farm. When my brother and I found out it was being sold we said, “why don’t we give it a shot? We’re mildly interesting in farming.” Somehow we convinced my folks not to sell the land and let us try to farm the land. I moved back, my brother moved back, and we started a CSA. I dIdn’t even know what it stood for, and had never actually had a garden. We sold 25 shares the first year and we ended up doing a pretty good job, but we quickly realized that was not going to pay for the land. We have 100 acres we’re trying to pay for now - it’s a big mortgage. The following year my brother left the farm - he has a law degree. He said he was going to Portland to get a good job and send us money to float the farm. That never happened. After another season I realized that the eggs were starting to make some money so I kept the chickens and continued to produce eggs. Then Peter Sandroni asked if I would raise eggs for him for Engine Company No. 3 when it was new, so we did. I was on a pretty steep learning curve, but I figured it out by stumbling through it. I supplied him and only him the first year and was also growing the CSA. At a certain point, we realized we would have to do like 500 shares to pay for the farm so we dropped the CSA entirely. Instead we ramped up egg production. We went from 600 birds to 900 to 1200, and now 1800, and we are supplying way more than just Peter. We supply 10 restaurants and two grocery stores and a couple small retailers and Jeff and Kelly. Tell us about the laying hens on the farm - what are their lives like? We have two batches of 900 laying hens, and we buy one batch in the spring and one in the fall. Each batch has on 100’ by 80’ paddock, and within that paddock there is one 20’ X 40’ mobile greenhouse on skids. The mobile greenhouse is just a shady spot for them to hang out when it gets hot and it’s where they lay their eggs. Within the large paddock we move the coop three times. Then we move the whole paddock again. So every day we go into their paddock and hook the GH onto the tractor and slide it forward about 50 feet. The reason that we do that is so that they spread their manure out evenly throughout the whole pasture, and they don’t scratch any one area too much. We’ve noticed this year that the space where they were about 10 moves ago greens up really dark and lush - it’s beautiful to walk 400 feet back and see the effect of 900 birds on the pasture. So it’s really, really good for the pasture. It’s really, really healthy for the hens - they get fresh air, they get sunshine, they get to act like themselves. They get to eat clover and alfalfa and bugs and establish pecking order - that is all really healthy stuff for a flock. It’s also healthy for the farmer and the consumer. We, the farmers get to be outside in the fresh air and sunshine, collecting, feeding, moving. How does the pasture improve the quality of the egg? We feed a non-gmo grain to the birds, but when they move onto a fresh paddock they ignore the feed and go straight for their natural diet of grasses, legumes and bugs. So when they’re eating those things and laying an egg every day, all the nutrients from their natural diet are being transferred directly to the egg, which makes for a super nutritious white and yolk. This year our chickens have been specifically dining on toads - just about every day I see our chickens chasing each other with toads. How did you meet Jeff and Kelly? I don’t know...probably through Courtney. At a get-together with area farmers. There was a potluck and I was just starting to date Courtney and Jeff and Kelly were there. How did you get to the point of supplying the eggs for Three Sisters Community Farm? I think that we are one of the only pastured egg producers doing anything on scale in SE WI. So I’m sure that was appealing to Jeff and Kelly because they didn’t want to have chickens anymore. They asked if we had enough eggs for them and we were looking to increase our birds at that point from 12 to 1,800 and we were changing our model, using these mobile greenhouses on pasture. We were looking for new accounts anyway when they asked to do between 50 and 70 dozen a week for them. Also, we’re in the same group of friends and it’s just a compatible relationship. How does the CSA model work with your system? We have major seasonal fluctuation with our flock. Animals respond to the seasons differently. Chickens are extremely sensitive to temperature and natural light, so their ideal situation is 70 degrees outside, dry and 16 hours of daylight. We can’t always have that in Wisconsin, so therefore their production fluctuates. We try our best to even out production through adding light, adding heat, cooling them down, but of course it’s an uphill battle. We shoot for 85% production, but in the winter we get 70-75% production. We know that, and it’s OK. We know that right after the summer solstice our production goes down a bit - we aren’t sure why that happens but it must be something to do with the decreased sunlight. That’s why it’s so nice to work with summer CSAs because it allows for fluctuation. It’s also so nice to work with chefs like Peter Sandroni and Karen Bell, because we can explain our reality and they understand. Without technology, eggs are a seasonal food. But we need to pay the bills. If we just used natural light and no supplemental heat or shade we’d be bankrupt for sure. What are the most well known restaurants you sell products to? La Merenda is probably the most popular. Engine Co #3, Bavette, Bowls restaurant (Walkers Point by Purple Door - also in Mequon.) Birch and Butcher buys a lot of chicken. Camino (in Walker’s Point.) 2894 on Main in East Troy is killer. How do Jeff and Kelly get your eggs? What happens? Kelly emails me each week with the order. This week she ordered 54 dozen, so Monday is a big egg washing day. We have helpers who help wash and pack the eggs. The eggs will be ready by tonight and Renee, Kelly’s mom will come, she’ll go into the barn and pick up the eggs and leave a check on our washing table. Why do you farm? Well, I have found myself thinking about that a lot lately. The most fundamental reason is to keep the land in our family in a productive way. It is a very emotional decision. I don’t think that it’s the most economically viable way to keep the land in the family. I feel so many emotions about this question, it’s really amazing what this question does for me. It’s so simple though, I really do just farm here because I feel an obligation to farm this land. If I stopped farming here, nobody else is going to do it. And maybe my parents would forgive the fact that I took on buying the land and take on the mortgage payments, maybe, but I don't think so. I don’t think anyone in my family feels the way I do about this land. I think my grandpa did, but that’s it. So I’m farming to farm this land. Are you thinking about it more because of the birth of your daughter? I think so. The fact I’ve been thinking about it for the past 7 weeks tells me yes. I can’t say specifically why. I don’t even want to encourage Ylva to be a farmer. If she wants to be a farmer she should be and I’ll be happy about it but I don't think I’ll be pushing it on her. I’m going to push her to find her true calling. I think it’s more about me than it is about her. I think that having a kid just made me reevaluate my life. I’m definitely reevaluating my schedule because of her and reevaluating what I’m doing on the farm because of her. What’s the best part of life on the farm? For me it’s two parts - one is, I am a very physical person so I really like to work. I like physical labor, I like the manual, hands on stuff. Hooking the chains up to the tractor to pull the coop, tinkering with an engine, that stuff is fun. But the number one thing I like most is that I have found in the past couple years that farming has become an expression of my creativity. I am able to think more deeply about what I'm doing. I’m more mindful of the overall picture and effect. That allows me to be more creative in my problem solving. Our farm is just a giant problem that needs solving. It’s just constant figuring stuff out. When I see the ability to improve something, that’s the thing I really want to get my hands dirty on. Like right now I have four big projects I’m trying to figure out and for me that’s really cool. I love learning entirely new skills to solve a problem. What’s the most challenging aspect? For me the most challenging aspect would have to be finding time to take off. Creating a full day off for myself has been a major challenge. I don’t have employees here at 6 am, and there is a task that needs to be done at 6 am every day. So even if that’s the one tak I do for the day, it’s not a full day off - I can’t leave overnight. That and figuring out finances is also difficult. What has farming taught you? Running the enterprise has taught me quite a bit - first how important it is to stay organized, and maintain a clean operation. Generally when things aren’t organized and cleaned up - even in the storage barn - things start falling apart in the pasture operation too. When everything is always in its place the whole operation runs more smoothly. Also, something I’ve noticed is that all we really have to do is give the animals the environment to thrive, and then they just thrive. If we see it’s going to be super hot we accommodate them and put in a misting system in each coop to cool the air so they are much less stressed. That results in a healthier hen, more production and more profitability. What’s the most delicious meal you have had recently? Chicken Caesar salad - a giant salad we made out of Jeff and Kelly’s vegetables with our chicken on it. What’s the strangest thing you have ever eaten? I ate a chicken carcass once, like all the bones. I chewed and mashed it so much that I was able to fit the entire carcass in my mouth. I wouldn’t recommend it. What is your favorite place to have a meal? In the upper barn on our property. We have these big rolling doors, so we can open it up and look over the entire pasture. That’s always been my favorite place, period. What is one thing that is bringing joy into your life these days? My baby girl, Ylva Joy and my wife Courntey Joy. (These are their real names folks!) They are both bringing me joy. Something outside of my family would be working with our employee, Trey. I haven’t worked with a guy my age on the farm until Trey, so that’s pretty nice for me.
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Boy time flies! Yes Leah, you have been a member since 2011. When we launched home delivery in CSA that year everyone thought we were crazy--Chris Blanchard a famous farm consultant told us it would never work. We had just started Three Sisters Farm and wanted to give ourselves a competitive edge. That year we had 6 CSA members and delivered them in our Toyota Echo--Leah was one of the six. In 2019 it is hard to imagine a business existing without home delivery. Still we are exceptionally thankful for those of you who pick up at our neighborhood locations--it allows us to serve more people. Our delivery routes are very long and exhausting--yes your farmers are still the ones dropping off your box--but we still do it because we know it is highly valued. One day we hope to figure out how to out source this aspect of things and still have it be viable--but I don't know--is there value to us meeting you one on one on the delivery route? Our routes give us insight into your daily lives and if we are lucky we get to find out how the CSA is going for you. Anyway...without further ado:ALISSA What do you do for a living?
LEAH I am a surface designer, so I do textile design and fiber work. My background is really contemporary craft. Primarily, I make utilitarian objects for people out of fiber based materials. It can be fabric or paper or any kind of natural material. How long have you been a member with Three Sisters CSA Community Farm? My husband and I have been trying to remember if it is three or four - we feel pretty solid that it is three. (Here Alissa informs Leah that according to Kelly, she and her husband have been members since their very first season, so more like 6 years.) Oh wow, well I trust Kelly’s records! What part of Southeastern WI do you live in? Riverwest. In three words, how would you describe the experience of seasonal eating you have through your CSA share? OH! Freaking Fantastic!! When other people ask you what it’s like to be a CSA member or why you do it, what do you usually say? I can tell you exactly what I say. I am vegan, but my husband is not. For me the CSA ends up being this fabulous mix of foods I love to eat and foods he loves to eat, but then there’s foods neither of us will touch, but they are not the same foods. There isn’t a time when one of us won’t eat everything in the box. For example, he loves spicy foods and I do not, so I never purchase hot peppers at the grocery store but he will eat every one. And things like beets, he hates and I love, so I don’t buy them because it’s just me eating them. So the CSA becomes this Bingo of sorts for both of us! Do you choose your box contents? Sometimes we choose, sometimes we don’t. I like the luck of the draw. But if we’re having company and I want to meal plan a bit I will choose so I know what to expect. What is your favorite CSA food item? That's a touchy one - I Love it when, at the very beginning, often we will have strawberries or something and it’s just a surprise and fabulous treat. I will eat the whole carton. Does your husband get any? Depends… Then other things like later in fall when we get the squashes - so many times there have been squash that I’ve never seen - it looks like Frankenstein but it is just delicious. It doesn’t matter if I know what a vegetable is I’ll give it a shot. I guess I like the beginning and end of the season, the bracket. Is there a CSA food item that most confounds or stumps you when it comes to cooking or eating, or used to before you knew what to do with it? I have always been challenged by the kohlrabi. I always feel like every time I eat it I want it to be broccoli, but its not. I’ve panned fried it, roasted it, boiled it. I’ve sort of given up on cooking it and now just eat it raw. Do you have a “box unpacking ritual” each week? Yes I do. In my kitchen I have a tall stool and I always prop the box that stool and lay out all my vegetables on the stove. Then I decide what can be stored together or what can be separated. For example with carrots, I take the tops off and store the tops separately. What do you do with carrots tops? I chop them up and put them in salad as a garnish. Not a ton but a little. What is your favorite thing about being a member of Three Sisters Community Farm? Home Delivery!!! Do you have a funny anecdote related to a CSA experience? One time my nephew had come to visit me and he was probably 7 or 8 at the time. He and I always cook together, it’s always been our routine. We had gotten two big bulbs of fennel that week, and I was like “you are going to love these” - cuz he likes licorice. So we made this pie - i’m not really sure how that happened - I thought originally that it would go the savory route, but he wanted to add vanilla and things and I thought “why not?” But it turned out to be the most atrocious thing you’ve ever eaten. But my nephew was so excited he ate the whole thing. Over the course of the week he polished that pie off. What about being a CSA member is most important to you? Since I’m vegan, it’s really important to me to consume a variety of nutrients. But also I want to know that what I’m spending my money on is supporting somebody. It's’ not going to ConAgra or something like that. I feel like its worth every penny to support a CSA - I’m investing in my health while supporting someone else's business. I’m also a small business owner and I want to support as many small businesses as I can. What’s the most delicious meal you have had recently? Last week I got two different kinds of greens in the box - I think I got chard and curly kale. So I chopped them both up, mixed them together and I always cook them a certain way. My husband and I both grew up in the rural south so greens are a big deal to us. SInce I’m vegan I’ve worked out a system over the years to mimic the greens I grew up with. Three days last week I had that packed in my lunch and it was so satisfying. (Get Leah’s Vegan Southern Greens Recipe below!!) What’s the strangest thing you have ever eaten? Whenever I travel anywhere, as long as it’s vegan I’ll eat it, I’ll fire it a shot. My brother lives out in Portland, OR and it’s pretty much the vegan capital. So I’ll go to restaurants with things on the menu and I’m like “I don’t know why you’d make that vegan” The last time we went out to vegan Hawaiian place and there was all this fake pork and I have no idea what it was made out of. But they’d also made all those cream based tropical drinks, but vegan. So I had a white russian. I don’t know if a white russian needs to be made vegan? What is your favorite place to have a meal? If this was time warp, I would have said my grandparents house. My grandmother was one of those people who always had a gorgeously set table and always did a whole display on your plate. Even if we’re just having sandwiches it was the whole display. What is one thing that is bringing joy into your life in the present? Even though the weather is hot, I’m thrilled because I love to cycle - it’s so nice to just meander on my bike. Basically seasonal, outdoor activities. What is one thing that is giving you pause, or reason for concern? Oh, politics!! Swiss Chard or Kale, and why? Swiss Chard, just because it’s so nice and delicate and it’s something you can also just put on your sandwich like spinach. It’s so tender. I love it on a sandwich - it’s delicate but crunchy. Is there anything you would like to share about seasonal eating, local food, CSA membership or anything else related to these topics that you have never had the chance to say? I just feel like I cannot say enough positive things about our experience with Three Sisters. Especially the delivery of this quality of food. Everyone can get a pizza delivered, but you can’t get a whole box of nutrient dense food delivered to you. If we ever go out of town I always tell our neighbors when the box is coming so they can get it. I don’t want it to go to waste and I also want them to see how fabulous it is so if they consider joining a CSA they will think to join ours! Leah's Simple and Vegan Southern Greens Recipe: Wash two bunches of greens (any kind) Shake them dry (you want them to be a little damp) Put a couple of tablespoons of toasted sesame oil in the bottom of a Dutch Oven Place half the damp greens in pot Shake on a layer of nutritional yeast (around 1/4 cup) Place other half of damp greens on top Cover and cook very low until greens are wilted and a bit soupy Stir occasionally When greens are cooked down, remove lid from pot and let moisture cook off Keep stirring at random intervals Once the majority of the liquid is gone they are ready to eat YUM!!! As Jesse mentioned, we first met at the Urban Ecology Center local farmer open house. He passed us by the first year, but we do remember meeting him the second year. The next season he helped at our onion weeding party last season and we enjoyed a root beer float together out of the back of our farm end after a hard morning of work crawling around on our hands and knees. We were glad to have his help with more weeding this spring. He helped to hand weed the carrots available in this weeks CSA boxes on a work morning this spring when the weather was particularly cantankerous and moody-with scattered storms and rain. We always tried to pick his brain about pumps to understand better how they work since we have to deal with them on the farm and that is his expertise. We still don't understand how they work but are happy to say that as of this morning the well at our new site is outfitted with a pump and pressure system that will allow us to start irrigating on our broader acreage--just in the nick-of-time. Its real hot and dry out there. Give us a brief introduction... I live in Milwaukee and am an engineer working in Germantown. I have a ten year old son named Carter. How long have you been a member with Three Sisters CSA Community Farm? This is our third year with Three Sisters, and we had two other CSA’s prior to this. What is your dropsite? Wauwatosa How did you hear about the farm? I did the open house{UEC local Farmer}. But when I went the Three Sisters table was too busy so I joined someone else. But that only lasted a year then I jumped on with Jeff and Kelly. Have you ever met Jeff and/or Kelly in person? Yes. I’m not a worker share but I go out to the farm sometimes. I just did a morning with them about a month ago. I try to give back on top of the financial purchasing of the share. I grew up on a farm, so for me (the work) is kind of second nature. I did have my own garden for a while but it got into disarray. It’s a lot easier working in a garden that’s fairly well maintained, even if it’s a lot bigger. In three words, how would you describe the experience of seasonal eating you have through your CSA share? Fresh Unique Enjoyable When other people ask you what it’s like to be a CSA member or why you do it, what do you usually say? Main reason is because I can guarantee where my food came from. Growing up on a farm I always knew where my stuff came from because I was in a small town, and often they would use the local food sources to stock their shelves during the season. I grew up on that, so it’s normal for me. And I have always thought that it taste better in general. What is your favorite CSA food item? I really love the radishes right now, but I can’t wait for tomato season. Some of the time, I swear I eat all those cherry tomatoes in one sitting. And I’m like “Dang! There was only one container!” Is there a CSA food item that most confounds or stumps you when it comes to cooking or eating, or used to before you knew what to do with it? I would definitely say the kohlrabi. At first maybe celeriac, but I’ve figured out some things to do with that. Kohlrabi seems like it shouldn’t be cooked. I bet you could do a quick pickle with it, but pickling is an art that I have yet to master. How do you use the box each week? I pretty much regularly turn the box into weekly salads for my lunches at work. Then once the summer squash and zucchini come in I pan fry it, because I grew up on that dish. I try to be patient with them to get the caramelization, but I don’t always have the time for that. It’s also good if you throw in cut up fennel - that was another one I didn’t know what to do with at first. Do you still order things you don’t know what to do with or aren’t sure about? Since sometime last summer I have not chosen the contents of the share - I have left it up to them. Partly because I think it might be easier on them, and partly because I love to cook and I see the challenge in that. What is your favorite thing about being a member of Three Sisters Community Farm? The variety of food that I have received. And the personalities - primarily of Kelly, she is very bubbly. It’s just easy to get along with both of them. I can relate to them. And I’ve not been disappointed with any of the food I’ve received. With another farm it was just OK - it may have been because of the weather that season, or it seemed like they were trying to do more meat production than veggies. (The variety) from Three Sisters might be because they have the greenhouses that they use so much. And not many places include mushrooms. They are constantly trying to change varieties of things like tomatoes and melons - they are willing to try out new things and that means more variety for me. Do you have a funny anecdote related to a CSA experience? Confusions, misunderstandings, strange vegetables? When I first started doing the CSA I could not figure out how to unfold the box without ripping apart. It’s a simple box but...the very first farm we went to sent a video about how to unpack the box and I watched that in the driveway of the pickup site trying to figure out how it worked. What’s the most delicious meal you have had recently? I would say it was some pork chops that I made with homemade chimichurri sauce. And I’m looking forward to making that again with the garlic scapes when they start popping in. When I first had a CSA I had no idea what the garlic scape was, now they are a favorite. What’s the strangest thing you have ever eaten? Probably something my grandmother made for me. She was 100% Polish. She used to make homemade perogies and stuff them with plums. Which a lot of people find to be weird but for me it was awesome. It was almost like wrapping a wonton around a plum and eating it. What is your favorite place to have a meal? If it’s a restaurant then La Merenda - I love their grilled octopus. But my absolute favorite is grilling in the backyard. I just love the flavor of the food - no gas, has to be hardcore, true charcoal. So maybe camping is even better than grilling in the backyard. What is one thing that is bringing joy into your life these days? The last couple months I’ve been doing this Friday morning group workout called the November Project - the whole premise behind it is pretty cool, their mantra is “bringing free workouts to the world.” They are a national organization but a couple of people here in MKE are volunteering their time to lead various workouts around the city. They switch locations, and you check their Facebook page to find out where the next workout will be. What is one thing that is giving you pause, or reason for concern? The obvious one is politics, but I don’t even want to go down that road. Chard or Kale? Probably Swiss Chard. I fell in love with this sauteed bacon and swiss chard thing I found a couple years ago and I can never get enough of it. Is there anything you would like to share about seasonal eating, local food, CSA membership or anything else related to these topics that you have never had the chance to say? It’s worth it - it’s worth the cost and even the time to make it up to the farm and go help them out. Anything in particular related to your son and the CSA? My son likes his specifics. I keep trying to get him to try more things, but usually “green is gross.” But he thinks carrots and tomatoes are the best, and he likes it when melons are in season. As Ryan mentioned, we first met when he came to our fall harvest day at Wellspring where we worked for several years before staring Three Sisters. We tried to get members to come out and help plant garlic before the festival and he and Monica were the only ones that showed up. If I remember correctly we just decided to call it off since there wasn't that much interest. Over the years Ryan and Monica have continued to support us in so many ways, from contributing to our first crowd-funding campaign to purchase a skid-loader, hosting the dropsite, providing us with endless snacks on delivery day and even offering up some spotted cow beer at our wedding. They are both so generous and we are glad to have them as part of the farm community.
ALISSA Please say a little bit about yourself: what you do for a living, what is the makeup of your family? RYAN My wife Monica and I moved to Milwaukee in 2009 for my fellowship - I am a pediatric ER doc at Children’s Hospital. We moved here right after oldest was born in 2009. We lived here for three years, and we met Kelly and Jeff around that time. Now we have two more kids, our children are 10, 8 1/2 and 5. We joined our first CSA in 2009 with a late season share at Wellspring and have pretty consistently been shopping with them at either the Farmers’ Market or the CSA since then. Monica was the biggest push for it - we are probably both hippies but she’s a bigger hippie. She does the majority of our cooking and shopping, and really values that piece and does a good job of making use of all the veggies. What is your dropsite? Our home is the Tosa dropsite. We have hyped up Kelly and Jeff and the CSA a lot, so a decent portion of the TOSA drop site are friends. It makes Thursday’s really fun - all our friends and acquaintances show up in our driveway. How long have you been a member with Three Sisters CSA Community Farm? Since the beginning. Our favorite story is that we have pictures from this potluck they had at Wellspring in fall of 2009, we went with our oldest who was 6 month old at the time. We have pictures of the three of us on a hay ride to go to the pumpkin patch and in the background Jeff is driving the tractor. What strikes you about Jeff and Kelly? They are ernest and genuine, and so bought into the farm and the food and the lifestyle, and everything that goes along with it. (Because of that) it’s hard to not also feel strongly about making good choices about what you are eating, where it’s coming from and who’s making it. It’s nice when we get to see them at the drop off to catch up with them. They are so cool and have such a great perspective on things. In three words, how would you describe the experience of seasonal eating you have through your CSA share? Delicious - there are certain vegetables we get, like peppers or Nancy lettuce or tomatoes, and when they come there are some that we can’t get enough of. Resourceful - we’ve definitely made the shift that people talk about, going from, “What do I want to eat?” and then getting those ingredients to, “What do I have and what can I make out of these good ingredients we have?” Community - it really is a community. We’ve been out to pick up stuff at their farm, we love being a part of their infrastructure and they are so grateful that we do it. When other people ask you what it’s like to be a CSA member or why you do it, what do you usually say? Biggest thing we rave about is to tell them, even if they’ve tried CSA before, is the U-Pick aspect. If you hate kohlrabi you don’t have to get it, if you know you're going to be fixing a particular meal you can choose the items. Even if people think they know CSA, this just works so well. And they produce such amazing food. Monica talks about how attentive they are with what goes on with certain crops. For example, one year the newsletter tracked what phase of the moon things were planted in. They are so conscious with everything that they are doing - getting their soil tested, knowing what to do to make things come out as good as possible, and they are also doing it so lovingly. What is your favorite CSA food item? Oh that’s tough - we love Nancy the lettuce. We always get peas, asparagus, tomatoes, mushrooms. There are so many things. I’m going to say the Nancy lettuce just because I’ve never had it anywhere else. Is there a CSA food item that most confounds or stumps you when it comes to cooking or eating, or used to before you knew what to do with it? We had a hard time with greens for a long time. We didn’t necessarily always use them the best or completely. Even chard etc. But now we saute them in sauces and dice them up and put them in with Indian food etc. The learning curve for a lot of the cooked greens was the highest because it took a bit more effort to plan. But now when we have those we say “Ok what to make that we can use this in?” Do you have a “box unpacking ritual” each week? No, but especially later in the summer it amounts to basically us popping it open and grabbing whatever it is we are really excited about - cherry tomatoes or peppers and taking bites out of things. Normally the box makes it inside but is quickly picked over. What is your favorite thing about being a member of Three Sisters Community Farm? I really like that we are a part of it - I feel like we are benefiting from the CSA because we get our food and I don’t even think about that part of my grocery budget because it’s paid months ago and we get all this amazing food directly to our house. I love that we’ve known Kelly and Jeff for as long as (Milwaukee) has been our home. And we were able to see the farm come together and see them get married. I was able to donate my keg hardware for their wedding reception. What about being a CSA member is most important to you? Not to put words in Monica’s mouth but I think she would say that it’s knowing your farmers, knowing how your food is grown and what it’s made of. When it comes down to it, that's what's really different about this. We have insight into who cares for our food and how they grow it and how it’s done. What’s the most delicious meal you have had recently? At a restaurant: We went to Cafe Central about three weeks ago. And every single thing we had was delicious - risotto and a pork noodle bowl and a poke bowl and the kids got amazing burgers. At home: Monica makes this really great pasta dish the kids love with mozzarella and basil and it’s perfect for fresh herbs. What is your favorite place to have a meal? I love La Merenda’s patio. My backyard is pretty great, which is a lot cheaper. But both of those places are pretty go-to. And if it’s sunny and/or above 60, chances are we’re eating outside. What is one thing that is bringing joy into your life these days? We had a really phenomenal father’s day, with the kids and I building things - we built a bookcase to put my son’s turtle cage on, we all baked monkey bread together, we all went out to dinner together and had a phenomenal meal. That was a highlight this week. And we’re going camping this week. What is one thing that is giving you pause, or reason for concern? I worry about the state of the world, vaccines and guns and climate. There seems to be a bunch of bonkers stuff in the world, and some of it more directly affects me (with my work.) Kale or Chard? Kale - because you can make kale chips in the oven and they are amazing. Is there anything you would like to share about seasonal eating, local food, CSA membership or anything else related to these topics that you have never had the chance to say? Our kids have grown up always being offered stuff (from the CSA) so even the stuff they didn’t like initially they have changed their minds, because they continued to see it, and now they will put in in their mouths. Generally we’ve had the good fortune of having kids with reasonably good taste. My 5-year old will eat all the kale if we’re not careful. My 8-year old loves brussels sprouts. Since the veggies are all out there and offered, they get tried. The kids get seasonal eating too. They say they are in the mood for something, we talk to them when we are picking the share. Like this last week, our daughter lobbied very hard to not get radishes, so we said “OK, we won’t get radishes.” Please share a seasonal recipe with the group… “Our go-to Summer Recipe is roasting everything we've got whenever we've got the oven heated up for something else. Kohlrabi sliced into fries, whole beets, carrots, kale, potatoes... pretty much everything! We coat them in olive oil and sea salt or other coarse salt. We usually roast them at 425 for 15-20 minutes (beets and potatoes are closer to 45). Once they cool off enough, many go directly in my mouth, often with ranch. The remainder get mixed up with some fresh greens in a buddha bowl of sorts and topped with a fried egg. Most everything I eat is accompanied by lots of Cholula.” |