-Sarah Tyler and her friend, Elyse.

Sarah Tyler visited for a week in 2010 and came to work with Elyse wearing rubber boots she brought with her from San Francisco. When Dewane asked why, she said she expected to get wet. We knew right then she would be a good farm worker, and we're happy she's decided to work for the CSA this season.

Sarah Lopes first came to the farm with our daughter, Rachel in the Spring, 2010 from the East Coast. She fell in love with the land and the people and returned in September, 2010 to volunteer for a month. Although she learned how to make kimchee, freeze corn, dry lemon balm and can tomatoes, it just wasn't enough. For the 2012 season she will join the CSA full time.  She brings with her Benton Rooks from California. When Sarah told Benton she wanted to go to Northern Minnesota to learn more about biodynamic farming, he not only shocked her with knowing what biodynamic farming is, but he insisted she take him with her.

We are looking to train young farmers and gardeners, especially those who may want to take our farm to its next level. Interns start in the garden with hands-on training in all aspects of vegetable production and CSA management.

Anne manages the CSA garden with three full-time and three part-time co-workers. She also has an on-farm business, The Secret Garden (est. 1985), that creates and markets dehydrated soup, entrée and seasoning mixes.

Dewane runs the farm. He grows hay, oats, barley, and winter wheat, and generates all the feed for our animals with the exception of a small amount of organic soybean meal supplement for poultry. Beef cows and their calves graze from late May until November on rotational warm season native prairie grass and cool season grass pastures. He stirs BD 500 and 501 with a 120-gallon stirring machine and sprays all open acreage every year. Supplemental valerian and equisetum applications are stirred and sprayed by hand.

Further training for co-workers interested in comprehensive farm operation emphasizes time management, application of biodynamic preparations to get tangible results, operation of haying equipment, making and using compost, crop rotations, prescribed burning of prairie pastures and forestland, general maintenance of equipment, soil tillage, the planting, cultivation, harvest and storage of crops, and harmonizing the CSA gardens with the total farm organism in a financially and environmentally responsible way.

Our goals for the next five years are to increase the number of CSA shares to 200, to donate a portion of the garden and cropland to the Yggdrasil Land Foundation, and to form a 308B Cooperative that would allow non-voting members, individuals and businesses to make financial investments in the farm.

Dewane and Anne have accumulated a wealth of knowledge about operating a farm and a CSA on finite resources. “Farming is fun,” Dewane says. “The work is hard. The satisfaction immense.”

The primary requirement for any co-worker is heartfelt interest in, and genuine commitment to, Biodynamic gardening or farming. For more information, please e-mail a written resume with three references. Farm visits are encouraged.

You can also visit the North American Biodynamic Apprenticeship Program (NABDAP) at:

http://www.biolynamic.com/north-american-biodynamic-apprenticeship-programnabdap@biodynamics.com

We raise organic vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, eggs, and beef for approximately 160 members in Park Rapids, Detroit Lakes, and Moorhead, Minnesota, and Fargo, North Dakota.  The CSA operates on 6 acres of land, part of a 440-acre biodynamic farm eight miles southwest of Park Rapids. We're in our tenth season of operation in 2012, and are currently accepting memberships for the 2012 season. Click here for membership information and sign up forms.

Why join Lakes and Valley CSA?

You receive just-picked, vibrantly ripe, high-quality seasonal produce grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides by biodynamic farmers dedicated to sustainable agricultural practices and building healthy, living soils.

You support the training of young farmers, the next generation of non-GMO food producers.

You receive vegetables not available in local supermarkets. We raise heirlooms for their incomparable flavor and nutrition, and hybrids for their reliability in our northern climate.

You help to create a 21^st century food system where growers and consumers live and eat in close relationship with their communities and the land.

We accept EBT because we believe every family deserves to eat well.

Members are welcome to visit the farm, volunteer in the field or in other capacities, and to participate in farm social and educational events.

Here is a list of biodynamic transplants that we will be offering for you and your family in 2012.

Varieties specifically for our zone 3 gardens.  Productive, easy to grow, and best-tasting.  Each seedling is grown in a large, deep pot with our special organic compost mix. Roots develop naturally and fully, so transplanting shock is negligible.

Each order comes with professional cultural tips.

Click here to download a microsoft version of the order form.

Click here to download an adobe version of the order form.

Full Value Share $725 for four adults or home canning for winter meals. A 1-1/9th bushel box, similar to a big box of apples or oranges.

Plenty Half Share $425 for a veggie-loving family. Comes in a 5/9th bushel box, about the size of a crate of peaches.

 Eatin’ Good Share $375  for small households and weekend chefs. A ½ bushel box, which is slightly smaller than a lug of pears.

On harvest/delivery days, we pick every fruit, root, flower, and leaf that is ripe and ready. We cool, wash, drain, bag or bundle what we’ve harvested.

Eatin’ Good Share is nice assortment of just-ripe veggies – e.g., a bag of baby lettuce, a small bunch of carrots, one head of broccoli, one cucumber, one zucchini, a pint of cherry tomatoes, plus fresh springs of the herb of the week. Weekly delivery averages 5 to 9 lbs of produce.

Plenty Half Share contains all vegetable and herb varieties ready to be harvested, packed carefully until the share box is full. Weekly delivery averages 10 to 18 lbs of produce. Plus, by reservation and as available, there will be basil for pesto, okra, tomatillos, and tomatoes for canning.

Full Value Share is a bounteous assortment of everything ripe for harvest. For large families, value conscious members, and those who want to put up food for next winter. Weekly delivery averages 20 to 36 lbs of produce. Plus, by reservation and as available, there will be basil for pesto, okra, tomatillos, and tomatoes for canning.

Winter Veggie Share will not happen in 2011. Our potatoes (anchor crop for a winter share) failed due to utter lack of rain in August and September. We're sorry.

Share prices are determined by dividing the cost of raising and delivering the vegetables by the number of shares to be sold. See the CSA Economics page for budget details.

2011 was a short season, dictated by the weather.  The graphs below offer a visual comparison between our CSA's share prices, and equivalent amounts of produce purchased at the Park Rapids farmers market or at regional grocery stores. The graphs reflect 2011's 14-week season.

A normal CSA season is 16 weeks. Weekly cost of a CSA share based on this normal 16-week season is

Full share- $45.32

Half share- $26.57

Eatin share- $23.44

Starting in 2012, we are expecting to start the season earlier, with bi-weekly deliveries of salad greens grown in our high tunnel.

Click here to download full share chart for better viewing.

Click here to download 1/2 share chart for better viewing.

Click here to download Eatin' share chart for better viewing.

Yet another reason to make homemade soup from CSA veggies.

We are sold out of beef for 2011.

We have a beef cow/calf herd on our farm. We turn their manure into BD compost for the CSA gardens. Each September, interested members reserve split quarters or halves of beef for late November or December delivery.

Calves pasture with their mothers on lush rotational grass-legume-prairie pastures. They are never implanted with growth hormones, treated with antibiotics, or vaccinated for disease. Our herd is closed and healthy.

After weaning, young stock animals have free access to farm-raised hay, and are hand-fed small amounts of farm-raised ground oats and barley for energy (carbs) during sub-zero temperatures. The following spring, they go back out to pasture.

A month before steers are ready to be butchered, we hand-feed them a finish ration of green hay along with ground oats and barley. This infuses the meat with outstanding flavor and tenderness while preserving its extra lean-ness.

Our beef is processed at the Perham Co-op Locker plant. This facility is super-clean and honest. We are guaranteed to get our meat back. After butchering, the meat hangs in a climate-controlled cooler for seven to ten days. Then it is custom cut, wrapped and flash frozen. We deliver beef orders to CSA pick-up sites.

A split quarter is a nice assortment of steaks, roasts and burger taken from both the front and hind quarters. When you order, you complete a simple form indicating how you want your meat cut and wrapped. For example, the round can be cut into basic round steak, stew meat, stir-fry strips, tenderized cube steaks, or ground into burger. Liver, heart, tongue, and meaty soup bones are available, in addition to T-Bone, sirloin and rib (eye) steaks.

Price is based on the hanging weight of your quarter or half plus the cost of processing. Each steer is different in weight, so the final price varies from steer to steer. Processing averages $85 per beef quarter. In 2010, total costs for a split quarter of beef ranged from $420 for the smallest steer to $520 per quarter for one large steer.

If you have further questions, please call or email. Ordering details are ready, email for details.

New for 2011!  Midheaven Farm Eggs

A ‘Summer’ egg share is 1 dozen eggs per week during the veggie delivery season. You may reserve more than one egg share. Or you may take a half egg share, which will come as a dozen every other week. Price is$4.50 per dozen.

Our flock of 100 hens and 3 roosters hatched last September and began their first laying cycle in March. Last spring, some free-ranged around the barn. Others were on pasture, where they had free access to sun, homegrown organic feed, water, green grass, shelter, and protection from predators.

Now they are molting, shedding old feathers and growing fresh new feathers. Then they will resume laying. Sub-zero temperatures mean fewer eggs per day because the hens need more energy to stay warm.

Two hens hatched broods of eleven and thirteen eggs in September, 2011. The mothers are raising their chicks now. These chicks will become the foundation for a new flock, one that is raised naturally on our biodynamic farm.

The eggs are brown and fertile, with rich yolks and thick whites. If you’ve never tasted a truly fresh farm egg, you’re in for a revelatory experience. Three scrambled eggs feed two hungry adults.

Our eggs are ideal for growing children, who need high-quality protein and whose appetites are naturally limited. Baking with farm fresh eggs is wonderful. Cakes rise high, and you'll need to add a bit more flour to homemade cookie dough.

Signing up for egg shares is just one more click away!

Click here to download the 2012 Egg Registration Form.

Signing up for a season of fresh veggies, click below. 

Click hereto download our 2012 Veggie Registration Form.

Winter squashes come in varying shapes and sizes. We have for you:

Honey Bear Acorn, a new All-American Selections Winner. The squash is mini, just the right size for single servings.

Red Kuri, a teardrop- shaped, baby red Hubbard squash with smooth texture and rich flavor. Good pureed for eating(with lots of butter), and for pies.

Sunshine: A deep scarlet Kabocha squash, round and slightly flattened, with sweet, smooth, bright orange flesh.

Cha-Cha Green Kabocha: dark green, slightly flattened fruits with dry, flaky, sweet, delicious flesh.

Bonbon Buttercup: Deep green with prominent gray “button” at the base. Everyone’s favorite.

Carnival Sweet Dumpling: Teacup shaped green and ivory fruits with occasional orange splashes. Another delicious single-serve squash.

Delicata: long and slender, these green and ivory squashes are my favorite. Very sweet, excellent for stuffing and baking.

JWS 6823 PMR Butternut: This is our latest attempt to find a butternut squash that will mature in our zone 3 climate. We were so close: two more weeks and I’m convinced their shells would have been fully hard and frost resistant. As of yesterday noon, some show signs sub-freezing exposure—watery-looking splotches on the skin. Cook soon; they won’t store well with frost damage.

NATIVE AMERICAN HIDATSA .Native American HEIRLOOM from the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. Hubbard-type or French pumpkin type fruit with reddish pink skin. Produces well under stress and drought. Excellent keeper. Thick orange flesh, very flavorful. Outstanding ingredient for pies but also delicious by itself. Customers at a Nebraska farmer's market and CSA kept returning for more!

Candy Roaster: Boasts superb eating quality worthy of its name; may be even the best baked squash. Grows rampant vines, large leaves and matures somewhat warty pinkish-orange enlarged buttercup-shaped fruits. Warmth brings out its sweetness. (I’m baking one right now!)

Baby Bear Pie Pumpkin: perfect for pies. Semi-hulless seeds are good for roasted snacks. Each yields about 1 cup cooked puree. I hope you make and freeze pumpkin puree. Homemade is a revelation compared to canned.

***

Deep orange winter squashes like Red Kuri and Kabocha can be substituted for pumpkin in pies, bars, and jams.

***

From ‘The best Vegetable Recipes,” by the editor’s of Cook’s Illustrated:

Master Recipe for Roasted Winter Squash Halves (can be made with acorn, buttercup, butternut, kabocha, delicata. The cooking time will vary depending on the kind of squash. Start checking for doneness after the first 30 minutes.

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 medium or 2 small winter squash, halved lengthwise and seeded (an ice cream scoop works well)

Salt and ground black pepper

1. Set oven rack in lower-middle position. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and brush with olive oil.

3. Arrange squash cut-side down on the foil.

4. Roast until a skewer inserted into the squash meets no resistance, 40 to 50 minutes.

5. Remove squash from oven and turn upright.

6. Season and serve (with butter).

***

If your squash is too hard to cut, drop onto a concrete floor or paved driveway. Scrape the seeds out, then bake the pieces.

Or, soften winter squash by placing whole squash in the microwave. Cook on high for 2 minutes. Let stand for several minutes, then it should be easier to cut in half. Scoop out seeds, then cook further until done.

***

Yo-Ho Winter Squash

1 large squash

2 Tablespoons butter

2 – 4 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 Tablespoon rum

1 Tablespoon milk

Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cut squash into halves or quarters. Scoop out seeds. Place skim-side up in a baking dish and add about 1-inch of water to the dish.

3. Bake until completely tender, 60 to 90 minutes.

4. Drain off water. Let squash cool. Scrape flesh from the shell and place in a mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mash or beat until smooth.

***

Maple Red Kuri Squash

1 squash

5 Tablespoons butter

5 Tablespoons pure maple syrup

4 Tablespoons light cream

1. Bake halved and seeded squash in 400 degree oven until completely tender.

2. Scrape flesh from shell and place in mixing bowl.

3. Add butter, maple syrup and cream. Beat until smooth.

4. Season with salt and pepper.

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups sugar

1 cup oil

4 large eggs

1 ¾ cups cooked and mashed pumpkin or winter squash

Cream cheese frosting: 8 oz cream cheese, softened

                                      ½ cup butter, softened

                                      1 teaspoon vanilla extract

                                      2 – 2 ½ cups confectioners sugar

Prepare a 9 x 13 cake pan.

Beat together oil, sugar and eggs. Add pumpkin and beat until smooth.

Add dry ingredients and stir until just blended. Pour into pan.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until done. Cool.

Beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract. Add 2 cups confectioner’s sugar and beat smooth, adding more until desired consistency is reached. Frost cooled cake.

Pumpkin Pie Squares

Crust:

1 cup flour

½ cup quick oats

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup butter

Mix until crumbly with electric mixer or food processor. Press into 9x13 pan. Bake 15 minutes in 350-degree oven.

Meanwhile, make Filling by combining and mixing well:

2 cups pumpkin puree

1-13-oz can evaporated milk

2 eggs

¾ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon cloves

Pour filling over cooked crust. Bake an additional 20 minutes in 350-degree oven.

Have ready Topping: Mix ½ cup pecans, ½ cup sugar, and 2 Tablespoons butter. Sprinkle over semi-set pumpkin mixture. Return pan to oven and finish cooking 15 to 20 minutes.

Cool and serve with whipped cream. Makes 2 dozen bars.