Neighborhood Harvest Sows Seeds for Upcoming Season

Though Whatcom County farm fields lie dormant this time of year, Columbia Neighborhood resident farmer Mary E. von Krusenstiern is busy preparing for the upcoming farming season by selling produce shares for her Community Supported farm.

The concept is simple.  Community members support their local farmer by buying a produce share that entitles them to a portion of the harvest during the growing season.  Farmers sell the shares before the growing season and use some of the money for seeds, soil and natural fertilizer.

According to von Krusenstiern the benefits of CSA farming include conservation of transportation costs and energy, better nutritional value of fresh foods, the consumer knows where their food is coming from, and money stays in the local

The growing season for Whatcom County Community Supported Agricultural farms runs from June through October.  Supporters of the local farmers are guaranteed a box of fresh vegetables once each week during the growing season.  Vegetables can be picked up at several locations around town.  Many of the farmers also offer home delivery for a small delivery fee.  Produce shares are sold on a first come first serve basis with many farmers selling out of shares by the end of March.

von Krusenstiern’s farm consists of three growing plots comprising just over an acre.  The largest plot is an acre of leased land off of Rural Avenue where most of her mixed vegetables are grown.  von Krusenstiern also farms two urban plots.  One plot is located at her home on Henry Street in the Columbia Neighborhood where she has a seed germination house and grows annual vegetable crops.  The other plot is on Logan Street in the Broadway Park Neighborhood where she grows perennial herbs.

Right now Krusensiern’s plot of land on Henry Street is bare.  Krusensiern said she is thinking about tilling the soil soon. She usually begins germinating seeds in the seed germination house in April. She said she used to start earlier, but has learned not to start planting too early and just be patient and wait for the weather to warm.

von Krusenstiern grew up in Bellingham, but did not grow up farming.  Her mother always maintained a large garden in their yard, but von Krusenstiern showed little interest until she attended Lesley University in Massachusetts where she studied Environmental Studies. After an internship on a CSA farm in Fairbanks, Alaska van Krusenstiern moved to New Hampshire with a friend to work on an organic farm.  The pay was so low Krusenstiern and her friend decided to farm their own plot of land and sell their produce at a local farmers market. She later returned to Bellingham.

Not wanting to jump right into her own CSA farm operation she spent the year working on a CSA farm in Whatcom County while also working on her farm plan, creating her website, enlarging her back yard garden, and looking for land to lease.  von Krusenstiern also received guidance through the Food to Bank On program which is a CSA mentorship program through Sustainable Connections and also sought advice through Whatcom Farmers Google Group. She then began advertising for customers through a neighborhood newsletter and received most of her business through word of mouth. 

von Krusenstiern’s most labor intensive time of year is May through September. She begins preparing her fields in April and May.  She does most of the work herself hiring very minimal help with seeding, weeding and harvesting.  “What is great about CSA is you know that the food you pack is going somewhere,” she said.

Community Supported Agriculture in the U.S. began in 1986 with two farms, one in Massachusetts and the other in New Hampshire.  The CSA farm concept was transplanted from Europe.  CSA farmers practice sustainable farming methods and grow produce organically.  What started as two farms in 1986 exploded to 12,549 farms by 2007, according to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture census.

von Krusenstiern says that CSA farming is her passion and that she is determined to carve out a small niche for herself and be self-employed.  She says that CSA farming is a great model for marketing and food distrubution, but is not for the inexperienced farmer.  She recommends that if someone is interested in CSA farming to first work on a farm and gain experience with succession farming (a method for timing a continual harvest) and start out small and get to know the land before committing to a large CSA operation.

Currently in Whatcom County there are approximately 16 CSA farms.  Consumers may purchase half shares or whole shares.  A half share feeds approximately 1-2 people per week while a full share feeds approximately 3-4 people per week depending on the person’s weekly consumption of vegetables.  Since people do vacation during the summer, it is recommended that arrangements be made to give a neighbor your box of vegetables for the weeks you will be gone.  Some neighbors buy shares together and split the shares.  When one person is out of town the other neighbor gets all of the vegetables for the week. 

 The price of the shares varies, but generally ranges from $250 a half share to $650 for a full share depending on the farm and the type of vegetables received, which equates to about $13 a week for a half share and $30 a week for a full share.  Some of vegetables the farm supporter can expect to receive are peas, beans, kale, lettuce, radishes, onions, tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini and squash.

        For more information on local CSA farms check out www.communityfood.coop. or von Krusenstiern’s website at www.neighborhoodharvest.csasignup.com/members.