By Joe Dennis, Nostalgia Farms, Walcott, IA
Happy New Year to everyone who has followed Nostalgia Farms the past year and good luck to everyone who have resolved to live and eat a healthier chemical free local food diet! In our era of higher fuel prices the cost of shipped in chemically raised foods, these forces will take an ever-increasing chunk out of our family budgets.
We have been on the cutting edge of raising low-input chemically free produce for over 13 years and look forward to continue this trend for many years to come. We have always prided ourselves in providing produce and local meats to those looking to live and eat a healthier lifestyle. For years we have been happy to be involved in the lives of people who have had to switch their diets because of health reasons either from being overweight or with the unfortunate diagnoses of cancer.
This hit home this year for me when my stepfather was diagnosed with lung cancer. One of the first things many doctors tell their patients when going through chemotherapy is the importance of eating organic. This story has been shared with us with countless customers at the farmers market. We pride ourselves with supplying food that is nutritionally superior. We do this by enriching the soil with compost, green manures, and growing heirloom varieties that are open pollinated and free from genetic modification.
January is the start of our growing season in both planning and planting. Onion seed will be started in the basement under florescent lighting as well as broccoli and cauliflower plants, for an early start in the high tunnels at the farm.
There has been significant interest this year in Ed or I talking to various groups about our farm and soil structure. This tends to fall on me (I’m the brain, he’s the brawn), but luckily both of us have an extensive amount of information we share with our customers at the market, so to talking in front of a crowd is nothing more than what we do on a daily basis.
March 24 we will be speaking to a group of college students on the business side of market growing. Also in March, I will be speaking at Vander Veer park on soil structure and organic growing. On May 11 we will be hosting an adult education class at the farm also through Vander Veer Park.
In keeping with New Years’ resolutions to keep fit and eat healthier, lets start the year off with Nostalgia Farms’ homemade chicken soup recipe.
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Joe Dennis is a farmer at Nostalgia Farms in Walcott, Iowa. Together with his partner, Ed Kraklio, they sell locally-grown, organic produce at the Freight House Farmer’s Market in downtown Davenport, IA near LeClaire Park, every Tuesday (3-6 pm) and Saturday (8 am -1 pm). You can visit the farm’s website at: www.nostalgiafarms.com. Read more of Farmer Joe’s blog posts on MVHNews, or try any of the Nostalgia Farms recipes on this website. |
