Wyatt Barnes and Amy Tisdale of Red Wagon Organic Farm
1. Where is your farm located and how long have you been farming there?
Red Wagon Organic Farm is on Valmont Rd in Boulder between 75th and 95th. We have been farming there since 2004
2. When did you start farming? What motivates you to farm organically?
Wyatt started farming in 2002 at our current location. Amy started in 2004.
While we do have an organic vegetable farm, being certified organic is only one part of the bigger picture. We strive to have a sustainable farm and to us this means many things. It means using our land, water, and other resources in a responsible way. We also farm in a manner that provides wildlife habitat.
3. How many months a year do you farm?
We plant spinach sometime in the colder months. This can be anywhere from November to February, depending upon the weather. Our first big planting of the season is in the middle of March. This is when we plant all the cool-season crops such as greens, radishes, turnips, and sugar snap peas. We do not have a greenhouse and all these crops are planted in the ground outside. At the end of the season, in October and November, we plant crops such as garlic, shallots and onions to overwinter. We are often harvesting spinach and root vegetables until the beginning of December.
4. How many crops do you grow, and which ones are you especially proud of?
We probably grow about 80 different crops and over 300 different varieties. I would say that we are more proud of the diversity of the crops we grow than any one or two individual crops. However, there are always the crowd-pleasers, such as sugar snap peas, melons, and cherry tomatoes.
5. What is one benefit and one challenge of organic farming and selling products locally?
One of the best parts of having a market farm is that we sell directly to the people who consume our vegetables. We get to share our stories, challenges, and other information with our customers and we also get to enjoy the gratitude they show us.
One of the biggest challenges our farm faces is the lack of affordable farm land. We currently lease our land, but we don't have any long-term stability.
6. How do you view your relationship to CSA customers?
This is how I describe the relationship between Red Wagon Organic Farm and our CSA members: When you join our CSA you will know who is growing your food (us!) and where it is coming from (our farm on Valmont Rd in Boulder). Each week you will receive the freshest produce straight from our fields. You will be strengthening our local food system and helping to ensure the survival of local agriculture. You will also have the opportunity to become more involved with your community. You will be connected with a local farm and other CSA members who share some of your same values. We will also get the opportunity to be connected to CSA members who understand the importance of local agriculture and who want to take an active part in protecting it. Your membership will pay for seeds, labor, and equipment in the beginning of the season when expenses are high and income is low.
7. What is one thing you would like Tuv Ha'Aretz members to know about your farm?
It is really hard to imagine what a small farm like ours is like if you have never seen one before. There is an incredible amount of labor that goes into growing the vegetables, but at the same time it is amazing how much we can produce. It's also surprising how beautiful our farm it. We would strongly encourage Tuv Ha'Aretz members to come to our farm for the field days during the summer.
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