Karl and Joey’s Excellent Midwest Road Trip 

Vermont Compost Company took to the road this February to visit with growers in the snowy upper Midwest. 

Angelic Organics

After flying into Chicago and getting our minivan at the car rental, our first stop was Angelic Organics.  Their farm is just off the interstate on the Wisconsin / Illinois border, and they strongly embody the farm to city connection.  Their land is a beautiful piece of gently rolling deep soil, and their CSA production is concentrated into one large field.  Quite a contrast to what we are used to back home in Vermont.  Bob Bower, the farm manager, explained that Angelic has been busy in the promotion of the feature film about their founder, The Real Dirt on Farmer John..  The film chronicles the history of John Peterson and his family on this land, his struggle to find a way to make a living there, and the farm to city connection that stabilized the business and made possible their great outreach program.  The Angelic Organics CSA Learning Center is now as big an enterprise as the farm itself, and share the farmstead as its offices and classrooms.  It runs year around programs for student groups from the suburbs and inner city. 

Angelic Organics was Vermont Compost Company’s first midwestern customer.  Farmer John was in Vermont looking at soil blocking machines to speed up the seedling starting for the large scale of production for his 1200 share CSA, distributed in Chicago.  He found the machine he wanted, and learned that Vermont Compost’s Fort V All Purpose Potting Mix was the first choice of Vermont’s organic vegetable growers.  He bought a truckload, shared some bags with neighboring farmers, and our connection with the Midwest organic farming community began.  

Angelic Organics has built a set of wooden trays for handling the blocks as they come out of the machine1’ by 2’ boards hold 120 1 ½” and 66 2” blocks. Their entire 30 x 96 foot greenhouse is devoted to seedling production for their own transplanting, and they have purchased a Dutch made transplanter that is made specifically for blocks.  The tip that Bob wanted to share with block growers is to cut the blocks with a knife as the roots start to emerge, to keep the roots confined to one block only.   

It was great to see the 2 yard sling bags from Vermont compost thawing in the greenhouse in anticipation of the beginning of their season. 

Bob and his staff have made real advances in their own compost production since our last visit, but are still happy to have us provide the Fort Vee compost based potting mix on which  the start of their production depends.

The Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference

Hoards of organic farmers, about 3000, gathered in La Crosse, Wisconsin, for this conference, and it seems like half of them stopped by at Vermont Compost’s booth at the trade show.  Karl and Joey were talking and listening non-stop for 3 days. We met with many of our customers, some of whom we had never met in person, and introduced our products to many who had not yet tried them.  Our conversations emphasized the importance of the finely finished compost that makes up 40% of our blends, and how our products are sufficiently rich in nutrients that no additional fertilization is needed until the roots have filled all the mix in the cell or pot.   

We enjoyed meeting everyone who came by.  We sold 7 pallets of mix in lots large and small to farmers large and small.  Many people now look for us at the show to buy Vermont Compost Co. products in small lots, as we still do not have a regional wholesaler.  Our main distribution system is still groups of farmers buying a truckload together.  

The evenings at the Conference featured live, danceable music and a regional organic beer.  This Midwestern folk really know have a good time!

We were snowed in at the conference’s end, but were fortunate to hear an excellent lecture by biodynamic grower Gunther Hauk. 

Harmony Valley Farm

The next morning we followed Annika’s directions onto slushy and snowy back county roads, through some lovely valleys and over some steep hills in the country between the Mississippi River and the Kickapoo Valley where the Bad Axe River runs.  Richard DeWilde has been on this farm for 30 years, and now crops 70 acres of the deep topsoil.  Their first class vegetables are distributed by a 400 member CSA and by wholesale deliveries to the Twin Cities in Minnesota and to Madison, Wisconsin.  He also sells at the famous Madison farmers’ market at the Capital. 

Richard switched from his own potting mix to Vermont Compost’s Fort Light two seasons ago, and has been happy with results, both in the growth of his seedlings and the time savings that has enabled his crew to get the plantings done on time. 

Richard cuts open the 2 yard sling bags on the seams, runs our mix through a ½” screen, loads it into bins and moistens the mix.  He fills his ¾” cell rigid plastic trays by hand.   

There were many flats of onions and leeks up in the greenhouse on the day of our tour, and we helped Richard roll up the Remay that covered the flats as they germinated.  The row cover holds in warmth and moisture in the cloudy weather and speeds growth, but need to be removed when the sun comes out.   

Vermont Compost is proud to stand behind regional organic vegetable suppliers like Harmony Valley Farm.  Richard is typical of the intensity of commitment that these Midwest growers bring to their farming.  These guys want to really meet the demand in the surrounding urban areas with the highest quality organic produce, in quantity.  

Avalanche Organics 

Over more hills, and after a good lunch at the Viroqua Coop, we followed the Kickapoo valley and found Joel and Jai Kellum having a big snowball fight with their kids.  Joel gave us a great tour of the production facility at the farm, where the focus is on large scale salad mix production.  Vermont Compost’s Fort Light potting mix comes into their plans when it is time to start their other major crop, heirloom tomatoes.  These are all started in 2” cell trays, and three large plantings are set out every season.  Joel says their season is hot enough and long enough that it is easier to grow and transplant another set of plants in a different field than it is to spray copper to protect the tomato plants from diseases .  Using this approach, the best early fruits are what gets shipped, and the season is extended.  It takes a lot of potting mix to get those hungry tomato plants off to a good start. 

Avalanche Organics has evolved over the years, and now the farm is adding more land to extend their crop rotations and to provide housing for their help.  We are grateful to Joel and Jai for acting as a regional distribution point for Vermont Compost in his area, and for hosting us overnight on our travels.  It is good to see such enthusiasm and talent ready to roll out the organic produce for an eager market. 

Green Earth Institute 

We carefully followed Steve Tiwald’s directions into the depth of suburban Chicago, but we were a little worried there was really a farm at the end. We went through miles of malls and gated communities, all on some of the flattest, richest tillage  in the world.  We found our way along, and came to an open spot in the midst of all of this development, a large open block of land with fields and ponds, geese grazing on grain stubble and some classic farm buildings.  This is the Conservation Foundation, the holder of the land that the Green Earth Institute farms.  Steve was a healthcare administrator before taking on the lease of this piece of farmland.  He feels he is still in the healthcare business, only now he is helping people not to get sick in the first place.  250 member shares receive the farm’s high quality, super fresh organic produce. The land is in a trust that restricts its use to agriculture and conservation.  The mission of the Green Earth Institute includes a broad commitment to environmental education, so teaching children and their parents about farming and healing the earth is a big part of the work.   They host over 1000 of their neighbors at an annual event, the Green Earth Fair, which features many educational session, and a fund raising plant sale.   

Steve grows using soil blocks and then pots on into various sizes for his retail customers.  He has been very happy with the Fort Vee from Vermont Compost, which replaced a less consistently performing mix of his own blending.  We left many 6 quart bags of our products for Steve to sell at his fair to help with his fund raising.  Maybe they be able to offer a scholarship to their excellent day camps.   

Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse 

We were on our way the next morning to towards downtown, where Killbourn Park serves a changing neighborhood, now mostly Hispanic and Eastern European.  The greenhouse was built in 1929 to supply plant material to the parks department, but fell into disuse.  The park was a dangerous place for a while, a focus of gang activities.  In the last few years the park has been revived as a family-centered location, and the greenhouse has been a big part of that. 

Kristen Acre, the director of the Greenhouse, has developed lots of programs for the local kids, including community garden plots and greenhouse time.  Many volunteers participate in growing many plants for a big spring sale.  Most of the customers are users of community gardening plots.  So Vermont Compost’s Fort Vee is moving out into the urban gardens of Chicago.  Kirsten is very excited about using our product, and happy to get away from commercial soil-less mixes and unfortified organic mixes.  Vermont Compost potting mixes will give her more time to focus on the plants and the program development, with supplemental fertilization no longer a worry.  We left a big batch of 6 qt bags with her as well, to sell at their fund-raising plant sale.   
 

Growing Home, Inc. 

We met Della Moran when she stopped by at the Conference and invited us to visit her project on the South Side of Chicago.  We figured that we had better see all sides of the city, and promised to come find her.  Growing Home runs both inner city gardens and a farm out of town as a training program for the recently homeless.  They provide employment in an economically deprived part of the city, where there are few businesses and many abandoned houses.  We met with Della at the inner city gardens, which are a spark of hope in a landscape that speaks of discrimination and neglect of infrastructure.  The Growing Home program emphasizes ecological management and small business skills.  Angelic Organics has supported this program, including contributions of Vermont Compost Company’s Fort Vee potting mix.  We gave Della 25 20 qt bags of our Fort Light to use in their potted flowers, which they will grow in their new greenhouse complex on Woods Ave.  We like the idea that Vermont Compost root balls will become a regular part of the community gardens of Chicago, and a proud to contribute to the fine work of Growing Home Inc. 

We returned from Chicago and the Midwest impressed with how the people we met out here tackle their problems head on, and have a strong commitment to organic food for the many, social justice and environmental preservation.  We were welcomed wherever we went, and had many valuable dialogs concerning food security, regional agriculture, composting and greenhouse growing.  We met a lot of great growers and hope that Vermont Compost products will continue to be a tool they use to achieve their goals.