Hello from a retired organic CSA farmer

[OrganicFarmer]

I have spent my whole life obsessed with good food   I had a hard time in college, trying to find what I most wanted to learn, so I tried everything....environmental science, forestry, food science, dietetics and then social ecology. During those years I took every sort of class imaginable. It was a good foundation for what I ultimately became...a homesteader and organic farmer. I made my money all through college by being a cook, chef and caterer. I tried corporate America, but got disgusted with my job, inventing food for a major food company. That's when I chucked it all and moved to a cabin in the woods of Vermont. Eventually I moved to a farm and lived in an underground house. I spent a couple of decades there, having a CSA farm, unschooling my daughter, being a homesteader. I put up tons of my own food for years. Loved my root cellar! It's kind of embarrassing to admit, but I had 4000 cookbooks back then. I have pared it down to 3 bookshelves full now that I live in a senior apartment. I love to talk about almost anything food. The farm in my gravatar logo is no longer a physical place...except in my mind. I love that logo 

[Alex]

Welcome, OF. I love that logo, too.

[Smithy]

Welcome indeed, OrganicFarmer. That's a great logo. What an excellent background you have! I look forward to having you join into discussions on these forums.

Please describe more about your "underground" house. One of my friends used to live in an earth shelter-type home in northern Minnesota, with the south-facing wall open to the sunlight but the rest of the house covered over. It was almost like he'd built into a hill, but the hill was apparently built up around it after construction. On the other hand, I know of a once-beautiful home that was built entirely of underground rooms connected by tunnels, with skylights and greenhouse rooms in Fresno, California. What was your place like?

On a more food-related note: what sorts of crops did you raise during your CSA years? Once you left Corporate America, did you ever eat processed foods? :-)

If you need help with the forums, don't hesitate to ask a host. Meanwhile, come on in and join the fun!

[OrganicFarmer]

Our underground house was built from ideas in the $50 and Up Underground House Book by Mike Oehler. At first it was only 14x28 ft. - all one room, with no bathroom or kitchen or running water or electricity. It was built into a hill. Little by little we fixed it up, adding a room for my daughter, a bathroom with composting toilet, an 8x8 ft. root cellar, a 12x48 ft. solar greenhouse, and then, a workshop. The house grew to 1750 square feet.

 

I was too sick to work at a "regular" job, so I started Peace and Carrots Farm CSA with the help of Voc-Rehab. This allowed me to work hardest in the spring, when I felt best, and slow down for the fall and winter, when I felt worst. I could work the hours I chose and rest whenever I needed to. I had always been a gardener. I had such a serious seed addiction that I needed to become a farmer so I had a reason to plant so many varieties. I think at one time I counted up 70-something different sorts of crops. Vermont has a very short growing season, but daylight lengths are long in the summer.

 

As a food technician, I worked on projects like Devil Dog shelf life, Canadian Wyler's raspberry drink, Coco Lopez cream of coconut and the pina colada mix, infant formula for third world countries and the Saudi Arabian lunch program. The Saudi food was the most wholesome. Working in corporate America opened my eyes to the food industry and I realized I did not want to be part of it. 

 

I can still remember my food science teacher, who came from India, telling us that all canned foods had to be boiled. A girl raised her hand and asked if that was necessary for tuna. He said yes. Geeze! I was a vegetarian for 8 years. A different food science teacher said I had to taste the boiled cow tongue or I would get an F for the day. More disgust for the whole teaching experience. I also took all the dietetics classes right up to the point I was supposed to do an internship. Honestly, I thought that dietetics was stupid, too. The entire time I was in college, I believed in organic food and eating more naturally. This was mostly in the 70's. I was a lone voice in the wilderness at college.

 

Up until then, much of my college education and work experience just pushed me away from the norm. I lost respect for what was being done and taught. I started finding jobs at natural food stores, doing crunchy-granola sort of cooking and specializing in catering natural foods. I always had my own organic gardens. Next thing I knew, I had one of the first CSA's in the country.

 

Now that I am old, I eat pretty much anything. I cook all sorts of ways. I love all kinds of ethnic food. In my senior years, I am also too low income to buy and eat what I would like. I am too disabled to garden any more. I rarely buy processed foods on purpose, but take what I can get when it's donated. I give away the foods I find particularly egregious. I loved being a chef for the same reason I loved being a farmer....somebody else was paying for the raw ingredients, and I could be creative without being wealthy.

 

I wanted to add pictures here, but I could not figure out how.

Edited March 18, 2015 by OrganicFarmer (log)

[Dennis Setzer]

SINCE YOU LIVE IN UTAH, HAVE YOU CHECKED OUT HARVESTRIGHT FREEZE DRYERS. THEY ARE HEADQUARTERED AND MANUFACTURED IN UTAH.  GREAT PRODUCT FOR ORGANIC FARMERS!

[OrganicFarmer]

I have seen the freeze dryers on the local news. I wish I had one back when I was a farmer. My daughter was a long distance backpacker and bicyclist, plus we camped a lot. We did have a big Excalibur food dehydrater, though.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Welcome to eG, OrganicFarmer!

 

There is definitely a lot of interest here in wholesome foods, organic produce and gardening. I think you have come to the right place, and I look forward to your participation in the discussions.