However, soon after the end of the spring semester I had an email pop into my inbox that mentioned an available internship position at Eighth Day Farm. I have had some previous farming experience before and have always loved getting my hands dirty and working outdoors, so I thought I should check out their website. Once I had found that EDF sustainably grows their produce for the local community in an urban setting, and how previous interns have gone on to assume other sustainability roles after the internship, I was very interested in applying. I told my friends about the opportunity and they said “Eric Schumann farming for the summer? Sounds exactly like something he would do.” Next thing I knew, I was moving from my hometown in Hartland, MI back to Holland to farm for the summer!

Interning at EDF for the summer has exceeded my expectations in every way possible. This summer has been so much fun working with the group of interns and mentors that are around for this summer. I hope that during my time at EDF I learn to become capable of sustainably growing produce myself. It is also cool to learn about the ties that a local farm has with consumers and businesses in the community, and how I can be involved with local farms in the future. My new favorite vegetable since beginning work at the farm is garlic scapes because of how much flavor is packed into one small, crunchy bite. While I’m not at the farm hoeing fields or tilling beds, I like to spend a lot of my time taking advantage of the West Michigan outdoors. I often go to the beach when the sun is out (when is the sun not shining during a summer in Holland?) and enjoy hiking around new locations. I would like to think I’m good at basketball, and would definitely 1 v 1 any intern or member once COVID-19 is over. 

Once this summer unfortunately comes to an end, I plan on wrapping up my last year at Hope College and continue searching for business/sustainability roles. I hope to continue to live on the west side of the state, but would still be okay moving around in Michigan, or possibly relocating to Germany at some point. Regardless of where I will be in the future, I will always look back to my time at Eighth Day with a smile on my face!

And for your reference for gift cards:

Meijer

Gas (BP, Speedway, Shell, doesn’t matter)

gift card locations: Target, Lemonjellos

     Can We Resurrect Urban Youth Growers?     

The Urban Youth Growers is an exciting and integral program designed to empower youth in the Holland community with summer employment and hands-on learning at Eighth Day Farm in collaboration with Escape Career Connections.

If this initiative gains the necessary funding ($8,000-$13,000), Urban Youth Growers will give four to eight youth meaningful work within Eighth Day Farm – planting tomatoes, weeding around swiss chard, tending bell peppers, harvesting kohlrabi, helping at our Holland Farmers Market stand and our CSA distributions. Beyond just work, youth will engage in a curriculum of sustainable agriculture and have weekly discussions on social justice, personal growth, and food science.

Most of our community’s youth only know the food as it appears at the grocery store. Their summers are a gap in education and consist more of social media and video games than meaningful interaction with community, with nature, and with themselves. Through hard work, hard-earned money, relevant and hand-on learning, community engagement, and most of all, sincere relationships with peers, team leader, and Eighth Day Farms interns, Urban Youth Growers could make a difference for the youth who participate as well those who interact with them. By earning a fair wage for their work, teens discover their worth as a person, can help their families, are taught and empowered to make sound financial decisions, and learn the value of hard work. What an opportunity!

Urban Youth Growers was piloted at Eighth Day Farms in 2014, but was not sustained. In a separate partnership, since 2015, Escape Career Connections has been able to provide Eighth Day Farms with a work crew during the summer through the generosity of private donors However, the youth only worked in the field and did not have the opportunity to learn the science and broader importance of sustainable agriculture, nor experience the community and business side of the CSA and Farmers Market. We want to empower our youth and connect them to their community and to their own worth. That is why Escape and Eighth Day Farms are partnering to bring back Urban Youth Growers, a more integral, intentional, and empowering way to connect Holland’s diverse youth with the roots of their food and their community. Your gift of $120 sponsors one youth for one week in the program! A $1200 gift sponsors one youth for the whole summer. This program would function best with four to eight youth, with an adult team leader. $8,000 would allow this program to benefit 4 young people, and $13,000 would allow us to expand it to 8 youth, but it doesn’t happen without your help! Send your tax-deductible donation to Eighth Day Farm, a registered 501(c)3 by check or online via PayPal (see below). Help us work for justice and goodness in the lives of our young people and in the soil of our city, today and for the future!

Please write ‘YOUTH GROWERS’ in the memo line (or special instructions) to designate your gift to this program.

Checks: 

Eighth Day Farm

709 Pine Avenue

Holland, MI 49423

Online:

Donate

In hope and in gratitude.

Eighth Day Farm, Escape Ministries, and the youth of Holland

• Madison has recently moved to the sunny city of Phoenix, Arizona. She started her position as an Associate Publicist at SparkPoint Studio. Long story short, she gets to help authors land media coverage for their books! She’s also dreaming of starting a container garden on her little patio…and wishing her Eighth Day Farm friends were there to help (and hangout).

• Karey is in her final weeks of school at Hope College. Her post-grad employment options are still very open. She is looking to explore the agriculture and environmental opportunities spanning across the state. She will be in Holland until her lease is up in May and is planning on networking and job shadowing as much as possible. If anyone has any connections in Michigan that they want to pass along or is interested in grabbing a cup a joe to catch-up, it would be much appreciated!

• Although Chelsey is working hard to graduate this spring, she’s been devoting much of her time to improving campus sustainability at Wheaton through student government. The appreciation she developed for decreasing food waste this summer at Eight Day has led her to write a proposal asking administration to implement a composting program, and it looks like it’s going to happen! As exciting as this work has been, so many days cooped up in the library really make her miss the farm. She hopes to be back working in the soil as soon as she graduates!

• Monica is deep into the work of preparing for her move to Tajikistan, where she will join a team of missionaries to engage with and meet the needs of local communities. This includes providing clean water, alleviating migrant work, and sharing the Gospel with un-reached groups in Central Asia. If you’re interested in hearing more from Monica, reach out to her at Monicapelliott@gmail.com.

In every book there are the fast chapters and the slow chapters.—those that whiz by in the blink of an eye, jam-packed with adventure and drama, or those that take a more leisurely route, full of the necessary relationship-building or character-development that eventually advances the plot.

I feel like the last chapter of my life, my summer at Eighth Day Farm, happened so fast. I felt the need to cling on to every moment and savor my time with the incredible people it brought into my life. Now that I’m home, I have more time to process my experience, and begin to anticipate the next chapter.

This coming February I will be moving to Central Asia, to the little-known country of Tajikistan. It sounds random, but the Lord has really clearly been moving me in this direction (since many chapters ago), giving me an interest and passion for the work that I will be doing there. I’m joining a team of missionaries from America who have been partnering with local villages. They have many awesome projects providing access to clean water, and more recently have become interested in agriculture. My role will be working with the community to develop and expand their agricultural production, and do it in a way that’s sustainable. I’m so excited!

I hope that you’re also excited or intrigued by this next chapter in my life. If you would like to hear more, or follow along with my story, please click here to add your email/contact info to my update list. I’ll follow up with you about partnering with me in prayer or other ways. Mostly, I just want to give you all the opportunity to continue being a part of what the Lord is doing in my life,

And I want to thank you for being the Lord’s instruments in the last season of my life. Through you, I saw His grace, and care, and justice, I don’t think words can express how grateful I am for this community of thoughtful people (although Madison’s blog put it super eloquently).

Altogether, the last chapter of my life has impacted me profoundly. Whether it’s the techniques of tying tomatoes, the rhythm of farm life, or the conversations about faith and justice had while pulling weeds, I know that what I learned this summer I’ll bring with me to Tajikistan. However, more than anything, what I’d like to carry onward is the relationships formed with you all at eighth day farm.

By Madison Ostrander

Dear Eighth Day Farm Community,

At the beginning of summer, I wrote a blog admitting how little I knew about farming. Since then, I’ve learned an awful lot. First, I learned the basics: the difference between a turnip and a radish, smelly compost is the key to happy plants, and micro-weeding pairs perfectly with deep hypothetical questions and new friends. But as the temperature grew in tandem with the onion patch (aka The Jungle), the farm began to teach me far more than unique plant names and proper growing techniques; through dirt-covered days, I was introduced to a new side of myself.

On the surface, the only noticeable change in my persona is my (now fading) tan and perhaps my aversion to sitting inside for hours at a time, but these changes only begin to illustrate the impact of my internship with EDF. Pre-Eighth-Day-me knew that there were hungry people and food waste happening in the same communities; I wanted to be confident in starting my own vegetable garden someday; I knew I liked the Farmers Market, but didn’t understand its importance.

Post-Eighth-Day-me is grateful for active organizations that bridge gaps between food waste and food insecurity such as Eighth Day, Love INC., Community Action House, St. Francis de Sales, and Holland Rescue Mission; growing my own food now feels like more of a civic duty rather than an afternoon hobby; because of the economic, environmental, and health benefits, I have a new appreciation for those who take their time and financial resources to invest in their local growers.

So if that’s you, pat yourself on the back with this fun fact from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: “If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country’s oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week.” Curious what 1.1 million barrels can do? I was too. Learn more here.

I recognize my experience with local agriculture has been short, but it’s been long enough to reveal to me the laborious nature of a small farm; local, freshly-harvested, chemical-free, flavor-bursting people fuel demands months of planning, germination induced jitters, and long hours of weeding. Without Eighth Day Farm’s CSA community, board, and market customers, the farm couldn’t thrive. Because of your support, I’ve been able to learn invaluable lessons about the importance of local farms and now take a necessary pause to think about the daily choices I make to feed myself.

Only now, about two weeks after leaving the farm, I am starting to understand the commitment and planning it takes to eat locally on a regular basis. As some of you might know, part of my compensation for time on the farm was the luxury of going “grocery shopping” at work. Planning a fiesta bowl for dinner? Great, all I had to do was to go snip some cilantro, forage through The Jungle for an onion, pick up a not-so-pretty-pepper, and snag a tomato or two before leaving. Now, having lived the importance of supporting local farmers, I have to plan ahead… it’s not as easy as I thought. Before this summer, I hadn’t put much thought into who harvested my zucchini or pruned the plants bearing my tomatoes. I no longer have the “luxury” of being blissfully ignorant about the differences between large national growers and small natural farms like Eighth Day. I admit, it now takes conscious effort to resist shaming the lackluster veggies at the grocery who have just endured a cross-country roadtrip. In efforts to avoid the high-mileage produce, I visit my local Farmers Market, but truth be told I miss being behind the booth. But, the kale is always greener on the other side, right?

All of this is to say, thank you. Thank you for supporting your local farmers and making an effort to enjoy the fruits of your community. There are easier options out there. There are cheaper options, too. But if you’re reading this, you’ve likely made the choice on some level to assign a greater meaning to your food. At the risk of speaking for another, my thanks aren’t only from me; they’re from your rejoicing taste buds enjoying the freshest available finds, the naturally enriched soil that benefits from your demand, other EDF interns who have been nourished from your involvement, and your local farmers who feel your support.

With Gratitude,

Madison

Weekly Eighth Day Farm potlucks— you may have heard about it through the grapevine or you might have not known about the existence of these small gatherings. Potlucks happen every Wednesday evening starting at 6:30 p.m. at Rosa Park. Weekly potlucks were introduced very early to the EDF interns as it gave us an opportunity to get to know our board members, volunteers, and CSA members in a more communal setting. These potlucks are incredibly special and have much more substance than the typical party offering of store-bought cookies.

The first important component to potlucks: the dishes themselves. The term potluck has been explained to me by breaking it down into two words. The first being “pot” in which everyone who attends is encouraged to bring a dish to share. Secondly, “luck,” which is what you need to ensure that there is enough food for everyone who comes to the event! It has always amazed me that there has never been an EDF potluck that didn’t have enough food. There is often enough for seconds!

Now, let’s get to the nitty-gritty details that you all are wondering, “is the food actually good?” From my perspective, a majority of the potlucks have ended with me rubbing my belly wondering why in the world I ate so much. The answer being, I have little to no self-control around good food. My goal at potlucks is to try a bite of every dish, and I have found that none have disappointed. I have learned numerous new recipes that I want to try thanks to potlucks.

I think I can speak for the rest of the interns when I say that these weekly potlucks have been the highlight of our weeks. They provide us with not only amazing dishes, but great company as well. One of the many reasons why interns love potlucks is because it gives us homemade meals in a familial-like setting—something our emerging-adult selves realize we took for granted. Imagine this- one picnic table devoted to the food that is being served, surrounded by many picnic tables filled with laughter, wisdom, as well as gaggles of children.

This brings us to the second important component of potlucks- the company. In the beginning of summer, I was incredibly nervous knowing that I was invited to have a meal with more people that I didn’t know then the people that I did know. I don’t consider myself a social butterfly and was very nervous about what a group of strangers would talk about if the conversation would ever lull. My nerves subsided after seeing the smiling faces that were excited to get to know their EDF farm community and the people that support it. I have created friendships over meals with community members that are from all different walks and stages of life than myself. I have gained more wisdom and knowledge about alternative choices when it comes to lifestyles, religion, and especially food. Needless to say, the conversations have never lulled and have never been dull. I always leave potluck dinners with new recipes, new outlooks on life and, of course, a full stomach.

But seriously, Wednesday night potlucks are open to anyone in the Eighth Day Farm community. They begin at 6:30 p.m. at Rosa Park (19th and College) under the gazeebo. We would love to have more company, especially this upcoming Wednesday as it is intern Chelsea’s last week with us. Don’t forget your plate, drink, and silverware as well as a dish to share!

Turning the compost is Andy’s favorite job on the farm. He told me he doesn’t know why, other than it “feels productive.”
Honestly, I don’t get it.
I’m sure the high school helpers agree with me, after their very first day on the farm was spent pulling weeds from the huge piles and shoveling it into wheelbarrows.
I overheard them complaining about the smell.
“It smells like POOP.”
“This is disgusting!”
While it’s true that theres’ nothing glamorous about the work of composting, and a southern breeze can make the whole farm smell downright nasty, I have a new appreciation for the stuff after the composting session we attended.
Here’s a few tidbits we learned:

What is compost?

Compost is a nutrient-rich soil additive made from old plant matter. It’s food (and other) scraps recycled into something like a fertilizer.

How does it work?

The secret is millions of little microorganisms that help break down the decomposing food. Most of these are bacteria, but they’re also helped by beetles, mites, and everyone’s favorite: worms. Composting depends on creating the conditions that foster microorganism activity so these little helpers can do the real work.

Can you do it at home?

Yes! I learned it’s super easy for anyone to start a compost pile. All you need is a good spot, a simple container, and a shovel/pitchfork to help you turn it. As long as you mix it regularly (every 2-3 weeks) and keep it in a place that gets frequent sunshine, your food and lawn waste should break down in no time! On the right is an example of a home compost container made from reclaimed wood—these are made by our guest lecturer and local Master Composter, Ken Freestone.

What makes a healthy compost pile?

The key to happy compost is keeping the microorganisms happy; this requires a good balance of heat, air, water, and ingredients. Consistent sunshine, regular mixing, and occasional watering will create an environment where the inside of the pile is warm, moist, and well-oxygenated—the perfect environment for the microbacteria to their job. The last step is to watch what you feed them. Compost needs a good mix of “greens” and “browns.” The greens are the nitrogen-rich food scraps—any vegetable, fruit, or grain can be composted, but stay away from meat and dairy. Also, when it’s fresh, lawn waste such as grass clippings is considered green. Things like dead leaves, sticks, sawdust, and even coffee grounds are the browns; these are full of carbon which is necessary to feed the microorganisms, and also can soak up some moisture. With all these things are all in balance, the process is still rather slow, but after a couple months, the end result will be some nice, beautiful, broken-down compost!

This process reminds me of waiting on the Lord. Our responsibility is creating a heart-environment that’s responsive and conducive to His presence, but we don’t do the real work—He does. We just wait for our scraps, our meager offerings, to be turned into something rich and life-giving.
Compost is a resurrection process. From death, the Lord brings forth new life. The compost is spread and shared all over the farm, where it gives nutrients to all types of plants. In a way, it’s a reminder of a Revelation promise—“Behold, He is making all things new.”
I guess I see now what Andy likes about it.

As an intern at EDF, I’ve had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to receive part of my paycheck in the form of veggies! After subsisting off limp carrot shavings and discolored lettuce from the college cafeteria for the last two years, I started the summer overjoyed at the prospect of unlimited access to fresh, local produce. However, that thrill began to lose its luster as dusty Meijer bags full of ambiguous lettuces, yellowed kale, and leftover radishes started to pile up in our fridge. After a long day in the sun, the other interns and I would limp back into our apartment with barely enough energy to scrub the mud off our bodies, much less figure out how to properly care for the vibrant vegetables we brought home. Unfortunately, we’ve been punished for our negligence with spoiled heads of lettuce, discolored bok choy, and the guilty complex that results from trying to sneak moldy beets into the compost when no one else is looking.

Now, maybe I’m crazy, but even if food waste offends every bone in your eco-friendly body, I imagine you’ve been in the same situation. Hey, life is hard, and sometimes you just forget that you stuffed those turnips you don’t really know how to cook in the back of your fridge—until you start to get a strong whiff of eau de decomposition every time you open the door. After all, if you don’t know how to cook something, chances are you definitely don’t know how to store it. Therefore, I want to share some tricks with you I’ve learned about how to maximize the shelf-life of your veggies, so that even if plans change and you end up eating ice cream instead of salad for dinner three nights in a row, your kale will still be waiting for you, as crisp and green as ever. I’ve included tips for many of the veggies you’ve already been receiving, as well as for some of the new varieties you’ll be seeing in coming weeks. I hope these suggestions are helpful in decreasing the stress of impending food waste!

Kale: Do not wash before storage, and don’t destem it until you’re ready to eat! If you have the energy, you can wrap your kale in a paper towel and stick it in some form of air-tight container. The longer it’s kept at room temperature, the more bitter it will get, so place it in the coldest part of your fridge to keep it cool. Also, it doesn’t store well close to apples, melons, or avocados, so keep them separated if possible.

Zucchini: This lovely summer squash has a relatively short shelf-life, so if you don’t think you’ll be using it within five or six days, freeze blanched zucchini in an airtight container for later use. It will keep for up to a year. If you keep it fresh, don’t wash until immediately before use.

Lettuce heads: Keep the head intact and unwashed until you’re ready to make your salad. Store it in your crisper drawer, if possible. If you feel like an over-achiever, you can wrap the head in a paper towel to sop up extra moisture.

Lettuce leaves: Store in your crisper drawer, and check the leaves every other day (or whenever you happen to grab a handful) in order to remove any that are starting to spoil.

Radishes: After bringing your radishes home, rinse them off, chop off the greens on top, as they will steal water from and thus dehydrate the tubers. If stored in a plastic bag, the greens will keep for four or five days in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, wrap the radish tubers in moist paper towels, and place in a partially-opened plastic bag in the refrigerator. They really do best in any location that is cool, moist, and dark, so if you have one of those (…a household dungeon?), feel free to store them there.

Turnips: same as radishes.

Green Onions: This is a fun one. Stick the onions in a jar filled with enough water to cover the roots, and place the jar on your windowsill. Not only will they stay fresh, they’ll also keep growing! A word of caution: if you fill the jar with too much water, the onions will begin to get brown and mushy, so use just enough water to cover the roots.

Bok Choy: Chop off the root of the head (where the leaves are joined), and rinse the leaves in cold water, removing dirt. Blot the leaves dry, roll them up into another paper towel, and stick in an airtight container. Refrigerate in your crisper.

Cucumbers: Don’t leave these on the counter or they’ll go bad in two days! Instead, wrap cucumbers individually in a paper towel and refrigerate in an airtight container. This way, they should stay fresh for a week.

Tomatoes: You’ll likely be seeing these beauties in the next few weeks! Because the refrigerator stops the ripening process and leaves the fruit mealy, you’ll want to leave all under-ripe and ripe tomatoes on the counter. However, fully ripe or over-ripe tomatoes can stand the lower temperatures of your fridge and won’t do well in a hot kitchen, so you can refrigerate them for a few days to prevent mold growth. The trick is to remove them from the fridge a couple of days before eating so that some of the enzymes that produce flavor can return to activity.
Well, that’s all, folks! If you know of any other storage tricks, please don’t hesitate to leave your comments below!

Wednesday, July 18th, 5:30-9:00pm at the Holland Town Center (12330 James St, Holland, MI 49424).

Tickets are $40 ($35 if you order soon, early bird special).

Click here for tickets! With your ticket you will receive a large, local farm fresh dinner, live music, drink tickets, children and family activities. Children 12 and under are free.

Eighth Day Farm is now in its ninth year! We’re an urban, agricultural, non-profit organization practicing gospel inspired creation care. For those of you who are part of our CSA, we hope you’re enjoying the first vegetable pickups of the summer. We’re also at the Saturday Holland Famers Market, so stop by and visit if you’re at the market.

In addition to the CSA, our mission has always included projects and programs to expand access to healthy foods and grow the community that can participate in local farming. Currently, this work includes the New Fast Food Project delivering meal-ready produce to local food pantries and an agricultural internship program.

Our annual Farm to Fork event is a great time to celebrate the growing season and support the work of Eighth Day Farm. See you there!

All things I had no idea existed until about two weeks ago, but now encounter daily as an intern at Eighth Day Farm. I admit that I came into this internship with no farming experience to boast– only a desire to further understand the workings of an urban farm, especially the connections between food, faith, and communities. Although the summer has only just begun, I am grateful for all that I’ve learned thus far due to the abounding patience and “teachable moments” shown by John and Andy, Eighth Day’s farmers, as well as the other three interns.

Now, sixteen days into my summer on the farm, I have not only earned a deepening farmer’s tan, sore muscles, and a nine o’ clock bed time, but I’ve also learned a lesson or two– a few of which I’d like to share.

Every day I have the pleasure of learning and growing (quite literally) alongside three other interns, Chelsey, Monica, and Karey, who are all a unique and inspiring balance of hardworking and humility. Spending time together while seeding lettuce, transplanting tomatoes, watering-in beets, and pouring over the jungle of weeds surrounding the onions, has made me increasingly grateful for the people I spend my dirt-covered days with. In other words, your veggies from Eighth Day Farm are grown between the aisles in which four former strangers are cultivating new friendships. Which brings to me to my first lesson from the farm: As each one of us is created in God’s image, every person I meet presents a particular opportunity to grow closer to the heart of God. The women I work alongside at Eighth Day are no exception to this, as I have already come to better understand the importance of selflessness, grace, and boldness because of their eagerness to learn quickly and their dedication to challenging work.

To prove the dirt under my nails isn’t caked in vain, I’ll share my other most memorable lessons to date:

•Fish emulsion, also known as “fish smoothie,” is a delectable, peanut butter-colored, repugnant-smelling liquid that both enriches the nutrients in the soil and reminds me of my grandpa’s garage.

•The compost used at Eighth Day comes from all over, but some includes shavings from a local wooden shoe company. Also, potatoes and walnut trees can grow wild in an unwatched compost pile.

•There is a dainty yellow flower bolting from mizuna (an Asian green) that mirrors the taste of broccoli.

•Apparently dogs aren’t technically allowed at the Holland Farmers Market. However, as someone who cries embarrassing tears of joy at the sight of a puppy, I am greatly appreciative of those who so kindly bend the rules.

•Weeding is infinitely more fun when listening to “embarrassing moment” stories or solving riddles (let us know if you have one you think might stump us!)

•There is a proper way to water in a freshly-seeded plant. If you’re curious, ask Andy by emailing andy@eighthdayfarm.org about his joke regarding the Sheen brothers, as I’m sure he’d be happy to share.

Lastly, I’ve learned–or perhaps have been gently reminded–that God’s sweet and divine plan for my life is always far greater than any I may carefully dream up. As a recent college graduate with a business degree and a long-standing infatuation with the corporate world, I find myself continually surprised (and overwhelmingly grateful) at how much I feel a sense of honest purpose as I wash heads of lettuce, gingerly band vibrant bunches of kale, sample edible weeds around the farm, and sweatily broadfork under the early-June sun.

The good news is that our internship program has begun! Meet Monica, Madison, Chelsey, and Karey (not pictured). Aside from having the extra help on the farm, our internship gives life to our peak-growing season as we explore what it means to be good stewards of the land together. In fact, a sizeable portion of past interns have continued in their agricultural endeavors after their time at Eighth Day.

More good news is that CSA pick-ups are starting soon!The date for our first pick-up is only getting closer! Remember, Tuesday pick-ups start on June 5, 3:30-6:00pm at the Holland Town Center and Saturday pick-ups start June 9, anytime before 11am at the Holland Farmer’s Market.

Farm to Fork: We’re also busy making preparations for our Farm to Fork event on July 18. If you haven’t been there before, it’s an evening of good food, people, drinks, and music. We’ll also have activities set up for kids! Mark your calendars, keep an ear out for more updates, and prepare your palate for some tasty eatables.

Come See us at the Market! We will begin our journey with the Holland Farmer’s Market on June 9. We would love to have you come support us by saying hello and telling us how much you love our produce.

Now, we’re in the process of carefully introducing them to the less-forgiving outside world and transplanting them into their prepared beds. There, the roots can reach deep into the soil for warmth, water, and nutrients. The hardier plants like onions and some crucifers are already in the soil, while others like tomatoes and flowers are just beginning their journey.

Trays have also been seeded for the upcoming plant sale, where you can purchase seedlings of your own to transplant into your garden. We will be hosting this inside at the Growth Center (709 Pine Ave) on Saturday, May 12, 9am-1pm.

Plants will generally cost $1.50 – $4.00 and will include the following:
– Tomatoes (yum)
– Eggplant
– Peppers
– Cucumbers
– Summer Squash
– Bunching Onions
– Flowers (Zinnias, dahlias, and cosmos)
– Beets
– Spinach
– Fennel
– Cauliflower
– Broccoli
– Lettuce
– Dill
– Basil
– Brussel Sprouts
– Some extra items!?

Come with something to carry them with like a shallow cardboard box, although we will have some trays that you use as well.

The CSA distribution of veggies has been the model as the first seed was placed in the ground in 2010. And since then we have all engaged the mission of practicing gospel inspired creation care. In addition, the CSA approach to sharing our produce is how we have built a strong Eighth Day Farm community. You get to know your farmers and we as farmers know who believes in us. The truth is we’d hoped to be able to make our budget work with CSA sales alone this year. The reality is we are not on target to do this with the way sales have been going and the farmers market provides a chance to diversify our income. As we join the Saturday farmers market this year, we believe our original and shared mission remains the same.

As a CSA shareholder, you are our first priority for where our produce goes. You have prepaid into the farm and share the risk and the bounty. Our crop plan was created during the early snowy months of the year with you in mind. The only change is that we will direct a certain portion of the shares and some bounty to the farmers market. That is why we are limiting the 2018 available shares.

If you have signed up and paid for your share, rest assured that you are our first choice for the Eighth Day Farm veggies. For those who have procrastinated, there is no better time than now before we hit our new 110 limit for the season. That means that we only have around 30 spots available.

We are still working out the details of how our presence at the Saturday market affects the Saturday CSA pick up at the Holland Town Center. For some people, It makes sense to go to the farmers market to pick up their Saturday weekly CSA share, but for others this may be an inconvenience. If you are a Saturday shareholder we will be reaching out to you shortly to explore these new options.

We appreciate your support and patience through this exciting opportunity to share our mission with the farmers market community.

We’re the Holland-Anderson family – Christa, Kip, Martha, Henri, and Chloe. We’ve lived here in the core city of Holland since 1997 when Christa and I moved here from Chicago. Our whole family lives on the academic calendar – Christa and Kip are both public school teachers. As a family we love spending time on the beach (both here in Michigan and any other location), playing games, and hiking with our two rescue dogs.

Tell us about your experience with Eighth Day Farm and how you’ve used your CSA share.

We like Eighth Day Farm’s commitment to social action and their New Fast Food Program. How have we used our share? We use it all! We hate to waste food and so there are times when a particular vegetable is in abundance that we need to challenge ourselves to find new ways to use it. Case in point, a number of years ago we had an abundance of bok choy, so Christa devised the “Bok Choy Challenge” to see if we could use bok choy in three meals in a day. Smoothies, eggs, and stir fry were all made better with the addition of bok choy. Additionally, our 17-year-old daughter, Martha, has been volunteering on the farm the past two summers. Weeding, washing, and prepping vegetables. She loves the community while working on the farm and it’s inspired her to consider a career in food sustainability or food justice.

How did you decide to become CSA members?

Our first experience with CSAs was about a dozen years ago, when we joined Trillium Haven which was located in Jenison. It was our family’s first experience with a lot of new vegetables and challenged us to find ways to use them in ways that our family would enjoy. We’ve been CSA members ever since, switching through a couple of CSAs as we tried to get our food sources closer to our home.

What vegetable are you most excited about for this year, and how do you like to prepare it?

Christa and Kip are big salad eaters so lettuce right from the fields is always a hit. Kale is another favorite. Overall, as we said above, we don’t let anything go to waste and find ways to enjoy it all.

Click here for details and to sign up for our CSA and design your own bok choy adventures.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m John Puttrich.  I interned at the farm a couple years ago and now I’m the new program manager. Though I know my way around the Holland area quite well, my wife, Jenna, and I moved back from Philadelphia just last Sunday.

In addition to helping Andy with the CSA and the internship, I’ll be overseeing the New Fast Food program and any other agendas intended to further the mission of Eighth Day.

Andy is still the person to contact with all of your CSA thoughts and feelings.  But you’re free to reach out to me regarding anything with a food justice programmatic twist, the New Fast Food program, or if you want any good fermentation recipes – get in touch at John@eighthdayfarm.org.

As far as farm things go, the soil is still too chilly to nurture plants.  So Andy and I have gotten busy organizing our thoughts and putting into action our wintery plans.  Right now, the lionshare of my efforts goes towards perfecting the growing plan for the New Fast Food program, but it doesn’t take any time at all to transition when we get excited about different rabbit holes like the internship curriculum, compost management, or the upcoming plant sale.

It’s only a matter of time before we’ll start putting seeds into the soil for our CSA, and there’s still a lot of work to be done.  For now, we’ll be satisfied with dreaming of homemade baba ghanouj, zucchini bread, or massaged kale salad. – John

Eighth Day Farm is a local, agricultural non-profit organization with this purpose: to practice gospel inspired creation care. It’s the time of year for CSA signup, so we’ve been busy posting some updates about our CSA, which takes good care of people and the land through sustainable, regenerative farming.

But the CSA is only part of what we do. Our other major emphasis is our program work, in which we try to expand access to healthy eating in our community. We’ve hosted workshops, built backyard gardens, donated produce, trained agricultural interns, employed local youth, and (our current initiative) produced New Fast Food bags. The New Fast Food bags contain all the ingredients needed to prepare a certain meal, with instructions included to get people having fun and learning to make dishes from scratch.

We grow the veggies and prepare the bags at our Growth Center site and deliver the bags to partnering food pantries for distribution. Sales of shares fund our CSA but our program work is funded by donations. We’d love it if you’d consider becoming a sustaining member – donating $5 (or more) each month to help provide healthy meals to local families in need. Lots more info on New Fast Food is available here and sign up to be a sustaining member here.

That’s often the first question people ask when I tell them what I do for a living. Winter allows farmers to rest and refresh a little bit. We rest from a long year of labor. We attend conferences to learn new farm and leadership skills. The work never really ends, though. Things I’m currently working on:

·        Planning: Much to prepare for the coming growing season, including budgets, seed orders, crop plans, intern recruitment.

·        Infrastructure: Key to our efficiency and enjoyment of our labor. Current operations include building on-site storage at the Town Center (to replace our storefront storage site, which will have a tenant moving in), creating an area for our post-harvest handling, repairs to the high tunnel.

·        Relationships: We need to grow the community participating in Eighth Day Farm, to make our operations sustainable. I’m meeting with business owners, local organizations, and restaurants, among others to get the word out and see how we can involve more people in our work. Any help you can provide in sharing the word about the CSA would be humbly appreciated.

Here’s the link for 2018 CSA shares.

The number of shares we need to sell is based on a budget of $60,000. Our budget items include:

·        Staffing: fair salaries and benefits, including housing expense for interns ($45,000)
·        Capital expenses: land, equipment, tools, irrigation, etc. ($5,000)
·        Operating expenses: seeds, plants, transportation and fuel, soil amendments ($10,000)

Like any farming enterprise, we have many expenses before the season begins. We want to keep share prices affordable, which means we need to sell many shares to meet the budget. The benefit is a big community that supports and encourages local food. We know the first pickup in June is a long way off, so here’s a big thank you to all who have already purchased and paid for your share!

Click here for details and to sign up.

https://www.eighthdayfarm.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2017-Newsletter.pdf

We’re passionate about expanding access to local options for food that is healthy and sustainable. To that end we’re working to build financial support for farming operations and program work. Would you consider making an end-of-year donation or becoming a sustaining member?

Mark your calendars for January 1, when shares for our 2018 CSA go on sale.