Conservation Fund Lights Bulbs in Woodstock
Plus, this year's Frontera Farmer Foundation grant recipients
We Need It Bad
Yes, folks, that’s the exotic substance known as rain on our window. We got a little rain on Sunday, but today’s weather radar suggests that we may get the all-day soaker that we need. The experts say our region is in moderate drought conditions, which have created concern among our local farmers. Hopefully today’s rain will make a dent in the problem.
I did manage to squeeze in a quick run through the SOAR Farmers Market in downtown Chicago on my way home from an appointment across town (though I did get rained on a little walking to the bus home).
Today’s in-season revelations were these summer squash and broccoli at the stand of Nichols Farm and Orchard (Marengo, Illinois), the first of these crops that I’ve seen this year. I didn’t buy any today, but it’s nice to know that I can.
Here’s what I did bring home: salads from Phoenix Bean Tofu (Chicago); tomatoes and carrots from Nichols; strawberries and asparagus from Lyons Fruit Farm (Fennville, Michigan) and baby carrots with a couple of radishes tossed in from Lane’s End Farm (Lowell, Indiana).
Local Garlic Farm Gets Conservation Fund Boost
The Conservation Fund is a national non-profit that invests to protect the environment in multiple facets, including supporting sustainable agriculture. One of their latest projects is the expansion of Garlic eScape, a garlic farm owned by Silvia Abel-Caines in Woodstock, located in far north-central Illinois.
I had hoped to make it to the farm for a celebration they had planned for Sunday (June 11). My plans changed but I am going to schedule a visit for this summer.
In the meantime, thanks to Kelly Larsen for sharing the above photo of the farm. Kelly recently joined The Conservation Fund as its Chicago Metro Working Farms Fund Specialist after a long tenure as operations director for the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest program.
The following is The Conservation Fund’s description of Garlic eScape.
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The Garlic eScape LLC is a vertically integrated, woman-owned farm with the mission of growing and crafting healing foods that are accessible to everyone. The company’s products include garlic bulbs, health-themed gift baskets, and hand-crafted immune boosting tonics. They sell through multiple venues, including local farm stores, food co-ops, farmers markets, and online.
Founder Silvia Abel-Caines has spent 30+ years working in the agricultural sector, half of that specifically with certified organic farmers. She has been selecting and cultivating specific varieties of garlic for the last six years. Arturo Caines has past agricultural sector experience in product design and development.
On behalf of Garlic eScape, The Conservation Fund is investing in 30 acres of land, including a 1920s farmhouse that will be used as the farm office. Silvia and Art are preparing to scale up Garlic eScape with the Working Farms Fund to achieve ownership of a farm, which will allow more space for growing, curing, and processing crops using organic methods that support healthy soil, water and habitat.
The new farm will also offer opportunities for on-farm classes, events, and training for residents of Woodstock, Illinois, and beyond. The farm team has developed a 5-year business plan that puts them in a position to purchase the farm from The Conservation Fund within three years. Using a Buy-Support-Protect-Sell model, the Working Farms Fund is providing Garlic eScape with immediate access to farmland, and a pathway to affordable farm ownership.
Frontera Farmer Foundation’s 2023 Grants
Frontera Farmer Foundation, created more than two decades ago by Chicago Chef Rick Bayless, has made 2023 grants to 18 farms in our region, adding to the total of more than $3 million that the Foundation has provided to support farmers and help them grow.
Many Local Food Forum readers have heard about Rick’s pioneering role in helping build a local food ecosystem in the Chicago region. For those who haven’t:
When Rick moved to Chicago in the late 1980s to start Frontera Grill, his groundbreaking regional Mexican restaurant, he expected to find many Midwestern farms from which to buy ingredients. What he found instead was that so many farms have gone over to producing monocultures of field corn and soybeans that locally grown produce and animal products were very hard to find.
So when Rick and his team found a vendor they liked, they would often offer to lend them the money they needed to expand production. This evolved into the Frontera Farmer Foundation, which makes outright grants of up to $12,000 each to selected farmer applicants to be used for infrastructure projects or purchases that help the farm businesses to be sustainable and to grow.
This year’s grant-funded projects may sound a little mundane to non-farmers, but each of them is aimed at resolving a problem and allowing the recipient farm to work more effectively and efficiently.
Abundant Pastures – Claremont, IL
Project: Purchasing and installing a new egg washing machine.
Adam’s Acres – Grayslake, IL
Project: Purchase a tractor for use at their suburban Chicago farm.
B.S.R.R. Youth Center & Academy Farm – Pembroke Township, IL
Project: Update the irrigation system, repair fencing, and purchase a cooling unit for produce storage.
Boerson Family Farm – Ripon, WI
Project: Build a walk-in cooler to increase on-farm storage efficiency.
Bekkum Family Farms / Nordic Creamery – Westby, WI
Project: Purchase a new vacuum packaging machine.
Blacksmith Acres – Dundee, IL
Project: Purchase a truck cap to increase deliveries to market, and transition to a no-till land with the use of organic cardboard mulch.
Bossie Cow Farm – Random Lake, WI
Project: Creating added space for pastured poultry with a mobile hoop coop.
Fox at the Fork – Monee, IL
Project: Purchase a PaperPot transplanter starter kit and electric fencing components to improve crop yields, increase efficiency, and diversify farm operations.
Kakadoodle – Frankfort, IL
Project: Purchase a portable, pasture chicken coop to increase egg production.
Lanes End Farm – Lowell, IN
Project: Build a 30’x76’ climate-controlled greenhouse.
Moss Funnel Farms – Bangor, MI
Project: Purchase a used 3/4 ton pick-up truck.
Rad Acre Farm – Lake Geneva, WI
Project: Build a heated 30′ x 40′ peaked high tunnel as a propagation house and year-round wash/pack station
Red Door Family Farm – Athens, WI
Project: Purchase a rinse conveyor washing system to accommodate larger orders and improve our sanitation practices.
Silverbeet Farm – Kalamazoo, MI
Project: Build a mobile, climate-controlled produce storage environment.
Terra Vitae Farms – Woodstock, IL
Project: Purchasing freezers to increase our meat storage capacity for our farm.
Turtle Creek Gardens – Delavan, WI
Project: Purchase a larger-capacity van, to increase produce supply to Chicago.
Wild Coyote Farm – Berrien Springs, MI
Project: Build a mobile hoop structure as a greenhouse, winter laying henhouse, and lambing hut (all in one).
Wildgrain Farms – Fairbury, IL
Project: Build a produce washing shed.