Hey, CSA, Send Your Subscription Info Our Way
Plus, The Land Connection's new course helps farmers build their online stores
It’s the Season of Squash
As the spring-summer-fall crops we relish are taking their long winter naps, storage crops — such as winter squash — help sustain us local food lovers. These delicious plants come in a number of varieties, including the delicata in the photo above along with the more familiar butternut and acorn squash.
The preparation for this squash is probably the simplest. I halved the squash length-wise (a good sharp chef’s knife is good for cutting through the hard raw flesh), scooped out the seeds (save these to roast or sauté for a tasty snack), put a pat of butter in each cavity and roasted at 375 degrees.
Cooking time will vary based on factors such as your oven and the size of the squash. For this squash, it took about 45 minutes for the flesh to really soften. At that point, I added maple syrup to the butter in each half, and cooked for about 15 minutes more.
When the squash is cooked through, mash that sweet, buttery goodness into the flesh and enjoy. Most winter squash has edible skin, which adds additional nutrition.
There are many other ways to prepare winter squash: chopped into wedges and roasted, steamed, puréed, in soups and salads, in pasta dishes, and more. I’m sure I’ll have one of these to share soon.
Hey, CSA, Send Your Subscription Info Our Way
It’s that time of year when Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms are recruiting subscribers who are eager to have a dedicated source for the in-season produce (and often other products) that they love.
Local Food Forum loves our CSA farms, and is here to make an offer that seems hard to refuse. Send me your information (at bob@localfoodforum.com) about your CSA and how folks can subscribe. Make sure to include information about how your subscribers will receive their CSA allotments, whether it is home delivery, drop spots, at farmers markets, or on-farm.
That’s it. No catch. Just another little public service for our friends in the farming community.
Elevate Your Online Farm Store with This New Course
While companies such as Fresh Picks in Niles, Illinois have been delivering local farm food to home customers for years, until not long ago just a handful of farms were directly selling their products online. That is, until the COVID pandemic blew up in early 2020.
Those farms that had gotten ahead of the pack in building e-commerce options had a leg up on reaching and selling to their customers during the dark days before farmers markets were able to reopen. And this e-commerce trend created a new constituency of Good Food consumers for whom the ease and convenience of online ordering and home delivery proved very appealing.
This has opened a potentially profitable additional revenue stream for farms that previously were highly dependent on farmers markets, CSAs and restaurant contracts. But it also has a learning curve for farms that don’t have online selling experience and maybe don’t quite know where to start.
To the rescue comes The Land Connection, the Champaign-based nonprofit that provides a variety of valuable training tools for producers. Beginning February 14, The Land Connection is presenting five weekly classes titled Marketing Your Online Farm Store.
According to the organizers, “It is a live, interactive online course for current growers (farmers, farm managers, farm workers), home gardeners and producers looking to grow their businesses. This course will give them the tools to drive traffic to their online farm stores!”
The details follow, including a link to sign up or obtain more information.
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Are you a farmer, grower, producer looking to grow your business? The Land Connection is offering a new course beginning in February to help producers learn innovative e-commerce strategies to drive traffic to your online farm store. This course will guide producers in conducting a market analysis to inform the development of a marketing strategy with specific emphasis on driving traffic to an online farm store.
Workshop date and course:
February 14: Market Analysis for eCommerce Stores
February 21: Marketing Strategy for eCommerce Stores
February 28: Marketing Channels for eCommerce Part 1: Digital Existence
March 7: Marketing Channels for eCommerce Part 2: Social Media & Email Marketing
March 14: Panel Discussion: eCommerce Successes, Learning Opportunities, and Tips and Tricks from the Experts
Participants will also benefit from of one-on-one access to consultants available to discuss,
eCommerce Strategies
Marketing Analysis
Technical Assistance
The cost is $120, but scholarships are available. To learn more, register and apply for a scholarship visit: Marketing Your Online Farm Store.