Three Sisters Garden Toughs It Out
Plus, WhatsGood adds brick-and-mortar to its local food delivery service
Three Sisters Garden’s Gratitude in a Bumpy Year
A Seasons of Change Farmer Story
One of the pleasures of this first year of Local Food Forum has been publishing a series of articles by Tracey Vowell of Three Sisters Garden in Kankakee, Illinois. I’ve known Tracey for several years, first buying delicious food from her at Green City Market and, since the start of the pandemic, via home delivery.
It was a tough year for Tracey and Three Sisters Garden. Climate change seemed to be at maximum unpredictability, with a cool spring and a blazing summer, near-drought dry spells and deluging rains. Tracey’s father passed away early in the growing season. But as always, the article she contributed below (also published in Three Sisters Garden’s newsletter) is full of optimism and gratitude.
If you are interested in buying from the farm, click here to go to its website, where you’ll find information about available products, delivery area and ordering deadlines.
And, some very good news for those of us who have missed seeing Tracey in person: She and Three Sisters Garden will be at the Evanston Winter Market at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 616 Lake St., Evanston on Saturday, December 18 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Here’s Tracey’s story.
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I always find myself thinking of the law of averages this time of year. This has not been our best season, nor has it been our worst. Fatigue seems to have hit all three of us hard this year, which was not without some major bumps involving each of our families.
We were all touched with major life crisis this year, as we, like everyone else, searched endlessly for a moment or two of normal.
We started strong, faced an extended period of dry that became dangerous for a number of crops by late June, and then a period of rain that was like a firing gun for the massive rush of weeds that had been waiting for moment.
We had genetic contamination in our sweet corn seed that led us to shut our biggest in season crop down completely, and searched through shoulder-high weeds to harvest pumpkins and winter squashes. It seemed that this year there were just less minutes in each day, and in our fatigue, we were using them less effectively.
That said, we had one of the most successful cherry tomato crops ever. A good run of salad greens, both in the spring and in the fall. Restaurants are back on the scene, but both money and labor are tight, and I expect it will be a while before we see any kind of return to the flow of goods that was in place prior to COVID. Still, we are hopeful that time will be on our side, our basis with those businesses will grow again, and we will be here to be a part of that return.
I have to admit that home delivery is much more satisfying than I thought it would be, especially now that we actually see people, even get to have direct conversation with so many people we have been serving, but had never seen. Those first few months, without a website to keep us organized, were not pretty, but we have learned that we are still trainable with the right tools and advice.
I am so thankful for those that stuck with us through those first months. Everything was so much more difficult. We were fully two months into home delivery before we managed to post a clean delivery run, without anything in the wrong truck, and everything in the right bag. I was so amazed at how kind and honest people were when they got something they had not ordered, and patient when it was their something that found its way into the wrong bag or box. Those mistakes do still happen, but not nearly as often.
I am not sure what the future holds, but even after a pretty rough growing season for us, we are still feeling pretty positive about going forward. We have learned the one thing, for sure: Working with a single type of revenue stream did not serve us well when the pandemic hit. Honestly, we were dead in the water for a day or two, but moved quickly, and I have to say that I am grateful for the receptiveness of the audience.
We did not miss even a single day in our regular delivery schedule. All those home orders did quite a bit to fill the holes left when the restaurants all closed. It is not clear if we will return to regular farmers market attendance, but home delivery is working out well. We do have our first return appearance at the Lutheran Church in Evanston on December 18; perhaps that will help shed some light on how we are feeling about a full market return.
All in all, this year was the pretty similar to the last few, prior to COVID. We had big wins and losses, in a year full of extremes that still add up to just about average, and I am grateful for that. No matter what we do, we are still only three people. We plan for more than we can realistically accomplish every year, and somehow, we get through.
As we come to the end of the year, I find myself feeling so very grateful for this home delivery crowd, and the support everyone has extended to us through the year. It is not a mystery to us that we have managed to squeak through because of things like home delivery, Prairie Grass Cafe pickups, and the Thumbelina CSA. We have explored new sales directions, and diversified our product line, but nothing has made as great an impact on our continued existence as home orders.
We would not be here anymore were it not for your collective determination, and for that, we are so very thankful.
WhatsGood Local Food Delivery Sets Up Shop
For many years, local food lovers have complained that there is one big thing missing from our local food ecosystem: A year-round indoor brick-and-mortar store featuring fresh, frozen and prepared foods from local farmers and producers, an amenity enjoyed in many major cities.
So, some good news: Chicago is finally taking a step in that direction with the opening of the WhatsGood Farm Shop at 1712 N. Halsted St. in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. The shop is currently in a soft launch mode with a Grand Opening scheduled for next Tuesday (December 7).
It’s a bit of business reverse engineering. WhatsGood’s core business is providing home delivery of local food aggregated from farmers market vendors; if you’re familiar with the company, odds are good it’s because they have provided a year-round delivery option for Green City Market since the early days of the COVID pandemic in 2020. The Farm Shop is its first retail store and the first of a number of outlets that WhatsGood plans in Chicago.
Along with in-person sales, WhatsGood has launched a one-hour delivery service for online purchases. I actually placed one on Tuesday night — and that’s how I learned about the store’s opening.
My order did arrive lickety-split, but when I opened the bag, there were three dozen eggs from Jacobson Family Farms (Antioch, Illinois)… and I thought I’d ordered one. I felt a bit guilty, so I got on the online customer service chat to explain, and got a very prompt response from a person who (I learned during the chat) is WhatsGood co-founder Erin Tortora. She explained that there was a BOGO sale on the eggs that I hadn’t noticed.
And the third dozen? Maybe my reputation as a super-nice guy is getting around town. I told Erin that I was familiar with WhatsGood, having placed orders for Green City through them, and that I’d already identified them several times in Local Food Forum as an off-season source for home delivery of locally produced food. That’s when she informed me about the store opening. I’m planning to go on Tuesday and I’ll have photos.
Also, I ordered a head of cabbage grown by Smits Farms (Chicago Heights, Illinois), and received this Cabbage-zilla, clocking in at just under six pounds. So I’m thinking of throwing a party at which the only things I serve are deviled eggs and cole slaw.
Here’s WhatsGood’s press release with all the deets.
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WhatsGood, an innovative technology provider for online orders at local farmers markets, is opening the first in a series of Chicago-based Farm Shops in Lincoln Park on December 7, 2021. WhatsGood's Farm Shop is a small footprint grocery store with an array of locally curated products that will provide Chicagoans with in-store shopping and on-demand delivery. WhatsGood's team can deliver everything you'd expect at the farmers market in about an hour.
"WhatsGood's Farm Shop draws inspiration from the intimate relationship between food, community, and neighborhoods. These unique stores will showcase the finest foods and beverages locally produced by farmers and artisans. We are so passionate about locally sourced food that we want customers to be able to shop seasonally and locally all year long," says Erin Tortora, WhatsGood's chief operating officer. "Shoppers will find fresh, healthy, and organic food from sources they can know and trust."
WhatsGood has operated in Chicago since 2018 in close partnership with Green City Market, South Loop, and other of Chicago's best farmers markets. During the pandemic, WhatsGood provided critical eCommerce and home delivery services to help connect Chicago to its local food sources. More than 30,000 Chicagoans use WhatsGood to connect with more than 400 farmers, artisans, and chefs from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan.
Now WhatsGood is developing services and technologies to empower local food and beverage makers to sell direct to customers in local communities with Farm Shop; essentially filling a gap when farmers markets aren't available. The company plans to open a WhatsGood Farm Shop in every neighborhood in Chicago and New England over the next two years.
Locally Sourced
Farm Shop products are locally sourced from farms and producers within a maximum of a 3-hour drive to the store. Shoppers will find produce from dozens of farms and makers like Jacobson Family Farms, Smits Farms, and Garfield Produce Company. Consumers will be able to pick up fresh bread baked daily from bakers like Bennison's, Verzenay and fresh pasta from Empoli Chicago. They will also be able to grab high quality grass-fed beef, pastured pork, free-range chicken, heritage turkeys, artisan cheeses, granola, and prepared meals from a variety of local chefs.
Every purchase will provide local food producers with 6-8 times higher margins than a traditional grocery store.
"The WhatsGood platform saved our business during the pandemic. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have survived 2020. Our products are in front of so many more people because of WhatsGood. The creation of the store is fantastic, now you will be able to grab and get our Finn's Ranch eggs, beef and pork anytime," said Alex Finn, Finn's Ranch.
WhatsGood's technology enhances the shopping experience both online and in-store. Open displays and ergonomic handmade wooden shelves are a cut above traditional grocery stores. The retail store colors and decor differ from other grocery markets, mimicking the stark contrast of nature and modern city life while underpinning the presence of a bright future via technology. The manifestation of transparency in the food supply is apparent. Massive wooden barn doors separate the front shopping area of the store from the rear fulfillment portion. At times, shoppers will have the opportunity to watch and even meet farmers, artisans, and chefs dropping off their products or observe dozens of online orders being picked and packed for delivery.
"Our Farm Shop makes it possible for more people to experience what a farm fresh egg tastes like, or to bite into a locally grown apple and taste what fresh really is. It's not just in the name. We want people to reconnect with their food and the farmers who've worked so hard to grow it, and understand that against challenges like a pandemic or rising food prices, local food systems will demonstrate resilience as they did in 2020," explains Tortora.
The WhatsGood mission is to localize our food system by making fresh, nutrient dense, local food more accessible and convenient. Based on its home delivery and eCommerce technology that built partnerships with Chicago farmers markets (over 3 years ago), Farm Shop grocery stores are the next evolution in how WhatsGood accomplishes its mission and provides communities in Chicago with better access to high quality, local food. WhatsGood is developing services and technologies to empower local food communities and offer a better future for our food supply.
For more information, visit WhatsGood at www.sourcewhatsgood.com.