Rock Spring Farm, Spring Grove, Minnesota

Check out Chris and Kim Blanchard’s great farm (and food!) blog for up-to-the-minute reports on what’s happening at Rock Spring Farm and how to cook their seasonal organic offerings! Click below to read an article from the Rollin’ Oats Journal with more about the Blanchards and their farm.

Rock Spring Farm: “Feeding People is a Sacred Act”

As summertime kicks into full gear, local produce is popping up everywhere—my mouth waters just thinking about it. We are very lucky to have an abundance of good organic farmers doing their thing to keep delicious healthy food on our tables all summer long . Chris and Kim Blanchard at Rock Spring Farm are two of those good people.

Rock Spring Farm is a family-owned farm growing wholesome, organic produce and a diverse array of livestock on eighty acres outside of Spring Grove, Minnesota since 1999. Part of one of the original homesteads in the area, the farm has a rich variety of landscapes, including fertile bottomlands, forest, pastures, oak savanna, and a clear running stream. Chris and Kim have been growing vegetables professionally for almost thirty combined years. They follow strict organic guidelines, using no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. They take this practice a step further by proactively using composts, beneficial insect habitat, and organic minerals to buffer the effects of pests, diseases and weather.

For Chris, the decision to become an organic farmer came when he was managing the school vegetable garden at Deep Springs College in the California desert. “One morning, I woke up and realized that not only were all of the answers to life’s questions to be found in the garden, but that I could actually stand to do this kind of work for the rest of my life.”

What do you feel are the greatest challenges of running an organic farm?

I think they are probably the same as the challenges of running any small business: balancing the needs of the business with the personal needs of the owner; finding a sustainable way to grow that recognizes the limitations of our environment while providing a reasonable return on our investment of time and money; and knowing when to act and finding a way to make the extra time that is sometimes necessary to take advantage of a break in the weather or a new opportunity.

For me, there are three. The first is the occasional glimpse of over-the-top beauty that occurs when you work outside: the whoosh of a startled blue heron’s wings; the smell of freshly-turned soil; and that incredible shade of blue along the western horizon when darkness is falling. All of these tend to catch me off guard at the moments when I am the most tired, and provide me the energy to go on.

The second is the feeling that comes from revitalizing this farm, which was abandoned before we bought it in 1999. In a countryside where farmers are still disappearing, and most of the rest are growing older, our farm is a vital and exciting patch of activity.

The third is the gleam in a customer’s eye as they exclaim, “These are the best carrots I’ve ever eaten!” Feeding people is a sacred act, because people are what they eat; when we grow food for people, we are growing the stuff that people are made of. When we do a good job, it makes people’s lives better: they are more likely to make healthy food choices, and more likely to share a meal with their family.

What are your favorite crops to grow and eat?

Carrots are such a great crop to grow. They aren’t easy. We have to space them carefully using a specialized seed drill to get decent-sized roots, and they germinate slowly so weeds are difficult to control. But digging them is like digging buried treasure, and our valley, with its rich soils and cool night temperatures, produces some great tasting carrots.

We’ve also enjoyed growing more fresh herbs lately. The techniques required to produce perennial herbs are different from those required to produce annual vegetables. We use a lot of organic mulches for weed control, and harvest carefully to ensure continued high-quality harvests week after week. Harvesting fresh herbs is a heady, intense experience; sometimes, the perfume is almost overwhelming.

What would you say is the best reason for shoppers to buy locally grown organic produce?

The best reason to buy locally grown organic produce, and other local, organic products, is to take advantage of true value at every level. You get fresher produce, and varieties selected for flavor rather than machine harvest-ability or long-distance ship-ability. You support local businesses and local farmers, which invigorates the local economy. You support clean water and clean air, which certified organic farmers are required by law to protect. And you strike a blow for homeland security, since our food supply is such a weak link in the nation’s infrastructure.

In what ways do you see the organic produce industry shifting in the next few years, and how are you at Rock Spring planning to change with it, or against it, to secure a spot in the market?

In the coming years, more and more large farms are going to come into organic production, and the large multinationals will continue to expand their organic divisions. We will continue to insist that food is not a commodity. A carrot is not just a carrot like any other carrot; it is a unique result of climate, geography, soils, and the farmer’s heart. Wine people call this quality “terroir,” or the taste of the earth; and if you can taste the difference between Chardonnay grown under irrigation in California and Bordeaux grown without irrigation in France, you can certainly taste the difference between Bolero carrots grown in a steep valley in Upper Midwest and some numbered variety from a thousand acre field of carrots in the California desert. That’s something that the multinationals can never take away from us, and it’s something we will continue to make the most of.

Chris and Kim are very active in the organic and beginning farmer communities. Kim is president of the Board of Directors of the Downtown Rochester Farmers Market. Chris is the board secretary of the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Services, an organization providing education and outreach for organic farmers, agricultural professionals, and conventional farmers seeking to transition to organic farming. He also coordinates the workshops and keynote addresses for the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference, the largest organic farming conference in the nation. As if that isn’t enough, Chris teaches the financial planning portion of the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings Program.
Like I said, these are good people who grow great food. Look for their carrots, beets, turnips, herbs, and beautiful flower arrangements at the co-op. We might not have the answers to all of life’s questions here at the co-op, but we will have Rock Spring vegetables.

Written by Tyler Cook, reprinted from the Rollin’ Oats Journal

Visit the Rock Spring Farm website to learn more.