Pages

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

In Pursuit of Community: Fat Land Farm CSA

The experience every culture has in common is eating a meal together.  Think about it: meals are the cornerstone of nearly every celebration, regardless of race, religion, or origin.  As you can probably tell by my previous posts, I love food.  I thoroughly enjoy shopping for my family's food, I love cooking, and entertaining is an art that is ingrained into not only myself, but also my husband.  So when we met a family that was starting a CSA within walking distance of our home, you can bet your beets we signed up.

You may be asking, "What the heck is a CSA?"  It's pretty simple: Community Supported Agriculture.  Over the past 25 years, Community Supported Agriculture has become a popular way for consumers to purchase local, seasonal food directly from farmers.  Basically,

  1. A Farmer offers a certain number of "shares" to the public.
  2. Interested consumers purchase a "share" (think: subscription).
  3. Consumers receive a box of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season.
So back to our local CSA... Fat Land Farm is located on 3 acres in the middle of Roswell, Georgia.  Owned and farmed by Gary and Barrett Walker, the CSA started its fourth season Summer 2016.  We met the Walkers a few years ago through church, but just recently I had the chance to sit down with Gary and ask questions about his history in farming.


Gary's interest in farming goes back to his childhood when his family owned a vineyard in Sonoma, California.  The 5 acre vineyard produced Jam (and surprisingly not wine) and was eventually sold.  Gary continued to have an interest in farming and food quality and over the years became very passionate about eating well and knowing where his food came from.  

Once married, Gary and Barrett continued gardening on their patio, bringing in organic soil and even raising chickens in the middle of the city!  When they weren't tending their container gardens, they were filling up their Mercedes with Corn Oil.

On their current Roswell farm sits a 1933 (recently renovated) farm house whose original owners were the Colemans (Fellow Roswellites may recognize "Coleman Road"- that sweet little cut-through from downtown Roswell over to East Cobb.).  The home was purchased by Barrett's family from the Colemans and has been in the family ever since.
I really enjoyed picking Gary's brain about what he's learned about farming.
"It's physically demanding!  There's so much involved from organizing all aspects of farming, marketing, and scheduling crops.  Come February, after a short two months off, you're starting your seedlings fro April's crops to be harvested for the first CSA pick up in April."

He goes on to say that people tend to over-complicate farming.  That anyone can really do it.  One of Gary's favorite parts?  Composting.  He says it's a great example of how everything works together creating food that makes things grow.  
"Everything serves a purpose and it's great to have a hand in that process."

Weekly "shares" from Fat Land Farm contain in-season non-GMO produce (also chemical and pesticide-free) ranging from hearty greens (Kale, Swiss Chard, Collards) to potatoes and squash to bouquets of freshly harvested herbs.  Many more crops boast bountiful harvests throughout the seasons- some common household favorites and others less common that we've come to know and love.  In all this diversity of crops, Gary's favorite to grow?
"Tomatoes,"
Gary says, not thinking twice.  Quit coincidently, that's our family's favorite crop to gather around the table to eat.  And the fact that it's grown walking distance from our home absolutely makes them that much sweeter.