Farm Fresh 2022

a NEW MARKET blooms

Returning Native Strives To Bring Diverse, Local Goods To Cadott

words by mckenna scherer

With no grocery store in town, Cadott residents typically have to travel to Chippewa Falls or Cornell for groceries. Either way, it’s a 20-minute drive.

Cadott-grown local, Jessica Ryba, moved back to the town last year with her partner and kids to find the last grocery store in town had closed some time ago.

“I remember growing up in Ca dott with (grocery) stores around, but when I moved back there was nothing,” Ryba said.

Seeing a deep community need, Ryba stepped up to the plate this spring to bring something new and fresh to the town – a farmer’s market. “I started digging deep in March (planning the market),” she said. “I did a lot of research – lots and lots and lots.”

Doing her own sleuthing online to see what other farmers markets had done to successfully start up, Ryba knew it was imperative the community have a voice in the market too, especially since she wanted it to function as a nonprofit. By conducting a sur vey via social media asking for community input as well as do ing some good ol’ word-of-mouth work, Ryba founded the Cadott Farmers Market with a community full of excitement behind it.

On top of working a full-time job and having a family of her own, creating the market was truly a passion project. With support from her husband, Lance, she said this “adventure” is already giving back in more ways than she anticipated.

Kicking off last weekend on Saturday, June 11, the Cadott Farmers Market will continue to be held every Satur day from 9am-noon at Riverview Park, June through October, rain or shine.

With the first market attracting 200 people of all ages, it was definitely a success. Even more, Ryba said the best part of the event was not the amount of people who came, but what they did upon arriving.

“Over 200 people showed up – even in the rain – and that in itself was incredible. But people didn’t just come, pick up a few things and leave,” Ryba said. “They wanted to stay and hang out. I saw people just talking and enjoying being out together. That was the best part.” Ryba’s children were also at the first event, handing out temporary tattoos of the farmers market’s logo. Ryba said having her kids involved and be ing able to see the community come together is something she wanted them to experience.

“It’s important for my kids to see this type of community,” Ryba said.

Of course, so much behind-the-scenes work went into planning the first event, let alone setting up the market to be a continued facet in the community.

As a one-woman show, Ryba did all of the groundwork to secure vendors and reach out to potential sponsors. More than 10 vendors were part of June 11’s market, in cluding bakeries, a wood-fired pizza vendor, and of course, local farms. For future markets, even more vendors are already signed up and more are welcome to join.

With four levels of sponsorships available, the Cadott Farmers Mar ket currently has eight sponsors, including the Wisconsin Farmers Union (Ryba’s employer), Yellow stone Cheese, WESTconsin Credit Union, and more.

The first level begins at a $125 donation, followed by $300, $500, and $1,000-plus. The first two levels offer

general perks with the market, with the third level also offering the spon sor a spot at the market to represent their business. At the fourth level, all of the other levels’ perks are offered, plus four further market slots to represent their business.

After the first market’s success, Ryba – alongside her family and all of the vendors – are pumped for the rest of the season. Head out to Riverview Park from 9am to noon on Saturdays this summer to get in on the local fun.

For more photos and information, head over to the Cadott Farmers Market’s official Facebook or visit cadottfarmersmarket.com.

GOLDEN. Zucker Haus’ pure gold honey was offered at the market’s first event. The Cadott Farmers Market will continue to be held every Saturday through October this Year. (Photo via Cadott Farmers Market social media)

Whether you have your own garden, are a regular at a local farmer’s market, or you just like to have fresh fruit and veggies around the house, Freeze Fresh is packed with helpful info. Schmidt discusses freezing, blanching, cooking with frozen foods, and recipes for things that can be thawed and saved for later.

Freeze Fresh: All Things Preserving and Freezing

UWEC alum, Crystal Schmidt, is releasing Freeze Fresh, a book made for everyone who wants to keep their produce longer

Words by Sawyer Hoff | Photos by Robert Olding

It’s

safe to say we’ve all thrown away some produce we have bought or grown at some point in our lives, either due to not prepar ing it in enough time or just having too much of it. Crystal Schmidt, a UW-Eau Claire alum that found success on Instagram as a homesteading and preserving resource and now she is having her first book published called Freeze Fresh.

Schmidt has quite the following on her Insta gram page Whole Fed Homestead, with over 72k followers, as she posts about all things garden ing, homesteading, and most of all, preserving. Her new book, Freeze Fresh will be released on July 5 and dives deep into preservation through freezing and the processes related to that.

Freeze Fresh contains tips on how to not only properly freeze your produce, but which things to blanch and how to cook them when you’re ready

to use them. There will also be recipes in the Freeze Fresh that are easy to freeze and recipes for your frozen produce.

“I wanted to create a book that gives people other options and make preserving food more accessible and feel more doable for the average person,” Schmidt said. “Freezing is and has always been my favorite way to preserve things because it’s fast and easy, much easier than canning, and the quality of the food is very good if you do it correctly.”

Freeze Fresh will be available on July 5 at Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, Amazon, and anywhere else you can purchase books. You can check out Whole Fed Homestead on Insta gram, Youtube, and on their website wholefed homestead.com.

Local & Regional CSAs

Compiled by James Johonnott

Blue Ox Organics

Wheeler • (715) 352-0717 • blueoxor ganics.com Where the driftless meets the north woods, you’ll find this family farm. A reliable producer of whole lamb and winter produce. CSA membership features produce. This farm is looking to revitalize the land around it with sustainable farming practices. Call to arrange a visit.

Chippewa Valley Produce

facebook.com/cvproduce A local produce company that practices sustainable soil agriculture. Their produce is available for retail at Down to Earth, and wholesale orders are available.

MoonRise Farm

W2161 County Rd. KK, Nelson • (715) 578-6803 • MoonRiseFarm@ hotmail.com • Facebook.com/ MoonRiseFarmCSA Providing weekly deliveries of a diverse group of produce sustainably grown for a reasonable price. MoonRise Farm offers a variety of veg etables, herbs, and fresh-cut flowers that are naturally and sustainably grown for CSA members.

Racing Heart Farm

Colfax • racingheartfarm.com A “worm-tilled” farm with a focus on rem ineralizing soil and earth-healthy growing techniques. Their growing season features over 50 different types of vegetables.

Seibel’s Organic Meats

seibelsorganic.com Organic beef pro ducer that offers local pickup or shipping. A number of boxes include hamburgers, filet mignons, ribeyes, New York Strip steaks, beef roasts, tips, soup bones, and much more.

Siverling Centennial Farm

(715) 933-0464 • scfarm.eff@gmail. com • scfarm.eatfromfarms.com In cludes a variety of vegetables along with occasional baked goods, canned goods made with farm produce or flowers. A small (1/2 bushel) weekly share is $495 and a large (1 bushel) weekly share is $690. Every other week shares are available.

Solheim Market Garden

rachel@solheimwi.com • solheimwi.

com A Solheim Market Share costs $420/ season and gets you a box of produce every week of the growing season. A full share is enough to help feed 2-3 people weekly. Pick up is Saturday morning or Thursday evening at The Coffee Grounds.

Spring Creek Meats

Jim Falls • springcreekmeats.com

Fresh meats with local delivery, an on-farm store, or local pickup. Featuring dry aged beef, pastured pork, pastu red chicken, and eggs. Packing nearly any cut you can imagine.

Square Roots Farm

E9985 W. Mallard Rd., Fall Creek • (715) 577-4376 • squarerootsfarm. com Chemical-free vegetables are delivered from their farm directly to your door every week. The summer share is 6-12 different vegetables for 18 weeks. Each fall box con tains roughly 30 pounds of root vegetables.

Sunbow Farm

W4620 Langdell Rd, Eau Claire • (715) 379-7284 • sunbowfarm. com Serving the Chippewa Valley with fresh, local, green-grown produce, chicken, lamb, and certified organic herbs since 2003. Sunbow believes in connecting people to the land so all of their shares require an agreement to help at the farm. Members can help with planting, weeding, maintenance, and picking.

Thornfield

330th Ave., Menomonie • 612-961-7182

• thornfieldgarden@outlook.com • field and woods where fruit, vegetables, honey and hops are produced as sustainably as possi ble. A source of very fresh, organically grown produce that tastes better than almost anything you can find at a store.

Together Farms - CSA

W93 Norden Rd., Mondovi • (715) 210-4740 • togetherfarms@gmail.com

• togetherfarms.com Striving to raise the healthiest, happiest animals with lots of minerals and pasture, 100% grass-fed/finished beef, lamb, pasture pork, chicken, turkey, and duck. GMO-free and no MSG, nitrates, or other unpronounceable ingredients.

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