What they’re thinking: Community-supported farmer cautiously optimistic for grow season

The greens are here. Spinach, lettuce, bok choy, baby kale.

The rhubarb, broccoli, radishes and peas are coming.

'Over the summer we'll get into exciting stuff like tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, melons, zucchini, summer squash, tomatillos,' said Carmen Black, who's not kidding when she calls squash exciting.

The 28-year-old Solon-area native is the new owner of Sundog Farm, an 80-acre property between Solon and Mount Vernon that includes a vegetable farm and plenty of pasture for the sheep she's raising.

Sundog Farm, formerly ZJ Farm, is the principal vegetable grower for Local Harvest CSA. That's 'community supported agriculture,' an enterprise gaining popularity nationally as more consumers seek to buy local, seasonal food directly from farmers. Sundog, like many other local producers, offers a variety of CSA memberships, including a five-week spring greens package for $150 and a 16-week summer vegetable option for $450.

The spring season kicked offer earlier this month, with Black making her first deliveries to designated drop sites in Cedar Rapids, North Liberty and Iowa City.

And eager members weren't shy about loading boxes with fresh-from-the-garden fare.

Q: Do you have a cap on how many CSA members you can have?

A: My goal this year for the summer season is to have about 120 shares. I'm not sure what my current number is. … I'm doing just fine. But I'm not full.

Q: How does it work? How do you distribute the produce?

A: I really like what we do — some people refer to it as like a market-style thing. So instead of packing the boxes, which some CSAs will do, we actually bring everything to the pickup location and then we'll lay it out. And so everything will be counted, so that everyone gets the same amount, but you actually get to pick out your own veggies.

Q: How is the growing season going?

A: So far it's been a pretty good season. It's been pretty mild, which has been nice. So we've been able to get into the fields a little ahead of schedule on some crops, which is exciting. However, we've also already had some pretty serious storms, and so that feels like the wild card. Because one good storm, and you can have a big problem.

Q: Is your farm organic?

A: We are not certified organic, but we do follow all of the practices. Part of the reason why we're not certified is so we can run a really open house and people can come out and actually see our practices. Living in a smaller community, we can build that trust.

In terms of why we want to follow those practices, I think increasingly there are people who care about it. And a lot of the folks who are part of our CSAs are young families, so they're interested in feeding their kids organic food.

Q: What would you say are the most popular products?

A: Anything new that we haven't had yet a season is often what people think is their most favorite. We just had the first delivery of the spring season, and people are so excited about all the greens. But if you were to talk to the same people later, they would say, 'No, I don't like them anymore.' And fresh tomatoes are always a big hit. Those first field tomatoes of the season don't taste like anything you can get in the offseason.

Q: Is there anything that you've added because of popular demand?

A: Last year we tried to grow tomatillos, and people were so excited. … It ended up being a surprisingly popular item. It was a big hit, so we're going to definitely grow them again this year.

Q: Is there anything that's really hard to grow in Iowa?

A: Some of the longer crops are hard. Like Brussels, because there are many crops that prefer a longer, more stable season. And we have extremes. It's pretty cold, until it's pretty hot.

Q: Do you have any tips for home gardeners or novices?

A: My tip would be to keep it simple and focus on one or two things that you're most excited to eat. Because then you're probably going to be more dedicated to learning how to do a good job and making sure that crop grows.

l Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com