Getting fresh on a community-supported farm

ARGYLE, Minn.-While neither Starr Johnson nor Nathan Kotts have their driver's licenses yet, they're old farm hands. They're spending their summers tending 7 to 10 acres of vegetables and caring for a barnyard full of animals at Little J's CSA, a community-supported agriculture farm near Argyle. "I like it because you can learn a lot and make some money," said the 14-year-old Kotts, while taking a break from weeding long rows of red cabbage and Brussels sprouts. "It kind of feels like it's mine." The job keeps the young Stephen, Minn., teenager busy, he said, between weightlifting at 6 a.m. and basketball practice in the evenings. Starr, now 13, grew up on the 160-acre family farm. "I like the animals," she said while strolling through a pen holding three lambs, newcomers to the farm this year. The teenagers also help Julie Johnson, Starr's mother, prepare for her weekly CSA trips to Grand Forks to distribute fresh produce to a few dozen member-customers. Little J's will start its season Tuesday, making weekly stops, from 4 to 7 p.m., in the parking lot at Plains Chiropractic and Acupuncture in the Menards Mall. The season runs through October. The CSA also has memberships and makes regular deliveries in Stephen and Thief River Falls. Little J's offers several types of shares, including full- or half-bushels during the summer season, and fall season shares. The farm grows more than 40 varieties of vegetables and herbs, with the weekly baskets evolving as the season progresses. The first week's bounty is expected to be new potatoes, swiss chard, leaf lettuce and red lettuce mix, radishes, rhubarb, apple mint, jam and, possibly, cucumbers, Johnson said. Little J's also offers fresh farm eggs, as well as grass-fed beef, pork, chicken and lamb, and a limited number of Thanksgiving baskets that include a turkey, plus a variety of holiday vegetables, all grown and harvested by a couple of ambitious and resourceful teenagers. "They are working hard, learning natural practices, running a small business and still having time for friends," Julie Johnson said.
Growing trend Little J's CSA is part of a growing trend around the country. In a CSA, consumers purchase a "share" in a farm, which entitles them to receive a box or bushel of local produce every one or two weeks in return for sharing the risk of farming. Some CSAs offer other products, such as flowers, eggs, meat, cheese and baked goods. The North Dakota Agriculture Department lists 27 CSAs in the state. Minnesota Grown lists two others within 100 miles of East Grand Forks, one in Felton, Minn., and one in Solway, Minn. This is the Johnsons' sixth season. "I was looking for something to get out of the nursing home career," Julie Johnson said. "Starr pretty much grew up in the nursing home," spending her after-school hours there, reading to residents while her mother worked. Julie still hasn't left her nursing job. She's actually spending less time in the fields as Starr and Nathan learn more about the operation. Julie and her husband, Gary (Chick), own the 160-acre farm and supervise the two teenagers on the CSA. Like many CSAs, Little J's provides farm fresh products that, while not certified organic, are free of chemicals or pesticides. "We will continue to grow our produce the way nature intended, and we take great pride in that," she said. It's a motto that's listed on the farm's website. Members-many of them returning year after year-cover all age groups and income levels, Johnson said. "About half of them-the younger generation-have their own gardens," she said, adding that many of like the CSA as a supplement. "The middle-age and older ones come for the vegetables." [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1835997","attributes":{"alt":"Julie and Starr Johnson take a break recently at their Argyle, Minn., CSA. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","class":"media-image","height":"629","title":"Julie and Starr Johnson take a break recently at their Argyle, Minn., CSA. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","width":"1000"}}]] Learning experience Sharon Kotts said it was just by chance that her son started working on the farm. She and Julie Johnson work together at the Good Samaritan Society home in Warren, Minn. She said it was Julie who asked whether Nathan might be interested. "It gives him an opportunity to do something he wouldn't have had otherwise. We don't live on a farm. It's 15 miles to get there and 15 miles back. We drive him there," his mother said. "He loves the animals, loves what he's doing, and he's learning a lot." Starr Johnson started raising Fleckvieh cows as a 4-H project. Her small herd now numbers seven. "That's her college fund," her mother said. Starr, who attends Sacred Heart School in East Grand Forks, said she is thinking about studying to be a veterinarian, or perhaps a pediatric nurse. She recently recovered from a rare ailment during which she lost more than 40 pounds. She ended up at a children's hospital in Portland, Ore., where she was fed through a feeding tube. "She's back to normal now, playing basketball," her mother said. Nathan, who attends Stephen-Argyle School, said working on the farm has helped him grow out of his allergies. In the future, he wants wants to study electronics and robotics. These days, he's also studying animal husbandry, getting practical, on-the-job training. "I bought a calf last year," he said. "I'm going to sell it when it gets big, so I can buy a car. But it'll probably take more than one cow." [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1835998","attributes":{"alt":"Nathan Kotts and Starr Johnson gather eggs from a coop at Little J's CSA near Argyle, Minn. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","class":"media-image","height":"667","title":"Nathan Kotts and Starr Johnson gather eggs from a coop at Little J's CSA near Argyle, Minn. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","width":"1000"}}]] More info For more information, contact Little J's at www.littlejscsa.com or (218) 478-4495. Other CSAs in the region, according to North Dakota and Minnesota directories, include: • Tangle Tree Ranch, Doyon, N.D. • Kragnes Family Farms, Felton, Minn. • Northern Light Farm, Solway, Minn. • Bluebird Gardens, Fergus Falls, Minn. The North Dakota Local Foods Directory 2015-16 catalog can be found at: www.nd.gov/ndda/files/resource/LocalFoodsDirectory2015.pdf. The Minnesota Grown directory can be found at: minnesotagrown.com/member-directory/.ARGYLE, Minn.-While neither Starr Johnson nor Nathan Kotts have their driver's licenses yet, they're old farm hands. They're spending their summers tending 7 to 10 acres of vegetables and caring for a barnyard full of animals at Little J's CSA, a community-supported agriculture farm near Argyle. "I like it because you can learn a lot and make some money," said the 14-year-old Kotts, while taking a break from weeding long rows of red cabbage and Brussels sprouts. "It kind of feels like it's mine." The job keeps the young Stephen, Minn., teenager busy, he said, between weightlifting at 6 a.m. and basketball practice in the evenings. Starr, now 13, grew up on the 160-acre family farm. "I like the animals," she said while strolling through a pen holding three lambs, newcomers to the farm this year. The teenagers also help Julie Johnson, Starr's mother, prepare for her weekly CSA trips to Grand Forks to distribute fresh produce to a few dozen member-customers. Little J's will start its season Tuesday, making weekly stops, from 4 to 7 p.m., in the parking lot at Plains Chiropractic and Acupuncture in the Menards Mall. The season runs through October. The CSA also has memberships and makes regular deliveries in Stephen and Thief River Falls. Little J's offers several types of shares, including full- or half-bushels during the summer season, and fall season shares. The farm grows more than 40 varieties of vegetables and herbs, with the weekly baskets evolving as the season progresses. The first week's bounty is expected to be new potatoes, swiss chard, leaf lettuce and red lettuce mix, radishes, rhubarb, apple mint, jam and, possibly, cucumbers, Johnson said. Little J's also offers fresh farm eggs, as well as grass-fed beef, pork, chicken and lamb, and a limited number of Thanksgiving baskets that include a turkey, plus a variety of holiday vegetables, all grown and harvested by a couple of ambitious and resourceful teenagers. "They are working hard, learning natural practices, running a small business and still having time for friends," Julie Johnson said. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1835996","attributes":{"alt":"Julie Johnson assists Nathan Kotts weeding rows of red lettuce on a recent morning. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","class":"media-image","height":"632","title":"Julie Johnson assists Nathan Kotts weeding rows of red lettuce on a recent morning. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","width":"1000"}}]] Growing trend Little J's CSA is part of a growing trend around the country. In a CSA, consumers purchase a "share" in a farm, which entitles them to receive a box or bushel of local produce every one or two weeks in return for sharing the risk of farming. Some CSAs offer other products, such as flowers, eggs, meat, cheese and baked goods. The North Dakota Agriculture Department lists 27 CSAs in the state. Minnesota Grown lists two others within 100 miles of East Grand Forks, one in Felton, Minn., and one in Solway, Minn. This is the Johnsons' sixth season. "I was looking for something to get out of the nursing home career," Julie Johnson said. "Starr pretty much grew up in the nursing home," spending her after-school hours there, reading to residents while her mother worked. Julie still hasn't left her nursing job. She's actually spending less time in the fields as Starr and Nathan learn more about the operation. Julie and her husband, Gary (Chick), own the 160-acre farm and supervise the two teenagers on the CSA. Like many CSAs, Little J's provides farm fresh products that, while not certified organic, are free of chemicals or pesticides. "We will continue to grow our produce the way nature intended, and we take great pride in that," she said. It's a motto that's listed on the farm's website. Members-many of them returning year after year-cover all age groups and income levels, Johnson said. "About half of them-the younger generation-have their own gardens," she said, adding that many of like the CSA as a supplement. "The middle-age and older ones come for the vegetables."
Learning experience Sharon Kotts said it was just by chance that her son started working on the farm. She and Julie Johnson work together at the Good Samaritan Society home in Warren, Minn. She said it was Julie who asked whether Nathan might be interested. "It gives him an opportunity to do something he wouldn't have had otherwise. We don't live on a farm. It's 15 miles to get there and 15 miles back. We drive him there," his mother said. "He loves the animals, loves what he's doing, and he's learning a lot." Starr Johnson started raising Fleckvieh cows as a 4-H project. Her small herd now numbers seven. "That's her college fund," her mother said. Starr, who attends Sacred Heart School in East Grand Forks, said she is thinking about studying to be a veterinarian, or perhaps a pediatric nurse. She recently recovered from a rare ailment during which she lost more than 40 pounds. She ended up at a children's hospital in Portland, Ore., where she was fed through a feeding tube. "She's back to normal now, playing basketball," her mother said. Nathan, who attends Stephen-Argyle School, said working on the farm has helped him grow out of his allergies. In the future, he wants wants to study electronics and robotics. These days, he's also studying animal husbandry, getting practical, on-the-job training. "I bought a calf last year," he said. "I'm going to sell it when it gets big, so I can buy a car. But it'll probably take more than one cow." [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1835998","attributes":{"alt":"Nathan Kotts and Starr Johnson gather eggs from a coop at Little J's CSA near Argyle, Minn. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","class":"media-image","height":"667","title":"Nathan Kotts and Starr Johnson gather eggs from a coop at Little J's CSA near Argyle, Minn. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","width":"1000"}}]] More info For more information, contact Little J's at www.littlejscsa.com or (218) 478-4495. Other CSAs in the region, according to North Dakota and Minnesota directories, include: • Tangle Tree Ranch, Doyon, N.D. • Kragnes Family Farms, Felton, Minn. • Northern Light Farm, Solway, Minn. • Bluebird Gardens, Fergus Falls, Minn. The North Dakota Local Foods Directory 2015-16 catalog can be found at: www.nd.gov/ndda/files/resource/LocalFoodsDirectory2015.pdf. The Minnesota Grown directory can be found at: minnesotagrown.com/member-directory/.ARGYLE, Minn.-While neither Starr Johnson nor Nathan Kotts have their driver's licenses yet, they're old farm hands. They're spending their summers tending 7 to 10 acres of vegetables and caring for a barnyard full of animals at Little J's CSA, a community-supported agriculture farm near Argyle. "I like it because you can learn a lot and make some money," said the 14-year-old Kotts, while taking a break from weeding long rows of red cabbage and Brussels sprouts. "It kind of feels like it's mine." The job keeps the young Stephen, Minn., teenager busy, he said, between weightlifting at 6 a.m. and basketball practice in the evenings. Starr, now 13, grew up on the 160-acre family farm. "I like the animals," she said while strolling through a pen holding three lambs, newcomers to the farm this year. The teenagers also help Julie Johnson, Starr's mother, prepare for her weekly CSA trips to Grand Forks to distribute fresh produce to a few dozen member-customers. Little J's will start its season Tuesday, making weekly stops, from 4 to 7 p.m., in the parking lot at Plains Chiropractic and Acupuncture in the Menards Mall. The season runs through October. The CSA also has memberships and makes regular deliveries in Stephen and Thief River Falls. Little J's offers several types of shares, including full- or half-bushels during the summer season, and fall season shares. The farm grows more than 40 varieties of vegetables and herbs, with the weekly baskets evolving as the season progresses. The first week's bounty is expected to be new potatoes, swiss chard, leaf lettuce and red lettuce mix, radishes, rhubarb, apple mint, jam and, possibly, cucumbers, Johnson said. Little J's also offers fresh farm eggs, as well as grass-fed beef, pork, chicken and lamb, and a limited number of Thanksgiving baskets that include a turkey, plus a variety of holiday vegetables, all grown and harvested by a couple of ambitious and resourceful teenagers. "They are working hard, learning natural practices, running a small business and still having time for friends," Julie Johnson said. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1835996","attributes":{"alt":"Julie Johnson assists Nathan Kotts weeding rows of red lettuce on a recent morning. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","class":"media-image","height":"632","title":"Julie Johnson assists Nathan Kotts weeding rows of red lettuce on a recent morning. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","width":"1000"}}]] Growing trend Little J's CSA is part of a growing trend around the country. In a CSA, consumers purchase a "share" in a farm, which entitles them to receive a box or bushel of local produce every one or two weeks in return for sharing the risk of farming. Some CSAs offer other products, such as flowers, eggs, meat, cheese and baked goods. The North Dakota Agriculture Department lists 27 CSAs in the state. Minnesota Grown lists two others within 100 miles of East Grand Forks, one in Felton, Minn., and one in Solway, Minn. This is the Johnsons' sixth season. "I was looking for something to get out of the nursing home career," Julie Johnson said. "Starr pretty much grew up in the nursing home," spending her after-school hours there, reading to residents while her mother worked. Julie still hasn't left her nursing job. She's actually spending less time in the fields as Starr and Nathan learn more about the operation. Julie and her husband, Gary (Chick), own the 160-acre farm and supervise the two teenagers on the CSA. Like many CSAs, Little J's provides farm fresh products that, while not certified organic, are free of chemicals or pesticides. "We will continue to grow our produce the way nature intended, and we take great pride in that," she said. It's a motto that's listed on the farm's website. Members-many of them returning year after year-cover all age groups and income levels, Johnson said. "About half of them-the younger generation-have their own gardens," she said, adding that many of like the CSA as a supplement. "The middle-age and older ones come for the vegetables." [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1835997","attributes":{"alt":"Julie and Starr Johnson take a break recently at their Argyle, Minn., CSA. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","class":"media-image","height":"629","title":"Julie and Starr Johnson take a break recently at their Argyle, Minn., CSA. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","width":"1000"}}]] Learning experience Sharon Kotts said it was just by chance that her son started working on the farm. She and Julie Johnson work together at the Good Samaritan Society home in Warren, Minn. She said it was Julie who asked whether Nathan might be interested. "It gives him an opportunity to do something he wouldn't have had otherwise. We don't live on a farm. It's 15 miles to get there and 15 miles back. We drive him there," his mother said. "He loves the animals, loves what he's doing, and he's learning a lot." Starr Johnson started raising Fleckvieh cows as a 4-H project. Her small herd now numbers seven. "That's her college fund," her mother said. Starr, who attends Sacred Heart School in East Grand Forks, said she is thinking about studying to be a veterinarian, or perhaps a pediatric nurse. She recently recovered from a rare ailment during which she lost more than 40 pounds. She ended up at a children's hospital in Portland, Ore., where she was fed through a feeding tube. "She's back to normal now, playing basketball," her mother said. Nathan, who attends Stephen-Argyle School, said working on the farm has helped him grow out of his allergies. In the future, he wants wants to study electronics and robotics. These days, he's also studying animal husbandry, getting practical, on-the-job training. "I bought a calf last year," he said. "I'm going to sell it when it gets big, so I can buy a car. But it'll probably take more than one cow."
More info For more information, contact Little J's at www.littlejscsa.com or (218) 478-4495. Other CSAs in the region, according to North Dakota and Minnesota directories, include: • Tangle Tree Ranch, Doyon, N.D. • Kragnes Family Farms, Felton, Minn. • Northern Light Farm, Solway, Minn. • Bluebird Gardens, Fergus Falls, Minn. The North Dakota Local Foods Directory 2015-16 catalog can be found at: www.nd.gov/ndda/files/resource/LocalFoodsDirectory2015.pdf. The Minnesota Grown directory can be found at: minnesotagrown.com/member-directory/.ARGYLE, Minn.-While neither Starr Johnson nor Nathan Kotts have their driver's licenses yet, they're old farm hands.They're spending their summers tending 7 to 10 acres of vegetables and caring for a barnyard full of animals at Little J's CSA, a community-supported agriculture farm near Argyle."I like it because you can learn a lot and make some money," said the 14-year-old Kotts, while taking a break from weeding long rows of red cabbage and Brussels sprouts. "It kind of feels like it's mine."The job keeps the young Stephen, Minn., teenager busy, he said, between weightlifting at 6 a.m. and basketball practice in the evenings.Starr, now 13, grew up on the 160-acre family farm."I like the animals," she said while strolling through a pen holding three lambs, newcomers to the farm this year.The teenagers also help Julie Johnson, Starr's mother, prepare for her weekly CSA trips to Grand Forks to distribute fresh produce to a few dozen member-customers.Little J's will start its season Tuesday, making weekly stops, from 4 to 7 p.m., in the parking lot at Plains Chiropractic and Acupuncture in the Menards Mall. The season runs through October.The CSA also has memberships and makes regular deliveries in Stephen and Thief River Falls.Little J's offers several types of shares, including full- or half-bushels during the summer season, and fall season shares. The farm grows more than 40 varieties of vegetables and herbs, with the weekly baskets evolving as the season progresses.The first week's bounty is expected to be new potatoes, swiss chard, leaf lettuce and red lettuce mix, radishes, rhubarb, apple mint, jam and, possibly, cucumbers, Johnson said.Little J's also offers fresh farm eggs, as well as grass-fed beef, pork, chicken and lamb, and a limited number of Thanksgiving baskets that include a turkey, plus a variety of holiday vegetables, all grown and harvested by a couple of ambitious and resourceful teenagers."They are working hard, learning natural practices, running a small business and still having time for friends," Julie Johnson said.
Growing trendLittle J's CSA is part of a growing trend around the country.In a CSA, consumers purchase a "share" in a farm, which entitles them to receive a box or bushel of local produce every one or two weeks in return for sharing the risk of farming. Some CSAs offer other products, such as flowers, eggs, meat, cheese and baked goods.The North Dakota Agriculture Department lists 27 CSAs in the state. Minnesota Grown lists two others within 100 miles of East Grand Forks, one in Felton, Minn., and one in Solway, Minn.This is the Johnsons' sixth season."I was looking for something to get out of the nursing home career," Julie Johnson said. "Starr pretty much grew up in the nursing home," spending her after-school hours there, reading to residents while her mother worked.Julie still hasn't left her nursing job. She's actually spending less time in the fields as Starr and Nathan learn more about the operation. Julie and her husband, Gary (Chick), own the 160-acre farm and supervise the two teenagers on the CSA.Like many CSAs, Little J's provides farm fresh products that, while not certified organic, are free of chemicals or pesticides."We will continue to grow our produce the way nature intended, and we take great pride in that," she said. It's a motto that's listed on the farm's website.Members-many of them returning year after year-cover all age groups and income levels, Johnson said."About half of them-the younger generation-have their own gardens," she said, adding that many of like the CSA as a supplement. "The middle-age and older ones come for the vegetables."[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1835997","attributes":{"alt":"Julie and Starr Johnson take a break recently at their Argyle, Minn., CSA. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","class":"media-image","height":"629","title":"Julie and Starr Johnson take a break recently at their Argyle, Minn., CSA. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","width":"1000"}}]]Learning experienceSharon Kotts said it was just by chance that her son started working on the farm. She and Julie Johnson work together at the Good Samaritan Society home in Warren, Minn. She said it was Julie who asked whether Nathan might be interested."It gives him an opportunity to do something he wouldn't have had otherwise. We don't live on a farm. It's 15 miles to get there and 15 miles back. We drive him there," his mother said. "He loves the animals, loves what he's doing, and he's learning a lot."Starr Johnson started raising Fleckvieh cows as a 4-H project. Her small herd now numbers seven."That's her college fund," her mother said.Starr, who attends Sacred Heart School in East Grand Forks, said she is thinking about studying to be a veterinarian, or perhaps a pediatric nurse. She recently recovered from a rare ailment during which she lost more than 40 pounds. She ended up at a children's hospital in Portland, Ore., where she was fed through a feeding tube."She's back to normal now, playing basketball," her mother said.Nathan, who attends Stephen-Argyle School, said working on the farm has helped him grow out of his allergies. In the future, he wants wants to study electronics and robotics.These days, he's also studying animal husbandry, getting practical, on-the-job training."I bought a calf last year," he said. "I'm going to sell it when it gets big, so I can buy a car. But it'll probably take more than one cow."[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1835998","attributes":{"alt":"Nathan Kotts and Starr Johnson gather eggs from a coop at Little J's CSA near Argyle, Minn. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","class":"media-image","height":"667","title":"Nathan Kotts and Starr Johnson gather eggs from a coop at Little J's CSA near Argyle, Minn. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","width":"1000"}}]]More infoFor more information, contact Little J's at www.littlejscsa.com or (218) 478-4495.Other CSAs in the region, according to North Dakota and Minnesota directories, include:• Tangle Tree Ranch, Doyon, N.D.• Kragnes Family Farms, Felton, Minn.• Northern Light Farm, Solway, Minn.• Bluebird Gardens, Fergus Falls, Minn.The North Dakota Local Foods Directory 2015-16 catalog can be found at: www.nd.gov/ndda/files/resource/LocalFoodsDirectory2015.pdf.The Minnesota Grown directory can be found at: minnesotagrown.com/member-directory/.ARGYLE, Minn.-While neither Starr Johnson nor Nathan Kotts have their driver's licenses yet, they're old farm hands.They're spending their summers tending 7 to 10 acres of vegetables and caring for a barnyard full of animals at Little J's CSA, a community-supported agriculture farm near Argyle."I like it because you can learn a lot and make some money," said the 14-year-old Kotts, while taking a break from weeding long rows of red cabbage and Brussels sprouts. "It kind of feels like it's mine."The job keeps the young Stephen, Minn., teenager busy, he said, between weightlifting at 6 a.m. and basketball practice in the evenings.Starr, now 13, grew up on the 160-acre family farm."I like the animals," she said while strolling through a pen holding three lambs, newcomers to the farm this year.The teenagers also help Julie Johnson, Starr's mother, prepare for her weekly CSA trips to Grand Forks to distribute fresh produce to a few dozen member-customers.Little J's will start its season Tuesday, making weekly stops, from 4 to 7 p.m., in the parking lot at Plains Chiropractic and Acupuncture in the Menards Mall. The season runs through October.The CSA also has memberships and makes regular deliveries in Stephen and Thief River Falls.Little J's offers several types of shares, including full- or half-bushels during the summer season, and fall season shares. The farm grows more than 40 varieties of vegetables and herbs, with the weekly baskets evolving as the season progresses.The first week's bounty is expected to be new potatoes, swiss chard, leaf lettuce and red lettuce mix, radishes, rhubarb, apple mint, jam and, possibly, cucumbers, Johnson said.Little J's also offers fresh farm eggs, as well as grass-fed beef, pork, chicken and lamb, and a limited number of Thanksgiving baskets that include a turkey, plus a variety of holiday vegetables, all grown and harvested by a couple of ambitious and resourceful teenagers."They are working hard, learning natural practices, running a small business and still having time for friends," Julie Johnson said.[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1835996","attributes":{"alt":"Julie Johnson assists Nathan Kotts weeding rows of red lettuce on a recent morning. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","class":"media-image","height":"632","title":"Julie Johnson assists Nathan Kotts weeding rows of red lettuce on a recent morning. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","width":"1000"}}]]Growing trendLittle J's CSA is part of a growing trend around the country.In a CSA, consumers purchase a "share" in a farm, which entitles them to receive a box or bushel of local produce every one or two weeks in return for sharing the risk of farming. Some CSAs offer other products, such as flowers, eggs, meat, cheese and baked goods.The North Dakota Agriculture Department lists 27 CSAs in the state. Minnesota Grown lists two others within 100 miles of East Grand Forks, one in Felton, Minn., and one in Solway, Minn.This is the Johnsons' sixth season."I was looking for something to get out of the nursing home career," Julie Johnson said. "Starr pretty much grew up in the nursing home," spending her after-school hours there, reading to residents while her mother worked.Julie still hasn't left her nursing job. She's actually spending less time in the fields as Starr and Nathan learn more about the operation. Julie and her husband, Gary (Chick), own the 160-acre farm and supervise the two teenagers on the CSA.Like many CSAs, Little J's provides farm fresh products that, while not certified organic, are free of chemicals or pesticides."We will continue to grow our produce the way nature intended, and we take great pride in that," she said. It's a motto that's listed on the farm's website.Members-many of them returning year after year-cover all age groups and income levels, Johnson said."About half of them-the younger generation-have their own gardens," she said, adding that many of like the CSA as a supplement. "The middle-age and older ones come for the vegetables."
Learning experienceSharon Kotts said it was just by chance that her son started working on the farm. She and Julie Johnson work together at the Good Samaritan Society home in Warren, Minn. She said it was Julie who asked whether Nathan might be interested."It gives him an opportunity to do something he wouldn't have had otherwise. We don't live on a farm. It's 15 miles to get there and 15 miles back. We drive him there," his mother said. "He loves the animals, loves what he's doing, and he's learning a lot."Starr Johnson started raising Fleckvieh cows as a 4-H project. Her small herd now numbers seven."That's her college fund," her mother said.Starr, who attends Sacred Heart School in East Grand Forks, said she is thinking about studying to be a veterinarian, or perhaps a pediatric nurse. She recently recovered from a rare ailment during which she lost more than 40 pounds. She ended up at a children's hospital in Portland, Ore., where she was fed through a feeding tube."She's back to normal now, playing basketball," her mother said.Nathan, who attends Stephen-Argyle School, said working on the farm has helped him grow out of his allergies. In the future, he wants wants to study electronics and robotics.These days, he's also studying animal husbandry, getting practical, on-the-job training."I bought a calf last year," he said. "I'm going to sell it when it gets big, so I can buy a car. But it'll probably take more than one cow."[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1835998","attributes":{"alt":"Nathan Kotts and Starr Johnson gather eggs from a coop at Little J's CSA near Argyle, Minn. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","class":"media-image","height":"667","title":"Nathan Kotts and Starr Johnson gather eggs from a coop at Little J's CSA near Argyle, Minn. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","width":"1000"}}]]More infoFor more information, contact Little J's at www.littlejscsa.com or (218) 478-4495.Other CSAs in the region, according to North Dakota and Minnesota directories, include:• Tangle Tree Ranch, Doyon, N.D.• Kragnes Family Farms, Felton, Minn.• Northern Light Farm, Solway, Minn.• Bluebird Gardens, Fergus Falls, Minn.The North Dakota Local Foods Directory 2015-16 catalog can be found at: www.nd.gov/ndda/files/resource/LocalFoodsDirectory2015.pdf.The Minnesota Grown directory can be found at: minnesotagrown.com/member-directory/.ARGYLE, Minn.-While neither Starr Johnson nor Nathan Kotts have their driver's licenses yet, they're old farm hands.They're spending their summers tending 7 to 10 acres of vegetables and caring for a barnyard full of animals at Little J's CSA, a community-supported agriculture farm near Argyle."I like it because you can learn a lot and make some money," said the 14-year-old Kotts, while taking a break from weeding long rows of red cabbage and Brussels sprouts. "It kind of feels like it's mine."The job keeps the young Stephen, Minn., teenager busy, he said, between weightlifting at 6 a.m. and basketball practice in the evenings.Starr, now 13, grew up on the 160-acre family farm."I like the animals," she said while strolling through a pen holding three lambs, newcomers to the farm this year.The teenagers also help Julie Johnson, Starr's mother, prepare for her weekly CSA trips to Grand Forks to distribute fresh produce to a few dozen member-customers.Little J's will start its season Tuesday, making weekly stops, from 4 to 7 p.m., in the parking lot at Plains Chiropractic and Acupuncture in the Menards Mall. The season runs through October.The CSA also has memberships and makes regular deliveries in Stephen and Thief River Falls.Little J's offers several types of shares, including full- or half-bushels during the summer season, and fall season shares. The farm grows more than 40 varieties of vegetables and herbs, with the weekly baskets evolving as the season progresses.The first week's bounty is expected to be new potatoes, swiss chard, leaf lettuce and red lettuce mix, radishes, rhubarb, apple mint, jam and, possibly, cucumbers, Johnson said.Little J's also offers fresh farm eggs, as well as grass-fed beef, pork, chicken and lamb, and a limited number of Thanksgiving baskets that include a turkey, plus a variety of holiday vegetables, all grown and harvested by a couple of ambitious and resourceful teenagers."They are working hard, learning natural practices, running a small business and still having time for friends," Julie Johnson said.[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1835996","attributes":{"alt":"Julie Johnson assists Nathan Kotts weeding rows of red lettuce on a recent morning. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","class":"media-image","height":"632","title":"Julie Johnson assists Nathan Kotts weeding rows of red lettuce on a recent morning. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","width":"1000"}}]]Growing trendLittle J's CSA is part of a growing trend around the country.In a CSA, consumers purchase a "share" in a farm, which entitles them to receive a box or bushel of local produce every one or two weeks in return for sharing the risk of farming. Some CSAs offer other products, such as flowers, eggs, meat, cheese and baked goods.The North Dakota Agriculture Department lists 27 CSAs in the state. Minnesota Grown lists two others within 100 miles of East Grand Forks, one in Felton, Minn., and one in Solway, Minn.This is the Johnsons' sixth season."I was looking for something to get out of the nursing home career," Julie Johnson said. "Starr pretty much grew up in the nursing home," spending her after-school hours there, reading to residents while her mother worked.Julie still hasn't left her nursing job. She's actually spending less time in the fields as Starr and Nathan learn more about the operation. Julie and her husband, Gary (Chick), own the 160-acre farm and supervise the two teenagers on the CSA.Like many CSAs, Little J's provides farm fresh products that, while not certified organic, are free of chemicals or pesticides."We will continue to grow our produce the way nature intended, and we take great pride in that," she said. It's a motto that's listed on the farm's website.Members-many of them returning year after year-cover all age groups and income levels, Johnson said."About half of them-the younger generation-have their own gardens," she said, adding that many of like the CSA as a supplement. "The middle-age and older ones come for the vegetables."[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1835997","attributes":{"alt":"Julie and Starr Johnson take a break recently at their Argyle, Minn., CSA. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","class":"media-image","height":"629","title":"Julie and Starr Johnson take a break recently at their Argyle, Minn., CSA. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)","width":"1000"}}]]Learning experienceSharon Kotts said it was just by chance that her son started working on the farm. She and Julie Johnson work together at the Good Samaritan Society home in Warren, Minn. She said it was Julie who asked whether Nathan might be interested."It gives him an opportunity to do something he wouldn't have had otherwise. We don't live on a farm. It's 15 miles to get there and 15 miles back. We drive him there," his mother said. "He loves the animals, loves what he's doing, and he's learning a lot."Starr Johnson started raising Fleckvieh cows as a 4-H project. Her small herd now numbers seven."That's her college fund," her mother said.Starr, who attends Sacred Heart School in East Grand Forks, said she is thinking about studying to be a veterinarian, or perhaps a pediatric nurse. She recently recovered from a rare ailment during which she lost more than 40 pounds. She ended up at a children's hospital in Portland, Ore., where she was fed through a feeding tube."She's back to normal now, playing basketball," her mother said.Nathan, who attends Stephen-Argyle School, said working on the farm has helped him grow out of his allergies. In the future, he wants wants to study electronics and robotics.These days, he's also studying animal husbandry, getting practical, on-the-job training."I bought a calf last year," he said. "I'm going to sell it when it gets big, so I can buy a car. But it'll probably take more than one cow."
More infoFor more information, contact Little J's at www.littlejscsa.com or (218) 478-4495.Other CSAs in the region, according to North Dakota and Minnesota directories, include:• Tangle Tree Ranch, Doyon, N.D.• Kragnes Family Farms, Felton, Minn.• Northern Light Farm, Solway, Minn.• Bluebird Gardens, Fergus Falls, Minn.The North Dakota Local Foods Directory 2015-16 catalog can be found at: www.nd.gov/ndda/files/resource/LocalFoodsDirectory2015.pdf.The Minnesota Grown directory can be found at: minnesotagrown.com/member-directory/.