We’ve added another farm tour to the Year in the Life series!
Come learn about CSA (community supported agriculture) with a behind-the-scenes tour at West End Farm. Drop in anytime between 3:30 and 6:30 on Monday, August 25 to see how we pack the weekly CSA boxes and chat with CSA members who come pick up their boxes on the farm.
Position Title: Field Crew Member
Position Details:
Job type: Part-time, seasonal (May through October)
Schedule: Up to 3 days per week: Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays. Some flexibility is available for the right candidate.
Start date: May 1
Farm Summary: West End Farm LLC is a diversified specialty-crop farm that provides local food to the southeast Nebraska community. The farm raises over 50 different vegetables, herbs, berries, and melons, and also sells honey from beehives on the farm, as well as value-added food products. Products are marketed directly to consumers via a Community Supported Agriculture (produce subscription) program and at the Beatrice Farmers Market and Sunday Farmers Market in Lincoln. The farm is a tobacco-free and drug-free environment.
Responsibilities: Primary duties include transplanting plant starts, weeding by hand and with hoes, harvesting vegetables, and washing/packing produce. Other farm tasks as assigned.
Qualifications:
Ability to perform repetitive physical work with endurance
Strong attention to detail in a fast-paced agricultural environment
Ability to follow directions and work independently
Willingness to work in all types of weather, including cold, heat, and rain
Ability to lift 25 pounds regularly and 40 pounds occasionally
Punctuality, efficiency, and time management skills
Compensation and benefits: $14 per hour, paid monthly. Workers’ compensation coverage. Access to free excess produce. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about small-scale commercial vegetable production!
To apply: Send a resume and 3 references to Katie at westendfarmne@gmail.com
The Center for Rural Affairs is putting on a series of online classes and on-farm tours this year called “A Day in the Life of a Vegetable Producer”. West End Farm is one of the farms they’re highlighting in the series. I’ll be hosting one tour per month this season, each focusing on a different aspect of vegetable farming.
Here’s the schedule (each tour is on a Saturday from 1:00-3:00 pm):
April 5: Soil preparation
May 10: Extending the season
June 14: Plot layout and developing agricultural ecosystems
July 12: Tools and machinery
Aug. 9: Closing out the season
If you’re considering starting a vegetable farm or if you want to dive deep into these topics so you can improve your garden at home, this will be perfect for you.
If you are just curious about raising vegetables, you’re also welcome to come! If you’ve never been out to the farm and want to see where your food grows, please come! This will be a great chance to see the farm and to observe how the crops grow and change throughout the season. Come to one or come to all the tours as your schedule allows.
Each tour will start with an overview of the whole vegetable operation plus the beehives. Then we’ll get into the nitty gritty of the topic of the day. (If you just came to see the farm and don’t want all the details, this would be a good time to find some of the barn cats to play with!)
This entire vegetable production series is bilingual, so the tour will be translated into Spanish. Feel free to bring a Spanish-speaking friend or a student you know who needs to practice!
Click here to find the farm.
Have you heard of the “technology adoption curve” or “innovation adoption lifecycle”? It describes how quickly different proportions of a population accept new technologies and practices. It looks something like this:
That’s right. I’m usually so far behind the rest of the population that I can pick up the “new” technology at thrift stores for a fraction of the price once everyone else has moved on to the next new thing. How far behind am I? My tractor is turning 72 years old next month. My car is older than I am. I’m still using my 12-year-old printer (it was free!) And, fourteen years after its introduction, I finally bought an air fryer.
I was pretty hesitant to buy one for several reasons. Did I really need another cooking gadget? Surely my ancient toaster oven (an excellent thrift store score) would suffice? If I bought an air fryer, would I immediately slide down the slippery slope of buying junk food like frozen onion rings, mini corn dogs, and mozzarella sticks?
Even accidentally winning a trivia contest about air fryer cooking two years ago didn’t convince me to purchase one. So thank you to the CSA members who finally convinced me to go for it!
My very first experiment in the air fryer: eggplant parmesan. Delicious! (Plus, convenient to use up the last of the eggplants and tomatoes of the season).
Subsequent experiments indicate I still have some work to do to perfect sweet potatoes, salmon, and egg bites. Grilled cheese was amazing, though! Up next: experimental air fryer aloo gobi (an Indian cauliflower dish).
1 large or 2 small eggplants
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
splash of milk
1 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 cup marinara or tomato sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Chopped basil or parsley for garnish (I used parsley and oregano)
Slice eggplants into 1/2” thick rounds, lightly salt both sides (optional), and let sit.
In a shallow bowl, combine bread crumbs, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and milk. Put flour in a third bowl. Preheat air fryer to 370-390 degrees, depending on settings available.
Pat eggplant slices dry with a paper towel. Dip each slice first in the bowl of flour, fully coating the slice. Then, dip in egg bowl. Finally, place in bowl of bread crumbs and ensure the slice is fully coated with bread crumbs.
Arrange slices in single layers (you’ll need multiple racks or to do several rounds of cooking) in the air fryer, and air fry for 6-8 minutes (check regularly to ensure they’re not too brown). Flip slices and air fry another 4-6 minutes.
While eggplant is cooking, warm the marinara sauce. Or, if like me you don’t have any, make your own tomato sauce by sautéing onions, garlic, diced tomatoes, and spices/herbs. Allow to simmer while eggplant is cooking.
When eggplant is done, spread a layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of the plate. Arrange eggplants on sauce. Immediately sprinkle with cheese so it melts and then top with herbs.
CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture subscriptions) carry the misconception of being expensive because the entire season is paid upfront. However, with a little saving up, they don’t have to break the bank, and they often end up providing greater value over the season than the initial cost. It’s a bit like buying in bulk.
Let’s take a look at how a CSA box can fit in the budget.
A small CSA box (5-6 items every week) for the 2025 season (20 weeks: June through mid-October) is $475.
Start now and save up $16 a week in order to put down the $100 deposit by the end of the year. This reserves your spot in the CSA.
Then plan to set aside $29 a week in order to pay the remaining cost by April 1st. You’re all paid up!
Then what? Starting with strawberries in June, and running clear through sweet potatoes in October, you’ll get a box of the freshest produce every week for 20 weeks without paying any more money all season! In a good year, you’ll even end up with more produce than the box was valued at (last year, our CSA members received $57 MORE product throughout the season than they paid for)!
A little saving up in the beginning can result in a lot of saving in the end! Find out more about the CSA here.
This post was originally published in November 2021, and has been updated.
