For many years, Steve Young had worked as a mechanical engineer, but he eventually became dismayed by the corporate culture and yearned to get out from behind a desk to work outdoors. He comes from a family of gardeners, and growing food has been part of his lifestyle since childhood. In 1990, he rented some land and started Rare Earth Farm with a community-supported agriculture (CSA) model. Two years later, he purchased the 20-acre property in Ozaukee County where Rare Earth Farm operates today: 6806 Highway KW, Belgium, Wis.
Young grows and sells his produce through CSA, online and to restaurants throughout Milwaukee. He has a degree in industrial education and applies those talents and work skills to farm operations. He makes his own compost and grows cover crops to increase the microbial diversity in soil. The farm itself isn’t certified organic, but Young uses certified organic fertilizers and pest management materials.
Many of Young’s diverse crops require different growing conditions, and he said it’s a juggling act to maintain the 30-plus items on his harvest chart—everything from apples and arugula to sweet corn and tomatoes. Produce is delivered to customers within one to two days of harvest. Customers particularly enjoy his greens.
“Our spinach and lettuce varieties do really well; probably because we’re close to Lake Michigan, so the weather here has challenges but also good benefits. Compared to inland, it’s a little cooler here, so it enables us to do a good job with our greens, which like cooler weather,” he said.
Bees are kept on the farm to help with pollination, and they also provide an added bonus: honey. Young puts honey in the CSA shares and also sells it online to non-CSA members. (He also noted that non-CSA members can buy whatever is listed available on the website.) Young also obtains maple syrup from a small producer in Dorchester, Wis., for the CSA boxes.
While many farmers today are retooling their CSA models to boost declining memberships, Young is leaving Rare Earth Farm’s CSA program as a full-share model. “Offering a half-share costs just as much as a full-share to produce, and that just adds more complexity to the whole operation,” he explained. But he does let customers tailor their CSA boxes by adding extra items. For those who enjoy canning or pickling, they can buy extra tomatoes or pickling cucumbers and have those added their CSA share. Young is also working to balance CSA income with selling to Milwaukee area restaurants such as Pizza Man.
Young expressed hope that more people would pursue farming as a career to help increase domestic production of organic and regionally grown foods. High consumer demand has flooded large supermarkets and big-box stores with organic produce sourced offshore and with products labeled “local,” a term that’s often used loosely by large chains. “Some places consider anything grown on this side of the equator to be ‘local’,” he said wryly.
The people who come to work at Rare Earth Farm range from those curious about farm work to folks looking to make extra money and take home some great food. “That’s one of the benefits of my work program here: Employees take home a lot of food. I always love sharing my food with my employees.”
For more information, visit rareearthfarm.com.
