Author: Lee Bartnik

The Process

The season of bounty is upon us. Partial jars of fresh-pressed apple cider litter the farm common area. Our cooler wall continues to fill with bins of fresh apples. Carrots, onions and zucchini lie...

Veggie Tales

I’m struck by the attentiveness demanded by the vegetables we are growing this season. I munch a radish in the truck, and am struck by its relative woodiness and blandness, compared to the same...

Red’s Bed

I got an early start Wednesday and roared out of town in our beastly F-350, fully loaded with a bed and trailer of woodchips. I had them mostly unloaded by the time Monica showed...

Systems?

Having existed within RSO since inception, I’m quite eager to get an outsider’s view when I can — picking the brains of our first-year employee, Asher, our old guy, Red, and our work shares....

The Life

When I was a child and young man, having little clue about the direction of my future, there were two things about which I was absolutely certain: I was not going to be a...

Allium Time

One of the fascinating features of farming is its dynamism in rhythm throughout the season. Gentle, housebound planning sessions of winter are supplanted by the greenhouse world of seeds, trays and watering patterns, which...

Market Dynamics

It would be hard to overstate the importance of farmers’ markets to our current business model. We bank on a sizeable influx of cash from Saturday-to-Saturday in peak growing season, flowing in from our...

Land Econ.

Now well into our second season on the vegetable grind, the members of Rising Sand are starting to explore questions regarding our current and future relationships to our land and business. As opportunities and...