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Farm Beginnings Profile: Kristianna Gehant & Nick Siddens

A Little Horse Sense

By Brian DeVore
January 10, 2012

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When a new food and farming model is introduced to a region, it can be slow to catch on—if at all. On the other hand, sometimes a new concept takes off like a galloping horse, challenging its practitioners to hang on for the ride. One Saturday last October, Kristianna Gehant and Nick Siddens were on their knees, pressing garlic bulbs into the rich glacial till soil of their northeastern South Dakota farm. Five years ago, they jumped off a bucking bronco, and this is where they landed.

“We may have been heading towards burnout if we hadn’t of changed,” says Kristianna, 36. “We just needed to pull on the reins a little bit.”

The frisky pony in question was Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), a system where farmers sell shares in their farm before the growing season, and in return make a weekly delivery of produce to the “members” of their operation. When the couple launched a CSA produce enterprise on Prairie Coteau Farm in 2004, the concept was so new in the region that “people thought we had invented the concept,” recalls Kristianna.

That first season for Prairie Coteau started out in relatively humble fashion: they sold 12 subscriptions, mostly as half-shares. Then, as the word got out, things moved from a trot to a gallop. The next year they more than doubled their shareholders. By 2007 they had 42. Nick’s full-time job with a wind energy company kept him on the road for days at a time. So when they were doing the CSA enterprise, Kristianna was doing most of the farm work during the week. On the weekends they drove to Sioux Falls 90 miles away to sell produce at a farmers’ market. Kristianna and Nick began looking at the numbers and realized that they would need 100 to 120 CSA members to make the farm a full-time endeavor for both of them.

Kristianna Gehant and Nick Siddens, with their children, Georgia and Luna.

They were concerned that such growth at that time would throw a roadblock in front of some major life goals, number one being starting a family.

“We were going with the flow and I think we could have gotten up to those numbers, but it would have required risking being unhappy about sacrificing things like starting a family,” says Nick, 33. “We wanted to re-evaluate where we were at so we could redirect and make it work together.”

What they needed, the couple decided, were the tools to execute the kind of planning they’d neglected to do before jumping into CSA farming. So after the 2007 season they ended the CSA enterprise, and that fall and winter Kristianna took the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings course. Twice a month she traveled to Marshall in southwest Minnesota to participate in classes taught by farmers and other ag professionals from the community. The course focused on goal setting, business planning and innovative marketing.

Garlic production has allowed the couple to focus on managing the farm as a whole and make plans for the future.

Farm Beginnings Dakota Style
Kristianna had ulterior motives for taking the class. She serves on the leadership team of Dakota Rural Action, a nonprofit family farm organization based in Brookings. A few years ago, DRA’s staff and members began discussing the possibility of teaching the Farm Beginnings course in South Dakota. Kristianna wanted to get a firsthand look at the course to see if it could be adapted for use across the border.

Her time in the program was well spent. Kristianna reported back to DRA that the course’s emphasis on whole farm planning and financial management would be a good fit for South Dakotans seeking to start farming or make changes in their current operations. Dakota Rural Action is now in the midst of its third year of offering the Farm Beginnings course to people representing a variety of ages, agricultural experiences and goals.

“I think what Farm Beginnings has done in South Dakota is unearth all the people who are interested in small scale and sustainable agriculture and put them in touch with each other,” says Kristianna, who has led class sessions.

The course paid off personally as well.

Kristianna didn’t grow up on a farm and has a degree in history and women’s studies from St. Olaf College. She worked on agroforestry projects as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mauritania and was introduced to CSA farming while interning on an operation in northern Illinois. Kristianna concedes that experience prompted her to “fall in love” with the whole concept of raising a family on a small working farm.

“I think there was a great deal of idealism involved—feeling like this was something very positive to do for the earth, for our family, for myself and other people,” she says.

Farm Beginnings provided the opportunity to step back and take a look at how to proceed with a farming career from a more practical point of view.

“Farm Beginnings helped us figure out what we want out of farming and our quality of life in general,” Kristianna says, adding that one of the most valuable outcomes of the course is that she and Nick were prompted to write down their long-term plans. “It made us consider what the other was thinking and see where we agreed and where we didn’t. We were actually pretty much on the same page.”

One doesn’t have time for that sort of reflection while seated on a galloping horse. One thing the couple agreed upon was that running a CSA given their current situation and goals was probably not the best fit.

Nick grew up on an Illinois dairy farm and concedes he “was not a model farm child in any way.”

“I think I spent my entire high school career trying to learn as little as possible about farming,” he says with a laugh.

He eventually got a degree in natural resource and environmental science from the University of Illinois and sees himself continuing in his current position with a wind energy company for several years to come. However, Nick would like to eventually build their farm into an operation that can provide a full-time income for both he and Kristianna.

The couple has developed an overall goal of managing the 40 acres as a whole and integrating income-generating crop fields with habitat such as prairie and trees. They would also like to eventually bring livestock onto the farm to help cycle nutrients into the soil while controlling weeds and adding economic value to grass and hay.

“Vegetable farming is all-consuming and you get stuck on those two acres,” says Nick. “It’s tough to look up and manage the rest of the farm.”

Narrower Focus = Wider View
After ending the CSA operation, Kristianna and Nick decided to focus on raising garlic, a crop that had always done well on their farm. They grow anywhere from eight to 12 varieties of garlic, mostly as seed stock that’s shipped all over the country. They acquired organic certification in 2010, and their customers come mostly through their website (www.prairiegarlic.com) and contacts through the Garlic Seed Foundation.

During the fall, Kristianna and Nick spend a lot of time making shipments containing anywhere from a pound to 200 pounds of seed garlic. In 2011 they grew a little less than an acre of garlic, which produced around 1,300 pounds.

As they plant a Russian Giant variety of garlic on this particular October day with the help of a friend, Clark Young, Kristianna and Nick discuss the advantages of focusing on one enterprise for now. Unlike vegetables, garlic can be stored and shipped relatively easily using services like UPS, which is particularly important given the distance between their farm and major markets. And during the growing season it doesn’t require the daily, intensive management that produce does.

“We can do it as a team,” says Kristianna. “There are some labor-intensive times, but not every week. You plant it in October, then mulch it, remove the scapes in June and harvest it in July.”

But focusing on one enterprise isn’t getting in the way of moving forward with other plans for managing the farm as a whole. Nick and Kristianna have established native prairie grass on a small hillock to control erosion, and are working with a friend who is a permaculture expert to revitalize a grove.

Once their young daughters—Georgia, 1; and Luna, 3—are old enough to attend school, Kristianna and Nick will consider expanding the garlic enterprise and perhaps getting back into vegetable production.

In a sense, the fact that Farm Beginnings has helped nurture a growing local foods/sustainable agriculture movement in South Dakota takes a bit of the pressure off the couple. Kristianna says part of the reason things got a little out of hand half-a-dozen years ago was that there was the feeling Prairie Coteau offered one of very few options in the area as far as local, sustainable food. Now that it’s become clear there are other farms in the region doing this sort of thing, Nick and Kristianna don’t feel they have to do it all—they can pick their niche.

“We can step back a little,” says Kristianna as night falls and she and Nick walk the kids from the garlic patch to the house. “We can say, ‘Okay, it’s great there’s all this interest in local foods and CSAs, but our place in all this can be a little bit different.’ ”

 

Category: Farm Beginnings Profiles
Tags: beginning farmers • Farm Beginnings • vegetable farming

Give it a Listen

In episode 113 of LSP’s Ear to the Ground podcast, Kristianna Gehant and Nick Siddens talk about their decision to shift gears.

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The Johnson Center for Land Stewardship Policy is excited to share that one of our its primary pillars of work — a published collection of Paul Johnson’s writings —  is set for release on Oct. 2.  The book features a brief biography and a discussion of Paul’s ideas within the historical and future contexts of private lands conservation. Details on the event are available here.

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Participants will walk around a “homestead” farm site, exploring areas and goals the landowner hopes to improve in the future, including pollinator habitat, perennial plantings, windbreaks, privacy/noise screens, water quality improvements, well sealing, and compost placements. Participants will hear feedback and recommendations from a conservation professional on potential programs that could assist the landowner in achieving those goals. This will be an active event.

Please bring a camp chair and a potluck dish. The host will provide the main dish, so think about bringing sides and dessert. For details and to reserve a spot, click here. For questions, contact LSP’s Alex Kiminski at akiminski@landstewardshipproject.org.

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Weaving a Wider Community: Seeing & Countering Racism in Our Backyard
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Weaving a Wider Community: Seeing & Countering Racism in Our Backyard
111 N 1st St, Montevideo, MN 56265, USA

Join LSP and CURE for a community event at the Land Stewardship Project office in Montevideo (111 N. First St.), from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Friday, Oct. 10. This event includes lunch catered by El Mana; please register by Oct. 3 to be included in the food count.

You can RSVP here.

The Racial Equity Conference, organized by the Greater Minnesota Partnership of the Facilitating Racial Equity Collaborative, has been specifically designed to bring engaging content to local communities through a unique pairing of online speakers and in-person local sessions. The morning’s online content will include a conversation focused on seeing and countering racism in rural communities, moderated by Eryn Gee Killough, paired with two outstanding keynote speakers, Jenna Grey Eagle and Ron Ferguson, who have experience working in rural communities. 

This online content will be exclusively available to local community gatherings. Each gathering will gear their in-person activity to their specific community with the goal of extending the impact of the conference to others throughout the following year. Join LSP and CURE for this western Minnesota gathering, or if a different location works better for you, check out all the local gatherings on the FREC site,

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Leatherdale Equine Center, 1801 Dudley Ave, St Paul, MN 55108, USA

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This is the second tour in a three-part soil health bus tour series. Participants can sign up for just one, two, or all three tours. Register at https://z.umn.edu/vegetablebustours. The cost is $15 (flat fee, covers 1, 2, or 3 tours). There are more details in the attached flyer.

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LSP-COPAL Visita a la Granja | Farm Tour
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LSP-COPAL Visita a la Granja | Farm Tour
36919 County 57 Blvd, Dennison, MN 55018, USA

Building off the success of last year’s farm event with COPAL in Austin, Minn., this year Land Stewardship Project and COPAL members and supporters will gather at the Young-Walser Family Farm in Dennison, Minn. for a festive and delicious farm tour on Saturday, Oct. 11, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. We invite you to come and meet new folks, learn new skills, and try new food! 
 
This year’s COPAL-LSP farm event offers a little something for everyone: 
 
🍯 Honey sampling and the opportunity to purchase from Homestead Honey Farm. 
 
🍎 Apple cider pressing and tasting. (BTW, we’re still looking for an apple press if you or a farmer friend have one nearby we could borrow for this event!) 
 
🌽 Nixtamalization workshop and fresh, homemade tortillas, made with corn grown by LSP and COPAL members at the Young-Walser Family Farm! 
 
🍅 Salsa making and cricket-eating competitions! Yes, you heard that right —we’ll have the opportunity to sample crickets, a delectable crispy and savory snack commonly enjoyed throughout Mexico and Central America. Stay tuned for details on how to enter either competition. 
 
🥾 A tour of the Young-Walser farm, nestled in the beautiful Sogn Valley not far from Cannon Falls, Minn. Enjoy a tromp through the corn and squash fields and hike in the nearby woods. 
 
🌮 A shared meal and opportunity to hear from LSP and COPAL organizers about our participation in the Immigrant Defense Network. 

Let us know you can make it to ensure we order enough food and supplies! Carpools from Minneapolis and Rochester will be available to all attendees. 

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¡Únete a LSP + COPAL para nuestro recorrido anual comunitario en la granja!
Un espacio divertido para tod@s donde exploraremos la agricultura, aprenderemos sobre el campo y participaremos en actividades prácticas. ¡Uno de los momentos más especiales será hacer tortillas frescas junt@s!

Compartiremos un delicioso almuerzo comunitario, preparando tacos en estilo potluck (tipo convivio). Te invitamos a traer un platillo o acompañamiento para compartir.

También estás invitado@ a llegar temprano (desde las 9 AM) para ayudar a cosechar calabazas que sembramos. Puedes llevarte algunas a casa, y el resto se donará a un banco de alimentos local.

El Land Stewardship Project (LSP) es una organización aliada de COPAL que trabaja por sistemas alimentarios y agrícolas más sostenibles y justos. LSP y COPAL están unidas en su lucha por instituciones democráticas sólidas, comunidades saludables y acogedoras, y una ética de cuidado hacia la tierra y las personas que nos alimentan.

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