Deb Malewski
Contributing Writer
We all want to eat healthy, but it can be difficult. We’d love to garden and grow our own vegetables, but it’s can be challenging. It would be great to have fresh salads and fresh produce on our table all summer, straight from organic garden varieties.
Blue Silo Farms, owned by Derek and Charlsie Sederlund, is trying to make it easier for you to eat healthy. Their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program at their farm, which is located about halfway between Eaton Rapids and Charlotte, makes it easy to have the freshest vegetables straight from the farm to you.
A Community Supported Agriculture program is a seasonal produce “subscription” service that gets you fresh produce from a local farm on a weekly, scheduled basis. The Sederlunds offer both ten- and twenty-week subscriptions, with the option of vegetables or a salad mix package. The salad mix contains more salad greens and less root vegetables.
This is their third season, and their first year at the Sederlund family farm on Perkey Road. The farm, with its large blue silos, has been in Derek Sederlund’s family for a long time, going back to his great-grandparents.
Why use a subscription service?
“It’s not for everyone,” Charlsie Sederlund said. “But if you are seeking vegetables fresher than you can buy from the grocery store, hand-picked right off the vine or plant, it might be for you.”
“If you’re interested in trying something new,” Derek Sederlund said, “or want to get to know the person who grows your food, and where it actually comes from, you might enjoy the service.”
No sprays are used on their crops. “We handpick the bugs off,” Charlsie said.
“Covid actually helped our small business,” Derek said. “People were looking for ways to get their vegetables without having to be in a congested store and they wanted produce that is relatively “untouched” or breathed upon,” he explained. Weekly orders are pre-paid, pre-bagged, and ready for them to pick up (outside) and go. They also offer delivery.
Last year they offered 25 shares to the public; this year they hope to double that number. They hope to eventually expand enough so that it will be a full-time job for one of them. Derek works outside the home at a full-time job and puts in up to thirty more hours on the farm. Charlsie is a stay-at-home mom to their daughter, Landon, and works about 20 hours each week on the farm.
New this year in your produce pack will be leeks, kohlrabi, sprouting broccoli, eggplants, and winter squash. Their heirloom tomatoes are colorful and beautiful, Charlsie stated. They also sell eggs and honey.
The Blue Silo Farms also provide some produce for area businesses, including The Whistlepig BBQ in Charlotte.
To learn more about The Blue Silo CSA program you can visit their website at bluesilofarms.com, contact them by email at bluesilofarmscsa@gmail.com, or text/call them at (517) 231-1708. The farm is located at 4121 S. Perkey Road, Charlotte. The deadline to sign up for shares is May 15.
