Imagine if you could see who made your favorite shirt or pair of jeans, who cut the pieces of fabric, sewed them and steamed them, would that change where you shopped or how you shopped?
Full Circle Farm, a certified organic farm located in Carnation, WA, gives their customers and the public just this opportunity by offering weekly farm tours, a volunteer program, and farming internships. Realizing the importance of the public knowing and understanding that the food they eat begins with the earth.
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) found its roots in Europe and Japan in the 1960s but the concept didn't make its way to the U.S. until the 1980s. The idea was born out of consumers' desire for safer food met with small-scale farmers' need for more financial stability, especially in lower crop-yielding months.
Members of CSA programs typically pay up front for the produce they will receive in the upcoming months, where wholesale buyers such as supermarkets pay later. For the farmer, cutting out the middle man not only allows farmers to yield a higher dollar for their crops but also allows for some added financial cushioning in the winter months. The consumer on the other hand benefits from a fresher and more environmentally sound product.
A traditional CSA runs about 26 weeks through spring, summer and fall. Depending on what they signed up for, members receive a box filled with a variety of fresh produce, which is either delivered to their home or available at a site for pick-up. But come winter, most CSA programs shut down for the less bountiful season. Full Circle Farm does not run a typical CSA.
Innovation is the name of the game for owners Andrew Stout and his wife Wendy Monroe of Full Circle Farm.
Recognizing customer demand for year round produce, as well as produce that is not grown in Washington, Stout and Monroe have not only developed different farming techniques to meet these needs but also import a variety of produce from organic farms in California and Mexico to supplement product in the off-season. This has allowed them to run a successful year long CSA program that serves the Puget Sound and Alaska.
Admittedly the farm is not much to look at in January; the air was crisp but pungent with the smell manure, the ground wet and muddy, and the fields black with nutrients, but lacking color at the moment. But after talking with Hoback you can feel the soul behind the operation.
This soul or rather philosophy is translated into the details at Full Circle Farm.
Looking out into the field, Hoback points toward the Snoqualmie River and explains how the farm is certified Salmon Safe, a certification that is not required by law, but might as well be for Stout and Monroe. Salmon Safe, based out of Oregon, encourages farmers and the like, to participate in sustainable farming practices that keep water clean and maintain areas surrounding native salmon runs. Indigenous species of plants have taken the place of invasive species for a healthier river bed; “blackberries only harbor rats, birds don't even eat the berries,” explains Hoback.
They have also planted trees and shrubs that encourage native fowl to nest and feed away from the fields. In the distance I can see the two large nests of bald eagles perched in the trees; six have been born on the farm.
Walking along the path, the mud leaving me with resistance in every step, we run into Emily. Bundled up in a red fleece and a black cap, she smiles, and chats with Hoback for a second before sharing with me how she came to work at Full Circle. She was intern in the farm's program.
The internship program is designed to encourage individuals who have a passion for the earth and locally grown produce to learn how to farm, recognizing that most people do not come from a farming background. Hoback reiterates to me that farming is not for the faint hearted, “People have this romantic notion of farming when they get out here...it's hard work.”
We continued with our tour.
I could smell the parsnips before I turned the corner to find four workers hosing off the muddy root vegetables. The cleaning area is nestled between the CSA boxing warehouse, where stacks and stacks of waxed reusable boxes lie, and the refrigeration warehouse.
Crate upon crate of red, purple, white and brown potatoes, red and golden beets; “It's like Russia in here. Borscht anyone?” I comment upon entering the refrigeration warehouse. Hoback laughs, and I ask her what the farm provides in winter CSA boxes. She tells me how many farms have 
not survived because of this seasonal dilemma and that is why Full Circle decided to import produce from organic farms in California and Mexico in the winter months. “In the summer and fall the box contains about 90 percent of our produce.”
They also offer local organic chocolate, coffee, and eggs in their CSA boxes, along with recipes featuring the contents of the box that particular week.
Before I leave I ask her what every American is probably thinking about these days, the Recession.
On the way out, she handed me an organic Pink Lady apple from Washington of course. I bit into it on the drive home. It was the best apple I had ever tasted.
For your palate...a recipe you might find in a Full Circle CSA box:
Mini Ginger Pear Cakes with Warm Figs & Pears in Brandied Honey
Courtesy of Full Circle Farms
Recipe from www.usapears.com
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/4 cup finely grated, peeled Northwest Concorde Pear
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
3/4 cup buttermilk
Warm Figs & Pears in Brandied Honey
2 to 3 medium-sized, ripe Northwest Concorde or other pears, peeled, cored and cut into 18 (1/2-inch) slices
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup honey
5 tablespoons brandy, divided use
1 cup halved figs
Preheat oven to 350?. Generously coat 6 mini-bundt pans *with vegetable cooking spray. In large bowl, cream sugar and butter until with electric mixer about 5 minutes. On low speed, beat in egg, then pear and ginger. Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and allspice. Add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with buttermilk. Spread batter evenly in pans. Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until pick inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Turn out onto wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
While cakes bake, prepare sauce: Place pear slices in bowl and toss gently with lemon juice; set aside. In small saucepan combine water, honey and 1/4 cup brandy. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Add figs and simmer 3 minutes. Stir in pear slices. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 1 tablespoon brandy.
To serve, place cakes on small plates. Arrange three pear slices on each plate. Top with figs, dividing evenly. Drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons brandy-honey sauce over fruit and cake on each plate. Makes 6 servings.
*Or 9 (2 1/2-inch) muffin pan cups.
