Cold, wet and rainy outside...Warm and toatsy indside...

Things here at Kelso Acres continue to move full speed ahead. The weather in south central Minnesota may be colder than usual, but the seedlings will have their way whether Mother Nature likes it or not! Over the last week we've seen winds gust to 40-50 mph, the greenhouse no longer is as pristine as it was in the beginning (had to fix up some holes and tares with duct tape and lath), but the plants are satisfied in their new home.  I walked into the house yesterday after a day of work to find it feeling a bit empty. Ed had moved all the seedlings that were crowding the windows in the living and dining rooms outside to the greenhouse.

Ed's work station where he makes soil blocks

We woke up to rain and a temps in the mid-upper 30's here, but in the greenhouse it was a nice 55 degrees. The plants are enjoying two heaters to make it nice and toasty so they can continue to grow so that they can be placed in the soil. The broccoli and cauliflower are busting at the seems, wanting a more permanent home in the nice tilled dirt. Too bad the soil conditions haven't improved and mother nature is still trying to hang on to some part of winter instead of giving way to the nice warm temps that move us from spring to summer.

 Pepper and Zero taking time away from the rain inside the greenhouse

Gearing up for spring and farmer's markets!

Our yard no longer has snow and ice, the water has receded from the farm fields adjacent to our homes and Spring has sprung.  It has come into full swing for the Hohenstein and Wiest families as we prepare for this year's season at farmer's markets and the first year of our new community supported agriculture (CSA) business.

The greenhouse has been built on our yard, we're getting ready to till up the ground and the seedlings are being planted in droves. We already have onions, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, tomatoes, cabbage, leeks, shallots, ocra, and peppers have been seeded and are sprouting. For the herbs we have thyme, oregano, and stevia planted. Our windows are full of plants as seen below and the green house is about half full with all the plants waiting to be moved outside to a more permanent location.

 Greenhouse

Our living room, taken over by a few of the 4,860 plants in our home!

Who we are and what we plan to accomplish...

Kelso Acres was formed as a community supported agriculture business (CSA) in Kelso Township of Sibley County Minnesota by the Hohenstein and Wiest families.

Ed and Des Hohenstein

The idea came about when Ed was told his grant funding would run out from his previous job in May of 2010. One of Ed's main hobbies is gardening and so he came up and idea to use his hobby as a new business. As Ed was looking for a place to have his garden, he looked for something close to home and approached our neighbors, Lyle and Valerie, about possibly renting some farm ground. They saw the opportunity that this business could bring for their family too so instead of doing a 2 acre CSA, Kelso Acres was born as a partnership between the two families and neighbors.

Kelso Acres is approximately 4 acres in size and located right off of County Road 8 by the two toilets (if you're from the area you know what we're talking about). We are attempting to grow our produce as organically as possible, however, organic certification will take 3 years so we won't be certified for some time.