Restoring Cultural Traditions

We’d like to introduce Green Wagon Farm, an eighteen-acre, certified-organic vegetable farm in Ada, Michigan. Green Wagon carries out the Slow Food ethos in all aspects of production, selling their produce directly to consumers through a Summer & Year-Round Farm-Share (CSA program) and at the Fulton St. Market every Saturday. Visit the farm on June 16 for the Annual Summer Slow Food Mixer! Learn more about Green Wagon’s growing practices, enjoy samples from local artisans, and meet the 2018 Biodiversity grantees.

Photo: Chelsea Blair

Preserving farming techniques and traditions.

At Green Wagon, we enjoy our work. We revel in new inventions, like the paper pot transplanter, and in old ones, like a good quality hoe, and we believe that the pleasure of the farmer should be at the heart of every quality meal. We work hard to build systems and tools that make our work more enjoyable and sustainable, spinning our greens in a clothes-dryer-turned-salad-spinner, transporting harvested crops in bicycle carts, and installing underground irrigation for reliable watering.

Photo: Vanessa Autumn

Restoring cultural traditions.

In the winter, we use simple, ancient techniques to harvest winter-hardy vegetables from October through April; mainly this means planting in the fall under insulated plastic tunnels and harvesting into early spring. We can harvest all kinds of greens and roots this way, crops such as spinach, chard, kale, and radishes, which thrive in low-light and cool temperatures. In fact, these crops taste even sweeter during colder months because of the sugars produced as an antifreeze.


Photo: Neil Blake, MLive

Positive impacts for farmers, consumers, and the planet.

Without a middle-man, our customers get the freshest produce at the lowest cost, both economically and environmentally, and we (your farmers) receive a fair price for our goods. Pick up your groceries (with reusable bags) from the farm in Ada or from Fulton St. Market in Grand Rapids when you join the Year-Round or Summer CSA. When you shift your diet to include more local, organic produce, you reduce food miles and food waste.

Slowing down.

Learn which vegetables grow when and anticipate each new crop as it comes into season. Meet new vegetables you’ve never tried before and master new methods of cooking and preservation. Sign up for our Weekly Wagon newsletter for recipes and farm news–or grab a Market Card and shop for veggies Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday throughout the year. When you eat seasonally and chew slowly, you will experience the joy of each vegetable at peak flavor.

Photo: Chelsea Blair

Creating good-food community.

Food that’s produced sustainably, shared equitably, and enjoyed with pleasure is what we’re all about. For the third year, we’re hosting a series of unique farm-dinners that showcase seasonal eating at its best. Partnering with local chefs, we’re creating courses that reflect the diversity, beauty, and culture of this place and time (sign up here to the get the summer dinner line-up). We love to invite new members into this slower, tastier, and more equitable way of eating! And we’re excited to kickoff the series with Slow Food’s Annual Summer Slow Food Mixer. Join us!

RSVP to the Annual Summer Slow Food Mixer or visit www.greenwagonfarm.com to learn more about supporting local farmers and building a sustainable local food system. This guest blog was written by Leah Sienkowski of Green Wagon Farm.

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