Lida Farm

I’m surprised when some members or customers think I only farm. For the past twenty years, I’ve held down a full time job as an Extension Educator with the University of Minnesota while also running Lida Farm. I thought it was obvious. But it isn’t. People either know me as Ryan Pesch, Farm proprietor, or Ryan Pesch, Extension Educator. While a lot of people think about balancing work and life, I sometimes joke that I’m constantly balancing work and work 🙂

This weekend was a good example. We typically focus on harvesting on Sundays and get the crops done that take a lot of time so we can pack the boxes on Monday. This weekend, however, I had to go roundtrip to Lino Lakes to do a post-harvest vegetable handling demonstration with some new African farmers who are selling wholesale. To allow me to be gone on Sunday, Mason and I had to do harvesting on Saturday – that’s work-work balance!

To some lucky souls with just one 9-5 job, this sounds all kinds of crazy. To me, after 20 years, it’s just normal and really part of a long tradition of farmers who do some kind of work off farm. Hey, even Pa from Little House on the Prairie had a ‘town job’ at the lumber mill. Remember that? Yes, at times, I’m doing some kind of data analysis or report for Extension at 10 pm to meet a deadline and it’s really no fun at all. But, most often, I intersperse time getting physical outside with my Extension work inside and it feels very complementary and productive.

Let me be clear, I don’t want to join this chorus of ‘productivity gurus’ you find online. These guys are all kinds of annoying, forever banging on about just how successful they are taking on the world as a weight-lifting tech bro who just cornered the crypto market. I’d just say my goals are a lot more modest. I like to be able to cook a meal from scratch in the evening and relax. A day made up of some physical labor give you a satisfying feeling at the end of the day that no amount of deals and meetings and moving pixels around could ever approach.

In the box:

• Green Cabbage
• Snap Peas: Edible pod in pint container – no need to shell – just eat them.
• Bunch of Kale: Frilly green with blue band.
• Green Onions
• Bunch of Radishes: Yes, I’ll lay off these after this week…no, I don’t put radishes in every box but these have been growing super well in our cool wet summer so far.
• Lettuce mix: A mix of red and green varieties. Some might have a frilly leaves, others will be butterhead type, but they are all lettuce.
• English Cucumber: Wow, these grew great in the high tunnel this year!
• Kohlrabi: Bulb-like thing with greens on top. For some, this alien veggie is a mystery. Just peel, cut, and eat with some salt.
• Bunch of Parsley: Small bunch with red band.