Angela Tedesco's first real foray into writing was as a weekly newsletter about what was going on at her farm and what customers could do with their food. Years later, some of those farm experiences and recommendations turned into a book.
Finding Turtle Farm (2022, University of Minnesota Press) recounts Tedesco's experience with community-supported agriculture (CSA). "This is a type of relationship between the farmer, the consumers and, I like to include a third leg of that community, being the earth and all the community of insects, animals and microbiota," says Tedesco. Customers pay for a full season and receive a regular CSA box of seasonal vegetation.
Being a part of a CSA can make for an adventurous menu. Tedesco includes many recipes in the book for anyone who is unfamiliar with vegetables that they might not normally pick up at the grocery store. "Most of [the recipes] are pretty simple and it is eating with the season, so you're not going to get tomatoes in May and you're probably not going to get lettuce in August."
Tedesco has stepped back from full-time farming, but the adventure continues in many other ways. "I'm still always experimenting and learning about natural ways to cooperate with the insect world and the fertility of my garden... It's always a learning process."
Minnesota Reads is produced at The North 103.3 with funding provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
