Welcome to Monmouth monthly a peek into the heart of the Willamette Valley. Each month, we will bring you updates of the things happening in and around town brought to you by the people who helped make it happen. I am your host Sabra Jewell.
And welcome back to another episode of Monmouth Monthly. Man, this month, I am so excited to be joined by two folks that I've gotten the chance to get to know over the last couple of years. I can't wait for our listening audience to get to know them as well. It is Eden Olson and Lindsey Darling. And they are two folks that work around town have a Lucky Crow Farm, and also the Eat Crow Supper Club, among many other things I'm sure that they are going to tell us about today. So welcome to the podcast, you too.
Thank you. Thanks for having us.
My pleasure. All right. So let's start at the origin story. Tell me in how you got involved and this kind of work and farming and agriculture. Tell me everything about you.
Okay, well, I'm actually sixth generation farmer in this area or in the valley. So my family has been farming mostly seed crops, so grass seed forever and ever. And then I studied agriculture in school down in California. So after school, I moved to the Bay Area and manage farmers markets, mostly in the Oakland area where I met some really great farmers. And they invited me to be their ranch hand up in Sacramento. So I worked with cows and sheep and olive trees up there, and then began missing the Pacific Northwest. So I was hired on to a vegetable production farm up in Washington, in the Olympic Peninsula. And we had a lot of salad and heirloom tomato production. And then I realized that if I wanted to start my own farm, I really needed to have access to land. And that's the biggest issue for young and beginning farmers is that the land is so expensive to either own or rent. And so coming back home was my only option and also the best option because it turns out I grew up in a wonderful place to farm and so I came back and am now farming, some family property, as well as a couple of urban plots in town. And so that is how that all began. I guess this will be now my eighth season with Lucky crow farm.
So eight seasons and did you ever imagine that you would be back home doing this work? Did you ever think when you left that you were ever coming back to Monmouth?
No I did not. I moved to Southern California with the intention of sticking around the sunshine and realized fast that I am actually an Oregonian at heart and and belong here amongst the rain on trees. So it was quite surprising to me that I am here now and to to many of my friends growing up they were surprised that I'm I decided to come back home and but here I am. And I can't believe that I get to live in this beautiful place. And this community is incredibly supportive of my farm and of the things that Lindsay and I are trying to do with the local food community.
And before I come back and ask you more questions about the farm and your family's land and all those places that you have your urban farming. Lindsay, tell us how you got involved in the mix and all this and where did you come from Lindsay?
Where did I come?
Where did you come from?
Well,
Well, I came from a little town right outside of New Orleans, Louisiana called Covington and I moved to Oregon at the beginning of 2018 to help a friend open a restaurant and bar here and I was the chef there for the couple of years that we were open before we closed when COVID hit I come from a family of rest restaurant tours, chefs, you name it. We grew up eating, drinking and live in large so it's just kind of always been in my blood. I'm one of four kids and I'm the only one that really went into the industry and and stuck with it
Now the the restaurant that you were referring to that you worked at pre pandemic was that Valkyrie? And that's interesting because I moved here in February of 2020. And all I heard is that I needed to go to the Valkyrie and eat the food there because it was some of the best food in town. Tell me about some of the things that you serve there.
It was a great place very southern inspired, you know being fresh from Louisiana so you could find the jazz fast shrimp or Milad poboy on the menu we had a great Charcoal Oven that was pulling out some of the best filets that we could possibly find. Just with a little light salad and some house cut french fries.
We had frog legs.
Well, yeah, that's right. We did buffalo style frog legs and that was probably one of the best accomplishments I think that I took away from the Valkyrie was turning people on to Southern style frog legs.
And so were you involved at Lucky crow farms? What's your what is your role with the farm?
I'm very involved? A couple of my favorite parts of the offseason are selecting seeds for the following season and what we'll be able to grow by help a lot with little projects during the winter. I don't know, I don't know how to say what I do is trying to say that I don't get paid.
But she does, work.
But when we talk about the supper club, I bet that's a role that you are hugely involved in this is not only the menu selection of the supper club, but just how do we get this ball rolling? How do we make that event happen?
100%
Your food and beverage experience and dining experience I think is where like you're, you're the Muse and the master behind that
Without a doubt. And Eden really had the name eat crow in her mind before we even met. It was something that we started talking about a couple years into our relationship and decided that it was time to marry, you know, the chef element and the farmer element of this and it's kind of a no brainer.
All right, so let's back it up a bit. You started lucky crow forms and 2017. Where do you get the name where the name come from?
Oh,
Oh, my gosh, Sabra. Everyone asked me this question. I always have to decide which story to tell. But I'll tell you the real one.
Okay, you heard that we're getting the truth, y'all.
So my mom is actually pretty superstitious. And there are a couple of crows that have always lived on the property or family property. And she truly believes in her heart of hearts that it's her parents reincarnated as these two crows. And they just watch over the farm.
That's pretty beautiful. Because crows have that reputation for hanging out and talking amongst themselves and watching the knowing people exactly see your face. That's really kind of beautiful. So it's homage to that kind of a memory of your family. Yeah. And those that are kind of watching over the family property that is beautiful. Now your last name is Olson, you are part of the Olsen family communities, your father's Eric Olson. So he's developed some properties and beautiful property here in Monmouth and another areas I imagine.
Yeah, that's right. And his sort of vision for that community. The Edwards addition was that an amenity for those neighbors would be instead of your classic golf course, would be an urban farm. And so within that neighborhood, there are three acres that are allocated actually zoned EFU for agricultural production. And so I'm currently cultivating one of those acres with the intention to grow into the other two as well. So a lot of CSA members are actually just able to walk down the street and pick up their their fresh veggies from that that urban farm location.
And if Lindsay is not on the payroll, who else is on the payroll over lucky farm? Who else working with you over there?
Good question. And this is a little shout out to anyone in the community who's looking to work on a farm, I'm usually hiring until April, I'm looking for crew members to come out full time and part time options. And so I anyone who wants to work physically and do everything from harvesting and transplanting to farmers markets, we're a small little crew of hardworking individuals that love growing local food and eating it too. So this point, I'm not sure what the who's going to be on the crew. I'm in my sort of hiring stage.
And do you work with any of our local school districts to do any kind of training for students and volunteer programs? Is that something that you've been dabbling in at all, that's something that I would love to do. And to talk more, I have a relationship with the 4H program at Central, I would love to chat more with them. I'm actually working with another really cool organization, rogue farm Corp, they'd have an education program alongside an apprenticeship on a farm for people who want to learn how to be farmers and haven't had that training, haven't grown up farming and are looking for an educational space to learn to farm. So that's actually where one of my employees came from last year, and hopefully more this year, and it's a wonderful, wonderful organization.
And so now that you have been at this for a while, anything that you've learned in this experience that you were didn't expect to learn or something that surprised you and your work doing this.
I think I have been very surprised. And I guess pleasantly surprised by the amount of support that I've gained within this community. And it didn't take very long we have really steadfast my customers come out rain or shine. If I ever asked for help in any way. They're there to help us the supper club is just gaining so much traction so fast. And we we're just I feel so lucky to be living here and I haven't grown up here. I didn't expect this kind of support just because we're just a little town and I didn't know that it could support this kind of vegetable production this little my little farm I don't know why and I just had no idea.
And so, tell me I don't want to make the listeners wait up to hear more about the supper club, I want to hear about the supper club, y'all. So please, I know that you have done this one time before, it's kind of a test run, I believe it was several months ago. But let's get into it.
We did, we rolled out our first supper club the day that the CSA was starting last year. So we pretty much piled as much on our plate so to speak as we possibly could.
It was one of the craziest days I would say of my life. But the great thing about the first supper club is that it was really a thank you to the lucky Crow, your customer base, and just people who have supported the farm for so long. And we were able to, you know, put on a really good event and feed people and just kind of laid back and we really focus on the hospitality aspect of of dining out and gathering.
So So tell me more. I'm I'm a CSA member, and I get an email when I'm invited to the supper club. What do I do next? Tell me more.
You buy a ticket!
Purchase your ticket, so I purchased my ticket. And then so is it a several course meal? Like, is it going to be fresh? A farm to table?
Yeah, yeah, it is. It's a it's a five course meal. Every bit of menu development starts with what is in the field, what we can pull out of the field. So I don't really have the luxury of dreaming up a menu of oh, I want to start with this course in this course, it really kind of creates some some guide rails for me to create a menu that is really representative of what's coming out of the farm at any given time. So it really helps me design something memorable and delicious, and seasonal, and all those good things.
Yeah, it's, I mean, Lindsey isn't talking enough about herself. So I'm gonna say it. But I mean, it's really hard as a, as a chef, just to cook great food, let alone these parameters being set of this is what you have now cook good food, because I mean, we're going to be doing our first supper club on the 28th of March. And I mean, she's going to have a lot of greens to deal with, and some potatoes, and that's about it. And she's going to bust out some really beautiful food. And that's, I think the difference between a good chef and a great chef is having those parameters and creating with what you have cooking with what you have, essentially.
Yeah, I live with the back of the house person who can kind of open the pantry and he can just decide what we're having. And I have to have the list. It is the best because if I don't have it on a recipe card and written out and it's intentional for me, I can't do that. That's a magical thing.
For me, it's like the tyranny of choice. If I have too many options of things to cook, I just won't cook. So I like kind of having those guide rails to say you have to work within this. Now put out the best meal you possibly can.
What was on that first menu? Do you remember what you served?
Well we did Marinated summer squash, we did braised fennel and orange braised Silvernail farm pork shoulder with peas and pea shoots with dill and lemony pea shoots and creamy mashed potatoes.
How many people are able to attend the supper club?
So we have two seatings one at five and one at 730. Each seating host 25 people, and we have eight spots available for walkins. And those will be at the bar space.
Wow. That's a lot of people that you're going to be feeding that's incredible. As a lot of people you plan on doing this every month.
We're gonna do it every month, the last Thursday of every month.
So tell me though, is the supper club featuring everything that is from Lucky crow farm? Are there other growers involved in the supper club?
Everyone's involved! We have so many friends in the community, the producing community around here and so we will have meat from our friends at Silvernail farm eggs and meat from feather root farm. We'll have mushrooms from Sun reach, we will beautiful sourdough bread for Manna bakery Salem,
Are you looking for other partnership people reach out to you if they're a local grower and say I'd love to be a part of your supper club. How do I get a part of this? A
Absolutely.
Okay. Yeah, yeah, reach out. So go to your website and say, Hey, contact form. I'm a grower and I want to be a part of this.
Yeah, I would contact eat crow supper club.com. And just send us a little message. And let us know that you're out there. And I would love to include you in the next menu.
So you hear that local farmers and growers if you want to be a part of this and have the things that you're doing promoted in this fashion in this incredible way. Please let these two know because I think that this is going to be a huge hit in our community folks are always looking for these these personalized and kind of intimate meals where they can learn about local food. And I think a lot of folks are being more cognizant about what they're eating and where they're receiving their foods at that's super important. I'm really glad that you're going to be doing this monthly. So now that we've talked about Supper Club because I absolutely - We could not wait any more to get into this because I'm personally so excited about attending. Let's talk about CSAs. For for those that don't know, if I'm just using this acronym and nobody knows what a CSA tell people what a CSA is, tell them how they can be involved, and what are some of the benefits of that?
Okay, yeah, so CSA stands for community supported agriculture. And it's essentially an arrangement in which a customer or community member is investing in a farms season and receives a portion of what is produced that season. And so this is really important because a customer will pay up front. And that really helps the farm, which is very capital heavy at the beginning of the season. So we're paying for our amendments and our soil, employees, our seeds, everything a lot. The majority of the costs of farming happens at the beginning of the season. And so when a community member says, I trust you to grow food for me, here's my money, take it, use it, and then I will come to your farm every week, or come to the farmers market and pick up a bag full of beautiful produce than the farmer. It's really you know, it's honestly revolutionary, because the farmer then has that freedom to be able to produce that food and the customer knows that they have a portion of a share of what's being produced. So we have a 18 week CSA starting in June going through October, with pickup locations in Monmouth independent South Salem, West Salem and Corvallis. And so we have small shares and full shares small shares for maybe a couple or small family or someone who doesn't eat maybe vegetables in every meal or cook at home necessarily every day. And full shares are the more bigger haul in your home. But they pay in advance for this.
How much does this normally cost this?
Yeah, good question. So our full share is $550 for 18 weeks, and then the small share is $350 for 18 weeks. So that ends up being about $17 a week for a small share and 27 or so for the full share. And
you're getting fresh produce, you're able to get that every week, right. So at the farmers market, what are some of the pickup locations that you mentioned. So we're
at the independents Farmers Market on Saturdays, as well as the Corvallis Farmers Market on Saturdays, either Tuesday or Thursday pickup at the Monmouth urban farm location. And then Thursdays in South Salem, and West Salem, and those drops are in neighborhoods there.
Well, that being said, if you don't sign up for the CSA in time, or it's all sold out, you can go to their online store and purchase a farmer fresh box. And essentially, that's that week share of CSA so you can get all the benefits if you don't have the cash upfront.
And I also appreciate that you send out a newsletter because even if I don't I'm not a member of the CSA, I can still know some of the things that you're growing and you always put a list what I love about your newsletters, not only do you put a list of the things that you're offering, but you put recipes in there too, which I think is really, really cool. That goes with some of the things that you're going to be giving away. So folks, if you are not signed up for this, please consider going to visit luckycrowfarm.com. And you can get signed up for their newsletter and it is such a joy to get that newsletter and that might help you understand if the CSA is right for you if you're seeing some of these fruits and vegetables that are popping through. So you're talking about some of the pricing on this. Is there any considerations to folks who might be on any government supported food programs?
Yes, thank you for asking. So CSA is partnering with a Pacific Northwest CSA coalition. And essentially, they allow for us to participate in the Double Up Food Bucks program. So that covers 50% of a CSA share and also allows for SNAP members to pay for their CSA monthly instead of upfront. And so it's an incredible program that is, you know, creating much more accessible local food for our community. We also offer we accept EBT at our farmers markets locations as well. So at the independence location and Corvallis and Corvallis has the Double Up Food Bucks and I'm working on Independence right now so so
that's really incredible what an tremendous opportunity to make sure that this is more accessible to all people so that's really cool. That's that's you're able to work with with other groups to make that happen. It has a neat do people take advantage of that program that you've seen?
Yeah, I found more and more each year. So it's just about spreading the word. Getting the word out there and explaining honestly what a CSA is and why it benefit could benefit your family. It truly is an incredible way to get fresh food into your home.
If you're just now joining us we're here with Eden Olson and Lindsey Darling who are talking about lucky crow form and also the eat crow supper club. But if you can't make it to a supper club and it absolutely sells out before you get your tickets and I know this thing is going to sell out. There's also other opportunities to taste some of the goodies that you're preparing. Tell me more about that.
I'm glad you mentioned that we're actually having A great fundraiser for the food bank on March 15. And we're going to have Sean Daly in the Shams performing at Indy Commons and eat crow is going to be doing some food that's kind of festival friendly, beer friendly and all around. And Irish.
Yeah, if you've not been to see the Shams before Sean Daly in the shames, I think this is his third year coming to Indy Commons to perform around St. Patrick's Day. And I was so thrilled to hear you all are going to be doing the food for that. Do you have any specific items that you want to tease us with? Or should you just show up that day, if you want to be wined and dined should absolutely just show up. But I do need to add that this concert is free. But we do ask that folks bring a donation for the Ella Curran Food Bank, please that is the food bank that serves the folks in need here locally in our area, Polk County and we could certainly appreciate all the help that we can get for that and that this concert goes towards to supporting that organization every year. So this is a great tradition of that. So folks need to come out and see that on the 15th at Indy Commons. So thank you again to my guest today on Monmouth monthly and Olson and Lindsey darling. I do want to remind everyone to please look at Luckycrowfarm.com and you can sign up for the newsletter get more information about the CSA and then you'll get information about the eat crow supper club, and the eat crow supper club is going to be on the last Thursday of every month, they're going to have two seedings so there's opportunities abound for you to sign up but I would sign up quickly because I have a feeling once we start talking about this around town this event is going to get sold out. Even if you're not a part of their CSA you can still find their products at the farmers market and independence on the weekend. So be sure to check that out. Stick your toe in when it comes to CSA farming and Learn more by visiting their website. Once again thank you for listening to Monmouth monthly spring is sprung and Mahmut hope everybody is enjoying the beautiful weather that is about in all the mini Park opportunities that you have here in town. Don't forget to rate review tell a friend and we will see you next month. Thank you for listening
Thank you for joining us for Monmouth monthly My name is Sabra Jewell. Our music is catching up by chill steady and we record at Indy Commons which is a co working community independence Oregon. Please find us wherever you find podcasts rate review, tell a friend and we will see you next month.
