It’s all natural

All About Food | August 12th, 2015

HPR visits Mara Solberg’s organic farm

It wasn't too long ago that you didn't have to stamp “organic” on food products so people would know they weren't full of chemicals and that they were devoid of harmful toxins. All foods were pretty much natural and organic.

So as I drove through the achingly flat acres of industrialized farms just south of Fargo to visit Mara Solberg and her husband, it reinforced in me the need for more people like them, old-school farmers tending a manageable farmstead.

I was excited to see their small farm, which is tucked away inside 400 acres of their property, most of which they lease out for large-production farming. I didn't use the term industrial as they keep a watchful eye on the farming practices of those leasing their land to ensure they are practicing sustainable farming techniques.

After barreling down the gravel road, I waited for the dust cloud to settle around my car right as Solberg emerged from the strikingly red barn with a bowl of fresh, and very free-range, chicken eggs.

This farmstead is an oasis from the flat land, shaded by 300-year-old oak trees and awash in native flowers. It literally buzzes with bees and fluttering butterflies, two essential ingredients for a prosperous farm.

This fourth generation homestead covers about three to four acres of woods and open pastures with the Wild Rice River meandering through it, connecting the Sheyenne River to the Red River. This basically makes the area prone to flooding but, like all clever country people, precautions have been taken to mitigate any problem with future floods. And this is where the sheep, lambs, chickens and a goat get to wander and graze off all that nature provides. Call it organic; I just call it natural. There are no chemicals -- fly paper keeps the fly population under control in that very red barn. And there are no chemically enhanced feed supplements -- just good grass and plants for sheep, and dirt and bugs for the chickens.

So it came as a bit of a surprise to the sheep shearer and the butcher that the quality of wool and weight of the meat was so high and of such excellent quality. When you run your fingers through the harvested wool in its raw state, it is luxurious and soft. The meat is lean but still has the intramuscular fat needed for flavor and tenderness. Along with the yarn and lamb meat, fresh flower bouquets come from the beds, and eggs from the pastured chickens. The goat? Well, he is a pet, a happy “old goat” living the life.

As fourth generation Norwegians tending this little corner of North Dakota, they maintain a respect for the land and a lifestyle that would make their ancestors proud. As we walked the property with the chickens just wandering with us, it made me reflect back to a couple of years ago while I was working on a photography project at a commercial turkey farm. It was disgusting how these animals were being raised, and I guess that price was paid with the recent bird flu epidemic and the necessity to mass slaughter the animals and destroy them.

Solberg has got it right. Just let them scratch and eat bugs. I wanted to get some more photos of the baby lambs but they had wandered off to graze peacefully somewhere, maybe by the river. Beautiful day for it.

Come out and meet Mara Solberg on Saturday at the Red River Farmers Market located in downtown Fargo. But come early if you want some of those eggs. They go fast.

IF YOU GO:

Red River Farmers Market

Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Corner of Broadway and 2nd Ave. N.

HPR visits Mara Solberg’s organic farm

IF YOU GO:

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