Seasonal Vegetables
Fresh from our soil to your table.
There's something different about food when you know where it came from.
​
A tomato picked when it's actually ripe.
Carrots pulled from the soil.
Cucumbers harvested while they're still crisp.
Greens cut fresh from the garden.
Potatoes dug from the ground with dirt still clinging to them.
​
At Wendland Family Farm, we grow a diverse mix of seasonal vegetables on our farm in West Point, Iowa.
​
We grow food because we believe knowing where your food comes from matters.
Because feeding people is one of the oldest and most meaningful things a farm can do.
And because, truthfully, Erica just really loves growing vegetables.
​
​
Growing Food Is Where Erica Feels At Home
Flowers may have introduced many people to Wendland Family Farm.
​
But growing food has always been deeply personal.
Give Erica a patch of soil, a packet of seeds, and enough time, and there's a pretty good chance she'll turn it into a garden.
There's something grounding about vegetable farming.
You plant something tiny.
You wait.
You weed.
You water.
You watch.
You troubleshoot.
You occasionally question every decision you've ever made while picking cucumber beetles off a plant.
​
And eventually, you carry food out of the field.
Food that didn't exist there a few months before.
Food that can feed your family or someone else's.
​
That's pretty incredible when you stop and think about it.
What's Growing?
Our vegetable fields change constantly throughout the growing season.
​
Depending on the season and what is thriving, you may find:
Tomatoes.
Peppers.
Cucumbers.
Lettuce and salad greens.
Spinach.
Kale and other leafy greens.
Carrots.
Beets.
Radishes.
Green beans.
Potatoes.
Onions.
Zucchini and summer squash.
Eggplant.
Broccoli.
Cauliflower.
Cabbage.
Kohlrabi.
Turnips and other root crops.
And whatever else made its way onto Erica's seed order that year.
​
We grow familiar favorites alongside interesting varieties that give us something new to taste, grow, or learn.
The exact crop list changes.
That's intentional.
​
We aren't trying to recreate a grocery store.
We're growing a farm.
Eat With The Seasons
Modern grocery stores make it easy to forget that food has seasons.
Farms don't.
​
There are crops that love cool spring weather and others that won't even consider growing until the soil warms.
There are vegetables we wait months to harvest and others that seem to go from almost ready to we have 47 of these overnight.
​
That's part of the rhythm of eating from a local farm.
Instead of expecting everything all the time, you begin noticing what's ready now.
​
Spring and early-season harvests may bring greens, radishes, roots, and other cool-weather crops.
Summer brings an entirely different abundance as warm-season vegetables begin producing.
Late summer and fall shift the harvest again toward storage crops, roots, brassicas, pumpkins, and the foods that naturally belong around a fall table.
​
The weather ultimately decides the exact timing.
We simply grow along with it.
Vegetable + Herb CSA
One of the best ways to experience our vegetable growing season is through a CSA membership.
​
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.
Instead of shopping one harvest at a time, CSA members commit to the farm and receive a share of what we're growing during their membership season.
​
For our Vegetable + Herb CSA, that means a seasonal selection of farm-grown vegetables and herbs based on what's ready for harvest.
​
Some weeks may introduce you to something new.
Some will bring familiar favorites.
And occasionally you'll discover that your household can, in fact, find another way to use zucchini.
​
CSA is about more than a box of vegetables.
It's a relationship between a farm and the people it feeds.
​
Members help support the growing season, and we spend that season growing for them.
Because membership dates, pickup details, availability, pricing, and exact offerings can change, you'll always find current information with our active CSA listings.
From Field To Farm Stand
Some harvests don't need much explanation.
They just need somewhere to go.
​
Throughout the growing season, fresh produce may make its way from our fields to the Farm Stand, farmers market, CSA shares, online offerings, and other seasonal sales.
​
What is available depends entirely on what we're harvesting.
That means there may be weeks when tomatoes are everywhere.
And weeks when something you've been waiting for disappears almost as quickly as it arrived.
​
That's the nature of truly seasonal food.
If you see something you love, enjoy it while it's here.
Another harvest is always coming.
It just might be something completely different.
How We Grow
Growing good food starts with growing good soil.
​
Our vegetable production is guided by regenerative principles and a desire to disturb the soil less, build organic matter, encourage biodiversity, protect beneficial organisms, and continually improve the ground we're asking to feed us.
​
That means thinking beyond a single harvest.
​
Crop rotation matters.
Cover crops matter.
Organic matter matters.
Pollinators and beneficial insects matter.
Keeping soil covered matters.
​
And sometimes the best thing we can do as farmers is observe what's happening and adjust.
We're continually learning.
There is no finish line where a farmer suddenly knows everything about soil, weather, insects, disease, plants, and ecosystems.
​
The more we grow, the more we realize how much there is left to learn.
We think that's a good thing.
More Life Between The Rows
A vegetable field isn't only feeding people.
It's part of an ecosystem.
​
Flowers planted near food crops can provide nectar and pollen.
Herbs allowed to bloom become magnets for insects.
Cover crops protect and feed the soil.
Beneficial insects help keep other populations in check.
Birds, bees, butterflies, earthworms, spiders, and countless organisms become part of the system.
​
We don't expect a farm to be sterile.
Quite the opposite.
We want life here.
​
Our goal is to grow a productive farm while creating space for the natural systems that make agriculture possible in the first place.
Grow It. Eat It. Preserve It.
A successful harvest occasionally creates another problem:
What are we going to do with all of this?
​
We actually love that problem.
​
One of the skills we want to preserve and share at Wendland Family Farm is knowing how to use what the land gives you.
​
Eat it fresh.
Cook with it.
Freeze it.
Dry it.
Can it.
Pickle it.
Turn it into salsa.
Save it for winter.
Share it with someone.
Or turn it into something entirely new.
​
The knowledge of how to grow food is valuable.
Knowing what to do with that food afterward is just as valuable.
​
That's why growing, harvesting, cooking, preserving, and making naturally overlap throughout our farm, workshops, educational resources, and Farm Pantry.
​
We don't want the story to end at harvest.
From The Garden To The Farm Pantry
Sometimes a harvest becomes more than something we sell fresh.
​
Herbs can become infused salts.
Vegetables can inspire pantry staples and preserved goods.
Seasonal ingredients can become recipes, workshops, educational resources, and products that allow us to extend the harvest long after the growing season ends.
​
Our Farm Pantry is one way we're continuing to explore that idea.
​
Whenever possible, we look first at what we can grow, harvest, preserve, or create ourselves—and then build from there.
It's another way to make the most of what the farm gives us.
And another reason you'll probably find Erica growing something new next year.
Teaching People To Grow Food
We believe one of the most valuable things a farm can share isn't something you can put in a bag.
​
It's knowledge.
Knowing how to plant a seed.
Knowing what healthy soil looks like.
Knowing where food comes from.
Knowing how to harvest it.
Knowing how to preserve it.
Knowing that you don't need hundreds of acres to grow something useful.
​
These lessons naturally find their way into our workshops, children's programs, farm tours, field trips, community days, digital resources, and everyday conversations around the farm.
​
For children especially, agriculture turns abstract lessons into something they can touch.
Science happens in the soil.
Biology happens on the underside of a leaf.
Math happens when you're measuring rows and counting seeds.
Business happens at the market table.
Patience happens everywhere.
​
You don't have to become a farmer to benefit from understanding how food grows.
You just have to be curious.
Keep Growing At Home
You don't have to visit the farm to learn with us.
​
Our Vegetable Garden Digital Collection was created to help home gardeners grow with more confidence—from planning and planting to caring for the garden and making the most of the harvest.
​
These resources take the same practical approach we use on the farm:
Learn how it grows.
Understand what it needs.
Try it yourself.
Pay attention to what works.
And keep learning with every season.
​
Whether you're starting your first garden, filling a few raised beds, or simply trying to become more confident growing your own food, our digital resources are designed to give you something useful to come back to throughout the season.
Because one of the best things we can grow isn't something we sell at all.
It's the confidence to grow something yourself.
Grow Something At Home
We don't want all the growing to happen here.
​
Each spring, our Spring Seedling Sale gives local gardeners the opportunity to take home healthy starts and grow some of their own food.
​
Depending on the season, our selection may include vegetables, herbs, flowers, and other plants chosen for home gardens, raised beds, and containers.
​
Whether you're planting a large garden, filling a few raised beds, or growing your first tomato plant on the patio, we love helping people discover how rewarding it is to grow something themselves.
​
We may also offer seeds, educational resources, and workshops throughout the year to help you keep learning long after planting day.
​
You don't need a farm to become more connected to your food.
Sometimes you just need a little soil and something to plant.
Why Local Food Matters
Buying food directly from a local farm creates a very short food chain.
​
You know where it grew.
You know who grew it.
​
And often, it was harvested only a short time before it reached your kitchen.
​
But supporting local agriculture reaches further than the food itself.
It helps keep land productive.
It keeps agricultural knowledge in communities.
It supports small farms.
It gives farmers the ability to experiment with varieties that aren't designed for mass distribution.
And it creates a relationship between the people growing food and the people eating it.
​
We think there's value in knowing the hands that grew your food.
Around here, they're usually a little dirty.
Bring The Harvest Home
Maybe you join the CSA and let us surprise you.
Maybe you stop at the Farm Stand because you saw the tomatoes were finally ready.
Maybe you find us at the farmers market.
Maybe you come to a workshop and learn how to preserve something you've grown yourself.
Or maybe one of our seedlings becomes the beginning of your own garden.
​
However the harvest reaches you, we hope it does something bigger than simply fill the refrigerator.
We hope it helps you notice the season.
​
Try something new.
Cook something from scratch.
Teach your children where food comes from.
Meet the farmer who grew it.
And feel a little more connected to the land that produced it.
​
Because that's what local food can do.
Grown here. Harvested fresh. Shared with you.
Grown with purpose. Shared with gratitude.
