When a dedicated organic farmer such as James Welch at Avalanche Organics starts cultivating the land amongst the beautiful rolling hills of Southwest Wisconsin, it is a win/win situation all around. We talked with James about how he and his partner Joel Kellum grow the most incredibly healthy and nutritious food while enhancing the land for future generations.

The Farm. Avalanche Organics is a family owned and operated certified organic vegetable, fruit and herb farm located in the beautiful driftless region of S.W. Wisconsin along the fertile banks of the Kickapoo River. The farm grows over 60 varieties of crops on 45 acres of very fertile valley soil. Signature crops include baby salad greens, heirloom tomatoes, specialty onions (shallots, cipollinis, garlic, sweet onions, leeks & others), wild crafted crops (watercress, wild ramps & morel mushrooms picked in the wild), root crops (beets, sunchokes, celery root, beauty heart radishes, parsnips and rutabaga), 9 varieties of potatoes, 10 varieties of winter squash and many others. Yum! The harvest season begins with wild crafted crops in mid-April and ends in January or February selling root crops stored in their large coolers.

Two partners, James Welch and Joel Kellum, co-manage the various aspects of the operation with lots of help from their families. This year celebrates the 10 th anniversary of Avalanche Organics Farm!

Farm Practices. Strict Organic farming practices (no synthetic herbicides or pesticides) are followed at all times at Avalanche with the highest integrity. This helps to produce incredibly fresh, nutritional, mouth watering vibrant foods! James and Joel go beyond organic by treating the soils as living organisms. Many innovative and sustainable soil management practices have been implemented to increase soil productivity and health such as soil conservation tools, crop rotations, cover cropping, composting, soil mineralization and a complex foliar spray program.

Typical Farm Day. James and Joel start the day meeting with the field and greenhouse managers to review the work of the previous day and plan for the current day’s focus. The work of the spring season includes planting seeds in the greenhouse, watering, composting, checking on growing plants, plowing, burning of pasture, and making sure all equipment and supplies are there and ready. The spring weather brings inspiration and energy to the farm and anticipation for harvesting in May.

Fresh Picks will be offering you fresh salad greens in May from Avalanche and other great tasting food from them throughout the year!