Economic and Facility Support
Farmshed financially supports local farmers by sourcing as many local ingredients as possible for our weekly soup and meals, donations, and Sib Pab and contracting them to lead educational workshops for the community. We also offer rental space of our facilities for local farmers and business owners to accommodate to their needs.
Whitefeather organics sauce pilot program
Tony and Laura Whitefeather came to Farmshed with an excess of garlic scapes and red peppers. To avoid food waste and ensure the Whitefeathers benefited financially from their harvest, Farmshed's graduate assistant and interns transformed the scpaes into pesto and the peppers into a sauce. Acting as a copacker for farmers allows them to then resell this new product to their consumers.
Frozen Assets
We contract directly with local farms, Cattail Organics, Red Door Family Farm, and Whitefeather Organics, to grow certified organic vegetables that are picked at the peak of ripeness and then brought to the Farmshed kitchen. In the kitchen, we partner with shareholders, UWSP Health & Promotion students, and volunteers to process, freeze, and package the produce. Frozen Assets are distributed in 10 lb shares, once or twice a month to community members.
facility rental space
In the early spring, greenhouse space can be rented by farmers to start their seeds before the last frost. This helps them have a robust growing season by getting a head start on their plantings. New to this fall, Produce Point, and hydoponic lettuce farm moved into the greenhouse and created a 'micro greenhouse' space to provide for their growing consumer base.
Business owners can also rent our commercial kitchen to make their products. Our current businesses using the space are: Fed Up Foods, Sky View Pasta, Tapped Maple Syrup, AnnTeas, Stevens Point Sauce Company, Gateway Pine Apothecary, and Siren Shrubs.
Workshops
Farmshed relaunched workshops this year for local farmers, growers, and educators to teach community members about their specialty. Farmshed gives equitable pay for the time and talent given by the instructors. Our workshops from 2022 included: floral arrangements with Fields and Flora LLC, beekeeping with V's Bees, tree grafting with Polly Dalton, masa with Liberation Farmers, composting with Recycling Connections, foraging with Chris Gavin, and maple syrup infusion with Tapped.