Behind the Table: A Guide for Farmers Market Vendors (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781543262728)

Pam Benike is life-long farmer who is passionate about placing wholesome, locally grown food directly into the hands of the folks who will eat it. Her farm, Prairie Hollow, is located on 200 acres at the edge of Bluff Country in southeastern Minnesota. Combining traditional sustainable and non-chemical farming methods learned from her grandparents with new technologies, Benike and three of her adult children, Isaiah, Bethany and Jonathan, grow vegetables all winter long in three unheated hoop houses. During the spring, summer and fall, they grow a full line of vegetables and fruit. Benike's other adult children, their spouses and their children help with various farm tasks throughout the year. She milks a small herd of happy cows who roam ten sections of pasture from May to October and munch on baled hay the rest of the year. Their milk is carefully crafted into a dozen varieties of artisan cheeses. The farm is home to beef cattle and pigs who enjoy living in fresh air and sunshine. An heirloom variety of wheat is also propagated and used for bread flour. Prairie Hollow Farm products are marketed at farmers markets, through community supported agriculture (CSA) shares, and wholesaled to schools, restaurants and caterers.