The Klawitters also have 160 acres of cropland, a small total compared with the acreage of most farms in the upper Midwest. Unlike the larger farms, everything the Klawitters produce, except milk from the dairy cows, is certified organic.

Mike and Mary Pat Klawitter said the dairy cows aren't raised to meet organic standards because there's no market for organically produced milk in the area.

Selling organic vegetables

The Klawitters created their own market for organically grown vegetables using the Consumer Supported Agriculture model.

CSA is designed to bring farmers and consumers, or members, together to produce food. In a perfect operation, everyone shares the risk, the work and the bounty.

Members in the Klawitters' CSA pay $300 up front, which takes care of some of the production risk, and they get to share weekly in the vegetable harvest during the growing season. Or they can pay $175 for a half share.

Mary Pat doesn't require members to come out to the farm to help weed and pick the vegetables. She finds that most of her customers don't have the time to garden, which is why they belong to the CSA.

The Klawitters plant and harvest the vegetables as they ripen and make weekly deliveries to Amazing Grains in downtown Grand Forks, where CSA members can pick up the vegetables. The Klawitters plan to make about 15 deliveries a season. Members can go out to the farm to pick up their vegetables, but so far that hasn't happened, Mary Pat said.

Many of the people who have signed up for the CSA, Mary Pat said, are from Grand Forks and East Grand Forks. Most want fresh organically grown vegetables but have no time or room to garden.

Interest is growing

This is the second year that the Klawitters have been involved in selling CSA memberships. Last year, they had eight members; this year, membership more than doubled to 19, Mary Pat said.

Last year, the Klawitters started their garden two weeks early and made 17 deliveries. This year, the garden was planted about a week late because of wet conditions. But two deliveries have already been made, and Mary Pat said they will deliver as far into the fall as possible to make up for the late start.

On Wednesday, Mary Pat was harvesting Swiss chard, lettuce and onions to be delivered today.

The Klawitters' operation is certified organic by Farm Verified Organic based in Medina, N.D., and the Organic Crop Improvement Association in Omaha, Neb. With these certifications, the Klawitters' crop is certified nationally and internationally, Mary Pat said.

In order to be certified, the Klawitters must use organic seed, plants, fertilizer, insecticides and soil. Most of those items aren't available in the area, so they have to be ordered. The Klawitters are also inspected once a year.

A heavy workload

Raising organic vegetables is a lot of work, said Mary Pat as she looked at the acres of vegetables and wondered how she is going to keep ahead of the weeds. There are some products that can be used to fight weeds and pests on organic crops, but they must be approved.

Then there is 12-year-old Matthew, the potato-beetle picker. Matthew said spends almost every day out in the garden picking beetles and weeding. He said the potatoes aren't bad because they are hilled and don't get as many weeds growing around them, but they do attract potato beetles.

Mike said they can use a product called Bt on the potatoes that is supposed to make the beetles sick. "Personally I think the potato beetles have Mylanta for it, because they keep coming back."

As for the weeds, Mike said, if you are used to conventional farming and your heart stops when you see a weed, you'd better get used to weeds when you switch to organic farming or you'll have a heart attack.

"We spent six hours the other day, the whole family, on our knees picking weeds," Mike said. That's OK if there's nothing else to do. But the Klawitters have cows to milk, fields to tend, animals to take care of and other household chores. And Mary Pat also has a full-time job as director of the First Lutheran Church Daycare in East Grand Forks.

Looking ahead

But Mike and Mary Pat have some ideas how about how to get the weeds under control. Next year, Mike said, they plan to plant on one-foot ridges covered with biodegradable sheets. By planting on top of the ridges the plants get added warmth and the biodegradable sheets keep weeds out, generate heat and hold and condense moisture. The Klawitters used the biodegradable sheets on their tomatoes this year and it seems to be working.

Mike said they would have tried the ridges this year, but they didn't have the equipment.

The Klawitters have also added two draft horses to their operation this year. The horses will be used to cultivate, pull loads of hay and to give rides out to the Klawitters' pumpkin patch this fall, Mike said.

Making the transition from conventional farming to organic takes about five years. It takes that long for the chemicals to biodegrade, to get the right bacteria growing, the proper crop rotation and to get control of weeds and insects.

But the Klawitters have a lot of help. In addition to Matthew, they have Chris, 22, who milks cows in the morning, and Luke, 15, who milks in the evening. They also have a daughter, Sara, 18, a sophomore in college.

Johnson is city editor at the Herald. Reach her at 780-1244, (800) 477-6572 ext. 244 or rjohnson@gfherald.com