Erin Caudell, Owner of The Local Grocer in Flint, has discovered the root of what people want – locally-grown, fresh produce to feed their families. Not only is she a successful small business owner, Caudell and her partner, Franklin Pleasant, also own and operate Flint Ingredient Co. (FIC) and the Weekly Greens CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
“FIC is our family farm located in Beecher,” Caudell said. “Weekly Greens CSA is a partnership with Thread Creek Farms (the centennial farm) in Grand Blanc and FIC working together to market our vegetables.”
FIC is a nine-acre farm that supplies Weekly Greens and The Local Grocer with veggies grown using organic practices in hoop houses (plastic covered structures) to extend the season. “We believe healthy soil is the key to healthy vegetables,” Caudell explains. “We also have beehives on the farm for honey and pollination, and we plant and care for many native plants that attract pollinators and create a biological habitat for ‘good bugs,’” she added.
Their philosophy for FIC is to provide fresh, locally grown vegetables to the Flint community, be it through their CSA Weekly Greens or through The Local Grocer (sold fresh or in pre-made meal kits), as well as wholesale to restaurants, stores, childcare centers, etc.
“Now in our tenth year of farming, we’ve learned a tremendous amount about hoop-house growing.”
Erin Caudell
“Weekly Greens is based on the CSA model in which you buy a ‘share’ of the farm and are provided with a weekly box of vegetables at their peak of season,” Caudell stated. “The box is the farmer’s choice – we choose the crops that are at their peak for consumption. Usually, we try to include some sort of green head lettuce, leaf lettuce, microgreens, collards and kale, with a mix of root vegetables – carrots, beets, radish, potatoes – and an allium like green onions, leeks, onions and garlic. We have lots of favorites like heirloom tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, sweet corn and cabbage,” she said.
“We know that families don’t like to get the same thing for weeks on end, so we mix it up,” she continued. “Also, some families choose to receive the every-other-week box, so we take that into consideration as well in curating a good mix of vegetables throughout the season. There are several different options for people to choose from.”
Flint Ingredient Co. is a nine-acre farm that grows veggies with organic practices in hoop houses to extend the harvest season.
Caudell and Pleasant did not come from farm families, so the venture has been quite a journey for the couple. “Now in our tenth year of farming, we’ve learned a tremendous amount about hoop-house growing,” she shared. “Growing in five hoop houses has given us flexibility in Michigan winters.”
Weekly Greens was started five years ago combining the produce grown on three farms, one of which has since left to pursue other opportunities. Thread Creek and Flint Ingredient Co. continue to work together.
“We were all previously involved in our own CSA, but had specialties that we liked growing and saw an opportunity to work together and provide vegetables to residents of Flint, Grand Blanc, Fenton and Clarkston,” Caudell said.
Caudell and Pleasant manage FIC together. “We farm with our three children,” she said. The couple are parents to five-year-old twins and a 15-month-old.
“Emma Blinkenberg (Thread Creek Farm) and I primarily share responsibilities, with marketing and talking each week to build our boxes around what produce is ready at each farm,” Caudell said of the partnership. “Sometimes, one of us might hold our cabbage until the next week’s box, for example, so the other can harvest a crop that is at its best that week.” They also coordinate the purchase of supplies, packing and delivering of the boxes to various locations. “We sell vegetables to a few restaurants and have in the past sold to childcare centers, school districts and others,” she said.
Weekly Greens sells CSA memberships to people in Flint, Grand Blanc, Fenton and Clarkston and currently provides for about 50 members. “During COVID, we had a business purchase shares for their staff,” Caudell stated. “Our memberships increased to 200 during the pandemic, but now with the two farms, we are comfortable serving about 50. Every year, we discuss whether we want to review that number.”
Caudell said she is most proud of working with other, particularly women-led farms to provide high-quality, locally-grown vegetables for people in their communities.
You can find Flint Ingredient Co., The Local Grocer and Weekly Greens CSA on Facebook. For more information, visit weeklygreenscsa.com and thelocalgrocer.com.
