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Walking down College Ave on Saturday mornings will make you want to eat healthy. Every Saturday morning from the months of June to October, College Ave is flooded with more than 150 vendors selling organic foods, homemade jewelry, and even treats for furry friends.

As I strolled through the many different vendors, a small booth caught my eye. It was clean and simple, and had a large “Certified Organic” poster on its posts beside a wooden sign bearing the name “Field Notes Farm.” I have never been too picky about whether my food is organic, so I thought I would give it a try.

After taking in the colorful arrangements of vegetables, I talked to Monica Endres. Monica is a full time employee with Field Notes Farm and helped me understand the importance of organic certifications. “A lot of people don’t realize how hard it is to become certified organic. Many people here will use healthy techniques, but won’t have organic produce,” she says. “We only have 1.5 acres of land, so we have to use diverse growing methods to get the best result.”

As Monica was telling me all of this, I was eyeing the carrots. Each vegetable looked natural and healthy, not too polished but not as though it had just been pulled out of the ground. They looked authentic, which is all what Field Notes Farm is about. The founder, Oren Jakobson, started out as a volunteer at Riverview Gardens when he decided to start his own farm. Field Notes Farm is now two years old, and rents its land from Nami Moon Farms in Custer, WI. All organically grown, Monica tells me the most popular produce depends on the season. “The peas and the beans normally are great sellers,” she says. “But some days people will be in a carrot mood and buy almost all of our stock, and other days we will sell two carrots. It depends on what people are in the mood for.”

I was definitely in a carrot mood, so I tried one. Normally, I like my carrots cooked, but after biting into my first certified organic carrot, Field Notes Farm can expect a carrot sale every Saturday morning.

For more information about Field Notes Farm, please visit www.fieldnotesfarm.com or email Oren Jakobson at [email protected].