A farmer who delivers

Lisa Turner’s greens are good tasting, and good for you

By Jill Strauss

WARMTH IN WINTER: Lisa Turner in one of Laughing Stock’s five greenhouses.

With animal carcasses being incinerated all over Europe, with mad cow disease causing cattle quarantines in Texas and sheep seizures in Vermont, it obviously is time to take a break from all this fear and dread and pay a visit to a farm that exemplifies the way life should be: Laughing Stock Farm. Like Lake Wobegon, Laughing Stock Farm sounds like a place out of a Garrison Keiller dream and in a way it is. The MOFGA (Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association) certified greenhouse operation, located in Freeport, produces baby greens in the winter that are strong, good looking, and definitely above average.

Years ago, farmer wannabe Lisa Turner heard Keiller’s radio broadcast about a fictional place called Laughing Stock Farm. She decided on the spot that if she ever realized her dream of quitting her job as a mechanical engineer and devoting herself full-time to farming, she would have to steal the name. Now, on this February day in the new millennium, as we tromp out of the snow and into a heated greenhouse Turner admits, “The name just so well defines us. You know, you can’t take anything too seriously.” And she begins to laugh. Turner’s laughter is so hearty it’s infectious, but thankfully, it appears to be the only infectious thing in the 25’x96’ greenhouse.

Food safety is on my mind a lot these days, and I know I’m not alone. Aside from contaminated feed fears, concerns about pesticide residue and the environment have created a legion of organic food fans nationwide. These loyalists make a special trip to find their favorites and often pay 20 percent extra or more for organics than for conventional foods. Kat Richman, Manager of Maine Harvest at Portland Public Market, says Turner’s organic greens fly off the shelf. And Larry Matthews, Back Bay Grill’s Executive Chef, says his kitchen crew lets out a cheer when Turner calls to say she’s about to make a delivery. Turner’s business is booming because, all kidding aside, the 40-year-old MOFGA Board Member takes organic agriculture in general, and winter farming in particular, very seriously.

“There’s a lot to this winter stuff,” Turner tells me as we bend down to inspect several healthy rows of red oak, arugula, and mesclun — all grown without pesticides or herbicides, synthetic fertilizer, or hormones. “I call it cutting-edge agriculture and only eight places in Maine are doing this,” she says. Turner, like other organic greenhouse growers in Maine, was inspired after reading winter-farming pioneer Eliot Coleman’s Four Seasons Gardening.

“I got Eliot’s book in ’92 and was amazed. Then I drove to a Brunswick Garden Club meeting in a storm and heard him speak. He said, ‘You can do this and you’ll always have fresh vegetables.’ So we spent $2000 for a 17’x48’ double-plastic greenhouse.”

For a family hobby that’s a lot of change. But Turner says that’s nothing compared to what she spends for her commercial enterprise. “Now I spend $6000 for a greenhouse, but that doesn’t include heat, metal chimney, oil tank, a road for access. It’s a fairly capital-intensive business.”

Fortunately, Turner’s husband Ralph, a mechanical engineer who is currently managing a construction project in Alaska, is able to supply much of the money. Working four weeks straight in Alaska followed by two weeks at home is lucrative. But the emotional cost of living away from his wife and three children for such long stretches is considerable. Ultimately, Turner’s aim is to follow in his wife’s footsteps by quitting his engineering job and helping Lisa expand the farming operation. During the warmer months, the Turners use three of their fifteen acres to grow organic vegetables and the number of greenhouses on the property is growing. “We now have five and we haven’t exceeded market demand,” Ralph Turner tells me during a long-distance phone interview.

“By the way, how are the salad greens in Alaska?” I ask him.

“There is mesclun mix here from California,” he says, “but it’s a little on the old side. For us, the greens go on a train, sit in Chicago, and a week or so later they arrive in Alaska. Lisa’s greens are fresher, crisper, the color is brighter and the taste is more intense.”

To see if this testimonial could be chalked up to natural spousal pride or plain old homesickness I decided to call a few of the twenty-five people in Freeport who regularly subscribe to Turner’s warm season (May through November) home delivery service. Lin Peyton, an Episcopal Minister, confesses she hates shopping and is “into Lisa’s salads.” Laurie Herron, a graphic artist, says she appreciates finding deliveries of fabulous, pesticide-free peas, beans, and root vegetables in a grocery bag on her porch. Julie Bowman, an acupuncturist, says Turner’s produce is “more nutritious than anything you could buy in the store.”

Tasty as Turner’s vegetables are (and I know this for sure since I have eaten them myself) and meticulously managed as Turner’s operation appears to be, some scientists maintain that even certified organic foods do not provide more vitamins or minerals and they are not more nutritious. Nevertheless, it does my heart good to know one farmer who is innovative and conscientious and succeeding at a job that is designed to enrich the lives of those around her.

Jill Strauss can be reached at straussj@adelphia.net.