Our History

My Grandfather started farming in Northern Colorado, just outside of Eaton, in 1937.  Among other crops, he grew potatoes, sugar beets and corn.  My father continued in Grandpa's footsteps further expanding the family operation.  As a child I set up a small stand along the road and sold our homegrown sweet corn to the community, eventually enlisting the help of my three younger siblings.    As we grew up the stand evolved to selling at farmer's markets and the local grocery store.

Anthony and I met while attending CSU and quickly discovered we shared a mutual passion for nature, especially horticulture and gardening.  After many years of dreaming, reading and planning, and with my father's guidance, we began farming full time in 2009.  Along with my siblings, we started Leffler Family Farms (LFF).  In 2010, Anthony and I created Local Motion as a division of LFF.  Local Motion serves the farm's community supported agriculture program (CSA) and also provides produce to local wholesalers including restaurants, grocers and the Farm to School program.

CSA Fair

We will be attending the CSA fair at the Opera Galleria in Old Town Ft. Collins on March 2nd from 10-2. 

Here is some more information from http://www.belocalnc.org/for-community/csa-fair/...

Community Supporting Agriculture (CSA) Fair

March 2, 2013  -  Opera Galleria  -  10 am – 2 pm

For everyone in the greater Fort Collins Community…

The CSA Fair is an opportunity to explore different CSAs, to meet the producers, and to learn about how different CSAs operate. Be Local expects the Fair to be attended by approximately 20 CSAs who are offering CSA shares to the community for 2013.
There is a wide variety of products available through CSA shares, and you can find a program that is just right for you.
“CSA” stands for Community Supporting Agriculture. The basic CSA model — and there are now many variations — involves buying a share of a farm’s production. The fee is generally paid at the beginning of the season, and the farms then delivers a box of produce (which may include fruit, eggs and other products, depending on what the customer selects) is delivered weekly.
There is a wide variety of products available through CSA shares, and you can find a program that is just right for you. At the CSA Fair, you can learn about different CSAs and find one that meets your needs.

The Fair is for all CSAs, whether you participate in the Winter Farmers Markets or not…

This event is an opportunity to showcase your unique CSA program to the community, to reach out to new CSA members, and to promote and celebrate the beauty of the Community Supporting Agriculture philosophy. The fair will consist of Northern Colorado farms and businesses that operate under the CSA model.
Bring your market supplies (table, tablecloths, signage, etc.) complete with photos, slideshows, or other informational material about your CSA program and offerings. This is a great opportunity to “reach outside the choir” and get new people involved and interested in your farm or ranch and in the CSA movement in general.
Be Local Northern Colorado will be marketing the CSA Fair throughout Northern Colorado much as we do the Winter Markets – flyers, posters, social media, newsletters, etc.  But we need your help, too!  Please post to your networks all the promotional information we send you once you have signed up for the fair.
For further information, contact Michael Baute by email.

The Beet

“The beet is the most intense of vegetables. The radish, admittedly, is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire, the fire of discontent not of passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious.

Slavic peoples get their physical characteristics from potatoes, their smoldering inquietude from radishes, their seriousness from beets.

The beet is the melancholy vegetable, the one most willing to suffer. You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip...

The beet is the murderer returned to the scene of the crime. The beet is what happens when the cherry finishes with the carrot. The beet is the ancient ancestor of the autumn moon, bearded, buried, all but fossilized; the dark green sails of the grounded moon-boat stitched with veins of primordial plasma; the kite string that once connected the moon to the Earth now a muddy whisker drilling desperately for rubies.

The beet was Rasputin's favorite vegetable. You could see it in his eyes.” ― Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume

Asian Style Ceviche

This is Colorado Proud's February recipe.  Fish isn't typically the first item that comes to mind when thinking of local food, but Colorado is home to 50+ fish farms.  Who knew?!

2 lb. Fresh Colorado Striped Bass

cleaned and cut into small cubes

1 Small Red Onion, julienned fine

1/2 Cup Broccoli Slaw, chopped fine

1/4 Cup Edamame, shelled and steamed

1/2 Cup Snap Peas, julienned fine

2 Tbsp. Sesame Oil

1/4 Cup Lime Juice

1/4 Cup Rice Wine

1/4 Cup Sweet Chili Sauce

2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

2 Small Jalapeños, diced fine with seeds

3 Tsp. Fresh or Puree Ginger

2 Tbsp. Cilantro, chopped

1 Tbsp. Black Sesame Seeds

Sea Salt to Taste

Black Smoked Pepper to Taste

Chinese 5 Spice to Taste

In a mixing bowl, combine the sesame oil, lime juice, chili sauce, brown sugar,

jalapeños, ginger and cilantro. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the onion, slaw,

edamame and snap peas. Toss well to combine. Add the diced striped bass and

mix well to combine, be careful not to smash the fish while mixing. Add the wet

mixture to the fish/slaw and gently fold the mixture together, season to taste with

the 5 spice, salt and pepper. Refrigerate for about 2 hours prior to eating. Prior to

serving, adjust the seasoning as needed. Garnish with black sesame seeds and

shaved green onion if desired. Great served in wonton cups or with wonton chips.

Valentine's Day Beet Salad

What a cute and easy idea for a fun salad!  I love it :)

Online CSA Sign Up

We now offer the convenience of online sign up for Local Motion CSA memberships.  If you're interested, just go to our website at www.lefflerfarms.com and look under the "Local Motion" tab.  

Roasted Rainbow Baby Beets

We made a tasty dish with our baby rainbow beets a couple nights ago.  Here's the recipe:

Roasted Baby Rainbow Beets

baby rainbow beets
olive oil
salt
peach preserves
butter

Wash beets and place in roasting dish with salt and olive oil.  Cook covered in oven at 350 for 1 - 1.5 hours or until beets are tender.  Once cooled, trim the ends, peel skins off and slice into thin rings. Combine melted butter and peach preserves and mix with beets to coat. 
We used Peach Habenero preserves (given to us by CSA member, Paula, last Fall) and the combination was absolutely delicious. 

Although the cellared winter beets are not as fresh as in summertime there is something very satisfying about them.  If you haven't yet had a chance to try them, I hope you will soon!

We will have baby rainbow beets at both Ft. Collins Old Town Be Local Market and Denver Urban Homesteading Market tomorrow. 

Glass Gem Corn

This corn is so pretty!  And what an interesting story behind it.  We have seed on the way and will plant this year.  Can't wait to see what we end up with!

Super Beets

Beets

After a study showed that beets can improve performance and reduce the amount of oxygen needed to complete a cardio session, the sports and fitness community has been raving about the root veggie and its juice. Beets contain nitrates, which are used in the production of nitric oxide, a compound that makes blood vessels dilate, allowing more blood and oxygen to flow to your working muscles. Enjoy them raw, cooked, or juiced.

Here's a link to the whole article…

http://shine.yahoo.com/author-blog-posts/6-superfoods-youre-not-eating-175900472.html

Indigo Rose: The Tomato That Fights Free Radicals

Indigo Rose: The Tomato That Fights Free Radicals

We grew this tomato last year.  It's a cherry variety and a hybrid - the only hybrid tomato we grew in 2012 actually...  The article says the taste is "good not great", but I have to disagree.  I thought they were delicious with a complex peppery flavor and nice firm texture.  My snacking tomato of choice while working the farm stand.  We will try and grow them again this year, and also plan to have seedlings available this Spring. 

Pateros Brewery to be Ft. Collins’ new CSA pick-up location

Pateros Creek Brewing Co. is going to be a great pick-up location!  Check out their website at http://pateroscreekbrewing.com/pcbc/.  Can’t wait to see you there!

Lisa King from Farm Kings Answers Fan Questions

Lisa King from Farm Kings Answers Fan Questions

A show about vegetable farming!