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Health & Fitness

Breezy Willow Farm: The Roots of an Award-Winning Community Supported Agriculture Program - Howard County Farmers' Market Profile Series, No. 4

The Caulders began growing for themselves and their friends and neighbors nearly 30 years ago. Their CSA program began with 12 families and has now grown to include 750. Breezy Willow Farm is at the Howard County Farmers' Market on Saturdays.


“We began growing for ourselves and our friends and neighbors nearly 30 years ago,” says RJ Caulder of Breezy Willow Farm & CSA. The Caulders  –  RJ, her husband Kenny and their children, Jason & Casey – moved from Columbia to Breezy Willow Farm in 1984.

“With Jason and Casey in 4-H,” explains RJ, “we expanded into dairy goats – Nubians – which produce milk with a higher butter fat content than other dairy goats.”

“People started asking us ‘what are you all going to do with all that dairy milk?’” continues RJ who goes on to explain, “Casey had a skin problem with eczema and psoriasis. So, we started to experiment with goats’ milk soap, incorporated herbs, and developed a line of natural soaps, creams and body products for dry and sensitive skin conditions.”

During Jason and Casey’s 4-H years, the Caulders expanded their products from vegetables and berries to include homemade jams made with farm-fresh berries, honey produced by their own beehives, and cut flowers grown at Breezy Willow Farm.

“In the late 90s, we started in our first farmers’ market at the Interfaith Center in Columbia,” says RJ, “with our line of natural body products and then we brought in jams, cut flowers and honey.”

In 2002, when Howard County Growers – a newly formed Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) partnership of five Howard County Farmers – needed a value added product, they asked RJ to supply them with her value-added product, her homemade jams.

As Howard County Growers evolved and transformed, RJ started formulating her own plans for a CSA.  Breezy Willow Farm’s CSA started with 12 families in 2004 when RJ's son Jason talked 12 of his Verizon coworkers into signing up. Thinking he had added more to her CSA program he asked, “Mom, how many people do you have?”  Before she could answer, he said, “Please tell me you have more than 12.” She replied, “Twelve!”  Astonished, Jason laughed, stepped up and started taking the boxed shares into work. Breezy Willow Farm now has 750 families enrolled in its CSA program.

“We love the sense of community that surrounds a CSA,” conveys RJ who enjoys the community-oriented aspect of working with a variety of farms. “It takes more than one farm to support a community and it takes a community to support more than one farm.”

Each week, members receive between 10 and 11 items which include an assortment of eight fruits and vegetables, a dozen eggs and a loaf of bread (or another baked good from local community bakers such as Great Harvest or The Breadery).  Breezy Willow tries to include as much of their own farm fresh goodies as possible into the baked goods  so you will often find their berries, honey, herbs and other Breezy Willow Farm products included.  

Once a month, members may choose to trade their eggs for another farm fresh local product such as cheese, jam, cider, fruit butter, and honey. Fresh cut herbs are included in the shares when available. They are not counted as an item, but as an extra value. In addition, each member is allowed to trade one item per week if they see another item on the trade table that better suits the family.

If, by the end of the market week, the Caulders are faced with having a surplus of vegetables, they donate it to the Howard County Food Bank.  Last year, Breezy Willow Farm donated over 12,000 pounds and was the largest fresh-food contributor to the food bank.

Keeping satisfied customers hasn’t been a challenge.  “We rely on word-of-mouth referrals with no paid advertising,” says RJ who has seen the family business grow year-after-year.

In addition to Breezy Willow Farm’s CSA program, other farm fresh products are offered at their on-farm market which is open every Saturday, 10 - 2 pm, year-round. Items include fresh beef, pork and chicken raised by local 4-H families and small farms. “We also have honey, jams, local cheese, pasture-raised eggs from our heritage breed happy chicks and, of course, our natural olive oil and milk-based soaps and body products,” adds RJ.

Breezy Willow Farm also sells their farm-fresh produce at the Saturday Howard County Farmers’ Market at the Howard County Library’s Glenwood Branch where they have a great following of satisfied customers.

 “It’s the sense of community, knowing the families and becoming friends with our customers,” says RJ, “that makes this worthwhile. We learn their stories and have become close-knit with our CSA members."

Our CSA is much more than a business that provides for the community, it is a blessing and for that we are truly thankful.”

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Breezy Willow Farm was the recipient of the 2012 Howard County Business of the Year by the Howard County Economic Development Authority.

Breezy Willow Farm sells their farm-fresh produce at the Saturday Howard County Farmers’ Market this season at the Howard County Library’s Glenwood Branch.

To learn more about Breezy Willow Farm, please visit www.breezywillowfarm.com  or follow Breezy Willow Farm on facebook.

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