Lesedi Farm
Lesedi Farm creates delicious Botswanan-inspired goods made with fresh ingredients grown on the island by Dorcas Young.
Read below to learn about their journey, what practices they hold, connections to the community, and to support their fundraiser to purchase land!
Sunshine, Learning, and Care—How Lesedi Farm Grew
While Lesedi Farm began in 2006, Dorcas’ relationship with land and farming began much earlier. Growing up in Botswana, she and her family farmed 500 acres growing everything they could need from livestock to sweet potatoes. Later in her life she and her family moved to Whidbey in 1996 when her husband’s teaching career brought them here. Similarly to her upbringing, she wanted to feed her five babies with home-grown foods made with love. This called her back to farming.
Growing and formulating recipes as she went Dorcas sought growing space and leased p-patch spaces, now utilizing one in Greenbank and Langley. Lesedi Farm began attending farmers’ markets to sell their beautiful goods in 2006 and has now expanded to sell at Bayview Market, three Seattle farmer’s markets, and the Food Hub. Creating juices, spreads and dips, kale chips, and more Lesedi Farm has something to satisfy everyone. “Lesedi” is sunlight in Tswana which embodies the flavors and spirit of Dorcas’ food and the love she puts into her operation.
In her journey to growing Lesedi to what it is today, Dorcas attended Washington State University Extension School of Food Science in Pullman. She then took food processing classes at Oregon State University in Corvallis to become a certified food processor. By 2012 she was utilizing this knowledge on her farm. Today, she hopes to train others on how to create value-added products with the food safety and production skills she has learned. Dorcas is a dedicated producer and puts this sunshine into all she does.
Practices and Products
Maintaining and caring for the land drives Lesedi’s practices. Testing the soil often, inputting organic matter, and not tilling the land are among the soil sustainability initiatives Dorcas practices. She also is conservative in her water use, utilizing dry farming practices. Crops are inter-planted to move away from monoculture, even utilizing succession cropping. Dorcas’ commitment to learning and stewardship has allowed her to develop a business that feeds bodies and the earth.
Dorcas grows many things such as fava beans, kale, plums, currants, pole beans, and more. One of her favorite products to make out of these goodies is her fava bean pesto. Starting with her fava beans and adding fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, maple syrup, and lemon juice she blends together a vibrant spread. She recommends using the spread as a dip, a topping on bread, or even as a pasta sauce. Go to Whidbey Island Grown’s social media platforms on Facebook and Instagram to see Dorcas create a batch of this yummy product.
Dorcas’ Connection to the Community
Outside of Lesedi Farm, Dorcas is an active community member. Helping start South Whidbey Tilth in 2010 she helped to build the market, establish growing space, and create the alliance. She has since moved away from tilth to create space for others. She is however still involved with the cooperative as a member and of course, an active producer. Dorcas also works with Goosefoot Community Fund on their commercial kitchen project, to one day create a space to teach others how to create value-added products and to grow her operation. In addition to this, Dorcas is a member of the Northwest Agricultural Business Center to further foster this future vision and support other producers.
Dorcas has been involved with Whidbey Island Grown as a member before the Food Hub even came to fruition. When the Food Hub was born out of the pandemic Lesedi Farm began sharing their products on the online marketspace, now in their third year of sharing their products. Dorcas appreciates the extension of the season that the Food Hub provides, the community support born of it, and the value of this marketspace as a whole to the island’s food system.
FUN FACTS
Favorite place on the island:
Dorcas likes to hike the bluff at Ebey’s Landing because she can see farms and the water.
Favorite musical artist:
Her favorite music is gospel music, enjoying Zach William and African gospel especially.
Hobbies outside of Lesedi Farm:
Dorcas loves to travel, visiting places all over the globe such as London and Dubai. She is even planning a trip to Egypt next year.
Favorite thing to cook or bake:
She enjoys cooking traditional African and Botswanan foods. Goat stew with sorghum leaves is amongst her favorite dishes and she uses ingredients such as pumpkin leaves and red African peanuts.
Help support Lesedi Farm’s GoFundMe so that they may purchase land on the Island!
Learn More on the Lesedi Farm Website!
Producer Feature by Katie Olsen
