Early on during the pandemic I received a call from Chris, my boss and owner of Siena Farms, telling me he was thinking of getting a puppy for his daughter. I remember this conversation well because Chris was a bit wary of dogs, and we had never had one on the farm before. But two weeks later they brought home Rory, a beloved Goldendoodle who quickly became a fixture on the farm. Now that we were a dog-friendly workplace, I got my very own pandemic puppy, Hank, and my officemate followed suit, adopting Mando this past summer. 

I have a background in nutrition and am passionate about local food systems and sustainable agriculture, so naturally I wanted to feed my new dog a completely homemade diet. After hours of research I realized I was in over my head; I then settled on a dog food that my vet recommended, but still had the itch to nourish Hank with food that I could prepare from ingredients I trusted. I did more research to fully understand what foods dogs can and cannot eat and started making meal toppers to supplement his kibble. I was able to utilize produce that had been long forgotten in the back of my fridge, like some rough-looking turnips and darkening daikon radishes, as well as other storage veggies on the farm that were “B-grade,” destined for the compost pile. Hank loved all of the food I was preparing for him and I enjoyed supplementing his diet with local produce from our farm—not to mention the noticeable decrease in food waste I was achieving in my own home by using up my leftover or ugly produce. I even began to branch out and started making dog treats for Hank and all of his dog friends.

The kibble toppers and vegetable treats were a hit with the other pups on the farm as well. The idea then struck us: Why not reduce waste here on the farm and share produce that would otherwise be composted or left in the field with our dog-loving CSA community? We already have an established initiative to combat food waste and food insecurity through a partnership with the Boston Area Gleaners, who pick up over 1,000 pounds of leftover produce each week from the farm. However, some produce can’t be sold or donated due to pest or disease damage that causes surface blemishes, and so it ends up being composted instead of saved. 

We launched our Farm Pup Share during our autumn 2021 season as a way to rescue some of this B-grade produce from the compost pile. Along with dog-friendly produce, the share also includes dog treats from local producers, like Polkadog Bakery and Goodness Gracious, as well as extra surprises like bone-shaped cookie cutters for making homemade biscuits. Similar to our other farm shares, Farm Pup Share members receive a weekly newsletter with updates about Rory, Mando and Hank, as well as recipes for dog treats and kibble toppers to help members use up the contents of the box. 

At first there were concerns about identifying the right produce for the Farm Pup Share, but the process for packing boxes has been easier than expected. During our regular CSA box pack we do a lot of quality control on the line, and produce that doesn’t make the cut for boxes or donation gets tossed into compost bins staged under the pack line tables. These compost bins used to be emptied straight onto our compost pile, but now we use them to collect dog-friendly produce, like winter squash, radishes, turnips and apples. These items get packed into Farm Pup Share boxes and make their way to the kitchens of our dog-loving CSA customers to make treats and meals with ingredients that may be ugly, but are still nutritious and grown by people they know and trust.

This story is an addendum to a recipe that appeared in the Winter 2022 issue: Produce for Your Pup.