About Us

Hi There, I'm Stephanie. . .

. . . And I like to play in the dirt

I didn’t always know that I wanted to be a farmer, but I have always loved “playing in the dirt”. I love the smell of earth and the sense of peace and connectedness that comes with getting your hands dirty. I love all of the little critters like praying mantises and earthworms that you witness when you slow down and look closely. I love the sounds of our little valley, here in Jefferson County, Kansas. Did you know that there is a time early in the morning, when you can hear the night birds give way to the day birds, when the haunting hoots of the owls and whippoorwill songs give way to the joyous wren trills? I am happy in the dirt.

One of my earliest memories is actually of being in the garden with my grandmother on the family farm that has been in my mother’s family for three generations. She is the reason I became a farmer. In 2009, she and my grandfather approached me to ask if my husband and I might be interested in taking over the farm operation when they retired.

It was then that I asked myself, “If I had a farm, what would I do with it?” For me the answer was all about the food.

Food = ART

Long before I started my little farm, I have loved cooking. Not just preparing food, but creating food. To me, you can paint with flavors and textures in a similar way that you can mix paints on a canvas.

And like a good piece of art, a bite of food can make you feel something: excitement, comfort, love. For me, the challenge of finding novel uses for local and seasonal ingredients is what drives me. My creativity and passion for new flavors comes alive when I think about how I can take just a few ingredients and prepare them in unique ways to build a balanced and complex flavor profile that I can’t find anywhere else.

History

So let’s go back. I had a great little geeky tech job that filled my days with project management reports and out of state conferences. It was on one of these conference trips that I met my husband Scott, who now plays the role of accountant/sous chef/delivery-man/chicken whisperer for the farm. We fell in love and currently spend our time listening to live music, eating at local restaurants, playing with our small zoo of farm animals, and travelling anywhere we can.

We especially loved travelling to Costa Rica, where we found ourselves enrapt with the number of different ecosystems there, from a cloud forest in the mountains to the beach and the rainforest jungles. We were also incredibly inspired by the culture of environmental responsibility there, where every decision is made with sustainability in mind.

Permaculture

This spirit of sustainability, working within an ecosystem rather than against it, really crystalized our farm concept. In fact, when we finally decided to jump in and purchase a farm property near my grandparents, we found the most perfect little valley farm that has a sort of rainforest vibe to it. We knew as soon as we saw it, that this place was “the one.” Both Scott and I described it as if we were falling in love.

So naturally we knew we could never be at war with nature here. We practice permaculture design systems that allow us to be in collaboration with nature, taking care of the land, so that it will in turn take care of us.

For example, we don’t use any chemical fertilizers of pesticides. Instead, we have goats for weed control, who are rotated around the property to maintain overgrowth, or clear patches, without injuring the land. Similarly, our chickens are rotated throughout to fertilize patches for future plantings.

In addition to the animals, we utilize plants within the farm design, in a number of ways. We used a diversified cover crop to rehabilitate a field that was previously used for conventional monocropped soy/corn rotation, leaving the soil depleted and lifeless. The cover crop brought life back into the soil by adding organic matter and inviting the other critters that create the necessary infrastructure for water absorption.

We use daffodils, onions, mustard, marigolds, and basil to deter pests from our crops and trees, and we use legumes to increase the available nitrogen in the soil before planting something like corn.

In essence, we do whatever we can to preserve the life of the land itself, maintaining soil integrity. Sure, it takes a little more planning up front, but we have learned that when the land thrives, the farm thrives, and we thrive. In all honesty, it’s very fun collaborating within the natural environment. It’s all about experimenting with different practices and preparations like lasagna gardening. It is a joy to simply observe the farm herself to see what she has to offer. The result is happy farmers (and chickens and goats) and better food!

It all comes back to the Food

So, while I love my land, it always comes back to the food. I love growing any ingredients I can get to sprout. If I can’t grow it, I love finding the freshest, most delicious local foods and and then using them to create truly unique flavors. When I travel, I usually bring home something fun and new to experiment with. This search for ingredients has helped me to create a network of local farmers and producers who I know, trust, like, and support. It is a point of pride that my products contain ingredients from other small farms in my neighborhood.

My products can be found in high end specialty stores and smeared across the faces of toddlers. It is my joy and passion to continually expand my recipe repertoire, while providing my customers with the flavors they can’t find anywhere else. I know I am exactly where I am supposed to be.

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