Our farm and the way we live in every way reflects the realities of a joyous life, full of all its complications. We (meaning Mike and Cassie) co-own and operate this farm. For 14 years we did this as a married couple – now we do it as divorced farm partners. We are a true family farm, though what our family looks like continues to evolve.

Mike & I first met at UW-Madison. He was working on an agronomy degree with the hope of starting an organic vegetable farm. I was teaching environmental studies at UW and MATC during the academic year, and working on farms in the summer.

We met and it clicked.  We shared (and still do!) a commitment to spending our lives working to solve the climate crisis and towards a different, more sustainable and just future.

Together we began to grow food on our farm in a way that nourishes both our bodies and our soils.

Today we feed over 800 families through our vegetable share program. Every week, 100 of the 550 boxes we pack are donated and delivered directly to  Madison families struggling with food insecurity in food apartheid neighborhoods. This effort is funded in part by our membership and their generosity.

Our family includes three lovely, sassy, energy-demanding daughters.  And well, if you count the farm, we really share four children. Whether we are co-parenting or co-managing our operation, we bring to it our love, commitment, and willingness to constantly evolve.  Our lives are a messy, beautiful, chaotic intertwining of households, tractors, seedlings, crew lunches, princess drawings, dirty boots, sweet corn fritters, coyote howls, and dog-chewed crayons.

While I no longer teach in an academic setting, through my newsletters I find myself still teaching. My job as a farmer is not only to grow food, but to teach our members how to cook local seasonal dishes, and to care about why what’s on the dinner plate matters.