Our farm venture started in 2002 with a few sheep, goats, calves and chickens. The typical "Old McDonald Farm" In fact that's what my peers thought of me, just an old McDonald farmer wannabe. After all, to be a "real farmer" you had to have a big operation, on contract with a big food corporation and lots of debt to go with it. We had neither. (Well, maybe the debt part.)
Around this time some were leaving conventional farming and sustainable agriculture was no longer just for hippies. I was already homesteading and very interested. We started by doing some sidewalk farmer markets (an other thing we were critizied for). Our first year was fun but how does one live on $200 per week? Well, we did and they were uncertian times. We didn't spend any money because we didn't have it; we grew what we ate and ate what we grew. We even have to borrow money occasionally for bills and feed purchases.
We soon found that others shared our interest in sustainable agriculture and also were not able to compete with big agriculture. We decided to form a cooperative. Since I like to do market so much, I became the market person and my friends consigned me products for market. Soon we had 6 markets and were very busy. This attracted a few investors who wanted to make a difference in the community as it related to food and the environment.
Next we bought this little farm in Holtwood, Pennsylvania and purchased Wills Valley Farm Products, started by Tim & Anne Bock from Kutztown , Pa.
As for our factory farming peers, they still think we're crazy wannabe farmers, but when I look at the wasted natural resources, medications, chemicals, pesticides and ethical issues concerning animal confinement as it relates to conventional farming, being labeled crazy isn't all that bad.
As far as we know, we are the only commercial sauerkraut producer still using stone crockery to age our sauerkraut. While some started out like us, many of our competitors have switched to plastic barrels. We believe it is the stoneware crockery that makes our product unique and the best sauerkraut on the planet. Try it out and see if you agree!
