Happy to know you.
Meet Liz
I am a native Hoosier: my home place is a farm in the trees and hollows of southern Indiana. Growing up, the farm was a place of snapped beans and canned tomatoes, hikes and hard work. My family instilled a deep love of home as well as passion for travel. I have made friends with Alaskan crabs, Maine sheep, California trees, Colorado mountains, Indiana creeks, and some remarkable people as well. Through it all, my agricultural roots have held firm. I'm delighted to back home in Indiana, farming, caring for the land, and helping create the Indiana I believe in.
Meet Nate
Since 2009, my adventures have been farm adventures. I’ve sheared sheep in Maine, cared for cattle in New York and slaughtered chickens in Vermont. I have worked on vegetable farms, but I prefer to spend my time caring for and working with animals in a pasture. Through farming, I can enjoy hard work and delicious food while I watch our home grow.
Our Powers Combined
We got married in the front pasture here at the Farm in 2009. Since then we’ve been up to our ears in good friends, good food, and good farms. Our families have supported us every step of the way, and we couldn't be more grateful.
We didn’t really plan to spend our first married years farming, but we kept landing on farms. We started in Pennsylvania, working a seasonal gig on a veggie farm. The search for winter work ended with a job offer in Maine, where we worked as educators on a demonstration farm. We fell in love with caring for the barnyard animals (especially the sheep), and two farmers who took us under their wings, introducing us to raising livestock on pasture. We started to think that we could farm professionally, but we wanted a few more adventures (and a lot more experience) first.
Liz went to grad school to study natural resources, where she focused on the intersection of rivers and farms. Nate worked to hone his farming skills. A few very formative months at Essex Farm in Essex, New York, taught Nate worlds about the daily care of cattle, pigs, chickens and horses – and about what fun a farming community can be. Jericho Settler’s Farm in Jericho, Vermont, was his next farm, where he learned exhaustively about production scale vegetables and friendship. Liz finished up grad school, and we made Maple Wind Farm in Huntington, Vermont our last stop. Beth and Bruce pushed our farming and business skills, and the whole gang at the top of Carse Road gave us the confidence to head home to farm.
We have been inspired by the incredibly supportive people we call friends and family. We have been awed by the beautiful landscapes we called home. And we have been educated by hundreds of animals along the way. We keep all of these people, places and animals in mind as we implement their lessons here at home.
We've been farming here in Indiana for almost a decade now, and we can already see the fruits of our labor: happy animals on pasture, a vibrant community of CSA members, farmers markets that are stronger each year, and land that is healing - - more dragonflies, more birds and snakes and spiders, more trees, and more sunsets together.
We got married in the front pasture here at the Farm in 2009. Since then we’ve been up to our ears in good friends, good food, and good farms. Our families have supported us every step of the way, and we couldn't be more grateful.
We didn’t really plan to spend our first married years farming, but we kept landing on farms. We started in Pennsylvania, working a seasonal gig on a veggie farm. The search for winter work ended with a job offer in Maine, where we worked as educators on a demonstration farm. We fell in love with caring for the barnyard animals (especially the sheep), and two farmers who took us under their wings, introducing us to raising livestock on pasture. We started to think that we could farm professionally, but we wanted a few more adventures (and a lot more experience) first.
Liz went to grad school to study natural resources, where she focused on the intersection of rivers and farms. Nate worked to hone his farming skills. A few very formative months at Essex Farm in Essex, New York, taught Nate worlds about the daily care of cattle, pigs, chickens and horses – and about what fun a farming community can be. Jericho Settler’s Farm in Jericho, Vermont, was his next farm, where he learned exhaustively about production scale vegetables and friendship. Liz finished up grad school, and we made Maple Wind Farm in Huntington, Vermont our last stop. Beth and Bruce pushed our farming and business skills, and the whole gang at the top of Carse Road gave us the confidence to head home to farm.
We have been inspired by the incredibly supportive people we call friends and family. We have been awed by the beautiful landscapes we called home. And we have been educated by hundreds of animals along the way. We keep all of these people, places and animals in mind as we implement their lessons here at home.
We've been farming here in Indiana for almost a decade now, and we can already see the fruits of our labor: happy animals on pasture, a vibrant community of CSA members, farmers markets that are stronger each year, and land that is healing - - more dragonflies, more birds and snakes and spiders, more trees, and more sunsets together.
our place
Oak-hickory forests roll down into rich riverbottom land and wetlands. Pileated woodpeckers, coyotes, great blue herons, crawdads, and a host of other wildlife call this place home, including the Otte family. Liz's family has stewarded these 250 acres for fifty years. Lloyd and Carol Otte (Liz's parents) raised wheat, alfalfa, corn, beans, and beef cattle here in the 1970's and 80's. More recently, they restored about thirty acres of wetlands through NRCS's Wetlands Reserve Program. They continue to manage the forests for wildlife habitat and a bit of sustainable timber and firewood. For over thirty years, our neighbors, the Schepmans, kept this land in production. Now, we have taken over stewardship of all 100 acres of farmland, and we're helping Liz's family care for the forest and wetlands.
Starting our farm on Liz's family farm feels like a privilege and a responsibility. We’re creating a small family farm, and we work to farm sustainably. For us, that means that: We raise animals on pasture, with respect and care. We’re committed to selling meat locally and feeding our neighbors and friends. We’re trying to be good stewards of the forests, wetlands, and fields on our farm.
Starting our farm on Liz's family farm feels like a privilege and a responsibility. We’re creating a small family farm, and we work to farm sustainably. For us, that means that: We raise animals on pasture, with respect and care. We’re committed to selling meat locally and feeding our neighbors and friends. We’re trying to be good stewards of the forests, wetlands, and fields on our farm.
