After four years of being an apprentice on organic farms, Bross struck out on her own in 1990, founding Luna Circle Farm. She and her partner borrowed land from a friend and started their organic farm with only a "rake, shovel, hoe, and hard work." ...
Carandale is the longest-established pick-your-own farm in Dane County. Strawberry season, which typically runs for three weeks in June, is their busiest time. The farm attracts pickers of every kind, from locavores looking to freeze or preserve enough berries to last through the winter, to hungry people on a budget, to families eager to spend an afternoon outdoors ...
While the Flyte Family Farm has been in operation for decades, it began a new era when one of the Flyte children, Adam Flyte, married his wife Carrie. Adam was raised on the farm, and grew up with plenty of traditional agricultural experience. Carrie's training, however, was rather unorthodox. While a student at UWâPlatteville, she received an internship with Walt Disney World ...
Brantmeier Family Farm consists of four acres of crops, with 15 acres of hay and mulch, 55 acres of woodland, and the remainder of the land dedicated to the USDA Conservation Reserve Program. It sells an assortment of products including herbs, natural soap, and several "feral foods," foods that naturally grow in the wild and are collected for consumption ...
Pete and Pam Augustyn have always been about family, and that's why, in the mid-1990s, with an ever-growing clan at home, they began looking for a business that would allow them to earn a living and spend time together as a family. After a bit of searching, their answer came in the form of a 4-H field trip to a hydroponic tomato farm ...
Mary Celley has always loved bees. Even at an early age, she was fascinated by the insects, recognizing their importance to the Earth, plants and the food chain. This interest continued to grow in college, where she earned a degree in entomology from UW, and began work at a "Bee Lab" in Madison ...
If you drove 40 miles southwest of Madison, you would find yourself in Hollandale, Wisconsin. What's special about Hollandale? Nestled among the two hundred some residences is Pecatonica Valley Farm, one of the many vendors you can find on the Square each week at the Dane County Farmers' Market ...
The inspiration for Harvest Moon Herb Farm began while Jill Yeck was living on Long Island. During a canoe trip, she came upon a small detour in the river and decided to explore it. Much to her surprise, the small creek led to an herb farm just a short distance from the river. Intrigued by the farm, she decided to contact the owners and ended up becoming an apprentice there for seven seasons ...
Mary and Jack Domann of Domann's Plants in Beaver Dam began their journey to the Dane County Farmers' Market by not selling plants at all. In the early 1980s, they were selling arts and crafts at regional flea markets, but this did not provide year-round business, and neither was very happy with the products they were offering ...
Voss Organics has been a mainstay at the Dane County Farmers' Market since 1994, but Mark Voss' journey to becoming an organic farmer has certainly not been conventional ...