No race can prosper

until it learns there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.

- Booker T. Washington

To forget how to dig the earth

and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.

- Mahatma Gandhi

I would rather be on my farm

than be emperor of the world.

- George Washington

The ultimate goal of farming

is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.

- Masanobu Fukuoka

Farming isn’t something that can be taught.

Each plant tells its own story that has to be read repeatedly.

- Kelsey Timmerman

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Established 2021

Welcome to Our Homestead

We have made it our mission to help preserve and improve a variety of endangered heritage breeds on our farm. We care for our land and animals as naturally as possible, and we are working towards becoming certified organic within the next few years. Feel free to contact us with any questions!

About Us: Growing Roots

After years of moving from place to place in the Navy, Ken met Jess in Illinois and whisked her away to start a new life in NE Wisconsin. He grew up on a horse ranch in East Texas, and she was born & raised in the Chicago suburbs with a zillion traditional & exotic house pets; both of them always dreaming of having acreage on which to farm and keep their own livestock.

Ken and Jess both hold full time jobs on top of managing the farm, so please be patient if you try to contact them and don’t get a response right away! Ken is a senior nuclear operations instructor and Jess is a senior in software engineering.

We Herd It All

Heritage & Designer Chickens

We couldn’t decide a single chicken breed to specialize in – there are SO many great ones! We chose to raise a few heritage breeds known to be docile, cold-hardy, and good foragers; and a couple modern designer breeds solely for colorful eggs. Our girls lay a whole rainbow from blue to dark chocolate brown! We often have hatching eggs, chicks, pullets, cockerels, hens, and roosters available from exhibition lines.

Welsh Harlequin Ducks

One of the newest heritage duck breeds and under Watch by the Livestock Conservancy, Welsh Harlequin Ducks are friendly, good foragers, and excellent egg layers. They’re small but have tasty meat that is leaner than most other ducks. And they are autosexing! During breeding season, we have hatching eggs, ducklings, hens, and drakes from famous show lines available.

Pilgrim & Tufted Roman Geese

We’re huge fans of autosexing breeds, so we had to have Pilgrim Geese! Listed as Threatened by the Livestock Conservancy, this heritage goose was created right here in the Midwest. As a Classics geek, Jess also had to have Tufted Roman Geese – this ancient breed is critically endangered in the US. During their short breeding season, we have show-potential eggs, goslings, dames, and ganders available.

Mini Nubian Dairy Goats

Nubian dairy goats produce a lot of milk but are huge, and Nigerian Dwarf goats produce rich, sweet milk but in tiny amounts. Mini Nubian dairy goats are a mix of these two African breeds, and they are the perfect size, with the perfect amount of milk for us! Our herd is registered at MDGA and TMGR under the name JKShrunkTheKids. Each spring, we have a limited number of Mini Nubian kids from strong milking lines available.

Oberhasli Dairy Goats

Descended from Swiss goats, Oberhasli dairy goats are generally calm and quiet, unlike our goofy Mini Nubians. They produce sweet, clean-tasting milk, and they are also often used for trail packing. This breed is thankfully now listed as Recovering by the Livestock Conservancy. Our herd is registered with ADGA as JKHerdItAll. Each spring, we have a limited number of Oberhasli kids from lines with champion pedigrees available.

American Guinea Hogs - (Probably) Coming 2024!

Listed as Threatened by the Livestock Conservancy, AGH are a rare landrace breed that is perfect for small homestead-type farms. They stay small (under 500lbs) and thrive on pasture with very little grain. They root less than their larger cousins and are friendly and easily trainable, like giant dogs, only with tusks that can kill you. They will clean up our orchard, till our gardens, take care of leftover produce, and provide meat & lard!

Honey Bees

We run Minnesota Hygienic Italian and VSH Wisconsin honey bees in our apiary. After loosing our other hives every year to Varroa Destructor no matter how much we tested & treated, we decided to only keep mite resistant bees. But if you see a swarm on your property, feel free to reach out! Depending where they are and whether we have the tools, we’d be happy to rescue them. We also have raw local honey and beeswax available seasonally.

Fresh Fruit & Vegetables

We have a wide variety of fruit & nut trees, as well as perennial & annual herbs, berries, and vegetables. We’ve usually got plenty to share with the community, available seasonally. We were thinking about joining the local Farmer’s Market, but it’s a little bit sad-looking and also pricey, so we might just continue to update our availability for all farm goods (including poultry and eggs) on our Farmish storefront, as well as our farm store page here on our site.

Preserves & Ferments

Ken has a love of all things beer and pours his passion into his own recipes! We unfortunately can’t share our homemade booze with the public, but Jess maintains her own fermentation projects, including kombucha, milk kefir, water kefir, sourdough, cider, and an assortment of canned or dehydrated fruit & vegetable preserves. We are pleased to offer starters and preserved goods for sale, and we’re saving up for a freeze dryer!

Latest Updates

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