ABOUT US
A B O U T U S
We are a husband and wife run CSA Share farm. We come from humble beginnings, starting our farm on just a few of acres of family land with a handful of seeds. We didn’t have any equipment, seeding trays, or even a tractor, but we made it work. We were young and persistent, investing our income back into the farm every season for years to grow our operation into a viable business that could support our family.
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We rented fields all over the place and in one season had fields in 3 different cities (Big Lake, Elk River and Zimmerman). Being first generational farmers means that we didn't inherit anything when we started, we used what we could afford and grew slowly. Back in 2012 we started our CSA program with 18 Members. Now in 2026 we'll be offering CSA Shares to hundreds of families on our area!
We saved money and waited for the perfect property to come along... In 2020, we were able to make the big jump into a farm property of our own! We bought our Forever Farm in Oak Park, MN. We can manage the acreage how we want and now have complete control of the investment into our soils and drainage.
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Now we're farming our land here and everything is in one place. Except for 2 varieties- we still grow our potatoes in Elk River because the sandy soil it perfect and we also rent about 5 acres from our neighbor for our sweet corn because we grow so much of it, we don't have room at our farm.
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Since we bought our own farmstead in 2020, we've slowly added livestock to our lineup. Now we're raising heritage hogs every summer and several batches of meat chickens too! I'm excited to see what the next 10 years of our farm holds.
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Literally, our family dream come true.
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If you eat our food, you have a hand in what we create. Thank you for supporting us and our farming endeavors through our CSA program. We are so proud to grow for our community. Thank you for your encouragement and motivation!
H O W I T A L L B E G A N
Ben & I met at Central Lakes College. He was going for a Horticulture degree and I was going for my Natural Resources degree. Fast forward through us finishing our degrees and getting married & starting our family, we know what our calling was.
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Ben has been in charge of everything green around the farm here since the very beginning. He's the reason we have a farm; I had no experience with farming, and when we met I hadn't even been to a farmer's market before.
He started working full time for a neighbors' farm at a young age and had a decade of experience under his belt before he decided to start his own farm at 21 years old.
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Ben is the rock in our farm, without him, nothing would be possible! He brings his education and passion together in the fields, and his memory proves that he was born to be a farmer. He remembers every storm, every bounty, every variety we grow; he is the expert around here!
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Hi I'm Jodi. I'm the talker around here and I'm sure we'll get to know each other pretty well. I am the voice behind the website, emails, blogs, any communications you receive from the farm.
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During the harvest season, I am hands on every day with our team: harvesting, washing, packing and I also personally deliver all of our CSA Shares.
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I don’t come from a farming background. I grew up in Apple Valley and pursued a career in Natural Resources. Prior to starting our farm, I worked for the DNR in their specialty AIS (Aquatic Invasive Species) programs.
Before I met Ben, I had never even been to a farmer's market. It's not because I didn't value farmers, we just didn't do that- we got all of our food from the grocery store every week. I don't even remember eating fresh sweet corn as a kid or the excitement of the first harvest.
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This puts me in a great spot to talk about my experience.
Going from someone who couldn't recognize a zucchini to someone who now is fluent in seasonal eating, storing and processing. I even sell homemade canned goods that I make from produce Ben grows- hundreds of jars of salsa, jams and my own hot sauce recipe too.
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When we started our farm I was pregnant with our oldest, fast forward 14 years, hundreds of varieties of fresh produce, and thousands of customers.. I wouldn't do anything differently.
We are raising our family, working hard, showing up for our customers with great communication and the freshest produce available. We are able to offer our weekly CSA Shares and really help our customers learn more about the produce we enjoy together.
I love sharing what I've learned these past bunch of years and helping others gain confidence in the kitchen with high quality, chemical free food.
Ben & I are happy to have the opportunity to pursue what we enjoy and sharing it with our 3 kids is very special! They understand a lot of complex natural relationships and enjoy digging and harvesting with us. We're very lucky in that they are so interested in what we're doing. They work on the farm a little bit to save for things they want and it's just such a joy as a parent to see your kids succeed and work hard.
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We are happily growing produce for our community and showing our kids what we think is really important in so many ways. Thank you for supporting our family farm!
You know the expression: THEY GROW LIKE WEEDS.
Thank you for the opportunity to grow for you this season!!
~The Brown Family