Farm Crawl builds on last year’s success

Three small-scale farms will again join forces to bring attention to their unique products and “hyper-local” proximity to one another. The first year brought larger numbers of visitors than expected, so the group will host the “Crawl” again on Saturday.

All three farms will be open to visitors, and there is no charge for attending.

Each farm produces different products, but the farmers share a determination to stimulate the local economy by providing good food to local residents.   The three farms also prioritize the use of environmentally sound agriculture practices, thus also sharing good stewardship of the land. One is certified organic.

All clustered near Stateline Road, these three farms have already experienced success in their own endeavors. However, they realize that there is something special about their close proximity to one another, and their emphasis on direct marketing to local residents right from their farms. All three have on-farm stores.

To kick off the 2019 growing season on Saturday, each farm will host visitors, offering goods for sale, and a chance to peak “behind the scenes.” Some farms will also have activities and self-guided tours for the public. The Stateline Farm Crawl gives people the opportunity to visit each farm all on the same day, with the furthest distance between farms being only 3 miles.

Look for the yellow balloons marking the driveways of each participating farm.

All farm owners will be on-site the day of the event, to talk with visitors about their production practices, the products they offer, and the systems they have in place to bring healthy, organically grown food to the area. Farms will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. that Saturday. Farm visits during the Stateline Farm Crawl are free and open to the public.

During the “Crawl”, people can visit an organic beef and poultry farm, a dairy farm with farmstead cheese production in its own creamery, and a micro-nursery that grows plants for the home gardener. Meat, cheese, and plants will be available for purchase at the relevant farms.

The farms featured in the Stateline Farm Crawl are:

Alden Hills Organic Farms is a local family farm with one mission: to provide you and your family with the healthiest, highest quality, pastured meats that “we can produce. Our meats are Certified Organic and guaranteed grass-fed, grass-finished, and always out on pasture,” a press release states.

“We specialize in grass-fed beef, pastured poultry, eggs, garlic, and popcorn. We deliver weekly to various locations as well as have our farm store open year-round. During the Stateline Farm Crawl, we will be offering farm tours, and our farm store will be open too,” it states.

Alden Hills Organic Farms is at N237 Alden Rd., Walworth. For more information visit aldenhillsorganicfarms.com or contact Levi and Emily Powers at 262-275-1070;

Highfield Farm Creamery is southeast Wisconsin’s only farmstead artisan cheese makers and opens for its fifth season on Saturday. “We handcraft small batches of cave-aged cheeses from the milk of our pasture-raised Jersey cows. You can see the cheese-make room through our viewing windows and visit Wisconsin’s smallest cow milking parlor where we milk cows two at a time,” the release states.

The farm will also offer samples of our cave-aged cheeses in the on-farm Cheese Shop. Hours are Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays are noon to 4 p.m., through the end of December.

Highfield Farm Creamery is at W4848 Stateline Road, Walworth. For more information visit HighfieldFarm.com or contact Terry and Denise Woods at 262-275-3027.

Tiny Tempest Farm specializes in organically grown vegetable, herb, and flower plants for the avid home gardener. Open three weekends in May, Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., we offer a wide selection of plant varieties including heirloom vegetables, unique herbs, reliable standards and edible flowers.

During the Stateline Farm Crawl, visitors can walk our field path, peak in the barn, and talk “garden talk” with grower and owner Sheri Doyel, who said, “Come on by!”

Tiny Tempest Farm is at W4355 Mohawk Road, Lake Geneva. For more information visit tinytempestfarm.com or contact Doyel at 262-374-4903.

 

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