My offerings include . . .

Fruits

Although many people say it’s impossible to grow fruit organically (and it is true that many fruits are soft and prone to mold, and all are very attractive to bugs), that’s precisely how fruit was grown for the first 9,940 years of agriculture. It’s only the aberration of the past 60 years of chemical-industrial agriculture that has people thinking it’s ok, even necessary, to spray poisons on our food. I grow more than 80 varieties of over 30 kinds of fruit, including many kinds of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, currants, apples, pears, cherries, peaches, pawpaws, persimmons, gooseberries and lots and lots of aronia, ground cherries, and even hardy kiwi.

Herbs

We grow over 30 kinds of aromatic and healthful herbs, from old favorites like basil, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, to new favorites like cutting celery, Sicilian oregano, anise hyssop, and lovage. As with our fruits, we grow many varieties of each herb – for example, 10 kinds of basil, 4 kinds of thyme, and 9 kinds of mint!

We provide fresh herbs from May through November, and dried herb teas year-around. We also dry some culinary herbs so you can use them any time. You’ll find these herbs much more aromatic and flavorful than those from a store, because we dry them right after harvest, and the product hasn’t been sitting in a warehouse or on the shelf for months or years. As usual, the best things are those that are freshest, and closest to home.

Plant Starts

I only choose varieties with superior taste, and that are sturdy and grow well in central Illinois. And of course I use organic practices—no chemical fertilizers, fungicides, herbicides or deadly neonicitinoids! For more information about our practices, and tips for growing our plant starts in your garden, read our FAQs.