Turning Farm Dreams Into Reality

The Class of 2021, friends, and family gathered both virtually and in person at McHenry County College on December 11th to celebrate this year’s Stateline Farm Beginnings® graduation. Stateline Farm Beginnings® is a year-long preparatory course in farm business planning. Rooted in the principles of holistic management and farm viability, participants take a wide-lens approach to their farm dream by exploring how to achieve their personal and professional aspirations. Graduation was a space for participants to share their farm plan with the group, give and receive feedback, and recognize their individual accomplishments from the year. 

This year’s twelve participants represent nine innovative and sustainable farm dreams in the Stateline area, spanning from the Southside of Chicago to Black Earth, Wisconsin. One thing all the participants share is a desire to channel their ideals and values into their communities and landscapes. 

We are very excited to share the following with you:

The 2021 Stateline Farm Beginnings® participants

Peggy and Ari are software developers turned farmers. They have been accepted into Prairie Crossing Farm Business Development Center in Grayslake, Illinois, where they plan to launch Silver Fox Farm. Their principal product will be salad kits made with all local and sustainably grown ingredients. Follow along with them on Instagram @silverfoxfarmers.​

Farm presentation by Danny and Thomas

Danny and Thomas are long-time friends with a shared passion for growing food. They plan to launch Vegetables Locales from Our Bauer (Local Vegetables from Our Farmer) in 2023. They are currently working on securing land in Cook County. Danny said, “We really had a lot of eye-opening experiences during the course. Especially the conversations about land access. We realized it would be very difficult, but not impossible, to make a farm work in the city.” Support their journey by following @our.bauer and @vegetaleslocales.

You may recognize partners Andrea and Rebeca from our earlier post. Last year, Andrea enrolled in a three month course from Urban Triage, which she says, “opened my eyes to the depth of racism in Wisconsin and brought me to look deeper into racism in agriculture.” Together, Andrea and Rebeca are turning their dream of promoting equity in farming into reality by making their small farm available to farmers of diverse genders, sexualities, and racial and ethnic identities, who use the land and other farm resources to grow their own agriculture-based enterprises. Rebeca shared that, “It seems our dreams require a lot of work,” but their sleeves are already rolled up.

Participants and friends gathered together

Fresh is chef and founder of Fresher Together Farm, a collaborative food and farming project for healing, economic development, training and retreat located in Chicago. Fresher Together Farm stands on four pillars of food access: build, grow, cook, and heal. Fresh envisions a “brunch farm” where people come for a retreat, to get away, to forage, and to eat delicious food. To support or collaborate with Fresh, visit freshertogether.com and follow @freshertogether.​

Yahdi is excited to launch Free Movement Farm. They say, “I fell into farming when I was googling careers to move my body more. I started volunteering on a farm, and it was the calmest I had ever felt.” In addition to producing food, Yahdi is planning a residential compost program where people give food scraps. They want to make composting more accessible in every way possible because, “nobody on this earth is free from the harm of being disconnected from the waste we produce.” Reflecting on Stateline Farm Beginnings®, Yahdi says, “This was like a year-long journal prompt. I had to reframe my dream into something that can support myself.” Follow their journey on Instagram @ugrowing2, and if you would like to support, head to Yahdi’s farm dream page on Go Fund Me.​

Danielle is a corporate investigator by day and a poultry farmer by night. Founder of Ever Favor Farms LLC in Woodstock, Illinois, she is managing chickens and turkeys with the mission to promote food security and sustainability by producing humanely-raised meat products with superior taste and quality. Danielle says, “This program is one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself, and I enjoyed it tremendously!”  Keep an eye out for Ever Favor Farms in our Stateline Farm Directory. ​​

Danielle's farm logo

Andy has six years of farm work experience and is excited to plan a farm of his own. While working on a livestock farm, he learned that his passion is in vegetable production. Andy has worked all over our region, and hopes to start his farm in the Milwaukee area. 

Francesca at graduation

Francesca has shown us and herself that, actually, she can. Founder of Buona Fortuna Farm LLC in Lake Zurich, Illinois, Francesca says her farm is, “the embodiment of my life’s ambition.” The farm currently offers garlic, berries, flowers, and educational classes, and she plans to expand to multiple locations in the Chicago area. She dedicates her work to her children and the next generation. Keep up with Francesca at buonafortunafarm.com and on Instagram @francescadote. 

Elizabeth lives in Massachusetts (our first fully-virtual Stateline Farm Beginnings® participant!) and has big dreams for the family farm that she expects to inherit in northern Illinois, which she is calling North Star Farm. She plans to grow organic vegetables, herbs, and flowers, as well as host educational programs, workshops, and farm dinners in her large barn. She closed our final 2021 Stateline Farm Beginnings® session with a quotation by William H. Murray: ​

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

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Special thank you to the Center for Agrarian Learning at McHenry County College for hosting our hybrid sessions this year! Learn more about Stateline Farm Beginnings® here.