Last week I spent some time at my grandma’s house. We were chatting and ended up talking about family history and she got out a box of pictures. We spent a couple of hours looking at all the pictures dating back to the late 1800’s. We even found an original marriage license from 1876!
Old photos have a way of telling powerful stories – it reminded me how deeply rooted farming traditions can be. Today, I’d love to share a piece of Crisp Country Acres’ history with you.
The family settled on this piece of land after the civil war. It is thought that Bartelt VanderZwaag used the money he made from fighting in the Civil War to purchase the land on 120th Ave, just down the hill in Crisp, Michigan
This is the second barn, as the first one burned down. Do you recognize it? It is still there today! Next time you are at the farm look at the peak of the barn, you can see the year 1899 carved into it. This barn has seen alot of changes over the years. Now it holds our coolers and cold storage.
Since immigrating here from the Netherlands in the 1850’s the family has been farming! They raised hay, wheat, corn, soy beans, pickles, beef, pork and it was even a dairy for a while.
Today, we are still farming the same fields that our ancestors did almost 150 years ago. I often look at the pear tree that is on the side of the field. Wondering how many generations ago that it was planted. Wondering how many of our family rested under that tree, enjoying the tasty fruit. We will forever be grateful for the generations that worked so hard for this farm.
In 2013, we started Crisp Country Acres with a simple mission: connecting families with fresh, delicious and trustworthy produce.
What makes us different? We don’t just want to grow food. We want to grow HEALTHY food.
Food that is full of nutrients and flavor. While there are several things that we are focusing on this year Regenerative Farming is at the top of the list.
I will be sharing more about how we are doing that over the next few months. We want to make sure that our produce not only tastes good but is full of the nutrients that your family needs. All the while, taking good care of our soil so that our family can continue to farm here for the next 150 years.
THANK YOU for your support over the years! We are looking forward to a fantastic growing season.
