Rooted for the Long Run in Benson

It is with tremendous pleasure I announce that Down River Farm has found a new home to put down more permanent roots!

In June of 2024, I closed on a property in Benson, near Roanoke, about 40 minutes Northeast of Peoria. Situated on 2 acres, the property has a house, barn, large garage, corncrib, aaaaaaaand (drumroll please) a reliable source of water! How exciting!

That being said, the property is by no means my “dream” property. It only has about 3/4 acre of tillable ground which is a little less than I was hoping for (we were working 1.33 acres in 2022). But, I think it will allow us to become even more efficient, tight, and really push the boundaries of what small footprint farms can produce; a real passion of mine.

After looking at close to 100 properties (huge shoutout to my agent, Perry Brubaker of Gallery Homes in Peoria Heights!) over the past 3 years, I have come to learn that there is no perfect property. No way to “time” the market with interest rates. No perfect piece of land. No perfect soil. Every property comes with pros AND cons and at some point you’re just picking what “cons” you’re willing to deal with. At some point, I had to compromise on some of my criteria simply due to where the market was at and my financial constraints.

I’m really happy with the property so far, all things considered, and believe it will allow me to really grow the business and grow even better quality produce for all of you for years to come!

This purchase was made with the Peoria community in mind.

These past two years of being on pause, I’ve had time to reflect and think about how lucky I am to be able to do what I do. And while it is really hard work and I’ve had my moments of wanting to throw in the towel out of sheer exhaustion and frustration (as most of us do in any career), it is work that is extremely fulfilling.

It’s work that constantly challenges me and keeps me engaged. And for that, I’m grateful. And I couldn’t do that without your support. Each and every one of you.

You purchased this property simply by supporting this small business. And I don’t lose sight of that.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

The Ardor Garden in full production

So, what have we been up to the past couple years? 

In March of 2023, I accepted a position at Epiphany Farms in Downs, IL (near Bloomington) as the farm manager of their operation. I was managing a lot more acreage and more complex systems with more perennial cropping, pasture, and livestock enterprises, as well as larger acreage (12 acres) of vegetable production. It was a good challenge and I learned a great deal while there. I’m grateful to have been given the opportunity to work there and lead the farm crew for almost two years.

Concurrently, I was taking on other projects on my own. One of which was designing, building, and managing the Ardor Garden. This was a production farm for Ardor Bread and Provisions, the best bakery and restaurant in Peoria. Chef Cody had some prime land that we were able to grow vegetables on to supply the restaurant with high quality ingredients! It was so successful we actually grew too much produce! But alas, I purchased this property around the same time Cody opened up his new concept upstairs and we mutually decided we couldn’t keep up with it (gardens are a lot of work!).

I was also contacted by a customer to help with designing and building a raised bed garden at the Schramm Education Center in Pekin (see before and after above). This is a school for students with special needs that are unable to be accommodated in a public school setting. There were a lot of parameters to keep in mind when designing the garden. But it was a huge success and I’m so grateful to have been a part of the project.

Lastly, I continued growing out my garlic crop on the old property (thanks to Kira for letting me do this!) in order to save that seed back until restarting the farm (the garlic is officially on the new farm now!). Additionally, I did a lot of tilling and garden consulting work for clients across the area. I had a really good time doing this and I hope to do more of it in the future!

The Future of Down River Farm: Growing for Good

We broke ground on August 11 and began adding many yards of Better Earth Compost to amend the soil and get it fully charged for growing healthy vegetables. I even bought a tractor to more efficiently get all this compost into the fields faster so we could get back to growing for all of you sooner.

We planted blueberries, strawberries, currants, elderberries, perennial herbs, and a small orchard containing 4 apple trees, 3 pear trees, a persimmon tree, and a peach tree. We hope to share this bounty with you in 4-5 years! In the spring we will put in rhubarb, chives, blackberries, and raspberries.

Our new orchard containing 4 apple trees, 3 pear trees, a persimmon tree, and a peach tree; our first vegetable plot can be seen in the background

In September, we established our first plot of vegetables. We only put in quick growing crops due to the time of year and that the growing season was quickly coming to a close already. So all of September was spent making new beds and seeding and planting. Our garlic crop was officially in the ground for the 2025 season!

This winter, we spent a lot of time getting greenhouses built to expand the amount of greenhouse growing we do to ensure higher quality crops. We also set up our propagation house in order to get our spring off to a good start.

In 2025 we will for sure be back at the Peoria Riverfront Market, our 2025 CSA season has officially sold out, and we are back to selling through our online store.

We cannot wait to feed you with premium produce grown with integrity once again!

See you soon!