Our Story

Sweet Soil Farm is owned and operated by sisters, Jen & Nikki.  We decided to grow our love for vegetable gardening and flowers into a small farm that provides the community with fresh, locally grown products. 

We named our farm “Sweet Soil” because the foundation of any great farm is the soil. A healthy teaspoon of soil can house millions of living creatures including bacteria, nematodes, yeast and fungi. The healthier the soil, the healthier the plants and the healthier the plants, the healthier the people. The healthier the people, the healthier the community. It’s our goal to grow our flowers and food in a manner that contributes to the soil life – or makes it sweeter. And to connect or reconnect our children and the community with healthy soil and its byproducts.

The Farmers

Jen

I have loved flowers since forever and spent my twenties dreaming of becoming a florist.  While working my corporate day job, I signed up for a distance learning floral design course as the first step to owning my own flower shop one day. Then life happened; multiple moves, new jobs, marriage and kids and I wasn’t that florist.  Years later, after moving our family to a property with lots of open space, coupled with my sister’s contagious love of growing things, the idea of flower farming bloomed and it has been growing ever since.  Not only do I get to grow all the pretty things, but I’ve learned so much about farming, soil, insects and biodiversity, all while showing my children how to work hard for something you love.  My story isn’t just about farming and flowers, but also about listening to that inner voice that is always pulling you toward the thing you were meant to do. 

Nikki

The birth of my first child made me want to know more about where my food was coming from. Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma led me to Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farm. The fire had been stoked and my garden, seed list and flock of chickens has gotten a little bigger each year since. I am so excited to finally be offering our products to the community. I’m also hopeful that sharing what we know about sustainable farming will contribute to the transitioning of farm land out of systems that degrade the soil and into systems that promote the health of our plants, bodies and planet. I should also mention I love the dirt under my fingernails and the sun on my face. There really isn’t anything quite like the early morning on the farm.

Our Family

Accompanying us on this crazy adventure are our husbands and our littles.  Adam and Pete, the husbands, bring life to all the structures, contraptions and buildings we can think up. They also lift and push heavy things and we are forever grateful!  Our littles help with planting bulbs and tag along during our daily farm walks to see what’s new and blooming.  They ask the hard questions, like “why do you grow so many flowers” and keep us humble by sharing their very honest opinions.