Jill and Nate Lada were married on their newly-purchased 64 acre farm in the fall of 2012.  The couple had met as PitE majors specializing in restoration ecology, but post-graduation, they decided that the best way to craft an outdoor lifestyle together and contribute to the health of the land and community was through farming.  

In 2011, the couple founded Green Things Farm with the help of the Tilian Farm Incubator Program, which provides new Michigan farmers with land, funds, and support for two full years.  This initiative minimizes the two most significant barriers to entry associated with farming: high up-front costs and lack of available land to rent or buy.  

Upon completion of the program, Jill and Nate purchased the aforementioned 64 acre property off of Nixon Road to serve as their permanent farm site.  The farm now grows vegetables, fruits, flowers, and grains and raises pigs, cattle, and chickens.  The Ladas sell their produce at local farmers markets and also supply local restaurants, including the new Avalon Cafe and Spencer restaurants in Ann Arbor. Always innovating, the farm was certified organic in 2015.

“Farming these days is an act of creativity and humility,” says Jill.  “In an age where farming traditions have mostly been lost and food is cheap and abundant, what we are doing has to be about more than just growing food. We have to sell unique products in unique ways with a story that people can connect with.”

As part of the local food movement, Jill and Nate have designed a community around food.  The couple has embraced the community-supported agriculture, or CSA, model in which consumers share some of the financial risk by paying in advance to receive a weekly share of whatever produce is being harvested on the farm.  In addition, the Ladas host community farm dinners in the summer.   In Nate’s words, “I love the impact our farm is having on so many different people in the community.  From the people who shop for our groceries at Argus to those who come out to visit the farm to our employees and volunteers who work the land with us, it is continually amazing to me how many different people our lives are directly touching.”

Photo courtesy of Lindsay Partridge.