Nature’s Bio-organic Farms

Located on 45 acres in St. Anne, Illinois, Nature’s Bio-organic Farms is a cooperative with seven members who engage in on-field and off-field activities as part of a CSA membership program. The crops they produce include a wide variety of vegetables.

Owner Terrence Miller shares more about their farming operation.

How long have you been farming?
We’ve been farming since 2003.

Who works with you on your farm?
In addition to our CSA members, our children help out with transplanting, soil mixing, compost management, seed harvesting, and minor weeding. We also have members and volunteers who help plant and transplant seedlings, bag up member orders, and inventory supplies.

What do you grow on your farm?
We grow specialty greens, broccoli, cabbage, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, melons, okra, spinach, snapbeans, squash, tomatoes, and peppers, all of which we sell to retailers and consumers. We also produce vermicompost and windrow compost.

Where do you sell your produce?
In addition to supplying produce to our CSA members, we sell to upscale vegetarian and non-vegetarian restaurants and to holistic health organizations, raw food groups, farmers’ markets, and co-ops.

What is your growing philosophy?
We choose to farm bio-organically, using guidelines above and beyond organic guidelines. Ecological balance creates the need for ecological agriculture through bio-organic practices.

What is your favorite part of being an organic farmer?
As a bio-organic farmer, I love the transformation process of revitalizing soil and maintaining the balanced ecology of the farm.

What is your least favorite part?
Quite honestly, our efficient practices prevent me from disliking any aspect of farming.

Why should people buy organic products rather than other options?
Bio-organic foods have a radiant quality, resulting from vibrant seeds grown in optimal soils from heirloom, pre-heirloom, and indigenous seed selections.

What makes your farm special?
The implementation of the most efficient bio-organic methods, adherence to ecological principles, and the superior quality and selection of seeds all make our farm stand out. In addition, we have a developing soil quality that maximizes biological processes within the soil. And, our cultivation of heirloom, pre-heirloom, and indigenous seeds makes us unique.

What do you envision for the future of your farm?
We’d like to diversify in the areas of bamboo production, straw bale building, large-scale vermicasting systems, and seed preservation.

Updated 11/30/2007