Scotch Hill Farm

Scotch Hill Farm is a CSA subscription and market garden and family farm, which started in 1994.  It began with just 5 subscribing families and grew to 140 in its 10th growing season. The farm integrates livestock and poultry care into fresh vegetable and herb crop production to ensure adequate soil fertility and organic matter and to preserve rare and endangered domestic species.

The family (Tony, Dela, and their 4 children) raised produce organically for 6 years for their own consumption before beginning gradually to sell subscriptions to other families.  Scotch Hill Farm has CSA drop-off sites in Janesville, Wisconsin: and Crystal Lake, Ravenswood and Oak Park, Illinois, as well as on-farm pick-up for south Madison area communities. The farm raises chickens, turkeys, sheep and several breeds of registered milking goats. 

Scotch Hill Farm has about 28 acres in vegetable production. Vegetables and herbs in direct market sales number more than 100 varieties, and new heirloom offerings are added each spring.  The farm sells limited quantities of meat and eggs. Dela and Tony are working toward state certification for food processing in order to sell canned vegetables and fresh bread.

The entire Ends family works the 5 acres of land at Scotch Hill Farm as well as additional acres the family rents for vegetable crops and baling hay.  Everyone helps tend garden and field, and all help care for the animals.  Micah (13), who is interested in becoming a veterinarian, especially likes to spend time with the sheep, goats, and rabbits, as well as his pony and horse. Holly (23) and Dela spend a lot of time producing milk soap and growing edible flowers. Tony does most of the field-scale work and handles most of the sales and marketing for the farm and son, Joel, works with crops and animals. Son-in-law Aaron, who has a construction job, puts in many hours helping with farm projects, too. Three dogs—Tamba, Spot and Boots—and five cats are also part of the Ends family.  Holly has her own Jack Russell Terrier named Eli, and Scooby the pony rounds out the group.

For the last six years, Scotch Hill Farm has been hosting a wonderful apprentice, Katie Korson, who is working toward starting a CSA farm on her parents’ beef farm in Michigan.  Hosting Katie is part of Scotch Hill Farm’s commitment to the State-Line Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training, a farmer led effort in Illinois and Wisconsin to help young adults train for sustainable and organic farming.

Since 1999, the farm has hand-milled a moisturizing soap from goats milk. In the 2002 growing season, the farm built a commercial kitchen and quadrupled production and sale of milk soap. Sales have more than doubled again the past 2 years and are now about one-third of farm income. Dela and Tony received a USDA Small Business Innovation Research grant to develop their soap production into a model farmstead operation. In 2004 they began Phase II of this project to duplicate their model on 10 farms over a 2-year period. They’ve been consulted in this work by an agricultural economist from the UW Madison and the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems.

The farm sells milk soap year-round at farmer’s markets, special events, benefit sales and off of their new website www.scotchhillfarm.com. Tony and Dela are attending trade shows for the guild and cooperative, too. Other Web site listings for the farm include Wisconsin Dairy Artisans, ATTRA, MACSAC and FamilyFarmed.org.  Memberships include Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition, American Livestock Breeds Conservancy and several dairy goat associations.

Why is growing organic a priority for your family?
Respecting and caring for the earth is a mission for us. Our Community Supported Agriculture program is a way to educate others about healthful eating.

What’s your favorite part of being an organic farmer?
Farming as we do it is a physically challenging, yet spiritually healing and nurturing experience. Visually the gardens are a palette of colors and textures. The garden is incredibly fragrant. There is nothing like feeling the earth in your hands and between your toes. There is a symphony of sounds—rustling leaves, birds and insects. And of course, the taste of a perfect ripe vegetable right off the plant is like nothing else available to eat anywhere. Every season is an exciting and fascinating education and experience. We’ve shared it with worker shares, interns, touring farm visitors and, of course, our subscribers.

What is your least favorite part?
Droughts and being very tired from the longest days of the year—which are really often the hottest days, too. And many varieties of harmful insects that pose problems for us because we have not enough land to widely vary rotations. We’ve tried for almost 10 years to buy additional property, but land prices rise faster than we improve our means to acquire it.

Why should people buy organic products instead of other options?
Our planet and all its life, including our own, are gifts from God and worthy of the utmost respect. Clean and healthful farming practices produce a better environment and the best quality food. Buying organic food is a way for consumers to practice conscious consumerism, caring for our world while also caring for themselves and their family. Organic food reflects the true (unsubsidized) cost of production. When it is locally grown, it does not rely heavily on federal supports or nonrenewable resources, such as fossil fuels.

What makes your farm special?
It’s our farm!! Our family has worked hard over the years to build the business and revive a wonderful old farm that was falling into ruin.  Most original buildings are still here and we’ve put them all to use again. Our farm functions as its own little ecosystem with everything working together: soil, plants, animals and people. Through our Community Supported Agriculture, we have been able to share our farm with our urban membership. It’s a good relationship! Much of agriculture today  is specialized, with farms growing only one or two crops on a large scale,  or raising one type of livestock in huge numbers. We are trying hard to integrate vegetable crop production with pasture-based livestock.  Our farmstead soap made from our own milk is helping us be able to afford the time and expense of humanely treating and managing livestock.

Where would you like your business to be next year? In the next 5 years? 10?
Financially solid. Health insurance for all of us. Money enough for retirement saved. Able to provide workers a good wage and benefits. Improve and expand our relationships with consumers. To be able to maintain farm and liability insurance, which is continually rising in cost and/or threatened to be discontinued because what we do doesn’t “fit the mold,” in this world of lawsuit crazy consumers.

Where can consumers get your products?
Scotch Hill Farm has CSA drop-off sites in Janesville, Wisconsin: and Crystal Lake, Ravenswood and Oak Park, Illinois, as well as on-farm pick-up for south Madison area communities.  Soap products are available online at www.scotchhillfarm.com.

Updated 4/20/2006