Schwab

from page 13

Their farming venture fit their family and also the culture of food source awareness.

“It just seems natural to build a garden that we could provide ourselves and others with good fresh vegetables,” Schwab said. “I know there’s so many people who are trying to ... be more proactive about knowing where their food comes from.”

The gardening method the Schwabs employ covers the ground in biodegradable woodbased products to help prevent weeds. The beds are covered in newspaper with compost on top and surrounded by trails covered in cardboard with wood mulch on top.

With three-fourths of an acre to cover in a combination of newspaper and cardboard, dumpster diving in Kenyon became part of their journey to start their commercial gardening venture.

Luckily, the Schwabs found another source besides dumpsters. A friend who worked in a factory got them pallets of cardboard that was going to go to waste, and another friend who works for a grocery store got them boxes of leftover sales flyers.

Truckloads of mulch came from another friend’s business.

Steph Helkenn, a friend of the family, moved in with them and helped with many hours of getting the gardens started. Today, she continues to help and expand her areas of expertise.

Before starting their 70-bed garden, Schwab gardened for 18 years. Even as a child, she remembers gardening with her grandpa in Germany.

Every morning, Schwab and the kids spend two to three hours working in the garden. For the smaller children, she sets a timer for a shorter amount of time. The older children spend several hours with her in the garden and are vital to the operation.

Schwab is familiar with spending lots of time with her children. The mother of 12 homeschools her kids and blogs about her life experiences.

“Farm life inspires all sorts of ... life lessons and lots of growth,” she said.

Her blogging is not focused on garnering followers.

“I often write it just to process it myself,” she said. “If it blesses somebody else, then that’s awesome.”

This year, they will add 10 gardening beds, bringing their total to 80, though they are not focused on expansion.

“We want to stay on a really small scale,” she said. “We don’t want to expand too big and to go too far from home.”

The Schwab family moved to their farm in 2015 from a house in Northfield. From the beginning, Schwab said they have felt at home on the property. The name of their farm alludes to the fulfillment of their yearning for a place of peace where they could be at home. Yet, more than a beautiful place of soft breezes and country rest, the family wants the farm to impact others.

“If nothing else, we just want this place to be a blessing to people,” Schwab said.

This past year, the vegetable offering for their CSA included: tomato, squash, green bean, flowers, broccoli, zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, summer squash, cabbage, snap pea, kohlrabi, kale, pepper, radish, herbs and carrot.

“We tried to stick with vegetables people have heard of and know what to do with,” Schwab said. “We had a share in a CSA when we lived in town, and so frequently I would ask, ... ‘What do I do with this?’”

Schwab page 15