Wednesday, May 28, 2008

East River Organic Farm - Les Roggenbuck

Warm hello to everyone living La Vida Local ~

We are a 400-acre family farm 7 miles west of Sandusky, Michigan, and close to Marlette, the “Heart of the Thumb.” The Roggenbuck family has farmed in this area for the better part of a century and has farmed this land in particular since the early 70s. In the 90s we transitioned to organic grain and beans and let go of many rented acres to account for the extra time and attention required by organic production.

Les says, “Six or seven years ago I decided that if this farm were going to last, it would have to diversify. I made a list of the things we could provide that would work around here. One of my goals was to put food on people’s tables. I was tired of measuring things out in bins and bushels and trucking them off here and there. So I made a list from simpler to more complicated products to provide. Eggs, vegetables, chicken, beef, and pork were at the top of the list. Dairy was near the bottom because it was too big a change and too much infrastructure, but I also think about what a one-cow dairy would look like!”

We started the herd of Devon cattle in 2002 and the vegetable CSA with 5 families in 2003. The chickens showed up along the way and now enjoy their sunny yard and tidy red coop-on-wheels, laying about 25 dozen rainbow eggs a week! Our diversifying family farm enterprise has begun to look a lot more like it did in the 50s, supported by beef and egg customers throughout the Thumb and Southeast Michigan, local CSA members, and direct sales of organic grains both domestically and overseas. Some goals for the next couple of seasons are to provide homes for honeybees on the farm, and to continue experimenting with yogurt and cheese-making courtesy of Pansy, our young one-cow home dairy.

1 comment:

EcoBurban said...

Hello to Les and Maggie! Just a quick note to let you know that your eggs are the best! And, I do love opening the box to see all the colors. My youngest son tries to match them up by color when we bake cookies or treats.

Though, all color aside, these are the best tasting eggs I have ever hand, hands down. Thanks for all that you do! - Mandi