Sustainable Farming and Life Lessons for 7 Sons on a Produce Farm

Most of us are used to long grocery lists and weekly store runs. But for one family of nine, life looks a little different with their grocery store being just steps from their front door.

Instead of pushing a cart down the aisle, family members pick fresh vegetables from their garden and gather eggs from the coop on their western Wisconsin farm.

With seven energetic boys, the older children have a hand in daily chores, whether it’s feeding animals, pulling weeds from the garden or helping prepare meals.

Franz and Rosemary Klein enjoy days with their boys caring for their gardens, foraging for food and visiting farmers’ markets to sell their goods. When the boys, ages 1 to 16, settle in for the evening, the couple’s “date night” involves canning, dehydrating and freezing the fruits of their labor.

They still buy a few items from the store, like olive oil and 50-pound bags of wheat berries they grind into flour — they have not purchased a bag of flour in 15 years.

“We raise most of everything we eat,” Franz said.

Their garden is impressively diverse and includes garlic, tomatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, lettuce, radishes, beets and more. Strawberries, blueberries, elderberries, pears, plums, apricots, grapes and rhubarb are just some of the fruits that grace their property. Towering trees scattered across the backyard produce butternuts, walnuts and maple syrup. On the animal side, the family cares for goats, steers, pigs, horses, chickens and turkeys. They’ve even rescued a peacock! Bees, birds and butterflies also buzz around the property.

It's not only the variety that’s remarkable — it’s the care, time and intention behind everything this Organic Valley farm family grows and raises.

Powerful Lessons on the Produce Farm

The Klein boys are being raised on a working farm in a way that few kids experience today — immersed in soil, sweat and the steady rhythm of rural life. Twelve-year-old Cletus says his day begins early, with chores, breakfast, then off to work. They don’t just help with the work; they own it!

Cletus is his father's partner this year on the farm's crops that are specifically for Organic Valley's produce pool. He is growing yellow straight neck summer squash alongside Franz's field of green zucchini. Cletus' two older brothers have other projects. Clement has a crop of garlic that is destined for a different market. Cyprian, the oldest, is working on neighbors' farms. They are learning not only how to grow and harvest goods, but also how to run a business and understand the value of money.

The family farm was a fresh start. Rosemary’s parents purchased the farm in the mid-90s, and in 2017, the family moved back from North Carolina. They chose to grow produce because it suited the size and layout of the farm. The Kleins expanded their efforts each year, adding more produce or animals, on their journey toward self-sufficiency.

“The most important thing about farming for me is the health of my family; our children being outside and knowing exactly where our food came from and exactly the care that went into it,” Rosemary said.

 The littler boys have their own garden plots to experiment with; laying out where each plant will go and choosing which produce and flowers to grow. What stands out most about the boys isn’t just their work ethic — it’s their enthusiasm. Walking around the gardens with them, you’ll be met with some excited voices to point out what’s been planted. It’s not just farming; it’s their life, it’s their classroom.

Finding Joy in Farming and Family

Learning powerful lessons through their daily chores, they see firsthand how hard work produces results. Lessons like responsibility when animals need feeding on the cold days of winter, which is one of the least favorite chores for Cletus. Like any young entrepreneur though, he also likes money.

On this farm, growing food isn’t a chore. They are learning that food doesn’t just appear — it’s the result of time, knowledge and care. The parents also homeschool their children.

And it’s not all work. 

“It’s important to do things together that are fun, too,” Rosemary said. While they look forward to county fair week — a time to enjoy carnival rides, friends, games and share projects — their backyard also serves as a joyful place.

As the family shared the story of their farm, Rosemary picked an accidentally crossed winter squash/loofah mix and placed it in the stroller cup holder typically reserved for baby bottles or coffee for sleep-deprived parents. The boys followed along, stopping to graze on brilliant berries, fresh snap peas or whatever else the gardens produced that suited their fancy. Imagine as a child stuffing yourself with organic goodies at your leisure!

Cyprian, Clement, Cletus, Chrysogonus, Cornelius, Caecilius and Cosmas are carefree kids, taking time to climb a tree or sit under the shade of a bush with their trusty dogs. And everyone is keeping an eye on the youngest, 1-year-old Cosmas, as he wanders around to explore.

Strategically Placed Organic Gardens

You may know how hard it is to get work done with little ones underfoot. Well, farming with seven boys can also be tricky, but Franz and Rosemary have found ways to make it easier.

Numerous gardens of various sizes spring with life around their property. The family did not place them there willy-nilly. Franz and Rosemary have strategically set up their homestead to accommodate themselves and the plants and animals they share it with.

For example, two gardens are near the house, so it is easy to weed and care for while keeping an attentive ear on Cosmas as he naps nearby.

The boys' smaller gardens are closer to the home, and a chicken coop and pig pen are nestled among them. The family tosses produce that does not quite make the grade to the pigs, providing them with a variety of nourishing veggies and fruits while reducing farm food waste. Only 40% of zucchini make it into the “to sell” box; the rest are fed to pigs.

“Nothing goes to waste,” Franz said.

Away from the children's self-inspired garden plots sit 3-plus acres dedicated to growing squash and zucchini to market through Organic Valley, the cooperative they own along with approximately 1,600 other organic farmers in 29 states.

Harvest Is Hands-On

The journey from harvest to table is a careful, hands-on process that ensures freshness and quality. It begins with Franz and Cletus taking their sturdy crates into the fields. They harvest produce nearly every day, from midsummer to fall.

They pick each squash and zucchini by hand, a method that allows for close inspection of every single vegetable. Franz and Cletus are looking closely at the produce for visible imperfections, ensuring only the best ones make it to the next stage. Their meticulous selection process reflects their commitment to producing high-quality organic produce that meets both the farm’s and Organic Valley’s standards.

After they harvest squash and zucchini, they transport full crates to the packing area. Here, the vegetables go through another layer of care. Franz, Cletus and some enthusiastic young helpers, are responsible for “stickering” each piece of produce.

The stickers include important information, such as organic certification. The boxes include farm tracking identification. While this step may seem small, it’s a vital part of the process, ensuring traceability.

Once stickered, they gently stack the squash and zucchini into boxes. The boxes are labeled and stacked, ready to be loaded for delivery. They deliver the produce to Organic Valley’s distribution center. Once there, it goes through another quality check, and if all looks good, the produce is routed to stores. Fresh from the field, this produce might reach your kitchen the same day it was harvested!

This thoughtful, hands-on process, from picking to packing, ensures that when it finally arrives at your table, it’s grown with care.

Early Days on the Produce Farm

Their farm was once home to a thriving dairy farm, but like approximately 250,000 farms in the 1980s, the farmer closed its barn doors for good during a farm crisis. Organic Valley was born from that crisis.

The farm was not a working farm since it closed in the ’80s. When Franz and Rosemary moved there, they agreed that if they were going to live on the farm, it needed to work for them. This also meant they needed to put work into it.

"We never want to be a huge farm; that’s not our goal,” Rosemary said. The goal is the health of their family and land. She notices the difference in the taste and quality of food when it comes straight from the earth. More importantly, she adds, "I notice it in how we feel overall. Since changing our diet, my health, our health is better overall.”

It wasn’t easy. Farming isn’t only a way of life, but it is a business.

“We had some real failures amid our successes,” Franz said. One year the winter squash failed, and another, a hailstorm took out half their delicata squash crop. But they figured it out and continued to adapt. 

Sustainable Farming Practices Pay Off

Organic produce farms are a pollinator’s paradise. The squash and zucchini you find in grocery stores start as tiny seeds that, with proper care, turn into vivacious orange blossoms ripe with pollen. Pollen is a pollinator’s, thus farmer’s, friend.

Pollination occurs when pollen is transferred from flower to flower or is moved within a flower. Many plants cannot reproduce without pollinators.

Pollinators abound at the Klein’s homestead and like garden placement, Franz has a strategy for the pollinators. The family maintains bee boxes to support a thriving bee population and harvest honey.

The boxes are centered on the farm, surrounded by a hayfield. Above that hayfield are the zucchini and summer squash, and above that is a field of the bees' favorite — a buckwheat cover crop. On their way to the buckwheat, though, the bees pollinate the zucchini.

You see, Franz does not want the bees to be weakened by gathering pollen from neighboring conventional farms that use pesticides.

USDA Organic-certified farms, like the Kleins’, are banned from using synthetic chemicals and pesticides. Nothing in the rules says bees can’t wander, but Franz does what he can to encourage bees from their bee boxes to stay close.

“We try to keep the bees home as much as possible,” Franz said.

By avoiding synthetic pesticides, our organic farms on average support 50% more pollinator species compared to conventional ones.

Like many conventional farmers, the Kleins’ neighbors are mindful and avoid spraying pesticides when it is windy or other nonoptimal conditions to keep chemical drift off the family’s organic produce and land. There is a stand of thick trees on their property, something organic standards encourage, which also makes a good buffer for drift.

When you see the USDA organic seal on our produce, rest assured, those farmers are not using toxic pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers or genetically modified organisms. This is good for people and the planet.

“If you spray poison on things, everything in that soil suffers,” Franz said.

Soil Is Key to High-Producing Gardens

A herd of rollicking goats munch on greens up the hill from the bee boxes further up the hill, beyond the produce. They are more than entertainment. They are utilitarian. The family drinks the goats’ milk and makes cheese and soap from their milk, too. Goats also provide a natural method of weed control and at the Kleins’, they are responsible for nibbling vegetation that can easily get out of control (much needed help on an organic farm).

“When you are an organic farmer, you are always weeding,” Franz says with a half-hearted smile.

While some farmers put plastic on the ground to keep weeds from growing, Franz and family implement goats to help clear areas and family members spend hours, and hours and hours pulling weeds.

The goats' hard “work” also lends to soil fertility. “Animals and produce go together,” Franz said. Waste from the goats and fowl penetrates the soil and enhances its fertility.

Produce Is Nothing New to Organic Valley

“There’s a difference in gardening and growing produce commercially,” Franz said.

You may think of milk when you think of Organic Valley. While we do have our share of nourishing dairy products, in 1988 farmers started Organic Valley as a produce cooperative under the name Coulee Region Organic Produce Pool (CROPP).

Family farms were dying in the ’80s, so a handful of Wisconsin farmers got together, setting out to change that by producing and selling organic food. Thus, the co-op was born. This allowed struggling farmers to earn a decent living, and as importantly, it gave consumers another option — produce grown without the use of harmful chemicals.

Shortly after launching the produce pool, the co-op expanded into organic dairy. We were on a mission to change the way people think about food and set high organic standards for ourselves — standards that eventually served as framework for the USDA’s organic rules. The cooperative grew our portfolio to include eggs, meat and grain. All of it is organic.

USDA organic standards are some of the strictest food production standards in the world. Certified organic farms are inspected for compliance annually by an independent third party. Additionally, Organic Valley staff members regularly visit member farms to answer questions and ensure standards are met. We wouldn’t have it any other way for our families or yours.

Squash and zukes are just a few of our nourishing veggies! Check out our website to see all the seasonal organic produce our farmers offer across the country.

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Article written by Kennedy Buck and Jennifer McBride. Buck grew up on an organic farm, inspiring her passion for organic food. She’s proud to support the co-op's mission by creating positive experiences for our consumers. McBride, Rootstock’s editor, is grateful for the communities that welcome her in to share their stories. Email her at Rootstock@organicvalley.com.