7
Good Earth, Good People, Good Food
FARM SOLD October 2022
Always longing for a place to build our own home and garden, we purchased our 32 acre property in 1997. Located in northeast Indiana, our farm includes 20 acres of woods, 10 tillable acres, and wooded frontage on the 32-acre Old Lake.
In 2002 we began building our house and barns. Ever so slowly, the acres formerly planted in a soybean-corn rotation have been transformed into a small working farm with hayfields, barns, fenced pasture, flowers, vegetable gardens and orchard.
Starting with a few laying hens to provide eggs for the family, we later increased our flock and added dairy goats for milk and cheese. Each year we add to our orchard and berry patches. In 2010 we started the Old Loon Farm Apiary which produces excellent honey and pure beeswax. In the spring of 2014 we began harvesting asparagus. After experimenting with and rejecting low tunnels in our larger garden, we built our first unheated hoop house in late 2015. Pleased with the outcome, we added a second hoop in 2017, which continues to provide seed-starting space as well as extended-season crops including herbs, salad greens and strawberries.
In 2021 we again worked with great success using low tunnels for insect control with brassicas (cabbage family.)
Finding that we wanted to spend more time to travel during the winter months, we sold our dairy goat herd at the end of the 2015 season, and suspended our CSA program in 2016. We began to focus on specialized production and value-added products, including asparagus, aronia berries, raspberries and blackberries, sweet sorghum syrup, maple syrup, honey and horseradish, and we continue experimenting and expanding these farm products. In 2017, we revamped our farm kitchen and sales area, establishing regular farm stand hours. However, in response to the Covid pandemic, our store was closed in 2020. We have moved to wholesale produce sales and special order bakery and small produce orders.
As we look forward to the 2022 farm season, we plan to continue to supply our produce through farm markets including Wise Farms on the west side of Old Lake and DeCamp Gardens, as well as by special order. We have finally added our third hoop house for long season production.
Our goal is to offer seasonally fresh and delicious foods – limited and elegant. As always, we look forward to sharing with you the fruits of our labor, as well as our vision of fresh, local, sustainable food production!
Jane & Charlie Loomis
Old Loon Farm 