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From Rescue to Regenerative Farming: Our Story
Our History
Saving the vision of a forest farm and creating a sustainable and diversified agroforestry demonstration farm
The Legacy of Misty Dawn Farm
The farmhouse, built before 1858, is a testament to the enduring spirit of Rock County's earliest pioneers. In an act of visionary stewardship, the previous owners planted nearly 4,000 sugar maple trees, a diverse orchard, and windbreak pines on just over 19 acres, laying the foundation for an agroforestry oasis. Because sugar maple trees take 40-50 years to mature, they knew that the task and the opportunity to tap those trees and taste their syrup would be left to future generations. And yet, to their enduring credit, they planted them.
Our founder bought the farm in 2021, sinking her life savings into the purchase. She wanted to preserve its ecological and historical value and prevent it from becoming a salvage yard. She is resolved to nurture the vision of Rock County’s original settlers, who set an example of resilience and tenacity and committed to ensuring that the farm not only survives but thrives in the face of climatic and other unforeseen challenges.
A New Chapter and a Farm's Rescue
In 2021 I had the opportunity to purchase a 19.1-acre farm in south Janesville at a farm auction. This started a new chapter in my life in forest farming. This website is an invitation for you to join me as I learn and share the ins and outs of farming a diversified agroforestry farm.
Future Sustainability and Maple Syrup
There have been huge challenges. a crop duster fungicided the cornfield near where I had been growing my shiitake mushroom logs, which destroyed all thefruiting mushroom logs and took away all our mushroom production income. Moving the mushroom production to the new farm location and restarting to grow her shiitake log inventory.
Meet the Farmer
Our founder's background and why she will succeed in making this vision a reality:
Our founder, Ingrid, has a BS in environmental science from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point in water resource management (Fish Management emphasis) and an environmental education minor. She worked for UW Extension, where she developed a wide range of training programs for conservation professionals that work with farmers. Working with farmers, she became interested in soil health and learned about the hidden and poorly understood life in soil.