Harmony Valley Farm
Harmony Valley Farm
Harmony Valley Farm reaps the benefits of over 45 years of growing experience from Richard de Wilde, farm founder and co-owner. Richard started farming organic vegetables in 1973 in Eagan, Minnesota, at a time when the University and Extension Services told him it couldn’t be done. He went on to prove them very wrong, and today he grows over 150 certified organic vegetable varieties on 100-120 acres!
Harmony Valley Farm is located in an isolated, spring-fed valley in the the Driftless region of beautiful southwest Wisconsin, just outside the small town of Viroqua. At the farm, they are dedicated to growing the highest-quality certified organic produce possible with experience as their guarantee. Richard has gone above and beyond organics, placing great value on soil fertility and plant nutrition. His farm utilizes a system of cover cropping and applications of compost and minerals to promote healthy, mineral-balanced soils, which results in vegetables with exceptional flavor, color and nutrition. They plant and maintain a natural habitat year-round, allowing songbirds, bats, bees and beneficial insects to take up residence and become allies in pest control.
As an integral part of the community, Harmony Valley Farm has been working with restaurants, food co-ops and their CSA membership for years to promote a local, seasonal diet that extends through the winter months, long before the word "locavore" was ever used. They are well-known for supplying a variety of root crops well into the winter, including parsnips, turnips, beets, rutabagas, celery root, sunchokes, burdock and winter radishes. During the summer months, the farm is best known for their salad greens, spinach, arugula, cilantro, parsley, dill, dandelion and mustard greens, radishes and baby bok choy.
It takes many hands to do the work they do. Harmony Valley Farm has worked to build an ethical business on fair trade standards. They offer their employees health insurance, a retirement plan and a certified organic lunch prepared by their farm chef. Employees receive a living wage, well above local market wages, so the farm can enjoy the benefits of a stable, experienced, skilled, professional crew that is present year after year. Richard is rightfully proud of Harmony Valley Farm, and his desire is for the farm to continue to produce certified organic produce well into the future. Now operating as an LLC, ownership of Harmony Valley Farm can be transferred to key employees over the next 10-15 years so the vision, purpose and operation of the farm may continue when Richard retires – if farmers ever retire!
Find Harmony Valley produce in the Produce Department of your nearest Kowalski's location.
