History
Common Harvest Farm was founded in 1989 as an outreach of an urban peace and justice community seeking greater connections to the land and their food. Our first five seasons we farmed in Orono, Minnesota approximately 2 miles north of Lake Minnetonka. In these early years we had one of our five drop-sites seven miles from the farm, giving members easy access to the land which produced their food. When the land we were farming sold for development in 1994, we began to search for a new location. In 1995, at the invitation of another CSA with extra land to rent, we moved across the metro area to western Wisconsin.
In 1997, we purchased a neighboring farm with the financial help of more than sixty of our members. We celebrated finding a permanent home by hosting a farm blessing and together we placed a conservation easement on our farm through West Wisconsin Land Trust. This easement ensures that this farmland will be protected into perpetuity.
Our members continue to play a significant role in keeping our farm vibrant and sustainable. In 2004, we did an old fashioned barn-raising with more than 250 people participating during the two-day event. Community has been a defining element of our farm’s past and we continue to find new ways to involve our members in the life and work of the farm.