Meet Farmer Les
Hello, I am Les! Welcome to my farm. Here at East River Organic Farm, our goal is to provide the freshest, local organic products for your eating pleasure and good health.
I grew up here on the farm and thoroughly enjoy farm life. I am a graduate of Sandusky High School and Michigan State University, with an associate's degree in Crop and Soil Science.
In 1994 I started the conversion of our family farm to organic farming practices. Within a few years, our farm was fully certified organic which it remains today.
In 2002 I added a herd of livestock to the farm. The breed that I chose, primarily for their intuitive grazing abilities, is a heritage breed called the American Milking Devon. These are dual purpose animals that are great for milking and for beef. I am raising them for grass-fed, organic beef for now, but am also considering the option of milking them in the future.
In 2003 I started the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) on the farm with 2 acres of vegetables. I like the CSA concept because it is a unique way to build a relationship between myself as a farmer, people from my greater community and the food that we eat. I also enjoy growing and eating all of the different vegetables and herbs the we grow here on the farm.
I would like to personally thank you for visiting me here on my website. Feel free to browse your way around and get to know more about the farm. If you are interested in our products and would like to visit the farm in person, send me an email and I would be happy to discuss all of the options with you.
Meet Orv (a.k.a Dad or Grandpa)
Orv is the grandfather of the farm and a true american farm boy. He grew up on grandpa Roggenbuck's farm in Helena, MI near Harbor Beach and started full-time farming at the age of 18 when he and two older brother's Vin and Chuck purchased 450 acres of land in the Snover area. Other than Tiger baseball, farming is dad's one true passion and he can often be found doing something at the farm. He likes tending the cattle and chickens, tilling in the garden, mowing grass or any other project that needs to be done.
Meet Maggie
Hi, I'm Maggie! I'm the apprentice at East River for the 2008 vegetable season. I visited the farm for the first time a year ago, on a field trip with my friends and teachers in the MSU Organic Farming Certificate Program. The farm was the fourth stop at the end of a full day of touring organic farms in the Thumb. We piled out of the bus, hot, tired and hungry, and were met by Les, some cats, and a huge sky. As we walked around the 4-acre vegetable garden, by the horses and the new chicken coop, and the barn and pastures where the herd of stocky brown Devons grazed quietly, I thought I might be coming back. Fresh from a year of horticulture, marketing, and practicum classes at the MSU Student Organic Farm,. and two months as an intern in the greenhouses and gardens at Earthworks Urban Farm in Detroit, I am here for more experience and mentorship with vegetable growing, cooking and food preservation, and CSA management. I am also excited to live on a farm that's putting the pieces back together with farm animals, grains, and vegetables. This year we are adding honeybee hives to the wild bees already living here, and I am looking forward to watching and caring for the bees, too! Happy to meet you.