Isolated, our glacial, wind-blown soil untouched, it’s not hard to imagine the potential “Old” Don Maule saw when he founded Echo Family Farm in 1882, over 120 years ago. Having left the shores of Scotland for new opportunities in America, he was a pioneer. With nothing to start his new life but a farmer’s know-how and his fellow  homesteaders’ resolve, he believed life could be better for his family – maybe even more “fruitful” – in America’s Heartland.

It’s a pioneering spirit that has carried our family through the challenges facing family farms across every generation. Returning to farm has never been easy, but whether it was my grandpa driving taxis in the winter or my parents starting the first aronia berry farm in the country, just five miles south of Echo Family Farm, there was always a certain magnetism, a magic, pulling us back to the hills.

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With nothing to start his new life but a farmer’s know-how and his fellow homesteaders’ resolve, “Old” Don Maule believed life could be better for his family in America’s Heartland.

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There’s a Great Law of the Iroquois that states “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impacts of our decisions on the next seven generations.” Our once endangered aronia berry, now recognized as the highest antioxidant fruit ever tested, isn’t all that’s shared between our family and neighboring native tribes; preservation goes hand in hand with the pioneering spirit, maintaining the magic for generations to come. In a very real sense, it’s why sustainability exists in the DNA of all rural Americans.

Grandpa Don founded the first Harrison County Conservation Board, and our organic aronia berry has proven to increase organic matter in the soil. Together, we see our work through a Century View, a belief that our ancestors set the stage, just as we can for future farming families.

Planting the aronia berry, encouraging hundreds of family farmers to follow suit, helping revitalize rural America: without a Century View, these decisions would never have been made.

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We see our work through a Century View of agriculture: A belief that our ancestors set the stage, just as we will for future farmers.

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From plant starters to samples in stores, whether in the inaugural Farm Environmental Leader award class or being recognized as GREAT for the “environment, sustainability, and the world” by How Good at the largest natural products expo in the world, we are firmly rooted in our generational approach to farming.

So, in a way, although the aronia berry has been recognized as “What’s Next” in the natural and organic industry, the future began over a century ago.

]]> http://sawmillhollow.com/2015/05/our-ancestors-set-the-stage/feed/ 0 http://sawmillhollow.com/2015/05/from-the-farm/ http://sawmillhollow.com/2015/05/from-the-farm/#comments Sun, 10 May 2015 15:42:21 +0000 http://iamdesigning.com/themes/spatreats/?p=196

Welcome to the Sawmill Hollow Family Farm blog! For twenty years we have cultivated the once endangered aronia berry, creating dozens of products, starting hundreds of farms, and serving thousands of families across the country – all part of our mission of working together to grow healthier families, farms, and communities.

We’re only a family farm of three at the fork of a dirt and gravel road, but connectivity has always been at the heart of what we do. Whether it was planting aronia berry bushes in all 99 counties of Iowa, hosting the North American Aronia Berry Festival the third weekend of every September, or simply sharing the Iowa Sprit, we have been recognized near and far for growing community from the ground up.

What we haven’t done, until now, is provided you – our neighbors near and far – with a way to keep up with what we’re up to and chime in when you have something to add to the conversation. We’ve seen you in stores, you’ve come to the farm, and now, with Sawmill Hollow’s blog and Facebook you can let us in on your new aronia berry recipe, how your visit went, or what you would like to see from us in the future.

Over the next few days we’ll have a few exciting announcements, but in the meantime we thought we could start by sharing our six generations strong farming story online.

Thanks for being a part of our journey, and come back tomorrow to see how pioneering whole health started, literally, on the pioneering frontier.

PS: Happy Mother’s Day! We know here at Sawmill Hollow that our mission of “growing healthy families, farms, and communities” wouldn’t be possible without the mommas!