For immediate release
Scotch Hill Farm extends service in Chicago area
BRODHEAD, Wis. – Scotch Hill Farm will again serve Crystal Lake and Oak Park area residents this season and add fresh produce delivery to and Ravenswood.
The farm will deliver to Crystal Lake and Ravenswood every Wednesday and to Oak Park Farmer’s Market on Lake Street every Saturday.
Scotch Hill Farm is beginning its 11th season as a subscription farm. The family provides assorted fresh vegetables and herbs – everything from leaf lettuce, snow peas, tomatoes and sweet corn, to oregano, tarragon and basil – weekly. People contract with the farm for a flat fee per week and get whatever is in season – with recipes! Deliveries run for 20 weeks well into October.
Tony and Dela Ends operate the farm, which uses no chemical pesticides, herbicides, treated seed or chemical fertilizer. They also make bar and liquid soap from milk on their farm and sell the farmstead skin care products directly to customers at delivery sites.
Tony and Dela take part in the Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training (CRAFT) with about 30 farmers and vegetable growers in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois . They host interns and farm apprentices from around the nation and the world. Students receive room, board and a weekly stipend to get hands-on experience and training in crop production, direct marketing and alternative farm practices.
Dela has been a presenter on dairy goat care and milk soap making in CRAFT workshops. Scotch Hill Farm has hosted sessions for interns on site 5 of the past 6 years. The couple wants to help young adults start up subscription farms similar to their own along the state line.
“Only 3 percent of vegetables and fruits consumed in Illinois each year are grown in Illinois ,” Tony Ends said. “More than half the state’s population is within 3 hours of our state-line communities. We should be cooperatively producing, marketing and trucking food to them. Rising fuel prices are eventually going to make fresh, local food look like the greatest deal in the world. For conserving the Earth’s resources, it IS going to be the best deal in the world.”
Scotch Hill Farm can be reached at 608 897-4288, or Scotchhillfarm@wekz.net. Tony and Dela’s postal address is 910 Scotch Hill Road , Brodhead , WI 53520 . Brochures and sign-up forms for both vegetables and flowers are available by mail or email attachment.