Tour the Farm | A Living Classroom
Step onto the land from wherever you are. This is not just a farm—it is a mosaic of life, a story rooted in the soil and told through animals, plants, people, and purpose. As you scroll through, we invite you to feel the rhythm of the land, to see what we see, and to begin imagining your day visit or immersive overnight farmstay.
Family Animals: Where Learning Begins
Just beyond the farmhouse, you'll hear them—the soft bleats of goats, the gentle rustle of wool sheep, the curious clucking of tame chickens. These are the Homestead Animals, the first stop for families and school groups, where wide-eyed children milk goats and hold chicks in their hands. Here, animal care becomes education, and simple moments become unforgettable memories.
👉 Help take care of animals during chore time or Pasture Walks.
Where Soil is Alive & Vegetables Thrive
Nestled in a quiet bowl of land, our no-till Market Garden pulses with life. Permanent raised beds are blanketed with compost and covered with crops: lettuce, kale, flowers, and herbs. The high tunnel stretches toward the sky, while the wash-pack station and food hub nearby hum with the work of harvest and hope. This is where soil meets purpose.
👉 Sign up for a gardening workshop or CSA.
Livestock on the Pastures
Grazing Toward Regeneration
Across the pastures, Red Devon cattle graze beside flocks of Dorper sheep, moving in careful rotation to mimic nature's patterns. Wild Way Chickens follow, pecking, scratching, fertilizing the earth. This dance of animals rebuilds topsoil, captures carbon, and brings vitality back to the land.
👉 Help cows, sheep & chickens restore soil and biodiversity during Pasture Walks.
Roots Deep in Restoration
The forests whisper of resilience. Here, we steward young oaks grown in our nursery—seeds of restoration to one day reclaim degraded lands. Beneath towering trees, biodiversity flourishes: fungi, birdsong, and the quiet strength of perennial systems at work.
👉 Help plant oaks or assist in maintaining forest trails.
Where Scraps Become Soil
Near the barn, Rhode Island Red layers clamber atop steaming compost piles, turning food scraps into nutrient-rich soil. They scratch, peck, and cluck their way through transformation—living proof that waste is not the end, but the beginning of something fertile.
👉 Join us for a composting workshop or donate food scraps from your overnight stay.
Hiking Trails
Creek Crossings and Canopy Walks
Follow trails that twist beneath oaks and over the foot bridge at Plow Creek Crossing. Picnic tables invite you to pause and listen: to water gurgling below, to wind brushing leaves. These paths connect body and spirit, inviting wonder at every turn. 👉 Come hike, reflect, and enjoy the peace of nature—then stay for pizza or a farm picnic.
The Heartbeat of Hungry World Farm
At the top of the hill, you'll find the Upper Farm: once home to Plow Creek Fellowship, now a campus for creativity and learning. Inside the Farm Learning Center, discover soil health displays, children's activities, and multimedia stories about regenerative farming. Just outside, children climb in forest playgrounds and pizza nights feed souls under open skies.
👉 Attend an educational workshop or plan your next group event here.
A Rare and Wild Beauty
Preserved for its ecological significance, Daisy Hill bursts with native grasses and flowers—little bluestem, coneflowers, and Indian grass swaying in the breeze. This is a sacred remnant of what once covered Illinois: vibrant, wild, and alive with memory.
👉 Volunteer for a prairie burn or help maintain this ecological oasis in other ways.
Sunflowers, Dahlias, and Shared Abundance
This is where our staff and residents grow together—in flowers, fruit, and friendship. Dotted with sunflowers, raspberries, and colorful veggies, the garden invites residents and volunteers alike to root themselves in beauty and bounty.
👉 Come help us weed the strawberries and raspberries during the growing season.
Where the Wild Things Wander
Watch quietly and you may catch them: deer crossing from the pasture into the edge of the woods, a groundhog rustling near Rabbit Run’s brush piles. Life pulses here, untamed and unafraid. 👉 Support wildlife-friendly farming or help build brush habitats.
For the Bold and Curious
For those willing to hike a little further, cross Plow Creek and climb the bluff toward Sunrise Ridge Road. Here lie 40 acres of dense forest and 45 acres in transition—from row crops to trees, cover crops, and someday, shaded pastures beneath a living canopy. Raspberries line the edges, a hidden creek winds through, and the vision of regeneration unfolds one step at a time.
👉 Join a reforestation day or blaze a trail with our crew.
The Edge of Wild, the Taste of Summer
Climb a little higher and you’ll reach Blueberry Hill—two acres of sweet summer fruit, bordered by forest and sky. Beloved by visitors and locals alike, it’s a quiet haven that landscape designer Dave Hornbaker once called "his favorite place on Earth." The blueberries are bountiful, but the land is calling for care. Restoration is needed. And so are willing hands. 👉 Come pick, donate to help restore the field, or volunteer to bring Blueberry Hill back to its full glory.