Hello friends! Thanks for visiting our website and learning a little bit more about our farm.

We’re Dean and Cindy Johnson, who were lucky to find a 4.8-acre farm in Lime Ridge, Wis., in 2020. It’s a tranquil place to get away from the hustle and bustle of our work lives in Madison, as well as serve as a magnet to gather family and friends. Dean’s sister, Lisa, who lives in California, is a partner in this enterprise and visits as often as she can.

The story of this farm in Sauk County actually begins several years in a completely different place.

After living in the Milwaukee area for decades, Dean took a job in Wisconsin Rapids. We bought a home on 14 acres and happily grew vegetables while also enjoying the solitude. We thought we’d found paradise. 

Ha! Sometimes, when you think you’ve got life all figured out, fate taps you on the shoulder and says: “Get ready to rumble.”

And rumble we did. We made two more moves, first back to the Milwaukee area in 2019 and then to Madison in 2020. U-haul was on our speed dial!

Moving can be annoying, but also clarifying. We loved the neighborhood in Bayview, where we purchased a beautifully renovated 1895 farmhouse. Our current “city” home in Madison is on 1/3-acre and is completely wooded and private. 

But at both homes, something was missing.

We realized that we craved having a place to dig in the soil, to build massive bonfires, to have a bit more elbow room, and to place to cook for family and friends. Cindy searched for several months and stumbled upon a fairly ramshackle farm far enough from Madison to be a “retreat,” but close enough to easily make the commute on weekends or during the week when chores require it. 

The first act of reclaiming the dormant land was to create a 25’x25′ kitchen garden. Peas, beans, beets, herbs, lettuces, kale, garlic and cucumbers are staples in the garden.

But right next door to the kitchen garden was a fallow 1/4-acre field that Dean’s brother cultivated during the first growing season. Last year, we took over the space and decided to take a stab at producing a crop.

And is there any crop more beautiful that flowers? We don’t think so!

Now, thousands of sweet peas, dahlias, zinnias, sunflowers, strawflowers, cosmos, rudbeckias, a host of greenery and many more blooms spring up in this spot starting in late May and early June. 

There’s a little bit of magic on this little sliver of land. 

First, we recently found out that Johnsons have been on this land for decades, as we recently found out that surname has been on the deed since it was established. Seems rather fitting that another batch of Johnsons are scratching in the dirt.

Second, the people of Lime Ridge have been so welcoming, doing favors for us that we could not ever imagine and helping us better understand the region and the land.

Third, the beauty of the Driftless Region is undeniable. For the past two years, we’ve been making the hour-long drive from Madison to Lime Ridge, and the view never gets old. Gentle hills, farmland, forest, quaint towns and wildlife and farm animals seemingly change daily as the seasons roll through. The drive is an automatic time to make the switch from city dweller to rural inhabitant.

Lastly, the land itself. It’s so generous, producing so much bounty for our family and our customers that we, of course, want to be excellent stewards. As such, Cindy is taking a master class in regenerative flower farming, and we’re leaning heavily on a good friend and neighbor who has converted all his tillage to organic farming.

That’s our Lime Ridge journey so far, and we’re thrilled to be here, working the land and meeting so many wonderful people in this region.