Laepple Family Farm
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The Farmer's Daughter, Melissa Baer, founder of Vibrant Farms on the fields at Laepple Family Farm in Petersburg.
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I’ve known Linda for a while now and her undying passion for healthy food and good farming practices always inspires me. Just when I think I have nothing left, Linda can get me back to being present to why we do what we do. Linda is a force to be reckoned with. She has been formally educated in what would be the equivalent of “Farm Manager”. She jokes and called it the “farm wife degree”. She probably isn’t too far wrong, having learned everything from raising kids and running a farm household, bookkeeping to bread making, running farm equipment, and animal husbandry.
Linda Laepple on the fields at Laepple Family Farm.
As small farm operators selling goods to consumers, there are so many hats that (we) farmer’s wear. Linda seamlessly moves from shop owner and retail person to potato digger, steer (animal) handler, chicken hatcher, and bread baker.
Linda and Fritz are passionate about farming in a way that supports the animals health and in doing so supports our health as consumers. They have lots of land and it’s so lovely to see the cattle grazing around. From cows to chickens, ponies and veggie gardens - the Laepple’s do it all! Linda is a tireless advocate for many farming organizations, cooperatives and renewable energy initiatives. She is always working on educating people and helping people understand organic farming and what it is beyond the label. Where the rubber hits the road so to speak. Or where the fertilizer hits the paddock!
Linda and Fritz are passionate about farming in a way that supports the animals health and in doing so supports our health as consumers. They have lots of land and it’s so lovely to see the cattle grazing around. From cows to chickens, ponies and veggie gardens - the Laepple’s do it all! Linda is a tireless advocate for many farming organizations, cooperatives and renewable energy initiatives. She is always working on educating people and helping people understand organic farming and what it is beyond the label. Where the rubber hits the road so to speak. Or where the fertilizer hits the paddock!
It’s a family affair, stemming from Fritz and Linda’s commitment to farming in a sustainable way - soil to plant to animal. Even though the work is never done on the farm, Linda always has a moment to chat with a customer. Her experience and philosophy brings a total new perspective to eating local. Humans just like animals, she noted, have adapted through history to a certain diet, slowly over generations. Her breed of cattle has become stronger and healthier with every generation as they adapted to the forage grown on the farm. Modern diet on the other hand comes from so many different places and soils that our human bodies are under constant stress trying to adapt to the variation of mineral content.
On top of farming so diversely in many products they also give tours, grow grains and make it into flour on the farm. If you want the freshest ancient, heritage grains for baking (it totally changes the way the baking comes out) - Linda is your woman.
In general as you wander around you get the sense that this is how the world should be. We should have farmers who love what they do and enjoy eating what they grow. Farmer’s that understand that the health of the soil, replenishing the soil and utilizing all the parts of the farm in harmony - it not only makes good financial sense...it's also the best for our health as humans! Making food the way it was intended.
In general as you wander around you get the sense that this is how the world should be. We should have farmers who love what they do and enjoy eating what they grow. Farmer’s that understand that the health of the soil, replenishing the soil and utilizing all the parts of the farm in harmony - it not only makes good financial sense...it's also the best for our health as humans! Making food the way it was intended.
