Shared Legacy Farms

Just miles off of the Ohio Turnpike in Elmore, OH, Shared Legacy Farm has been providing community members locally grown produce since 2008. Farmer Kurt and his wife Corinna, as well as their two young sons, have been committed to producing a wide variety of high quality produce for the past 10 years. Situated behind a beautiful farmhouse, 20 acres of certified organic land yields great tasting food that people will feel good about! This produce makes its way out into the community via Farmers’ Markets, locally owned restaurants, and most notably, their flourishing Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. In the first year offering a CSA, 14 members received weekly shares. This number has grown to more than 400 members during this 2018 season.

Kurt is a third generation farmer who has a strong passion for reconnecting people to the food they eat. While living outside of Chicago after attending Ohio State University, Kurt volunteered with a man who had a CSA. Using his farm background and education, he began to grow a harmonious relationship with that farmer. After meeting and marrying Corinna, the two made the move back to the land where Kurt’s passion began in early childhood. Being newly married, having a baby on the way, and the dream to farm, Kurt and his wife watched their farm mature into what it is today. “I came into it at the right time and right place” explained Kurt. Offering a CSA has tapped into two of Kurt’s favorite things: farming and simply talking and seeing his customers on a weekly basis.

With the farm growing over the years, Corinna has been using her non-agricultural background to connect with CSA members. After marrying Kurt, Corinna explained having to learn almost everything she knows today and can confidently use her knowledge to teach the members involved in the CSA. She explained it perfectly: their CSA acts as a catalyst for change in the way individuals and families eat and experience food. This catalyst reaction has created a tight-knit community, as they have a private Facebook page for their CSA members to ask questions, share recipes, and learn from one another. “The community is not only supporting a farmer and their family but each other through the connections to the farm”.

Along with their high quality produce, Shared Legacy Farms partners with other local farms to provide CSA members with best of the best in their weekly boxes. Their partners include Weber Ranch who provides eggs raised in open pastures with no hormones or antibiotics as well as Canal Junction Farmstead Cheese and Turkeyfoot Creek Creamery who provides high quality artisan cheese. While CSA membership is a big focus for their farm, they also maintain an artisan vegetable garden that ends up in the dishes of local restaurants including Element 112, Fowl and Fodder, and a few local country clubs. No matter how you experience the produce grown by Shared Legacy Farms, there is no doubt that it will change the way you think about how you get your food.

If you are interested in receiving locally grown produce and other goods here in Lucas County, think about joining Shared Legacy Farm’s CSA. Their weekly boxes of certified organic vegetables are picked fresh from the farm throughout the 18 week season, starting in early June and ending early October. There are multiple options when deciding which CSA plan is right for you, and with their partnerships they offer other produce and goods from other locally owned farms. Additional options include local fruit (which is the only produce not certified organic), eggs, whole bean coffee (fresh from Maddie and Bella Coffee Company), and artisan cheese. Toledo area pick-up locations include Toledo Farmer’s Market, Perrysburg: Grace United Methodist church, Sylvania: Temple Shomer Emunim, Port Clinton: Sutton Center, and their very own farm in Elmore. Shared Legacy Farm’s offers something for everyone, to sign up please visit http://www.sharedlegacyfarms.com/.

Bundles of carrots being cleaned and packaged for a weekly CSA haul. A tip from Kurt was to use the green tops of the carrots to make a delicious pesto to put on chicken, pasta, or to just eat! This way the entirety of the carrot plant is being used and none is going to waste.

 

 

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