Today we’d like to introduce you to Brooke Knisley.
Hi Brooke, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
When we moved to our farm, almost 12 years ago, we envisioned ourselves farming 10 years down the road – we were able to make the leap in just 10 months! While we got our start as an organic vegetable CSA, we found our niche in perennial fruits. Certified Organic since 2014, our main crop is organic apples, but plums, raspberries, pears, cherries, apricots, blackberries and rhubarb are also part of our orchard plantings, alongside asparagus. For apples, we focus on some old-school University of Minnesota varieties, as well as lesser-known heirlooms (yes, we grow Honeycrisp too). In 2021 we harvested 33 varieties.
Apple season is complimented on the farm by winter greens – pea shoots, microgreens, salad greens – grown in our passive solar deep winter greenhouse. Growing greens throughout the Minnesota winter, September – April. Heritage breed Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs rotate through our pastures and orchard, in our farrow-to-finish herd. Free-range chickens roam the farm year-round.
We strive to bring real, organic, local foods to our local communities. Connecting folks to the land, to eating local in-season all year long, via fresh foods, meats and preservation. We connect directly with our community through our on-farm store, Mankato Farmers Market and other special events. In 2020 we started a new business featuring our organic apples, Tallgrass Cider, selling hard cider locally.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Farming is not always a smooth road, but the dedication of our customers and the beautiful end results of our products help balance out the lows. Bloom and fruit set this year are a blessing, after a large crop loss in 2021, where frost damaged our bloom. Farming puts us in tune with Mother Nature, which makes for a beautiful office setting, but she can be a tough boss sometimes. Of course, there are never enough hours in the day!
We’ve been impressed with Alternative Roots Farm / Tallgrass Cider, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I pretty much said everything in the first answer I guess!
We are proud that we feel the products and business reflect our values and personalities. We try and treat our farm as an ecosystem and respect, embrace and care for it that way.
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
To let things go if it doesn’t fit right for our family, or the business. To take time off.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.alternativerootsfarm.blogspot.com
- Instagram: @alt.roots.farm
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/Alternativerootsfarm
- Other: www.tallgrasscider.com
