Our Story
The seeds of Sprouting Acres Organic Farm were sown long before its official established date of 2003!
Farmer Andy’s parents, Tom & Chris, bought the farm right after they got married in 1973. Back then, the farm looked nothing like it does today – instead of acres of beautiful trees and diverse landscaping, it held acres and acres of cornfield and tobacco. Tom & Chris put their hearts and souls into revitalizing this land, all while raising 3 kids and working full time jobs. They are responsible for the hundreds of beautiful trees, prairie restoration, and landscaping and so much more. Tom & Chris have been immensely supportive and integral to the success of Sprouting Acres.
Andy had a dream of starting a farm out at his parent's place. After working in the restaurants for years, Andy decided he wanted to not only cook delicious food, but to grow it as well. In 2003, he felt ready to hang up his cooking apron, for a while, and play in the dirt so he and his wife, Kelly, officially founded Sprouting Acres. We had 9 families enroll in our inaugural CSA, ready to support our fledgling endeavor—we are forever grateful for them for believing in us. We became USDA Certified Organic in 2009, and MOSA (Midwest Organic Services Association) certified that same year. Each year that followed, our farm and our membership grew. In 2022, we had a membership of 120 strong, dispersed over 10 drop sites.
Through the years, Sprouting Acres has supplied fresh, locally grown, organic produce to many well-loved restaurants in the Madison area and at several local farmer’s markets.
In 2018, we took another leap: to put in motion our plans for Pizza Nights at the farm, thus melding two of Farmer Andy’s deepest passions: growing food & cooking food. That leap was actually gigantic! We had to tear down some old, unsafe farm buildings. We salvaged as much farm wood and cool structural pieces as we could. After that, we built out the frame and exterior of the blue barn. In the months that followed, we completed the interior; this is where we put our salvaged pieces from the torn down barns to good use! We finally opened our doors for Sunday Pizza Nights in 2019. They took off beyond our wildest dreams, even throughout the pandemic, and we have had so much fun! Our first year was so successful that we had already built a second pizza oven by early 2020. And, we built our third during the summer of 2022.
We’ve been honored to host many special events as well such as weddings, graduation parties, business events, Bike the Barns, and much more.
The summer of 2022 also saw us add our Summer Farm Camp for kids – combining Kelly’s passion for education, children, and nature.
Our farm story would not be complete without mentioning the rest of our amazing Sprouting Acres family. We are forever thankful for our parents, siblings and their spouses, and cousins who have contributed their time, expertise, love and support to provide tech support, website development, pizza night labor, musical talents, a listening ear, honest feedback, and endless help and encouragement. Our children, nieces, and nephew who work and play out on the farm with joy and excitement. They inspire us daily. And lastly, our incredible work crew – the backbone to the farm, without which none of this would be possible: a hundred thank yous. You are all amazing.
We truly cannot wait to see what else the future holds for Sprouting Acres! Have an idea? Contact us!
