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Front Porch
Farms
The Crew
People make it happen.....
Join us on our journey to adopt the concepts of permaculture, sustainability, and regenerative agriculture to our little spot on the earth. Each and every person involved with the farm is invested in their own special way. Come meet the crew.....
Meet The Team
Thirty-acre abandoned farm to our company acreage. Complete with a one-acre pond, hardwood forest and pasture, we call it Front Porch Farms. Being in a mid-Wisconsin sand county and having been abandoned for years, there is much work to be done to regenerate the soil and pastures.
David
David, aka Chef David. Founder, President, Product Development
I am a product of the Sixties, you know, the old sex, drugs and rock and roll thing but it also included the back-to-the-land movement, which greatly inspired me. Though I never accomplished finding my 40 acres back in the day, I have managed to have a 20 acre ranch in New Mexico in my 40s and now, fifty acres of production facility and farm land.
Over these many years my passion has been growing food, harvesting food, cooking food and thinking about food, so it is no wonder I have spent thirty- five years in the food industry. From chef to management, menu development to training and operating my own artisan bakery in New Mexico I have been true to my love of food. And now, food for dogs and all the other critters around our farm.
I had my first dog at age ten, Misty, a collie. Nothing better than having a four- legged companion to share your growing up years. Since my youth I have had mostly rescue dogs and even today have two rescues and a more high- class doggie, Ricco, a charming Papillon. For some reason dogs love me and I love them.
I count myself as one of the luckiest guys in the world being able to choreograph my life by playing with food and my dogs every single day. I love it.
By creating Sam’s Yams Sweet Potato Dog Chews some twenty years ago now, the success of our chews has afforded me to be able to expand our company into a full- on farm. As my other passion is the environment and leaving the world a little better off than when I arrived, we practice regenerative agriculture and permaculture. Really, to me, nothing could be more rewarding. Well, aside from my relationship with my lovely and talented wife who works with herbs, soaps and salves and my good fortune of having my talented and bright daughter to work with most every day.
Fifty acres of pasture, gardens, orchards, greenhouses and a pond plus lots of critters; chickens, turkeys, Guinea hens, pheasant, Scottish Highland cattle keeps me busy. Who knows, maybe someday I will half retire from all this, though never fully. I am having the time of my life.
Over these many years my passion has been growing food, harvesting food, cooking food and thinking about food, so it is no wonder I have spent thirty- five years in the food industry. From chef to management, menu development to training and operating my own artisan bakery in New Mexico I have been true to my love of food. And now, food for dogs and all the other critters around our farm.
I had my first dog at age ten, Misty, a collie. Nothing better than having a four- legged companion to share your growing up years. Since my youth I have had mostly rescue dogs and even today have two rescues and a more high- class doggie, Ricco, a charming Papillon. For some reason dogs love me and I love them.
I count myself as one of the luckiest guys in the world being able to choreograph my life by playing with food and my dogs every single day. I love it.
By creating Sam’s Yams Sweet Potato Dog Chews some twenty years ago now, the success of our chews has afforded me to be able to expand our company into a full- on farm. As my other passion is the environment and leaving the world a little better off than when I arrived, we practice regenerative agriculture and permaculture. Really, to me, nothing could be more rewarding. Well, aside from my relationship with my lovely and talented wife who works with herbs, soaps and salves and my good fortune of having my talented and bright daughter to work with most every day.
Fifty acres of pasture, gardens, orchards, greenhouses and a pond plus lots of critters; chickens, turkeys, Guinea hens, pheasant, Scottish Highland cattle keeps me busy. Who knows, maybe someday I will half retire from all this, though never fully. I am having the time of my life.
Ashley - Project Cooridinator
Ashley moved to Wisconsin from Los Angeles in February 2022 to work for Front Porch Farms. She mostly handles our social media and marketing but you may also find her manning our booth at farmers markets, helping Tiffany out in the garden and feeding animals on Sundays. Her favorites are the two white Chinese geese, Hansel and Gretel, who she helped raise. They love to follow her around while she does her chores! You can follow Ashley and her farm adventures on our TikTok page, @frontporchfarms
Photography by Dorey Kronick
Photography by Dorey Kronick
Tiffany - Garden to Kitchen Coordinator
I started working in the shipping department of Front Porch Pets in 2016. I openly shared my love for the outdoors and nature with everyone at FPP. I slowly transitioned into maintaining the greenhouse, aquaponics, gardens, and orchard. In 2017, I was thrilled when Front Porch Pets purchased the farmland just West of Wautoma, and was beyond excited to be given the opportunity to be a part of this new development. My responsibilities at the farm have allowed me to take classes to further my knowledge in organic agriculture/farming, keeping honeybees, vermicomposting and more. The best part of my job is growing flowers and creating arrangements. I also really enjoy maintaining our roadside produce stand and flower shed. It is rewarding to receive positive feedback from our repeat customers. I am not a big fan of the winters here in Wisconsin, but at least they give me the downtime to engage in learning and planning for the upcoming season. They also give me the chance to squeeze in some vacation time with my two amazing kids! At Front Porch Farms we are always trying something new and different, which keeps our work challenging but fun and interesting. In my free time I enjoy fishing with my children, kayaking, traveling, and working in my personal yard and flowerbeds.
Vanessa Barczi - Pasture to Kitchen Coordinator
I started with Front Porch Farm in 2018. David took a leap of faith when he hired me as I had no prior farming experience. I quickly became intrigued by the mission of the farm and all of the animals that called this haven “home”. I started out on the organizational side of the operation, planning animal purchases, breeding, butchering, sales and use in our top quality pet treats. In November of 2020, I took over daily care and operations of all of the farm animals and pastures. I had always liked what I did with Front Porch Farm but at this point, my passion started to become more clear. I now LOVE what I do. The work is challenging in many ways but it is also so rewarding to see our animals thrive and the pasture soils improve over time. I can frequently be found holding a one-sided conversation with some sort of livestock. I also get to exercise my love for baking and canning by making lots of yummy jams, pickled goodies, salsas, and cookies for our roadside market stand. In my spare time I like to tend to my own homestead where my husband and I raise meat and egg-laying chickens, garden, and make maple syrup.
Jake - Facilities Manager
Born a small- town boy I have loved everything about growing up in the country. First, you can make all the noise you like so my love for dirt bikes and hot rods has been very doable out here. Especially when your dad has a full- on workshop that lets me play around with all sorts of wood working and metal shop and painting equipment. To this day I still spend most of my “off” time working on cars, trailers, motor bikes-you name it. I like tooling around the country side in one of my many custom rides.
I’m presently building a log home in the wood just up the road. My dad and I have a wood mill so we are felling trees, milling logs and carting them over to my property to build out my domicile. Getting close to done.
All that aside, I am most proud about being a dad. I have a marvelous four-year-old daughter. We have a great time together.
Around Front Porch Pets and Front Porch Farms I manage all the facilities and every day is something new and challenging. Building out a funky old farm house, constructed several “glamping site” around the farm, then there is always the farm irrigation, electric fencing, out buildings, compost and the list goes on. At the main plant I keep all the equipment running like a top.
All in all, no day is the same, having a blast.
I’m presently building a log home in the wood just up the road. My dad and I have a wood mill so we are felling trees, milling logs and carting them over to my property to build out my domicile. Getting close to done.
All that aside, I am most proud about being a dad. I have a marvelous four-year-old daughter. We have a great time together.
Around Front Porch Pets and Front Porch Farms I manage all the facilities and every day is something new and challenging. Building out a funky old farm house, constructed several “glamping site” around the farm, then there is always the farm irrigation, electric fencing, out buildings, compost and the list goes on. At the main plant I keep all the equipment running like a top.
All in all, no day is the same, having a blast.
Lexi - Chief Chill Officer
In charge.
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