Brown Dog Farm

TJ and Molly bought Brown Dog Farm in Fall of 2012. Named after the couple’s two Chesapeake Retrievers, Brown Dog Farm is 140-acres of rolling woods and prairie in the hills of the Wisconsin’s Driftless Region.

The farm had not been farmed since the last 1980s prior to the sale to TJ and Molly. Approximately 80 acres is maintained as grassland for benefit of wild life in partnership with the Prairie Enthusiasts, a nonprofit.  Forty acres has been partially restored back to to native prairie with an ongoing program of planting native Wisconsin flowers and grasses and eradication of invasive species.

When purchased, the farm had a small apple orchard and a good-sized asparagus bed. The farm also hosts black walnuts and wild grapes, wild raspberries and morel mushrooms.

Since TJ and Molly bought Brown Dog Farm, they have expanded the farm’s planting every year.  As of 2016,  an additional 190 apple, cider apple, pear, peach, plum, apricot and cherry trees as well as black and red raspberries, serviceberry, elderberry, seaberry and hazelnuts have all ben planted.  By late spring 2016, 32 beehives will be in operation and overseen by local beekeepers, providing honey to our restaurants.