Henry’s Farm is a multi-generational, highly-diverse, synthetic-chemical-free vegetable operation. It is located in central Illinois, in the rich bottomland of an ancient glacial bowl, surrounded on all sides by oak-hickory forests, in the Mackinaw River Valley of Woodford County. Henry’s parents, siblings, wife, children, nieces and nephews, interns, and even the dogs, all contribute to the endeavor.

In any given year, Henry’s Farm has under cultivation approximately 10 acres of hundreds of varieties of vegetables, which are sold mid-week via a 200-member CSA, and every Saturday at the Evanston Farmer’s Market just north of Chicago.

Henry farms in harmony with nature by conscientiously imitating in his fields the diversity and interconnectedness of nature. He plants over 630 varieties of vegetables, holding a mirror to the wisdom of nature’s own biodiversity, and drawing on its inherent checks and balances. Every year his “Amazing Wall of Lettuce” (as it’s come to be known at the Evanston Farmers Market), includes over 50 varieties of lettuce, with many heirlooms such as Ubriacona, Devil’s Ears, and Deer Tongue. (For the full list of varieties, visit Henry’s website and look under “What We Grow” and then “Varieties”.)

In Henry’s book Organic Matters, he summarizes his philosophy and practices:

The goal of my way of farming is not only to enhance the lives of the crops and those who eat them, but to enhance all life, from the lives of the insects, worms, and arthropods of the vegetable field to the lives of the wildlife and domesticated life (that includes us) who inhabit the environment around the field. And on a grander scale . . . [to] enhance the very life of the planet by protecting a piece of it and by not polluting the planet’s water and air.

. . . What I do in my fields is deal with life and living things in all their complexity, all their inscrutability, all their sublimity, all their unpredictability. These are things that industrial agriculture continually seeks to eliminate, control, or beat into submission. . . .Organic agriculture as I practice it is about cooperation and acceptance. . . . The goal of everything I do in my fields is to give life to the soil and to the entire ecosystem. . . . The farmer—the steward of a patch of the earth’s soil—must sustain the health of the soil to ensure the health and welfare of all life, today and tomorrow.

In 2008, Henry won the Patrick Madden award from USDA SARE and an interview was posted on the ATTRA website.

432 Grimm Rd. Congerville, IL 61729
309-965-2771
Email: Henry and Hiroko
www.henrysfarm.com

Markets: Evanston Farmers Market, every Saturday

Watch Henry talk about the importance of allowing his fields a 2-year fallow period.