Echollective Farm & CSA
Echollective Farm feels more like a family than a business. Members of this collective garden and CSA make their decisions gathered around the kitchen table.
Mechanicsville, IA
LIFE
Type: Farm
Produces: Aronia Berries
Location: Keota, IA
Miles from Coop: 36
Farmer Levi Lyle believes taking care of one's own health is the first step in caring for the soil.
That's why LIFE (Levi's Indigenous Fruit Enterprise) began over a decade ago. When looking for crops to diversify their family farm, Levi wanted to grow fruits known for their healthful qualities.
“I wanted to promote something that is native to the Midwest.”
Tart and juicy, aronia berries look similar to blueberries, but with three times the antioxidants and a much more astringent flavor.
Aronia berries contain more antioxidants than any other fruit tested by the USDA.
“My kids eat them by the handfuls. They aren’t supersweet, but as a native and wild fruit, they have more nutrition.”
Levi's farm now boasts other native Iowa fruits like paw paws, sour cherries and honeyberries.
By diversifying with indigenous plants, the Lyles are able to lean into the seasonality of their crops and connect even more to nature.
“Growing aronia berries has become a great analogy for how we can work sustainably with nature to grow food.”
Levi is a leader in conservation no-till farming practices and carbon sequestration.
Other Local Producers
Be sure to check out these others great local producers!
Timeless Prairie Orchard
Dave and Susie Differding know their apples and love sharing the fruits of their education with you in the form of each shiny, delicious fruit.
Winthrop, IA
Early Morning Harvest
Earl, Ronda (above), & son Jeff Haffner grow organic grains and stone grind them whole – germ intact (unlike commercial flour). Their organic grains are in many of New Pi’s breads, prepared foods, and on New Pi shelves
Panora, IA
Oak Hill Acres
Andy manages over 4,000 flower cuttings in their two greenhouses and thirty acres of organic produce.
Atalissa, IA
Crane Creek Farms
Jeff and Jesse Eichenberger are sugaring the old fashioned way, with wholesome-looking metal taps and pails on each tree they empty every day the sap flows.
Lawler, IA
Garden Oasis Farm
You realize what you’re taking care of right now is going to provide a year’s worth of produce.
Coggon, IA
Trowel and Error Farm
Carly Andrews was inspired to start farming after attending The University of Vermont, and learning about the local foods movement. After seeing a panel of all women farmers in her undergrad, she decided to try it out for herself.
Iowa City, IA
Kerns Homegrown
Our local source for non-GMO sweet corn! In 1999, at the age of 15, Blake Kerns rented two acres of abandoned crop land, borrowed a planter, and seeded sweet corn. Twenty years later he's still planting, picking, and delivering fresh picked homegrown produce.
Oelwein, IA