Farms in the Cedar Valley, IA, Foster a Deeper Connection to Nature Through Agritourism Experiences
Farming families across the Cedar Valley region of Iowa have created agritourism experiences to bring the communities they serve closer to nature. From glamping on the prairie to picking flowers or staying overnight on a working dairy farm, these experiences serve to deepen connections with nature while offering support to the hardworking farmers who make these opportunities possible.
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Engelbrecht Farm
On any given week at Engelbrecht Farm in Waverly, visitors can pick flowers and arrange their own bouquets, listen to live harp music or take a yoga class among the flowers. The events are as diverse as the blooming flowers on the Engelbrecht family’s farm.
“It’s one of my favorite parts about what we offer – seeing people enjoying the outdoors,” says Tricia Engelbrecht, who owns the farm along with her husband, Seth.
The Engelbrechts’ mutual love of flowers blossomed out of their high school romance, when the couple would often plant perennials together. Now, the Engelbrechts share their love of flowers through U-pick events throughout the summer and a community-supported agriculture (CSA) subscription program, which helps support the farm in winter months.
Engelbrecht says opportunities to connect with nature were slim at her former career working as a banker. Now, Engelbrecht rises at 5 a.m. to cut flowers, a routine that has become one of her favorite parts of the job.
TwoMorrows Acres
Flowers are abundant in the Cedar Valley. In nearby Denver, TwoMorrows Acres has expanded a flower farm into a range of skin care products that utilize natural ingredients. Jeff and Molly Morrow combined Molly’s skin care products with Jeff’s home-grown flowers to form TwoMorrows Acres, which sells products at local farmers markets and through their CSA program.
“Jeff’s passion is being in nature and converting our property into a space that is full of life,” Molly says. “We think our passion for what we’re doing is something our customers can feel and want to be connected to.”
Whether it’s picking up a weekly bouquet of flowers or nourishing their skin with handmade soaps, creams and serums, Jeff and Molly give their clients an indirect connection to nature.
“The flowers and skin care share the same type of philosophy: to make quality products using only natural ingredients for our local community,” Molly says.
New Day Dairy GuestBarn
It doesn’t get more immersive than the New Day Dairy GuestBarn in Clarksville, where visitors have a 24/7 view into a working dairy farm while enjoying a rural getaway. Lynn and Dan Bolin built the barn on Dan’s family farm, which has been in the family for five generations and is still primarily a working dairy.
“It’s very immersive,” Lynn says, “I think it definitely broadens guests’ perspectives. They get to see us doing what we do all the time.”
Growing up in the Twin Cities, Bolin didn’t have much farm experience growing up. Now, the magic of living close to nature isn’t lost on her.
“It’s that outsider perspective, I think, that has allowed me to be able to share that with others,” Lynn says.
Guests from more urban areas can learn as well as relax while staying in the area. From watching the birth of a calf to exploring other nearby agricultural experiences, like the John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum or the Fossil & Prairie Park Preserve, opportunities to experience the area’s agricultural roots are always close at hand.
“We’re never very far from wide open spaces, beautiful sunsets and sunrises,” Lynn says.
Three Pines Farm
Caretakers of family farms can feel a great responsibility to their land, and sharing it with the community is one way that Kara Grupp of Three Pines Farm honors her family legacy. After relocating to her family’s land and renovating her grandfather’s old barn, the farm grew exponentially.
“From that simple start, the little barn and farm has welcomed people from around the world and down the road,” Grupp says.
Three Pines Farm offers a range of experiences on 26 acres of prairie, including glamping, dining, retreats and arts workshops. As an homage to her grandfather, Grupp hosts “ice cream truck nights” out of the back of her grandfather’s old farm truck.
“It’s an increasingly overwhelming world that pulls us away from nature and the countryside,” Grupp says. “Having the opportunity to peacefully immerse oneself in nature at our glampsite – and what little other spots of land like this remain – is a valuable thing.”
Advice on Stocking Your Home With Local Ingredients in the Cedar Valley
Susan Vanasse is a wife and mother with a passion for supporting local growers. Her journey toward supporting local businesses led her to discover an abundance of resources in the Cedar Valley area.
How did you become interested in supporting local farmers?
Probably within the last five to eight years, I really started to think about what I was putting in my body and on my body, whether it’s the food I was consuming or the household products I was using. I definitely feel like I have seen a change in myself and my family over the past five years as we’ve made this journey toward supporting more local food systems.
What are some of your favorite resources for buying local?
Farmers markets are always a great launch point for people who are trying to find more local farms. I also got into some different Facebook groups (like Naturally Healthy Cedar Valley), which have actually been a really big access point, I think, for small-scale farmers to be able to share about their business and products.
What are some of your favorite local farms or farm-to-table experiences?
My favorite local farm, in Edgewood, Iowa, is called Bear Creek Acres Dairy. I was able to find a lot of my family’s staples from that one farm. There’s a dairy farm here called Hansen Dairy; usually, once a year, they host a farm-to-table meal, and they have different farmers put in a portion of the meal.
What does “homesteading” mean to you?
I think modern homesteading can really just mean having a closer connection to your food and being a little bit more self-sufficient, which can be farming on a bigger scale, or it can just mean having a garden or going to the farmers market and supporting local farms.
Get to Know the Cedar Valley
Want to learn more about living and working in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Metro Region of Iowa? Check out the latest edition of Livability Live the Valley.